How My Full-Time Adventure Gave Me 1,500 Followers, 250 Articles, and $7,084.83 in 8 Intensive Months
It’s not enough, but when you have your website and the first ebook almost finished, numbers talk for themselves.
Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but unfortunately, you cannot get more time. — Jim Rohn
Time seems to be the major topic in my life. I always have to manage my time to do all the things I want to do.
But deciding I want to be a full-time writer in December 2020 was the best ‘timing’ possible. Yes, you heard me. Digital is booming, and being a content writer nowadays, it’s to embrace multiple opportunities to structure a career full of beautiful challenges.
Medium is changing and supporting indie writers like never before. Quora just launch a partner’s program. The decentralized Bitclout is paying for content, and Facebook is experimenting with its content creation Bulletin.
I must be honest with you; I never thought that the digital disruption could change so much in such a short period.
Brand journalism is another huge opportunity. You can get clients paying you from $500 to $5,000 per article. You don’t believe me? Ask [arlie] PEYTON, or Zulie Rane.
My personal goal is to get to the end of the year and earn enough money to support my monthly expenses. To get there, I have to reach $1,500 per month on Medium.
How about I share with you how I got here?
Save money, and money will save you.
For the last 10 years, I was a real estate agent. I was invited to work with two friends who opened a real estate agency in my hometown.
Fortunately, after 2013, foreign investors invaded Portugal with fresh money, and the business boomed. So naturally, I had to get the opportunity to do some business, so I started to invest in real estate.
Seven years of investing took me to a comfortable place, financially speaking.
But one of my bosses (friend) began to turn into an authoritarian person, to the point where the other partner sold his share, and I was left alone with the boss’ lousy temper.
In December of last year, my patience reached its limit. At that time, I had already started writing some things on Medium, but still in a relaxed way.
However, when I start reading writers like Nicolas Cole, Tim Denning, Jennifer Lynn, or Sinem Gunel, the idea of writing full-time convinced me to quit my job and embrace 100% writing.
Obviously, this decision could only be taken if I had the financial conditions to do so. Fortunately, my savings gave me two years of peace of mind to set up my business online.
If you have no savings, don’t expect to start earning thousands of dollars in the first six months, my friend.
This was my painful beginning. Do you want to share yours?
Your life only gets better when you do work on yourself.
If I didn’t invest in myself in these first eight months, I would still be struggling.
In the month before I decided to be a full-time writer, I bought my first online course. By luck, I saw an interview with Zulie Rane and [arlie] PEYTON. It gets my attention because Peyton had a completely different approach to writing than the ordinary writers.
Peyton occasionally writes on Medium, but it’s with clients where he earns more money. He charges a minimum of $500 per article but ensures that it places specific keywords ranked number one on google. This makes the bonuses he determines in his contracts earn him an average of $3,000 per article.
Peyton has a proven teaching method over his years of experience in brand journalism. His online course taught me not only about writing but especially about the writing business and how you can build a 6-figure income if you believe in your capabilities.
Brand journalism involves telling journalism-style stories about a company that makes readers want to know more, stories that don’t read like marketing or advertising copy. It means having conversations with your customer — not preaching at them or bombarding them with bullet points but giving them real and interesting stories they can relate to.- brandjournalists.com
Last month I was contacted by a company that wanted my collaboration to write for their website. I had to go back to reviewing some of Peyton’s lessons, and I also made some Zoom calls with him.
Peyton’s help was essential to close my first brand journalism deal, where I’ll earn $766 per month, at least for the first three months.
We are what we repeatedly do.
If you want to learn more about self-improvement, you have to read Sinem Günel’s articles. She is a powerful and inspirational writer.
After my brand journalism online course, I needed to dive deep into Medium’s structure.
Sinem Günel was the first writer that alerted me to the importance of writing according to Medium principles. But, unfortunately, my articles were having difficulty gaining traction and were hardly curated.
I was writing as I run on the mountain — free and carefree.
But the reality is that there are rules. And the course I took with Sinem opened my eyes to all the details and better ways to maximize the platform.
The result was almost immediate, and the investment had a fantastic return.
Since then, I was starting other projects, and my earnings have increased since then.
Expect the best, plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised.
Building a website on my own has been a tremendous challenge. I’m not a developer, neither a tech guy.
Although I love to read and write about technology, building a WordPress website is like entering into a Jumanji’s avatar.
However, my stubbornness has meant that my website is almost ready, and for someone who wants to have a digital storefront, there is nothing better than building a website at no cost.
