How to Write an Online Article that Makes You $101
Steal whatever you need and make more money with your words
Making $101 per article is the holy grail of Internet writing.
Recently, the digital narcissist in me took over my rational mind. Instead of focusing on words, I started thinking about the dollars and cents.
I was itching to find out…
- Which articles of mine crossed the $101 barrier?
- What topics are they?
- Are they similar?
Fortunately, I do have a couple buried among 10s and 100s of $0.02 and $0.03 articles.
These are the 2
I will keep things simple.
See the screenshot below.
These are statistics you might be interested in.
- Why I Play Dumb at Work — 3.3k views, 2.5k reads, 76% read ratio, 912 claps, 21 comments, not boosted.
- Jeremey, Age 48, Earns $13,000 a Month and Has Given Up on Retirement. Here’s Why — 6.3k views, 4.6k reads, 74% read ratio, 1k claps, 28 comments, not boosted.
Take time to analyze how the numbers stack up against yours.
I will proceed to explain why [I think] these 2 articles cross the $101 Holy Grail benchmark.
1* Controversy is spicy
Controversial headlines deliver.
You don’t have to incite fear or inspire doom or gloom in the headlines. Instead, aim for the counterfactual.
- He was a high-income earner yesterday. Today, the same guy become bankrupt.
- How the smartest people in the room display above human intelligence by saying nothing.
Yes, deliver the question mark.
But don’t just do that.
Add an exclamation.
? + ! = ?!
That is a killer combination.
2* Add a storyline. Here’s the right way to do it.
The pal on the left tells you,
- Write stories,
- Write more stories,
- Write better stories!
The gal on your right screams,
- Write stories,
- Write more stories,
- Write better stories!
Have you ever wondered what [the F] that means? Be honest.
Okay, I will go first. I don’t. Like… why are you telling me something I already know?
1,300 articles later, I realized one thing. I don’t. Likely, you don’t, either.
Let me explain.
Writing stories does not mean writing fiction, per se.
It means bringing life to your words by adding characters to your article, as if they are living in your world, going through what you have summarized for the reader, and feeling your pain, sorrow, embarrassment, and joy.
That is it.
And this is my recommendation.
When you are writing your article this coming weekend,
- Pen down your headlines,
- Be clear on your takeaways,
- Insert real characters or invent fake ones who [in the article] will tell the story on your behalf.
This is what top writers are trying to tell you.
Yes, you must be a storyteller.
Yes, you must be able to tell your [own] story with characters living your life.
Chew on it.
3* Use short(er) sentences
I am a fan of short sentences.
Denis Gorbunov and Matt | Financial Imagineer asked me why I write the way I do. And I am going to tell ya. Heh heh.
I think of reading like breathing.
In breathing, we have,
- Short breaths,
- Deep breaths,
- Pauses.
Reading is about breathing. Really.
Think about your reading. You pause even when you are reading in your head, don’t you?
Longer sentences invite breathlessness. It is like Oh~ My~ Good~ Ness~.
Short sentences are punchy. You don’t stretch your breath. It is like sprinting. Right? Right.
What about super short sentences?
They are like high-impact punches. Or kicks.
Add them after a long sentence to create an impact. Do you agree? Why not? Sure.
The block of words you [just] read has,
- 10 words in the first sentence,
- Followed by 3 in the next,
- Then 2 words,
- Then 1.
Long. Short. Shorter. Shortest.
Jab. Punch. Hook. Uppercut. Finish.
4* Captivating details come from human interaction
It’s hard to be interesting when we are talking to ourselves. Or recounting facts.
We aren’t Robert Downey Junior in Marvel’s Ironman, you know.
He can talk to the camera, pretending to engage with J.A.R.V.I.S and [still] be interesting. Me? Mum thinks I need a shrink if she spots me laughing at my bowl of soup.
So. How can we be [more] interesting with our words?
Use conversations.
Conversation is a good hook. It binds 2 people into 1 topic in that conversation. And it bonds the reader to your words.
How does it feel when someone 10 years older speaks to you about earning 5 digits and being broke? Does it shatter your worldview?
Here, I offer 2 areas of focus you can work on to breathe life into your work.
Try reading the minds of others — No one knows what that pal or gal is thinking. Try decoding it. Type it out. Then, measure it against what that person says 5 minutes later. Are you on point? Are you off? If so, does it trigger a sense of forehead-slapping enlightenment?
Try deciphering body language — This is another mysterious one. Dennis is quiet. So quiet. Why? We start hunting for clues. His hands are crossed. Is he seeking comfort? Is he vexed? She is looking away. Is she thinking? Annoyed? Maybe speechless?
It adds depth to our writing when we try to decode a silent being. Know why?
Because we cannot deal with 0 decibels. Hence, we make guesses.
5* Doing what we hate
You hate office politics. So do I.
If that is so, why do I [still] engage in it?
Why do I play dumb in the workplace? There must be reasons. Compelling ones. Desperate ones. Shrewd ones.
Explain it. Elaborate your desperation. Detail what years of experience in the workplace taught you.
Your readers will loathe you at the start, empathize in the middle, and resonate at the end.
The close
Did you pay attention to my headlines?
It says How to Write an Online Article that Makes $101.
It is not How to Write an Online Article that makes $101 on Day 1.
Big difference. And an important one.
It tells us about the nature of Internet writing.
Why am I saying this?
Because these winning articles did not win at the start line. They faltered on Day 1. Sputtered on Day 5. Then, they gained steam on Day 35. Momentum starts building on Day 67.
At this point, you [probably] gave up checking your article statistics.
Your article? Nope. It did not give up on itself. It is grinding on your behalf.
And the next time you check the stats?
The article has done you proud.
So, pals and gals, do one thing.
Write your best writing.
Forget about it.
It will deliver.
Your next $101 online article will appear on your stats page… on Day 67. Maybe, Day 69. Or 78. You never know. Have faith. Push on.
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Oh, oh, you can buy me a cup of black too! Thank you!
