The Exact Content Strategy I’m Using to Make It Back to Earning $1500+ per Month Writing Online

These strategies are proven to produce a steady income and a loyal readership.

It’s rarely a good thing to be surprised when doing your taxes.

So you can imagine my shock when I found out that I could have made an additional $6,000 last year.

What would I have had to do differently to make that extra $6,000? Maintain the momentum of my online content creation career.

Having just left my job in tech, it was time to revisit my past success and develop the strategy that would bring me back to making over $1,500 per month writing online.

Background

Like most people these days, I have a couple of different income streams.

One is my job working part-time/on contract as a project support officer for a tech company. This involves working for a company that sometimes requires a lot of my services and sometimes doesn’t.

The other is writing articles and columns for online publications, covering topics including data science, working in tech, climate change, sustainability, and education.

While most of my reliable income presumably came from my “steady” job, there were times last year when I made extraordinary amounts of money writing online that didn’t remotely touch what I was making from my job.

So when it came time to leave my job in tech, I decided that the only logical thing to do was begin writing online again and work my way back to earning $1,500 per month.

It was surprisingly intimidating coming back to writing after having taken a break from it for a year to pursue my steady income job. It’s tough to get back in the ring when the opponent (ahem, algorithms) seems to keep changing overnight. However, what helped make the plunge was that I had once been successful and knew I could do it again.

All that was required was to begin building a content strategy that I knew would produce results.

The Plan

Like most successful online writers, I knew that I would need to build a content strategy that could withstand algorithm changes, viewership slumps, and writer's block.

This meant building on my past success and producing a multi-pronged plan of attack that would develop and maintain a loyal readership once again.

For some creators, this plan includes producing content for various mediums, including blog posts, newsletters, ebooks, Youtube, LinkedIn, and more. The most successful online writers and content creators produce content for mediums that can easily be monetized, thus creating multiple income streams often from one piece of content that has been repurposed for a different medium.

The trick is to find the right combination of content, delivery method, schedule, and platforms to produce the greatest results.

The content

Content is key when determining how you are going to make money writing online. Many of the top writers who are supporting themselves financially write about topics that draw a lot of interest, such as tech, entrepreneurship, and self-help. These topics generate thousands of dollars because people are always wanting to become smarter, richer, and happier.

This isn’t to say that you can’t make money writing on other topics. However, it may be an uphill battle to establish steady income in trickier-to-convert niches such as poetry or fiction.

Therefore, it could be beneficial to pick one topic that you are knowledgeable about and know will do well with converting views into dollars, and to pick one topic that is your passion. Not only does it allow you to begin making money quickly, but it also allows you to avoid the burnout that can come with writing articles in only one topic area. In short, conversion rates and routine (AKA the ability to avoid writer’s block and publish regularly) will be the keys to ensuring that you begin making a steady income every month from your online writing.

My content strategy

My greatest success in online writing came from teaching others how to become better programmers and data scientists by delving into my own experience of self-learning topics and producing articles that teach others how to do the same.

This “niche” is evergreen, meaning that anything tech-related will never go out of style. This has been demonstrated several times as articles I’ve written in the past regain interest months after their initial publication. Working in tech is one of the sexiest careers out there and everyone wants to know how they can break into the field themselves. By drawing on my education and work experience, I can provide those inside details that help individuals find their success.

Therefore, tech-related topics will be at the top of my list for content development. These articles will be primarily published in existing publications to ensure wider circulation to interested readers.

I don’t believe in being a writer who “niches down”. Luckily, I’ve noticed a desire for content in another area about which I am extremely passionate: the environment, climate change, and sustainable living.

The sustainable living niche is becoming evergreen as more people are becoming interested in learning how to minimize their carbon footprint and live more within the means of this planet. Many are looking for non-judgemental articles providing advice and tips, as well as articles that provide news about the latest developments in the fight against climate change that aren’t overly clairvoyant apocalyptic.

This personal project will involve building a loyal readership from the ground up, including publishing to my own publication, developing a newsletter, and writing an ebook.

The delivery method

After creating a plan for the content you will write, it’s time to determine the delivery method you will use to get your content to your readers.

This could involve any combination of articles, blog posts, social media posts, videos, newsletters, and more. The trick is to find the best delivery method for your content, style, and abilities.

My delivery method strategy

Writing has always been my thing, which means that my delivery method strategy will focus on writing articles, newsletters, and ebooks.

Plain and simple, I am looking to focus on my strengths and reach out to my readers using these three delivery methods that have been proven by top writers over the years to convert views into a significant income every month.

