From my personal experience,  even established sites – WomenDaybyDay.com,  DemystifyingDigital – for which I write, recognize little money from Google Adsense or Amazon-type affiliation. I’m told, though I haven’t tested the waters, that going directly to advertisers and soliciting ads for my sites is the best way to earn reliable money.

Of course, if a website pays a straight compensation package for writing, and I work for several who do, I make money. Sometimes, it’s really good money. But writers trying to transition from print, where publications are nose diving rapidly, to new media, there’s a dilemma.

As LinkedIn member John Freeman said in a recent comment,

The issue I was trying to highlight was the lack of revenue streams from work on the web generally: there needs to be better ways for writers to earn revenue from online publication BESIDES straight fee — and that still hasn’t happened. Potential advertising banner revenues and affiliate links aren’t enough.

Freeman has some good ideas – and maybe those will come to fruition. For example, he suggests publications that have made their content available online,  build a ‘royalty pot’ for writers, which could then be shared when copy is re-used or syndicated for a fee, or from corporate ad revenues, just as print publications pay writers through ad revenues.

Pay for new media writers is a problem. The model used most often is tied to page views or, even worse, tied to ad clicks. Clearly, no publication can exist without written copy – and writers must earn a living in order to remain in the business of writing.

Sites like Suite101.com, top heavy with management, editors and staff, pay a pittance for copy that keeps them in business. They set a precedence that will create streams of low-quality writing from disgruntled writers trapped at a poverty line. Such writers can’t affect or control the number of readers who click an ad – so they have no input into their own income.

Large writing boiler rooms in countries like India or Pakistan are providing copy for web “media” sites unconcerned about content quality. Such sites want only revenue quantity. These sweatshops churn out barely readable junk for around $1 per 100 words.A talented, established print writer earns $1 per word and up.

Sites like Examiner.com offer pay based on page visit count, which is marginally better, but still needs rethinking. Writers can, by strongly promoting their work, have a measure of control over their paychecks on this model. But if Examiner, and others, want high quality and consistent readership, their pay “algorithm” will, at some point,  need to consider incentives or bonuses for performance.

It’s an interesting time to be a writer. By no means are we hopeless, but this is one of the few industries in the world weeding out quality and experience in favor of cheap dross. Look what similar low standards did for American automobile manufacturers. Readers are consumers. They aren’t dumb – they want value.

That isn’t to say you can develop an expert platform with no knowledge of your are or topic. For example, if I’m an expert in freelance writing, and I am, I must have a base of information and experience in freelance writing. I do. I’ve been making a kick butt living as a freelancer for years.

Now, suppose you want to become a prolific writer/spokesperson/expert on a topic. Here’s a road map for you.

Decide what kind of expert you are

Do you want to be a media personality? Want to write books and publish them or have them published? Be a web guru? Highly paid public speaker? Sell your writing with a freelance marketing plan? Make a clear decision about where you want to begin this trip and take step toward that goal every single day.

Spend quality time with your expertise

Get inside your head. Decide what you’re passionate about. What do you love that you’re good at? What do others come to you for advice about? What topic, that lights you up, appears most often on your bookshelf? Choose your hottest platform.

Is the platform technology, for example? You have knowledge and passion? Good. Move to the next step.

Organize your expert thinking

Narrow your focus so you can absorb tons of accurate information on your subject. The age old journalism questions – who, what, where, when and how – are a good jumping off point. If you can’t answer those questions, study up.

Technology is too broad. Narrow to a niche others have missed. Maybe technology in schools. Start reading, talking to educators, friends, neighbors, parents..figure out what they want to know more about.

Study up with other experts

Read. Watch. Ask questions. Do research. Like a hungry ant eater, slurp up bytes of information from reliable sources. Test yourself. Take an online course. Avoid pop-culture experts like the plague, unless pop culture is your topic! I mean, if you research something at a site like WikiPedia, make sure, before you regurgitate information you’re taking in, it’s reliable. Check facts and never put your name to facts you don’t know to be true.

