The Rest of the Story
By Steve Gillman - October 11, 2014
(Part Two of This
Writer's Roller Coaster Ride)
On March 31, 2011 we bought the closest thing to a new car
we had ever had -- for cash. On April 10, 2011 our six-figure
income dropped in half overnight. A simple change in the Google
search engine algorithm meant half as many people found our websites.
Nothing we did stopped the steady decline that followed. A year
later, on April 24, 2012 we had an overnight drop of another
40%.
The decline continues, and today the income from our websites
is 10% of what it used to be. Fortunately while times were good
we paid off all debts and saved a good chunk of what we took
in.
Lesson: Life is full of surprises,
so be prepared.
During all of this we moved to Florida and bought a condo.
I got a job for the first time in almost ten years, standing
on the side of the road holding up a sign for minimum wage (really).
I did construction work, drove an electric tram, and made $11
per hour as a security guard. I don't actually like jobs (some
are okay for a few weeks), so I kept quitting. I like sitting
in my underwear working from home, like I'm doing
right now.
The problem is, I have no idea how to make a website work
now, and the odds of getting lucky with another book are slim,
given my reluctance to being a marketer. Bestselling author Tom
Corson-Knowles has the following suggestions
for making a living as an author:
- Create a paid digital product (like a video course, webinar
series, or group coaching program)
- Create a free digital product (a free video course, podcast
show or free report)
- Create a 1-1 coaching program
- Create a consulting practice
- Create seminars or workshops
When would I have time to write? And I'm not sure if there
are worse ways to make a living than coaching people and doing
seminars (yes, I know some people love doing those things). I
suppose if you want to succeed with books, you should probably
do all the things I refuse to do.
Lesson: Success as a writer of
books is a lot of work.
The Rest of the Story -- Part Two
Instead, I decided to be a freelance writer. I set up my writing services website
(yes, that links to it), and announced my decision in my newsletters.
One of my best clients was a subscriber who contacted me immediately.
Lesson: Use everything you have
to promote yourself (except doing seminars and speeches if you
really hate those activities).
I have since written posts for several blogs, sold a couple
articles to a paper newsletter, and helped write a speech. I'm
up to about $1,000 monthly from freelancing, working about 15
to 20 hours weekly at it. It's a nice addition to the other sources
of income my wife and I have developed in the last couple years.
Lesson: Plan to have other income
sources in addition to your writing.
But what if you want to make a living from your writing? Well,
I want to make a living, but I don't care much whether it all
comes from writing. In fact, after watching our primary business
profits drop 90% I kind of like having multiple sources of income.
I may even try my hand at buying and selling used appliances
(so I can add that to the list of 100 ways I've made money in
my life).
If I did want to make a living from writing I would probably
stop putting up pages like this and let my websites die their
natural deaths. I would devote more time to finding new clients,
and aim for higher-paying gigs writing for magazines. The blogs
I write for pay between $65 and $100 per article/post for well-researched
pieces that run 700 to 1,200 words. Some paper magazines still
pay $1 per word. I did 17 articles last month (in addition
to my own website pages). It would be nice if a few of those
paid even 50 cents per word.
Lesson: To make more money from
your writing look for clients who pay more.
There are some problems with aiming for the higher-pay assignments.
First, I got spoiled with our websites. I wrote about anything
I wanted to write about and made money from it. Even my website
on metaphors made money, and one on carpet stains (I used to
be a carpet cleaner) made over $60,000 from a hundred hours of
work. It's tough to write about uninteresting topics, but I can
do it, and I have done it (writing about carpet stains is not
really exciting), so this hurdle can be overcome.
Second, I'm not exactly a great writer. I spent years writing
fast so I could to get that income higher and higher by putting
up more and more pages. I was sloppy. I didn't even spell-check
most of the pages I published. Fortunately I'm correcting those
bad habits, and my writing is improving, so this problem is also
being resolved.
Third, it takes serious work to land the best clients. You
need the right experience, a great portfolio, and probably a
lot of networking. I don't enjoy marketing myself (not because
of modesty -- it's just a pain in the ass). I don't like doing
tons of work just to get to the point where the writing starts.
It isn't that I'm afraid to work -- all the things we do to survive
add up to a lot of work! But for me it's easier to get motivated
to clean the toilet than to hang out on LinkedIn and market myself.
Maybe when our income drops below our expenditures I'll have
the necessary motivation.
Fourth, freelancing for big magazines might lead to good,
but inconsistent pay. A gig supplying two or three $100
articles weekly to a blog is a more predictable income.
Finally, it may not pay off. I'll agree that doing the right
things is better than doing nothing, but you can argue until
you're red in the face and you'll never convince me that you
can predict a future outcome with any certainty. What if major
magazines need 100 great writers and 1,000 writers want those
jobs? Even if every single one "gives 110%," is "all
he can be," and conforms to every other cliché about
success, 90% will still fail, right?
This may not be too encouraging, but it is what it is. You
may or may not succeed with your writing. But if you like to
write, then why not write? If it sells, great! If not, enjoy
the process and make a living some other way. Hey, if I had a
hotel or other business that made $80,000 per year, I could easily
give up writing for money, and just write what I like. I like
to write, and I like to make money, but I really don't care if
I'm a "writer."
What if being a writer is the most important thing for you?
Go for it. You'll probably have the motivation to do what's necessary
to succeed.
|