In the past, I was able to rake in over $1,500 per month by only writing articles, so I aim to stabilize that income through the development of two new delivery method streams.

The key to the success of these three delivery methods is to tie them to one another. In other words, the newsletter will be promoted at the bottom of each of my articles, the articles will point to my ebooks, and my ebooks will point back to my weekly newsletter and my larger collection of work in articles. By ensuring a strong conversion rate between delivery methods, the probability of an individual reading my articles, subscribing to my newsletter, and buying my ebook goes up exponentially.

The schedule

Consistency is everything when it comes to developing a steady income through writing online and this involves writing the right amount of content to keep the attention of your faithful readers without burning yourself out prematurely.

Top writers are often split in the battle between quantity and quality. Many believe in publishing content every day, whereas others believe in the importance of only publishing content when you feel like writing.

There are compelling arguments on both sides. For instance, writing frequently can help maintain a steady influx of readers, subscribers, and purchasers by keeping the attention focused on yourself and your content. However, this is only ensured if it is backed up by regularly publishing high-quality content. Alternatively, it can be beneficial to only publish one high-quality article a week because your readers will learn to expect your work on the same day at the same time and can rest assured that the wait is well worth it.

The best strategy for scheduling content revolves around ensuring that each piece of content you produce delivers on its promise. If the title says you will make the reader rich, your content must provide a successful strategy for getting rich. If the title says you will make the reader happier, your content must get the reader to a happier place in their life. You will know that you have reached the right content schedule when your readers come back to you every single time saying how valuable your articles have been.

My schedule strategy

In the past, 10 or so articles per month have been a sustainable practice that has allowed me to produce high-quality content frequently without hitting burnout.

That, coupled with 2–4 newsletters per month, will keep me very busy.

However, the trick is to vary the content to keep burnout from occurring. This means that about half of the articles I write will be in the data science/programming niche and the other half will be for my publication on sustainability, climate change, and the environment. Depending on my inspiration for a given month, that ratio may skew, but having two subject areas of content will ensure that I always have something to write about.

This results in me publishing 1–2 articles on data science/programming per week and 1–2 articles on sustainability and climate change per week. In the past, this has been a lucrative schedule that has ensured that I am catering to both sides of my readership.

The platforms

Every few months I find myself disenchanted with the current platform I am using to publish my content. However, if I have learned anything in my almost two years of writing online, it’s that I have a severe case of “the grass is always greener on the other side” syndrome.

Yes, there may be other platforms out there where people are raking in five figures every month. But how hard did they have to hustle to gain traction there? Do I want to go through all the hard work I have already done but just on another platform?

Every time you begin on a new platform you are starting from scratch (unless you manage to bring your name and readers over from another platform). Therefore, unless something is not working for you, the best way to move forward is to remain on the platform where you currently have traction, a name for yourself, and a loyal readership.

This article can’t begin to discuss the pros and cons of each of the content-creating platforms out there. However, what can be said is that no matter what platform you begin on, it’s imperative that you give it your best effort for 6 months before you decide to try another. Depending on the quality of your work, 6 months is generally the amount of time it will take before you start seeing results one way or another. At that point, you can then decide whether you want to stay or move your work elsewhere.

My platform strategy

My success has already been quantified on Medium with +600k views and several thousands of dollars earned. With a name, traction, relationship with editors, and a readership here, I see no reason to leave.

My strategy will grow to include publishing my newsletters with Substack, a paid newsletter platform that is used by the best online content creators out there. It will also grow to include selling my ebooks on Amazon, a trusted platform that has brought many authors success when publishing their longer work.

In the future, I may see myself building a personal website or blog that will host my content without it being under the ownership of other publications or websites. Many of the top online writers have done so which leads me to believe that it is a safe step forward in ensuring continued ownership rights to my content and the ability to transition my readership to my personal website should any of my current platforms dissolve.

Final thoughts

Every successful content creator online has built a unique recipe for generating a loyal readership and an income of thousands of dollars per month. What works for one may not work for another. However, a few key rules remain constant that will ensure you build a strategy that can bring online content creation success.

Key takeaways

• Conversion rates and the ability to avoid writer’s block and publish regularly will be the keys to ensuring that you begin making a steady income every month from your online writing.
• Find the best delivery method for your content, style, and abilities.
• Each piece of content you produce must deliver on its promise.
• The best platform strategy is to remain on the platform where you currently have traction, a name for yourself, and a loyal readership.