It’s entirely possible to make money writing and earn anywhere from $40 to $1,500 for a single article, depending on what you’re writing and the industry. For example, a simple blog post may net $40 while a white paper could topple the $1,500 mark.
You can also earn anywhere from $30 to $100 on up an hour as a writer, even with little to no experience. I went from a no-name writer earning peanuts to writing travel guidebooks, articles, and posts and commanding big paydays from common job boards. It’s relatively easy to do but does take some patience and a strategy to gain momentum.
Interested in getting paid to write? Here’s the exact method of how to get started from zero to paid for your writing side hustle.
Table of Contents
1) Set Up an Online Presence the Easy Way
In an ideal world, you have your own writer’s website, portfolio, and blog showcasing your writing work set up and ready to go. But it’s also not necessary and a time-wasting step if you’re a beginner. Instead, there are a few simple and free ways to create an online presence for potential clients and to raise your credibility.
Start by writing three to five sample articles or blog posts on a topic you hope to break into, whether parenting or travel. Aim for at least 1,000 words, scour for typos, and run it through Grammarly to make your work sparkle. It usually works best to focus your samples on the same topic of establishing some authority. But it’s also okay for them to overlap with family travel or budgeting for travel. Next, add your samples to at least one of the following sites:
Thoroughly fill out every area of your profile on any site and include a picture or video. The more you can establish your credibility and create a connection with a potential client, the better. Once you have a writer’s profile set up, you have a place to send potential clients to see your work.
2) Leverage Your Personal Experience
Personal experience is highly valuable and in demand. There are scores of articles, blog posts, and books that inexperienced writers are fully capable of writing. But what they have is a wealth of personal experiences to share to help educate or entertain the reader. Whether you have great tips for finding free money or bargain hunting for antiques, there’s an outlet for everything. Get started with your writing side hustle by thinking about what advice your friends and family come to you for and the outlets you already enjoy reading.
Find Paid Writing Work
Relevant blogs and magazines that accept essays are the easiest way to leverage your personal experience into a writing side hustle. I landed an article in the LA Times writing about a little-known way landlords make money by renting to airline pilots. How? My dad and brother are pilots, and I knew the ins and outs of how this worked. I pitched about ten places before I got a “yes” to write it on spec, which means I wrote it without the promise of getting paid. Fortunately, it ran, and I made several hundred dollars for my big debut.
Get started by making a list with a column of all of your interests and hobbies, and in the next column, write out potential outlets. Just because the blog, magazine, or website doesn’t say they hire writers doesn’t mean they don’t. Look in their ‘About Us’ section or LinkedIn profile and look for the founder or editor’s name.
You may have to guess at their email a bit. For example, if you’re looking for the email for Jane Doe at Mother101Mag.com, you may need to try:
- Jane.Doe@Mother101Mag.com
- JaneDoe@Mother101Mag.com
- JDoe@Mother101Mag.com
- Jane@Mother101Mag.com
Keep trying until you figure it out or put that particular outlet aside and move on to the next one on your list. You’ll have an easier time pitching blogs and outlets you already read than starting with ones you don’t. However, you can also use this quick list of outlets that accept personal essays for publication:
- Buzzfeed
- Motherwell
- Narratively
- The Penny Hoarder
- The Billfold
- Travels’ Tails
- Brain, Child
- True Story
- The Three Penny Review
Writing about personal experiences is a great way to break into the industry, but can take a little time. Don’t get discouraged if you get some rejections right off the bat. It’s not a rejection of you, but it usually just means the outlet isn’t a good fit for your specific story or they recently published something similar.
3) Write About the Work You Already Do for a Living
You may think project management or the nitty gritty parts of HR aren’t that interesting to anyone but you, but plenty of publications will pay you for your knowledge. There are a few ways to approach this writing side hustle. First, translate your expertise to another area of life that people need. For example, you can write about using your project management experience to help run your house and use apps and spreadsheets to stay organized.
Find Paid Writing Work:
The other way to get paid for writing about your expertise is by targeting trade publications and finding their editors. There’s a trade publication for every industry, including Pizza Today that gives insider tips, operational advice, and recipes for today’s pizza owners. Or NAPPS: Professional Pet Sitter Magazine. Just Google your industry or job title with “magazine, publication, newsletter, or organization” to find a match that works for you.
