If you're a new writer, congratulations. I wish I were starting my career today. You have unlimited opportunities to make as much money from your writing as you wish. These five steps will help.

Just follow the steps - all of them. By the time you've completed all five steps, you WILL be paid for your words. There's an immense hunger online for words today; if you can write, you can make money.

1. Write ten articles on any topic you choose (as long as it's not about yourself)

Write ten articles. These ten articles can be on any topic you choose; basically topics for which there are magazines: fashion, mountain bikes, dieting...

There's one topic you should avoid, and that's anything to do with yourself. Unless you've lived an amazing life, or write with humor, there's next to no way to make writing about yourself profitable.

Here's the thing: you're aiming to write for people who will pay you, whether they're magazine editors or business people. These people all have an audience, and that audience is interested in a specific topic.

To sell your words, you need to write about topics in which others are interested. So study magazines on a newsstand, and write ten articles.

2. Create a small Web site

Many of my writing students baulk at this one. Creating a Web site seems complicated. Agreed, the first time you do this, it may well be like assembling a toy for your children at Christmas - frustrating. You may want to swear a lot and kick things. Feel free to do it if it relieves your feelings.

Nevertheless, creating a Web site is an essential skill for writers in the new millennium.

And it's EASY. Really.

I promise you if you take yourself to Blogger, it will take you less than three minutes to create your first site.

So go and do that NOW.

You're back? Great.

3. Post your articles to your site

Now post all your articles - yes, all ten - to your new site.

Create a small sidebar with a "Hire Me to Write for You" notice. Ensure that there's a way for people to contact you: include your email address and your cell phone number.

Congratulations. You're now a writer - all you have to do to make money is to keep writing.

4. Post three articles to article directories

Choose three of your articles, and post them to article directories online - but create a "resource box" or "bio" first.

Your resource box is a chance for you to sell your new writing skill. It also provides a link back to your site, so people can view samples of your writing and can contact you.

You can craft your resource box in any way you wish. It can be extremely simple, as in "John Smith writes about fashion and finance, and he's available to write for you today. Contact him at his site _____________ (the URL of your Web site.)"

5. Approach Web sites for writing jobs

Finally, approach sites to write for them. Which sites? That depends on the topics you're comfortable writing about. Whichever topics you've chosen, there will be thousands of sites covering those topics.

Check the About page of likely looking sites. If they hire writers, they'll often have Editorial contact information. Sometimes they won't. Contact them, tell them who you are and what you want.

Before you know it, you'll have several clients for whom you write. And you'll get paid to write for money. It's just as easy as I've described - have fun.