Tips to Stabilize Your Financial Situation

It's no secret that prices of everything are rising and they're getting out of reach for many people.

So, I've put together this guide which will walk you through every step you can take to become a full time writer and make a living based on everything I've learnt during this journey myself

I'll be breaking this guide in the following sections:

1) Gathering Supplies

3) Learning content/copywriting

4) Finding clients

5) Starting your own blog

Before starting I'll assume your English is "good enough"

Yes, it's necessary for you to know English if you don't, learn online. By good enough I mean that you don't have to be an expert in the English language knowing every complex word in the dictionary but have a good understanding of it and be able to write it with proper grammar and sentence structure.

Also this post is going to be exploring the FREE PATH of starting your journey as a writer as this was the journey I took. Because I didn't have any money to spare, I thought of it like a guide based on my own experience. If you have money to spend on courses, books or equipment it might take you a shorter time to achieve the goal

Also, everything stated here is from my own personal observations, experiences and research.

Now, that that's out of the way;

Let's start

1) Gathering Supplies

To start writing you'll need a laptop (main work), a phone (mainly for keeping in touch with clients) and writing software.

A PC is going to be cheaper than a laptop and will allow you to do more heavy duty work for a low cost. The main cost of laptops is their portability which is why they are more expensive.

I'd still suggest you get a laptop. The cheapest kind of laptop you can get is a Chromebook (Made by Google for students)

These are cheap, low power laptops that use ChromeOS. So basically, it's like a bigger, more capable Android phone. It can do everything your phone can do but the downside is it can't do what your phone can't do as well

Next, for the writing software use Google Docs - MS Word will cost you, docs are free. Also if you're working on a Chromebook you don't have any other choice.

2) Learning Content/Copywriting:

Content wiring is writing all types of content for different reasons. Entertainment, education etc. everything comes in this

Copywriting is a more specialized field where you're specifically writing to promote a product or service in the hopes of converting a person into a client

But content writing can be scaled and will be more helpful when you start your own blog.

Choose the path more suitable to you after weighing the pros and cons of each

Since we're going the free route, you should learn writing from YouTube and Google (by reading other's blogs). I myself learned from YouTube and Google and never bought any course or book so I know it works.

Learning writing can take you some months to master. When you have done so you should create a portfolio.

You can create one for free by going to WordPress and signing up for a free site. Once done edit the theme a bit and add content (About, Services etc.)

Next you should write a few pieces on trending topics. Here are some ideas:

- How to Make and Sell NFT Art (Ultimate Guide)

- Best Sleeping Pills for Insomnia in 2022

- Is an External GPU Better for a Gaming Laptop?

I think the above 3 are great to make an all round portfolio. The topics are pretty popular (Cryptocurrency, Health and Wellness, Tech)

And they also give the client a good idea of all types of work you can do.

Because the first article is an ultimate guide of around 3000-5000 words, the second one is an affiliate article of around 1500-2000 words and finally the last one is a great question/comparison article for better organic rankings in Google and prove expertise, this will be around 1000-1200 words.

Once you have your portfolio it's time to find clients

3) Finding Clients

As a beginner you can start with LinkedIn or Facebook. Since I've only tried Facebook I can guide you on that.

The most common advice you'll get is that you can join writing groups and apply for jobs. I never really got any job like that but I got a few projects and a long-term client just by getting into groups and helping people out.

So, if you have the time, help people without expecting. Commenting on these groups was kinda like my past time. Comment and help people, especially in things you know. This will take longer but it will help you build a reputation for yourself. It takes longer because you're not exactly "putting yourself out there"

You should also send proposals but don't be annoying. Learn proper communication and how to talk to clients. Send them your portfolio and warmly introduce yourself by highlighting key points in your proposal so they know you fully read it and understand the assignment.

A better platform for finding clients is UpWork. It's much more Professional and gives you multiple opportunities to offer your services.

You can:

- Offer service packages

- Apply for jobs by sending proposals

- Let UpWork find jobs for you and suggest you the best ones (only for experienced sellers)

After about a year or two you'll get the hang of it and would be making a good income. So, now that you're earning it's time to work towards stability. Having a source of passive income is important in order to ensure you have a stable income every month.

This is where your blog comes in.

4) Starting your Own Blog:

Now that you're probably making a good amount of money by this time from writing clients, you can start a blog with all the experience and money you've gathered.

Thanks to client work you'll already have a good idea of how to write quality content that is SEO optimized.

When starting a blog you need to first choose a niche. Here are a few tips to help you do that:

- Choose a topic you're interested in

- Pick a niche that isn't too competitive and also gets a lot of search volume. Check a free keyword tool like Uber suggests to find out.

- The niche you choose shouldn't be too broad (e.g. clothing) nor should it be too small (e.g. Clothing to wear at birthday parties)

- The niche should have other sub-niches so you can expand your blog in the future. Example: Kitchen knives. This can later be expanded into cutting knives, butter knives, using knives as cutlery etc.

- it should have good profitable items that you could promote. Running a blog promoting tablets is much more profitable compared to promoting pencils

When you've chosen a niche you need to do keyword research. Since we're doing everything for free it'll take a lot more manual effort.

Use Google Autosuggest, People Also Ask Boxes, Ahrefs free Keyword generator tool, and Answer the Public.

You can search these tools and techniques online for further detail.

Next, assuming you did save up money to invest in a blog here's what you'll do:

- Buy a domain

- Buy good hosting

- Go to WordPress and sign up

- Connect your domain and hosting and create your website

It would be better if you just went to YouTube and saw Khalil's (or somebody else's) video on setting up a blog on WordPress

Now, let's assume you DIDN'T save up any money and want to start for free. I won't suggest a subdomain like blogspot or .Wordpress.

So buy a domain and set up your blog for free (i.e. You'll get free hosting). Since it's free it comes with some drawbacks mainly it'll be a bit slower when loading.

Okay now that you have a website and your niche selected it's time to write some content. You should know how to write good content from your previous experience.

Write around 20-30 articles with extremely low competition to start ranking quickly on Google.

After a while of writing these short, ultra niche articles go for some mid level ones with more search vol.

Little by little work your way up. Income School has a great video on starting a new site in 2022. Check that out. You'll need to write a lot of posts to be successful.

Once you have like 50-60 posts, apply for Ezoic (they don't require min. Traffic anymore)

After applying, set up the ads through their tutorials. Very slowly you'll see some earnings which will be a great motivation boost. If you haven't made a Payoneer account yet, now's the time.

Next, make an account on Amazon Associates and become an affiliate. Link that to your account as well.

Once you become an affiliate and are getting some traffic to your website (2-3k views per month) start writing affiliate articles.

These are best buy posts such as:

- Best x for y (e.g. Best Jackets for Women)

- x VS y (e.g. Wordpress VS Blogger)

- Best x for y in date (e.g. Best Adidas Shoes for running in 2022)

Write these kinds of posts. The more specific they are, the higher they will convert and the less competition they'll have.

Once you write these posts, insert your affiliate links in them to get commissions for the products you recommend. You'll be provided these links by Amazon and they'll guide you how to add them in your blog.

If you stay consistent, and prioritize high-quality, you'll be making $500-1000 per month in two years (with your blog).

So, I hope you get some value from this post.