Why writing for success begins with the craft
I recently received some questions about how to write for success and build a writing business online.
First, I want to say that I’m thrilled and a little mystified that you think I am qualified to speak on this subject (hey there imposter syndrome, hoped I’d banished you for good!).
Second, being able to cleverly string a sentence together has only recently started putting money in my pocket. Before this, I had a regular corporate 9–5 in marketing until I had my Peter Gibbons in Office Space moment and realized there had to be another way for me to deploy my skills.
That’s when I started my own digital marketing agency which serves corporate clients in SaaS and technology. This alongside Women in Our Town is how my writing finally got wings. So, I’m still a baby in the space and definitely at the beginning of my writing journey
Now that’s out of the way, I will say that in this limited time, I have learned a lot. I’ve read every productivity, and entrepreneurship book under the sun. I’ve tried routines and productivity hacks from the very tame to the extreme (hello morning routines of billionaires, you suck all the joy out of life!).
You name it I’ve done it. And in this short time, this is the single, biggest lesson I’ve learned. If you want to write, I don’t care if it’s a book, a blog, a memoir, Instagram captions, love letters, or graffiti on your neighbor’s wall — focus on your craft, write and share your work!
Avoid distractions and put in the reps
As a business plan, writing sucks. Literally, do anything else. Most blogs make little to no money for years, if ever. Most books never come out of the author’s sock drawer and if they do, 99% of them end up in an agent’s trash folder.
There is so much to distract you from writing online — designing a website, adding flash to make it interesting, SEO, Instagram, Reels, TikTok, networking with other bloggers, Pinterest, monetization strategies, and on and on.
Almost every new writer I’ve spoken to is distracted by some if not all these things. And then if you somehow manage to avoid all these distractions, you still have to combat writer’s block, come up with new and interesting ways of saying things and produce something worth reading.
My advice — forget all that and write. Get a Medium account and write. Set up a WordPress website with a free theme and write. Show up every day and write. Put a little bit of yourself out into the world, share your work and become a better writer every day.
You don’t know what you’re good at, what you like writing about, and what resonates with your audience till you get the reps in. And remember this — writers with thousands of readers and more successful businesses haven’t cracked some secret business code. They’ve just put in more reps and shared their work for a lot longer.
Lower your expectations… at least initially
Here’s the truth about writing online — your competition is literally anyone with an internet connection and a desire to put themselves out there. That’s a lot of people and it can be hard to rise above the noise, even if you’re really, really good. You need to be okay with this, at least at first.
Writing online is a long journey and it can be a lonely one. If you’re expecting to get thousands of readers or have your article go viral in the first few months of this journey, I hate to break it to you but you’re going to be disappointed.
Sure, some people strike it big, their posts go viral, they are picked up and published in major publications, get thousands of readers and land a book deal. Some people also win the Powerball or discover uranium in their backyard. But the chances that any one of us will get that lucky are one in a million, according to a study by Stanford University.
Banking on virality isn’t a strategy, it’s a dice roll.
You have a much better chance of landing with your audience and developing a loyal readership through good ol’, boring consistency, and hard work.
The good news is that because there are a lot of people on a similar path, you can find a supportive community if you know where to look. I found Medium to be one of the best places to gain a foothold as a relative newbie in the space. Yes, there is a lot of competition (welcome to the internet) but there is also a supportive community for writers.
There is a direct correlation between money and impact
One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen new writers and entrepreneurs make is that they start with the monetization strategy before they’ve ever written a word or put pen to paper.
Or they pick a topic to write about because it’s popular (or so they think) without considering if they can authentically write about the subject matter. They forget who they’re writing for and focus on what they believe will make money.
But here’s the thing many of us miss when it comes to trading our time and skills for money. No one cares about what you’re doing. Whether you’re blogging, making YouTube videos, streaming on Twitch wearing a pair of cat ears, or doing magic tricks in front of your camera, the activity itself is not what people pay for.
People pay for value and the impact what you do has on their lives. If your work educates, informs, entertains, or adds value to people’s lives in some way, the world will pay you for it. The more people you impact, the more money you make, and good writing will always find a home.
Build a skyscraper
Our world is changing at the speed of light and that means trends, the news cycle, and even culture are short-lived. How many brands have come and gone over the last few years? How many companies were the unicorn of the moment only to disappear a few years later? (Hello WeWork and Theranos, I’m looking at you).
Our get-rich-quick culture means that very few things are built to survive and if success doesn’t come overnight, we assume we’ve failed.
Yet sustainable businesses need to stand the test of time. So, if you’re building a business for the long haul, build from a solid foundation.
Start small, work with small to medium clients, hone your craft, write on lots of different topics, sharpen your skills, and perfect your pitch. Think of your writing business as a skyscraper where each level builds on top of the previous one and is meant to last.
Write tight but give up on perfection
If you’re building a business through your writing, write tight. Humans are a self-indulgent bunch. We think what we have to say is important but when it comes to writing, there is power in getting to the point. The more confused and meandering the writing, the more confused the message.
Tight writing is effortless, informative, readable and ultimately shows respect for the reader.
Hemingway, one of the greatest writers to have ever lived was a master of tight writing. He understood that people had a short attention span, and if he was going to rise above the long-winded, rambling competition of his era, he needed to get his point across quickly.
As a writer who hopes to make a living, precise, concise writing is the truest arrow in your proverbial quiver. So, practice your craft and write tight but also learn to let go and hit publish.
As Hemingway himself said:
“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”
I started my blog in the summer of 2020. I’ve written hundreds of articles (many never saw the light of day) and sent tons of newsletters before my writing finally started to land.
This is the first year my blog is making money. This is the first-year clients who are paying me to write for them through my agency. It takes time. A lot of time and a boatload of courage.
It’s taken me a whole nineteen months to get to a place where I can say I am running a fully-fledged business with regular paying clients and a stream of steady income, and a whole 30 years of practicing my craft and putting it out into the world before that.
So, drown out the noise and write. Who knows, you may even find a book in you.
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