Making Money From Home as a Freelance Writer
Is it Financially Lucrative to Self Blog or Write for Someone Else?
Aug 7, 2009
Newbies often become overwhelmed at the online writing possibilities. After all, there are a host of online venues for new and veteran writers alike to earn money. The underlying question is: Why share ad revenue with the hosting site when the writer can create her own blog or website and reap 100% of the money earned from it?
Freelance Writing for an Established Website
Well established websites such as Suite101 (since 1996) and HubPages (around since 2005) and eHow (1998) to name a few, have not only proven themselves as creditable, upstanding, quality content sites, but they have gained favor with search engines. Having search engine favor means that articles placed on such sites gain quick indexing and high page ranking.
It is a well known fact that high page ranking means increased traffic. Increased traffic increases the likelihood of earning money on a properly monetized article. Therefore, freelance writers who place content on such sites share in the website's favor and receive traffic to newly written content.
While the traffic is not always instantaneous, the articles are usually indexed quickly by the search engines (anywhere from hours to a couple of days) which help to generate traffic sooner.
In addition to sharing the credibility and search engine good will, the sites manage all the behind the scene requirements. Their staff handles things such as domain name registration, hosting issues, coding and computer glitches. They track and disseminate the earnings in addition to securing advertisers and monitoring content. When claims of copyright infringement are bandied about, the site staff must handle such claims. All the writer has to do is write.
Keeping All of the Freelance Writing Earnings
On the other hand, writers have the option to keep 100% of their earnings by creating a website or blog and placing content there. While keeping all of the money sounds very attractive to a new online freelance writer, experienced writers understand that it takes awhile before a brand-new site generates significant enough traffic to make it worthwhile financially.
In addition to writing and formatting the content, the writer must take care of the day to day behind the scene tasks. Unless the blog is hosted on a free blogging platform, the writer must register the domain name, pay a hosting fee and handle all software updates, glitches and anything else that comes along.
Enjoy the Best of Both Freelance Writing Worlds
Nowhere on the internet is there a rule that says "All or Nothing." A freelance writer has the option to enjoy the benefits of both worlds, and this author strongly recommends doing so.
By writing for established online sites, freelance writers not only get the experience of placing content on the web, but with proper statistic tracking, they can see which articles draw the most traffic and which articles are the most lucrative. It's a live testing ground for selecting quality keywords.
As the new writer learns the nuances of writing for online publications by placing content on established sites, she should also invest time to create her own website/blog. Knowing that traffic does not happen overnight, she can take her time building quality content that will pay off in the long run. Additionally, the experience of creating a website or blog is a breading ground for article topics and ideas.
Freelance Writing for the Short and Long Term
Because it takes a while for the residual income stream to develop, writers with a need for immediate cash should utilize several of the upfront paying sites such as Textbroker, Demand Studios or even Quality Gal. However, as the residual income stream builds, the writer may wish to discontinue trading time for money and enjoy the benefits of an established residual income stream.
Bottom line, when it comes to the online freelance writing there is no need to choose one over the other. Writers can Earn Money by Internet Writing.
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