Are you a writer looking to start a business part time to earn extra income fast? If YES, here are 50 best small business ideas for creative writers. In this day and age, quite a number of people still think that writing cannot pay their bills. They believe writing is something to be done on a part-time basis just to supplement a regular income.
But this is a very ignorant way of reasoning as the internet has afforded writers myriads of opportunities for them to make a living off their skills. People with good writing skills are generally considered as very talented, and there are a lot of profitable small business ideas you can go into, both online and offline, if your writing skills are top notch.
Apart from the media industry, every small and big business need a good writer for their various promotional activities. In any profession that requires written communication, writing skills always come in handy. If you are ready to put your passion to work and to make a comfortable living out of it, here are 50 small business ideas you can go into.
Best Small Business ideas for Creative Writers
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Start a speech writing business
Speech writing is one area of writing in the long list of writing business ideas. It is a fact that a lot of people can give speeches, but they are bereft of writing capabilities. To give good speeches, this set of people employ a professional speech writer.
A proficient writer lifts these burdens from the shoulders of the speakers by providing him or her with an engaging script. So if you love to write, a speech writing business may be just the business for you. Note that you have to target people who give frequent speeches like politicians, celebrities etc. if you want to succeed in this business.
It is a fact that resume writing is not taught in school to undergraduates, but everyone is supposed to write a resume if they hope to get good jobs after school. A lot of job seekers are really terrible when it comes to resume writing, so this is where your services would come in handy.
You must ensure that you have enough knowledge to produce professionally written resumes so as to satisfy your clients and enable them to get calls for interviews easily. You can start and run this business right from your home as the business requires very little startup capital. Your ideal target market would be undergraduates and job seekers.
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Carry out Project Work for Students
College and university students get tons of term paper research work or project assignments weekly, and a majority of these students don’t have sufficient time to do these assignments. If you are very good in writing, you can start offering to help students with their excess projects.
Note that to be successful in this business; you need to only take subjects that you are comfortable with. Creating project work for students is a wise opportunity for individuals who have good writing skill. This business would also suit students too who can squeeze out time for it as it would be easier for them to obtain writing jobs frequently.
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Become a freelance reporter
Did you graduate from journalism school or have you been trained in the art of news writing? Then you can start up your own business as a freelance reporter. Freelance reporters are self-employed news reporters who report news stories and other information on an as-needed basis for various organizations.
You can contact newspapers, magazines, as well as online news sites and offer your services as a freelancer to them. What you earn in this business is determined by the hard work you put into it. This is one of the most profitable small businesses for people with good writing skills.
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Direct-Mail Service Consultancy
Direct mail service is a way of advertising where results can be measured quickly and easily. Direct response marketing agencies help consultants and consulting firms plan, create and implement direct mail marketing campaigns to support their lead generation and brand building efforts.
Since this is basically a mode of advertisement, you would be required to write a lot of proposals and adverts for businesses under you. In starting this business, you will only need to have a computer connected to the internet and a phone. You can initiate this venture from your home location.
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Become an Advertising Campaign Developer
Becoming an advert campaign developer is yet another business someone who is very skilled in writing can start. You can plan and build creative online campaigns and content for your clients — from successful social media campaigns to apps, mobile contests, video, email distribution, search engine optimization, online media ad buys etc.
You would need to know how to write compelling adverts that can attract attention if you want to be successful in this business.
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Search Engine Marketer
Search Engine Optimization is an area of marketing that requires a fair amount of writing skills, since you need to be able to arrange words in a way that makes sense while also including some relevant keywords to get your content to be seen by a lot of people online.
Note that good writing skills is not the only requirement for this business as you would need to know the intricacies of blogging as well as have online marketing skills.
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Website Editor
As a proficient writer, you can as well double as an editor if you have the skills. You can offer your service to website owners where you go over their web copy and make edits or suggestions for improvements. Having an eye for error and details would help you immensely here.
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Start a transcription service
Another business that can be started in the niche of writing is transcribing. If you are very proficient with spoken and written English, you can start a transcription service where you get to transcribe copies for individuals and businesses.
Here, you get to transcribe various verbal communications from meetings to lectures into print versions, for those who don’t have time to take extensive notes or who wish to offer a printed version to participants. You can start this service right from home, and to find jobs, you can subscribe to writing websites.
