A Whole New World : Full Time Income Writing

byptdata

1.9K followers

2 years ago

Hi there WA friends! I keep meaning to come here to post an update on my blog happenings, and then I get sidetracked.

Hmm...maybe "sidetracked" isn't the right word. Poor time management is probably a better reason. It's one thing, that, if I mastered, would bring some incredible rewards, no doubt.

My lack of proper time management is the reason I haven't been consistent writing in my blog lately.

However, I AM writing...and making a full time income with it because of WA.

And I'll get to how this all happened in a bit...this is all new to me.

Not Posting To My Blog Regularly

Back to my blog...

I think I wrote and published 4 blog posts in July. BUT, that's FAR less than my monthly target.

When I started my little heath and fitness website in 2020, I wrote 5 posts a week.

Then I dropped that down to 3 posts a week when I could feel a burn out creeping in.

Then that dropped to 1 per week.

And lately, I have no rhyme or reason to how I write and publish posts. Lately, I'll knock out three in a day, and then just schedule them to go out in upcoming weeks.

My website is nearing 240 articles posted now.

How Am I Making A Full Time Income Writing?

So, I mentioned earlier that I'm making a full time income...just writing.

This is because of WA.

Had I not discovered WA in the first place, and followed along with the trainings, built a website, posted to my blog consistently, and continued to learn and grow and stay committed to the process even when not a penny was coming in, I wouldn't be paying my bills right now with my writing.

To be clear, I'm NOT making that income with my blog.

However, my blog does bring in affiliate income regularly, from Amazon and other affiliate networks.

And it also brings in money from Google Adsense and Media.net, the two ad platforms I use.

Still, my site isn't bringing me nearly the amount of traffic I aspire it to have.

Then I come here to WA and see a Partha post, and realize I am so backwards right now in my life, and my priorities are all out of whack.

I don't give up, and I definitely get inspired any time I read a post like one of Partha's, because it's always a reminder of the things I know are possible with my own blog.

I've strayed just a little bit, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, as you'll see.

Stumbling Upon A.I. Software

Now, there's a little piece of A.I. software I discovered by accident that has completely changed my life, in ways I never knew a software could.

I got it to help me with my own blog posts, and it took quite a bit of trial and error learning to use it, but the next thing I know, is it's helped me with writers block, and I write far higher quality content now than I did when I started.

I've gotten to a point where I can write and publish a high quality 1000 word article in about 30 minutes.

And when I say high quality, I mean far superior to what I used to write when my ego-headed self started writing...when I started, it was all about "me me me me"...

But now, I understand user intent far better than I ever did before.

This is crucial if you want a successful website, because in the end, your job is to make sure the users at your site are getting the information they came looking for.

Now, this software is directly responsible for putting food on my table, and I couldn't be more grateful for it.

I'll explain HOW in a minute.

So, what's the software called!?!

I Will NOT Name The A.I. Tool

The smart version of myself would promote the crap out of it so I could bring in referrals, right?

I think there's a negative association with A.I. tools with a lot of writers and bloggers, and it's very easy to get the wrong impression of HOW they can actually help you.

After all, we're in the world of affiliate marketing, one of the scammiest that exists. People want quick fixes and overnight success.

So, when I say "A.I. Tool", I know it can bring up negative connotations with it.

But, when used properly and ethically, it's amazing the ways technology can help us and help those around us.

So, this A.I. software is now my little writing assistant. If you REALLY wanna know what it is, just ask!

People Will PAY You To Write For Them

In the FB community for this "mystery A.I. tool", I discovered that there are TONS of companies and people out there looking for freelance writers.

I'd never done freelance writing before, and had no intention to do so.

As I mentioned, my entire focus with this software was to speed up my blog writing and really start posting far more often.

Oh, wait, maybe I didn't mention that earlier! But yeah, that was my plan. But then...I truly did get sidetracked.

Getting Paid To Write For A Surgeon In Italy

Out of nowhere, in that FB community, a surgeon in Italy was in need of a writer for a blog post on her webiste.

She was specifically interested in someone with experience in health and wellness.

My website is a health and fitness site. So, I got really excited. I filled out her little application form...

And here's where WA Is responsible for my income.

The surgeon wanted to see samples of my writing. Well, I have literally HUNDREDS of articles posted on my blog.

So, I sent her a few that I felt resonated with her own work and personality.

The next thing I know, she's hired me to write an assignment for her!

Not only that, but she WANTED me to use this "mystery A.I. tool" to help her and she gave me her login details to get to work.

More Paid Writing Work!

Soon, a world of freelance writing sort of unfolded itself.

I learned about more ways to get paid writing, and came to realize there are so many opportunities out there.

