FIVE WRITING PROJECTS THAT MAKE MONEY
By Kay Kennedy

This month, I decided to write about some of the ways you can make money as a writer. This information also appeared in February as a guest column in RV Lifestyles titled: Ten ways to make money while you roam, (http://www.rvhometown.com.)

If you’ve read the book, Portable Writing, then you already know about these methods of making money from writing. However, I’ve found that sometimes it takes reading something more than once for it to register. So below are five of the twenty-five projects I’ve produced that built my writing business and sustained it.

I was like most writers when I started out. I wanted to become a published writer and believed that nothing else would give me the credibility or confidence that I desired. So I got an article published, then a few more. Then a funny thing happened. First one business owner friend, then another asked me to write for their businesses. Why not, I wondered? Writing is writing, and business people in the late eighties were offering to pay $50.00 per hour, which was more for my time than I had been earning from magazine and newspaper articles. And I was being paid for research time as well as for writing.

I can’t even remember the first business assignment I received, but it was probably a ghost-written article for a magazine or a news release. Those first assignments led to more varied projects, plus as other business and corporate managers learned about me, business increased. Soon I had dozens of clients that wanted everything from brochures to newsletters for their businesses.

I once even had to use material written in German to research an article for a client. I don’t read or speak German, but I studied the photos and made out some words that were similar to English words. I was able to basically understand what the information was about. I then took the materials to my German aerobics instructor to see if she could help. She had been in the U.S. so long she had forgotten her native language, but she did figure out a few things that I couldn’t. I wrote the article, and my client was able to get it published. Not only that, she got a regular assignment from that article, which meant a regular assignment for me. Not bad for having to bluff it!

Don’t discount commercial writing because you don’t think you’ll like it. It can be as varied and interesting as writing articles for publication because that’s what you’ll find yourself often doing—producing ghost-written articles for publication. You’ll be supplied with the notes and research sources, so all you have to do is read, take notes, and write. It really pays much better than writing for most publications. Try it, you’ll like it.

Below are five different projects I produced that made lots of money, and that I enjoyed tremendously. Get a desktop publishing program and scanner and learn how to use them for an even more interesting writing career. Be sure to study books on desktop publishing that show good examples of the types of publications you want to produce so you can learn what looks good on paper.

The business of writing has made me happier than I’ve ever been in my life. It wasn’t what I planned, although I had always dreamed of doing it. Why I wasted the first twenty-five years or so in another career is beyond comprehension now. Writing is the ultimate career, the highest high. Being able to travel while I write is the greatest lifestyle I can imagine. I hope you can all come to understand and enjoy this rare pleasure.

As I write this, there are two other writers that I’m aware of staying in the same RV park we are. Both of them travel and write.

Five more money-making writing projects will appear in next month’s newsletter.

1. Business & corporate newsletters

Very often, business owners and corporations will want to send newsletters to their customers. Sometimes all they want is a one-page typed message, other times they want a nice 4-page publication with photos.

Corporations most often are looking for someone to produce articles on specific subjects, but sometimes they want a project manager who will design, write, layout the pages and get the newsletter printed. You can pick which types of projects you want to do, then approach business people and corporation communications department heads and let them know what you can do.

I worked with corporations and small businesses doing whatever was needed because I enjoyed both writing and design duties.

2. Subscription newsletters

You may have a great idea for a newsletter that you want to write, produce and send to subscribers. While many newsletters are now sent through the Internet, there’s still a strong market for traditional publications that people can hold in their hands and read at their leisure. This is especially true among older readers. Or you might create a newsletter that can be sent both via email and in traditional paper format.

Come up with a great idea, purchase a targeted mailing list and send subscription information to them. Ideas for what might appeal to readers can include: bird watching, with photos and information about birds you’ve spotted and where you’ve found them; good books you’ve read in a specific genre (for instance, romance novels, biographies, inspirational stories, spiritual books.) Your reviews will interest readers if you write well about your subject and present it in an interesting format.

3. Specialized Business Newsletters

Many businesses purchase generic newsletters to pass out to customers. You can write and produce this type of newsletter, then market copies to the businesses they cover. For instance, real estate agents often hand out newsletters that feature articles like: decorating and gardening tips, creating curb appeal and staging your home for sale. Accountants pass out newsletters that focus on items of interest for their clients, such as tax tips, year-end money-saving ideas and small business advice.

How do you get information to use in your newsletter? Ask professionals in the business to give you ideas, and then research the information. Or you can ask a business owner to supply you with the information you need with the promise that you’ll give them a certain number of free newsletters to give to their customers.

4. Advertising newsletters

I’m sure you’ve been into stores and picked up publications that are free. They’re full of advertising, but they also hold a few articles of interest to customers. For instance, a garden shop or landscaping business will give out newsletters with gardening tips. A grocery store might offer one featuring articles about selecting grocery products with maybe a couple of recipes.

You can work up a dummy publication featuring gardening articles, then approach garden and related businesses and ask them to buy advertising in it and to stock them for distribution. You’ll have to decide up front how much space to devote to advertising and how much to content. Usually, a split of 80 percent advertising and 20 percent editorial content is sufficient to get readers’ to pick the piece up.


5. Write weekly ad-columns for businesses

This was one of my favorite projects to produce because I started with interior decorating—a subject I already knew well. I produced a sales letter with a sample column and information that stressed the column’s exclusivity. The person who ordered first from any specific area had exclusive rights to use the columns, but they could put them in only one newspaper and had to provide me with the name and location of the paper. I then mailed out thirteen columns that I had written for them to use under their names.

My customers purchased advertising space in the newspaper for a quarter of the year. The columns usually appeared with a border, and at the top they would put their “byline” and photo and at the bottom they would include their business name and address. Their readers usually didn’t realize they were paid advertising although the information was subtle advertising for what they could do. There are many other professionals besides interior designers who use these columns regularly, including jewelers, veterinarians, chiropractors, real estate agents and others. If you’re already familiar with an industry, write some columns on the subject and start approaching local business owners.


The newsletter projects may sound like they’re all the same, but they are definitely not! Every newsletter design is different, as is the content. In some instances you’ll come up with the content, in others it will be supplied to you. They are all marketed differently, too. Study the ideas and see if you can create your own marketing concepts to sell your idea for a corporate or business newsletter and weekly business column, or for the subscription or generic newsletter you’ve created. Read Portable Writing to learn how I marketed these projects.

Portable Writing is available by going to: http://freelancewriter.booklocker.com/ to read a 2-chapter excerpt and/or to order the book. It’s available in paperback and as a downloadable e-book.