Write to Earn

A while back I posted a blog on how my Ehow earnings have been growing over the months here. Several readers have requested updates, so I thought I’d give you an update and a summery of my 2008 earnings.

• My earnings for December were down almost $44 from November. I made only $98.73. I think this was because of the holidays.

• Overall, for the year of 2008, I made $798.79. Not bad since I put in very little effort. I can write an Ehow article in around 10 to 15 minutes.

• Compare that to the $69.03 I made in the last four months of 2007 and you can see that my profits are getting steadily larger.
• For all of you wondering, I have around 210 articles. You can see them here .

Happy New Years! I hope this year is a very prosperous for you and your writing.I also hope you’ve made some clear writing goals and have scoped out some markets or jobs that you can apply to. Why not go out and buy a copy of Writer’s Market, take a writing class, visit some good job boards or write up some queries. No matter what you do, give yourself a good swift kick in the procrastination. This is your year to shine and to make your freelance writing dreams come true.

I want to hear how you are working to achieve a better 2009. Let me know!

How do you make money with Suite 101 ? I’ve heard this question over and over. In fact, I just got an email from another Suite writer on this subject. While there is no magic formula, there are some tried-and-true methods that the Suite 101 alumni use to boost their earnings.

First, you have to have around 100 articles before you start seeing any major results. Most of us older Suite writers agree on this. We call this a critical mass. Once you get over that hump things start clicking. My hits dramatically increased after 100 articles and so did the amount of money I was earning.

Also, take a look at what articles are getting the most hits and milk those keywords for all they are worth. I realized that how to draw articles were my big draws for my Painting/Drawing section , so I have written as many of those as possible. Also, for low earning topics, I’d try to focus on newsworthy articles. These will be big hit makers. The more hits the more chances for article clicks, which is how we get paid.

I’ve read that there are some Suite 101 writers earning around $1,000 a month on 200-300 articles. For others it is 500 articles. It all depends on how good the SEO is and how popular the topic is.

While you might say, “Whoa! 100-500 articles!” think about the rules that Suite lays down. You keep your print rights (so you can sell the article to other outlets), you get your web rights back after a year, and you keep making money on your articles no matter if you never write another. So your article will eventually make hundreds of dollars, even if it is spread out over time.

Hope this helps any Suite newbies!

The number one most important thing to becoming a successful freelance writer is having goals. Goals push you to become better and better. For example, here were my New Year’s Resolutions for 2008:

• Get published in 10 new publications
• Make at least a certain amount in a month (I had done this before but I wanted to start doing it consistently)
• Get over 11,000 hits a week on my Suite 101 site

Curious how I did? Well, I ended up getting published in around 15 new publications, I am consistently making well over my target amount a month with my writing and I blasted my goal of 11,000 hits by getting 16,000 the second week in December.

My New Year’s Resolutions for 2009?

• Consistently make $1,000 more a month than I did in 2008
• Get over 30,000 hits a week on Suite
• Get published in three new print publications
• Write one blog a day for all of my blogs
• Work less and make more

What are your New Year’s Resolutions for your writing career?

I have just started a Bukisa account and I am really enjoying the “free” money I am making from it. On Bukisa you can post articles that you have been unable to sell (and are just sitting on your computer making nothing) or reprints of articles that you maintain the rights to.

Basically, you can post just about anything your heart desires (within reason) and wait for the coins to start adding up into dollars. Of course, you need to make sure that your article are SEO compatable to make the most money.

Another way to add value to your Buskisa articles is linking to other articles that give you click or ad revenue. For example, I could link to my Suite 101 articles , my Today.com blogs, or my Ehow articles .  You just need to make sure that the subjects are simular so that the links make sense.

Plus, each referral that writers make earns them a bonus percentage to their earnings.

If you would like to join Bukisa use this link: http://www.bukisa.com/join/902

I had such a great response from my What Can You Make on Ehow blog, I thought that I’d write about my experience with writing for their owners, Demand Studio.

Demand Studios offers writers the chance of writing pre-determined articles for $15-$20 each or $5-$15 for articles that you come up with. When you start, you are given a limit of how many articles you can claim at one time. Most people start with 10 articles. If you do a good job and follow the rules, your limit will be raised. The highest I’ve ever heard of anyone’s limit going is 45 articles.

So, you pump out as many articles as possible to get the biggest weekly pay (yes, they pay weekly!). I can currently claim up to 20 articles at a given time. You can’t claim more articles until you write one and it is reviewed and accepted, which takes a few days. Then you can get another out of the list of articles. First come. First served. Most of the articles that are offered to writers are $15 each, though every now and then you can snag one that is $20.

