Writing freelance online for moolah is NOT easy. Especially without a degree. I currently write in 3 separate places on the internet and it was not until I joined my latest site (Yahoo! Contributor Network) that I even saw any "real" money.
Before I found YCN I had written 48 pieces in a little under 2 months and I believe my running total was like $1.50... and I may be blowing that amount up. The sites entice you with joining for free and telling you that you will get paid based on the amount of traffic generated to your site. They encourage you sign up for and place ads in your writings because that is an ADDITIONAL way to make some cash....
Long story short, not a whole lot of money made. Obviously. Then I found YCN. They will pay you up-front for the piece you have submitted for review - if they like it enough - AND you get paid for traffic. Lovely.
I started off a little rocky at first. I mean, I was submitting good articles but I wasn't getting up-front pay on all of them. Some of my subjects were too well covered, or some of them YCN didn't feel would be a subject searched for...
Then I started submitting articles on the subjects that fascinate ME. Things and topics I find interesting, regardless of what anyone else might think. And BAM. I am making money up-front for almost every article I've submitted this past 3 weeks. And at sometimes 2 articles a day, it adds up.
What do I like to write about? Anything labeled mysterious, paranormal or out-side-the-box... I write about aliens, UFO's, mysterious archaeological sites that may have alien connections... and every now and then I throw in a true crime article on a serial killer or infamous murder. Really I write now on topics that people ARE interested in, they just don't know it yet.
So what I am trying to say here is that I have found my niche. And with 60 articles in under 2 months I am slated to make over $100.... when you do the math, it's not that impressive and I realize that. But hey, that's 100 bucks more than I had 2 months ago and (this is the most important!) I really and truly enjoy doing this. At the end, that's all that matters :)
