Get Paid To Write Blogs: Turn Your Hobby Into A Career

Could you get paid to write blogs? Many bloggers begin as hobbyists, then wonder whether they can turn their hobby into a business.

Ashley (not her real name) was furloughed and wanted to develop a side hustle. She enjoys blogging and social media, but attempts to monetize her blog failed.

When I reviewed Ashley’s blog, I realized she had several good monetization options, but the process would take time. She needed an income now. She wasn’t in a position to invest in her blog until she had that income.

How to get paid to write blogs: content is a great investment for companies

So, I suggested Ashley look into getting paid to write blogs. She enjoys blogging and from our initial chat, I knew she had expertise in several profitable areas.

But are companies hiring bloggers amidst the global turmoil? According to HubSpot, in 2019, 78% of companies had a team of one-to-three content specialists. And in 2020, 70% of marketers are actively investing in content.

Companies need content, for various reasons:

• To assist in marketing; as well as
• In customer acquisition and retention; and also in:
• The provision of company news and results for stakeholders…

Companies need content as long as they’re in business. Dollar for dollar, content is a better investment than advertising, especially Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising.

Here’s an high level overview of the steps I suggested Ashley take to get paid to write blogs.

The steps will work for you too.

Before we get into that, a tip: the best writing jobs aren’t advertised. So you need to get proactive to find gigs. They’re out there.

1. You’re the expert: choose your topic(s)

What do you know? What are you interested in? Make a list of your experience and expertise. For example, Ashley comes from a farming family. Her parents run sheep and have diversified into growing almonds.

Ashley trained as a teacher, but ended up taking a job in industry. She’s got lots of areas she knows and about which she could blog.

Make a list of areas about which you know.

Your next step: research.

Research: companies and their blogs

Create your list of areas. It might be a long list, or short. Create your list in Excel or Google Docs; it’s easiest to compile research info in a spreadsheet.

Research your areas and prominent companies in those areas. Add companies, their URLs and contact info to your spreadsheet.

A big tip: time your research. Research can be ongoing and endless. You want to get paid to write blogs, remember—you don’t need to research for hours or days to do that. Give yourself half an hour at most. (You’ll add to your initial research later, but time those sessions too.)

2. A blogger portfolio: build it as you go

One of the biggest challenges for all freelancers is getting gigs. Make it simple. Use LOIs and follow up your initial contact.

We’ve talked about LOIs (Letters of Introduction) here:

Listen up: people hire people they know.

As soon as you find a company or two which might hire you, send out a LOI. You have a slim chance that you’ll get hired on the basis of a LOI, but you’ve got your name in front of someone. You’ll follow up that first message with other messages. You’ll make contact with your target companies in other ways too.

Over time, you’ll build your portfolio, but do it as you go. I’ve mentored bloggers and writers who devoted endless hours to building a portfolio, before they got their first gig.

Please don’t do that. Send out LOIs. Get your name out there.

3. Gigs are out there, but remember: WIIFM

WIIFM is an acronym for: What’s In It For Me.

Think about WHY a company hires you to blog and please take this to heart: no business wants a blog, or blog content per se.

Your clients want results.

They want sales, or customer satisfaction, or something else; and they’ll pay for results.

This means: (as the saying goes) sell the sizzle, not the steak. Sell them on the results they can get from the blogging you do for them.

Rather than offering to blog for a company, ask them what they’re doing to get traffic. What are they doing to get sales?

Get paid to write blogs: start today

Remember the statistic: 70% of marketers are investing in content. Companies need content. You can get paid to write blogs: you’re needed and you can start getting gigs today.

Have fun. 🙂

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