Writers who IM: Finding a Balance

I understand your thought process very well. Sometimes it is hard to move away from what you are doing successfully to something that may or may not work. If i could offer a suggestion, maybe try and build on what you are already doing. What i mean by this is build a site around your writing services and promote that. Essentially you will still be doing the same work but your business will have a more professional look about it. A really good example of this is 99centarticles.com. I use that service regularly because it is easy to order exactly what i want with a short form and it arrives in my inbox a few days later. Take a chance and build something like that and i guarantee you will acquire a lot more customers. Just my opinion though

I think you should follow your heart and go after your dreams of starting your own info-product internet business. How fast do you write articles? Is there a chance to work on both your clients and your own IM business at the same time - in the same day? Do you get any days off from your clients?

It's nice to both pay the bills now and work towards something bigger, so why not just split your time? Spend half of your day on your clients and half on your own projects. Or split up your week. Even if you only spend a couple hours per day on your own stuff, you will inevitably gain momentum and start seeing some real progress.

Yes your site needs some work before you start getting the people you really want there. Write your book as well as work for your clients. You don't want to look back in a few months and say "if only I had started it then." Glad you are getting paid for what you do.

Hi Lyndal66. I am in exactly the same boat as you. I work as a freelance writer of articles and make reasonable money from it. However while I like to work from home - and it is the only option due to living in the country - it still means I am tied to my computer pretty much 7 days a week ( what else is there to do in the country, lol) . But I often like time off to visit my grandson and it is hard to get it off when I have regular clients. he lives along way away, so a week at least is necessary.

What I have done is to start up a website selling plr articles in the hopes that what I write once will bring in an income for manyyears rather than only once. This will save me working quite so hard. That goal will hopefully come to fruition in the future as more people get to know about my service.

There are many other ways that you can make money with freelance writing, of course, but this one appealed to me. I would also like to start websites in other categories and hope to do so one day. But as you said, I neglect it to work for my clients. The trick is making sure you take time off on a regular basis to do what you want in this regard. so balance your life and take some time out to do what you really want to do as well as writing for others.

@vickybabe That's interesting that you say that because I was just wondering today about how I could start outsourcing. I sell my services as a nurse in the medical niche, though, and outsourcing would be dishonest. Not me. But I like the idea of building up a group of nurses and medical professionals who write content and creating a content website. Then I could promote that. Even if it is just me to start, it wouldn't be a bad idea. This is definitely something to think about.

I could split my time, and that is what I am considering. It is just I have bills to pay, and if I have an hour, I'd rather get paid $50 for writing for a client than write something that may flop. But, it may do well. You never know. I feel I can produce some pretty good informational content ebooks. I have ideas galore! I'm just distracted by the very real need to pay off my school bills. I may be a nurse, but it dang sure didn't come cheap!

I was just curious as to how other writers do it. I think there are a lot of writers in IM because it is wordy enterprise. Content is king. Or it should be.

As for my schedule, I basically work until exhausted. I write as much as I can on as many days as I can. I am not burnt out because that is usually only a few articles per day. I know when to stop. It's just when I get to that stopping point, can I ask myself to now write a bit in an ebook? It's hard to know how much to hold back.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. I may be overthinking. I've been accused of as much. Frequently.

@Sue My site is merely a portfolio. I don't actively market it. I just send people there from eLance and such. It isn't optimized or anything. If you have any suggestions, I am open to them.

Lynda

you can make your own site selling PLR articles on hot niches . hope you can get passive income from your articles this way

You can always write article for yourself and market your own website or products.

Jenny

I started as a writer... and I've been slowly backing off to focus on IM. There is nothing like having both passive income and active income. It is WAY worth getting into doing your own thing.

Selling PLR articles may be a good choice if you like writing, as would product creation.

Basically, I just stopped working towards getting new clients. I work with the clients I have forever. I accept new clients if they come to me. I don't actively look for clients outside of an occasional signature link and letting people I talk to know I'm a writer. This lets me focus on my IM ventures.

If you just want to start dabbling, I suggest taking an hour or two out each day and devoting it to working on your own sites. You'll really thank yourself when you are making as much as you do writing as passive income and are still able to write for more money.

Surely you must be able to squeeze in a little bit of time for IM every day?

There is no rush.

Interesting questions, Lynda. I'll give it a shot at answering.

1. There's a difference between being an 'employee' and an 'entrepreneur'.
One has security and stability (to an extent), and is paid in proportion.
The other takes risks, seizes opportunity, and reaps richer rewards -
while accepting the danger of failing massively.

2. There's a difference between exchanging time for money and setting up
passive income streams. In one, you get paid for working - but when you
stop working, the income dries up. With the other, you set up systems -
and they'll pay you even after you stop working. Royalties on ebook or
book sales are the classic example.

3. There's no "better way" in general - only the better way for YOU. And
it depends upon several factors, most of them involving you. Your risk
apetite. Your willingness to defer gratification. Your ability to set
a goal and work towards it. Your skills and talents. Your passion.
Your purpose. All of these (and more) will decide which path is right
for you.

I'll end with a quote from Steve Jobs' famous Stanford commencement address:

Hope this helps

All success
Dr.Mani

Hey Lynda!

You asked if it was more profitable to write for yourself or find higher paying clients. I've been in this position so I'd like to share my viewpoint with you.

For 6 YEARS i worked as the ghostwriter to many of the top gurus online. I'd get paid what I thought was a nice $1,000 for a 50-page eBook. Woohoo! I thought.

Yeah - then the guru would come back for more. Why? Well when he launched that 50-page eBook, he made $10,000 on day one. Sometimes six figures for his launch.

But back to your original question. You are looking at the IM career all wrong. You said "write for yourself."

It's not comparable at all. You're either a ghostwriter, where yes, all you do is the writing portion for someone else...

OR...

You become a full on marketer. That encompasses SO many things, not just writing. Not everyone has it in them. It requires you to learn everything about marketing - the technical steps, the selling strategies, the affiliate program set-up, the list building/communication, niche needs, etc etc etc....

I find it rewarding. But don't think it'll be as easy as "okay, I'll schedule today to write for myself," because that's not even your first step.

I was completely wrong thinking my hard work made those gurus big money. It was a component, but it was their knowledge about marketing, JVing, affiliates, converting, etc., that got them those big pay days.

What I would suggest is this:

Spend a portion of your time each day readying yourself to wean yourself off ghostwriting income. Get your steps together, like finding the niche for you, deciding on what position within that niche you want to teach, then developing your product, getting your site set up, promoting, etc., but do all that while ghostwriting.

Is it "worth it?" OH YES. Because you will hit a ceiling with ghostwriting. You can only write so much and there's eventually a maximum payout.

With your own marketing, there IS no ceiling! You can grow it as much as you want, and there's no ONE TIME PAY. It's residual. Do the work once, get paid over and over and over again.

If you want it bad enough, you won't be satisfied working for others long-term. Took me a long time because I was scared and didn't feel like i had all the pieces. Then one day I just jumped without a parachute and landed just fine

Tiff