Welcome to 2022! If you’re looking to kick your writing career into high gear, it’s time to make a plan. Where will you focus your efforts? What kinds of projects would you like to take on? To help you get started, I’ve compiled a list of seven profitable writing opportunities I would recommend you consider this year…
A few are oldies but goodies. And some of them might be completely new to you. But your fellow Barefoot Writers have proven that all of them are lucrative ways to earn a great living through writing.
Remember, there are LOTS of ways to make money as a writer. But the long, long list of options can sometimes cause you to freeze. So I’ve narrowed down the choices to seven opportunities that are all terrific, low-pressure places to start.
I’ve also included links to relevant AWAI training programs in case you want to learn even more. Each of our sales letters offers a great in-depth look at an opportunity… we’ve done all the research for you!
Let’s dive in…
Opportunity 1: Selling Without Selling
Content Marketing is the foundation of good business: providing useful information to customers.
Businesses use Content Marketing to establish themselves as an authority in their market, and to build trust with their readers. So while this isn’t a new concept — many companies are just now beginning to see that they need content to maintain relationships with customers.
And how big of a role content can play in a sale… even though the content itself won’t do any selling of its own.
In Content Marketing, you’ll write e-newsletters, free reports, articles, blogs, web pages, even social media posts. You’ll have a lot of variety in your work, because there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for every company.
Because of the wide range of projects that make up Content Marketing, your potential income depends on what you do. Here are a few examples:
- Writing content runs $100 to $500 for an article, a short video script, or an infographic.
- Planning a content calendar for your client could bring anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000, depending on how much content you plan.
- Special reports can net you $500 to $3,000 each.
You can learn more about Content Marketing and how to become an expert level content writer and strategist with Content Mastery: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming a Highly Paid Content Marketing Strategist. This program, by content leader Brian Clark, covers everything you need to know to get started, and how you can use those skills to help your clients — or in your own business.
Opportunity 2: Using the Storyteller in You
Case Studies are short stories about a company’s product or service and how it solved a customer’s problem. They tap into our natural love of stories and build trust with readers, so they’ll be more likely to buy.
When you write a Case Study, you’ll first interview the subject of the study, your client’s customer. After you get their story, you’ll follow one of several simple formulas to write the Case Study.
Written Case Studies are usually two pages long, and may be dressed up by a graphic designer to create an attractive package.
Case Studies are simple to write because they follow proven formulas. And you’ll get faster with practice. Plus, you’ll rarely be hired to write just one. Companies will usually want several at a time. That’s great news for writers!
Recently, I personally hired a case study writer to create 52 of them. She’s on number 37 right now! Check out her work here.
But along with the demand, the fees are exciting, too. A new writer can expect to make $1,000 or more per study. Experienced Case Study writers can charge as much as $2,000 each, for about eight hours or so of work.
And you can expand your fees even more by offering add-on services such as pulling out quotes for social media posts, or writing press releases.
Learn more about writing Case Studies with AWAI’s program Writing Case Studies: How to Make a Great Living Helping Clients Tell Their Stories. This program, by B2B and case study expert Ed Gandia, tells you everything you need to know, including how to conduct interviews, a step-by-step process for writing a Case Study, and how to bring in all the Case Study clients you want.
Opportunity 3: Write, Earn, and Change the World
Cause Marketing lets you earn a good living while you raise money for a good cause.
This is a booming (and profitable) writing opportunity that brings in over $2 billion annually and continues to grow year after year. That’s because people want to do business with companies who give back, not companies who are only interested in chasing profits.
In Cause Marketing, you’ll do the same type of writing projects as you would for any company, only you’re writing to bring in donations for the cause, instead of profits. You could be writing email newsletters, sales letters, autoresponders, blog posts, articles, social media posts, web pages, brochures, and more.
Your potential income is about on par with other copywriting projects. If you’re writing for larger, more established organizations, expect the same project fees as you would from any other company.
Or, you can write for a for-profit industry, then “donate” some of your time to help smaller groups in need, or for any cause near and dear to your heart.
Find out more about this opportunity with Copywriting for a Cause: How to Profit as a Writer and Make a Difference in the World, by Mindy McHorse and Megan Tyson King. You’ll learn secrets such as the most powerful words and emotions to use, the psychological factors to focus on, and what elements you need to run a successful cause campaign.
Opportunity 4: Write About Your Interests and Create a Passive Income Stream
A Money-Making Website is an informational website written on a topic you’re interested in. This is a way to make money without ever writing for clients.
