Summary

The author outlines a strategy for increasing online earnings by writing fewer, but more impactful articles, focusing on quality and engagement over quantity.

Abstract

The article "How I Make More By Writing Less" presents a counterintuitive approach to boosting online income through a method the author likens to a "yo-yo diet" of content creation. This strategy involves writing longer, in-depth articles that match search intent and engage readers, thereby increasing revenue from platforms that reward reader engagement. The author emphasizes the importance of identifying and enhancing top-performing articles, monetizing them through affiliate links, and repurposing successful content across different platforms. The approach is grounded in the 80/20 principle, suggesting that a small percentage of content drives the majority of traffic and earnings. By focusing on creating "Skyscraper Articles," applying the "Sneaky Skyscraper" technique, and replicating the success of high-ROI content, the author argues that writers can maximize their income with less output.

Opinions

The author believes in the effectiveness of the 80/20 principle for content creation, where a minority of articles generate the bulk of revenue.
Quality over quantity is key; longer articles that are well-received and highly engaging can lead to higher earnings.
There is value in revisiting and expanding successful articles, a method the author refers to as "The Sneaky Skyscraper."
Monetization should be strategic, focusing on adding affiliate links to articles that already receive significant traffic.
Content that performs well on one platform can be repurposed and monetized on other platforms, potentially doubling earnings from the same piece of content.
The author advocates for analyzing data to identify which articles yield the highest return on investment and using this information to guide future content creation.
The strategy includes a long-term approach of front-loading content to take advantage of seasonal spending trends, particularly the holiday season.

How I Make More By Writing Less

The backward approach to higher online earnings

Most articles on making money by blogging encourage you to write more, not less.

I’ve written several of these articles myself. Increasing production is a tried and true method. However, there is a backward approach to higher online earnings that requires a “yo-yo diet” of content creation.

This article will spell out the complete system I use to make more money from fewer articles.

“The way to create something great is to create something simple.”―Richard Koch

Assumptions and Disclaimer

For this approach to work, I assume that you write on a platform that pays you for reader engagement.

I also assume that this platform provides you with analytics.

If you write on Vocal, Patreon, or Substack, you fit into this assumption. If you run a self-hosted website, the strategy should also work for you.

You earn more with display ads the longer someone engages with your content. Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and your ad network (Ezoic, for example), will provide you with more than enough data.

This method may not work for you otherwise.

How To Make More By Writing Less

I can narrow down my approach into five distinct strategies. I’ll do my best to lay them out here.

You can apply each method individually or in unison.

As you read the strategies, you’ll probably notice a clear tie-in with the 80/20 principle.

Richard Koch, the author of The 80/20 Principle book, sums up the principle nicely by saying: “80% of the results come from 20% of the causes. A few things are important; most are not.”

I couldn’t say it better myself.

You can consider the following five strategies part of your coveted 20%.

1) Skyscraper Articles

If you get paid by how long someone engages with your content (like I do on my portfolio of websites), then the longer the articles you write, the better.

Caveat: As long as the articles match the search intent, don’t include fluff, and stay on topic.

Mindless long articles will get you nowhere.

However, if you write longer articles that people actually read, you can get paid more for writing less. Some of the articles on my newest website get a six-minute reading time.

And I’ll take those numbers any day.

By the way, I borrowed the term “Skyscraper” from Brain Dean, who popularized the term in the blogging or niche website community. I’m using it a bit differently here, but the symbolism remains.

Skyscrapers tower above cities.

Long articles tower above the blogging landscape.

2) The Sneaky Skyscraper

I recently developed a new strategy that I’m excited to continue applying over the next few years.

I call it “The Sneaky Skyscraper.”

Essentially, this is when you identify your best-performing articles (in terms of time on page or revenue) and add more content to them. For example, some of my most lucrative articles make me $100–200 or more per month.

If I go back and add another 300-500 relevant words to those articles, they can make me every more.

The most important word in that last sentence is relevant.

Writing a few hundred words that are very likely to earn me money is better than writing a few thousand untested new words.

3) Monetize Your Winners

While you're identifying and lengthening those money-making articles, you might as well also add some affiliate links to them.

Not every article you write gets a ton of views.

Some of the articles on my websites get thousands of views while others get hundreds of views.

The low-hanging fruit for making more money is to add affiliate links (and other monetization opportunities) to those articles with the highest monthly traffic numbers.

By doing so, you make more money from your existing articles without writing anything new.

This is the perfect application of the 80/20 rule. About 20% of your articles will probably drive 80% of your traffic and revenue on your websites. It makes sense to monetize those articles.

If you do, you’ll probably see an almost instantaneous boost in earnings.

4) Re-Monetize

Then again, you can also re-monetize your best content.

If an article is making money on one platform, you can repost it on another (using canonical links), turn it into a video for YouTube, or compile all of your best articles into an ebook or course.

I do this with some of my most popular articles and YouTube videos.

If an article or video does well, I’ll turn it into content for the other platform. I’ve cross-monetized and cross-promoted a lot of content this way.

This is a way to possibly double your earnings over time with existing content.

“The key is to work out the few things that are really important, and the few methods that will give us what we really want.” — Richard Koch

5) Copy Cat Writing

To make more money by writing fewer articles, you need to know which kind of articles make you the most money. I do this on my websites.

Once I start getting good data on my articles (usually after a few months), I look to see which articles:

Make the most money
Get the highest read time
Pull the most monthly traffic (from organic search)

One interesting lesson I’ve learned is that the article with the most monthly traffic is not always the one that makes me the most money.

Cross-referencing this data, I can riddle out what content gives me the highest ROI (return on investment). The sweet spot I’m looking for are articles with high traffic that also bring in the most money.

If I generate additional content that is similar, then I can make more money by writing fewer articles. You, can, too.

You can also find lucrative opportunities with:

Articles with low traffic but high earnings
Articles with high traffic and low earnings (you can probably monetize them better)

The Takeaways

Here are the main takeaways from this article:

Write longer articles (1,500 words or more)
Go back and add another 100 to 500 relevant words to high performing articles
Add affiliate links to your best performing past articles
Identify your highest-earning articles and only write about topics related to those articles
Upcycle your articles by reposting them on other platforms, turning them into videos or other monetizable content

Final Thoughts

Another method you can use (that I’m also using on my websites) is to front-load a bunch of content. On my two more recently launched websites, I’m publishing 100 quality articles as fast as possible.

My goal is to get 100 quality articles on both sites with at least 8 months for them to “age” before quarter four of next year.

Most websites earn more money during the “holiday season” because advertisers pay more to put ads on their sites and because people, in general, spend more money online.

By next October, I should have four sites with between 100–200 articles. I’m hoping for a very good end of the year.

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