Increase Your Writing Income

Ways to increase your writing income don't always mean writing and selling more stuff. There are plenty of other options available for increasing your writing income. You just need to know where to look - and how to add it up.

What I mean by this is many writers are benefiting from the global sweep of the internet so that they might be earning incomes in varying currencies from different writing sales in different countries.

For example: if you live in the USA and write an article for sale in the UK, then you're likely to be paid in GBP (British pounds). This means you might have to pay a foreign exchange fee at your bank to change that check into US dollars, which would reduce your income.

The easy way out is to request payment via PayPal in US dollars. Paypal handle the conversions for you so you're already receiving US dollars straight away. Most people willing to hire and pay writers internationally are willing to use PayPal for the ease and convenience of currency exchange.

So… even though it's easy, is it really the best option for your income in the long run?

First - sign up for the PayPal Money Market. This gives you the option of investing any funds you have in your account and earning some interest on it while it's just sitting there. You can still access your money at any time - but a few dollars interest earned is one less article you need to write to make that money!

Next - Inside your PayPal account, you have the option of retaining your funds in several different currencies at any time. I usually maintain balances across three currencies most of the time.

Let's say my account looks like this:

USD $50 = USD $50
GBP ₤35 = USD $70
EUR €40 = USD $60

You'll notice that the currencies inside your PayPal account should have an automatic currency conversion listed beside your amounts. This is where I keep track of when and what to withdraw from my account.

For example: I might have only earned a tiny ₤35 (that doesn't sound like much, does it?) but it's really the same as getting $70 US in my account because the money is worth different amounts. This amount could vary from day-to-day because of the "exchange rate" - which means one day your money could be worth US$70 and the next day it could increase to US$75 or it could even drop to US$65. It all depends on the exchange rate on that day.

Obviously, if you watch your exchange rates every time you log in, you'll start to notice when you're earning more than you were paid and when your cash is worth less than you earned.

Are you still with me?

It's worth just watching your account some days to see what differences in your balances look like to get an idea when is a good time to cash out and when is a good time to leave money in PayPal to either collect interest or just wait until the exchange is in your favor.

Every extra few dollars adds up - and it's your income we're talking about here!