Making money as a writer can be hard. Very hard. At least that’s the rumor. My experience, if you have something of value to share that can help others get where they want to be in life, is that making money with words can be easier than you imagine. Here are just three ways that I have been making money with words for more years than I would like to mention.
Make Money With Your Words Number 1: PDF Training Reports
PDF’s are still the standard cross platform file type, and baking your know-how into a PDF report is a great place to start making money with your words. One of my very first money-making projects was a PDF report written to help Christian couples enjoy greater intimacy (blush).
I created the report in Adobe InDesign (although Word does just as well) and published the book to the affiliate marketplace clickbank.com. At the time Clickbank was the main site that allowed product creators like myself to connect with others who may be able to connect their audience with my writing. I contacted various bloggers and other product creators with similar products or audiences, and sent them a review copy and a hopeful request that they might consider sending a promotion email about my book to their email list.
I was very new to the whole internet marketing world so my efforts were a little stilted. Nevertheless I did connect with some willing partners and made over a $1000 from that short 70-80 page book. It sold for $17 and I gave 50% commission to any affiliates who advertised the book.
I have certainly found that this technique is more given to non-fiction, where people are looking for solutions and answers as opposed to just entertainment.
What is your niche? Do you have keys and solutions to encourage and enhance people’s lives that can be shared in a report of this kind?
My most popular PDF report of this kind, aimed at helping indie fiction authors publish and advertise their short stories, made over $44,000 in just 7 days. Again, just a simple PDF packed with helpful info.
The real keys that unlocks the zeros on the end of your bottom line are offering consistent value, honest information and those all important connections with solid well-respected affiliates in your niche.
Make Money With Your Words Number 2: Kindle Books
Amazon Kindle has so changed the landscape of indie publishing it is literally unrecognizable from where and what it was a decade ago. The doors have been blown from their hinges and the playing fields flattened for self-publishers to enjoy their slice of the publishing pie alongside the big dogs.
I often wish I had jumped on the Kindle band wagon long before I did, but be assured – [tweet_dis]Kindle is still an AMAZING opportunity.[/tweet_dis]
Whether you publish non-fiction or fiction, Kindle offers the easiest entry point of any that I know of. Done right it can be highly lucrative.
The real secret is to choose categories and niches that are in demand, but have little competition. Easy said, but they do exist. Take the time to dig through the Amazon Kindle categories and take a look at the kind of market corners that are available.
For me, in both non and fiction my preferred market is Christian. This alone narrowed my choices, but also my potential.
For you, it may be some other determiner that highlights the audience you want to reach. Maybe it is other authors, or lovers of gothic romance.
The main advice I can give here is that you need first to [tweet_dis]determine the market you want to sell to, then look at creating books that will appeal to them.[/tweet_dis] many times authors get this all mixed up. They create a book and then go looking for a market to sell it to. Wrong! Find the market, study the market, write for that market, and your dream of making money with your words will quickly become a reality.
Make Money With Your Words Number 3: Online Courses and Blogs
This is a long play strategy, but one that sets you up for long term income. If you are able to write for a specific audience and gather an audience who look forward to your informative and entertaining words on a regular basis, it opens doors for incredible things to happen.
My first blog was like this – I began developing an audience and then turned that audience into email subscribers to a content rich email series about prayer.
This in turn led people to my online Bible School (another place my words are helping people and making money while they do) where I give opportunity for hungry students of the Bible to become members of a comprehensive course of studies in the Scriptures.
Courses that you take payment for can of course take many forms. It can be a membership site like my Bible School, or even just a simple email course delivered over time direct to someone’s inbox.
The best thing about digital courses like this is that there are tools available today that will help you automate the entire process from sales page to delivery.
Opportunityisnowhere
[tweet_dis2]Some read Opportunity Is No Where.
Others read Opportunity is Now Here.[/tweet_dis2]
It is all a matter of perspective.
It takes guts to believe in and place value on your words. It takes time to build your platform and contacts.
But there is no better time to begin than right now.
