Get Paid to Write Online - The Beginners Guide 1/3

So, you want to get started writing online. Maybe it’s a way to make some money on the side so you can buy stuff online, or maybe it’s a way to help pay the bills. In fact, for some people pay all of their bills from the work that the do on the Internet, but that is a lofty goal and a rare occurrence. Realistically, with work, patience, and the knowledge of how to string words together, you can make at least $100 each and every month from what you put online. That is the bare minimum though; in fact, when I have the chance to write full time online, I make quite a deal more than that. And thus, I decided to write a guide, after two years of pumping out somewhat popular articles online. In this guide, I will show you how to do a number of different things:

· Set up a blog/website

· Apply to different writing sites

· Write content that is SEO (Search Engine Optimization) friendly

· Earn money from selling products

· Research keywords

So let’s get started then, but before I get into the meat of this guide, I’ll just clarify that my writing is not exactly formal, and I know that. It’s not supposed to be; if it was formal, it would be boring, and then I wouldn’t be able to teach you anything. Wouldn’t that suck?

Getting Started: Things You’ll Need

Before you get started writing for money, you’ll need some basic equipment. Make sure that you have a good keyboard, something that is really easy to type on. Personally, I use a basic dell keyboard that has really easy to push keys, and it makes a huge difference compared to some other keyboards that I’ve used. Next, make sure that you have a Paypal account; this is fairly easy to set up, but make sure that you have a Premier or Business account, because that means you can send and receive money without any hassles. You can sign up for Paypal here. Most sites will pay through Paypal, as it is the most trustworthy online money service available, though some will pay through cheques. Familiarize yourself with Paypal’s fees and policies, and find out how the site you choose to write for will pay you.

If you have never published an article online, don’t worry; it’s not that hard to get started. All you need before you start is a word processing application, gusta Word, to write in. I’m not going to direct you to websites that are of dubious quality or where writers make more money from improper titling than well written content – of which there are many – but instead towards real, big league writing sites. In order to write for these sites, you must first prove that you can, in fact, write. So, you must write a ‘sample article’ before you can start getting paid for your work. So, get Word started and write down a list of the best article ideas that you have. Don’t worry about if they’ll be popular or not; the whole idea is to show that you can write well, that you can control your syntax and know how to spell words properly. Once you have a list of article ideas (ideally, you would want around 5, but as long as you have at least one you’ll be okay) pick the best one, and write an article based around that idea.

Personally, I have a number of ‘sample articles’, which I call trials, saved on my computer in case a new writing site ever opens up and I want to apply right away. Each trial article is at least 400 words in length, which is usually the requirement when applying to write for a site. Keep it relatively short and concise, but with enough detail to hold some sort of interest to whoever is going to read your application.

Once you have your article written, you can go ahead and submit it to ONE, and only one, writing site that you wish to apply for. The reasoning behind this is that some sites will use that article as your first article if you are accepted, and if you apply to another site with the same article, you could be seen as plagiarising (bad bad bad). But, wait, which sites should you submit to?

You can read Part 2 of the Guide to Writing Online here.