Online writing
The Four Simple but Powerful Skills You Need to Build an Online Writing Business as a Beginner
The most successful entrepreneurs have mastered all four of these skills
Starting an online business has become more popular than ever. Anyone and their dog can just get a laptop and an internet connection and start the content creation business. And then guess what? In three months, the millions pour in, they get their first Lambo and mansion, and the party never ends…
“Wow, this writer is insane,” you’re probably thinking. And you’re absolutely right.
Of course, becoming a successful online writer is not impossible. But for every six-figure-earning content creator, there are hundreds, if not thousands, who simply quit out of frustration.
Yes, my friend, building an online writing business is not for the faint-hearted. I would know, I almost had cardiac arrest.
Many people who go into it, quit within a few months or less. It’s not that they are inherently bad at building a business. Like most things in life, entrepreneurship is a skill that can be learned, and gets better with practice and experience.
Of course, if you’re still a beginner, you’re much more likely to suck at it than someone who has been doing it for decades. However, being a newbie isn’t why most businesses fail.
They fail because they romanticize the whole thing, and then reality smacks them in the face. This happens too many times, where new writers go into content creation because it looks like easy money. Their enthusiasm lasts for a whole three days, and then the frustration sets in. It’s not what they think at all.
Chances are that you’re probably on the same path. And this may sound harsh, but it’s only a matter of time until you give up.
But I know you don’t want that. You want to be a successful online writer and you want your business to thrive. If that’s the case, there are four non-negotiable skills to develop.
I do not guarantee that these skills will make entrepreneurship easy for you. However, diligently following it and working at it every day will certainly bring you the success you want as a writer.
Skill #1: Focus
The positive effects of focus cannot be overstated.
Take any successful entrepreneur and one of their key traits is their ability to focus. And I’m talking about focusing on the right things.
As a new content creator, the right thing to focus on is content creation. Unfortunately, you divert your attention to so many unnecessary things. You know, things like the theme of your website, what kind of logo you should have, the color of your subscribe button, the domain name, and a thousand and one other things you cannot seem to decide on.
Don’t get me wrong. All these things are important. But spending too much time on them takes away all the time you’ll need to actually write content.
Rather than writing, you’re stuck as your own tech support. In the beginning, you tell yourself that you’re being productive. It’s all part of the business, you say. But after a while, when it’s sucking out all your energy and time, and you don’t see your business going anywhere, you’ll burn out and quit.
This is why so many people give up on their writing dream.
How do you prevent that?
Simple. Focus.
As a writer, your priority is to write. Allocate the time you’re most productive for that. And then you can do the back-end stuff later when you’re not writing.
Another way you lose focus is by publishing on too many platforms at once. You may be writing on your personal blog, Medium, Substack, NewsBreak, LinkedIn, and Vocal all at once.
Okay, that’s probably an exaggeration, but some writers publish on more than three platforms at the same time.
No, there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, it helps you reach a wider audience online. But this is a stage that only comes after your business has a strong foundation and is well established. Common sense dictates that you expand your territory by trying other platforms when you’ve already succeeded on one.
But what do you see new writers doing? The very opposite.
When you’re still at the foundational stage of building your business, putting your attention on several platforms is almost always never a good idea. Chances are that you get very little engagement on each platform you’re on. Why? Because you can’t give each of them your maximum attention.
When I started, I was doing everything at the same time. And though it looked like I was working so hard, none of it was yielding any results. Why? Because I was doing the wrong things. I just ended up frustrated and I actually gave up for a while.
Things changed when I came back with a different mindset. Instead of publishing everywhere at once, I decided to focus on Medium. Later, after developing a consistent writing habit, and learning more about writing online, I ventured to Substack.
My progress has been nothing short of staggering.
Don’t get caught up in what newsletter system to use, or what platform to publish on. Just select one, ideally Medium, and start writing.
You’ll be surprised how much you accomplish once you focus on the one thing that matters and ignore everything else.
Skill #2: Consistency
Writing online is hard because you have to consistently make choices that do not yield immediate results. So of course, out of frustration, many quit.
I can’t guarantee that being consistent in any endeavor will bring you success, but I can guarantee that quitting prematurely will surely amount to nothing.
To attain a goal, you must constantly work at it. Keep pushing, keep going, until you reach your destination. And then long after you reach that destination, you realize that you don’t want the journey to end anyway. So you just keep at it.
To reach this level, you must start from somewhere and never stop.
You can’t just write three or five articles, and then expect thousands of views. Unless you’re so lucky that your first article goes globally viral, it will take a while to amass a following. And to amass that following, you need to publish consistently.
