A Guide to Sharing and Promoting Your Writing

As  I mentioned in my Guide to Making Money by Writing Online you should be spending the same amount of time sharing and promoting your work as you do actually writing it in the first place. Many writers do not exactly relish this aspect of the work but it must be done if you want to drive traffic to your writing- and traffic means money.

This is my guide to promoting and sharing your writing. It is based on what I do and what I have had success with. It is not exhaustive but it is enough to keep you going with I am sure.

Places to Share Your Work

Facebook

Share all your writing through your Facebook account. If you don't want to bore family and friends you could open up a separate Facebook account . Join writing groups, blogger groups and other groups where you can share your writing, tips and expertise with other online writers.

If you have a particular interest or expertise you could start a page- having a page to go alongside your website is a good idea. Then you can post links to all your online content to the page and your followers will see it. You can also pay money to have Facebook advertise your page.

Twitter

If you haven't got a twitter account you really need to get one- get one twitter account for every area of expertise you write about then use choose a username that gives people an idea what you write about- this means like minded people will follow you. You can then tweet links to all your online writing. To get followers on twitter follow people with similar interests and tweet could interesting stuff- not just links to your own work. Try to participate in the twitter community by commenting and re-tweeting every now and again. Use # to index your tweets. So if I am tweeting a link to an article I wrote about Islam I would use the following hashtags- #Islam, #religion and so on. If your link is very long it won't leave you much space in your tweet to say anything else- If this is the case go to Bitly and shorten your url. It's free and you can log straight in via facebook. 

Pinterest

Pinterest is great if your written content has good pictures in it- Pinterest works on images and a good image is more likely to be repinned than a crappy mobile upload. Pinterest is more suited to certain areas like crafts, fashion or food but you can use it for anything so give it a go. To get followers on Pinterest pin good content regularly and not just your own stuff. Pin from around the web on to well named, well organised boards. Pin about stuff that is linked to your writing areas so when you also pin your own stuff it wont look spammy or out of place.

Stumbleupon

Stumbleupon is a bit like Pinterest but instead of showing users thumbnails linked to a webpage it shows the actual webpage. Adding a page to Stumbleupon is a bit more complex than simply pressing a Pin It Button if there isn't a stumble upon button on your writing. Again as before add your work to Stumbleupon and use the stumble tool on the actual website to stumble through other pages. When you see something you like you can give it a thumbs up and if you really like it you can add it to one of your collections. Follow lots of people and regularly update your stumbles to gain followers yourself. Because Stumbleupon shows the whole page and not just an it is good for people who write about things that aren't necessarily eye-catching like fashion and baking etc. I  like using Stumbleupon to find good writing advice.

Instagram

Instagram is a phone app that lets you upload and share images with your followers. It is good for anyone writing about health, fitness and food especially. You will have to upload good images or inspirational or funny quotes seem to do quite well as well. If your phone camera is not very good there is a way to add photos straight from your computer. See here for directions. Again get followers by following like-minded people. You can search for # or usernames to help you find kindred spirits. When you add a picture you can add a comment and hash-tags. Unfortunately you cannot put direct links to your work but it can still help you brand yourself and get yourself known.

Use a Ping Service

Once you have written content, either for your blog or for a revenue sharing website you can ping your work to all the search engines. I use MyPageRank. It is quick and simple, and of course free, to use. Simply paste your url, write the title and enter the code and there you go- all the search engines know about your work.

Redgage*

Redgage allows you to create an account and add links to all your online content. You can make friends and get subscribers who will see everything you put up. You can easily create groups to organise your content. The added bonus? You actually get paid by Redgage when people look at your content. It's not a great deal and you have to reach a certain amount before you get paid but considering it's driving traffic to your writing then you can't complain.

* Redgage are currently trying to sort a few things on their website out so at present they are not accepting new users.

Google Plus

You can also share your writing with your circles on Google Plus. This is usually as simply as clicking the G+ Button. You can also join like-minded communities on Google Plus and post links to your content their. So if you write about health you can join the Health communities and link your work. Be careful- some communities stipulate that you are not allowed to post links to your own sites but most will let you if it is relevant. Again though- keep it to one or two a day- you don't want to spam the board or you'll start to annoy people.