Meanwhile, I’ve been sharing some ideas with Tim Denning by email as we’re both exploring the blockchain technology. And the opportunity came up to take the online course Tim recently launched with Todd Brison on building an ebook and publishing it on Amazon.
Since I already have a reputable portfolio of articles on macroeconomics, blockchain, and cryptocurrencies, I decided to move on to the course.
It was the best decision I’ve made recently. The course is beautifully structured. I already have 21 articles selected and edited, and I’m going to publish my first ebook on Amazon next week.
I obviously hope to make money from it.
But the conclusion I came to after listening to all the online lessons very carefully is that I can write several packs of articles previously thinking about the following ebook.
And even if this first ebook isn’t successful in sales, the process of writing, preparing, and publishing the following ebooks will surely be better.
In fact, having Tim and Todd always online to help has already been worth it.
In addition to that, the possibility of having a portfolio of ebooks published on Amazon and another excellent source of income in the future makes it very promising.
Going viral isn’t random, magic, or luck. It’s science.
Everyone on Medium has their own theory about virality.
The only thing I know about that subject is that I have to write one article per day. That’s my science.
The best writers say you have one viral article every 200 articles. Personally, this theory worked with me.
My article The Money Reset Has Already Begun: Shocking Details had more than 20,000 views and 7,300 reads. For a non-native adventure writer, it’s not bad.
But the ironic thing about data and stats is that this article was not curated and was not published in a major publication.
The truth is that this article was not even published in a minor publication. Instead, it was published in my publication, The Price of Tomorrow, with less than 500 followers.
Do you know what I think about stats and curation?
I don’t give a sh*t about it. I just want to keep having fun writing every day. I love the challenge of producing content for my readers. But, I also feel a responsibility to don’t let them down.
That’s why I read at least one book per month. That’s why I always do research about what I’m writing about. That’s why I read all my reader’s comments, even those who call me an idiot and incompetent.
I read everything and quickly draw my conclusions. I have fantastic readers who constantly suggest readings, but they also give me different perspectives on specific subjects, making me change my mind.
As a writer who doesn’t like to play god, I have no problem stating that I’ve written debatable and even reactionary articles. But this is the life of a content producer who writes every day. As a result, we are subject to the scrutiny of a group of demanding and attentive readers.
This just gives us indie writers the opportunity to become stronger and more competent over time.
Anyway, my earnings have been encouraging.
I managed to accumulate three bonuses (thank you Medium), but if I take those extra winnings out, the numbers continue to climb calmly until I should reach the end of the year at $1,500, as I had planned.
The average wage in Portugal is $1,500. Of course, as a real estate investor, I earned much more than that. But I recently was on a call with my friend Rocco Pendola, and we talked about potential gains on Medium.
After that conversation, Rocco convinced me that I will soon be on another level, which encouraged me.
Final Thoughts
I hope this article is encouraging for you.
You can believe it’s possible if you’re able to pay the price of writing every day. But, unfortunately, there is no free lunch here.
The decentralized platforms on several blockchains pressure social platforms to share their profits with producers and creators.
The next few years will only give us good news about how we will be paid- so the future looks bright.
Writing every day is not for everyone. Writing twice a week and earning good money on Medium is just for the Michael Thompson’s of this world, and there are not many.
Tim Denning is a killing machine. He writes 10 articles per week, every single week for 365 days. Don’t try to be like him, please.
Be yourself. If you want to have a good side hustle on Medium, just have fun.
If you want to turn pro, let me tell you, it’s a hell of a ride. You’ll have enormous challenges. But writers will help you if you want to be helped. Invest in yourself constantly.
Alone, we’re not able to get there. Get help from those who are here longer than you and know how things work. Don’t be shy.
Your uniqueness is your most valuable asset. Don’t be me. Don’t be Tim, Michael, Zulie, or Sinem.
Show yourself to the world. And in that process, you’ll find yourself again.
You’ll learn more from yourself. You will learn new things about yourself. You will grow, evolve, and strengthen your unique characteristics.
What you have to show to the world is notable because it’s yours, unique, and to date, non-transferable.
Remember that there is not a kindred spirit waiting for your words on the other side of the world. Instead, there may be a thousand kindred spirits who suffer like you, who think like you, who cry like you, who feel like you.
These will be your super fans, who are out there, around the world, but who haven’t found your words yet.
Gain the courage and show who you really are.
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