You could make massive money online if you quit this 1 tired excuse

Jul 04, 2023

I have to make a confession here.

First off, I love helping people succeed in their efforts to make money online.

Ten months ago, I was a sad, alcohol-addicted malcontent who was deeply disappointed in himself and saw no way of ever achieving his entrepreneurship goals.

Now, I’ve managed to use creating online to boost my salary by 50% and suddenly make more money than my boss.

So I think I have a lot to offer.

In fact, I have an entire YouTube channel on the subject of online content creation.

Given that channel is yet to be monetized, the awesome community and the constant comments and questions are the only things keeping me going.

While most people who reach out to me for advice there have really positive attitudes and ask really insightful questions, my dark confession is this:

I am so tired of people crying about content platform algorithms.

Almost every day in my feed here and elsewhere, someone is leaning on the algorithm excuse for their lack of success as a writer, video creator, publisher, or whatever.

This attitude, that platforms and people should bend to your whims — rather than the other way around — is holding so many people back from their dreams of making money online and working for themselves.

This attitude is pervasive in our society at large, too: It’s always someone else’s fault.

It’s one you’ll need to shake if you ever hope to produce an uncommon level of success.

A man and a woman working at a laptop trying to make money online. — There’s one excuse holding you back from making money online. (Image licensed by the author under the Unsplash+ License)

Hard truths

Many people show up on this platform and others like YouTube, Newsbreak, Substack, etc., with the attitude that their writing, videos, comics, or whatever they produce are a gift to the world.

Then, if said work falls flat, it’s just that people don’t “get” them or that the platform is “burying” them.

The hard truth is, if you’re a writer (for example), you need to write about things people actually want to read and find the platforms where your audience lives.

I’ve built a reputation now as someone who writes primarily about health topics.

Believe me, when I started writing here, that was not my intent at all.

In fact, my first month on this platform, my topics were all over the place.

Yes, I wrote about health and sobriety, but I also tackled topics as random as ice hockey, the stock market, Brazilian elections, and how I think kiwi is the dumbest fruit known to man.

Random, right?

But I’m also very analytical, and I kept a close watch on what was hitting and what wasn’t.

And what people were indicating to me via their clicks and reads is that they really enjoyed and appreciated my health writing and didn’t super care about my other stuff.

To be honest, I’m not mad about it!

I could have kept on using my finite time to swim against the current and resent my audience for not embracing my thoughts on cryptocurrency investing.

But I chose instead to drastically reduce time spent on what wasn’t working and drastically increase time spent on stuff that was.

At some point, if you want to achieve an uncommon level of success, you need to identify which direction the current is flowing in, and then stop swimming against it.

If you’re not reaching the level of success you’d like, there are three potential reasons for that.

And none of them are “The Algorithm.”

Digital art of a microchip on a blue background, representing online algorithms. — It’s easy to blame “The Algorithm” when things aren’t going right. (Image licensed under the Unsplash+ License)

You’ve chosen the wrong topic

possible that people aren’t reading your work because there’s not much of a market for, say, short-form concept poetry, rather than because some algorithm is screwing you?

That’s not to say you shouldn’t produce any content that doesn’t have a lot of earning power or a wide audience.

If you have a burning passion for short-form concept poetry, you should definitely create it for the sake of creating it.

I honestly believe that creating things you love is one of the most important factors in maintaining your mental health and living a fulfilling life.

Heck, I still write about the stock market all the time even though that work is almost universally ignored.

Just because you love it, doesn’t mean everyone else has to!

You’ve chosen the wrong platform

An important concept to understand when embarking on your online creator journey is that different platforms cater to different audiences.

Let’s look at a key difference between the platform you’re on right now and YouTube, for example.

For the latter, I use an amazing tool called VidIQ (use my affiliate link here if you’re interested in checking it out).

Not only does VidIQ help with general keyword research — allowing you to target content areas that have high search volume and low competition — but it also identifies the top keyword opportunities for your channel in particular.

So here’s where VidIQ believes the greatest opportunities lie for my channel:

Whereas the algorithm on this platform is actually programmed not to distribute content about the platform itself, the YouTube algorithm loves it.

In fact, it suggests that the topic provides the №1 opportunity for my channel to grow.

Here’s another example: you’ll notice a few of the keyword opportunities are in the realm of quitting caffeine.

In fact, my third-most popular video of all time, with close to 6,000 views, touches on that very topic. Here’s the vid if you’re interested:

But any time I publish something about quitting caffeine on Medium?

Crickets.

The point is, don’t keep forcing something that isn’t working and wishing everyone else would change to accommodate you.

Study your platform. Study your work. Adjust accordingly.

Your work isn’t good enough — yet

Most people who embark on a content creation journey quit before they’ve really gotten started.

You know why? Because this is hard!

It’s hard to show up every day, even when you don’t really want to.

It’s hard to stay consistent in a world that is constantly pummeling us with distractions.

It’s hard to stay motivated to create for long periods of time without a big audience.

I have an advantage as a writer. I’ve done it professionally for some 15 years and my work is fairly polished.

Perhaps you’re not there yet, and that’s why your work isn’t capturing as many eyeballs as you’d like.

But this is no reason to quit!

We live in a time in history when there are almost infinite resources and tools to help you improve at almost anything you could imagine.

Ergo, not getting better at something is a choice. If you’re consistent and motivated, you can and will improve.

Keep in mind, too, that every time you attempt to do something, you’ll get a little better at it!

Every failed attempt at something is a building block toward your ultimate goals.

Never quit

But the key here is consistency.

I talk a lot about my favorite self-improvement book, The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, because the main concept contained within is THE most important thing to understand when it comes to achievement.

In that book, the author compares generating success to getting a merry-go-round going.

It’s tough at the start, but once the thing gets spinning, it’s a lot easier to keep up a fast pace.

At the end of the day, it’s not about massive victories.

It’s about stacking tiny wins on top of each other each and every day until they compound into massive victories.

Remember: You can only fail if you quit!

This post is republished from my Medium publication James Julian Writes.

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