From $0 to $300/Day in 1 Year - A Writer's Journey

Hey,

Let's get the TL;DR over with first of all, shall we?

I'm starting a writing business from scratch, with the goal being $300/day within one year. This is my journey.

Who am I?

I've been an Internet marketer since 2007, working full-time in IM almost the entire time. So why am I starting from scratch and why writing?

Well, the fact is that last year I decided I'd had enough of affiliate marketing. I've had some incredible ups ($4,000+ per day! Think I may write about that in another thread so keep a look out!) and some pretty nasty downs ($0/day for 6+ months). Decent money management has allowed me to survive through the rough times, but I'm just SICK AND TIRED of the unstable nature of this business. I guess I'm just becoming old...

Anyway...

I've always loved writing in the IM niche, especially autoresponders and landing page copy, and this is what I have decided will be my main focus in the coming years. I want a stable, predictable business that is still enjoyable to me. The goal is to eventually reach $300/day, working 4-6 hours per day. I want real clients, money I can depend on month after month.

I do have some other projects cooking as well, like LightSERP (my rank tracking service which has been pretty successful so far). Hopefully that will take off too and I'll have another stable, real business bringing in money.

So what's the plan?

The plan is to just start looking for/attracting clients, do my best and then gradually raise my prices as my services become more and more in demand.

Now I've already started by posting a thread here on BHW offering my services, and also one on another IM forum that shall remain unnamed

I've also built a simple WP website to attract clients and showcase my work (http://www.melkamedia.com).

Progress so far?

As of now I've already had 2 clients, one requesting landing page copy for his business (charged $50 for that), and another that has a whole range of assignments for me (so far billed him ~$100, most likely more to come).

Expenses so far are only the costs for marketplace threads in forums, though they add up to about $60 so far so that's quite a lot considering how little I've earned.

Updating

I'm going to update this thread whenever there are new developments, and as long as people seem interested. I do have some pretty good ideas about how to get more clients, so if you're in a similar line of work you might want to stick around just for that...

Good luck in trying to make it as a writer mate Writing for a single niche is not as profitable/easy to get started with, but when it starts to roll, it gets way easier.

Seems a solid journey,best of luck OP

LostConnection said:

Good luck in trying to make it as a writer mate Writing for a single niche is not as profitable/easy to get started with, but when it starts to roll, it gets way easier.

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Thanks! Yes, I've already gotten quite a few requests for content in other niches. I know I could do it, but I also know that would be the road to burn out for me. IM is what I know and love writing about. Hopefully it's true what you say that it gets easier once it starts to roll!

By the way, if other writers are reading this and want to network and share ideas (maybe even referrals?), hit me up on Skype (melkabbb) or email (richard -AT- melkamedia -DOT- com).

Awesome meln, I would suggest using fiverr to extend your service

Good luck with your journey and most importantly find that stable income stream.

Good luck with ur writing business... writing can be therapeutic for those who love it... One suggestion from my personal experience is that widen your niche and do not just get stuck to one. This ways you will get many more clients also do know your forte too. So that you can oitch more in that area.... Good Luck

infopeer said:

Awesome meln, I would suggest using fiverr to extend your service

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Thank you! Is there a good way to get your clients to talk to you outside Fiverr? I know they want you to stay on the site, and at $4/gig it's really not decent pay for writing articles (unless you live in a really cheap country).

ThisDream said:

Good luck with your journey and most importantly find that stable income stream.

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Thank you!

gary2 said:

Good luck with ur writing business... writing can be therapeutic for those who love it... One suggestion from my personal experience is that widen your niche and do not just get stuck to one. This ways you will get many more clients also do know your forte too. So that you can oitch more in that area.... Good Luck

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Thanks man - I definitely see where you're coming from suggesting writing in other niches... We'll see, I really want to make it work with just the IM niche and I do believe it's doable considering how big this "niche" is (it's not really a niche, no more than "health" is).

Hey mate, We've interacted via pms before

Good luck for this journey, this looks promosing.

I love your Lightserp Rank Tracking Service it rocks!

howard_hughes said:

Hey mate, We've interacted via pms before

Good luck for this journey, this looks promosing.

I love your Lightserp Rank Tracking Service it rocks!

