7 Ways I’ve Made Money From Writing (With No Experience)

Anyone can make money writing if they learn how

My growth accelerated when I created 14 templates and cheat sheets. These speeded up my writing. And made it easy to keep the quality high. Get access to them here.

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I thought getting paid to write was a scam.

It sounded too good to be true. Especially if like me, you don’t have much experience. But when I sold my first course for $10. A door in my mind blew open. And I started to see the stunning possibilities.

I now make $2500/month from writing (alongside a 9–5).

But if you want to make money writing, being a great writer isn’t enough. You need to learn the business of writing too. Anyone can make money writing. You just need to learn how.

Let me show you 7 ways I’ve made money. The range of options will inspire you to believe more is possible.

1. How I got published in a national magazine

I turned my best-performing posts into a free email course.

Over 2000 writers signed up for it. Including the editor of a property magazine. She liked my writing style and asked if I wanted to write for her magazine. They’d pay me $475 for an article.

I was terrified but said yes.

If I’m honest. I expected them to reject my piece. (Imposter syndrome is alive and well and living in my head). But they loved it. Seeing my words in print blew my mind.

Lesson for you:

You’ve no idea what might happen when you get good. And get your stuff out there. Don’t get obsessed with going viral. Focus on becoming a brilliant writer.

Become so good they can’t ignore you.

2. How I got a ghostwriting contract

Last year I started on Twitter/X

After 4 months I got a message from a brand I admire. I’d commented on a few of their posts. They asked if I was interested in ghostwriting their content. They wanted to pay me $125/hour.

I didn’t believe it was real until the money landed in my bank account.

Lesson for you:

To make money ghostwriting. Stop hanging out with writers. Go where your target audience is.

Show your worth by making intelligent comments. Then offer to improve their content. Send them a few examples.

3. Share your knowledge

Gain a valuable skill. And people will pay to learn it.

People are drowning in information but long for transformation. They want someone to take them by the hand. And show them what to do. If you’ve solved a problem in your life. You can sell a course.

People started commenting on my headlines. Saying they were irresistible. And asking for help on theirs. So I created a course. Revealing how to write headlines that capture attention and get clicks. It made $6000 in 3 months.

You’ll see on my landing page. I showcase my results. Number of followers. How many readers. You need evidence this works.

Show what it’s achieved for you. And others you’ve helped.

Lesson for you:

Build an email list. Identify a problem your readers have. Create a course to solve it. Start with a simple email course. Then upgrade to videos.

4. Sell your resources

You have a pile of gold sitting in your hard drive.

I was slow to realise this. But in writing 335 articles I’ve developed a range of tools to help me write:

• Templates for strong intro’s & hooks

• Outlines to write faster articles

• A writing idea generator

It turns out these have huge value to others. So I’ve packaged all my resources and made them available others. This was quick to do because I’d already used them myself. You can check them out here.

Lesson for you:

What systems or processes do you use? What helps you get faster results? Sell these to boost your income and enhance your credibility.

Emphasise what results these resources have achieved for you. I say my resources have grown my Medium following to 14,000 and built my $30k writing business.

5. Coaching

I’d been writing my newsletter for 4 months and had 678 subscribers. When I got a crazy request.

Would you meet me for a coaching session if I paid you?

I said it’d be $100 and they agreed. When people read your newsletter every week. You build trust. And win their respect. This is more powerful than social media posts.

I now mention coaching as a PS. in my newsletter. This has brought a trickle of coaching work.

Lesson for you:

Don’t expect instant results. You build credibility by delivering quality over a long time. But once you have this people will pay you for coaching.

This shows you what’s possible. There’s no promise of instant success. But become good. Get in front of people. And watch the magic happen.

6. Tell others about courses you love

This must be the easiest way to make money ever.

I’ve bought 2 writing courses. And used their lessons to improve. I signed up as an affiliate. I tell people about my transformation and get a commission if anyone buys it.

Here’s the thing.

I hate sales. But when you’re an affiliate for a course. You just say how it’s helped you. Provide evidence of your results. And people buy.

You get paid for helping people. How crazy is that?

Lesson for you:

Buy a course. Improve your skills. Sign up as an affiliate. Then use your results to promote the course.

7. Newsletter sponsorship

I have 3454 people on my Convertkit email list.

When you grow to that size. Other writers get interested. People pay me money for a mention. A strong email list is an asset that generates cash.

Lesson for you:

Once you know your niche. And have a following. Start an email list. (Learn how to grow your newsletter here).

I’ve got a special deal for those serious about building an audience online. I’m starting monthly live workshops. Where I share everything that’s worked for me. You’ll also get 50% course discounts. And access to my how-to guides. Sign up here.