Forum Moderators: not2easy
Can someone who wants to earn an income from writing start a website about writing and include a variety of topics on that site including writing? I would like to earn some type of advertising from the site while I'm trying to develop a writing career.
Andrea
If you want to get a noticeable income from the site, you need to think of it like starting a business. Scout out the competition - that is, other sites about writing - to see what you could offer that's not already out there. Get to know your online "niche" intimately: what's offered, who the audience is, how focused or broad you want your topic to be, etc., etc. Read, read, read, on this forum as well as other places, about ways to help people find your site, how to make it attractive for first-time visitors as well as a site people will want to come back to, and the various possibilities for advertising or other income.
You'll find differing opinions on the "variety of topics" idea. If your main focus is going to be on writing, I'd certainly start with that; in fact, after doing your marketing research you may decide you want an even narrower focus. Add other topics judiciously. When you choose a host, be sure to get one that gives you access to your site statistics, including what search words are bringing people to your site; that can give you an idea of what people are actually looking for when they come to your site and might point you toward what topics to add or expand.
One very specific caveat for someone trying to launch a writing site and a writing career at the same time: if one thing you want your site to do is provide a place to post your own writing for potential publishers to see, keep in mind that many print publishers consider work published publicly online to be "previously published" (which is it, actually, legally speaking) and so either will not buy it at all or will pay less for it than if they were purchasing first publishing rights, depending on what the publisher's practice is regarding republishing material. You may end up deciding you're better off using your material on your own site rather than marketing it elsewhere, but keep this in mind as you decide how much of your work to put out there publicly.
Thank you for replying. I'm really confused about how I'm going to start earning an income online. I think I could do some type of writing. In that case, perhaps I should use to write articles and monetise the site with adsense and affiliate programs. I'm not sure what to do and I can tell you I have thought over this long and hard. So, why am I still stuck on deciding? I really need to start earning an income.
Andrea
