There’s a lot of buzz about people making money from writing freelance articles on the Internet. When I started looking into it, I thought that this could be a viable means through which to generate some serious revenue. Harper’s Dad has been posting his earnings from Associated Content, but I’ve become skeptical about whether the effort put into writing articles in such a manner is worth the time and effort.

Associated Content offers money for original content. Articles must be at least 400 words in length and payment is typically between $3 and $20. Harper’s Dad’s earnings from Associated Content have averaged about $5, with each article taking about 20 minutes to write. My argument against working in this way is that it is an inefficient use of time – you don’t earn much money doing it.

Sure, you could write hundreds of articles and the money would mount up, but if you are serious about writing then there is more money to be found elsewhere.

The term “freelance writer” can really mean anything. It sounds glamorous, but on the internet it equates to a lot of work for little return. Chris Bibey, who as I understand it is something of a guru regarding online freelance writing, posted his earnings for last month: $4,894.78 for 43 articles – a little over $100 an article. Sounds like a lot of money, but it looks like writing those articles takes up a lot of Chris’ time.

Think about it like this: I live in Thailand and do a lot of freelance writing for magazines and newspapers. The typical pay for one of these articles is up to $150 – in Thailand, where my monthly rent is less than $150. If a person is serious about writing for money, then why not do it in the real world? I’m not keen on the idea of working from home because by doing so you miss out on a lot of real-world activities.

As Harper’s Dad mentions, the main benefit of online freelance writing is that it can be used as a marketing tool, but for anyone who wants to write and get paid for it, contact local publications, tell them what you have to offer, prove you can write well and get some real work for some real money.

As a journalist, I’m hesitant to devote too much time to online freelance writing, but I can see that at least some freelance writing could be used to your advantage. As Chris says though, his freelance writing is his biggest source of income – imagine how much bigger it could be if he really took writing seriously.

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Tags: Internet income //