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Become a short story writer
Yet another business idea in that involves writing is to start writing short stories. A lot of people are quite skilled in writing short stories, but cannot seem to be able to handle full novels. You can capitalize on this skill to make money for yourself.
You can start writing drama, children’s bedtime stories, etc. and you would make lot money from this. You could focus your efforts on writing and selling short stories either in print or eBook format.
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Gaming Storyboard Creator
Another writing business you can get involved in is to become a gaming story board creator. Video games also require strong storytelling and writing skills. You can use your writing skills to develop those stories for video games on a freelance basis or you could even sell story ideas to different gaming companies.
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Become a Translator
Translating requires knowledge of at least two languages. But you also need to be able to put together dialogue and content in a way that makes sense in those languages, so the business requires strong writing and communicating skills as one cannot stand without the other.
This business is something to consider if you happen to be bilingual and good at transitioning from one language into another.
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Become a Comic Writer
Though comic books and online comics are visually oriented, but they still require strong writing and storytelling skills. If you also have some artistic talent, you could write and draw your own comics. If you are not creative enough to handle the visual or artistic aspect of comics, you can hire out your services to comic artists as a comic writer. Also, you can draw up a very interesting comic story and sell it to comic artists.
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Become a Market Researcher
Market researchers coordinate and administer research projects on behalf of organizations such as businesses, government bodies and charities.
They carry out surveys, collect and analyze the resultant data in order to help their clients to further understand their market and make informed decisions about future policies and initiatives. This business requires special skills in writing, analysis and computation.
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Become a Podcaster
A podcast is an episodic series of digital audio or video files which a user can download and listen to. Though podcasting is not necessarily all about writing, but podcasters do often have to do some writing in order to plan out their shows and market them online. Again, they have to write the scripts that they would use at each podcast.
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Product Description Writer
The internet has taken over basically every area of life and ecommerce is now in the center of it all. Since ecommerce is becoming such a popular industry, there are business opportunities for writers who enjoy putting together unique product descriptions that can help businesses get their products found.
All that is needed here is the ability to write compelling reviews that adequately describes products so as to get people to buy them though your website.
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Become a Zine Creator
Zines a small circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images usually reproduced via photocopier. If you enjoy writing and putting together those visuals, you can produce your own zines and sell them locally or online.
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Author Coach
It is a fact that a lot of people have writing skills but they lack the ability to properly put together a compelling story that can easily become a bestseller.
If you are a season author, you can start a service where you get to coach upcoming authors on anything from story creation to book marketing. You can offer your services online if you cannot afford the hassles of starting an offline business.
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eCourse Creator
eLearning platforms are quite popular now on the internet. You can tap into this niche in order to start a business for yourself. You should first identify a niche or subject you are very knowledgeable in, then you can proceed to create courses around it that you can sell online.
If your courses are quite easy to follow, a lot of students would want to pay for your materials in order to use it during their private study.
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Blog Consultant
A blog consultant is a person who assists online businesses, especially blogs to improve their effectiveness. Each blog consulting session is different based on the blogger’s needs, but they all begin with a questionnaire and an analysis of the content and aesthetics of the blog in question.
A blog consultant also gets to handle the issue of marketing, monetization, aesthetics etc for their clients. If you prefer working with bloggers individually, you can offer your services as a consultant to help bloggers find their niche and grow their audience. This is another business that involves a fair amount of writing.
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Start a grant writer service
Grant writing refers to the practice of completing an application process for funding provided by an institution such as a government department, corporation, foundation or trust. Such application processes are often referred to as either grant proposals or submissions.
A person who writes to get those grants is referred to as a grant writer. Non-profits, municipalities and similar organizations can use help putting together grants to seek funding for various projects. So you can offer your services in that area if you have the knowledge and skills to write grant proposals.
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Public Relations Representative
A public relations representative helps companies build and maintain a positive public image. Tasks performed by the representative include writing and issuing press releases, interacting with members of the media, building and maintaining good relationships with members of the media and other individuals within the organization.
Offering public relations services requires a lot of writing, so you need to be proficient enough in writing and marketing before you can take up this service.
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Become a screenplay writer
A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter for short) is a writer who writes screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs, comics or video games, are based.
