Fun is fundamental

How to Get the Most Out of Your Writing Business

Follow Richard Branson’s success formula.

So you love to write, and you have found a perfect scenario where you can do it and make money at the same time. It’s a dream come true. Then things change because you want to make the most out of the opportunity. Suddenly, you’re writing not because you love to write; you’re writing because you want to make the most of the opportunity.

I never went into business to make money, but I have found that if I have fun, the money will come. ~ Richard Branson

You immerse yourself in learning everything you can about how to take advantage of it. You read up on what it takes to be successful by following the advice of the how-to gurus. You learn about what type of writing is the most popular, and you create stories that make you a few pennies.

You’re excited because the system works. All you have to do is keep duplicating your efforts. You can visualize yourself doing this fulltime. Again, it’s a dream come true.

Everything you’ve read says, write more; however, you’re getting burned out already. You don’t want to write this crap. Yes, you love to pen stuff and create stories, but you’re not doing what you genuinely want to do because it doesn’t get the same attention as the stuff that makes money. It is frustrating, and you’re ready to abandon the whole idea. Not so fast, buckaroo!

You can have your cake and eat it too.

Most people are used to the concept of putting in the time and getting paid for it. When you work for someone else, you’re trading time for money. You’re building assets for someone else, and they pay you for doing the hard work while they reap the benefits of long-term growth. In all fairness, they’re also taking all the risks associated with running a business.

My mother always taught me never to look back in regret but to move on to the next thing. The amount of time people waste dwelling on failures rather than putting that energy into another project, always amazes me. I have fun running all the Virgin businesses — so a setback is never a bad experience, just a learning curve.

When you thought about pursuing your love for writing and getting paid for it, you didn’t look at it as a business. You didn’t want to start a business; you wanted to get paid for your writing. There is a big difference between an employee mindset and the way an entrepreneur thinks.

An employee thinks short term; put in the work and get paid. An entrepreneur or a business owner thinks long-term. They put in the work without an immediate payoff and continues to invest in the venture for an extended period until it finally pays off. When it does, it pays off well.

There is a middle road you can take.

Jun Wu had an excellent post a while back, where she talked about striking a balance between creating content that pays now, and the kind of writing you want to do.

Another way to look at this would be to keep your day job while you build your following. Liz Gilbert worked as a bartender while she kept writing every day, year after year, till she became an overnight success that we know.

The internet took down a lot of barriers to entry into the publishing business. Almost anyone can write and publish on demand, but there is no substitute for quality work, or creating an audience. While Medium and a couple of other platforms give you a ready-made audience, it is still up to you to produce work that would attract a readership in sufficient enough numbers to earn a stable income.

Are you willing to put in the time and effort?

It may take a paradigm shift for you to make your dream come true. Yes, it is getting easier for artists to break the barriers and get the exposure needed to earn a living. You can get an entry into a marketplace where it was difficult to do so before, but admission is not a guarantee of success.

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself then Providence moves too.

All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in ones favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance that no man could have dreamed would come his way.

~H Scott Murray

Helen Cassidy Page kept her commitment to publishing a story every day, and when she expected the least, Providence moved; one of her stories took off. Her first viral post had a positive impact on her previous work, as well. All the new readers that she gained started reading her other stories, and every time they did, they saw more of her work, courtesy Medium algorithm, and her business savvy.

Let’s sum it all up

Do you remember why you wanted to get paid for your writing? I bet it was because you thought it would be fun to get paid for doing what you love to do. How cool would that be, you thought.

Most people dabble, not commit. Committed people continuously remind themselves that they are doing it because they want to and because they have fun doing it. Money is the side benefit.

Fun is one of the most important — and underrated — ingredients in any successful venture. If you’re not having fun, then it’s probably time to call it quits and try something else.

Are we having fun yet?

As always, thank you for reading. Here is more fun stuff for your reading pleasure.

I am a self-proclaimed weirdo, Jack of Many Trades and Master of Some. I live the Freedom Lifestyle — life on my terms, and help those who are interested in doing the same. (email me with Freedom Lifestyle in the subject line)

“You can let others tell you what it means to be successful, or you can decide it for yourself.”