Keep in mind that publications want a unique idea. It’s not enough to just ask if you can write an article for them. Instead, suggest an article about the best social media strategy for pizza owners who have just acquired a new business.
4) Join Exclusive Writing Job Boards
Upwork is still my preferred job board for my writing side hustle (plus they have digital media jobs, graphic design, project management, data entry, and more), but there are other places to look. And we’ll also talk about Upwork soon, so sit tight!
The Freelance Writer’s Den is the only other job board I think is worthwhile and is packed with value. Sure, there are ProBlogger and other sites I’ve landed work on, but I find most of them are competitive and riddled with low-paying gigs. The Freelance Writers’ Den streamlines your writing side hustle with tons of courses led by experts, a highly engaged community with over 1,600 members, and lots of advice on how to land your first client and scale to big paydays. Their courses are fantastic and varied, so you can find just about everything you’re looking for regarding different niches to break into. It’s how I started landing magazine and custom content work.
Beyond all their courses, their writing job board is authentic and high-quality. No one there is hiring for peanuts, and you don’t have to scrounge around looking for writing gigs online. Anything they post is vetted and posted to their members, many of who have no experience and are also learning as they go. The Den also has a 7-day money-back guarantee, so really, you can’t go wrong.
Learn more about The Freelance Writer’s Den here.
5) Reach Out to Small Businesses
Small businesses are a goldmine for paid writing work and often favor working with other small businesses or side hustlers. Businesses need everything from social media copy to flyers and website copy. Start by identifying an area of writing you would be great at, such as copywriting.
If you’re new to a writing side hustle, a copywriter is someone responsible for writing the copy that’s used in marketing and other promotional materials. If you already have some writing skills, it’s not hard to learn. Start by studying your favorite stores’ websites, veterinarians, dentists, and anyone else you can find. You should start to see patterns in how their copy is structured and how it’s selling that business.
Find Paid Writing Work:
Make a list of the small businesses you already patronize and categorize by who you would love to work with, would be okay working with, and who you don’t think is a good fit for you. For example, you may not feel a connection with a lumberyard or feel you can produce good copy for them. The next step is to write the owner an email or call them directly to inquire about their writing needs.
Asking around word-of-mouth or joining a networking group is also an easy way to put yourself in front of more people who may need your services. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t hit on any big wins. When people hear others talk about needing a writer, they’re likely to recommend you.
6) Pitch Custom Content Magazines
Magazine writing is a fun and lucrative writing side hustle, but it’s also an extremely competitive market to break into. It can absolutely be done, even without experience, but pitching your personal essays. However, there are much easier ways to do it. Instead of vying for those national magazines that get thousands of submissions a month, look to custom content publications instead.
Custom content magazines, or just custom magazines, are sponsored and produced by one company to attract a specific audience. For example, Costco creates its own magazine in-house. So do many companies, including Delta Airlines and HOG Magazine, for Harley Davidson.
However, there are even smaller custom content magazines you’ll find in your own industry, state, city, or town. Now that you know what they are, you’ll see them everywhere you go, from the newcomer’s magazine you see on people’s driveways to the circulars featuring women in your community. Those smaller community publications are gold, and although some don’t pay and are just for exposure, others easily pay $200 on up for a single article. I once wrote for a major vitamin retailer and got paid a dollar a word.
Find Paid Writing Work:
Start collecting every custom content publication you can find and read through them. If every article is written by a business owner, then that publication is simply offering exposure and no pay. Other magazines and newspapers with plenty of bylines are probably open to writers, especially with a local angle.
7) Team Up with Marketing Agencies
I love writing for marketing agencies and the steady stream of work they provide. You won’t get paid as much as having direct clients, but you also won’t need to keep looking for work when the agency assigns client work to you. Big, enormous agencies aren’t worth your time unless you already have experience and a portfolio to match. However, smaller digital agencies always seek writers to produce website copy, social media blurbs, flyers, email newsletters, and more.
This writing side hustle is best suited if you can write in lots of different voices and styles. I thrive on writing for tons of different businesses and don’t mind being pulled into different directions. Although it’s not for everyone, you can stay fully booked with just a few marketing agencies.
