According to Pew Research Center, approximately 20% of workers are in fields where AI presents is a high risk. Technical writing is one of the categories that Pew has specifically cited, but, as writers ourselves, we’ve already experienced some of the impacts of AI on other niches. For example, content writers are seemingly losing clients left and right. Job boards on content mills are a ghost of what they were only a few years ago. If you’re concerned about how AI will affect your career, rest assured that you’re in good company. What can you do to safeguard your writing career against AI?
How to Safeguard Your Writing Career Against AI
Writers learn relatively early in their careers to diversify their income. For some, this simply meant getting a few clients rather than pulling their entire annual income from one person or company. That strategy was perfectly effective a few years ago. Clients were easy to find. If one dropped out, you could easily find another. Now, clients continue to bow out from time to time, but writers are having more trouble finding new clients to replace them with. I recently read a social media post from a writer who lost his last client. He was ready to throw in the towel and get a 9-to-5 gig. (Unfortunately, 9-to-5 jobs are also at risk because of AI.)
There is still plenty of money to be made as a writer. The landscape is clearly shifting, and those who survive are those who adapt. This means creating new sources of revenue. By drawing from multiple wells, you’re less susceptible to financial pain if one disappears. So, what does this look like?
Write Books
Is the answer to overcoming AI-related challenges in your writing career really to continue writing? Yes! Most writers didn’t graduate from college and start blogging or content writing. Often, they had a journey that led them to the career. I worked in a very right-brain field because I started writing a few decades ago. Chances are that you have some level of expertise that others can benefit from. Looking beyond your professional experience, perhaps you are a skilled craftsman or baker. As a writer, you have the skills to turn your unique expertise into a money-making book or a book series.
Do you want to steer clear of non-fiction? There are plenty of amazing stories left to tell. You can also sell a book of poems, a low-content book or something else. Will you make a million of a single book? Not likely. However, we can start building up a library today that will ultimately spin off decent income.
Increase Blogging Income
Is blogging dead? Is it too late to get into blogging? Some people will say yes. However, people haven’t stopped reading online content. They actively seek information online by the droves every day. Of course, you have to produce content that other people want to read if you want to build a following. How can you increase your blogging income?
- Improve SEO to build traffic
- Take advantage of all blog monetization strategies rather than just one
- Make multiple blogs to boost ad revenue
- Sell backlink space on your website
Sell Digital Products
One of the top blog monetization strategies is to sell digital products. However, you don’t need a blog to sell digital products. What exactly are digital products?
- Ebooks
- Templates
- Printables
Basically, any product, knowledge or service that you can provide digitally is a digital product, so these are are only a few of the money options available. How can you sell digital products?
- Make an account on Payhip or Gumroad
- Set up an ecommerce website
- Sell online writing courses on Udemy, Teachable or other platforms
- Sell on Etsy
What Else Can You Do to Prepare Your Writing Career for AI?
New opportunities to make money online pop up regularly. While not all of these options will be related to writing, many of them can be used to increase your income. Because of how rapidly the landscape is changing across most industries, it’s important to keep your eyes and ears open. Identify the new opportunities quickly by doing regular online research, staying connected on social media and monitoring changes to AI capabilities.
In addition, focus on how AI can help you be a better writer. Here are some ideas for using AI advantageously.