3 More Ways To Monetise Your Writing (that Will Also Make You A Better Solopreneur)
"Writing is great, but writing AND making money? That’s the dream."
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If you’re reading this, you’re probably a writer in your bones. You’d write for no money. Eve Arnold says she’d pay to write.
The thing is, if you can’t earn money with your writing, then you have a hobby, not a business.
So, let’s pivot our focus a little from writing to money. In this article, I want to show you:
New ways of monetizing your writing.
Exactly how those monetization methods work.
How to put them into practice (and learn the most valuable skill an online writer needs).
You’re probably already monetizing
If you’re subscribed to this newsletter, monetizing your writing isn’t a new concept. You’ve probably already tried to:
Monetize on platforms — Medium, Substack, X.
Monetize as a freelance writer — get clients on Fiverr, Upwork or LinkedIn.
Create and sell digital products — e-books and courses on Amazon and Gumroad.
This is a great start. Let’s take it a step further. Today, we’ll discuss how you can:
Sell your motivation
Sell your process
Sell your connections
Sell your motivation
I got my life coaching certificate back in 2014. It cost me $3K and hours of studying. A few months into my coaching business, I realized I didn’t need it.
I did learn valuable coaching skills like the concept of active listening, the specifics of the why question, and how to hold the space for someone who’s afraid to go deep and share.
That being said, I think anyone can be a coach with a little self-training as long as they really want to help people.
Plus, because coaching suggests personal attention, you can easily charge $100-$200 per session, even as a beginner, or create set packages (say, a 3-month coaching package).
Maybe you feel like you’re not ready to sell coaching yet? You’re wrong. Wherever you are on your own journey to online success, you can help others.
If you’re a beginner, you can coach people who are thinking about starting but haven’t.
If you have a little experience, you can coach newbies.
If you’re advanced, you can coach beginners who are looking to get to the next level, etc.
It’s also good to find a specific edge for your coaching service, which is probably an edge you’ve used in your writing.
Maybe you’re doing this part-time while also holding down a job. You can coach others on doing the same.
Maybe you’re a badass in time management. You can coach others on that.
Maybe you’ve made enough money to quit your job. You can coach others on that.
If you have no idea how the coaching service works, here are a few things you should know.
Always offer a free 20–30 min session to anyone interested. In it, address the big reason your potential client is interested in coaching and make sure they understand how you can help.
Create a framework for your sessions. Usually, coaches start their sessions by asking what the client wants to achieve in this session; what they want to focus on. Then, they ask as many questions as possible to make the person see the problem from every perspective. Towards the end, you can give advice and help create a step-by-step action plan for your client.
After each session, send a brief e-mail summary that describes what you talked about and what you achieved in the session. If you’ve recorded it, you can also send a recording.
As a coach, you should always talk less than your client.
If you don’t have a website, your sales process can be as simple as telling people to contact you at your e-mail address. However, it would look better if you have an e-mail with your own name (or your brand’s name) as a domain name, so consider getting a domain, if only for that reason.
Sell your process
If you already have some experience as an online writer, you’ve probably established a process for writing faster/better/more.
Maybe you have a way of finding interesting topics & ideas.
Maybe you have a way of doing research.
Maybe you have a way of crafting a headline.
Maybe you have a writing structure you follow.
Maybe you have a writing schedule that works well.
If so, you can put this in a challenge and sell it.
I’ve always loved challenges because the idea behind them is that customers do things. Also, you, the creator of the challenge, don’t really have to do that much. Sure, you have organizational work, and you need to set the tone, but launching a challenge is much easier than launching an online course.
Challenges usually include:
A specific moment when the challenge starts.
A specific deadline.
A specific goal (i.e. write one thread on X every day)
Specific guidelines on the goal (i.e. use this structure for your X thread)
Feedback from you and/or a group of peers.
Evaluating results from the challenge at the end.
Challenges are simple and easy to sell, and people love them.
“It seemed like, overnight, Dickie Bush went from a few hundred followers to a few hundred thousand followers.
Everywhere I looked in my feed, photos of atomic essays. Everyone was jumping into the cohort, and there was this incredible feeling in the zeitgeist of, “Everyone is doing this — maybe I should too.”
Public homework (aka, challenges) is an aspect of a program that encourages (or requires) the user to talk about that program publicly. With Ship30for30, students are encouraged to publish their daily atomic essays on Twitter.
It’s homework — but completed in public.” — Jay Clouse
Sell your connections
says curating communities is now the only way to sell digital products. He’s attached a community to every course he sells.I don't know about it being the “only” way, but I agree it’s a pretty cool concept.
Imagine how you’d feel if solopreneurship looked like this:
You wake up and go to work in an awesome office full of like-minded people. You share stories, results, and even failures, then sit down to work. You have lunch together or go out after work.
When you need someone to help you promote your new article/product, you just mention it in the office and boom, everyone’s audience becomes your audience.
When your story gets 2 views, and you feel like shit, you go to the office kitchen to make coffee and share with a co-worker. They share a similar story and make a joke. Boom, you don’t feel so sad anymore.
It would be pretty cool, right?
Online communities aren’t exactly the same thing, but close enough. Many creators offer access to private communities in their courses, which may look like:
Private FB groups
Private Discord channels
Access to comments and Notes on Substack newsletters
As a part of several such communities, I can confirm they’re almost addictive. An excellent place to ask questions or read through the answers already given; and a great way for the creator of the community to support participants.
Usually, paid communities are a part of a digital product. You don’t have to create a product to build your first community, though! Anyone can create a paid community that’s built around people with similar interests.
How to write so you can sell what you’re selling
Most writers are afraid of selling. That’s why their favourite way to make money is for someone else to do the selling (i.e. platforms).
However, learning how to sell your own creations is an essential part of any business. It’s what will make all the difference for you in the long term, so you might as well start learning now.
Here are a few rules for selling with your writing (without feeling sleazy).
Choose a product or a service that’s a natural extension of your current content. If you’re already writing about your writing process, for example, it would be easy to end your stories with invitations to your challenge. If you’re already writing about motivation, productivity and creativity, it would be easy to mention your coaching service.
In every piece of writing, make sure readers understand why this is important. Why should they be more productive? Why should they be a part of a community? I like to start my stories with bullet points of what readers will achieve if they do something vs the challenges they’ll have to face if they don’t. Many writers assume readers know what’s important to them, but that’s not always the case. When you articulate the importance of your argument, it’s logical to offer a next-step solution.
Make sure you’re not pressured for time (in the beginning). If you’re selling a challenge, your challenge should start at the beginning of every month, every Monday, or every whatever, so you can sell it at any time. In the beginning, when you don’t have experience in online sales, don’t start with complicated, time-restricted launches. Make it easy for your potential clients and for yourself.
Final words
Writing is great, but writing AND making money? That’s the dream.
To achieve it, take a step out of your comfort zone and start selling. It’s not that hard, I promise.
Thanks Maya!
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Your articles are hitting right where I'm at lately. I've been stuck in this idea that I have nothing to sell, but I'm starting to realize that's not true. Thanks for the extra encouragement!
I feel like I read this at the perfect time. I’m thinking of starting a new service. This proved to be a great motivation.