Working from home is the dream for many. No long commute or having to rush out of the door in the morning, no boss micromanaging you or bitchy colleagues to deal with. Instead, you can work from the comfort of your home office, working on your own terms.

There are a few different avenues you can take as a writer. Ideally, you will have your fingers in a number of pies, which will give you a more stable and reliable income. Here are a few ventures you could pursue.

Blogging

If you’re a keen writer, chances are you already run a blog. It’s a fantastic way to showcase your writing, continue improving, connect with other people with similar interests and also a chance to learn new skills, too.

When you run a blog, not only do you have to write the content, you also need to take beautiful photographs and learn to market yourself online. Social media promotion is a useful skill to have- especially if you want to run your own business later down the line.

But while you might be blogging for fun, have you put much thought into monetizing your site? You could sign up with Google Adsense, which pays a small amount each time someone clicks on your ads or buys something from clicking through from your site.

You could look into affiliate marketing, too. You incorporate links to products in your posts and again get paid if anyone clicks on them or buys as a result.

The way you will earn most of your money as a blogger is through sponsorships, though. Companies will contact you and ask to either publish a post they’ve written or ask you to write a post including their link. You can be paid great money for this, although the problem is you have to wait for them to come to you.

Freelance

Freelancing sites allow you to ‘bid’ for jobs, and if you’re accepted by the seller you write the piece for an agreed fee. While each project will have a deadline, being able to pick and choose the pieces you want to write allows you to control your workflow. Once you have successfully completed a few projects, your rating will increase, making it more likely you will be accepted for future pieces.

Services like content writing, copywriting, proofreading and editing are always in high demand online, so it’s something that’s likely to do well if you go about it in the right way. I cover how to get clients and start making $100 to $200 an hour in my Freelance Writing Starter Pack.

Ebooks

Having a book published is the dream for many writers. However securing a book deal is difficult and something that even the best wordsmiths and storytellers aren’t always able to achieve. However, you can self-publish relatively easily, and produce an ebook to sell on Amazon. You get a little bit of money every time someone downloads it, which can add towards any other income you get from writing.