3 Things You Need to Make Money with Your Writing
Okay, maybe you’re not exactly broke. But, you aren’t making any money from your writing either.
There are far too many indie writers out there all clamoring to make a buck any way that they can. The competition is fierce.
That’s exactly why you have to fight for what you want every step of the way.
The problem is, I keep seeing the same mistakes over and over again. Many people are too impatient to do what it really takes to create a recurring, lasting income source.
But, you can change that.
Here are the biggest universal things you need to do to be successful at any side hustle — not just your writing!
A Plan
Easily the biggest mistake that I see when people want to make money by writing is their failure to plan. So many people get caught up in the idea that they can just write, join the MPP and make a living. Here’s the thing though — that’s just not realistic.
Of course there are always the .0001% of people that make thousands of dollars a month just on their MPP profits alone. But, for the vast majority of people on Medium, that’s just not happening.
Sure, you can “follow for follow” to get your 100 required followers to join the MPP, and then you can sign up for for the MPP, and then maybe you post every day. But despite your many efforts, in all likelihood, you will be making pocket change at 6 months, even a year later — if anything at all.
It doesn’t have to be that way though. You can change that. All you need to do is make sure to plan.
If you want to make a living, you need to treat your content creation like a business; and there is not a single successful business that didn’t have a business plan at the beginning.
It doesn’t have to be complex. You don’t need any charts. Heck, you don’t even need to write it down, although it may be a really good idea to do just that.
Just make sure to come up with a plan, this is your map to success.
Multiple Income Sources
The second fumble I see often is that people expect to make a living off of a single source of income.
It’s normal to receive a single income source while you’re working a 9 to 5 job. As a society we’ve been conditioned to believe that this is the way it is supposed to be. But when you’re working for yourself, that just isn’t a reality.
To have the best shot at making a living income on your own terms is to have multiple sources of income. As content creators, this translates to multiple creative platforms.
So if you’ve been solely relying on Medium and the MPP, you need to start looking at other content creation platforms too. These include but are not limited to, your own independently hosted blog, YouTube, and print-on-demand self publishing platforms like KDP or Ingramspark. You need to connect them together too. Your readers should be able to find you on multiple platforms via links, videos, etc.
Together with three, four, seven, or more sources of income, you may just be able to earn a living doing what you love.
Consistency
Finally, that one mistake that will almost certainly set you up for failure is lack of consistency.
Consistency will make or break your side hustle.
That’s why you need to make an effort to show up for yourself every day. Write every day. Plan every day. Create every day.
If you are consistently contributing time and effort towards the tasks that have the most money-making potential, then you will build momentum over time, and you will more than likely build a sustainable recurring income.
Oh Hey, It’s Ray is a real estate investor, entrepreneur, and former real estate agent. She lives happily with her husband and two children in the Pacific Northwest. See more from Ray at her YouTube channel and on Ohheyitsray.com