Sean Platt of Ghostwriter Dad
By Sean Platt
Let’s face it, most online writers struggle to survive.
They start out with stars in their eyes, imagining easy dollars earned. Sure, they have a way with words.
But writing online is hard, harder than they expected. In little time, they find themselves writing at all hours of the day and night, writing anything for anyone at any price.
Worst of all, they’re writing without a plan or means to pull free from the insanity.
Sad, but true.
Writers start blogs, figuring it’s easy enough to be a freelance writer. They know their way around a thesaurus and are willing to work hard to make it online.
But they didn’t anticipate the competition, all fighting for their shot at the same slop copy – the kind that’s paid for by the pound. And not just local competition, but GLOBAL – writers who undercut with bargain basement pricing.
Too many writers get snared in this trap.
They find themselves running in the same circles as so many writers before them – writers who went online looking for magic, only to end up fatigued, defeated, and ready to quit.
If this sounds like you, don’t give up.
If you’re at the end of your rope, tie a loop around your wrist and start climbing back to the top.
Despite all that you’ve read above and have seen for yourself, your future has never been brighter.
It’s the best time in history to pick up a pen and write yourself a crazy amazing future.
Whether you want to freelance forever or set your sites on eBooks, the tools to create your art and share it with the world are plentiful, mostly free, and available to everyone.
And it gets better. Effectively leverage your time and writing isn’t just a great job, it’s one of the best in the world.
Balance your work load between high-paying clients and your own assets such as books and information products, and you will increase your hourly rate, while creating assets that will continue to pay, whether you’re working or not.
Don’t waste your time or talent on keyword copy that’s bought and sold for clicks and pennies. You can make a real living, rather than the pittance paid to the majority. But only if you elevate your skill set and learn to write in a way few others can.
Many freelancers can write well.
But few freelancers can write copy that persuades their readers and drives them to action.
Writing blog posts isn’t enough.
Writing keyword articles isn’t enough.
Even writing viral content isn’t enough.
But if you can write copy that tells people what to do, then moves them to do it, you can charge enough per job to make up for more than 10 keyword article jobs.
I used to write cheap articles, too. Until I quit cold turkey.
It was better to get paid nothing than next to nothing, so long as I used my time to sharpen a skill that would help me earn more forever.
So I hunkered down and learned from the best.
I read everything I could. From Sugarman to Kennedy to Cialdini to Ogilvy himself. I learned about the art of persuasion and the science of copywriting, not from today’s bloggers, but from the direct response architects of the past. Information that’s as relevant now as it ever was.
They gave me the bigger, better toolbox I needed to multiply my earning potential and quickly grow my business.
You don’t have to be a starving artist, you just need a few high-quality clients to pay you what you’re worth so you can fund your writing dreams. The dreams that will write your “happily ever after.”
The highest-paid writers in the world aren’t anointed, they’re studied.
Add the art of persuasion to your portfolio of writing tools and you will have the ability to make more money for every word you write.
Sean Platt is Ghostwriter Dad, author of Writing Online. Follow him on Twitter.
