Almost anyone can make money working at home as a freelance writer. Writing ezine articles, blog posts, ebooks, reports and other website content is a profitable home based business solution. And all it requires is a computer and keyboard to begin.

While you may not think of yourself as a writer, you may be surprised to find how easy it is to make money working online from home doing just that… writing!

Freelance writers have found that writing for the web is a whole other ball game compared to writing for print publication. And it’s proven to be a profitable discovery.

Writing for the web is a lighter style of writing. It’s designed for quick reading, even skimming or scanning. As such, it doesn’t need to use ten-dollar words, be grammatically pure, or be written on a college level.

In fact, writing for the web should use common language, including contractions and sentence fragments, should be filled with short paragraphs and lots of white space, and should be written on a sixth grade reading level which makes it quick to read and easy to understand.

Because the Internet is so full of information, very few people read website content word for word. Online writers who can coherently share information on a variety of topics can sell their talents–either in the form of ebooks, reports and articles–or in the form of writing and proofreading services for other home business owners.

To get started, begin visiting online forums that cater to home business owners and Internet marketers. Often these forums will have a section geared to writers.

Register, start reading, and responding to posts. You’ll find a variety of people who are making money online by writing who will gladly share their expertise. There’s plenty of work to go around!

Create a signature line for your forum profile that tells others that you’re a writer. Link to your website or blog for more information or for samples of your work.

Never post ads inappropriately, however! It could not only get you banned from the forum, but it could sour your prospective clients toward you. Follow forum procedures and become a valuable resource to the online community.

As people get to know you, they’ll begin to ask you for quotes on writing projects they need for their businesses. By this time, you will have your rates determined and will be able to give them a price for the writing they need.

Don’t despair if you don’t get the first job you quote. Or even the first five! While there’s plenty of work to go around, there is also a lot of competition. Keep building your online reputation, writing articles that you post on your website for content and so others can see samples of your work, and the writing jobs will come.

While you’re waiting for paying clients, write your own products to sell. Ebooks, reports and ecourses on almost any topic can bring in a good enough income on their own that you may decide you don’t want to deal with clients. You may choose to make money by e-publishing alone. And that’s okay!

Selling products you self-publish is a tremendous way to make money working from home as a writer. After all, isn’t that the goal?

Tags: freelance work at home, freelance writers, Freelance Writing, Work At Home, work at home writing

posted by Chris Simpson