Are you a writer? Want to make extra money? I’m going to give you the down and dirty on making money online. This little guide is good for fiction or non-fiction writers. Even poets. If you are struggling to get your work published and make a decent, honest living, you can do it on the Internet. I’ve been doing it full time since January 2006.

Anyone – and I do mean ANYone – can employ these five simple money-making techniques to bring in extra income. It’s not a get rich quick plan, but it’s so easy a zombie could do it.

1. E-book publishing – Guess what? E-book publishing has arrived, and there are a growing number of fiction and non-fiction authors who have successfully published their own books in the digital economy. Here’s a short list:
   • Sean Platt
   • Joanna Penn
   • Guy Kawasaki
   • Amanda Hocking
   • J.A. Konrath

   And the best part is, you can do it too.

   To succeed with e-book publishing, you don’t even have to publish your own books. You can also publish other people’s books. Just set up a publishing company, start taking submissions, and go. Will you get rich? Maybe, maybe not. But you can succeed and if you don’t even try, then you are guaranteed not to succeed. E-book publishing is an opportunity, not an all expense paid ticket to glory. It’s a great opportunity, so don’t sneeze at it.

2. Ghostwriting – I’ve been managing commercial blogs since 2006. I know you can make money doing it. You can write single blog posts or hire yourself out as a content manager for an entire blog community, make just enough money to live on while you write your true love, and keep chugging away at your personal goals. Ghostwriting is a great opportunity to earn a full-time income on the digital economy.
3. Professional Blogging – Some people make all their income as a freelance blogger. Using this strategy, you can write blogs under your own byline and earn a decent living. That’s what Tom Ewer does.
4. Write a Newsletter – Most e-mail newsletters are free. That’s because the authors want your e-mail address for marketing purposes. But there is another way to publish a newsletter. You can do it using the traditional paid newsletter model, but if you go that route, then you need to make sure your newsletter is chock full of useful information. You should publish 95% valuable information to 5% marketing messages.

   With a paid newsletter, you can write it all yourself or hire other writers to produce content for you. If you go with the latter plan, you can hire ghostwriters or pay professional freelance writers to produce solid actionable content for your readers. The most important thing, however, is that you deliver value at a good cost. Get enough subscribers and you can earn a decent living. Michael Martinez charges $25 for his premium SEO newsletter.

5. Affiliate Marketing – This method of making money online involves becoming a seller of other people’s products. No matter what your interests are, someone is already selling something online that provides useful information for people interested in your topic. As an affiliate marketer, your job is to write about other people’s products in such a way that they look interesting and people want to buy.

   To be a good affiliate marketer, you need a few things:

   First, you need a blog. If you’re a writer, you should already have one. This is where you’ll write about the products you promote.

   You also need a hosting account with a reputable hosting company. This is the company that will provide the server space for your blog so that you can do business. You can find one that offers a reasonable blog hosting service at a fair price. They’re all over the Internet.

   Thirdly, you need products. The products you promote need to be top-notch products that are highly valuable and affordable.

   There are many affiliate marketers online. And there are a lot of places to find suitable products to promote. Here are a few places you can find suitable affiliate products:

   1. Amazon – The world’s largest online department store has an associates program that you can join so you can promote all kinds of products from books to electronics and everything in between.
   2. Clickbank – Clickbank has been around for a long time. You can find digital information products on all kinds of topics at Clickbank.
   3. Shareasale – There are a ton of affiliate marketing networks online. Shareasale is just one. You join and look for products to promote. You’ll get your commissions directly from Shareasale as opposed to from the owner of the products you promote.
   4. Google – Go to Google and search for “affiliate program” and the name of your niche. For instance, if you want to sell auto parts, Google “auto parts” and “affiliate program.” Sign up for the ones that look the most promising. If you sign up for affiliate programs directly with owners of products, then you’ll get your commissions directly from those owners. You won’t have to share with a network.

   There you have it, the down and dirty guide to making extra money from the digital economy. If you are a writer looking for extra work and have an entrepreneurial spirit, there’s no reason you can’t make some extra money on the side doing what you love.

   BTW, none of the links in this blog post are affiliate links. Click away!

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