Be thorough – it’s worth it.  How does technology affect education, for example? How will it continue to do so? Learn what educators and parents need to do to keep ahead.

Organize your expert approach

Outline what you know. Store that for future reference. Write one or two pieces on subjects within your platform. Make them polished, specific, and fascinating. Develop a blog if you want one. Make business cards. Create a simple letterhead design to run off as needed. Structure time to promote yourself and your topic.

Write an salient article on the three newest technological programs in schools (or on whatever your topic is…). Maybe satellite remotes to connect teachers in the field with home classroom students in real time…

Big expert step – market yourself

It needn’t cost a dime. You might get paid to do it.

• Create a simple, but elegant website – use WordPress if you aren’t an html guru.
• Join forums and online communities that relate to your topic and answer people’s questions, generously and cordially, without one word of self-promotion. Sign your name with your url beneath.
• Try to sign on as a writer at either Suite101.com or Examiner.com. You don’t need a portfolio at either site, you don’t need writing experience, You do need to sell yourself as an expert, loosely speaking. You will, with tons of hard work, especially at Examiner, develop credibility, a following and a clip file. You’ll get paid. A pittance at first, but it’s a credential.
• Figure out how to use Twitter and use it. It can be invaluable to develop cred.
• Gather your newly created portfolio, clip file, resume and put yourself in front of the audience, editor, producer, or publisher you want to impress. Make no mistakes. Present only highest quality work.

Three essentials to recognize when you are preparing to be an expert

1. Expert success won’t happen over night.
2. Being a paid expert involves 70% marketing yourself, and about 30% actual writing and public speaking. Always.
3. Marketing doesn’t mean spamming, it means putting your product – your expertise – in front of the right people in the right way. Study effective marketing or hire a coach. You can’t fake the way you promote your dream.

Footnote – should you decide to sell yourself to Examiner.com, kindly tell them you came to them through Maryan Pelland, Chicago Home Technology Examiner, ID number 5356. Thanks!

Here’s what Examiner says:

Examiner.com serves 60 major markets across the country and is quickly becoming the premier online brand for local information and events. We are a division of the Clarity Media Group, owned by the Anschutz Company, one of the largest media companies in the country.

Examiner is hiring now, in fact, they hired me as Chicago Examiner for Home Technology. You will not get paid a salary – it’s a pay per your contribution to the site. But the algorithm they use to figure pay is far superior to most and considers a number of factor including page views and ad clicks.

Suite101.com, for example, only pays on ad clicks. The writer brings readers to the site, spreads the word about the site, and makes money for the company. Writer gets paid squat because she has no way to control or impact ad clicks. Off topic, sorry.

If you want to work very hard actually developing a business that you will control, and you have an area of expertise that you can build a platform from, look into the jobs available at Examiner.

Our content is contributed by passionate, informed people known as Examiners. Examiners are people in your community with a common desire to share their knowledge and expertise with others. Examiners are college students, civil servants, retirees, doctors, musicians, magazine editors and stay-at-home parents.
Examiners provide helpful information, resources and tools related to their area of expertise that can be used by people in their community.

I know with conglomerates like this you can build a lot of power for your own writing, blogs and websites. I receive so many products for review, from major tech companies, that I can’t do them all. I get regular freelance jobs from my name being so visible on the Internet.

My first day of work with Examiner generated revenue – for me. This company knows what they’re doing. They don’t get bogged down in stupid English teacher traditions. Examiner helps writers who want to make money on the web understand how to do that and what step comes next.

They will support you, give you insider tips, provide access to resources like AP for photos at no charge to you.

You, in return will create a viable web page. Write excellent content. Polish that to professional glow and post regularly and often. There is a future here for writers who wish to write.

Do me a favor – if you go apply to be an Examiner writer, tell them Maryan Pelland, ID 5356 sent you. Then tell me how it goes for you at Examiner.

Read Maryan Pelland at Examiner:

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