Because of editing times, my limit and my time restraints, I am able to write around 12-15 articles a week. That nets me around $180-$225 a week. If the review times are slower I make around $120 a week. Considering it only takes me less than 30 minutes an article, equaling only 6-7.5 hours a week, that’s not a bad wage for a simple writing job.

I was just reading about Felicia A. Williams’ Ehow experiment to see how much money she can make writing articles for Ehow. I’ve been doing the same thing, so I thought I’d let you guys know how it was coming along.
I have 196 articles on Ehow and so far they have been netting me about $5 more each month. Here are the figures for this year:

Sep 2008     $75.94 USD     Completed     $75.94 USD
Aug 2008     $68.53 USD     Completed     $70.20 USD
Jul 2008     $58.22 USD     Completed     $60.60 USD
Jun 2008     $58.30 USD     Completed     $58.30 USD
May 2008     $54.51 USD     Completed     $54.51 USD
Apr 2008     $45.55 USD     Completed     $45.55 USD
Mar 2008     $44.69 USD     Completed     $44.69 USD
Feb 2008     $30.86 USD     Completed     $30.86 USD
Jan 2008     $25.42 USD     Completed     $25.42 USD

So, as you can see, I have progressively been making more money each month. This is without much promoting or adding more articles. I have only added two articles in the last six months. Not a bad side deal for my freelance writing.

I hope you guys find this helpful. If you want to take a look at my articles to get a feel for Ehow writing here is my profile.

One of the newsletter’s I subscribe to and religiously read is C. Hope Clark’s Funds for Writers . In it, Hope always has tons of great advice for freelance writers. One of her mantras for getting more work as a freelance writer is “Keep 13 in Play.” At all times, she keeps 13 queries or articles sent out looking for work. When one gets refused, she sends another out. When one gets accepted, she sends another out.

After reading about Hope’s lucky 13, years ago, I decided to give it a shot. I have to say, that one tip was one of the biggest things that got me to the success level I am at today.

So try it! Get 13 queries, articles, or job requests out there and see what happens!

I thought that today we would take a break from talking about how to make money for ourselves and talk about an organization that uses writers to raise money for the needy. I just got an email from  Soles4Souls Inc. and Epinions announcing their new program that uses shoes reviews to provide shoes for needy people. Here’s what the email had to say:

Soles4Souls Inc. and Epinions

Announce “REVIEWS 4 SHOES”

Shoe charity and online consumer review site create program to provide shoes to needy people worldwide

Attention all shoe lovers, critics and writers: Soles4Souls, the international shoe charity, needs YOUR help!  Just 3 minutes of your time will equal 3 pairs of shoes for kids in need.

How is this possible? Our friends at Epinions.com are always on the lookout for simple, well-written reviews on products from toasters to cars.  Shoe reviews make their website better and gives honest feedback to consumers looking to buy their next pair of sneakers, work boots, fashionable pumps and comfy flip-flops.

Epinions is looking for anyone to write a paragraph or two on your favorite (or least favorite) pair of shoes in your closet. As an incentive, they will donate $5 for EACH REVIEW to Soles4Souls. That equals about 3 pairs of shoes for 3 minutes of work!  

To get started, visit www.epinions.com/shoes and sign up to become a member (it’s fast and free).  Then write some reviews about your pairs of shoes (and if it’s a bad review, you can always donate them to Soles4Souls).  But please, don’t wait too long - this promotion will end on December 31st. So break out your critiquing skills and start writing…some bare soles will thank you for it.
Remember, 3 Minutes = 3 Pairs.
If  you have any questions about this promotion, please visit www.giveshoes.org for details.

 This sounds like a great opportunity for us writers to use our abilities for a good cause.

I’ve been asked this I don’t know how many times by other writers looking for writing jobs. My Suite 101 buddy Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen has just posted an article on her blog called “The Top 10 Reasons to Write for Suite101 ” that explains the benefits of Suite better than I ever could. One of the best parts of her article  is when she talks about how Suite provides a steady stream of income:

“If you’re a freelance writer, you need multiple streams of income. You can’t rely on Reader’s Digest or Sports Illustrated for a steady paycheck, even if you’re the best freelance writer in the whole wide world,” Laurie writes. “Editors leave or get tired of your style of writing, and your paychecks dwindle or vanish altogether. So, one of my best reasons for writing for Suite101 is the steady trickle of income it offers.”

So true! Just the other day an editor wrote me an email saying, essentially, that places that pay ad revenue are sweatshops. What? I know many writers that make good money at Suite.

I keep getting paid no matter if I quit Suite or keep writing. My most viewed articles have made over $100 a piece so far and with every month that passes I’m still earning. That’s much better, to me, than the $30 I got paid for one of my articles getting placed in a traditional print magazine last month!