My Writing Has Made Me $38,897.55 This Year — And I'm Not A Writer. Here's How.
The root of making $38,897.55 was a seed planted 8 years prior.
$34,897.55.
It only took one post.
That’s what they want you to believe as they pen those magical headlines persuading you to purchase their programs.
It’s not wrong — It was only one post. It’s just missing 99% of the context.
And no one’s talking about this.
Here’s how I accidentally made $38,897.55 from my writing this year.
On April 27, I published a post on Substack.
It was called “How to Quickly Vet Your Next Agency Or Media Buyer.”
The DM arrived a few days after I shared it on Facebook.
“I just read your posting on vetting an agency and I’m going to send it to one of my clients.”
This post alone…
Directly earned me $34,897.55 in sales.
And indirectly earned me $38,897.55+ in sales.
Probably pissed off a few agencies, too ;-)
It wouldn’t have generated a cent without this…
It started way back in 2017.
Eating high-protein Greek yogurt at a fitness conference in Seattle, WA I met Alex.
This awkward “we’re both standing here eating yogurt so I guess we’ll say hi to each other” encounter turned into one of my closest friends.
What followed:
He spoke in a Mastermind I joined that weekend.
I joined a second mastermind that he was a part of.
We became fast friends based on our love of energy drinks.
Years later, he connected with someone that he was working with.
That someone?
Is the same someone who sent me that DM.
That’s not where the story ends. Some key moments nurtured this relationship before receiving that DM.
We became Facebook friends after connecting through Alex.
My wife hired him for consulting for her business.
The seeds of an actual relationship were planted.
Then…
One day he read a post of mine on his Facebook feed that resonated with a need of one of his clients and the rest is history.
The root of a $34,897.55 post was a seed planted 8 years prior.
If I hadn’t met Alex, I wouldn’t have generated these sales.
If I hadn’t connected with this person, this wouldn’t have happened either.
But just as importantly…
If I hadn’t stayed top of mind — They never would have had the opportunity to see my post.
Luck played a role, 100%.
But I put myself in a position where I could get lucky.
I built relationships.
I created relevant content.
I stayed top of mind for a long time.
It wasn’t just this post, either…
“I think you are doing a good job with your content on Linkedin. It has helped to keep you at the forefront of my mind.”
I received this ^^ while finalizing a project for a new client.
“You’re the ads guy, right?”
A voicenote on Instagram I received from a connection I met back in 2017/2018 in a Mastermind — A conversation that led to doing business together.
This year, I can directly attribute $38,897.55 in sales to content.
Not sales content, CTAs, pitches, DMs, or ads.
Being Top Of Mind.
Start building brand / relational equity today.
Brand equity is built through long-term marketing.
Sales activation capitalizes on the existing brand equity you’ve acquired.
Your long-term marketing efforts are the fuel for your short-term sales campaigns.
The money I generated leveraged equity that was being built starting in 2017. For this same reason, I have been active on Substack for one year and will continue to do so. I understand the power of building brand equity.
If you want to secret sauce? It’s a little anti-climatic…
Start today. Don’t stop.
Most of my business success isn’t sexy. There was no “I started running ads and did a 6-figure launch” moment. Or, joining a mastermind and getting a 2 Comma Club award for hitting 7-figures.
It’s all been rooted in the unsexy shit. Perseverance. Patience. Consistency.
Most of all? Not stopping.
In fancy marketing terms, we can call this “building brand / relational equity” if we want it to sound a little sexier and more appealing.
The first steps to monetization.
Selling products is sexy.
Getting to the point of being able to roll out of bed, send an email, write a post, and watch the Stripe notifications hit your inbox, isn’t sexy.
Monetization generally requires two skill sets:
Audience building.
Client acquisition.
I break these concepts down in FULL in two guides here: Stack Your Skills, Boost Your Income and I walk though all the ways we can do this here: Using The Build, Buy, Borrow Framework To Grow Your Online Business.
We can generally break monetization into two buckets:
Ways that require your time.
Ways that don’t require your time.
Let’s explore this.
Ways that require your time: Active.
These actively require you’re time.
If you’re not at your computer or on the phone? You don’t make money.
This is where 90% of the world’s population lives — In jobs. What most online entrepreneurs are trying to get out of. As we move into entrepreneurship this is where many of us start because ‘Active Income’ is a good place to start.
Service-based work.
Ex: Running ads, ghostwriting, social media management, design, etc.
1-on-1 coaching or consulting.
Ex: Consulting, personal training, mentorship, nutrition coaching, etc.
Full-time jobs/contracts.
For reference,
I work as a marketing strategist and media buyer. I make ‘Active Income’ by running the ads and marketing strategy for online businesses.
Ways that don’t require your time: Passive-ish.
I say ‘Passive-ish’ because they aren’t 100% passive. (Not much is)
I also like the word ‘Leveraged’ because these activities give you leverage. You don’t need to be at your computer or on the phone to make money. They require work to build, and maintain, but the exchange gives you leverage.