In fact, if you're interested in getting hired to write, a fantastic site is ProBlogger.com. And you'd be surprised at what you'll find on Craigslist too.

So, very unexpectedly, another company who read some of the work on my blog liked my writing too.

This time, I signed paperwork and became an "official freelancer" on their platform as a guest blogger.

In some ways, I find this to be ironic. I'm writing articles for OTHER blogs who are just doing what we're all trying to learn to do here in WA....get traffic and make money.

They're paying sites to write short articles on topics related to their blogs, and they're buying backlinks.

What that means is, I write the article on whatever the topic is. For instance, last week I wrote about 5 siding options for homes in Seattle.

Well, every article needs to include one backlink - that's the link that sends people back to the person's blog. The article is NOT promotional. It's just a general article discussing a topic that casually links over to the person's blog.

Well, the company I'm writing for posts these articles on high authority websites - some of them are even fortune 500 companies.

So, when someone clicks back to your site from an article that's posted on a popular fortune 500 website, that tells Google, "oh my! that little blog must be important! I'll start to rank that higher in the search engine."

Does that make sense?

So, not only does our keywords and content matter, but authority links matter too.

Backlinks Aren't Important?

In all my time here in WA, I don't remember learning the importance of backlinks.

I'm writing at least 50 or more articles per week for various companies, who are all paying to have articles written for them including backlinks to their websites.

I now realize that the one part of my own blog I neglected was backlinks. I had no idea how important they were and HOW they work into an overall SEO strategy.

But my understanding now, is that writing keyword rich content is only half the battle. It'll get you part of the way there. But if you're going to supercharge results, backlinks ARE important.

Now, that may not be the case for everyone, and my website DOES bring me organic traffic every single day, and sales come in weekly.

But I'm also realizing there's a reason you'll find "backlink" packages on Fiverr for hundreds of dollars.

What A Day In The Life Looks Like

I swear, I started playing The Goonies in the background since I started writing this post, and the movie is almost over.

I may have gone off on a tangent, but hopefully this all makes sense.

Right now, I'm writing...for 3 different freelance companies, and I love it.

It's creative fun, and I'm kind of shocked that I'm getting paid to just write.

I wake up, work out, grab assignments, and I write. One of the companies I write for is all guest blog posts, and the other one, I write directly for clients.

I recently wrote an article for Jim Kwik, and my jaw dropped when I found that one out. I finished another one for the Westgate Hotel in Las Vegas. It makes my head spin sometimes.

I spend a few hours with my little secret writing assitant, make money, and get on with my day when my brain feels a bit like mush.

The Downside Of Freelance Writing Gigs

While I am absolutely grateful and excited to be writing and getting paid for it, this world has taken over more of my free time than I'd like it to.

At the same time, I have MORE free time now than I did BEFORE I started doing this.

But the downside is this...

My blog has slipped from my priority list. I still write in it, but as I mentioned earlier, I may just sit down and knock out 3 articles, and schedule them to be posted.

Then I come back here to WA, and see a Partha post...and I realize, man Paul, you're writing for other people, but NOT for yourself!

I feel like my blog could start a huge fire. It's got so much content on it already. I just need to light it.

I still AM writing for myself, but right now, I need to figure out how to switch gears.

I need to figure out WHEN to stop writing for others, and set up a schedule for my own blog.

It's so fun to take assignments each day, but I also need to stop at some point...

Cause I KNOW that my blog has TREMENDOUS potential, and the more that I'm writing guest blog posts for other people, the more I think to myself, this is ironic...

I've Become A Human Encyclopedia?!

Why am I NOT doing this for myself with a schedule like I used to?

Why am I not writing in my own blog every single day of the week?

It's interesting...and I'm learning from this experience.

But the positives are that I'm researching and learning about so many topics I didn't know about before, because I write about everything and anything under the sun.

Sometimes I feel like a human encyclopedia with all the topics that get injected into me every day.

Speaking of injections, I've written about fillers and botox for a spa in Encino, California at least 4 different times!

But I digress.

I need to get back to why I started my blog in the first place.

If anything, this whole experience has given me more confidence, and I know so much more walking back into my blog.

But, I get mad at myself...cause I mean to write in my blog, but the day gets away from me...

Then, I spend a few hours one night on my patio pumping out 3 articles, and schedule them to be published.

But there's nothing organized or structured about that...I guess it's good that I continue to write in my health and fitenss site no matter what.

And it's good that I wrote THIS post!

But, time management...that's what I'm looking for now...balance...life.

Thank you for reading! I hope there was something from this post that could inspire you or make you think, or question, or anything at all really!