Writing Business Ideas
A writing business can be conducted from anywhere on the globe. You could be living in South Africa and translating for a company in America or living in Mozambique and publishing books on Amazon. The opportunities are endless. Here are 10 writing business ideas you can start right now:
51. Fiverr: Writing and Translation
Fiverr is a freelancing platform that allows you to do projects for people and companies across the world. You could support yourself doing full-time writing and translation work on Fiverr.
How to start this business idea
You share on Fiverr what you’re able to do, what languages you can translate for example or what writing experience you have, and clients ask you to do projects for a fee.
How to keep this business idea successful
You’ll need to be diligent with the project work. The longer you work for, the more you can charge per project. Another trick is to upsell and oversell everything you can to the client.
52. Copywriter
A copywriter prepares copy or text for numerous projects including: Advertisements, marketing brochures, press releases, TV and radio commercials and catalogues.
How to start this business idea
You’ll need a talent for writing. Establish connections with advertising agencies and public relations firms. They can refer your service to their clients or use your services themselves.
How to keep this business idea successful
The more experience you have and the wider your repertoire the more you can charge per project. Develop a network of contacts to write for to ensure you always have upcoming projects.
53. Freelance Travel Writer
If you love to travel you can submit travel articles to numerous publications around the world. You can write guidebooks, first-person features, practical articles and 500-page articles, to name just a few.
How to start this business idea
Start travelling and documenting your experiences. Once you’ve written something send it to every travel publication you know that could be interested in your particular topic.
How to keep this business idea successful
Read what others are doing, make the most of each trip, and be consistent and reliable to your publishers.
54. Proof-reader
A proof-reader reviews written work in various forms for clients and corrects spelling, punctuation and typos. If you have a strong command of your language use, spelling and punctuation, this could be the business idea for you.
How to start this business idea
This will depend on your clientele, you’ll need to approach potential customers and offer your services. Once they’ve engaged you, remember to give consistent quality work.
How to keep this business idea successful
You can work for multiple customers at the same time, just be sure to stay organised and to allow enough time for all the work you need to deliver on.
55. Social Media Manager
Businesses have caught on to the fact that social media can be a meaningful platform that offers the opportunity to engage directly with current and future customers.
How to start this business idea
If you’re good at managing social media accounts and increasing engagement for businesses, you can offer this as a service. You can reach out to businesses with underperforming social media accounts and offer to assist them in attracting new customers and engaging with current customers.
How to keep this business idea successful
You’ll need to manage multiple social media accounts simultaneously without dropping the ball or losing engagement.
56. Start a Blog
A blog offers readers very specific content. If you can attract enough people to read your blog, you can monetise it and earn revenue almost passively from it.
How to start this business idea
You can pay for your hosting site or you can opt for a free one. Then start writing. You’ll need to be consistent, post often and offer high quality content.
How to keep this business idea successful
You’ll need to tap into something readers are interested in, then you’ll need to share your blog on social media and market it enough to gain sufficient followers so that advertisers will pay to be part of your blog.
57. Business Plan Writer
Every business needs a business plan to run smoothly and to stay on track. You can work one-on-one with entrepreneurs who have great ideas, that need your help, to be organised into a strategic plan.
How to start this business idea
Approach entrepreneurs to offer your services and help them to get on track with their businesses. In addition to business know-how, you will also need good communication, organisation and time management skills.
How to keep this business idea successful
If you stay in touch with the entrepreneur, you can help them adjust their business plans along the way. For example, you can readjust their business plan if they needed to pivot or if they’ve decided to look for funding.
58. Amazon Self-published Books
If you’re a fiction or non-fiction writer, you can publish your books on Amazon and earn a living off your own work.
How to start this business idea
Write something and publish it. Then you’ll need to market it and use all that Amazon has to offer to increase your sales. If you sign-up for KDP Select, Amazon will pay you based on the number of pages users read. If you launch exclusively through Audible you get 40% of the royalties on any sales.
How to keep this business idea successful
You’ll need to write high quality work, often. Continuously market your books and try to develop a following.
59. Freelance SEO writer
Search Engine Optimisation has become the new strategy to drive traffic to an article and a website. Businesses are realising the importance of this and are starting to hire writers to optimise their websites content.
How to start this business idea
Contact businesses and write SEO content for them to optimise and increase the traffic to their website. You can advertise your services on social media and online.
How to keep this business idea successful
Once you have a sustainable amount of clients you can continue to write one SEO article for them a week/month to ensure they continue to gain traction.
60. Writing Workshop Teacher
With so many writing opportunities there are many people who want to learn how to write or improve their writing abilities.
How to start this business idea
You’ll need to have experience in this area before offering a writing workshop. You can advertise your workshop at bookshops and on writing forums.
How to keep this business idea successful
This business idea doesn’t lend itself to repeat customers, unless you continuously offer something new that your previous class also wants to learn. A strategy could be to offer beginner, intermediate and advanced classes in an attempt to retain clients.