How To Jumpstart Your $2,000-a-Month Online Writing Side Hustle in Under 30 Days
Using a speed-advantage to set up your online writing business
Many aspiring online content writers and bloggers believe that succeeding in this game is all sunshine, rainbows, and frolicking through dandelion sewn fields.
Well, I have news for you…
This pursuit is pretty cutthroat.
Can you write about whatever you want?
Yes.
Will that generally work out for you in building a viable money-making side hustle?
Nah, dude.
Why's that?
You need the right strategy. And not only that, you need a strategy that gets catapults your results. You need the right tools and the right knowhow in order to actually make it.
Hell, this isn't 2008 anymore, ladies and gentlemen. You don't just put up a video or an adjunct piece of content and cross your fingers hoping it goes viral.
- The algorithms are smarter.
- There are more and more people writing content every day.
- There are more bloggers
- There are more content producers
You need an ace-in-the-hole in order to get ahead.
Or — you just need some advice from someone who has been able to cut his way through the noise, clutter and mistakes who's actually done it.
That's what this article is about. This article is your strategy — should you choose to accept it — that will help you streamline and jumpstart your efforts into building a sustainable $2,000 a month side hustle using both content platforms and selling digital products all in 30 days or less.
Let's get into it…
What you need before you get started:
When I was growing up, I was a fan of cowboys and the Matadors of Spain.
My grandparents went on a trip to Spain when I was maybe 6 or 7. They brought back a ceramic replica of a bull with three scimitars thrust into its back.
I had no idea what I was holding but I was awestruck.
These were the days before the traditional Google searches to find answers.
I spent days going to my local library to read about these Matadors (for all the Gen-Z'ers reading this — do a Google search for "library" if you're confused).
I knew then what I wanted to be when I grew up:
A freakin' Matador!
Of course then as I grew older, I realized that wasn't going to happen. My dream of slaying a beast in front of a crowd of thousands dressed in ceremonial garb were slowly slipping from my grasp.
Why do I tell you all of this in an article about side hustles?
Well, because if you want to enter this game you're going to need to adopt the Matador-Mentality, even if you're not going to kill any actual, living bulls.
- You are going to need to slay the content bull, however.
- You're going to need to perform in front of the crowd.
- You're going to need to don the crowd showboating.
- You're going to need to enter the arena where thousands want you to fail.
- You're going to need to show up and conquer death.
Okay, maybe you won't need to conquer death. But you will need to conquer writer's block. Can we meet halfway?
Before you get started, you need to adopt the mindset that there will be many battles.
Some you'll get knocked over.
Some you'll achieve victory.
But know that there's always another fight (article) even if the previous one falls on deaf ears.
Like I stated in the beginning of this article, this isn't 2008 anymore. Content platforms don't care about virality as much as they used to. In fact, YouTube recently changed its monetization policies requiring content producers to have at least 4,000 hours of watch time as well as 1,000 subscribers before being eligible for monetization.
Medium followed in a similar direction in late 2019 when they changed their partner payments to emphasize read time over views.
Why did these platforms make these changes?
Because they want to put up barriers to flash-in-the-pan content producers who aren't committed to making consistent content over the long haul.
This works in your favor, however.
TL;DR — what you need to build your online content writing side hustle within the month is the commitment to show up and produce content, daily.
How to get started with your online writing side hustle:
I read it every day…
"It's too late to get started on Medium! Damn, if I had only known 3 years ago!"
That's a fine mindset to have.
However, it doesn't do you any good to think that way.
Why?
Well, it's a defeatist mentality. I could write a whole treatise of why you shouldn't have that mentality going into the online content writing profession (or any profession for that matter) but we don't have any time to include the disadvantages of adopting such a mindset in this piece.
Like I stated in the previous section, success in this space doesn't depend on becoming the next "breakthrough" content creator. It has to do more with showing up consistently overtime as well as finding your niche.
What is a niche? A niche is,
"a segment of a larger market that can be defined by its own unique needs, preferences, or identity that makes it different from the market at large."
You can't just write about anything.
"Everyone is not your customer."
— Seth Godin
You need to write for specific people looking for specific solutions to their problems regarding to specific topics.
Can you see a trend here?
You have to be specific with your mission. You have to guide your audience.
When you guide your audience, you will develop your 1,000 True Fans.
"Wait Jon — Slow down! What are 1,000 True Fans?!"
I'm glad you asked…
1,000 True Fans — as made famous by Kevin Kelly in his groundbreaking article by the same name notes that in order to have a viable $100,000 business you need 1,000 True Fans to pay you $100 each for your product or service. As Kelly puts it,
"A true fan is defined as a fan that will buy anything you produce. These diehard fans will drive 200 miles to see you sing; they will buy the hardback and paperback and audible versions of your book; they will purchase your next figurine sight unseen; […] If you have roughly a thousand of true fans like this (also known as super fans), you can make a living…"
Now we've outlined what you need to do in order to build your side hustle fast:
- You need to have the Matador-Mentality: you need to be committed to consistently producing content. You need to battle — even if you don't feel like it.
