Career-Changing Insights from a Year of Content Creation
In my first year, I made over $10,000. My reflections on the positive actions I took that increased my reach served as the inspiration for this post.
Any cognitively demanding skill requires effort, persistence, and time to master.
When I first started writing, I consumed a lot of content to improve, but the most important virtue of all is consistency.
It has become evident that every successful creator has their communication style, level of clarity, and experience, but the most common trait is consistency (especially when you are not seeing results)
After 30+ articles, 30+ newsletter issues, 15K+tweets, and 1000+ LinkedIn posts in my first year, I made over $10,000.
My reflections on the positive actions I took that increased my reach served as the inspiration for this article.
What fascinates you?
Even if you are well compensated, writing can be a tedious undertaking. As a result, it is good to save yourself some mental stress by locating a niche that you adore.
This does not make everything easy, but it does make the endeavor less of a chore and more fulfilling.
Here is where your ability to say NO comes into play. You may be tempted to write about every latest trend, but being a jack of all trades will get you nowhere.
You will undoubtedly fail if your target audience is the entire 4 billion population with internet access.
It is preferable to target 10,000 interested people and achieve a higher conversion rate than 100,000 uninterested people.
What is your level of familiarity with your reader?
The primary goal of writing is to solve a problem, but the difficult task in the pre-writing stage is determining what problem needs to be solved.
Putting yourself in the reader's shoes is the closest you can get to understand their problem.
This is precisely why it is difficult to solve a problem if you have not experienced it. Every good writer interacts with and comprehends their audience.
It is necessary to drop your ego and gather some feedback in order to improve your next piece.
I use a simple framework before writing any piece of content.
Put one reader in mind and write down answers to these questions
What is the reader's level of experience?
What is the problem, and what can I do about it?
Is it possible for me to provide a solution?
What are the reader's expectations at the end of the piece?
In cases where the answer to the third question is NO, you may need to find another problem within your domain to solve, or better yet, find a solution (since it is now your problem and a great learning opportunity) and return to help your reader.
Be Present
In his book, Stillness is the Key, Ryan Holiday, discusses how being present requires all of us. Thinking about how people will receive our piece while not entirely focused on the task at hand will significantly impact our performance.
It introduces a tainted thought, causing writers to write about what sells rather than what helps. Don't get me wrong: in order to land consistent brand gigs, you must be a good writer who can sell something to the audience.
However, it is always necessary to focus first on the "product" and then on how to distribute it.
We can apply Ryan's ancient strategy to our writing schedules by doing simple things like decluttering our desks, putting all distracting devices away or on Do Not Disturb, and immersing ourselves in the task.
When you want to write pieces that resonate with your audience, a sustained flow state is essential.
Being present allows you to discard your current assumptions and understand your readers' problems and the solutions they require. Be present and open to deep work.
What is the curse of knowledge?
There are numerous cognitive biases that affect our efficiency as creators, but the curse of knowledge is a significant one that can make or break how well our works are received.
This is a cognitive bias that occurs when a person communicating with others assumes that the receivers have the necessary background knowledge to understand.
This happens because having too much experience blinds a writer's skill to going basic.
As a technical writer, I write about technical concepts with their inherent jargon, but one correction that has allowed me to grow tremendously is to limit niched jargon
Understanding your target audience is the first step in breaking the curse of knowledge.
It is inadvisable to explain concepts to an expert in the same way that you would to a beginner. However, it is preferable to bombard an expert with simple terms rather than a novice with complex jargon.
Always consider whether a sentence makes sense to an imaginary reader and apply it accordingly. You'll enjoy it, your clients will enjoy it, and your readers will enjoy it.
Simplicity is beautiful.
Put your work out there
I don't agree with the negative perception of self-promotion (of your work), because it's all you have when you're starting out.
When you're averaging a few hundred views per post (organically), it's up to you to go the extra mile in getting your work out there.
With social media, this is attainable. You can begin by sharing your work with your friends and family, who are likely to appreciate it.
You can also encourage them to share with their circle. If this is done correctly, you can expect at least another 100 views.
When it comes to broadening the scope, it is best to find and join online communities of your niche on channels (such as Twitter, Reddit, Quora, and Discord) and share your platform's links.
Introduce referral programs with incentives if you have a newsletter and can afford it.
Diversify your content
The famous saying "don't put all your eggs in one basket" applies to content creation. The good news is that you don't have to create new content for each platform you use.
Diversification of the same content to suit each platform can be used to save time and increase reach.
For example, if you wrote a thread that received 150k+ impressions on Twitter, go the extra mile and include more words and value in a blog post or newsletter. The same is true for video and audio content.
This diversification increases both your luck surface area and your reach. You have no idea who is watching you or where they are watching you. Do not limit your content. Extend and explore.
SEO Matters
Competition for the top spot exists in any field. The more competitive your story or niche, the more important it is to employ the appropriate set of SEO tactics.
It is vital to prioritize ranking high in search engine results. Internal linking, backlinking, and the use of relevant keywords can all help.
It is worthwhile to invest in learning SEO, just as you would in learning how to create the best type of content.
Conclusion
Any form of content creation takes persistence. It is vital to consistently show up.
Have a flexible content calendar for all of your social media profiles to make consistency easy. Making plans in advance streamlines processes.
Go forth and excel.