From Never Writing An Article To 750k Views, 11.8k Followers, & $40,000+ in 1.5 Years.
After receiving over 150 job rejections, I needed a side hustle. It turned out to be a life changing decision.
A few years ago, I got over 150 job rejections
Not a single interview.
But then I decided to get off my ass and go for a run to clear my mind.
Instead of 3 miles, I ran 5. It felt like I was running from something. Then, it started to make sense. I realized that I was running from my internal fear of failure. I was afraid that Google’s rejection meant that I couldn’t achieve what I wanted in life.
It’s as if an expert looked me in the eyes and told me that I wouldn’t make it.
Then, something else happened that changed the course of my work life – I was tired of running those 5 miles.
→ I decided that my internal compass was flawed.
→ Those companies might be looking for someone else.
→ The world does not revolve around me.
I started writing a blog and spread the word that I’m freelancing again in what I love (business & finance.)
A year later:
$40,000 of earnings from blog writing.
$40,000 of earnings from freelancing.
$5,000 of profit from my investments.
But here’s what is interesting: Before earning $40,000 from blog writing, I had never written a single blog. I was not one of those “naturally talented” writers.
Like you, though, I liked a certain topic. I’m sure you like reading or writing about something. That could be sports or food. In my case, it was entrepreneurship.
I loved entrepreneurship. In fact, let me just tell you a few book titles that I can see on my shelf right now (I won’t stand up, though.)
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight.
The Everything Store by Brad Stone.
Jobs by Walter Isaacson.
Lean Startup by Eric Reyes.
That’s what I read in my spare time. So, it makes sense that I love this topic.
Here’s what I did — I transformed this love into earnings. Although, when I started, I was doing it because I just loved writing about entrepreneurship. It didn’t matter to me that much whether I’ll earn or not.
I started on a platform called Medium. At this moment, here are my stats:
$40k earnings
750k views
11.8k followers
This did not happen overnight. It consisted of three main stages.
Stage 1 — Exploring
I began by looking at every platform that I could monetize from.
There are freelancing ones like Upwork and Fiver.
There are content creation ones like YouTube and X
The latter is more dependent on quantity, which I liked after twelve years of working with clients. Hence, I started exploring all content creation platforms and experimented with the two that I found the most appropriate: YouTube and Medium.
Stage 2 — Testing
I had to focus on being realistic. I was not going to earn $5k per month on Medium instantly. Fast forward a year, and I was already doing that. But the mentality I had when I started had low expectations.
One article after the other led to a successful month and then a successful year. But you know what? I’ve had many failed articles. The only way I could move on is by learning and testing.
Once I’ve developed theories, I go try them out. But the most critical element of online content creation is never to stop.
Stage 3 — Consistency
I would abide by my writing schedule no matter what. This was my only job. If someone would ask me what I do for a living, I would say I consistently write.
Baby steps, and I reached where I am today. You might be in step 0 or in a better place than I am. Regardless, just keep moving forward.
I’m AL, a business consultant in Zurich, Switzerland. I believe in the power of delivering value to you, the reader.