So you suddenly find yourself a parent to a small child while knee-deep in your freelance writing career. First of all - congratulations! You are now responsible for the growth and well-being of two things you’ve conceived. But can you juggle these two responsibilities without having a nervous breakdown?
Time and energy become valuable resources when it comes to caring for a newborn. You and your partner (if you have one) can divide the parental tasks so that you can keep your freelance income while caring for your child. If you’re a single parent, however, going full time as a freelance writer might not be possible at the moment.
Fortunately, there are now ways to write as a new parent and earn extra an income without taking too much precious time away from your little bundle of joy.
Start an affiliate blog as a newly-minted parent
Now that you have a living and breathing (and drooling, and crying) resource to draw experiences from, why not share it with others and get paid while you’re at it? There are thousands of blogs on being a parent, with followers eager for advice and to have someone relate to what they’re going through. Though nobody can exactly claim to be THE expert parent, a successful parenting blog is often one that is honest, educational, helpful, and relatable. You can construct your blog like a personal journal, or delve right into affiliate blogging to monetize it.
If you’re not sure where to start, look around you. You’re surrounded by strollers, diapers, baby bottles, plush toys, onesies, and other newborn accessories. You can start a blog with honest reviews for these, and become an Amazon Associate who earns referral fees if your readers click on your product links and actually buy the stuff you recommend.
Guest post on other parenting blogs
If you don’t have a well-established blog yet but are keen on creating a network to help promote yours, consider being a guest blogger or article contributor to parenting blogs that already have a good following. It may not result in instant financial rewards, but it will help establish you as a blogger with a noticeable online presence, a useful new network, plus the possibility of increased traffic once your work is published.
The key is in finding blogs that you can relate to, whose values and beliefs align with yours, and whose content is a good fit with both your writing style and the topics you want to pitch. Shop around for parenting blogs you actually like, look up their contributor requirements and contact information, and pitch your topics. It’s best to refer to their previously published articles to avoid repetition and so you can get a gauge of what the blog owner is looking for.
Contribute to parenting websites
As your first-hand experience of parenting continues to grow, so does your level of expertise on navigating the world of infant rearing. That, coupled with your writing skills, can prove to be valuable to parenting magazines and websites. For your contributions to be accepted, though, they need to stand out among the rest.
Broad, cliched topics should be avoided. Many parenting blogs prefer unique takes on parenting that are actually useful and well thought-out If you’ve stumbled upon practical ways to dealing with the frustrations of raising an infant, by all means, share it in a creative way! Parents everywhere would love to hear about new parenting hacks if it means making their lives less stressful.
Consider submitting useful articles to such publications with a wide reach like Parents.com, which looks for both service journalism, and more outgoing, social types of writing filled with personality. You could also try contributing to Family Fun Magazine, which offers a generous compensation of $1.25 per word upon acceptance. They have a required article length between 850 to 3,000 words, which could compensate you very well, indeed.
Review baby and new-parent products
During your free time, why not be a product review writer for baby supplies companies and other similar businesses? Constant Content is a site catering to both businesses and freelance writers who can both benefit from positive reviews. You can position yourself as a writer with new parenting skills and experience so that these baby-oriented businesses will pick you to review their products and services with authenticity. And if you find that it’s a gig you enjoy doing, maybe stick with it, as the site claims their top writers earn up to $90,000 per year!
The verdict?
Raising a child is no easy feat, and having a freelance career while you’re at it seems almost impossible to accomplish. It’s a good thing that staying at home means you can do both, with the help of a flexible freelance schedule.
Starting a blog can take some time to be financially rewarding for you, but it has been beneficial to hundreds of thousands of other parents, so consider going for it. Reviewing baby products for companies also seems like a good idea especially if the clients pay up-front and become returning clients. Both of these options are legit ways to earn extra income with the added benefit of flexible schedules.
Your turn!
Did you ever have to juggle a freelance career while being a new parent? How was the experience, and what lessons did you learn from it? We would love to learn from it, too!