- You need to find your 1,000 True Fans: you need to write for a specific group of people looking to solve specific problems within a specific niche.
But how exactly do you do that?
The next section will uncover just that.
How to build your audience:
In my guides and course — I generally use a specific analogy to illustrate the two ways of generating traffic when creating online written content.
- Writing content on you WordPress site (without redirecting traffic from other platforms first) hoping people will find it is like building a rickety raft and launching out in the North Atlantic Ocean hoping you'll catch some juicy Black Sable Cod with just a hook tied to a piece of fishing line tied to a stick.
- Writing content directed specifically at topics on Quora first is like commandeering the USS Virginia SSN-744 nuclear-powered fast attack submarine and hunting for The Kraken in the high-density fishing zones anywhere in the wild blue oceans.
I don't know about you — but I would take the second option 100 times out of 100.
I get it — there are scores of online Marketing Gurus telling you about the next, best SEO course that will help you cascade to the top SERP-1 results if you take the course. But those courses can be expensive.
- What if you could test your content first with people who are specifically looking for that content?
- What if you could see what formatting, styling or language tone works with that audience?
- What if you could write content that sees upwards of 3.5 million views and redirect that content into traffic for your site?
Well, you can.
And you do that through Quora.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Quora, I'll give you a brief synopsis. Quora is a Question or Answer platform that sees over 300 million unique users every month. You either submit a question on the platform or you answer one.
This is great for content writers because you are able to find topics that align with your niche.
The questions are literally pain points your audience is experiencing.
If you can write actionable, compelling, and conversion-focused content within your niche, you'll generate views (traffic) for those answers (articles). This does a number of things for you:
- It helps you test if your content is being received by an audience or not
- It helps you gain some credibility with your audience
- It helps you build your brand
- It helps you redirect traffic to your site or email landing pages (through link redirects at the end of your posts and with your profile).
One of the most important benefits of Quora lies in that first bullet point:
"It helps you test if your content is being received by an audience or not."
This is important because "successful" content (i.e. content that gets upvotes and views) can act as feedback for you syndicate that content on other platforms (Linkedin, Medium) as well as follow the "cookie crumbs" (follow the theme of that content into further content that will resonate with your audience).
You can find strategized (advantageous to answer) questions by noting the traffic it's already receiving:
- Check the metrics of the question
- If it has +100 answers, +500k views, and +100 followers you should include your own answer
TL;DR — Quora acts as a feedback machine for producing content. You can find content that receives a lot of traffic and include your own spin on answering the question (solving the problem). From there, you can syndicate your content on other platforms that make payouts with a metered paywall.
Bonus: How to accelerate your earnings…
Generating thousands in earnings with metered paywall platforms can be tough.
I know for me, it took a few months of consistent writing (two articles a day, five days a week) to start to see earnings worth smiling about.
A way to accelerate your earnings with this side hustle is through the sale of digital products (like I mentioned in the thesis statement of this article).
When you're generating views on Quora, you should take it one step further to make sure you get the most out of every read.
You do that through including footers and building your email list.
You are a leader — so lead your audience.
You can help provide value to their lives by offering them solutions to their problems. You do this in the footers of your articles. Either by giving away a problem-solving "freebie" or kindly asking the reader to join your newsletter.
From there, you can further send the reader into a funnel by including bigger problem-solving products in an email sequence. You can set up a digital storefront with the WooCommerce WordPress plugin (free) or use Convertkit's new Commerce feature and sell directly through the email service provider.
There are also opportunities to build a paid subscriber list using Substack though I personally don't have experience doing it (on my slate to investigate and test for you, however) but I know hundreds — if not thousands — of online content writers are experiencing über-success with it.
The most important part of the entire equation:
Many of you are going to roll your eyes at me here.
However, I know this to be true from personal experience.
What's the most important part of the equation when it comes to building your $2,000 side hustle in under 30 days?
You need to be committed and you need to show up.
Every.
Damn.
Day.
Plain simple.
This is a game of showing up — not crossing your fingers.
Your first piece of content may not blow up and get 25,000 views.
But that doesn't mean it's bad or poor quality.
It could mean a thousand different things.
Ultimately, however — it doesn't really matter what the reason it.
What matters is you get onto the next article.
And the next article.
And the next article.
Because if you want to "make it" in this game and you want to create something over the long haul.
You have to be the Matador.
- You have to spark excitement in the crowd (find your True Fans).
- You have to wait as the bull is going to enter in the stadium (fight writer's block).
- You have to face your fears of being hurt or ridiculed or criticized (get lackluster traffic and receive negative feedback).
- You have to slay the beast (write and publish your article).
And then you have to get ready for the next bout.
If you're serious about this, then act like it.
What do I mean by this?
Like I said earlier — when I was starting out, I wrote two articles a day five days a week (minimum).
I wanted it bad.
And I have it.
And so can you.
But you won't get it by staying on the sidelines criticizing others for what they have.
You get it by providing value to the world.
When you do that — the Universe opens up in ways you couldn't image.
So get your red cape and get ready for the fight.
Ready to Make More?
If you want to excel and earn more than what you’re currently making by doing what you love, check out my guide.
