Tuesday, 1 May 2012

From Home With Love: Starting an Online Writing Career

So you love to write, but you're a stay-at-home mom looking to earn without leaving the house. Maybe you're a student looking to use your skills in writing for some shopping money on your free time. Or, maybe you're an up-and-coming writer looking to turn your passion for into a full-time thing.
If there's one thing the internet is good for, it's empowering people no matter where they are. Nowadays it's easy to look for money-making, internet business ideas that will get you to flex your writing muscles - all it takes is a little perseverance and some discipline, and you're ready to start your home-based career.
Preparations and Prerequisites
Before you take a crack at these internet business ideas, better prepare yourself first and get your act together.
Check your schedule - your own lifestyle design needs to follow suit with your new career. How will I fit the online writing in my daily tasks? How many hours am I willing to dedicate to this endeavor? Sit yourself down and reflect; working from home is always a little bit different (and difficult!) because you have to motivate yourself if you don't want to mess up. You've got your family, your dog or your cat, the TV, the bed, the telephone and everything else at home to distract you, and no actual boss to reprimand you, so you better discipline yourself.
After you've coordinated with yourself, start preparing your résumé or Curriculum Vitae, as well as a little compilation of some sample works you've done. You can either create a very specific portfolio - say, you want to focus on fashion writing - or a varied one to show your range and capabilities. Whatever you do, make sure you have these ready in email-able file sizes and types, so you can send it over to your future clients quickly. Also, get ready to write cover letters - lots of them. The thing about online business of writing is that you have to contact lots of different job opportunities, so you have to prepare to convince them that you can do the job.
Finding Writing Gigs Online
Head on out to your favorite search engine and type "freelance writing online" and you'll realize that there are tons of sites for online business ideas on writing. To get you started, check out freelance dotcoms like oDesk, Freelancer and Guru - you can create a profile where you can post your credentials, take tests to boost your credibility and finally check out job postings. From these sites, you can get in touch with people from all over the world who need your writing expertise.
Of course, practice caution when dealing with possible clients. You can never be too safe, so never give out details such as your bank account or credit card information. Some online freelancers opt to use an escrow service that will protect them in terms of payment.
Once you've done all these, turning your online business ideas into a real money-making writing endeavour is as easy as logging on to the World Wide Web. Make sure that you stick to your schedule, discipline yourself and of course, have fun doing it, and you'll surely find success writing online.