What is Freelance Health Writing for Nurses and Other Healthcare Professionals?
When nurses first hear about writing or professional writing or freelance writing as a way to make extra money, their first reaction often is skepticism.
"What kind of scam is this?"
Or, if they're not skeptical, they often see the words "nurse" and "writer" in a sentence and think: research writing, journal publishing, and other types of scientific or medical writing.
So today I wanted to demystify WHAT freelance health writing actually IS - and why it's the ideal career for nurses who love to write and want to make some extra money on the side (or write as their full-time job).
Freelance writing is a "real" industry
The first thing I want to clarify is this: Freelance health writing is a bona fide industry and career path for nurses.
Freelance writing is a venerable industry that goes back decades, if not centuries. Practically since the invention of the newspaper, editors have relied on contract writers to write assigned articles for pay. Many famous authors started out as freelance reporters, including Ernest Hemingway (who was a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star in Paris) and Hunter S. Thompson (who famously wrote for Rolling Stone magazine in its early days).
The same holds true today. Top-tier publications like the New York Times assign stories to freelance journalists and pay them handsomely for their work. When you see a writer's name on an article in a publication, chances are high that person is a freelance writer. Many publications today do not employ many staff writers; they rely heavily on contractors.
Freelance writers own their own businesses and serve their own clients. In this way, we are much like plumbers or web designers. Freelance writing is not a "team sport" or any kind of "network marketing," in which your income depends on recruiting other people to the business and then skimming a portion of their earnings for yourself.
BARF
Not get-rich-quick
Freelance writing isn't some kind of get-rich-quick scheme. You have to educate yourself on how this industry works, figure out the core strategies of finding and reaching out to clients, and learn how to actually write the stuff your clients want. That all takes time. We have found our students generally get their first paying assignment within four to six months of starting our Get Paid (Well!) to Write Program. That's not "quick." And it's not "rich."
And that's the beauty of this, honestly. The fact it takes a little time to learn this industry PROVES it's a legitimate career path, not some sketchy "opportunity."
Plus, it's worth the time investment - because once you learn this industry, you'll be able to generate $1,000 to $2,000 a month or more in just a few hours of work a month.
Not "passive income"
There are a lot of online advertisements (I'm looking at you, YouTube) that purport to tell you how to invest a tiny amount of time and effort into some sketchy scheme and then sit back and let the profits flow in on autopilot, with no further work on your part.
Freelance writing isn't that.
Freelance health writing requires your ongoing attention and effort inside your business. In this career, you will constantly be working with clients to write fresh articles and other content for them - while getting paid per-piece. There's nothing "passive" about this - and that's what makes this such a great career! As a health writer, you're always working on something new, so you're constantly learning and putting your creativity to work.
Many types of freelance writing nurses can do
Nurses can produce many types of writing: research writing, journal writing, pharmaceutical writing, and other types of highly scientific and technical writing - not to mention book authorship, essays, and so on.
Each of these is a legitimate type of writing. Some of these you can (in theory) get paid for.
But, in my 30 years of experience as a freelance writer, I have found the quickest path to making GOOD money as a writer involves just TWO types of writing:
- Health journalism
- Content marketing writing
I built my own six-figure writing career on these two types of writing, and you can do the same.
What is health journalism?
Health journalists report on newsworthy events and topics for the general public ("consumer health journalism") and for business audiences ("B2B journalism").
As a consumer health journalist, you write the interesting articles found in glossy magazines like SELF, Men’s Health, AARP the Magazine, or on major websites like WebMD, EverydayHealth, Verywell Health, and thousands of others.
For example, maybe there's a new supplement on the market that purports to help with weight loss. An editor at one of these outlets might assign you an article on what that supplement is and what the research says about whether or not it works. You write the article to the publication's specifications, and then they pay you for it!
OR, once you establish a relationship with an editor, they might assign you articles on common health topics, like Mohs surgery:
Health journalists also report on significant healthcare business events, such as providing coverage of CES or the SXSW Health and MedTech Track. When you report on events like this, you might see your byline (name) in print in industry publications like Modern Healthcare or Industry Dive.
Are you beginning to see how you can make a meaningful impact on the public health conversation as a NURSE who works as a health journalist??
But that's not the only kind of writing you can do to make an impact - and good money.
What is content marketing writing?
The second type of writing we teach at RN2writer is called "content marketing writing." This concept is a little harder to explain because you could say it's a bit "behind the scenes." But let me demystify it as best I can.
Content marketing is when a company (not a publisher, like a magazine, but a healthcare company of some sort) publishes helpful information as a way to market its business. Two examples spring to mind: web pages and blog posts.
Does the health system you work for (or receive care from) publish web pages on various specialties, like bariatric care, that include a "call to action" to "book an appointment"? That's "content marketing."
Or maybe a local health system publishes public blog posts on various health topics, such as diabetes. This also is content marketing.
The reason this is considered "content marketing" is because the underlying purpose of publishing this information is to get more patients (market their business). Acquiring patients is one goal of content marketing, but other goals include:
- Brand awareness (keeping the organization's brand top-of-mind)
- Acquiring new business clients (such as a software company selling nurse scheduling software to health systems)
- Direct product sales (like a medical manufacturer that offers educational webinars to NPs and physicians to educate them on how to use the manufacturer's product to reduce costs and improve patient care)
As you can see, this is different from health journalism. In content marketing writing, you're not reporting on events or new healthcare developments. In content marketing writing, you're producing health content commissioned by the client to help them promote their business in some way.
If you feel confused about all this, please don't be. Everyone finds this stuff confusing at first.
We explain exactly how all of this works in our Get Paid (Well!) to Write Program - so that you can figure this stuff out and start making money as a writer as quickly as possible.
Freelance writing for nurses is real, not a scam, and you can do it, too!
So, that's my little overview of what freelance health writing is. It's a REAL career path for nurses. Freelance writing is NOT a scam. And you definitely can do it - to achieve your lifestyle goals, whatever they may be.
Many nurses take up freelancing on the side as a way to generate extra income, but they also tell us they enjoy having more control over their schedule again. And they love the ability to earn a high hourly rate once they've grasped all the fundamentals of how this industry works and how to write the excellent content their editors want.
If you have any questions for us, give us a shout at [email protected]!
