More Money: How to Make More Money if You Are Good at Writing

This is the third in a series of brief tidbits of ideas that will hopefully help you if you need to create more money in your life.

This blog is focusing on writing which is a huge topic. I am only skimming the surface here. Please comment if you have tips to help others.

1. Tutor people who struggle with English as a second language. More than 25% of US residents and citizens speak a foreign language in their homes.

2. Prepare quizzes and trivia. Sell your services to fund raising organizations (the classic trivia nights), magazines, local and national papers, professional organizations.

3. Write newsletters for organizations and companies. Stay within a certain industry and re-sell the same information many times over. For example, I know a woman who consults with pest control companies all over the country, providing content for websites, ads, mailings, and newsletters. She only has to do her research once.

4. Ghostwrite. I would be willing to bet there is a war hero, or a retired politician in your community who would love to have his or her story in print. A woman I know mother was one of the first army nurses to land at Okinawa. bigstockphoto_Memorial_To_The_Army_Field_Med_1448518 Her uniform is now hanging in a museum. I bet she has some amazing stories to put down for posterity. Many of these people never document their lives because they can’t write. If you can you could be looking at some nice change and an interesting experience.

5. Start a website selling specific types of business letters, e.g. samples of “Your account is past due,” “Thank you for your application however…” “We would appreciate your endorsement/referral” “Glad to have met you letter,” Fundraising letters, Announcement letters, etc.

6. Advertise your services as an audiovisual or video script writer.

7. Business material package writer. For example, a new company is planning on attending a big trade show. They need informational materials (brochures, reports, letters,) and business cards that coordinate and look professional.

8. Resumes and cover letters–but make certain you are keeping up with the trends as this is a field that changes. Visit your competition, pay for your own resume preparation and see what they are doing, talk to a few HR directors about what they prefer, and read business magazine articles on the topic.

9. Freelance for magazines. Choose an area you are interested in and that pays well. (If you love the Old West but the two magazines that publish about it only pay $40 per article…keep looking.) For example, if you have some engineering background look into the “green” boom. Write about what you understand and are interested in, and that you know there is a market for. Check Writer’s Market to see what’s buzzing out there.

10. Write fiction or nonfiction that you really care about. Study the genres and determine formats that are being published. If you want to write a romance know up front that there are guidelines as to content, length, style. The same holds truth with kids books, mysteries, etc. Again, check out the bookstores and Writers Market.

NOW ONE OF MY FAVORITE BITS: