How to monetize your craft as a writer in the digital world
In early 2018, I found myself looking for ways to earn more money, make better use of my downtime, and monetize my skills beyond my 9-5 job. I was reading Dorie Clarks Entrepreneurial You and it really got me thinking about the importance of creating multiple income streams.
I had been working at a large organization where mass layoffs were a huge part of everyday life, as the company was reacting to fluctuating markets and a decline in brick-and-mortar shopping.
As a result, I started thinking about what it really means to have a “secure job” and how in many ways, it does not exist in the way it did for my parent’s generation. I thought about how I could start building more streams of income to help protect myself from the realities of working in a corporate role, where layoffs could happen at any moment.
During this time, I had begun writing short-form blogs for different HR publications, as I was trying to establish my newly minted career and develop my voice in the HR space.
I was mostly writing for free as a guest blogger, until one day, I reached out to one of the editors and asked “I love writing for you, but I can’t do it for free. Do you have any paid positions?”. To my surprise, she quickly responded “Yes”.
This was the beginning of my journey as I learned about the different ways I could begin monetizing my craft as a writer.
Years later, I’ve developed a steady side stream of income as I continue to develop my craft and niche as a writer. I’ve received major social proof through publications that have featured my work. I have a large network that allows me to find new work, without using sites like Upwork.
In this article, I’ll outline the different steps I took throughout this journey as I learned to monetize my craft and build my side-stream of income.
8 steps I took to monetize my craft
Step 1: Find your niche! While this seems obvious, it can be tough and daunting because most people think that a niche requires them to reinvent the wheel. But that’s just not true! Rather, your niche is something you're good at, enjoy, and have some kind of unique perspective.
I never knew that writing about HR and career development was something I could monetize. But, as it turns out, I was wrong! Working in HR, being a millennial figuring out my own career, and having a strong penchant for writing gave me a unique perspective and opportunity to share my thoughts on the modern workplace with employers and employees in the form of blogs.
Developing this niche also helped me in my full-time job, as I’d often be tapped to help with tasks outside my role description like writing newsletters, PR presses, or internal communications.
If you’re struggling to find your niche, ask yourself:
What’s something I enjoy doing and that I’m good at?
What’s something that other people need but struggle to do on their own?
What do people tend to come to me for?
For me, this was writing. For you, it could be helping people connect their light switches to smart lights. Or baking delicious customized cakes. Whatever it is, we’ve all got a special something that others can benefit from!
Step 2: Create a portfolio: But–how do you create a portfolio if you’re already working for a company? For me, I started to reach out to blogs like Training Industry and the Association for Talent Development. I offered to write for free. This way, when I started to reach out to clients for paid opportunities, I had some work to show in my portfolio.
I chose those two outlets because writing about training and leadership was interesting to me, and I wanted to start becoming recognized as a thought leader in that space.
For you, it might be taking on a volunteer project somewhere, or working as a subcontractor as you build out your niche. If you’re looking to do something completely new outside your 9-5, get comfortable with the idea of working after hours!
Step 3: Find your first client: Next up was the scary part–finding a paid client. My journey towards paid writing started with Glassdoor. At the time, they had the name and email of their editor listed directly on the blog. I wrote an article pitch and sent it over to the editor with an introduction. She accepted my blog as an unpaid guest.
I wrote to her a few weeks later asking how the article performed, and she said the analytics were solid. So, I used the opportunity to sell myself as a paid freelance writer for her team. I was excited when she said yes, and this kicked off the first step of monetizing my writing.
Step 4: Refine your craft, and do great work: With this new paid opportunity, I was set on doing a great job and making sure I capitalized on this opportunity. I would take every free moment I had to work on my articles.
I recruited family to help me edit them before submitting because I wanted them to be perfect. I’d be at the bar on a Friday night asking people over drinks what was bothering them at work so I could get some inspiration for my topics to pitch. I did this for a year as I built up my portfolio with Glassdoor.
I made sure that I was making my editor's job as easy as possible by pitching original content, staying on top of industry trends, having pristine copy, and meeting all my deadlines. The more I did this, the more work I got.
Step 5: Get more clients: When I first started writing, it would take me up to 10 hours to write an 800-word blog. With enough practice, I cut that time down to 4-5 hours. Once I had a good handle on my client work and my full-time job, I wanted to expand my portfolio. I began doing some business development to find new clients.
I did some research and made a list of tech and software businesses that focus on the world or work, and that had active blogs with multiple different writers. I then went to LinkedIn, found the internal content team for each of these sites, and cold emailed them with a short introduction, a pitch for a new article, and a few sample pieces.
To my surprise, I was able to get 2 new clients from a weekend’s worth of outreach. If you’re uncomfortable with cold outreach and pitching yourself to prospects, I’d recommend starting out by learning how to build a lead list to generate business.
Step 6: Always follow up and pitch: Like with most freelance work, writing can be cyclical. Internal content teams move around, editors leave for new companies, or the overall content strategy can change. When I wouldn't hear from my editors for a while, or I was not getting any work assigned, I would reach back out to my point of contact, re-introduce myself, and make sure they knew I was available for work. This helped me stay on people’s radar.
Step 7: Tell people what you’re doing: This can be the scariest part if you’re not comfortable with the spotlight on you. You need to be active in telling people what you do so they know how to refer you and work with you.
This starts with writing a really clear service offering describing what you do. No jargon. No fancy catch lines. Just tell people exactly what you do, how you do it, and who you do it for. Tell them on LinkedIn, on your social channels, or however else will help you reach the right audience. Just get the word out!
If you’re still working full time, be mindful of your organization’s policy on working a side job while employed. Know where your employer stands before you start touting your services all over LinkedIn as some companies won’t be happy to see that.
Step 8: Get social proof: If I’ve worked with an editor long enough, I’ll always ask them if they are open to writing me a recommendation. This helps me when I pitch new clients and gives me the confidence to overcome imposter syndrome.
I also keep my favourite articles in a spreadsheet, along with any articles that have been republished by major publications (like ABC news, Nasdaq, FastCompany.etc). This way, I can quickly reshare them with people.
This has been a recap of my early journey as I’ve fleshed out my side business. I’m going to get even more granular in my next few posts and cover each of these topics in individual articles through my website blog:
How to land your first client
How to set your rates as a freelance writer
How to scale your side business when you’re working full time
How to develop new ideas
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