5 Best ways to make money writing technical articles?

Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash

Do you know who is the most famous technical writer in the world? The answer is quite difficult to answer, but some say — Leonardo da Vinci. I know, I know!

You are probably thinking about how that is possible? Isn’t he a famous inventor and artist? But guess what! All his inventions were thoroughly scripted in writing.

Today our query is not to become the best technical writer in the world but to become one to earn money. In the US, average technical writers earn around $61,553 per year, with a range between $43,000 and $89,000. Not bad, right?

Using proper guidelines, you can too achieve success and make money writing technical articles without any difficulties.

Table of Contents

· How to Define Technical Writing
· What’s the difference between Technical Writing and Business Writing?
· Is there a demand for technical writers?
· Is technical writing stressful?
· How do I become a technical writer with no Job experience?
· How do technical writers make money?
· Where to get paid for technical articles
∘ 1. Twilio
∘ 2. Digital Ocean
∘ 3. CSS-Tricks
· Make money writing technical articles
· Conclusion

How to define Technical Writing

Technical writing is a process of digesting high-level content into readable formats for certain types of audiences. Technical writing is mostly suitable for scientific projects and tech-based businesses, but it is not confined to these two industries.

The theoretical definition of technical writing is as follows:

Technical writing is the practice of documenting processes, such as software manuals or instructional materials. Traditionally, it was limited to user manuals of some sort.

What’s the difference between Technical Writing and Business Writing?

The prime difference is technical writing mainly focuses on fields related to science, tech, and engineering, whereas business writing targets business cases and success stories, business books, marketing, finance, and similar non-tech topics.

A technical writer compiles the writing in the form of instruction manuals, guides, project plans, etc.

Is there a demand for Technical Writers?

The demand for technical writers is on the rise. Projections show that technical writing skills are one of the in-demand in the world right now. And the demand will grow by 12 percent in the next decade.

Expert technical writers in the field of medicine, IT, and engineering are highly sought. Technical writers are now getting themselves more skilled in technical research, technical documentation, fact-checking and revising technical documents, etc., to meet the huge demand.

Is Technical Writing stressful?

According to SME Mark, there are 10 essential types of web writing. When writers need to choose one, they try to achieve a non-technical writing skill like travel blog writing or social media posts.

At the same time, most writers perceive technical writing as the most stressful skill to achieve among the top web writing skills. However, one study showed that above half of the technical writers say that they feel low stress. Surprisingly, it is one of the least depressing jobs in the United States.

But that doesn’t mean that technical writing is less rewarding.

How do I become a Technical Writer with no Job experience?

To sell your technical writing skill to companies, you need to have some prior experience. But is it possible to become an expert writer in the technical fields without any experience?

Fortunately, you can by following the following steps and perseverance:

• Step 1 # Enroll in a technical writing course at Udemy and invest your time and money in basic learning.
• Step 2 # Check Skillshare for the latest technical writing courses.
• Step 3 # Add the certification of your courses in your LinkedIn Profile
• Step 4 # Reach out to 5–10 potential clients on LinkedIn
• Step 5 # Search 5–10 technical writing jobs in Upwork, Fiverr, LinkedIn, and different remote job sites.
• Step 6 # Ask local companies or people near you to give technical writing tasks to you for free. If they like your work, ask for testimonials in exchange for money.
• Step 7 # Create a free blog on Medium and post articles on different technical writing topics regularly.

After doing steps 1–7 for a few months you will surely land your first technical writing job without having a traditional job experience

How do Technical Writers make money?

There’s a misconception that writers only make money via client work. But in this age of digital technologies, you can do more than serve clients with your technical writing skills.

The top sources to get paid as a technical writer are:

1. Writing for websites like Digital ocean, Geeks for Geeks, Sitepoint, etc.
2. Create your own blog and monetize
3. Search for clients online
4. Cold Email potential clients and companies
5. Teach Technical writing to beginners
6. Helping academic professionals for money

There are more creative ways to make money as technical writing professional. However, in the following sections, we will stick to the use of technical writing websites to earn decent money for your skills.

Where to get paid for Technical Articles

Technical writers can easily start making money by signing up on websites that offer payment against their services. Let’s discuss a few places where you can start today:

1. Twilio

Twilio offers up to $500 for your service as an expert technical writer. The website stated that they are allowing writers to write high-quality technical tutorials for developers of different levels.

2. Digital Ocean

The digital ocean offers a share of your knowledge and get-paid scheme to the technical writers out there in the market. This will allow you to earn up to $400. You will help the website to build content to help developers out there.

3. CSS-Tricks

Another great place to make some money as a technical writer if you have a love for CSS. Get paid $300 for your articles for becoming a guest writer at CSS-tricks. The website also announced that you would earn around $400 for complex topics on CSS.

Make money writing Technical Articles

With all the information about where to find earning sources for your technical writing expertise, let’s start our journey on the best ways to make money writing technical articles.

We’ve covered a few technical writing jobs that will help you to make big bucks on your skills.

1. Technical Copywriting: One of my favorite ways to make money writing technical articles is technical copywriting. Copywriting is the form of short and persuasive writing to gain more customers for a business or product. Since copywriting drives sales and revenue, so the demand is quite high in the technical writing domain. Examples can be Email writing, advertisements, brochures, billboards, etc.
2. White Paper Writing: The next place to make an impact as a technical writer is a white paper. Already, there’s a higher demand for white paper writers thanks to the rise of such documents in the financial domain. I’ve seen greater demand for white papers in the crypto and blockchain industry.
3. Case Studies: Case study writing is one of the top sources of income for technical writers in 2022. It is something that helps brands to help consumers understand what results they can expect if they purchase a product or service. Similar to the copywriter's case study, writers are somewhat responsible for driving sales towards the company.
4. Product Manuals: We often ignore the importance of product manuals, but there’s no doubt that it is one of the most important parts of a physical product we receive along with the shipment. But who writes a product manual. Generally, there is a demand for product manual writers, and it is obviously a subcategory of technical writing. You can become well-versed in product manuals and start getting paid well for your work.
5. User Guides: It might sound similar to a product manual. And user guides also serve a similar purpose that is teaching a user how to use a product. These guides talk about the complex features of a product or service. However, a technical writer must use a language that is suitable for the user. That is why the demand for user guide writers is quite high.

There are some other ways you can make money as a technical writer. However, I am not going to cover these in this article. If you want to learn more about those ways, comment below.

Conclusion

Becoming a technical writer is not a traditional way of earning money. But after reading this article, you will have an idea that you can make money writing technical articles. Since learning a technical topic is not easy for everyone, hence, writers choose the path of blog writing or SEO writing to earn money. However, those industries are heavily crowded with service providers.

There are thousands of gigs and services available on Upwork and Fiverr on non-technical skills. What if you spend a few months learning how to write a user manual or a product manual and list yourself as a technical writer? In my opinion, you won’t regret it a bit later. Just follow the 5 best ways to earn as a technical writing professional, and if you need help, study this course on Technical writing.