When you are in business or if you’re aspiring to go into business, you typically have very deep subject knowledge of a particular industry topic, process, or set of products. Your knowledge of this is valuable and may be extraordinarily valuable to someone else who is interested in the field. When you are able to share your knowledge, you start to find ways to get paid for having that knowledge.

We’ve gone over e-books in Idea #5, but there are other ways to generate revenue online through writing:

1) you may become affiliated with a service like Suite101.com (general topics) or Know More Media (business network) and offer your knowledge in a subject area in exchange for promotion, a basic stipend (for example, $100 a month and $2 for every 1000 page views), or advertising on the network.

2) you may check potential opportunities in your Linkedin, Facebook, or other networks, and even craft an introductory letter specifying your field of interest. For example, if your focus is technical writing, you would send a message explaining what you may help with (manuals, white papers, process documents, articles) and clips to your existing samples of work.

3) you may align yourself with a group of associates who focus on the same kinds of work. For example, an SEO or marketing copywriter would want to work very closely with web programmers, graphic designers, and printers to develop a “contact sphere” of people who may refer work to you.

If you’re able to clarify and communicate, and especially if you have knowledge that you may share with the general public, consider using the above avenues as well as other efforts to increase the payments you receive for your writing online. For example, some bloggers use a number of paid review services (from $5 - $100 per 150 words) to promote companies that have crossover with your audience.

As you start generating more revenue through your creative ideas, you’ll find more and more ways to “package” your knowledge and make it available for sale.

The ability to target your market is one of the most defining benefits of your website: speak to exactly who you want to speak to, use target keywords that specifically address your audience, and personalize your posts and pages because you have the capacity to do so. If you’re looking for ways to generate revenue online, consider selling your own ad space on your own blog or website.

Identify the types of visitors coming to your site through your site statistics, pools, and questionnaires. Find out your numbers of unique visitors (I use Analytics to do this) and put together an “Advertising Package” that explains the benefits of supporting your website through ads.

As you develop more of a following or fan base for your products, services, and ideas, you may target your market even more. Our good friends at Freshtopia.net specifically focus on food, sustainability, and the environment, and they have a huge and dedicated fan base of web and in-person visitors who want to focus on these topics. Their ads are available to green and sustainable businesses and organizations.

Consider how you may develop your own package for your own website, and then start marketing it to your potential advertisers. Your advertisers will understand the value of a targeted approach and they’ll benefit from the potential attention of the audicence that you’ve gathered online.

Visit A Successful Woman’s sponsorship packages for samples of how you may structure your own packages.