What Other Skills Complement Writing When It Is The Only Skill You Have?
What careers can you pursue with writing?
Since the advent of AI, more affordable writing AI tools have replaced many broad or general niche writers like me. So, how can writers like us, whose major skill is only writing, survive and still make a sustainable income writing?
What other careers can we pursue with writing?
I found this comment by a Redditor about writing.
Writing skills are kinda like rice. Goes well with everything, but not a lot of people would be excited to eat a bowl of plain rice. — Reddit post from SuikaCider.
Writers are needed everywhere, and to find a skill that goes well with writing, one might need to niche down.
In this article, I compiled a list of skills that go well with writing based on research and experience.
If any come to mind, please put them in the comments, and I’ll update the post.
Digital Marketing
I know digital marketing is broad, and each subset requires some level of writing.
Here are some skills you can learn.
I. Social Media Management X Copywriting
In my 7 years of freelancing. Social media management is one of the skills I have, and it was through it, I fell in love with writing.
I noticed that the captions I wrote for posts on Instagram made all the difference in how successful the post would be.
On Instagram, I spent a lot of time writing captions and learning the buzzwords that got more engagement, and this was how I segued into full-time writing.
In copywriting for social media management, you need to understand your audience, understand how algorithms work, keyword research, and some basic visual design skills.
Social media management also includes content marketing strategies. These platforms are easy to start with Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.
II. SEO X Writing
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and a subset of Search Engine Marketing.
As a freelance writer, you already have basic SEO knowledge, like how to write well-optimized content.
SEO has even more subsets, like On-page SEO, Technical SEO, and Off-page SEO.
Each of these areas of SEO has some subsets.
But as a writer, the area you’d go for is on-page SEO.
On-page SEO includes keyword research, content strategy, competitor analysis, content optimization, and more.
I am going to tell you this: SEO is a lot of work. It is not easy, nor is it simple.
There is a lot of critical thinking and being more intentional, but nonetheless, it is a lot of fun for me. I fell in love with SEO when I worked for a SaaS company from Upwork.
I came on board as a copywriter, and eventually, I was asked to write content that answered some developer questions and strategically plugged in our services in the article.
After hours of writing and editing, we had an article that brought in thousands of readers, more email subscribers, and a few thousand subscriptions to our products.
I tried to reciprocate it again, but it didn’t go as well. But I had already caught the SEO bug and started learning all I could about it.
I even started a niche blog, which I experimented with.
A lot of testing and fun.
III. Project Manager X Online Business Manager X Writing
In a Facebook VA group, I was in a few years ago; I heard the term Online Business Manager.
And in recent years, I have come across the word Project Manager more times than I can count.
These might seem alike, yet they are different. A quick search on Google for these terms brings up this definition from Sophie Zollman.
What Do Project Managers Do?
As the title may indicate, project managers focus entirely on managing various projects within a business.
These experts are often skilled when it comes to making sure that everyone on a team is holding true to the expectations that have been laid out for them.
Sometimes, project managers will also interact with the other members of your digital team to help ensure that things go smoothly.
Ultimately, a project manager will take a comprehensive view of a project and break it down into smaller pieces to ensure that deadlines are met and tasks are done.”
What Do Online Business Managers Do?
“On the other hand, while OBMs can sometimes manage projects for you, that’s just a small piece of the overall puzzle.
An online business manager is a comprehensive expert in all things management. That means that they can manage your projects, your team, your operations, and even your business strategy.
An online business manager is a holistic approach to gaining assistance for your business, as they can take over the various managerial tasks that you might not have the time or energy to focus on as a business owner.
If you’re looking for someone to be your right-hand man and free up crucial time in your business, then an OBM could be the perfect choice.
In other words, if you have some managerial background, consider either. As far as I know, it involves a lot of writing.
IV. Premium Ghostwriting Services
I didn’t realize how much potential ghostwriting had until I did some research into this type of freelance writing, and I wondered what I had been doing for the past 4 years as a writer.
The idea here is to write for experts, professionals, and thought leaders who do not have time to write content that engages with their audience.
I was listening to a podcast by Ali Abdaal today, and he admitted to Nathan Barry, the CEO of ConvertKit that because he gets so busy and makes the most effective use of his time on other more lucrative aspects of his business, he had to hire a ghostwriter to write for his blog.
As a ghostwriter, you can write for your clients on LinkedIn, Twitter, personal blogs, and even their newsletters. You’d have to learn to write like your client in their style and voice, and you cannot claim the intellectual property of what you have written.
The pay is great. Nicholas Cole is an expert in premium ghostwriting. You can watch his Deep Dive video with Ali Abdaal on YouTube.
V. Repurposing Visual and Audio Content into Text
In an age where people consume videos and audio content, some people still prefer plain old text. Though I love all forms of media consumption, reading is still my favorite.
This skill ties into ghostwriting because it is different.
Why is this important? Many YouTubers and Podcasters do not have a blog or a newsletter. Or they have a blog and newsletter but do not have the time to update the content. Or simply don’t enjoy writing as much.
This is where you come in to help them turn all their podcasts and videos into easy-to-digest, digestible content.
VI. Proofreader/Editor
I write and edit all my articles. Sometimes, I enjoy editing my articles more than writing them.
It turns out that sometimes the case is the opposite for other writers. Some people want to brain-dump their thoughts onto a blank page and then give it to someone else to proofread, edit, and make sense of it.
And that works too. As a writer, you should be able to tell the difference between good content and good enough content. Tools like Grammarly make editing easier, but sometimes an extra pair of experienced human eyes is required.
If you studied English or Journalism as a major in college, you’d want to consider offering these services.
That’s it for now
Some other writing skills you can take on that deserve to be mentioned here are technical writing, UX writing, and transcription services. It might take a lot of time to get into and require special technical skills, but it is worth it in the end.
On the other hand, you can teach the English Language to non-natives. To teach, you need to get a certification and register with an agency; I think.
Are there other careers that go well with writing? Please, share in the comments.
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