Find Paid Writing Work:
Looking for smaller marketing agencies in your community is okay, but it is slow and ineffective. They often have people on staff or are too small to use a wide roster of writers and content creators. Instead, I find most of my marketing-related writing work on Upwork. There are always agencies there looking, and many of them are small and pay a reasonable hourly rate of $30 to $80, depending on your level of experience. Sending a few relevant samples their way can help open up that first door to landing your first job.
8) Nail Your Upwork Strategy
I love it when I see people on Quora or Reddit declaring that Upwork is a race to the bottom. In the meantime, I’m scoring big and making over $6,000 on my Upwork side hustle alone (part-time) with major brands, marketing agencies, and website publishers.
Yes, Upwork absolutely attracts low-paying clients, and the platform does take a 5% to 10% cut of your revenue. It also takes time to work your way up and really refine the process, but for me, it was well worth it, especially when you don’t bother with low-paying jobs that will only attract cheap writers.
Why figure out the learning curve at Upwork at all? People on Upwork are ready to hire NOW, and they don’t always care about your writing experience, provided you’re capable and make their lives easier. If you can share a sample (or spec) to show you can write and do it well, it will go a long way. The more serious you take it and the real effort you put into it, the better your results and the faster you can scale your income. I also love that the billing, reports, and payments are all automated and ready to go, making this side hustler’s life easier come tax season. Finding work when needed is also key for a stay-at-home, working Mom who needed consistent income.
Learn more about the best jobs on Upwork here.
The trick to Upwork is fully customizing your profile, complete with a video, and showcasing yourself to potential clients. But don’t talk about yourself the whole time; talk about how you solve problems for clients. “I help clients establish loyal audiences by creating engaging content that educates and delights.” If you’re not sure where to start, see what your competition is doing. Do a few google searches like:
👉 “Copywriters on Upwork”
👉 “Bloggers available for hire on Upwork”
👉 “Article writers on Upwork”
Now see what the top-rated writers in those categories include in their profile to get inspired (but never copy) what they’re doing. Writing a few articles on your own is critical to show off as spec work. Spec work means you wrote the piece as a sample and were not paid for it. You can upload your samples to Upwork to show off your skills. Keep your focus it aligned with something you’re already interested in writing about, whether it’s an article about family cruises or how to detail a luxury car.
Upwork also has a few proficiency skill tests you can take, which is absolutely worth your time. It just shows clients that you have a strong command of the English language and grammar, to name a few areas.
Pro tip: Once you’ve filled out everything you can with Upwork, it’s time to start applying. It will take some time to gain traction. I recommend shooting for $40+ articles to get started and work your way up to at least $50 an hour or a flat rate of $100 per article. Don’t get discouraged that you will get passed over, as you don’t have any experience or feedback on Upwork yet. To accommodate, you can include:
“I’m new to Upwork, but I have experience with XYZ and am keeping my rates low for my first few projects.”
Make sure to outline the type of relevant experience you have. You can also take a quick video of yourself talking through your proposal and then upload to YouTube and set it to ‘unlisted.’ Only people with your unlisted link can view your video. It’s an incredible way to stand out and quickly land work, as most people don’t utilize video on Upwork at all. It shows the client you’re serious and helps them put a face to your name, establishing an immediate connection.
Find Paid Writing Work:
Go straight to Upwork.com to start looking for gigs that match your skillset, and remember to narrow everything down to categories like “articles, blog posts, copywriter, and writer.” It can take a little time to figure out how to make the most of Upwork, but it’s worth the investment if you’re serious about it. You’ll automatically get a handful of free “Connects” to submit jobs, but when you run out, it’s only $0.15 for each connection, and you get 10 free new ones each month. You can buy them in bundles to make it easy to apply and keep the momentum going.
It will take a little time, but once I really took it seriously and got up and running, I started making $6k months, with my highest being close to $9k for part-time hours.
Next Steps
Yes, you can make money writing, and it doesn’t need to take long to get started. Work carefully through the steps above or pick and choose your favorites. For example, Upwork or custom content magazines may not be a good fit for everyone, but you can work through different ideas and niches with the help of resources like The Freelance Writer’s Den. Whatever method you choose, stop procrastinating and take immediate action. There’s plenty of room out there for new writers; you just have to have confidence in yourself and put in the momentum to get there. Good luck!