My Not-so-little $5k/Month White Paper Side-Hustle

A Former tech CMO explains how to break into this lucrative writer’s niche

I’ve never been one to play the lottery, and yet for the last few months, I’ve been secretly hoping to start making big money on Medium. So far, that hasn’t happened.

Until it does, I want to share a far more predictable way to make some real money — writing business white papers.

According to most sources, skilled white paper writers earn somewhere between $3,000 and $15,000 per job (depending on length, research required, and the complexity of the topic).

In my experience, most writers earn $5–6k per 2500 to 3000-word white paper.

In this article, I’m going to explain how to break into this lucrative writing niche with no little or no experience.

Before you turn up your nose, let me give you three excellent reasons you should write white papers.

1. White papers are real journalism — Even though white papers are usually lumped together with content marketing for budget purposes, they are far more journalism than marketing. Good white papers aren’t advertorials. Rather, they’re well-researched essays that explain a business topic and present a solution, without sounding like a sales pitch.
2. White papers are business storytelling — A good white paper writer can capture their client's expertise and transform it into an accessible narrative that is also educational to the targeted audience. Not only that, a good outside writer is more objective and less likely to reflect company biases or to lapse into cliched sales talking points.
3. White papers writers are in high demand — Right now, we are in the midst of the greatest content creation boom since the Renaissance. With almost the entire world working online now, the demand for authoritative, expert business content has skyrocketed. Accordingly, smart companies are transforming their sleepy websites into bustling information resource centers. But content creation and writing good white papers take a lot of time, which most marketing teams don’t have. Therefore, most small- to mid-sized businesses, including startups, must outsource their white paper writing.

After working for more than two decades as a corporate marketing executive in the publishing and technology sectors, I see a tremendous unmet need for better business storytelling.

Earlier this year I left my CMO position to start a company that does just that.

The vast majority of business content intended to educate audiences, convey expertise, and establish thought leadership is almost unreadable.

Just ask any business owner, CEO, startup founder, or marketing professional the following question:

On a scale of 1–10 (10=highest score), how would you rate your company’s ability to tell your story, to convey your expertise, and successfully establish you as a recognized thought leader in the market?

Most people you ask will answer you honestly, usually with a score of five or less and often readily admitting, “That’s one area we need to improve.” If they say anything higher than seven, they’re probably trying to save face. (Or, perhaps, they’re just plain delusional).

Now, I’m going to let you in on a little secret:

Almost no one, but especially business owners and CEOs, think they get the respect they deserve.

Interested? Here’s what you need to know

Before you rush out and quit your day job, here are some important things to keep in mind about what it really takes to make bank as a freelance white paper writer.

1) Don’t Expect Overnight Success

While freelancers may be in high demand, it doesn’t mean freelancing is easy money. Realistically, it may take a year or more to generate a reliable income as a freelance white paper writer.

As any honest article about freelancing will tell you, it’s hard work.

Seth Godin has written an entire book about what it takes to succeed. In his book The Dip, Godin explains that there is always a dip with any new endeavor. It’s that awkward-feeling, hard slog between starting something new and becoming an expert.

Although The Dip is a pretty short read, here is the real money shot:

To win, according to Godin, either stick with it through the dip or quit fast and do something else. Either way, it’s about getting through the hard part and coming out on the other side.

Indeed, one of my main motivations for writing this article is to help you the reader determine quickly if a white paper writing side-hustle is right for you.

2) Do Your Homework

Even as a seasoned marketing professional who has written a fair number of white papers, I still had a lot to learn about freelancing.

Fortunately, Medium is chock full of great advice for freelancers. So, let me save you some time and the irritation of Medium’s useless search function. Go directly to Falling into Freelancing by the incomparable Felicia C. Sullivan (one of my personal favorites).

Although she doesn’t write about white papers per se, Falling into Freelancing does provide all the helpful resources any struggling freelancer could want.

I also took a two-hour online course on Udemy for white paper writers. For me, taking the course was as much about being humble enough to listen to another expert as it was about gathering competitive intelligence.

My honest assessment is that it’s an okay course for beginners. It provides some basic frameworks and templates to get started. I’ll note, however, a number of reviewers said it was too superficial, lacking in detail about how to actually write white papers.

So I’d say if you can get the course on sale, as I did, it’s probably worth the investment.

Still Interested? Here’s what to do next

3) Build Your Portfolio

Good writing is good writing, but even highly experienced authors, journalists, bloggers, and content marketers are probably going to need at least one or two white paper samples to convince someone to hire them.

If you work for a company now, offer to write one for them. If not, offer to do it for someone you know. For free. It can be anyone, including former employers, relatives, friends, or even neighbors.

You can tell them you’re taking an online white paper writing class, and you’re looking for a good subject to write about. Most people will be happy to help you out. After all, it’s free and potentially beneficial to them.

4) How to Write Your First White Paper

To make the actual white paper writing process as clear as possible, I recently published a super-helpful Anatomy of Thought Leadership White Paper Infographic.

You can find both the infographic and the accompanying explanation of How to Create an Ideal White Paper (in 16 easy steps) buried here, in a seemingly unrelated article about why I'm not too fond of TikTok influencers.

5) Pick Your Niche

This may sound like the same BS that every freelance writing article says, but hear me out. Picking a niche is doubly important for white paper writers.

Focus on one, two, or maybe three industries that you either know a lot about or have actually worked in. This is where being older comes in handy. If you’ve spent a year or more working in a specific industry, chances are you’re fluent enough in the lingo and jargon to write about it.

While starting cold in an industry is not out of the question, you will have a steeper learning curve, and you’ll have to do much more research before you’re ready to start writing.

There’s nothing worse than an reading amateurish white paper.

Personally, having worked in several industries, including scientific publishing, enterprise platform technology, and, most recently, at an AI startup, I’m comfortable writing about a wide swath of scientific and tech topics.

The point: it’s easier to write about what you know.

6) Hustle, Hustle, Hustle

I’m not gonna lie. Finding clients is the hardest part for me because I hate rejection. It’s probably why I went into marketing instead of sales. Like a lot of creative people, I have thin skin.

I’ve learned the secret is to approach client acquisition like as simple math. Just back your ego out of it and remember, if you approach 20 clients you will probably get at least one yes. And that’s great. Math isn’t personal.

Once you get your first yes, work your ass off to make that client happy.

In some ways, white paper writing is still largely a word-of-mouth business. Companies want to hire writers they can trust to do a good job. Rather than looking online, hiring managers will often turn to their own networks for recommended writers.

Speaking as someone who has hired many white paper writers, the main qualifications companies look for are:

• Demonstrated ability research and write well;
• Working knowledge of the topic; and
• The ability to work independently and deliver on time.

Does that sound like you?

If you’re still reading, congratulations.

If white paper writing still sounds good to you, please dig into the great resources I provided above and follow me on Medium.

Sean Smith is a proud dad and digital marketer who tends to write about thought leadership, coffee, Italy, life, digital content, LGBT stuff, and the ROI of being nice.