Saturday Morning Coffee ☕ #69

Time for a brew.

➡️ If the thought of promoting your writing gives you the heebie-jeebies, make sure to download my free 3-page guide, Sharing Without The Cringe.

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Hey friend!

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⬇️ In case you missed it:

How to grow your Substack audience on autopilot (and it's not through Notes)

How I grew from 48 to 20,000+ Substack subscribers in 646 days

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👀 Something you might like:

If you’ve been thinking about launching a product but don’t know where to start, this free masterclass is for you.

Derek Hughes shares the exact steps he used to go from stuck in a day job to earning money online with simple products that actually sell. Built from experience—not theory—and designed to get you moving. 👇

Want to work with me to grow your audience and generate more income? Here’s how.

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💡 Your questions, my answers:

I received some questions in this week’s Q&A Chat thread - here’s my stab at answering a few of them:

1. In today’s digital world, what should a writer (with lots of experience in the analog writing world) do to start earning income fast?

If you want to generate income quickly as a writer, I’d suggest offering a done-for-you service.

You could approach businesses and offer to write content for their websites, blogs or social media accounts, or help creators optimise their online profiles. Give hefty discounts to the first businesses who take you up on it in exchange for a review. Start small and build your way up.

I know all that sounds cliched, but since most people are turning jobs like these over to AI right now, you’ll stand out from the crowd more if you can offer a human touch to the whole process. Zero in on the time-consuming, boring jobs most businesses don’t bother with and take them off their plate.

2. What is the best app to find jobs in writing?

I used PeoplePerHour when I was just starting out as a freelance writer. You’ll be able to pick up plenty of smaller jobs there, though they’ll likely be for low pay.

Upwork is good, too. I’ve hired freelancers from there to do simple jobs based purely on their skillset and prior experience.

Fiverr is the platform I’ve used most recently as a hirer. If you want to get some consistent writing work, take the time to set up a really appealing profile and create an offer than solves a problem most businesses will have.

3. How do I keep writing even when no one seems to notice it?

It’s so hard in the beginning. You might feel invisible on a platform and get frustrated. I’ve been there, trust me.

Think of it like this: even if your writing isn’t getting much traction yet, you’re creating a content bank you can draw from later. For instance, I’ve written a ton of content on Medium and Twitter that I still draw from today when I’m repurposing evergreen ideas onto Substack or YouTube. Most of that content got very little traction when I first published it but it saves me a lot of time and effort now.

Keep building that content bank in the early days - you can make infinite withdrawls later.

4. How do I show more of myself while writing a post?

Tell stories. Be vulnerable. Share stuff that makes readers sit up in their chairs and say “Yes! That’s exactly what I’m going through right now!”.

Don’t underestimate the power of showing your face, either. Inserting even one real life image into a post (even if it’s just a grainy snap from your phone) is a massive trust booster.

Any thoughts on these questions/answers? Do you have any of your own?

Drop them in the comments! 👇

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📖 This week’s juicy reading material:

• The true cost of not doing the thing by

  Antonia Taylor

• 10 things I wish every writer knew about marketing by

  Dan Blank

• How To Write Stuff That Actually Changes People (Without Being Annoying About It) by

  Neera Mahajan

• Are You Afraid to Make Money? by

  Jennie Nash

• 5 Rules to win on LinkedIn in 2025 by

  Pierre

• How I Backup My Substack by

  Michael Macfadden

• Why Most Writers Don’t Make Money (How To Escape Your Penniless Misery) by

  Derek Hughes

• The More You Share, The More They Want to Buy by

  Mark Thompson

• How smart creators will make money in 2026 by

  DAN KOE

• You Only Need 100 Subscribers to Hit $10,000/Month by

  Matt Giaro ⚙️

• Why 50 Cold Pitches Still Won’t Land You a Client (Until You Do This) by

  Meena Rohith

• How to Believe in Yourself When You've "Failed" in the Past by

  Sarah Centrella

• 9 Smart Ways to Monetize Your Writing When You Don’t Have Anything to Sell by

  Peter Voica

• It's Time! Build A Soulful Substack Home Base With Justin Welsh | From $0 to $100,000 ARR by

  Kristina God
  and
  Justin Welsh

• 7 Lessons To Grow Your Substack Publication [Ft. David McIlroy] by

  Write • Build • Scale

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📺 Something from YouTube:

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🗒️ Something from Notes:

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☑️ Go deeper:

• How Sinem Günel Became a Full-Time Writer

• How To Fall Back in Love With Your Own Writing

• The Power of Minimalist Books in Today’s Self-Publishing World

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Have a brilliant weekend, gang! ⌛

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🤷‍♂️ What’s next?

I’m ready and waiting to support you in the next stages of your creator journey. Here’s how I can help:

1. Start Your Podcast on Substack: A complete course guiding you from concept to launch, based on everything I’ve learned so far during my own podcasting journey. Learn to plan, brand, record, edit, publish, and promote your podcast while building an audience. Perfect for creators eager to share their voice with the world.

2. Sustainable Scalable Social Strategy: This 6-part, online, self-driven course will guide you through the same process I used to develop a strategy for my social media management. When you finish, you’ll have a sustainable social strategy in place that will help you scale your business properly.

3. One-To-One Coaching: A live coaching session over Zoom plus a full video audit of your Substack publication. Ideal for those who want to grow their online presence, identify their key strengths, and develop a long-term business strategy. Upgrade to VIP Membership for full access.

4. Promote to 20,000+ readers: Get yourself in front of a highly-engaged online audience via email, podcast and social media.

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