All you need to get started is a computer and a topic to write about. Then it’s a matter of setting up a simple website, writing content to attract visitors, and monetizing it.
Writing a Money-Making Website isn’t complex. You can literally have your website up and running in just a few minutes, then start writing content. This is something you can do entirely by yourself, without outside help.
The thing to remember is that a Money-Making Website is not a “get rich quick” project. Rather, it’s a slow income generator that can grow massive over time and will continue to pay out month after month.
It’s impossible to say for sure what your income from a Money-Making Website will be, but one thing is certain: how much you profit depends on how much effort you put in. Your income will increase as you add more content to your website — and as you create more Money-Making Websites.
One example of a Money-Making Website, Nick Usborne’s coffee site at CoffeeDetective.com, makes somewhere between $2,500 and $6,500 a month, depending on the season.
Nick Usborne’s How to Write Your Own Money-Making Websites gives you step-by-step instructions on how to turn your interest into a website that could generate hundreds, even thousands of dollars in passive income each month.
Opportunity 5: Become a Published Author this Year
Most people think Self-Publishing is publishing their own book instead of going through a traditional publisher. But really, it’s a much bigger, and potentially more profitable, writing opportunity…
The real money in self-publishing is writing and publishing information pieces that are of interest to an audience willing to pay for them. And since it’s a process you can repeat over and over, money comes in year after year.
You can self-publish any number of formats, including newsletters, calendars, e-books, reports, cookbooks, DVDs, training programs, pamphlets, and how-to programs. Basically, if you can dream it up and write it, you can publish and sell it.
Self-Publishing can also build your own credibility as an expert on a particular topic, help build your speaking career, or help you become the go-to copywriter or consultant on a particular topic.
Success in self-publishing comes from following four basic steps: find a profitable niche; start marketing your product even before you write it; create your product; and sell your product.
All-in-all, you are in total control of your income as a self-publisher, based on how much information you publish, and how much you sell. And by concentrating on publishing digital products, instead of printed materials, you can enjoy quick turnarounds and huge profit margins.
Information publishers Gary and Merri Scott have made well over six-figures consistently for over 20 years, and have even broken the million-dollar mark a few times. They share their story, and how you can follow in their footsteps through the program Self-Fulfilled: How to Be a Writer and Publisher.
Opportunity 6: Put on Your Screenwriting Hat
Video Sales Letters, or VSLs, are more popular than ever, and for a good reason: they work really well in online marketing.
VSLs are a powerful sales tool for businesses because they dramatically boost response over traditional direct mail or online sales letters. So VSLs are here to stay.
As a VSL writer, you will write a script that is used to narrate the video presentation, though you might not be involved in producing the video.
It’s important to remember that good writing is the key to good VSLs. That’s because without a good script, the video is nothing.
And it doesn’t take a lot of work to learn how to write a good Video Sales Letter. VSLs can seem complicated, but you just need to know the basics of persuasive writing.
As far as potential income, according to Clayton Makepeace, “Writing Video Sales Letters is the surest way I know to get from zero up to one million dollars in no time flat.” The lowest fees for writing a 10-minute VSL script start at $1,000, or $100 per minute of video, and go up from there. An hour-long VSL script can command thousands of dollars.
You can learn more about what it takes to write Video Sales Letters with The Makepeace Method for Making a Fortune Writing Video Sales Letters. This program, written by VSL pioneer and America’s highest-paid copywriter, Clayton Makepeace, will walk you through everything you need to know to be a success.
Opportunity 7: The Cornerstone of All Well-Paid Writing Opportunities
Finally, there’s Copywriting.
Copywriting is the gateway to all other possibilities in paid writing. As you’ve seen in the profitable writing opportunities I’ve outlined here, copywriting skills allow you to take on any type of project. With flexibility like that, you can write your own ticket to freedom.
Your copywriting skills will allow you to write sales letters, blogs, articles, web content, emails and autoresponders, email newsletters, fundraising appeals, social media posts, content marketing, case studies, white papers, and more.
Copywriting is one of the surest paths to freedom for a writer — and one of the simplest. If you can write a letter or an email to a friend, you already have most of the skills you need.
After that, it’s just a matter of learning some basic skills of persuasive writing. Armed with this knowledge, you can create any type of career you want.
Copywriting is a career where you can truly choose your own income. You can expect to earn $50,000, $70,000, $100,000, or even more from your writing.
Get started on this path with AWAI’s Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting. This program is how thousands of copywriters have launched their successful copywriting careers.
Final Thoughts
There you have it, seven profitable writing opportunities for you to consider in 2022!
Which one will be your ticket to freedom?
