How to Earn a Lot of Money from Your Part-Time Writing

The key is to have your writing work for you — not the opposite

Writing is one of the few vocations that defies the law of conservation of matter. We actually create something from nothing. I realize there’s heat, neurons, and calories involved, so scientifically it’s not matter from nothing. But we do have the opportunity to create a product from nothing.

We don’t need raw material.

We don’t need employees, startup capital, or even an office.

All we need is the gray, bread-pudding between our ears.

While most writers can do well, trading time for money, there’s a ceiling to their success. You can only write one project at a time. You can only handle so many clients at a time. You can only publish one book at a time (even if you’re able to write a book a month).

However, as commercial writers, we need to hang our artist’s hat for a minute and strap-on our entrepreneur’s helmet, while we outline our writing business model to work for us, instead of us for it.

When we think of our writing as another SKU (retail term than means stock keeping unit) on the shelf, the entire perspective of our business model changes.

It’s time to multiply your writing earnings.

Yes, writing is a business

We do have to put our writers’ egos aside when we think like marketers. We want the writing to stand alone — to speak for itself. A great piece of writing should be all it takes to spread the word — right?

Wrong.

That ship sailed once indie publishing took the world by storm.

If we want our writing to work for us, instead of to be trapped into a day job, by our writing — we’ve got to take a more-clinical look at our work. Hence, the SKUs. The more SKUs you can create from a single piece of writing, the more your writing will work for you while you’re not typing.

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not have my keyboard become a prison sweatshop of content.

When you first start as a writer, you’ve got to pay your dues, but eventually you’ll want to go outside, wear clean clothes, maybe take a walk, and occasionally, a vacation. We can do all these things once our writing works for us.

This isn’t about swimming in pools of hundred-dollar bills, or sitting on the hood of one of your fifteen Lamborghinis. This is about earning a great living, practicing the vocation you love, without being chained to your proverbial writing desk (wherever that desk may be).

So, start by performing a SKU inventory.

How many different assets can you create from a single piece of your writing?

If you have a book, can you create a course?

If you have an article, can you expand it into a book, a video series, social media quote posts, and a masterclass?

Always think of ways to make your writing work harder for you.

We’ve got a valuable gift. We’ve created something from nothing. Not many business owners can truly say that. If we take full-advantage of the opportunity, our writing will work a lot harder.

Always look at your writing as a multi-pronged earnings-engine

Instead of looking at an article, say, and assuming you’ll make X amount of dollars for it once — use that same piece of content and aim multiple income arrows at it.

Your income arrows are different income sources you create from one piece of content.

For example, don’t allow your readers to leave your content without an opportunity to join your tribe.

If you earn a new reader from an article, the last thing you should do is let them get away. Readers are hard to come by. Every one counts. Therefore, at the bottom of each article you write, give the reader a really good reason to join your email list.

Tribe-building is a long-term play. This is a huge, second income arrow from a single piece of writing.

Never forget to refer your reader to older pieces of writing. Maybe you can link to an article you wrote last year. Not only will this help you earn additional income from your older article, it keeps the reader inside your content bubble longer — getting her accustomed to your work.

These are income arrows three (your older content) and four (your content bubble).

When you build a strong content bubble you encourage your new reader to return for more. There’s an unlimited amount of competition in the writing space. Readers have a finite amount of time. We want the reader to spend her time with us.

The artist’s hat will always be there

Yes, you should take a more clinical approach to your writing business, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop being an artist. Your readers want to hear from you, because of your voice, not your business model.

When we create the product we’re nothing but artists.

Without the art (and heart) in our writing no amount of marketing in the world will sell it.

If we want to be commercial writers we’ve got to wear both hats — equally and proudly. No one’s coming to save us. No one will promote our work for us, unless we promote it first. No one will buy our work based on our merit alone.

We’ve got to tell people we have something great they should read.

One of the best ways to remind your readers, is through email. And not only does email help you remind readers to buy your work, it also acts as an insurance policy for your business.

When you own your traffic you own your writing business.

If you only write for a platform, without build a tribe of your own, your writing income is completely at the mercy of someone else. It’s time to add more income arrows to your quiver.

If you start building your tribe now, you’ll have a pre-made, rabid audience, ready when you launch your next book (or re-launch your last books).

This should be a list you own (instead of relying on social media or some other big-business platform). Tap the link below. Enroll in my Tribe 1K indie email masterclass. I’ll show you how to get your first 1,000 subscribers (and your next 1,000) without spending one hot nickel on ads.

We’re waiting for you.

Enroll in my Free Email Masterclass. Get Your First 1,000 Subscribers

August Birch (AKA the Book Mechanic) is both a fiction and non-fiction author from Michigan, USA. As a self-appointed guardian of writers and creators, August teaches indies how to make work that sells and how to sell more of that work once it’s created. When he’s not writing or thinking about writing, August carries a pocket knife and shaves his head with a safety razor.