The Most Asked Question About Making Money Online As A Writer

I've been a bit lapse lately about posting on this blog.

For this there are two reasons.

Firstly, I've been doing other writing work and secondly I've been busy doing a run of talks at several local libraries about how I make money online.

And yes, there really should be a third reason that I could have tried harder to keep up with everything, but I was just SO busy.

The reason that I'm telling you all this is because at the talks I've been giving (and I haven't finished yet, so I'll be out on the road again next week), I talk a in quite a bit of detail about how to set up a blog, how to market it, and some of the different ways to earn an income online.

Afterwards, someone always asks me, "How do you know all this stuff? How did you learn to it it all?"

And as I answer this question, everyone seems to hold their breathe as they wait for my answer, as though  I'm about to impart some secret, mystical knowledge.

I tell them my 'secret' in one, un-mystical word.

Google.

This is my go-to place for everything I need to know.

Through my searches I've always found answers to all my questions, no matter how random or complicated they seem at first.

Sometimes I find what I'm looking for, for free.

Other times I find courses, services or products that can help me, so I buy them.

But I'm always searching, finding and investing.

I'm not afraid to invest my time or money in what I need to move my business forward.

And neither should you.

Search for what you need and then use it.

The people attending my talks (called The Laptop Lifestyle) were searching for knowledge and they found a lot of it.

You can find it too, without leaving your chair and attending one of my talks by investing in your own...

Laptop Lifestyle

What Do You Want To Write?

Let me ask you a question.

If you could earn enough money from your writing, regardless of what you were writing, what kind of writer would you be?

Would you be a novelist?

Ebook writer?

Blog writer?

Ghost writer?

Freelance writer?

Copy writer?

Screen writer?

Comedy writer?

Poet?

Review writer?

Speech writer?

Technical writer?

Article Writer?

Translator?

Or any other kind of writer.

Just imagine if you could sit and write for a few hours every day and earn all the money you needed.

Once you know what type of writer you want to be, then the next question is, why aren't you doing it?

There can be lots of reasons like no time, too many other commitments, don't know how...and the list goes on.

But the truth is that you're probably afraid of failure, so you invent excuses and stick to them.

The good news is that unlike other professions, it takes no money to start, the hours are flexible and it  requires no specialist training.

So if you haven't starting doing the type of writing you want to do, or you're already a writer but you're not enjoying it, then the time to make a change has come.

But don't go thinking that you need to quit your job or sit and write all day long, because you don't.

You just need to know what you want to do and then start doing it, even if you only have an hour or two to spare every day.

Stop making excuses and start living your writing dream.

If you want some inspiration, just look at all the writing books and writing courses available at http://cheritonhousepublishing.com.

The Lumberjack Story And What It Has To Do With Writing

I write about writing.

I write a lot about writing.

I also write about earning money from writing.

I write a lot about earning money from writing.

And one thing I always (well...sometimes) say is that to be able to earn a living from writing takes practice.

"Copy the greats, " I say.

"Find some great writing and copy it out by hand," I say.

"Do a course on writing and earning money," I say.

"Develop a daily writing habit," I say.

Does anyone listen?

Nah. Not everyone.

So let me tell you the story of the two lumberjacks. It goes something like this:

Two lumberjacks decided to see who could cut down the most tree in the shortest time.

The first lumberjack started cutting down trees immediately, but soon tired because of his dull saw.

While he was busy, the second lumberjack sat down and sharpened his saw for 45 minutes.

He then cut down many more trees in less time and with less effort.

And what does this have to do with writing?

Everything.

You need to spend time honing your craft by spending time copying the greats, doing a writing course or two and creating a daily writing habit.

And before you know it, you'll be writing better, faster, and with less effort.

So start writing today.


(No trees were harmed during the writing of this article.)

Always Feeling Like I Should Be Doing Something Else

Do you ever get that feeling that no matter what you're doing you should be doing something else?

I suffer from that continually all day long. Week after week.  Month after  month.

When I'm doing other things I feel like I should be writing.

When I'm writing I feel like I should be doing all those other things that I haven't gotten around to yet.

Years ago I was studying for a degree and doing it though the Open University so that I studied from home.

All through the year I felt that I should be studying, until I was studying and then I felt that I should be doing something else.

It felt like unstoppable pressure. I was always glad of the 3 month break at the end of every year so that I didn't feel so guilty any more.

But now that I work from home as a writer I still have that "should be doing something else" feeling, no matter what I'm doing.

It's just guilt, guilt, guilt all day long.

Even if I spend all day writing and produce an epic amount of work, I feel guilty about the weeds still  growing in the garden or the pile of ironing waiting to be done.

But now I seem to have reduced the pressure somewhat and so far it's working okay for me.

First I bought an extra computer, one that I can take out with me so that I can work away from the house. It's a Mac Book Air and I find that when I'm not at home I feel no pressure to do anything but the work right in front of me. And I get plenty done because I have nothing else to do while I sit in the park or in the library.

Secondly, I discovered iTunes podcasts about writing, productivity and making money online. And I've also (just last week) subscribed to downloading digital books from the local library.

Subscribing to both was easy.  iTunes takes just a click to subscribe to any series of podcasts I want to hear and if I don't like them, I can unsubscribe in just one click as well.

For the library, all I had to do was download an app for my iPhone and I can download any ebook or audio book in just a click or two, and they're easy to browse because they're categorised really well. The ebooks, if I ever want to borrow one, are available in different formats including Kindle.

The books I download are audio books so that I can listen to them on the go while I'm doing all those other non-writing related tasks that I always "should" be doing when I'm not writing.

And, if you've been following along with me for a while, you'll know that I have a part-time evening cleaning job (in lieu of a gym membership) for extra exercise, and I listen to all my podcasts and ebooks while I clean. I work alone so it's easy for me to escape into whatever I'm listening to while I get my work done.

And what this does is help me to catch up learning what I need to know as well as getting physical jobs done, the ones that require busy hands but empty mind. I also listen to things while I'm doing the dishes or the ironing or mending clothes.

This makes it easier to sit for a long time and get my writing done without feeling as guilty because I'm not doing all the other things I need to do.

And speaking of other things, the dogs are whining for their afternoon walk so I'll have to leave now. Sadly I can't listen to anything while I walk them because they take all my concentration as they continually swap sides, try and quickly follow interesting scent trails like a couple of blood hounds, dragging me along in the process, and meet and greet all dogs and their owners coming the opposite way. Sigh.

But at least at other times, listening to all these informational audios helps me to feel less guilty about doing other things and I feel less time pressured when I'm writing.

I also signed up for a webinar about blogging last week but I didn't have time to listen to it at the time  it was on, so I used my audio recorder to record it while I was busy doing other things. I just switched on the recorder and laid in against the speaker on my laptop. Sneaky, I know, but I listened to it later while I was out doing my cleaning job and to be honest, being a video didn't add anything to the learning experience because it was just someone talking to the camera the whole time. I didn't need to see them to hear what they had to say.

So if you suffer from the "should be doing something else" guilt trip, try using audio to help relieve the pressure and kill two proverbial birds with one stone.

It's working for me.

:)