Crypto, decentralized finance (DeFi), and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are some of the hottest topics in the tech world today. It’s no surprise that a lot of media companies are looking to hire crypto writers to create content for their website.
So how much does a cryptocurrency writer earn?
On average, cryptocurrency writers make around $20-$50 per 500-word article, which takes about an hour or less to finish.
But if you’re on the market long enough and consistently improving your craft, you’ll eventually become one of the top dogs. Above-average cryptocurrency writers earn about $0.15-$0.5 per word ($75-$250 per 500-word article).
If cryptocurrency and blockchain is something that interests you, and if you love writing, you should definitely consider becoming a crypto writer.
I am one and I can testify to how amazing it is. It is both rewarding and challenging but fun no doubt.
Perks of being a cryptocurrency writer
- You own your time
Clients do give out deadlines for projects to complete, but generally, you’ll get enough free time and be able to work at your own pace.
The shortest deadline I ever had from a client was 8 hours and it was for a news article. I dozed around for three hours and finished it in under an hour. Then I submit it three hours before deadline and everybody was happy.
And then I thought, how blessed am I to be alive at this day and age. Being able to just own your time like that, it’s liberating, to say the least.
I’d worked as a telemarketer before, and it was, well I guess the sum total of it is… Well, let’s just say it was an awful experience and leave it at that.
And the month after I decided to pursue writing in crypto I had more free time than ever. I could be with my family, hang out with my friends, go hiking, go swimming, have some drinks.
It’s like a dream come true and I’m making as much of it as I can. And I want you to share my experience. - Pays more than your average job
Being a crypto content writer pays decently. In fact, it may be one of the easiest high-paying jobs.
Even in the US, the average salary for 2020 is $23.87 per hour. In writing, you can easily earn twice that! Some are earning $150 an hour.
And if you live in countries with low-cost living like India, Nigeria, or the Philippines, then damn! You’d be balling.
And the best part is, you don’t need years of experience to be able to charge more.
Secret: keep this between you and me but I’ve only been writing for less than 11 months.
As long as you compile a decent portfolio and know how to find the right clients you’ll be able to earn around $40 per hour in no time. Then, go higher from there.
How’s that for simply typing words? - You can work remotely
This is a big one for me. I really love not having to wake up early, shove food down my throat, and rush to work feeling tired and unmotivated.
As a telemarketer who worked a graveyard shift, I wholeheartedly appreciate being able to make money at the comfort of my own home, not having to worry about traffic or being late.
If you’ve never worked as a freelancer before you wouldn’t understand. That’s why I always tell everybody I care about to at least try working from home once.
Try to see how comfortable and freeing it is. 8 times out of 10 you’ll love it and can’t work any other way. - You get to travel
Personally, I’m not big on traveling. I’m more into staying at my place and hanging out with people that I know.
But a lot of my crypto writer friends like to travel a lot! Internationally! Because you can work from anywhere, might as well be in Bali or the Bahamas right?
And I’m planning to do some traveling myself. Not just for fun but for exposure.
As a cryptocurrency writer, not only will you get to travel, but traveling is actually good for your writing business. It allows you to be exposed to various crypto events happening all over the globe.
You should know this by now, but crypto is on top of the world in terms of community activity.
Almost every major city has regular events where you can network with other crypto people. Executives, founders, investors, other writers, media companies, you name it.
It’s a goldmine for crypto journalists and content creators.
Traveling gives you leisure and enables you to build your network and open yourself up to more opportunities to advance your career/business. - You get exposed to the most ground-breaking projects in the world
As a crypto writer, you are at the forefront of the next stage of the internet. Let that sink in.
One of the most important technology of the century is at its early stages and here you are reading this blog post about being a cryptocurrency writer.
Mark my words.
As time goes by and crypto becomes bigger and bigger, you will be able to proudly say that you were one of the pioneers of this industry.
You would have helped build this wonderful global community through your writing services. Mark my words. Your opinion is gonna be worth a lot in a decade or two if you continue this path.
But not only that, you might be able to expand your business into marketing and other services related to crypto. The opportunities are endless.
Your timing is on point. Don’t let this opportunity slip.
How to start
For a full step-by-step guide, see How to Become a Crypto Writer Step-by-step.
So I’m gonna assume that you have zero writing experience except maybe in your school paper or whatever. But you’ve never written for anyone professionally.
So the first thing you should do is write something about cryptocurrencies or blockchain tech.
There are two ways to do this, either start a blog (like this one) or write for free three times.
I’d recommend writing for free as opposed to writing a blog because, well, for one, blogs cost a lot of money and time even more so. Two, you need a lot of articles in your blog to look good for potential clients.
And you haven’t made money from writing yet. You might lose motivation after spending a lot and not getting a return right away, which makes you quit.
But if you’re confident and have the money and time to spare, then by all means do so.
There is an option to start a blog for free, which is to write on Hackernoon or Medium. But you still need to have at least 10 articles to impress a client, since no reputable company is vouching for you.
Furthermore, you don’t really own the domain. In that sense, it’s less advantageous than having your own website.
However, if you opt to let a reputable media site publish your content, you gain credibility. So for me, this is the best way to start building your portfolio.
Now some writers might say “never write for free” or “you can get paid as a writer even if it’s your first time”. True but at what cost?