So as you can see there are plenty of free places online that you can share your content.

A Guide to Making Money Online Through Writing

Below is my guide to how you can make yourself some money simply through using FREE resources available on the internet. I cannot say how much you will make but if you follow my guide and are willing to put the work in you WILL make money.

Sites that Pay You to Write Online

First things first you need to sign up to free sites that pay you to write online. These are known as Revenue Sharing Websites. I can recommend a few- there are plenty but don't join them all- you have to be realistic about what you can fit it. You will achieve better results if you update your content regularly and network on the sites so it pays to just stick to a few- or even just one to begin with. A further consideration is that many sites require you to reach a certain earning threshold before they will payout. If you are writing on several different sites you will take longer to reach the earning threshold than you would if you were concentrating your efforts on one or two sites.

Why Should I Join Two Different Sites?

You should consider joining two different revenue sharing websites if you have two distinct areas of expertise. You could then use one platform to write about your primary subject area and another platform to write about your secondary subject area.

The reason for doing this is that if you write about one area or niche you can establish yourself as an expert and key player in that online community. You want to look like an expert not a Jack of All- Trades. Keep your two areas separate and use different personas. 

Once you have joined a few revenue sharing websites get writing. It really is that simple- the money will start of slow but as you produce more quality content and network you will see it begin to increase.

I first joined HubPages and I have never regretted that decision.  For more information on HubPages click here. If you would like to join  HubPages for Free click on the link below:

Other Revenue Sharing Websites to Consider are:

• Infobarrel
• Squidoo 
• Bubblews

Set Up Your Own Website or Blog

You might be content to stick to writing for revenue sharing websites and if so then you can skip this section. However, there are many benefits to starting your own website or blog as well. Benefits are:

• You own all the content and are in charge
• You don't have to share what you make from advertising etc 
• You can use your website to link to your other online writing
• You can have your own domain name

Don't be daunted by the thought of setting up your own blog or website. There are loads of totally free web-building services out there that will help you build your own blog or website and host it for you. It is really simple and you don't need to know any html.

I use Weebly and Blogger and both are free, easy to use and produce a good final product. You can also monetize both by adding Google Adsense and affiliate links like Amazon. If your website really took off and become popular then the sky is the limit- you can sell advertising space to companies or join affiliate programmes and earn through those as well.

Should I do a Blog or a Website?

Remember once you have set up a website you can, in theory, leave it ticking away and maybe just update it every now and again. A blog works a bit differently and should ideally be updated several times a week. A blog is a work in progress and you can publish and start gaining a readership with just one post. A website requires you to do more ground work before you even begin. Think about which would work best for you and your time. Weebly is good as it offers a bit of both. When you create your free website you can add a blog to it-so you could have a website all set up and use the blog feature to occasionally add new content or updates.

What Should I Write About?

Once you have decided whether to blog or create a website (or do a bit of both) you need to decide what you are going to write about.Your blog or website needs to be about something you enjoy, are passionate about and know about. It can be the same as what you write about for the revenue sharing websites but do not use the same content on both. A blog or website that complements your other writing works well as you can link back to one another. So for instance if you blog about crafts you could create a blog sharing your family doing crafts and give away free resources.

Try to Find a Niche

You might think its a good idea to write about a really popular subject- it will get a lot of searches and there is a massive audience but remember the most popular subjects will all ready have thousands of people writing about them- why would anyone care what you've got to add to the mix? If possible find a niche you can write about and then narrow it down as far as you can. Yes you will have a smaller target audience but you might be the only one out there writing this stuff so who is everyone going to come to? Yep you. And if your niche isn't that specialist that you are the only one then at least you can make sure you are the BEST out there.

Writing About Bits and Bobs

So what if you have some areas that your not an expert about but that interest you or you know a bit about? I think Bubblews is the perfect outlet for doing what I call 'bits and bobs' writing. Why? Because posts don't have to be as long - only 400 characters- you can make fairly good money from it and it is a great place to go when you want to write something quick or something that doesn't quite fit in with your other writing areas. For more information on Bubblews click here. To join Bubblews for free now click here.

