The Two Routes to Make Money Writing (Product vs Service)
You can make $20,000 a month going the service route.
Welcome to the third edition of The Essence, glad to have you here!
There were many times when I doubted whether I was taking the correct path as a writer. I had thoughts like, “Perhaps I should have started a blog… maybe I should now before it’s too late.”
For many writers, especially when things aren’t going out so well, this happens a lot. What saved me from going down the overthinking rabbit hole was good planning and critical thinking.
If I had read Nicolas Cole’s summary of the two routes to making money from writing, coming out with a plan would have been much easier. The two routes are as follows:
Make money per hour (service). Sell content marketing services. Build a business selling writing and copywriting services, consulting services, etc.
Make money per asset (product). Sell books or eBooks. Sell courses, newsletters, digital downloads, and the likes.
Pros and cons of selling your writing as a service v.s a product
What’s great about the first choice is that it’s easier to start generating money. What’s not so great about it is that your revenue will have a ceiling. After all, you only have 24 hours a day. The third of which you will probably spend sleeping.
What’s great about the product route is that the possible revenue has no ceiling. What’s not so great about it, as Nicolas mentioned, it’s tough to convince lots of people to buy your product in the beginning,
It can be quite a hard choice, but you don’t have to choose. You can take the two routes!
My advice, and what I did, is to start by selling services. And then, over time, start selling products. Most writers do that because, as Nicolas wrote, it’s the only way to break out of the ceiling. If you’re a full-time writer, start with the service route. But one the side, start building an audience or work on how to sell your expertise per asset(s).
If you’re not writing full-time, and you don’t depend on it for bread, you can start selling your expertise as products. Think of starting a blog, affiliate marketing, and so on.
But for most of us, the service route is the best start-point. You can still make a lot of money going the service route. Michael Leonard made over $20,000 in one month of writing for entrepreneurs and websites. There’s a ceiling, but it can be pretty high.
You Can Make a Lot of Money Choosing the Service Route
Michael, more than three years ago, was a broke blogger. After quitting his $100,000+ career, like many, he committed to building an online business. It’s hard to resist the making money online hype.
In less than two years, and without prior experience, he built a full-time writing business working part-time. What’s really impressive is how much he made his 20th month as a writer: $20,050!
“After attempting nearly a dozen online business models since 2017, I know that freelance writing is the easiest way to start making consistent money online.”
I hardly agree, and it’s the most legit. Copywriting and freelance writing are services in high demand. According to HubSpot, 70% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing. Can you guess why? The companies they work for need it!
So don’t waste your time searching for other ways if you got the writing skill intact. Ditch the scammy techniques, the tiresome surveys, and the waste of time. I know it’s tough to fight the shiny object syndrome. Remember, it’s not only about how much you make. How you make that money is as significant. You want to be a professional writer, not a money hoarder. Hone your writing or copywriting skill, dive into the business, and trust that it will reward you pretty well.
Michael Leonard got clients from Upwork, ProBlogger, cold pitching, and unexpectedly, Instagram. In September of 2019, those clients helped him make over $20,000. Here are his takeaways and what I can add:
You can create different types of content: Lead magnets, website copy, social media captions, blog posts, eBooks, etc.
You can land clients in many ways: Don’t limit yourself to only one (LinkedIn, job boards, etc.)
There is so much potential to scale fast: Cheer up.
There is no need to be an expert: Cheer up 2x.
You can write about almost anything: Clients exist in every niche.
On the second point, it is best to focus on one way to find clients while still trying other methods. That is, in my experience, the most effective way. One of the best methods to find clients is through cold pitching. When I started, I applied Writers in Charge CEO Bamidele’s cold-pitching strategy. It got me in talks and negotiations with professionals interested in my services in a month.
Limit your focus
Focus on one way, let’s say for a month or two, and then focus on another method.
For example, as a complete beginner, you commit to finding your first clients. In the first 60 days, focus on cold pitching while writing guest posts, writing on Medium, or LinkedIn on the side to upgrade your portfolio. If you pitch over 500 prospects, you will most likely strike a deal with at least one. Yes, 500. It takes a lot. If you want to find out how to gather such numbers of potential clients in a specific niche, check out Bamidele’s cold pitching strategy.
For the sake of this example, let’s say you weren’t able to land any client cold pitching. Negotiations reached a dead end, you changed your plans, or you got tired of cold pitching.
After the first 60 days end, start heavily applying to job boards for the next 30—60 days. You can still on the side cold pitch here and there and try out other methods. Keep doing that until you find clients. Iterate until you succeed. Pitch until you land clients and find opportunities. When you find good opportunities, don’t panic as I did, and try to make the best out of them.
Study well and hustle smart.
Until next time,
Mohammed