5 Reasons This Is the Best Time to Become a Writer
Srinivas Rao was a struggling writer.
One day, he decided to set a goal:
To write 1,000 words a day.
He wrote one piece a week for a freelance writing client.
He produced blog posts for a startup.
He wrote a weekly newsletter.
He wrote in his own blog.
He wrote books he had been wanting to write.
One day, Rao decided to write about how writing 1,000 words a day changed his life.
He published the article on Medium.
By a stroke of luck, an acquisitions editor at Penguin found the Medium post and gave Rao a book deal.
Glenn Beck found Rao’s book on Amazon and raved about it on his show.
As a result, the book went on to become a #1 Amazon Best Seller, selling over 10,000 copies in a week! Rao even ended up making an appearance on Glenn’s show.
This is the power of writing.
We currently live in a world where writing can change your life within a few seconds.
If you can put words together, then I’ll like to congratulate you. You’re a writer.
You don’t need a writing degree to become a writer.
As long as you can read and write, you’re welcome into the writing world where everything is impossible.
So why is this present moment the best time to become a writer?
There are 5 reasons…
1. The Demand for Writers Is Growing
Competition is increasing across various industries and niches.
Businesses are producing contents in order to reach customers.
In fact, a report by Forrester suggests that consumers demand more contents.
But this is not just any contents. Consumers want more valuable contents.
“…marketers who rely only on push messaging are struggling to deliver results. Marketers who create valuable content and stories that attract audiences, on the other hand, build valuable relationships with customers and generate positive business outcomes.”
The process of creating valuable and engaging contents is a tough challenge for most businesses.
A study conducted by MarketingProfs shows that 40% of businesses find it difficult to produce engaging contents while 20% of businesses say it’s a big challenge to produce enough contents that reach their customers.
The explosion of content marketing has increased the need for more writers. We can also call them content creators.
Content marketing is set to rise even further in the coming years. That means more opportunities for writers.
In fact, another study by Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and MarketingProfs shows that organizations are willing to increase content marketing budget by 51%.
So, if you’re a talented writer, be rest assured that there a lot of opportunities currently awaiting you in the content marketing industry.
2. The Rise in Ad-Blocking
The rise of ad-blockers has created a serious threat to display advertising.
According to a recent article published in the Washington Street Journal, comScore finds that ad-blockers are currently employed by 10% of U.S. desktop users. This is expected to continue to increase.
A report by Adobe and PageFair estimates that the rise of ad-blocking technology could cost advertisers a total of more than $40 billion in 2016.
In case you don’t know, ad blockers are software programs that prevent ads from being shown on websites.
Ad blockers are typically browser add-ons and are available for the Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari, and other popular web browsers.
Dean Murphy, a British software developer, created an ad blocking app for iOS called Crystal.
Crystal was launched on September 16.
Within a week of launch, Murphy earned $75,000 from sales of his app.
In fact, two European carriers are planning to adopt ad-blocking technology on their networks.
Websites that heavily rely on displaying advertisements would have to look elsewhere for revenue.
This rise of ad-blockers would also negatively impact businesses who reach their customers mainly through ads.
The good news is they have an alternative: To reach their customers through content marketing.
Content marketing is even more effective and cheaper than paid advertising.
Content marketing generates 3 times as many leads as traditional outbound marketing but costs 62% less according to Demand Metric.
70% of people would rather learn about products through content.
And 68% of consumers spend time reading content from a brand they’re interested in.
As you can see, content marketing is better and cheaper than paid advertising. So, the rise of ad-blockers will only force more businesses to use content marketing. This creates more opportunities for talented writers.
3. Businesses Would Need Content Distribution
A great piece of content is useless without a solid distribution in place.
In other words, simply creating a good content isn’t enough to succeed in content marketing.
Businesses need content promotion as much as they need content creation.
For example, Intel launched IQ, its tech culture digital magazine, a few years ago.
Within a short time, IQ began receiving over 2.2m unique visits per month.
What was the secret behind this exponential growth?
Luke Kintigh, Intel’s Global Content and Media Strategist says the secret:
“It doesn’t matter how good your content is if you don’t have a strategy that’s distributing it to the right audience…” — Luke Kintigh
The best content promotion often comes from the connection of the writer who wrote the article.
Many brands would be willing to hire writers who have an active and engaged followers on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and other platforms.
So, if you’re currently active on these platforms and have a good amount of followers, many businesses will definitely want to work with you because they want to leverage your connection to reach their customers.
4. More Businesses Would Invest in SEO
According to a study conducted by Google, it found that 50% of consumers who conducted a local search on their smartphone visited a store within a day, and 34% who searched on computer/tablet did the same.
The same Google study also found that 18% of local mobile searches lead to a sale within one day.
Mobile phones have the highest conversion rates compared to other devices.
Looking at the above graph, you’ll see that other devices such as PC and tablets can’t be ignored too.
More businesses are starting to recognize the need to take their stores online. Search engines can give them massive visitors on a consistent basis.
Businesses need SEO to help their sites rank on search engines.
The good news is contents are the fuel of SEO.
According to Search Engine Journal, SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate, while outbound leads (such as direct mail or print advertising) have a 1.7% close rate.
As more businesses continue to invest in SEO, the need for writers will continue to rise.
5. Social Sites Are Becoming Publishing Platforms
Today, we have a lot of social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Quora, and Medium.
Most of the early adopters of these social platforms became popular.
For example, Mari Smith is considered one of the early adopters of the biggest social platform, Facebook. She is popularly referred to as the Queen of Facebook.
She mastered the Facebook platform. Today, many big brands flock to her to learn the best way to start marketing on Facebook.
Jeff Bullas is referred to as a power social media influencer. He built up his influence through Twitter. Today, he owns one of the most popular social media blogs.
Lewis Howes leverage LinkedIn to create a 7-figure business in three years.
People like James Altucher, Leonard Kim and Oliver Emberton built names for themselves on Quora.
While Benjamin Hardy and Jon Westenberg became widely known through Medium.
What you may not know about these people is they all are talented writers. Their writing made them well-known on these social platforms.
Social platforms are great places to build a business for yourself and get the big brands paying you huge sums of money.
You can take advantage of social platforms by becoming active on them and adding value to people’s lives.
Soon, you’ll become an influencer and you’ll be getting paid for your writing and services.
Michael Akinlaby is a freelance writer. He’s the founder of RankRain, a marketing agency that specializes in search engine optimization (SEO).
