Currently many online writers and would-be online writers, feel very much like folks in a ship that is out at sea somewhere but which has run out of drinking water. The fact is that although there is so much water everywhere, getting drinking water becomes a challenge because the water is salty and probably needs some sort of purification and processing to be made drinkable.

That is exactly what led the writer to pen those famous words, water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink.

The growth of the net cannot be described using any word that is weaker than the word explosive. Every day new websites are launched and new blogs started. All of them without exception require the services of a writer. In many cases the site owner does the writing for themselves but quite often, when the site becomes successful, they get so busy that they cannot keep up with the writing chores.

In many other cases, the webmasters or blog owners cannot write and require somebody to write for them from the inception of the site.

The other factor is that articles posted at article directories and other sites have grown in importance as a tool to drive traffic to any website or blog. Not to mention as a tool in search engine optimization.

The result is that today, we have the largest and hungriest market for writers in history. Still many writers are finding it extremely difficult to get any online writing work. I know because these writers write to me and visit my blog every day.

One of the biggest hindrances or obstacles standing in the way of writers securing writing assignments, is the fact that the online rate of payment is ridiculously low, more so when compared with offline writing assignments. Many writers fail to realize that the net is different and this huge market for writers is also different from the offline media houses typically paying out a minimum of $500 for an article. Read my article on this subject at http://100grandonlinewriters.com

But even writers who are prepared to make their money from the volumes required online to make good money, are having problems securing writing assignments. This should not be the case. All you need to do is set up a system for attracting clients who will gladly and regularly pay for your online writing.

I have a system in place myself that gives me loads of writing assignments from many different clients. There is no reason why you should not do the same. One of the key tools I use is a blog. You can read my article on how to do this at http://big-online-story.blogspot.com

Here are 5 key things you need to do to generate online writing assignments from clients.

1) Specialize in a certain area

The web is a colossal jungle where it is very easy for a general writer specializing in everything and nothing, to get lost and forgotten. The most powerful thing you can do online today is to specialize in a specific area. The smaller the niche, the better. Do not feel that you will be limiting your market. Remember that one of the wonderful things about the net is that you can profit from a tiny niche because your market on the net includes the whole planet.

In fact specialization has always been a very powerful strategy for business success whose importance has been magnified by the net. Look at it this way, the powerful sun, because it spreads its' powerful rays everywhere reaches the earth as a warm pleasant and mostly harmless source of heat and light. But when you concentrate the rays of a sun to one particular point, using a magnifying glass, you can create fire that can burn down acres of forest and bring damage worth billions, if not zillions of dollars.

How do you select your specialization? It is useful to look for an area where you have lots of interest in. Your hobby would be an ideal place to start because you are already an expert of sorts in that area.

Christopher Kyalo makes a living writing online. Visit his writer's blog to read the second and final part of this article; http://100grandonlinewriters.blogspot.com