by Patricia Gilliam

Created on: June 29, 2010

Increasing your writing income can be done several ways according to whether you want to focus on short-term or long-term goals.  Here are a series of tips I've found helpful:

1)  Treating Your Writing Like Any Other Business Does Pay Off

You need to learn how to manage your money and time well from the very beginning so that as your career grows you're not overwhelmed.  In this area, I recommend personal finance books by Dave Ramsey and Robert Kiyosaki.  The two main areas where you want to focus are getting rid of your debt (which will give you more overall freedom to travel and market your work) and the concept of residual income (also known as royalty or passive income).  While this can be another set of articles in themselves, but as a writer a lot of your money is going to be built up over time.  Even as streams of income develop from one project, your time is still free to work on another.

2)  Be Open to a Wide Range of Opportunities

Over time, it's very likely that you're going to develop a niche that you enjoy.  If you're starting out however, explore different types of writing and don't limit yourself too early.  This can gain you education and income in the process.  Writing articles on websites like Helium can turn into a steady monthly residual through PayPal.  Creating your own blog and getting your own affiliates (Google Adsense, Amazon, eBay, etc.) is another option.  Creative writing such as short stories, poetry, and novels can be developed into product you can sell as well as market in small segments.  You may get asked to write copy for a friend's website or can submit stories on a local level for payment.

3)  Find Ways to Connect Your Writing

Once you develop a large inventory of work, it's helpful to organize it all in one central location.  You can do this using Blogger or Wordpress for free or buy your own url and website.  Whenever possible, link related pieces of your work at the bottom of posts.  This will give a reader somewhere else to go once they finish reading.  If they enjoy your work, they'll want to know more about you.

I hope you've found these tips helpful.  Good luck and best wishes to you!

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