You can write your own scripts for things like TV and movies and then attempt to sell them or even produce them independently. The key to success in this business niche is to market your plays effectively to those in the television and motion picture industry.
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Become a Playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Playwriting is a specific kind of art, and if you are well versed in the format of plays, you can build a business in this niche. The key is to make the same kind of contacts in theatrical circles as others would in other industries. Asides that, you should make sure you are able to write interesting plays that can capture attention of people.
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Become a Columnist
A columnist is a person who writes for publications in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions.
Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, even including blogs. If you build up a portfolio or a reputation in writing, you may be able to offer freelance services as a regular columnist covering a particular topic either for print or online publications.
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Become a Researcher
A researcher is someone who conducts research, i.e., an organized and systematic investigation into something. The job of a researcher entails a lot of writing. You could also use those research skills to help out other writers, publications or businesses. You can research particular topics and then put together reports or findings on them.
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Fact Checker
Fact checking is the act of checking factual assertions in non-fictional text in order to determine the veracity and correctness of the factual statements in the text.
As a writer, could offer some more in-depth services like fact checking to really dig deep into the content of writing. This requires some researching skills as well as the ability to effectively communicate any necessary changes. You can offer your services to magazines, newspapers or a TV news show.
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Become a print Journalist
A journalist is a person who collects, writes, or distributes news or other current information to a printing house who them prints the stories out in newspapers after editing them.
A journalist goes around scouting for news and recent happenings in the society which he or she thinks would serve public interest, and then writes the story. If you are really interested in the writing profession, being a journalist would be just right for you.
Publishing a magazine is another business that falls within the writing profession that a writer can comfortably fit into. Magazines can be a viable business opportunity if you have the right audience and revenue streams. The key here is to choose a niche you love or a niche you know has wide readership. You are free to publish your magazines online or offline, and you can as well do both.
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Become a social media influencer
A social media influencer is a user on social media who has established credibility in a specific industry. A social media influencer has access to a large audience and can persuade others by virtue of their authenticity and reach.
If you prefer to build up your own network on social media, you can work with brands as an influencer to get the word out about their products and services on your own accounts. This business requires a lot of writing for you to establish yourself.
A social media manager is an individual trusted with monitoring, contributing to, filtering, measuring and otherwise guiding the social media presence of a brand, product, individual or corporation. If managing people’s social media account is your specialty, then you can offer your services to businesses as a social media manager.
Managing social media for people and businesses may not require you to write long articles as you are only required to write short but very effective posts that can draw the right attention to your brand.
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Content Marketer
Content marketing is a form of marketing focused on creating, publishing and distributing content for a targeted audience online. Content marketing is also a popular avenue for businesses looking to grow their customer base. So you can start a business creating targeted content like blog posts, newsletters and videos for businesses.
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Newsletter Writer
Newsletters are a great way to remind your customers about your business or services and to show that you care by providing your clients with news, tips and guides. You could offer to write newsletters for companies to effectively sell their goods and services.
Not only that, you can also produce email newsletters. You can start your own email newsletter and run it much like you would a blog.
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Niche Blogger
Blogging is also a great route for aspiring writers. You can start your own blog on any number of different topics but be careful to choose one that appeals so much to you. You have to create and post compelling write-ups if you want to grow your audience in a short while. You can either sell ads or use your platform to grow an audience and then sell related products or services.
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Become a Novelist
If you are very comfortable with the art of writing and you have the ability to weave words to create very interesting stories, you could start writing novels. You could work with a publishing house to publish your novels or you could publish them online.
Though some don’t think of novelists and other authors as small business owners, in fact they are contracted not hired by publishers and often retain ownership of at least part of what they produce.
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Web page content provider
Providing content for a website is a good way to make some money via writing. Online websites that need content are not going anywhere anytime soon, and this niche is even expanding as people keep opening websites every day. People even need newsletters and emails done for them and will pay well to get professional jobs done for them.
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Host Writing Workshops
If you have top-notch critiquing skills, a home business helping others improve their writing may be just the right business for you. You don’t have to invite writers into your home if that makes you uncomfortable. Local bookstores and coffee shops are usually thrilled to have a regular group come in for their training, and it would be great for their business too.
