Make a Living Online Writing What You Know

Making money online is the new dream of so many people. Some think that there is some magic site that they can go to and make millions quickly, and with little or no effort. Others believe that it can be done, but not that fast. Some just hope that it can be done. The truth of that matter is, if you look at it write and are willing to work at it, you can be making money online. Over time you can grow that into a living. It takes a lot of time, effort and work, but it can indeed be done.

The Outlook.
Many get online and hope to find a quick and easy way to make money. However, it just doesn't work that way. Some write an article here or use a pay to click program there and they expect those things to make them a lot of money. The truth is though, this has to be approached in the same way as starting a business. You have to put a lot of time, effort, and work into it. In the beginning, it isn't going to be worth it. In fact, you will probably work hours and make pennies. But sooner or later, those pennies will turn into something worth talking about. There is no make money quick or easy unless you are willing to scam people into paying you. However, if you approach the task with the outlook that you are starting your own business and it will take time, effort, hard work, and maybe even a little sweat and tears, then you will indeed make it.

The Method.
The best way of making money online is to write articles and to share what you know. This isn't hard to do, but takes some time to launch and a little time to get the handle on it. I can not stress enough that it takes work. It will be a job for you and not just a little bit of fooling around on the Internet. However, as long as you have a decent grasp of the English language (if you are going to write in English) and the other language you might write in then you can make this work for you as well as others have before you.

Start with writing what you know. You have a ton of information that you can share this way. Everything that you know and the things that you do each day can be turned into knowledge that is worth sharing. Everything in your life can be turned into how to articles, informative articles, and even opinionated ones. This can help you to build you sphere of articles. You can keep lists to help you remember what you might want to right on.

However, this method only works if you write a lot. I don't mean a handful of articles here and a handful of articles there either. I mean a lot. The more you write the more potential you have for traffic and the more money you can earn. If you plan to make only a few cents an article each month then you can write thousands of articles and be thrilled when you make a little more then a few cents each month. However, it literally takes a lot of articles and not just a few or a few dozen. You need to have a few hundred before you see the difference. It is best to have a few thousand.

Write on many different sites. This is important because you don't want all of your eggs to be in one basket. If a site should disappear on you, you will want to have something else out there working for you. It is best to work hard to build a large network of articles on several sites. The more articles you have on a site the larger your money making potential is. Additionally, the more sites you have the more secure your money making is. You can also find out which ones have the biggest potential for which types of articles.

Before deciding you are done with a site you should write at least 20 articles. This gives you a good idea of how your articles will preform and if you are getting any traffic whatsoever. Some sites are easier to get traffic and others do best with certain types of content. You will have to do a little trial and error in order to come up with the best of your sites.

Promote your writing. It is easy to write and to hope someone comes and reads it, but to be really successful at this you have to promote your writing. Some websites have a great amount of free traffic that comes to their pages easily and naturally, but many don't. You often have to promote your writing by writing about it elsewhere, including links in your blogs, and social bookmarking it to get lots of visitors there. The more traffic you have the more money you make.

Some of the websites.
I have by no means found all of the websites out there and it will probably take a lot more time to work with them all. However, I have found a number of really good sites and currently recommend twelve of them.

Hubpages
One of my favorite writing sites. Here you can make 60% of the Google Adsense impressions (more with promoting hubs that are other peoples and getting people to sign up and work on Hubpages). Plus setting up the pages can be a lot of fun.

HowToDoThings.com
This how to site also has Google Adsense page impression sharing. I have done well here, and am very pleased. This is one of the easier how to sites to write for as well, but you do have to apply to be an expert in specific categories.

ehow
Here at ehow you earn through their revenue sharing. It isn't clear how it comes, but you can get a lot of traffic and write on anything you want.

Associated Content
Here you can get an upfront payment on some articles, but you can also get performance pay based on the number of page impressions you receive during the month ($1.50 for every 1000 page impressions).

Helium
While this site makes a little less then some of the other sites, it is very easy to write for because you add your article to the appropriate title. You can find thousands of articles to add to and make some money.

Triond
This is a great site. They publish your works on various sites. You then make a revenue share. You can even publish in multiple languages which makes it perfect for international users.

SpeakAboutIt
Fairly new on the scene this site has done an amazing job of bringing in traffic making it a great place for you to write and a great place to check out. Here you can write anything you want, and make 50% of the Google Adsense impressions.

Xomba
While I am fairly new to this site, there are several who are earning lots of money on this site. I haven't gotten that far yet, but writing here can be very profitable with a 50% Google Adsense impression sharing program.

YouSayToo
Here you can write a journal, articles, create your own games, and even keep a microblog. You get 50% of all the Google Adsense page impressions. Plus they run monthly contests which can increase your earnings a lot.

Tutorial Tub
Here you can write tutorials or how to articles. It doesn't have a lot of organic traffic, but with a little promotion, you can make money with it. You get 50% of the Google Adsense page impressions.

PrintNPost
This site has a lot of traffic, but it just doesn't feel as well put together. I am fairly new and don't yet know the earning potential. However, you get 50% of the Google Adsense page impressions, plus a ton of traffic.

Squidoo
This site is very fun to work with. However, you don't get much organic traffic and must advertise your work to get traffic. Plus their revenue sharing is complicated and it takes time to start earning. You can however, use it to promote other sites.

The Math.
Many people find that they have a hard time dealing with the math. However, you can grow your earnings into something very large. It takes time and effort. Some sites you may only earn ten cents an article per month. Others you may find yourself earning seventy-five cents an article per month. It takes time to figure out which places make the most money and how to set yourself up with earnings each month that can help pay your bills, and then take you farther then that!

The Example.
Many people are skeptical. This works. It takes time, effort, and work. I can't stress that enough. I started in August 2007. That month, I made a few pennies, certainly nothing worth talking about. September wasn't much better, only I made a few dollars. October I made just over $50 and was feeling good. However, it certainly wasn't worth my time and effort. I continued to work hard and made $300 for November. Slacking off a bit in December I brought in $200. January was looking up with $505, and February brought me $525. Last month was March 2008 and I brought in $720. It isn't a full time living yet. However, it is growing nicely and over time should be a great amount of money each month.

I don't think I can ever stress it enough. It takes time to earn money online. It is a small business and isn't worth it at first. However, you can set your own hours, take care of your family, work as hard as you want, and grow it into a nice income, as long as you are willing to put work, effort, time, and energy into doing it. It isn't going to happen over night, but you can make it happen.