Write For Money

I Kept Taking the Wrong Road Before

Rented land…


In terms of life, I’m good. In terms of my work — side hustle or otherwise — I’ve taken many wrong roads.

Let me explain!


Backstory

Almost 15 years ago, I started working on the internet. I wrote my first blog posts (in German), I began learning web design, and I started using social media professionally.

Here’s where I kept going wrong.


Medium vs. WordPress

Like many people a decade ago, I used WordPress as my blogging platform of choice. I set up my domain, picked a theme, and published posts.

No views.

I should have stopped right there and then and reflect why that was? But I didn’t.

Instead, I started another WordPress blog, this time developing the theme myself, learning PHP, and getting the hang of web development for WordPress. A valuable experience. It didn’t lead to money or work, though.

I kept doing this for years. Until 2020.

Still, virtually no views. No money. No audience.

Then, I joined Medium. Immediately, I gained views, followers, traction. An audience.

What’s the point?

I kept trying to build everything myself, instead of taking advantage of existing platforms.

For beginners, take the free route first. Use

Key takeaway: I should have made my life easier by choosing the platform with a built-in audience.

Another example.


Gumroad vs. your own shop

I started designing products a few years ago. Back then, I was seriously trying to develop my own shopping system on my own domain.

I tried. I failed.

What should I have done instead?

Use existing platforms with a built-in audience.

I started using Gumroad. It took minutes to get my shop up and running. And it didn’t take much longer to get the first downloads.

Key takeaway: I should have made my life easier by selecting the platform with a built-in audience.

Notice a pattern here?


Free vs. Paid

I don’t know what it is, but I always felt like paid platforms were better. Paying for my own domain and web hosting service and using WordPress, instead of going the free route via a WordPress subdomain or a blogging service like Medium, for example.

Buying a shopping system package from Shopify or WooCommerce instead of hunting for and going with free alternatives like Gumroad.

Paid systems have their value, no doubt. For beginners, however, a solid free service that offers the right amount of features and functionality is not a bad thing.

Yet, I usually used paid services in the past.


Community vs. solitude

I’m an introvert at times. I also take pride in building things myself. Designing websites instead of using existing designs, developing WordPress themes instead of installing ready-to-use templates, setting up a shop system instead of using an existing shop platform.

I do value the skills I learned through these processes. But I’ve been missing out on the most important aspect of a content creator: an audience.

And on one other major thing: time.

See, the more time I spent building things, the less time remained to actually do the work I wanted to do. Creating content.

Again, I learned a lot of valuable skills along the way, but I neglected what I really wanted: Earning money as a content creator.


The bottom line

If you’re chasing perfection, you may never start doing something.

I kept taking the wrong road. Now, I’m on the right path. Creating content that I want to create in the little time I have during the day.

I leave the technical stuff and skills to the pros that do them better.

Recent Posts

Learn How to Write For Money

From someone who makes money writing ↓

Dive into the life of a full-time content creator with me. And get great discounts on my digital products. Just sign up 👌

From my store

I create Notion templates for writers, creatives, and just for fun. 
You can find all of them on Gumroad.

If you sign up here, you’ll get EVERYTHING in my Gumroad store 25% OFF!

Creators’ Toolbox
Superwriter
Moviebuff