Be Friendly

If you go onto HubPages or Bubblews and find the top earners there is one thing they'll all have in common- well a few things really. One will be that they have a LOT of content. Another thing, hopefully, will be that their content is of a good quality. But the thing I want to talk about is their social connections. Most revenue sharing websites have a way of following writers. People who are making money from writing online will have a lot of connections.

The more connections or followers etc that you have the more you are going to become 'known' and the more page views you are likely to have, the more social shares you are likely to get- the more money you are likely to earn. Here is a quick list of things you can do to get lots of followers:

• Write quality content
• Write new content frequently
• Connect/ follow/ befriend as many people as you can
• Be a good friend- write comments on your connections work, like it, share it, praise it and people will do the same for you
• Follow people with similar interests to you as they are more likely to follow you back and actually read your work
• Follow people who you genuinely have an interest in- either because you like their style or what they write about- it will make it easier to be a good connection if you actually value and enjoy reading what they write

You'll be surprised how friendly and supportive the word of online writing is. Most people operate on a policy of if you help me out I'll help you out so give and you shall receive.

Get into the Habit of Sharing

Once you have written whatever it is you have written- a blog post, an article, a recipe whatever you should spend just as long- sometimes even longer- sharing and promoting what you have written. The internet is a big old place- getting bigger by the second so don't wait for people to stumble across your content- take it to them! This is probably another blog post so click here to see my guide to sharing your work. Suffice to say you have to promote your work to get it seen. The best way to do that nowadays is through social networking.

A Review

1. Workout what you are going to write about
2. Join one or two revenue sharing websites- keep your different areas of expertise separate
3. Join Bubblews to write any 'bits and bobs' writing
4. Set up your own blog or website
5. Make friends and connections
6. Share and Promote Your Work

Welcome to Write Online to Make Money

This is a small blog designed to share with you how
I make money online using free resources.
HubPages I cannot and will not claim to know the secret to any get rich quick schemes- I can't even guarantee that the advice I give you will give you a full time modest income but I can promise you this- If you have a passion for writing, you are half decent at it and willing to put in some work you CAN make yourself a regular amount of largely passive income by writing online. How much you earn depends on many factors but I would say the main factor is how hard you are able and willing to work.

How I write Online to Make Money

I gave up my regular job as a teacher when I had my third child. It soon became clear that the humble wage of a classroom teacher would not cover the costs of putting three children into full time childcare. So that was that I left my job to stay at home and be a full time mum. I looked into online writing for two reasons:

1. To occupy my mind and find "something for me" 
2. To maybe earn a bit of spending money

We are in a fortunate situation that I don't need to earn money to survive but if I can earn money then all the better as it affords me more freedom to do what I want, buy I want and it is nice to not be completely financially dependent on someone else.

The first place I began writing was Hubpages. I can't even remember how I found it but I did and I have never looked back. I love the layout and feel of Hubpages- it looks professional, it is easy to navigate and my writing gets regular hits there.

My second online writing was through the free website builder and hosting service Weebly. Again I really like working with Weebly- it is so easy to use and the finished result looks good. I have a website with Weebly that I update about 4 times a week and all the time I am learning new tricks to make my site look more professional.

The next place I experimented with was here on blogger. I have tried out various blogs but this is the only one I still run. Over the last two years I have learnt lots about using blogger and I think it is a great place for a beginner to start a blog. It is so easy to use- you can add loads of features and make your blog look very professional. I tried Wordpress and I couldn't get my head round it- I think Wordpress blogs look great but it was a bit too advanced for me. 

The next place I began writing for was Bubblews. This is a great site for writers of any kind and the rate at which you earn is quite fast. The good thing about Bubblews is posts only have to be 400 characters long meaning you can knock quite a lot of posts out at once.

How Much Money Do I Make Writing Online?

This is probably what you all want to know- so bearing in mind that I currently write in four separate areas- 1 blog, 1 website and 2 revenue sharing websites I make about $125 per month. I'm in the UK but I get paid mainly in dollars. The revenue sharing websites make me the most money at the moment but eventually if I keep going with my blog and website I hope they might one day make more. We shall see. 

If you would like to make a bit of extra money in your spare time, or if you would like to make a serious income from writing online follow my guide here.