How I Made My First $1000 Writing
No theatrics. Just facts.
Hello there,
As promised, I am releasing the first official “Barely Relevant” newsletter for free. Soon, these will become a bi-weekly paid series covering everything you wanted to know about writing and marketing yourself online.
Today, let me start by asking a simple question: Why is writing online so hard?
There are several reasons, but the main one in my opinion is the infoglut thrown in our face. We are dealing with too much information coming from too many places. I want to simplify things by providing an honest reflection of everything that goes into a successful writing career.
This week we’re talking money; specifically, monetizing your writing.
“I'm not a businessman, I'm a business, man”— Jay Z
The biggest lie new writers are told is to write for free in public before getting paid. As if there is a rite of passage you need to cross before paying yourself. I have written one article online for free — my first article. After that, I realized that there are literally dozens of ways to make money that don’t sacrifice your writing style or voice.
While we’re at it, let’s dispel one more myth. So many writers talk down to others who want to make money writing. They say that you will burnout and fail if money is part of your motivation. The funny thing is, they usually are telling you this on a paid platform. I think it’s comical when a Medium writer says “don’t be motivated by money” while putting their article behind Mediums Partner Program. Regardless, if you love writing, why wouldn’t you want to make money doing something you enjoy? And if you’re trying to make money, why not try and make as much as possible? This isn’t greed — it’s being rewarded for high-quality work and countless hours of dedicated practice.
Most people are playing the game wrong.
They either give up too soon and lose faith in their work when they don’t see results, spend crazy amounts of time writing for free as “practice,” or start out by hosting a personal blog on their own website. If you want to make money from your writing, you have to be just as dedicated to the business side of writing as the actual art form. You need to take time to understand platforms and evolve as algorithms update and your audience needs shift.
My first piece of advice is to pick a third-party platform that will bring you exposure and help you get started making money. I recommend using a platform like Medium to host your blog and eventually transition into having a personal website alongside your Medium account.
Here’s a breakdown of my first five months on Medium.
In that span, I wrote 18 articles with one going viral as seen below.
A few key takeaways from this period.
I started writing about anything and everything that popped into my head. Once I figured out what readers were interested in, I began to narrow down my topics. I went from writing about the health benefits of jogging and the history of hydroponic farming to navigating the world as a college graduate and financial advice to increase your earnings.
Second, virality means nothing. People love to dream about a viral story opening up all of these amazing opportunities — reality check, it doesn’t. Honestly, it’s as much luck and timing as it is quality of writing. And it skews your understanding of making money from writing. As you can see above, that single story ballooned my earnings (which is great) but it also clouded my expectations of a realistic growth curve. Once my earnings dipped back down for a few months, I felt like my writing was getting worse, even if I was actually improving.
Around the fifth month of writing, I added Fiverr to my portfolio.
Let me quickly get this out of the way. Fiverr, for me, was a massive waste of time.
Below were my lackluster earnings from dozens of hours of work.
Adding that to my Medium income, we are sitting at month five with $282.51 earned from writing.
Here’s where things started picking up:
The bottom of that list ($74.64) is month six on Medium. I also started freelancing and writing on Ladders around month eight bringing in another $600-$1000 per month.
I included the latter Medium months not to peacock but to show you how random your earnings can be. Two months before making $2,500 on Medium I made $44 dollars. And I remember thinking, “Man, I don’t know if this is going to be worth it.” I even have that written down in my journal.
In all, it took me eight months to make my first $1,000.
For a quick recap:
Don’t be ashamed to want to make money from your writing. You can be paid for a hobby that you enjoy.
Pick a third-party platform like Medium to start. This will help you find an audience and accelerate how much money you make versus starting with a personal blog.
Diversify where your earnings come from after you settle into a writing routine on a single platform. Once my Medium earnings stabilized nearly 8ish months in, I began adding more revenue streams like a paid column.
Stay the course. Side hustle writing fluctuates, so you have to keep the bigger picture in mind.
The LaunchPad 🚀
As they say, your network is your net-worth.
Here it is: In 300 words or less, explain why you write.
It may sound simple at first, but this is the single most important part of your writing journey. I want to know what keeps you going when you’re exhausted at 11 pm trying to finish an article because you have something you can’t not say.
My favorite response will be featured in next month’s newsletter and promoted on social media.
*Please email your answer to JMDePaul95@gmail.com with your Twitter handle.
Money Talks 💸
One specific piece of writing advice you can take to the bank.
Today, I am going to cover a question I see a lot: Should you host a personal blog, write on a platform like Medium, or take a combination approach to make money and grow your audience.
This was slightly covered above, but I think that a combination approach works best.
I usually start by drafting an article on Medium, then distribute my favorite sections and key takeaways across social media. The last step is to add the entire piece to my website. This builds a lot of cross-pollinating links which is great for SEO.
I make more direct money on Medium. However, affiliate and press opportunities come from my personal blog. If I had to choose one, I would say to start on Medium and then expand to a blog when you have time. The one thing Medium lacks is visibility to who is visiting your homepage. This is an important feature that my Squarespace hosted blog offers.
Daily Detox 👊
Health and wellness advice to detox your mind and body:
7 Supplements You Should Take Everyday to Fuel Long-Lasting Health
Dehydrated Ginger
Omega-3
L-Theanine
Green superfood Powder
Caffeine
Creatine
Spirulina
These are just a few of my favorites with the article linked above to show you how to use them. I find that when my body is functioning at a higher level, my mind reciprocates. Just remember, it’s important to use supplements as they are intended: to supplement your diet and a healthy lifestyle. Nothing that comes in a nicely packaged tub can replace whole foods, routine exercise, and adequate recovery. A spoonful of ginger in the morning or a scoop of greens powder at lunch won’t make much of a difference if you’re operating on two hours of sleep and a Big Mac.
Now Brewing ☕
My favorite books, articles, and pieces of media you need to be reading this month:
The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham. If you want to learn about finance and investing, this is the best place to start. Graham breaks down every point in detail with references and will challenge you to rethink popular apps like Robinhood.
The Only 2 Things You Must Get Right for a Great Career by Niklas Goke
It’s the Little Moments That Make the Big Lessons by Ryan Holiday
For everyone working from home:
Wisdom ⚡
One quote to fuel you through the week.
“A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.” — Seneca
Thanks for reading Barely Relevant Issue 01. More to come soon…