side hustle

5 Cool Ways to Make Money as a Writer 2024

How to monetize online writing, blogging & social media

Anangsha Alammyan

Jun 17, 2024 • 6 min read

Image created by the author.

Writing online is a gift I gave to myself 10 years ago.

I started with Quora in 2014 when I was a college student. I used to publish random stories fuelled by my imagination. Little did I know I was setting up the foundation that would become my full-time living now.

In 2024, 10 years later, I’m a professional writer.

If you’re wondering if it’s possible to make money from writing in today’s age, you’ve come to the right place.

The internet has is full of wonderful opportunities to make a name for yourself and monetize your talents. Now’s the best time to be a writer, not just because you can make money out of it, but because you can set up your personal brand and build an entire business out of your writing skills.

The opportunities are endless. But the question is: Are you ready to start?

If the answer to that is yes, then read on for some cool ideas.

Before we proceed, if you’d like to watch a more candid version of this article in video format, here’s a link —

1. Writing on platforms that pay

There are platforms like Medium, Vocal.Media, or NewsBreak that pay you based on how many views or reads your article gets.

NewsBreak and Vocal.Media are similar in the sense that the money you’ll earn depends directly on how many views you get.

Medium is a little different because it has paywalled content. Only paying subscribers of Medium can read your content, and you’ll earn based on how much time these subscribers spent interacting with your story.

The best part about this way of making money online is that since these platforms cater to millions of users already. You don’t have to go through the hassle of building your own website from scratch, buying a domain name, or investing in hosting.

All you have to do is go to these platforms, set up your account, add your details in the bio, and start publishing content online.

A little hitch here is that Medium, Vocal.Media, and NewsBreak don’t currently pay writers in India. If you are from a country like India, you might want to try the other four methods I’m sharing in this article.

2. Writing for freelance clients

Freelancing means you are not a full-time employee of the client; the client employs you on a contract basis. They’ll give you a set number of articles to write within a specified time period. If you meet that deadline and submit quality articles, you’ll get paid for it.

Freelance writing pays better than platforms that pay you per view.

I’ve had clients who paid me $1 per word for research-based articles. This has allowed me to set up a lifestyle where I can thrive by working just 2–3 hours each day.

But remember, when you start freelance writing, you won’t start with a rate of $1 per word. You’ll have to start low and then slowly build your way up.

My first freelance client came to me in 2013, before I even started writing on Quora. They paid me just 30 paise per word, which is super low.

I used to struggle so much, put in the work every day, and that consistency has helped me reach where I’m today.

Freelance writing is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It takes time, effort, and connections to build. But if you have the right mindset, nobody can stop you from being successful.

3. Writing commissioned articles

There are multiple online magazines that pay you per article. I’ve talked about some in the following videos:

You can earn money from social media in three steps:

Pick a platform like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.and start creating content.
Set up your personal brand through them.
Sell either products or services to your followers.

The mantra to follow is to show up online every day, pick a niche of your choice, and publish high-quality content in that niche. Once you set up a schedule and post consistently, you’ll notice you start getting messages from people asking for help. They’ll ask you how to get better in their field, or for any help regarding the niche you specialize in.

You can either create a product that answers all their questions and sell it to these people, or you can offer one-on-one consultation services.

I’ve sold consultations as well as digital products on Gumroad, and both of these avenues have worked really well.

Pro tip: You need to be consistent. If you consistently publish good-quality content that adds value to the life of your readers, it won’t take you much time before you can start monetizing your social media profiles.

A newsletter is basically an email that you send periodically to the people who have subscribed to it. The consistency of publishing can be once a week, twice a month, once a month, or even every day, depending on how much you can write and how much your audience wants to hear from you.

But you might be wondering, how can I make money from a newsletter? There are 3 ways.

5.1 Subscriptions

The first is selling your newsletter through subscriptions. For example, Substack lets you set up a monthly subscription, so only the people who pay the subscription fee can read your newsletter.

5.2 Selling ad content or sponsorships

If your newsletter is in the niche of health and fitness, you can collaborate with a brand that caters to a similar niche, like yoga mats or protein bars, etc.

Then, you can charge an affiliate commission for every product sold through your newsletter audience. You can also charge a flat fee for every collaboration you undertake.

A cool place I go to find sponsors for my newsletter is Passionfroot. If you’re a newsletter writer, make sure to create a profile on Passionfroot to start getting subscriptions right away.

5.3 Asking your readers to directly support you

Maybe your newsletter is free for everyone to read, but you can still add a Patreon or “Buy Me a Coffee” link at the end of the newsletter so people who love your work can pay you whatever they wish. It’s basically like tipping your favorite writer.

5 Ways to earn as a writer in 2024: Final words

Making money as an online writer is easier now than ever. If you want a piece of the pie without burning yourself out, this article will help. Summing up, here are the five ways you can make money online by writing in 2024:

Write on platforms that pay, like Medium, Vocal.Media, NewsBreak, etc.
Write for freelance clients.
Write for websites that pay you a fixed rate per article.
Write on social media, build your personal brand, then sell your consultation as a service. You can also build a product to help your readers even more.
Start writing a newsletter and make money through subscriptions, sponsorships, or reader support.

The world’s full of opportunities, but you must be proactive and snatch them. Put in honest work, and the results will definitely come your way.

“Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work.” – Chuck Close

I just launched Freelance Superheroes: A training program for writers who want to earn from writing online without leaving their job, attract gigs outside Upwork/Fiverr, and become irreplaceable. Get it today!

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