Do you have an eagle eye for catching grave grammatical errors, spotting accidental typos, and correcting formatting errors? Do you feel passionate about the writing craft and love expressing yourself on the page? If you answered yes, there’s a chance you may have given prolonged and serious thought to quitting your day job and making your living writing and editing a variety of articles. If you’re intent on pursuing this exciting career path, consider utilizing these five strategies to help maximize your skill’s monetary potential.
Find a Hot Niche That Your Audiences Are Consistently Interested In
When it comes to gaining clients, perhaps no method works as efficiently as writing about a hot topic that readers can’t get enough of. To find a subject that your audience is consistently interested in, research all the possibilities and settle on a good fit for your article writing services. Consider various subject areas and writing formats such as:
- Comprehensive subject guides and other long-form posts
- Scientific case studies
- Marketing e-books and white papers
- Advertising campaign emails, letters, and proposals
- Website landing pages or sales pitches
- Specialized articles and blog posts on topics such as finances, parenthood, technology, business, healthcare, real estate, education, and so on
Constantly Work To Improve Your Writing and Editing Abilities
Even the best writers can always have a little room for improvement. Investing in improving your writing and editing abilities can pay off for your business over time. To gradually get better, you should:
- Write a little bit every day to hone and perfect your skills
- Take a grammar course to improve your ability to spot errors
- Read through style guides and manuals to better your proofreading and editing abilities
- Revise old pieces of your own work and note areas where you could make changes
Pitch Your Offerings To Various Businesses and Platforms
Pitching is often the lifeblood of freelance writers and editors, so you may want to start practicing immediately. Consider pitching your services to a wide range of platforms and businesses, potentially including:
- Small businesses
- Freelancer platforms
- Large news or media companies
- Online blogs or article-sharing sites
- Digital versions of print magazines or papers
- Personal websites
- Official governmental websites
Expand Your Services Within Your Field To Create Additional Income Streams
Another way writers and editors can stay afloat financially is by expanding their services to gain extra income streams. Some lucrative possibilities include:
- Securing recurring contracts to write columns or blog posts for websites, news sites, newspapers, magazines, or other platforms
- Gaining passive income via publishing physical books, e-books, workbooks, or other print or digital products to be sold online
- Editing, proofreading, and formatting others’ writing
- Recording audio versions of your work as audiobooks or podcasts
- Doing writing and editing consulting work for businesses or individual authors
- Conducting speaking appearances and guest appearances at corporate or private events and/or designing online courses and training packages about writing or editing
Set Reasonable Rates and Charge More as You Gain Experience
Knowing how much to charge for your services can impact the number of clients you gain and retain. In general, your choices include:
- Setting a per-word or per-page rate for editing and proofreading
- Charging a certain rate per word for writing work
- Charging per hour for your writing work
- Setting a per-hour amount for consulting work or speaking appearances
Earning your living as an independent, full-time editor and writer may be a distinctive and exciting career path to pursue, but before you dive right in, it’s important to strategize for financial success. By utilizing these tips, you can get your article writing and editing career off to a strong start.
Also, Read: 4 Tools To Streamline Remote Work Process