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Start offering Copywriting services
If you are a savvy writer, then you can become a copywriter and write ads, sales letters, web copy and marketing brochures for small businesses and companies. If you are a good writer but you don’t know what it takes to write an ad copy, all you need to do is to take a course in copywriting and read books centered on persuasion skill development.
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Start a business letter writing services
A lot of letters go out of the desk of business owners and managers daily, and it is a known fact that most small scale business owners or mom and pop shop owners may not be quite skilled at crafting these letters especially if they concern something very important. You can fill in the gap by helping these business owners write their business letters for a small fee.
Corporate organizations are always in need of information. They want to know what their customers’ needs are, how customers feel about their company or product, their staff performance and customer relationship skill, the level of their brand awareness, what their competitors are doing currently, latest trends and fads, etc. You can set up a business research company and offer your services in exchange for a fee.
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Become a business proposal writer
A business proposal is a written document that offers a particular product or service to a potential buyer or client. Writing good business proposals is key to expanding your business. However, writing a business proposal can be tricky. You need to promote your business, yet keep the details honest and straightforward.
This is where the need for a professional business proposal writer comes in. Proposals are needed daily for job propositions, contracts, fundraising, obtaining loans, joint ventures, projects, etc. You can position yourself as a business proposal writer and make money off this niche.
Another profitable business you can start with your writing skill is a business plan writing service. There are a lot of business owners that are running their businesses without business plans.
There are also those who intend to raise capital or obtain business loans; and they will definitely need business plans. With a little business sense, research capability and good writing skill; you can start this business and make money with it.
Just as in the case of scriptwriting, you can also write songs for musicians. But to do this, you will need a combination of both writing and music composing skills. Songwriters, or composers, create original music and lyrics performed by singers, musical groups, and bands.
Many composers create music for a particular genre such as country, rock or jazz. Some may write music for theater productions or produce jingles for commercials.
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Start an Article Writing Service
Article writing service is one of the fastest growing service businesses on the web. In fact, there is no successful web based publisher or entrepreneur that have not at one time or the other sought the services of article writers. You can position yourself as a quality article writer and offer your services to webmasters, web publishers, etc.
The sweetest part about this business is that you can work from home and you don’t have to sweat it out all alone; you can either choose to hire employees or outsource your work overseas.
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Start a ghostwriting service
A ghostwriter is a person who is hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. In music, ghostwriters are often used to write songs, lyrics and instrumental pieces for musicians.
It is a fact that a lot of people want to write, but either that there are lazy to put words on paper, or they don’t have the time for that kind of luxury.
If you have well-polished writing skills, you can offer your services to this set of people while you make money on the side. In order to run a full business, you should not limit yourself to just novel or book writing, but you can write biographies, music lyrics, newsletters, blogs and others.
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Provide proofreading services
Proofreading is a very specific kind of job where you check materials that are just about to be published for errors. If you have an eye for spotting grammatical errors or if seeing spelling errors in books or written materials irk you, then it is time to make money with your skill by offering proofreading services to online editors and publishers.
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Start Book doctoring service
Manuscripts are often written in complex formats that would require rewriting for people to understand the book. This is especially true for manuscripts written by professionals.
These professionals create a manuscript as best as they can, but then a book doctor is required to put it into publishable shape. A book doctor makes the changes as recommended by the developmental editor and those changes are thereafter approved by the author before the book or manuscript can then be published.
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Website Manager
Businesses tend to take their websites seriously. So you can build a business by charging them to maintain their websites, which is likely to require some writing in order to make the copy and descriptions effective.
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Start a book indexing service
An index is a list of words or phrases and associated pointers to where useful materials relating to a particular heading can be found in a document or collection of documents. Indexing is a professional, creative job career with serious potential for income generation, knowledge exploration, and community improvement.
Universities, libraries and various nonprofits usually need an index person for hire on contract. There is also indexing software to make your freelancing job easier.
Crowdfunding platforms provide an opportunity for businesses to get the funding they need to run their businesses. This is a digital method of raising funding for businesses. In order to qualify for crowdfunding, you must write out your business proposal and your campaign copy.
A lot of entrepreneurs find it difficult to come up with a winning campaign copy, and are always willing to pay top dollar for this service. If you are a good business writer, you can start writing crowdfunding campaign copies for entrepreneurs who are seeking crowdfunding. You can find businesses like this on crowdfunding websites such as Kickstarter.