Guest Post: Freelance Writing

One of my readers on the last post asked for tried and tested alternative income sources. Well, I believe we’re all gifted differently and for that reason need to find those areas and capitalise on them for success, but it’s good to give a few ideas on what has worked for others, maybe it could work for you.

BeMogul is my guest writer today, educating us on freelance writing as a ‘side hustle’. 

Photo Credit: http://freefreelancewritingtips.blogspot.com

I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve always felt that I could do with more money. I never seem to have enough to get all that I want at any time. It’s true for you too, isn’t it? Taking your girl out or buying yourself a fly shoe or even getting your Mom the perfect gift for her birthday usually means saving up and making sacrifices here and there. And we all know saving up is not fun. So how can you make all this easier? Easy; make more money.

There are all kinds of means out there of earning an extra buck in your spare time; some harder than others. Most of them are legal and a lot of them aren’t. As a rule I prefer to work with the hustles that are relatively easy and legal. This is where freelance writing comes in. There are companies that specialize in writing essays, articles, dissertations and academic writing for international clients at a fee. These companies hire guys to research and write these articles for them and pay them typically Kshs 80 – 150 per page containing 500 words.

The research they require to be done before writing an article is pretty basic. Suffice to say if you know how to use the Google search engine you can hack it (pardon the pun). Needless to say that plagiarizing is illegal. I suggest you do a bit of research on what plagiarizing really means before you take up this job. That aside, all you need to get started is a personal computer and internet access. So if you own a laptop (or a desktop PC) and you have a modem you are good to go. Naturally, you will be required to good command of the English language which simply means if you can string together words to make logical sentences you will do just fine. The company will usually require you to write a minimum of five articles (roughly 2500 words) a day. This should not be hard for anyone with average typing speed.

What I like most about freelance writing is the flexibility it allows you. At the end of the day it is just a side hustle that you want to fit into your daily routine. It shouldn’t be too stressful or as stressful as your day job. In addition, the more effort you put into it the more you earn. If you write twice as many articles, you earn twice the earnings. There are enough guys doing it full time and manage to get by fairly well with it as their sole source of income.

To find the companies that are looking for freelance writers simply Google “freelance writing Nairobi” and you find a myriad of options to choose from. Send a brief application through email with a copy of your CV and a sample essay you have written. Who knows? It might allay some of your financial problems.

Have you engaged in a ‘side hustle’ before? How did it work out for you? Share in the comments section, or let me know if you would like to write a guest post on this. Let us share knowledge.