Choose the Focus Of Your Website 

HereHaving a website of their own allows writers (and by writers I mean anyone who can put their thoughts into words) to accomplish several things:

Promote Yourself

On your own website you have carte blanche to talk about yourself. It is accepted in the world of internet marketing to do this - indeed it is expected if you are to win business from someone else. It could be as simple as writing a little about your background - what has brought you to this point. Readers aren't necessarily looking for your resume (although you can put this on one of your pages if you like), they are more interested in connecting with YOU.

Tell visitors to your site about what type of writing you do, and list examples of any published work you have. Most importantly, they want to know what YOU can do for THEM, e.g. solve their special occasion shopping problems (by buying your latest book) or by writing content for their website.

For sites that primarily promote you, as a writer, I recommend registering a domain name (i.e. your .com) of your own name if possible. For instance, if your name is "Alice Jones", you should register "alicejones.com". This is particularly important for writers, because you need to be sure that people who read your work can easily find your website. If your first choice is taken, try aliceannejones, or alicepjones. The exact name under which you write should be at the top of your list.

Writers who have created their own websites (its EASY!) will have no trouble keeping the information it contains current and topical.

Market Your Work

You may prefer to focus on a particular publication, e.g. an e-book that you are self-publishing or a hard copy book that is on sale now. In this case you will focus less about yourself on your website, and instead spend the bulk of the site discussing you book in such a way as readers will want to hit that "Buy Now" button. You could discuss the characters, publish testimonials etc. Often writers websites will have a home page about the author and then additional pages per publication. The choice is yours.

Again, because you have built your own website (yes, you CAN do it...) you can add and delete pages as often as you like.

Look for Work

Writers from all walks are in high demand by website owners who are in need of quality content for their sites, or articles to attract site visitors. If you have not ventured there before, browse through www.elance.com to see the types of freelance writing jobs that are available. They range from ghostwriting books, to writing blogs (like this one) on behalf of others.

There is absolutely no doubt that a writer who has a website of his/her own will have a better chance of landing the job. A website will clearly show the service buyer if you can write, how well you write and it will prove that you are who you purport to be.

If you are planning to make money on the internet by writing you should first start by getting a simple website up and running. In order to do this, I cannot recommend website building software XSitePro highly enough. It is reasonably priced, is very user friendly, and it has ready to use templates (just fill in the gaps).

But you don't have to take my word alone for it, evaluate these testimonials as well.

Good luck!