How to Survive Your First Year of Writing Online
So, you have decided to take the plunge and begin writing online. You are both excited and nervous about having your work published. Writing articles online is a great way to earn money. The following are some tips for surviving your first year writing online.
Join an Online Writing Site
The first thing you will need to do is to find an online writing site that meets your needs. Research several sites. Once you have found a site that fits your personal writing needs and goals, sign up and begin writing.
Read the Rules
Always, always read the rules and regulations on the site that you write for. It is so easy to get in trouble if you don’t know the rules. During my first year writing online, I ran into a few problems because I did not read all of the rules. Now, as a seasoned online writer, I know better. So, save yourself some heartache. Read and follow the rules. If your site offer tutorials, watch them. Use them to help you grow as a writer.
Submit Your Best Work
Always submit your best work. As a new online writer, one of your main goals should be to build a royal readership. If you don’t submit quality work, you will turn readers off. And, they will lose trust in you and your work. Also, you run the risk of receive those dreaded “rejected” notices, and you could be asked to leave the site. So, make sure your articles are fact based, informative, and contain quality content.
Writing Online is a Job
Remember that writing on-line is a job. If you are serious about making money or about getting your writing out to the public, you will have to treat it as an actual job. Schedule your writing time. And, be willing to put in the time and energy it needs to make your career a success.
Be Patient
Although some people won’t tell you this, making money writing online takes time. You will not make millions overnight. You may not even begin to make any “real money” for the first year or two.
Learn from Others
Learn from others. Read the work of veteran online producers. Find out what worked for them. Don’t copy their work, but learn from them.
Research topics
Find out which topics draw the most readers. Are you wondering how you can do that? Do the research. Check out Yahoo’s homepage and see what is trending. Go to Google Hot trends. Some online writers don’t mind telling you what their most popular articles are. Pay attention to the advice that these writers give.
Search Engine Optimization
When I first started writing online, I had never heard of the “SEO”. What in the word was “Search Engine Optimization”? Well, after more than a year online, I have discovered that search engine optimization is synonymous with “money”. Search engines rank articles according to the number of keywords that are in an article. So, if you want to get paid to write online, you will need to learn how to implant keywords in your article so that it receives a high rank on search engines.
Be Unique
Make sure your content is unique. Don’t write on topics that are already flooding the internet. If you do, you will not receive upfront pay for them, and your article will be competing with tons of other articles already on the internet. And, don’t forget to write to evergreen topics. Evergreen topics are topics that have a long internet life.
Your first year writing online can be a bit scary. Stick to the tips I listed above, and watch your online writing career soar.
