5+1 Neat Tricks To Earn More Money Writing (By Promoting Your Stories)
How to get people to read more of your stories
Writers pour endless hours of agonising effort into their stories.
And then feel deflated they get so few reads.
Writers are hopeless at self-promotion. Because they don’t want to come across as a pushy salesperson.
Most writers waste many opportunities to get more views on their stories. Get the readers of your stories to view your older stories. This will earn you more money, gain followers and share your writing with more people.
I want to show you some simple tricks you can use.
But first, you need to overcome your reluctance to promote yourself.
Overcome Your Resistance To Self-Promote
Ever seen someone desperate for attention?
They try really hard to be liked. Maybe they laugh a little too hard at jokes. Or endlessly point to their job title or flashy car.
It’s embarrassing. Everyone is repelled.
Contrast this with someone who overflows with confidence
They attract all the attention. They share who they are. They reveal their passions and stories. You know what they think. They draw you in. But they seem not to need it.
The confident who don’t need your attention — end up with more.
The same paradox works with your writing.
The more desperate you are for people to read your other articles and get followers. The less attractive you are.
Neediness repels but confidence attracts.
This is why we have an instinct not to self-promote.
Develop a confident mindset that what you have to offer is valuable.
Then you’ll be ready to try out these 5 techniques.
5 Tips That Will Get You More Views
All these ideas work.
It is best to use them all. A combination will multiply their power over time.
Let’s dive in.
1. Add a link but say nothing
We start with the most subtle of approaches.
You add a link to the text in your article. But don’t point it out. This has the advantage of not interrupting the flow of your article. This means you can do this several times in every article you write. You need to be careful with other more obvious approaches.
For example you have an older article on how to cope with stress. Whenever you mention stress in future articles you can add a link on the word stress to your older article.
Some will click on it. Most won’t.
But you’ve caused no harm and made a little gain.
Every time you complete an article do a review to see if you can add links on any of the words.
2. Make a passing reference
This is a more deliberate approach.
Give them a little tease to your article. Mention an article and link to it. But don’t ask people to click. Instead, summarise something from it.
It’s surprisingly effective.
For example:
I recently wrote about how stress impacts the body, the main point was…
And add a link to your article on the words ‘how stress impacts the body’
The clever bit here is you are still giving value in this article. You are g explaining the main point. If this proves valuable the reader is likely to click. But it is not salesy because you don’t ask them to click.
Don’t use this tactic in every article. But regularly find a way to make a passing reference.
3. Use as an illustration
Raise awareness of an article by using it as an example.
In this tactic, you don’t discuss the content of the older article. But use it as an illustration. If the topic interests the reader they’ll click.
For example:
If you are writing an article about stress. Talk about the stress you experienced when you were writing the older article.
When I was researching positive mindset I was overwhelmed and stressed by all the research I had to do.
Link to your older article on the words ‘researching positive mindsets’.
You make the reader aware of your older article. And if they are interested in the topic they will click.
4. Point them to a resource
We are now at the most direct tactic.
This should be used sensitively. It has the danger of turning your readers off. But done carefully it can work.
The tactic is to offer another article that can help your reader.
For example:
If you are struggling to find the time to write click here for my 4 best tips.
Only do this if:
- your link is relevant to the current article
- your other article provides loads of obvious value
- it feels like you are trying to help rather than promote yourself
This powerful technique showcases what you offer.
But use it rarely.
5. Call To Action(s)
The end of your story is the acceptable place to promote yourself.
But many writers do this badly.
Here’s what I used to do:
This is truly awful.
Who is going to read an extra 8 lines at the end of an article?
No-one.
In a supermarket sales experiment. They discovered providing more flavours of jam reduced sales. More options can paralyse thinking. Causing people to choose nothing.
You can point a reader in many directions at the end of your article:
- sign up for email notifications
- point to an external newsletter
- subscription referral
- embed article link
- ask for a follow
Which should you choose?
In a sense it doesn’t matter. But choose only one.
Attention span is at its lowest at the end. They are about to leave. Anything that takes energy. Like a complicated sentence or 2/3 choices. Will send them fleeing to the hills.
Pick whichever matters to you most. Then write one sharp sentence with a link and a reason.
Then start conducting experiments.
Use it for a month. And look at your metrics. Try something else for a month. Look at the metrics. Do what works. Stop doing what doesn’t.
Follow the data.
Bonus tip: Pin your best 3 stories on your profile
When people view your profile what do you want them to see?
Your best stories obviously. By pinning them you’ll increase your followers
You can do this by clicking the 3 dots at the top right of the article. This will give you the option to ‘pin this story to your profile’.
As you improve your writing remember to update your pinned stories.
If you use all 5 ideas, I promise your views will increase over time. Without you feeling like a sleazy sales person.
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