4 Best Free Sites Writers Can Make Passive Income in 2021

Motivation: A Bit About Blogging

If you‘ve already started, then I trust you have most of the information you need. If you’re looking to make a lot of money writing in a short amount of time, then this is not the blog post for you. It took me 10 days to make $0.05 on one of my blog posts.

The truth is that blogging requires passion. At the very least you have to be interested in what you’re writing about. If you’re not, your readers will know and quickly leave your page.

Sometimes you’re not going to feel very creative. Some days you may have so many ideas that you can’t even think straight. Blogging is very much heartfelt and most times requires vulnerability.

Making a lot of money on any one platform is not easy, but it can be done and has been accomplished by many users. Just start writing and publish your articles. Not every article will be good by your standards or anyone else’s.

As a matter of fact, you’ll make a lot of mistakes. This is to be expected because life is a learning journey. We never stop learning.

Most bloggers you read about making $23 per post have been doing this for 5 years or more and there was a lot of learning to do in that time frame. Not only that, but most have children, full time jobs, and they blogged on the side.

Don’t be afraid to fail. Failure helps us learn how to make things better. Anyone rarely gets it right the first time.

Affordable Ways to Make Money

1.) Medium

Yours truly is one of the most affordable ways to make passive income. This is because it costs absolutely nothing to write on the platform.

Like anything else, making money writing on Medium takes time and patience, especially if you’re just starting. You post a few articles and get some views, very little reads, and maybe a handclap from your mother.

You receive a percentage of the money Medium members have paid for their monthly subscriptions if they actively engage in your content (i.e. read time). I’ve also noticed that if an established Medium writer highlights a portion of your blog post, it provides exposure to their readers. In turn, their readers read your content and you get paid.

2.) Vocal.Media

Vocal.Media is also a free platform that helps you generate passive income. For every 1000 reads, you earn $3.80. However, if you sign up for Vocal+, you receive $6.00 per 1000 reads. Vocal + is $10.00 per month, but you can cancel at any time.

They also give you money for views. Yes, views. I began posting on Vocal+ as I wanted to experiment and see if I could make my money back in a month.

I began posting a week ago and have made a whopping $0.28 from six posts. That’s way more than I’ve made on Medium ($0.05) and one of the main reasons is because they pay per view.

I just started blogging so this a big deal for me. All in all, the more (quality) content you post, the more money you can make.

3.) Hubpages

I have to be honest, I haven’t posted on Hubpages yet. But from what I read, it’s a decent platform to begin securing the bag.

They call their posts “hubs” and when you begin writing on the platform, you’re considered a “hubber.” They have what they call Hubpage Bootcamp.

Basically, you have to write 5 featured hubs that pass as an 8 or 10 on a rubric they’ve designed. If you write 5 featured hubs that scale as an 8 or 10, then you’re out of boot camp and can enroll in the affiliate marketing programs.

You receive a commission from readers that click and buy products/services from the affiliate links on your blog site (Amazon is ranked the highest commission at 10%).

4.) YouTube

Youtube isn’t just writing, but you’re sure as hell scripting. If you want to make a living by writing, it’s safe to say you’ve gotta have some visuals.

I’ve yet to upload my first video, but I’m certain building a Youtube channel is what’s going to skyrocket my career. I’ve seen many bloggers turn into vloggers because it’s easier to sit in front of a camera and express thoughts, faster to re-record and edit content and because a lot of people simply don’t want to read anymore.

Viewers only tend to read 20% of a post, especially if you haven’t built an audience. They want to find answers and they want them right now.

Since we’re a visual society, Youtube is one of the hugest platforms for this to succeed. Readers want something more personal. They want to see your face, hear your voice, and relate to you as a person. This can’t happen through writing alone.

I’m not implying you should quit writing. I’m suggesting you begin to build a Youtube channel. If you’re looking to build wealth over time, writing is just one spoke in the wheel. You’ll need many. Most serial entrepreneurs possess 7 streams of income. I’ve just given you 4.

Not all streams of income are created equal (Medium vs. Vocal). Sometimes you’ll lose money, you’ll spend more time than you feel you should to make it, and the energy you put forth may not seem worth it. But how will you ever know if you don’t try?

It’s important to experiment with different streams of income and to discover what best fits you. We all have different talents, personalities, and niches so what works for me may not work for you and vice-versa. What you don’t know, can always be learned (writing, editing, recording, branding, etc.)

Try to use your intuition with different platforms, programs, and information. It will never steer you in the wrong direction.

Happy Writing!