First of all, I wanted to say that I found the list of paying sites very informational, and I’ve put the link to your site up in our student’s center.

Secondly, I wanted to echo what Kelly said – about print magazines and even newspapers – going belly up. If you’re just starting your writing career, having articles, blog posts or comments, book or product reviews on the Web is a good way to showcase your writing ability. If you don’t have a portfolio, links to your work can often work instead.

Writing for the Web is definitely different than writing for print – as you know, you need to use shorter sentences, break your paragraphs up, use headlines and subheads, etc. But it’s all good practice.

Other ways you can use leverage your work – even if the current pay is not as much as you hope to make one day – is to print out and send reprints of your articles to prospective clients, use them on your newsroom or in your own article directory on your Website or blog, include a link to the articles from your blog, and use them in your social media networking – if the articles are related to something your market wants to know. (It goes without saying, don’t spam.)

If you’re trying to build your expertise, you can also write and distribute media releases when you get a new gig with one of these sites. Remember, media releases aren’t just for journalists anymore, they’re also one of the ways your prospective clients may be using to find you.

And then of course, you’ve got the option of adding these articles into your own newsletters, or using them as a kind of outline to write a special report – or even an ebook – about the topic in much greater depth. (Because the real money is in publishing and selling your own work.)

All of these things help to brand you as an expert, and give you valuable writing experience and a little “street cred” as a writer.

So while these sites might only pay enough to supplement your income, they give you much more than that in terms of helping you to work on the business side of a writing business.

Deb – I’m glad I found your site, and as I said, I’m recommending it to my students!

Warmly,

Cheryl Antier
Director, Writer’s Business Academy
Host “Business Breakthroughs” and
“Sizzlin’ Summer Seminars” blogtalkradio
Travel Editor, Phenomenal Magazine
CEO, Dream Weaver Enterprises
Copywriter, ghostwriter, travel writer