Do this 1 extra thing or you’ll NEVER get rich writing online
Have you ever heard of a speed limiter?
Some race cars have these devices to ensure they don’t go too fast when it would be dangerous to do so — when driving down pit lane, for example.
So what does this have to do with making big bucks as an online writer?
We all have speed limiters that put a ceiling on how much we can earn as creators.
These come in many forms, and you need to be aware of them (and the ways to get around them) if you have any hope of doing this full-time.
So what are the barriers preventing you and I from achieving our online dreams, and how do I plan to get around them?
Allow me to explain.
The big, bad barrier
Something’s really been gnawing at me lately.
I’ve been finding a lot of success on this platform again since I started my experiment to publish every day on multiple platforms, invest my earnings, and retire from commuter life within a year.
As I wrote here, I managed to 5x my average daily earnings within a month, which is definitely a great start.
But tell me if you can see a problem with the following charts:
Now that I’ve hit something of a plateau, I’m starting to think about speed limiters again.
Every platform has them.
It may be that certain platforms only cater to certain niches. Or they have strict terms of use that limit what you can sell or publish.
One of the built-in ones when it comes to subscription-based platforms like Medium, where I make the bulk of my money, is a limited audience.
Yes, Medium reportedly has 100 million monthly active users, which seems like a lot until you consider that YouTube has 2.7 BILLION.
Also, with some 1.4 million posts being published there daily, it can be easy to get lost in the shuffle.
From what I can gather, many of the top, top writers (myself included for a few months in the spring/summer) earn an average of $2,000-$4,000 per month.
So let’s say that, over the course of a year, a marquee writer here will get about $100 per day.
That’s really decent money — life-changing money, actually — but if I need an average of $250 per day in entrepreneurial income to retire from commuter life as I’ve stated before, you can see I’ll never get there if stand pat.
Which leads me to one of the biggest mistakes that online content entrepreneurs make.
Irons in the fire
That’s not to say this isn’t worthwhile.
Writing here is the foundation of all my online money-making efforts, actually.
But it simply isn’t enough.
That’s why I’ve argued in the past that all online writers should also have a YouTube channel.
Now maybe you could never see yourself having the courage or ability to make videos (though I’d argue you do if you gave yourself a chance).
The larger point here is that, as an online writer, you can’t rely on only one platform.
The good news is there are countless other options for padding out your earnings.
For me at the moment, that’s YouTube.
Although my earnings there remain minuscule, I know that platform has the potential to produce literally millions of dollars in the long run.
For writers like Eve Arnold and Tim Denning, for example, they make their real money selling courses. For Zulie Rane, it’s freelancing.
Maybe you can publish your own books on Kindle Direct Publishing, Or sell graphic design services on Fiverr. Or start developing a Substack email newsletter like me.
Whatever! At the end of the day, you cannot stand pat.
Even before you’re solidly established on one platform, you need to be thinking about what’s next.
What’s your long game?
I messed up
I’m not perfect. I’ve been struggling with my YouTube channel lately.
The biggest problem is that, in the excitement of starting my new writing project, I completely de-prioritized making videos.
Why? Because it’s frickin’ hard! It’s time-consuming!
It takes me about 45 minutes to write a 1,000-word article and I can be pretty sure at this point that I’m going to get a nice payout in return.
A YouTube video takes me at least 3 hours to shoot, edit, keyword research, and post, and it pays a relative pittance!
Worse, I’m trying to branch out into the extremely profitable finance niche, which I’m not known for and thus have a tiny audience in.
After getting a huge boost in motivation after my monetization in late July, I’ve been finding it hard to get myself into the video chair.
This week, I published my first video in over a month.
It should have taken me 3 hours to edit this video.
It took me 3 weeks.
In my first 22 hours (which is when I’m writing this piece), I’ve gotten 41 measly views.
So why even bother?
Because I know writing in one place isn’t enough. I need more irons in the fire if I’m ever to reach my $250 per day goal.
Nice little niches
Here’s another speed limiter.
Once you’ve established yourself in a smaller niche, it can be like a cozy, warm bed on a cold day. Things are comfortable there, things are easy.
But nobody ever got rich being comfortable.
If I hadn’t expanded from my initial tiny health niche into broader health topics, I wouldn’t have started making thousands of dollars a month here.
If I hadn’t expanded from health into making money online, I wouldn’t have a monetized YouTube channel and a growing audience here for that type of thing.
One caveat: There is great danger is being stretched too thin.
That’s why I recommend starting on 2 platforms ONLY.
If you’re trying to do 10 things at once, you’re going to do all of them poorly.
Once you get your feet under you, you can maybe add a third and fourth (this will be Substack/courses/KDP for me), but try to make sure your efforts are synergistic.
My articles here serve as the basis for YouTube scripts, for example.
Maybe you’re happy with just a nice little writing side gig that kicks you a few bucks here and there.
But you will need to get a bit uncomfortable if you really want to do something special.
The higher the bar for entry, the higher the potential earnings.
On that note, I need to get back to work on YouTube.
I need a better workflow plan and I need to make it a real priority.
What do you need to do today to achieve your money goals in the future?
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