Maybe you have hopes and dreams about making a living online. Maybe you’ve envisioned a beautiful future where you work four hours a week, you never trade time for money, you sail through a life of ease because you’ve learned to “work smart” and figured out “one weird trick.” The internet doesn’t care. The internet is not your ATM. And Cell Phone Number List even if it was — you have to put money in the bank before you can take it out of the ATM. There is no great spirit of abundance that wants to make you rich from your online business ideas. There is only your effort, your strategy, and your willingness to serve your audience. If you have a solid business model, an engaged audience, a product or service that they’re willing to pay for, and good marketing skills — and if you stick with business blogging long enough — you’ll be well-positioned to make a healthy income. Sound like you? Are you ready to overcome all of the hype associated with making a living online and get to work? 9 truths about making a living online These nine truths double as online business best practices that all types of successful entrepreneurs value. They’re also especially helpful for anyone learning how to become a freelance writer. 1. Don’t take shortcuts, they take too long Trying to figure out a workaround to doing the work is harder than just doing the damned work. The “gurus” who try to sell you oversimplified tricks and gimmicks about making a living online are negging you. In other words, they’re putting you down so you’ll be too insecure to realize you can do this without them. Figuring out the complicated parts of your business may not always be comfortable, but it’s something you can handle. Getting sucked into cheap shortcuts always slows you down, because they don’t work. Then you just have to go back and do it correctly anyway. 2. Be the right kind of stubborn It’s good to be stubborn about the outcome you want to reach. I’m not quitting before I have a successful business up and running. It’s bad to be stubborn about precisely how you’ll get there. I’m not quitting until my $25,000-a-year premium mastermind for mole rat ranchers has at least 1,000 members. Be careful about becoming fixated on specific product ideas or preconceptions about your market when making a living online. If you work very long and hard and passionately on the wrong thing, you’ll still be wrong.

Whenever I talk about personal writing, and I advise that you should write for a specific group of people to convey your perspective … I get a little nervous. Personal narratives can form Company Email List connections with strangers almost magically, but self-indulgent writing has the opposite effect. It’s boring and a turn-off. The tricky part is that there’s a fine line between “personal” and “self-indulgent.” During my early days of learning how to become a freelance writer, my unbridled enthusiasm for crafting word art met that obstacle. I still meet it today when brainstorming blog post ideas, but I’ve developed skills that swiftly get me back on track when I’ve accidentally veered into self-indulgent territory. If you’re looking to customize your content marketing without distracting your audience, keep reading to discover seven of my favorite tips for personal writing that’s not self-indulgent. 1. Let your audience guide your personal writing Select the marketing stories you tell based on who you want to attract. Your goal is to show the people who you want to be a part of your community that they’re in the right place. Let’s review the definition of “self-indulgence”: “Excessive or unrestrained gratification of one’s own appetites, desires, or whims.” The intersection of your own appetites, desires, or whims and your audience’s appetites, desires, or whims guides you to the “personal” zone. 2. Reveal your journey People love backstories. Think of “before they were famous” television segments or magazine articles about celebrities you like. That idea translates to information content creators can reveal about themselves, with one small addition to stay audience-focused. It’s valuable when you explain how you got to where you are today and your motivations for sharing your knowledge. Why do you want to teach what you’ve learned? In the introduction to this article on personal writing, I mentioned that I’ve cultivated ways to avoid “veering into self-indulgent territory” because it’s a challenge I’ve dealt with as a longtime writer. You’ll also see this in the best book introductions. 3. Have a point As your audience’s mentor, it’s your job to clearly communicate the purpose of your content. Everything you reveal should be tethered to your point. You never leave your audience stranded without a GPS. They should feel secure in your created reality, not lost. These three resources help with that: How to Write Better Content Where to Begin When It’s Time to Edit Your Content Struggling to Finish Your Blog Post? Try This Quick Editing Tip You could also think of your point as the moral of your story. Ultimately, if a story doesn’t serve, it can sound like rambling, a diary entry, or even gossip.