Splitting Time Between Writing and Jewelry

Recently, I have been working on starting an online jewelry business. I plan to have my Etsy shop open at the end of the month, and I want to have at least 20 quality items ready to sell. This means that my freelance writing is taking a bit of a back seat. Currently, I am only writing articles for Suite 101 to make sure that I keep my minimum requirements for the month.

By shifting my priorities this week, I have really examined what is working for me online and what is just a waste of time. This examination has led me to the following conclusions:

1. Writing for upfront pay doesn't make much sense unless you desperately need the money.

2. For me, eHow and Suite 101 are the most relevant money-making sites.

3. Posting large amounts of affiliate ads doesn't result in much money. In short, post some but don't waste time posting a ton of links.

4. Social networking is good promotion, but don't spend too much time chatting with online friends.

5. Setting minimum goals and tracking earnings helps to understand how to make more money online overall.

As an online freelance writer, your time is incredibly valuable and must be used effectively to maximize your earnings. For me, the majority of my time will be spent writing residual articles for legitimate sites that produce predictable and steady monthly residuals. I believe that publishing trumps promoting, posting ads and social networking.

100 Articles on eHow! Join Me!

I finally made it to the 100 article milestone on eHow! I was inspired by a posting by fellow freelance writer, Felicia, in which she wrote 100 articles and tracked their progress over the long term. In the same fashion, I intend to track the earnings of my 100 to see how they progress. I may go on to write more articles, but I will just track the earnings of the first 100.

Surprisingly, 100 articles didn't take that long to amass. I found little ways to be more productive with the process as I was going. If you are a fellow SEO writer, I hope that you will join me in trying this experiment yourself. It was actually quite a bit of fun and I'm extremely curious to see how my earnings add up. I will be adding earnings info to this posting at the end of each month for a year.

• Before Aug 17* - 25.22
• Aug 2009 - 27.21
  
• Sept 2009 -33.48
• Oct 2009 - 31.46
• Nov 2009 - 19.87**
• Dec 2009 - 18.09
• Jan 2010 - 21.12
• Feb 2010 - 19.52
• Mar 2010 - 25.97
• April 2010 - 21.96
• May 2010 - 28.48
• June 2010 - 23.34
  

*100th article published on Aug 17th, First article written in April
**Due to eHow's November article sweep, I lost 6 articles, dropping me to 94 total
Total: 296.23

Make $5000 a Month Freelancing

Okay, maybe $5000 a month is shooting for the stars, but it is possible. This week Suite101 sent out a letter to announce that a member made $5000 in residuals over a one month period. As a struggling freelancer, this news is incredibly encouraging. Though I realize that I probably won't be anywhere near this number for a long time, it is great to keep in mind that I could possibly make this much in the future. I would be happy with half of this amount, but I won't be able to get there without consistently adding articles to residual sites.

I think that often times it's easy to start strong as an SEO writer and then fizzle out, but I'm going to focus on frequently adding content to my online sites so that I can one day get to that $5000 mark. If you want to give it a go as well, click on the Suite101 or Bukisa widgets on the side of this blog to join and start writing for residuals.

Be the Tortoise When Writing for Residual Income

Though I have not been writing for residual income for long, I have seen the potential for making money long-term with seo writing. For instance, I have seen my E-how monthly income rise by $5 a month since I started writing. Though this meager amount is nothing to get excited about now, it shows that I can build my residual income over the long run. So in short, slow and steady wins the race and it pays to be the tortoise rather than the hare.

That said, I think it is important to write as many articles as you can when you are starting out. I look at it like banking. The more money you are able to place in savings when you are younger, the more money you will be able to earn through interest. I see the residual writing game in much the same light. Compiling a large collection of articles on many sites early in the game, will help you see your residuals grow more in the long term.

Ofcourse, like any good savings plan, regular deposits are a must. Once you have reached an initial goal of 50-100 articles on any site, start a new minimum goal for each site. You could require yourself to write at least one article a week, or two a month. As long as you are contributing regularly, you can see steady residual growth.

Staying with the savings and banking analogy, make sure to also diversify your deposits. Bank articles in many different residual sites to see money from each. Each site will have its own positives and negatives. Having articles in many online communities and sites will help you establish your online presence and bring in more revenue. Some online residual sites to consider include ehow, bukisa, associated content, suite101 and hub pages. Any of these sites, with the exception of associated content, can be accessed by clicking on the links on the side bar of this page.

Remember that slow and steady wins the race. If you stick with it, you will see returns and growth. Good Luck!