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Revenue share is one of the top ways I make money writing online. Here are four tips I’ve learned over the years.

There are many sites still offering revenue share as a way to make money writing online. I only choose the sites that pay lifetime rather than those that have a 30-day cut-off or something. After all, the publications are going to keep making money from my content, so I want to make money from it.

Revenue share is also known as residual income. You don’t make money upfront. Instead, you make it through views with whichever system the publication has chosen. Most of the ones I write at will pay X amount per 1,000 views. It takes time to build up your income, but it is possible. I now make a full-time income through residual income. Here are my top four tips to make it possible.

Allow it to take time

Too many give up after a month or two because they don’t see writing working. As I mentioned, this doesn’t make you a millionaire overnight. In fact, you’re not likely to make anything at first.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint to make money writing online.

Please do allow it to take time. Give your posts a chance to mature, so people can actually find them. Tweak them after a few months by adding new information and new links, as you build up your portfolio. You’ll also want to take time for you to find your stride on a site and allow people to get to know who you are.

You can use revenue share as a way to pull in private clients. Use the content as samples. This brings in extra income.

MORE: 5 tips to build residual income on your blog

Build your niche when making money writing online

This is another part that takes time, but will really help you make money writing online. It took me a couple of years to build my history niche, and there were a few reasons for that delay. It took longer for other niches as I figured things out. It was the entertainment niche that actually helped build my income, and now I’m making a full-time income. There were times I thought about giving up, but now I’m glad I didn’t.

It takes time for people to see that you’re becoming a name in a niche. Some niches are easier to get into than others because they’re not as saturated. When it came to entertainment, I had to fight with a lot of other journalists to make a name for myself. Okay, I didn’t fight with a lot of journalists. I’m actually friends with a few and support them, even when they write about the same shows as me.

Building your niche is definitely something you want to do. Find a place for yourself within it—what makes you unique?—and go from there.

Remember about guest posting

There is power in guest posting on someone else’s blog. When you do it, you want to make the most of it for a month or two. Have a few guest posts going out around the same time, and make sure you have a great author bio that sells yourself to the audience.

Check what someone is looking for when it comes to guest posting. Check their previous blog posts and think of a unique, interesting title and pitch that will work for the blog’s audience and your own.

You’re not going to make money from those gusts posts directly. The aim is to build your appearance online. Make sure you have links either to your top revenue share site or to a social media platform where you have your content going up. People aren’t going to remember your name, otherwise.

You’re always learning

You won’t know everything. When it comes to making money writing online, you’re always learning. There may be changes to the Google algorithm or SEO requirements may update. You may find that a new case study comes out in your niche.

Keep yourself open to learning new things. This means following other great bloggers and taking tips and advice onboard. Hire a writing mentor to help you develop your skills.

Don’t assume that you know everything. There’s nothing wrong with checking out new eBooks and books on Amazon or in bookstores. Even after a decade of writing professionally online, I find there are new things for me to learn now and then.

MORE: How to find writing sites to earn through revenue share

If you actually want to make money writing online, take heed of the tips I’ve shared above. This isn’t going to be a sprint, but a marathon. If you want something to happen overnight, unfortunately, you’re looking at the wrong career.

Get in touch if you need a writing mentor to make the most of revenue share.