Should I Pay for Training to Get Started Writing Online?

When I first started to try and make money writing online, I thought we were broke. We lived in a tiny house, had three little kids and only one income. I wanted to bring in some extra money and I thought writing online was a way I could do that. Since I felt like we were broke, I decided not to invest any money in training. I could figure this out on my own, right?

I would like to say that this was the first and last time I insisted on learning things the hard way but, unfortunately, I can’t. Taking the long way around and learning through trial and error are both frustrating patterns in my life.

My belief that I couldn’t afford to pay for any type of training caused me to flounder around for three years trying – unsuccessfully – to make money writing online.

When my husband lost his job, the word ‘broke’ took on a whole new meaning because we were literally down to zero dollars per month in income. It was so scary! I knew we wouldn’t starve because my mom lived right down the road, but not knowing if we would be able to pay our bills was extremely stressful.

Those few months of no money made me wonder why I felt so broke when we had a paycheck coming in. It was at that time in my life when I met and became friends with a woman who was actually making money by writing online. She generously offered to help me.

We met up at Chick-fil-A and talked through the basics of blogging while the kids played. She had me over to her house and gave me a crash course on using WordPress. I started writing guest posts on her blog (without pay) and eventually started picking up sponsored blog posts and other types of paid writing work.

I finally got some quality training on how to write online and – all of the sudden – I started finding and getting paid work.

It was a huge blessing that came at a time when we desperately needed help. To this day I still work with one of the clients I found during those months that my husband was out of work.

Once I realized how much of a difference training made in my ability to land writing work – I started investing in it regularly – and it has paid off. I wrote three days this week and made almost $900. I don’t know about you but that amount of money in three days makes a difference for our family. Back when I was feeling so broke, making $900 in a month would have been life-changing.

The thing I am trying to get across with this blog is that investing in quality training will pay for itself over and over by helping you find paid writing work. If you think you are too broke to make an investment, take a hard look at where your money is going. Some training programs costs hundreds and even thousands of dollars. I can understand you feeling hesitant to make such a large investment in something you are not sure will really work. But, those types of programs are not the only ones that provide high-quality training. The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Writing Online and Getting Paid is a comprehensive training program that provides you with all of the information you need to find paid writing work online and get paid, for less than $50. If you can find a way to squeeze $50 out of your budget, you can get a jump start on your writing career.

If I could go back to the start of my writing career, I would invest in quality training from the very beginning. I can’t go back and kick my own stubborn butt into gear, but I can do my best to help you avoid the mistakes I made.

If you are serious about finding paid writing work online – think seriously about investing some time and money into training. If my style isn’t a good fit for you then, by all means, keep exploring your options. Just find someone who is further along on the journey than you are and get help!

If you are ready to get serious about writing online, check out my training program The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Writing Online and Getting Paid. In this guide, I go over everything you need to know to get started building a career writing online. To get the latest on this and other projects, sign up for the email list and I will keep in touch.