How to Make Money as a Freelance Abstract Writer

Have you ever wanted to make money writing just a couple hundred words? This article details how you can make money as a freelance writing who writes abstracts.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Computer
• Internet Access

1. Recognize the Opportunity. Abstract writing is a fun, easy way to make money as a freelance writer. And, it can be quite lucrative as well. Many freelance writers aren’t even aware of this type of writing.
   
   What is Abstract Writing? Abstracts are short intros that explain what something is all about. For example, if you log onto a paid news site to read an article, there may be two or three lines that explain what the article is all about. This is the article’s abstract. To log in to read the whole thing, you have to pay.
   
   FYI, free and paid sites use abstracts and there are many types of them. For example, one of my clients is an internet marketing firm. I write abstracts for them. They send me links to articles in industry leading publications. I then write abstracts of those articles for them to post to their site.
   
   This does three things for them: it pegs them as a “go to” source for industry news; and keeps their name constantly in front of their client base; and feeds the search engine monster.
   
   With every abstract they post to their site, they are getting listed in search engines, which makes it easier for them to be found on line, which leads to more customers, and on and on.
   
   See the value in abstracts? Now, how do you go about getting this kind of work? Read on.
2. List It on Your Website.The most obvious thing you can do is list it as a service offering on your website and/or blog. When you do, list a brief explanation of what it is and how it can benefit the client (a la the example listed above).
3. Write Samples. If you don’t have any samples in this area, create them. Abstracts can be as little as 50 words, although they usually run 100 to 200 words. They’re short and sweet, and can literally be written in 15 or 20 minutes.
4. Pitch Clients. Many times, clients won’t even realize the value that abstracts can bring them. So, devise a special query seeking this kind of work. Again, use the example listed in Step 1 as to how it can benefit their business.
   
   Many will think, “What a great idea?” Abstracts tend to cost less than articles, the most popular form of web content, and provide an easy way to keep fresh, relevant content on a site.

Tips & Warnings

• Website That Pays for Abstracts Brijit.com is one website that pays for abstracts. Their tag line is “Great content in 100 words or less.” They pay $5 for each abstract accepted. Just to get a feel for this type of writing, I wrote about a dozen abstracts for this site. Six were accepted for payment. The reading I had to do were articles I would have read anyway, so firing off 100 words was a breeze. Bang, a couple of weeks later, $30 in my PayPal account. How much can you expect to make? That depends on your niche and your negotiating skills. I charge $15 for a 200-word or less abstract. They usually take me 15 to 30 minutes to write, which works out to an hourly rate of between $30 and $60/hour. Not bad, eh?

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