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Hey, yes I remember And thank you! It's slow progress but LightSERP is finally starting to gain some traction and fans. I think I've found a good niche, seems there is at least some demand for a simple and affordable rank tracking service.

I sent this thread to a few writers I know. You're doing an excellent thing here. All the best with it!!

Dr Acula said:

I sent this thread to a few writers I know. You're doing an excellent thing here. All the best with it!!

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Thanks, that is very kind of you - I really appreciate it!

There is definitely money in writing OP, although making ~$1,500/day like your old method would bring in for you isn't going to be ideal (unless you're outsourcing every last order and get hundreds of orders a day, but I'm sure that time will come!).

Good luck with your journey,

A

Aluminium said:

There is definitely money in writing OP, although making ~$1,500/day like your old method would bring in for you isn't going to be ideal (unless you're outsourcing every last order and get hundreds of orders a day, but I'm sure that time will come!).

Good luck with your journey,

A

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Nah I'm not really expecting $1,500/day writing Thing is with affiliate marketing I could indeed make that much in a day, even sustain it for a few months. But eventually it always crashed down back to $0 and I would have to start over again. Watching your bank account slowly drain while trying to come up with a new "home run method" is quite stressful. Some people thrive on that I'm sure, and I'm not saying there's anything wrong with affiliate marketing, it's just that personally I'd rather have more stability and less money if given the choice...

Going to throw a suggestion out. Feel free to ignore every word (I'm used to it; married).

A lot of writer lack your skills, knowledge, experience.

I'm sure you've thought of these ideas, and others, but here you go:

- Coaching (maybe a payment-based forum sort of deal);
- E-Book (obvious one);
- Hiring Writers.

Re: #3.

I work with a lot of writers and many of them, especially the ladies who are incredibly intelligent and just want a little extra, struggle to find work. As you already know, go on any freelance writing forum and a vast percentage of talented writers struggle to get gigs. That could be where you come in. And there are plenty of webmaster forums with freelance sections for you to advertise on.

Dr Acula said:

Going to throw a suggestion out. Feel free to ignore every word (I'm used to it; married).

A lot of writer lack your skills, knowledge, experience.

I'm sure you've thought of these ideas, and others, but here you go:

- Coaching (maybe a payment-based forum sort of deal);
- E-Book (obvious one);
- Hiring Writers.

Re: #3.

I work with a lot of writers and many of them, especially the ladies who are incredibly intelligent and just want a little extra, struggle to find work. As you already know, go on any freelance writing forum and a vast percentage of talented writers struggle to get gigs. That could be where you come in. And there are plenty of webmaster forums with freelance sections for you to advertise on.

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You know, I'm kicking myself over here... Those are all excellent ideas. One great plan of action would be first establishing myself as a writer in the IM niche just like I've planned. Then, later on, also launching a general writing service for all those clients who ask about other niches (already had a couple of them!). For that service I'd hire writers instead of doing it myself, but still maintain high quality of course.

Coaching/e-books are also completely obvious really, and still I hadn't thought of them! That's also something I could do once I become more established - sell coaching/ebooks to other writers, teaching them how to get gigs, deal with clients etc.

I'm REALLY glad I decided to post this journey thread, let me tell you... It's just making me even more certain that I'm on the right track and there are good things lurking around the corner!

meln said:

You know, I'm kicking myself over here... Those are all excellent ideas. One great plan of action would be first establishing myself as a writer in the IM niche just like I've planned. Then, later on, also launching a general writing service for all those clients who ask about other niches (already had a couple of them!). For that service I'd hire writers instead of doing it myself, but still maintain high quality of course.

Coaching/e-books are also completely obvious really, and still I hadn't thought of them! That's also something I could do once I become more established - sell coaching/ebooks to other writers, teaching them how to get gigs, deal with clients etc.

I'm REALLY glad I decided to post this journey thread, let me tell you... It's just making me even more certain that I'm on the right track and there are good things lurking around the corner!

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You made my day. Glad I could help a bit!

I've been doing IM a while and you get a good instinct about people. You'll do very well, I have no doubt!

Goal from $0 to $300/day in 1 year... It makes sense! Keep updating this thread for 1 year. Or until you achieve your goal $300/day.

himanuzo said:

Goal from $0 to $300/day in 1 year... It makes sense! Keep updating this thread for 1 year. Or until you achieve your goal $300/day.

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That's the plan