5 Keys to Keeping Your Online Writing Business Simple & Profitable
If you stick with these, you'll never go wrong or go broke...
Everyone wants a simple, profitable writing business.
Bottom line: we want people to pay us for our writing.
We’re writers. We create value and provide insight for our target audience. We start gathering devoted followers and subscribers.
Something goes wrong
Maybe we’re not getting the recognition we think we deserve. Some of our fellow writers —like — only need to put their fingers on their keyboard; magic happens, and money rolls in like ocean waves.
Simple, right?
I’m sure Derek would add his own two cents/pence on that if given the chance.
So, we add shiny baubles (and think maybe that will help?)
We might believe something is missing from our business, Substack, newsletter, etc.
We look for ways to improve and find a shiny technological bauble or gadget to set us apart from the competition. The attention will no doubt flow like a raging river now! Woohoo! 🥳
But nothing changes
Before you know it, our cute little Substack newsletter has been transformed in a Frankenstein’s monster that we barely recognize.
And, now we’re back where we started…frustrated and searching.
WE NEED TO GET BACK TO BASICS
We need to ask ourselves from very basic questions and listen to our heart’s response instead of our brain’s.
What are my actual authority topics (ATs) —those subjects I know frontward and backward from my education, expertise, or training?
What promises am I currently making that aren’t aligned with my ATs?
What promises can I legitimately make and back up with proof and authority?
With the answers to these questions in mind, we can now review the…
5 Keys to Keeping Your Online Writing Business Simple & Profitable
Let’s review them now…
1️⃣ KNOW YOUR AUTHORITY TOPICS & STICK TO THEM
What knowledge do you possess from your life’s journey? From your education, employment expertise, or specialized training? How do they relate to one another? Create one overarching topic and two to three naturally supportive content categories (pillar content). You will write about these and not much else.
2️⃣ TEACH WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW - YOUR ATs
Your ATs are the natural topics to teach and write about in your writing/coaching/content business. They involve the least preparation and the shortest learning curve between knowledge and mastery.
3️⃣ OFFER A DONE-FOR-YOU SERVICE FOR LESS THAN $500
As I’ve written about ad nauseum, a DFY service is the fastest way to generate cash flow in any business. A micro-niched copywriting service is a perfect offer for a simple writing/coaching/content business.
4️⃣ USE SIMPLE MARKETING STRATEGIES TO INCREASE YOUR REACH
Posting to Substack Notes and one other social media site will do. There’s no reason to attempt being everywhere, even with a service like Buffer. Just pick one or two social sites and dominate them with your message. That’s most effective.
5️⃣ USE VIDEO* WHENEVER YOU CAN
Whether you like it or not, we live in the age of video and AI. Get used to it, or get left behind. Substack, YouTube, TikTok (for now?), and Instagram Reels are all possibilities and almost foolproof. I recently started a new YouTube channel, and believe me, I am as uncomfortable as you are. 🙄
But it’s the present and the future, and I don’t want to be left behind.
*One of my favorite methods of using video is kind of a by product of what I already do …and it doesn’t make me as nervous as staring into a camera 🎥😳 - teaching workshops and Q&A sessions.
I run these on Zoom and record them to the cloud, then download them for use in the PAGES TO PROFITS community. Recorded workshops can also be digital products!