Being consistent is different for everyone. Some people write every day. Others write three times a week. Whatever it means to you, you must never depend on inspiration.
Writing as a career doesn’t run on inspiration. It runs on systems.
Waiting for your muse to strike before you write is like a doctor waiting to be inspired to treat a patient. Yes, it’s the same thing. Because you’re both professionals. You have to show up every day and work on your business to get it somewhere.
My first blogging business failed because I wasn’t consistent. I didn’t write regularly. I mostly depended on inspiration before writing anything. Now, I have a system that keeps me on track. With this system, I publish at least one article a week. Sometimes I’m on a roll and publish three per week.
It’s not motivation or whatever hocus pocus zen of the day shit. I just follow a system.
Simply having the goal to write daily is not enough. Goals tell you what to achieve, systems let you achieve them.
So how do you write consistently?
First, define what that actually means for you. As I said, it’s different for everyone. What works for one writer might not work for you.
Over the years, I’ve tried a lot of things and I’m currently hooked on a particular system that allows me to publish consistently.
I wake up at 4am every day and write from 4:30 to about 7am. It might sound extreme, but that’s what works for me given how busy I am during the day. It’s the only time I have to actually work on my business. I work on my fiction from Monday to Wednesday. Thursdays and Fridays are for writing my articles for Medium and Substack. I do my editing on Saturday and Sunday. And I schedule publishing for the week on Sunday.
With this system, I have no excuse to not show up and work. I know exactly what I want to get done. Yes, sometimes, I want to be lazy. But the fact that I know what exactly needs to be done prevents me from succumbing to my laziness.
The most effective way to practice consistency is by coming up with a system that works for you. And then do it over and over again.
Skill #3: Patience
What usually thwarts your consistency is impatience. You want your business to be successful immediately.
Wanting a successful business is great. In fact, that should be the norm. But craving success within the shortest time without focusing on the things that will get you there is a disaster.
Many people go into content creation because they think they’ll get maximum returns without maximum effort or time. After three months, when they’ve barely earned pennies, they start blaming everyone and say that making money online is a hoax.
No, it’s not a hoax. You’re just impatient. Building a business takes time. Stop thinking short-term and think long-term.
When I was in the process of starting Medium, I set a goal to earn my first $100 in the next five months, and I came up with a detailed strategy to accomplish that goal.
As my writing progressed, and I grew and learned more about what kind of writer I was, I realized that my goal was unrealistic because the time frame was too short.
So I updated it from five months to five years.
It takes a lot of groundwork spanning several years to get your business to the level where it runs on autopilot. In your first year, you see little to no returns. Your little consistencies are piling up and making things better behind the scenes, but you never see the effects until two or three years later.
Unfortunately, many new writers don’t have that kind of patience. So they never get anywhere either.
If you want your business to succeed, you really need the power of patience to keep you grounded. The moment you get too hasty, you lose sight of what’s important. In the worst-case scenario, you cave.
Skill #4: Adaptability
Focus, consistency, and patience make up the foundation on which you build your online writing business. Adaptability is the fuel that keeps your business thriving over a long period.
In this era of rapidly changing technology, the ability to adapt to new things is an invaluable skill. Being able to get on with the times differentiates between businesses that flourish and those that die.
As an entrepreneur, you’re no different. Don’t be foolhardy, sticking to your old ways if it’s not working. Experiment with new things. If they work, fine. If not, discard them and find something else.
You don’t have to keep doing something if it’s no longer serving its purpose. Try new tools and see if they work for you. You may find out that some of them are a perfect fit for you, making you wonder why you never did them in the first place.
Adaptation comes from knowing what works. And knowing what works comes from learning. So, next to writing, your priority is to learn.
In this age of AI content generation, you need to make yourself more valuable than ever. And you do that by upgrading your skills, mastering your craft, and sharpening your voice and style such that no one can replace you.
Without the ability to adapt, your business dies even before it begins. Adaptability is what keeps things fresh so that you don’t get trapped in mediocrity.
Online writing is changing what it means to be a writer. Don’t get left behind.
Adapt or die.
Final thoughts
Building a business is hard. But it shouldn’t be joyless. In fact, the only way to get through the difficulty is if you’re genuinely having fun. You see it as a challenge to overcome rather than an impossible obstacle.
Focus, consistency, patience, and adaptability help you overcome that challenge.
Keep your eyes on the goal and don’t get distracted.
Follow a system and show up every day.
Don’t be hasty because success takes time.
And finally, never stop learning.
Cultivate these four skills and you’re well on your way to becoming a successful online writer.
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