Summary

The author emphasizes the importance of focusing on the value and impact of one's writing rather than solely on monetary gain, suggesting that a strong reputation and reader engagement will naturally lead to financial success.

Abstract

The article recounts the author's experience with a successful businessman who advised focusing on reputation and the quality of work rather than chasing money directly. Drawing from personal anecdotes and earnings from writing on Medium, the author illustrates how prioritizing the impact and value of their writing led to increased income as a byproduct of engaging and helping readers. The piece encourages writers to build a positive reputation by producing meaningful content that resonates with their audience, arguing that financial rewards will follow as a natural consequence of this approach.

Opinions

The author believes that a good reputation and excellence in one's craft are the foundations for financial success.
Stressing about making money can detract from the focus on producing high-quality work.
The author's best months in terms of earnings on Medium coincided with periods when the focus was on writing quality content rather than on financial outcomes.
Readers' time spent and the impact of the stories are direct factors in the author's earnings, highlighting the importance of writing that resonates with the audience.
The author suggests that writers should concentrate on their identity and the value they bring to readers, which will, in turn, attract more followers and increase earnings.
The article posits that money should be a secondary focus to the primary goal of creating valuable content, as financial success will naturally follow from excellence in writing.

WRITING

Focus On The Impact Your Stories Give To Your Readers

And the money will come in naturally

When I first started out as a junior graphic designer right after I graduated from college, I met an old man who commissioned me to do a logo design for one of his former school’s ex-students’ club. This man was probably in his mid to late 50s at that time and a successful businessman.

I was but a fresh-faced 20 something year old who was just stepping into the working world and knew very little about how to go about it.

But this man was nice and after we discussed about what he wanted for the logo, he offered to buy me lunch and we got to talking. He shared his experiences as a young guy working his way up to in the corporate world, climbing the corporate ladder as high as he could, working for numerous companies to eventually starting his own business and being his own boss.

Knowing what it was like to be young, naive, and inexperienced, he told me that while it is good to focus on making money, he said to never chase it.

Instead, he advised me to focus on building a good reputation in whatever it is that I do, make sure people know that I’m good at what I do, and once that happens, then he said I will be able to make as much money as I want.

The key was to focus on the value and impact that I can bring for others in the things that I do.

While my side business of being a graphic designer back then never really took off, his advise has stuck to me ever since. And since then, I’ve tried to incorporate that into the things that I do and one of that is when I’m writing.

And honestly, it’s advise that you should consider for your writing as well if you’re serious about making money from it.

I think many of you know very well that I would love to eventually reach a stage in my life where I’m able to make a full-time income from my writing and other side projects that I’m doing at the moment. Mainly because all of these are things that I love and enjoy doing.

To be able to make a living from doing things that I love and enjoy, I really can’t think of anything better than that.

But because of this goal of mine, I’ve stressed out about the money making side of it:

How much will I make this month?
Will it be enough to cover some of my expenses?
Will it be as much as last month?

All these questions are honestly valid but because the stress is on the money making part, so is the attention and focus. Everything is about making money and while it’s good to have that end goal at the back of your head, it shouldn’t be the focal point of what we do.

This is where the advise of that old man comes in — to instead focus on the value and impact of what we do instead.

I’ll give you an example.

In January 2020, I made $549.25 on Medium — my best month on Medium at that time in terms of money. Then in March of this year, I made $991.64 (my best performing month on Medium so far), which was followed by $836.57 in April, $651.52 in June, and $882.64 in July.

I didn’t really think about it then but all the months that I mentioned above, I did so without stressing so much on the money-making side of things.

I just wrote and tried my best to focus on the quality and impact of my writing.

Not to say that I didn’t focus on my writing during the other months because I did too but I can easily say that during the other months, the stress and focus that I put on making money were bigger.

Although I still made decent amount (all between $200 to $500) during the other months, I was distracted from it and wasn’t paying as much focus and attention to what really matters, what is the main thing that will make me money — my writing.

At the end of the day, my writing is what attracts readers to read and the more readers I can captivate, the more readers I can leave a meaningful impact on, the more readers I can help from them reading my stories, automatically, the more money I’ll make.

The amount of time readers spend reading my stories determines the amount of money I make. But the quality and impact of my stories on the readers determines whether they like it or not, on whether they will spend their precious time reading or not.

It’s what the businessman said, to focus on value and impact of what I’m doing. To focus on building up my reputation.

And that’s what we, as writers, need to focus on — ourselves as writers, and our writing.

What is your reputation as a writer? I know some writers on this platform that have been branded as arrogant, rude, repulsive, etc. because of how they write their stories, the words that they use, and the things they write about.

At the same time, I also know many writers on this platform that are known for being brave, intelligent, helpful, caring, etc. because they write stories that speak the truth, that helps others, that lifts others up.

What kind of writer do you want to be known for? A writer that lifts and helps others with your words or one that no one will like?

Will your stories bring and add value to your readers? Will it leave a good everlasting impact on them?

Because if it does, you can be sure that your brand as a writer will get better and bigger as you continue to write and improve, and when that happens, automatically more and more readers will follow you and your writing.

When that happens, the money will naturally come as well.

From my own personal experience, money comes in when I stop focusing on it. Instead, I should focus on the actions that I need to take which will in turn, affect the money-making side of things. With writing, that will be the value and impact on my readers.

And perhaps, rather than being so focused on making money from my writing, the main focus should be on the writing, with making money from it being secondary.

Because I know that as I get better in my writing, the money will naturally follow after.

So, that’s what I want to ensure I focus more on — the value that my readers get from reading my stories. The more value I can give to them, the better. The more value my readers get from my stories, the more money I’ll eventually make.

I just need to start focusing on the right things more. I think we all do.