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How to Write Content That Makes You Money
Seven useful tips I learned the hard way
It was a coldish day in April 2020.
A colleague told me about this thing called Medium and thought I’d give it a go. I was writing on the internet anyway. Badly. But I was writing. And for free, I couldn’t believe there was a website out there that might pay me to do the thing I loved.
Fast forward 3 years, 900+ articles and a whole lot of learning later, I’ve just done some mental maths. I’ve spent 2000+ hours writing non-fiction on the internet.
And I don’t want to sugarcoat it. It’s been a long road. Once I was on the edge of throwing in the towel for good. But I kept writing. When the numbers were down. When nobody read my work. When I’d write all day and hear…crickets.
It’s been a long road, but one I’ve loved. That’s part of the joy of putting effort into something, when it pays you back, it feels like the best feeling in the world.
So after 2000+ hours on this platform, this is what I’ve learned.
1. The purpose of content
Writing solves a problem for someone so that they can do something.
Steams of consciousness won’t cut it. I used to think it would, but I found myself pouring out my problems on the internet. Newsflash. Most people don’t care about that. They want to know what you can do for them.
- Identify the problem
- Talk about the ways you tried to solve it
- Write about what worked for you and why
You have to tell the world who you are writing to and what problem you are solving for them (you can weave your personal stories into that).
2. Context is everything
A confused reader isn’t a reader for long.
You have to set the scene and explain to your reader where they are in the story. Miss the context and you miss the opportunity and you’ll lose the reader.
Answer the basics:
- What are you talking about
- Why are you talking about it
- What are the benefits of this
