If I smashed my online writing setup to smithereens and started again, this is exactly what I’d keep (and what I’d drop)
Featuring shirtless dude wielding a sledgehammer.
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As I eased into 2024, one word was on my mind: simplify.
I wanted this year to be all about simplification. How could I make all my writing and business-related processes more straightforward? Where could I trim the fat? What needed to stay, and what could go?
That invariably got me thinking about the actual writing setup I’ve put in place over the last couple of years.
2024 is to be about simplification largely in response to my focus in 2023 leaning heavily towards experimentation.
Last year, I tried everything (in a business sense - get your mind outta the gutter). I spent a few months playing around with YouTube. I actively worked on growing my presence on LinkedIn, and briefly dabbled with X/Twitter’s Premium tier. I tried TikTok and Pinterest. I dipped my toe in online coaching. I gave affiliate marketing a go. I joined Medium, Vocal, Substack (obvs) and Bluesky. I continued developing my own online community. I brought a couple of fantastic interns into the fold.
2023 was busy. And unfortunately, often fruitless.
But I don’t like writing anything off unless I’ve given it a fair shake myself. So as we eased collectively into the New Year, I was able to say with some confidence what worked for me and what didn’t as a writer and solopreneur.
And to save you some time and bother, my reader friend, I’m going to break down exactly what kind of setup I think everyone who wants to generate income from their writing (because that’s the focus of this publication, after all) needs to succeed going forward.
This is based entirely on my own personal experience and I’m certain many people will disagree, or have other things to add to the mix.
If you do have other suggestions, please share them in the comments below.
Let’s start with the absolute bare-bones basics I believe those who want to write for a living should use as the foundation for their budding writerpreneurial (is that a word?) empire.
1. Long-form content host
Put simply, if you want to generate income by writing online, your work needs somewhere to live. That could be a personal website or blog, or a digital platform specifically designed to host long-form content.
I use Medium and Substack as the hosts for my online writing. I discovered them last summer, and since then have gradually nurtured an audience on each platform. They’re super user-friendly, have fantastic communities (rare for online platforms) and, of course, can act as income streams within themselves.
If you want to either make your writing the product for which your audience pay or use it to sell something else, it needs a stable, easily-accessible place to exist. Make this the core of your writing setup, the place to which all other avenues lead. It’s the star in the centre of your solar system.
Whether you choose to build something within your own domain or go with an already-established network like Medium or Substack, make sure your writing has a secure and reliable home.
2. Email list host
Next, start a mailing list.
You’ll have heard this before but it’s worth saying again: your following on social media is the audience you rent; your email subscribers are the audience you own.
Even the most well-crafted social media post can be breezed past in the blink of an eye, leaving you as nothing more than a fleeting vapour in the fickle mind of the doom-scroller. If you want to create a lasting, meaningful impression, you need to capture attention on a long-term basis, and the best way to do that is by landing like clockwork in someone’s email inbox.
Pick a mailing list provider that fits your needs and budget, create a sign-up page, and just start sending people to it. The sooner you start, the faster you’ll grow your list. And the faster you grow your list, the more you’ll increase your chances of generating income through it.
Substack’s obviously a great option in this regard since it seamlessly blends an email list with what’s essentially a personal blogging site. I do everything through it now because it’s just the easiest approach.
But if you want to split everything into individual boxes, you can use providers like ConvertKit, GetResponse, BeeHiive, Moosend or MailerLite (some affiliate links there) to host your email list and then send subscribers to an entirely separate website or landing page.
Nice little segway into…
3. Landing page
While you can have your own full-blown website (I’ve done this with my non-writing business and definitely enjoy the control it offers), having a simple landing page is often enough.
Try using a service like Carrd to create a basic page with links to your products, services or writing. It costs less than £20 a year and it’s really easy to use. Here’s mine.
A landing page acts as a waymarker to your main thing (or things) and is a great alternative to an expensive website.