JOBS:
Blogging, micro-blogging , Tweeting, freelance writing, editing, e-authoring and translating.
SKILLS:
Comprehensive writing skill and expertise in any field.
INCOME:
500 for a 300-word article to 1 lakh a month for full-time blogging .
Your thoughts are worth more than a penny now. Your scribbles and musings can earn you big bucks, if you know how to market them well. If you are unsure of your talent, start by writing a blog. It's easy to begin—just join a blogging site, such as Blogspot or Wordpress, and start writing. There is no training institute for this and only through trial and error will you discover what appeals to readers. However, bloggers are flooding the virtual world and if you want to stand out and get noticed by readers and advertisers , you will need to provide information or advice that no one else can, or provide it in a way that is better than others. You can join a writers ' community, where people freely dispense tips on improving writing or increasing readership (see How to increase blog traffic). Once you find your literary footing, it may be better to have your own Website and domain name. This gives you a specific identity, and if you submit your blog's URL to search engines, it will become more noticeable on the Net. The charges for a domain name usually range from 300-1 ,000 a year. The main source of income for most bloggers is Google AdSense, which places contextual ads on Websites.
As new mediums open up, you need to adapt and leverage these. Hrish Thota did so when he evolved from blogging to Tweeting. Thota has been blogging for almost a decade and joined Twitter when it was launched in 2006. He is now a professional Tweeter, who has 4,500 followers and earns about 1 lakh a month. The 31-year-old , who is a former employee of consulting firm Capgemini, began his Twitter career by writing about events and computer hardware in Bangalore. Within a year, as his network of followers grew, companies began to approach him to Tweet about their products. Recently, he was involved with a campaign for Ford Figo for around a month-and-a-half , where he had to do a road show from Chandigarh to Chennai, Tweeting and photo-blogging about the events in real time. On an average, he earns 30,000-40 ,000 a month per brand.
As important as your writing skill is your ability to network. "Before you begin to post your views, you need to create a community. You should go to various meets and events to develop contacts," says Thota.
Though writing seems easy at first glance, if you want to earn money from it, you will have to work hard. Professional bloggers put in about 2-5 hours every day and constantly strive to write on topics that provide updated information. You need to be regular and prompt in answering your readers' queries.
If you have honed your skills and are confident about what you write, you could even publish a book a la Anupam Mukerji, who became famous for his blog, the Fake IPL Player , written cheekily about the IPL's second season. In March last year, he published a book, The Gamechanger. However, if no publisher seems interested in the physical realm, don't despair. You can write a virtual bestseller . E-books are in high demand across the world and many people are writing exclusively for this segment. In June this year, crime novelist John Locke became the first independent author to sell more than 1 million ebooks through Kindle's (Amazon) direct publishing programme, under which you do not need an agent or a publisher. Each e-book was sold for $0.99 (` 48), of which Locke pocketed 35 cents (` 17). Global classroom JOBS: E-tutoring . SKILLS: Domain knowledge and good communication skills. INCOME: 5,000-50 ,000 a month (for 8-hour sessions) depending on the subject and region (India/international).
When Shyamila Rana's husband got a job in Dehradun in 2007, the 42-year-old school teacher began applying for a post in various schools in the city. Unfortunately, not many were willing to hire her, citing age as a factor . Rana was unwilling to waste her experience and time, so she began looking elsewhere. She soon found hundreds of overseas students, who were eager to learn science from her. "One of my husband's colleagues told him about e-tutoring and I sent an application , along with my resume, to one of the Websites," says Rana, who now teaches science for four hours to students based in the US. For this, she is earning better than she would in a traditional school.
E-tutoring is a process in which a teacher educates a student or a group of students on a particular subject through online technology. This can involve the use of Web-based programs and includes data, voice and video communication. The tutor can send questions, receive completed papers , provide results and recommendations , clarify concepts, assist on assignments , etc. To begin in this field, you can sign up with some established names such as TutorVista.com.
Says Alok Bansal, chief executive officer of Gurgaon-based Alethia Education Services: "To start a career as an online tutor, you should know the content well and be conversant with technology." Another aspect you need to consider is the working hours, especially if you are teaching international students.
Atul Kulshreshtha recognised the lacuna in this field in 2007 when he decided to venture into online teaching . The Noida-based chartered accountant is a serial Web entrepreneur, who started two advisory services portals in 2000. A few years later, he launched a BPO company, Cleave Global E-Services , which he sold last year. As he was comfortable with the Net and had the technical expertise, Kulshreshtha invested almost 10 crore in setting up infrastructure, buying equipment and hiring teachers , before he finally launched Extramarks .com in 2008. Although the going was tough initially, today Extramarks .com has a support base of around 150 teachers and has 7 lakh students enrolled in various programmes . It has nine offices in different parts of the country and had a turnover of 60 crore last year.