This is where most online entrepreneurs aspire to get.
Digital products.
Online courses.
Memberships/Communities.
Ad/Sponsorship.
Brand deals.
Partnerships.
Affiliate marketing.
Paid newsletters.
For reference,
I generate revenue through partnerships and actively build digital products.
I monetized through Service-based work, first.
The income I’ve made from my writing is ‘Active’.
That post resulted in multiple referrals where I provide paid advertising and marketing strategy on monthly retainers.
Leveraged, or ‘Passive-ish’ income generally requires an audience (Someone to sell to).
The ability to send an email, write newsletters, or post on social media and have people purchasing while you sleep? Requires an audience.
To generate dough with affiliate marketing, land brand deals, or sell ad space? Requires an audience.
Contrast that to ‘Active’…
That requires a skill. You can run ads, write copy, coach people, design graphics, edit video, etc. It’s based on the skill or service you provide.
This also neatly falls into: Short term, and long term.
While audience building is long term and a pre-requesite for ‘Passive-ish’ monetization I utilize my ‘Active’ income to help build my 'leveraged’ income.
Here’s the full picture of what I do:
I run ads, consult, and do marketing strategy. (Active)
I post consistently post content. (Audience building).
I build lead magnets and products. (Leveraged).
I actively build my email list. (Audience building).
I invest money from my ‘Active’ to grow my ‘Passive-ish’.
With time,
There is a point of critical mass, where audience and list size begin to generate enough income to offset ‘Active’ income. As that happens, you gain the ability to choose where you invest your time. There’s no right or wrong instead simply what you want to do.
It’s like magic.
A simple plan for getting started.
If you want to monetize from writing?
Or build ‘Passive-ish’ streams on income that don’t directly require your time?
Start writing (or creating content) to build an audience.
As we outlined building an audience is a prerequisite for this. So start today.
You don’t need to know your niche, you don’t need to know what you’re doing to sell, you just need to start. It’s easy to place invisible barriers between you and taking the first step. The biggest piece of wisdom I can instill into you is — Start. And let it unfold.
When I started writing…
I didn’t know what I was going to be writing about.
I knew I wanted to write. I knew I wanted to build an audience. I trusted in the process and knew that as I did it, I would figure it all out.
You gain more clarity through execution, than you do through mentally masturbating.
These things evolve and you’re never ‘fixed’ or ‘stuck’ with a niche, business, or type of work. You can pivot any time — I have changed careers more times than I can count.
Create your Minimal Viable Habits (MVH)
Establish the activities that will move you toward your goals.
For me:
Write daily.
Meditate daily.
Movement daily.
Learn Spanish daily.
The last one is for pleasure, because life should be fun ;-)
The cornerstone is consistency.
My MVHs allow me to tap into audience growth and build realtional equity.
My daily writing habit is the foundation of my Substack growth blueprint.
1x Weekly Newsletter.
1-3x Daily Notes.
Comment daily on Notes/Posts.
Building relationships with people through DMs.
Experimenting with Chat to build deeper connections.
Watching the performance data and iterating.
Continuous experimentation on (and off) Substack.
Note: Those 7 items above aren’t where I started 1 year ago, though. I treat Substack like a game. And have SLOWLY built upon it over time to ensure I can stay consistent.
Key elements to focus on.
If we distill it down into its simplest form…
You can monetize your writing through both Active and Passive-ish. Here’s a few examples:
(Not a writer? You can swap in anything in its place and the same principles apply)
Active:
Copywriting.
Ghost writing.
Content Writing.
Passive-ish:
Digital products.
Online courses.
Memberships/Communities.
Ad/Sponsorship.
Brand deals.
Partnerships.
Affiliate marketing.
Paid newsletters.
If you’re looking to develop Passive-ish, these are the key things to think about.
Think long-term.
Build your audience.
Deplatform + build your list.
Explore ‘Active’ activities to generate income.
Begin building ‘Passive-ish’ income streams along the way.
These are the gateway to ‘Leverage’ and ‘Passive-ish’ income.
Over time begin experimenting with the ‘Passive-ish’ streams on income.
Keep your marketing simple. Don’t overcomplicate it. Keep it fun. Everything works, everything can fail.
And most of all, be patient and consistent.
Looking to dive a little deeper? These might be helpful.
Additional Resources:
5 Ways Digital Writers Are Using Substack To Grow Their Email List & Sell Digital Products
Using The Build, Buy, Borrow Framework To Grow Your Online Business
Hope this helps.
Landon.
PS
If you’re looking to launch your lead magnet without posting content?
I created a Free 5-Day Course that shows you how to build a small Facebook Ad campaign to promote your lead magnet and build your list with ready-to-buy leads.
You can get instant access right here.
I love this Landon! SO true that it's not an over night success but all the time and connections you've put in along the way! Ps. You're inspiring me to start my substack writing soon!
Online business is just planting seeds (writing, networking, etc) and watching them flourish beautifully later. Really great article!