Three Ways You Can Make Money Writing — Without Having to Find Clients

Passive income word cloud including affiliate marketing and e-books in handwriting on a napkin with a cup of coffee

Imagine …

Earning passive income without clients, without stress, and without deadlines …

All from writing about a topic that already interests you.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? Making money as a writer, without having to work with clients …

Well, here’s some good news … we don’t have to rely on clients for ALL of our writing income.

There is a way to write for a living that doesn’t involve clients at all.

How is this possible?

It’s possible when you write and publish your own website on a topic that interests you.

Let me give you an example.

One of the great pleasures in my own life is coffee. I love it. I love trying quality, gourmet coffees, and enjoy brewing them in different ways with different equipment.

And, as a writer, I enjoy writing about coffee.

So I decided to write and publish my own website about coffee. It’s called CoffeeDetective.

I started writing it 10 years ago now.

I add pages to the site when I have time, and when I feel like it. I write only what I want to write. I don’t usually spend more than 1-3 hours a week. I’m the owner, publisher, editor, and writer of my own site.

That doesn’t mean I’m answerable to nobody. I’m actually answerable to my readers. They let me know what they want to learn about. And they make it clear to me which types of content they like the most, and the least.

And I like that. There is a sense of community within the site. I love listening to my readers. They’re not my “boss,” but they really help me out when I’m thinking about what to write next.

It’s fun. It’s a hobby.

Better still, it’s a hobby with benefits.

How so? Because my coffee website has created interesting opportunities — and even better, it makes me money.

It makes enough to pay my mortgage and bunch of other monthly bills. It’s reinvented my writer’s life. In fact, since I started it, it has made me a total of over $350,000 in passive revenue.

Not bad for something I do for fun just a few hours a week.

With no clients. And no compromise.

So, how does a hobby site like mine make a regular, monthly income?

Let’s get into that … but first let me quickly point out that my website makes passive income. Which means I don’t have to be in my office for it to generate income. I don’t have to deal with products or customers. I can walk away from my desk for a day, a week, or even several weeks without it making any significant difference to how much money my website makes.

Now, here are three ways you can create passive income from a Money-Making Website …

#1. Make passive income through Google AdSense ads.

When you do a search on Google, the first four results are ads. These are known as AdSense ads.

As the publisher of a website, you can sign up with Google and place these ads on the pages of your site.

The ads sell items your visitors are interested in, and you get paid when people click on them. Once you decide to use AdSense, Google does most of the work for you by delivering relevant ads for your target audience.

Take a look at any page on CoffeeDetective and you’ll see up to three AdSense ads. Some are text-only, others are graphic with photos or other images.

Do they generate passive income? Absolutely. When I build a new page, I add a short piece of code that Google gives me. I add that code once, when I create the page. After that, I do nothing — ever again.

I have pages on the site that have been up there for 10 years now. I copied and pasted the Google code into those pages when I first created them.

Since then, I have had to do nothing … except enjoy the money I make every single time someone clicks on one of those ads.

That’s passive income. Copy and paste once … and then no further work.

#2. Make passive income as an affiliate.

Perhaps the best-known affiliate program is the one run by Amazon.

Here’s how it works.

I write a coffee maker review on my site. I don’t sell coffee makers myself, but Amazon does.

So at the end of my review, I might say something like, “If you can’t find this coffee maker locally, you can get it through Amazon here.” (I’ll share an example in a moment.)

Those last few words are linked to a product page at Amazon where you can buy the brewer.

I have signed up with Amazon and have an affiliate number and code. And my code is embedded in that link to the page where you buy the brewer.

This means Amazon knows I was the person who referred that visitor. And if the visitor buys the brewer, or anything else during that visit, I get a commission on the sale.

Same thing as with Google AdSense. I add the code once and then there’s nothing more for me to do … ever. I just sit back and wait for my commission check each month.

Here’s an example from my CoffeeDetective site. The affiliate link is the blue, underlined text at the end of my review, and then a Google AdSense ad appears below it. So easy. “Set it and forget it."

Coffee Detective website affiliate ad example

#3. Make passive income selling e-books.

I’m only selling one e-book on my coffee site right now. But I know other website owners who have written several e-books on their topic and make a lot of money selling them.

Selling an e-book is passive income because it’s a digital product that people can buy and download … even if you’re on a beach in the Caribbean at the time.

You don’t have to pack it, address it, or ship it, because it’s digital.

Sale and delivery are automated.

Once again, just sit back and wait for the money to flow into your account.

Passive income is the BEST income

It’s the best because it gives you freedom.

As I mentioned, you’re never tied to your desk or an office. You’re never being told what to do and when to do it by anyone else.

No clients! No bosses!

Just put in the time you want, when you want.

You just need to choose your passion, and then start writing. Maybe you’re a dog lover, gardening lover, hiking lover, knitting lover, home décor lover … Whatever you love, you can make money writing about it.

Just imagine how it would feel to make enough money in passive income to pay your major bills … and still have a little cash left over for that beach vacation in the Caribbean! (Sounds good right about now, doesn’t it?!)

All from a Money-Making Website you write for yourself — without answering to any clients.

What questions do you have about creating extra income with your own Money-Making Website? Post them in the comments below so we can answer them for you.

How to Build, Write, and Grow Your Own Money-Making Websites

How to Build, Write, and Grow Your Own Money-Making Websites

Learn how to write an information website in your spare time and earn $1000, $3000, even $5000 a month in passive income. Learn More »


Click to Rate:
Average: 4.0
Published: December 26, 2018

4 Responses to “Three Ways You Can Make Money Writing — Without Having to Find Clients”

  1. Fo you recommend a website builder?

    PCurtis

  2. Hi Nick -

    Great article once again but we expect nothing less from you. Now, I've narrowed my focus niche and have a question: If my website name contains a word that is part of the organization name that I plan to "review" on my website, do I need their permission to use that word in my url? It's sort of a play on their particular name.

    Thanks for your help,

    William S

    William S

  3. A real eye-opener! You demonstrated THREE ways to make money that I had "heard about" but didn't understand until now.

    Tom Au


Guest, Add a Comment
Please Note: Your comments will be seen by all visitors.

You are commenting as a guest. If you’re an AWAI Member, Login to myAWAI for easier commenting, email alerts, and more!

(If you don’t yet have an AWAI Member account, you can create one for free.)


This name will appear next to your comment.


Your email is required but will not be displayed.


Text only. Your comment may be trimmed if it exceeds 500 characters.

Type the Shadowed Word
Too hard to read? See a new image | Listen to the letters


Hint: The letters above appear as shadows and spell a real word. If you have trouble reading it, you can use the links to view a new image or listen to the letters being spoken.

(*all fields required)