To be a freelance writer takes guts. It is an uncertain, cruel, and very often low paying field. There is perhaps no other career field in the world where rejection is expected to be so constant. Writers must have thick skin and a drive to keep following their dream. The following list of websites is offered for freelance writers who are looking for additional streams of income. Most of the sites offer freelance writers the chance to share in advertisement revenue generated by their writings.
These sites work by allowing writers to post their content (articles, lists, reviews, poems, etc.) on the web and paying writers based on the number of views that their work generates. The more times that a piece of work is viewed on the Internet, the more money a writer stands to make. When a writer posts their work, advertisements are placed in and around their content. Advertisers pay the companies that hire writers to place their ads on various pages to increase exposure. These companies then share those profits with the writers who make advertising space possible.
Each of the following sites listed below requires that the writer create an account with the respective site and with PayPal.com before they can be paid or allowed to post content. These are all legitimate companies that pay as promised on their sites.
HubPages.com: Aside from traditional ads placed on and around articles, HubPages also offers writers the chance to link to certain article related products sold on Amazon.com and Ebay.com. Writers are paid based on page view and also receive a commission from Amazon or Ebay if a reader buys any of the products linked to from an article. Hubpages can be very profitable but you may want to learn how to choose low competition topics and then create a large volume of hubs to broaden your chances of making money.
AssociatedContent.com: This site currently pays writers $1.50 for every 1,000 times their work is viewed. Unlike many of the following sites, writers also have the chance to make approximately between $1.00 and $5.00 in upfront payments if the company thinks that the work will generate a substantial amount of page views.
Factoidz.com: Writers on Factoidz.com create informational and factual articles that can be formatted as how-to articles, lists, or “facts about” articles.
Helium.com: Besides traditional articles, Helium also hosts a Marketplace where writers can go to accept writing assignments from third party clients. Those clients may be businesses or bloggers who need relevant content written professionally. Writers can also take part in debates and citizen journalist contests.
Nobody ever said that freelance writing was easy work, but by using the resources listed above, the job of freelance writing can be made a little bit easier.