Please, take it from someone who was paid for his first time gig, IT’S NOT BLOODY WORTH IT!
The weeks it took me to land my first paying client could have been done in less than a day had I had the sense to work for free.
Don’t worry, you won’t have to slave yourself to death.
All you need is three articles. And, it doesn’t even have a to be from separate clients. One reputable crypto blog publishing your work is enough to give you a sense of authority on the topic.
Once that’s done you’ll have a portfolio and can start charging for your services much easier.
Got that? Good!
Here’s what you gotta do. You have to email about 10 crypto blogs or media websites and offer your writing services for free. Tell them about how you love their website and how passionate you are with crypto.
But be honest. Trust me, integrity goes a long way on the internet. More than most people realize, which pains me.
You’d be surprised how many clients are willing to take in newbies like you. You see, most experienced writers like myself (not really) develop a personal style that might be hard to bend.
But as a fresh writer, they know they could mold your writing into something that can fit their brand. And companies are thrilled about that.
Plus you are working for FREE. So the probability of getting a response is extremely high. And if they like you, you might easily become one of their paid writers easily.
And if not, you can simply thank them after they’ve published your third article, and move on to paying clients by cold emailing them and building your LinkedIn profile.
By the way, I don’t really use freelancer sites like Upwork and Fiverr much. They’re not the best place for cryptocurrency writers. Not in my experience. I don’t like being low-balled too, so… not a good fit.
How to improve your writing
After a few weeks or months of your writing career, you might want to do all sorts of things to hone your craft. And you should! It’s gonna get competitive as time goes by so you better keep your tools sharp.
Plus, better writing equals higher pay so who wouldn’t want that?
Of course the first and most obvious way to improve your writing is to keep writing. But assuming you already do that, one way to improve faster is to read great writers’ works and compare your own to theirs.
But don’t imitate their style. Just try to see how you could emulate certain attributes. Perhaps how smooth-flowing their paragraphs are or how crisp their sentences are. Then you could apply what you like in your own writing.
As for courses and books, I recommend you don’t spend too much time on them.
Remember, learning by doing is the still the best way to approach writing. Besides, it’s more fun that way.
But if you really hit a plateau, I would suggest you take one reputable course on writing. You don’t have to pay for it. There are some free courses online that can significantly improve your writing.
I think Ninja Writing is pretty good. I finished the course with a free LinkedIn Premium trial, which you can also avail.
What I like about it is that the course is short and straight to the point yet also very insightful. It greatly enhanced my writing skills in a span of a week.
Finished the course in 4 days. Could have done it in less than a day, but I was busy writing.
How to charge more for crypto writing
There are several ways to have more leverage in pricing your services.
- Get published in top crypto sites
Now honestly I haven’t had the time to do this yet, but I plan to do so in the near future.
I don’t mean just about any crypto site. I’m talking about the top dogs of the industry.
I’ve met some writers that went from charging $0.05/word to $0.1/word right after writing for Cointelegraph for the first time! One published content gave him that much leverage!
Now, what you should do is email them with a summary of the topic that you want to write. But don’t write until you get their approval to avoid wasting your time.
I recommend offering your free services to top media sites like Cointelegraph, CoinDesk, Bitcoin.com, Forbes. Gosh, if you could get Forbes just once you’d be balling! - Become an authority figure
In order to become an authority figure in crypto, you should be active on social channels. The crypto community is quite vibrant on Twitter, Reddit, and YouTube above all.
So be sure to pump out a lot of insights and content in those channels. Engage the community. Think of it more as having fun with friends rather than building your authority.
Give other people value.
Don’t just simply promote yourself and your work. That will only backfire and people can easily sense if you are only working for your own gain.
I’m not saying be selfless because that would be the most pretentious thing anyone can do. Rather, just simply give and take. That’s how business works anyway. - Become a crypto specialist
Most writers I know also write for AI, VR, electric cars and tech in general. That way, they could cater to more clients. In some ways this is good but as a generalist, companies are less likely to pay you extra.
Think of it this way, if you want to hire a gardener to work on your back lawn, and two candidates are right in front of you.
One is a jack-of-all-trades. Besides gardening, he does carpentry, housekeeping, and machinery.
The other guy, however, is a lifelong landscaper.
Who would you hire? The second guy of course. You know he has honed his craft well, and hence, is someone you can count on for building your backyard paradise. That’s what being a specialist is all about.
Not saying you should reject all offers from non-crypto niches, but rather try to prioritize writing for crypto topics. - Consider learning to write copy
Copywriting pays more than content writing by a long shot. About three to ten times as much. It requires a different skill set, however, since you need to get people to buy or subscribe to certain products or services.
Knowing what makes people tick is easier said than done though so you’re gonna need to read books and learn something completely different.
I recommend you read The Boron Letters by Gary Halbert. Finish it to the end. It’s draggy at first, but you won’t regret it. Probably the best copywriting book in the world, written by a father for his son.
Conclusion
As long as you are even remotely interested in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, crypto writing will be easy for you. If not, well, this isn’t for you and that’s okay.
But if you’re here because you love crypto and you want to support the movement of a decentralized world powered by blockchain tech, you’re in for a treat.
Big things are coming for you and me. Let’s not leave anything to chance. Let’s make it happen.
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