Content creation has changed.
15 years ago, when I got started, it was all about blogging. Then it moved to YouTube. Now it’s TikTok. And who knows what’s next?
While the platforms change all the time, the principles of how to make money stay the same.
To make $10k/month from content, you need to build a few micro-skills.
Here are the 5 micro-skills I wish I built earlier.
Skill #1: Win the attention war
You only have 1 second to grab attention, or you’ve lost the reader.
And this happens from your very first sentence.
Call it:
- Title
- Headline
- Subject line
Whatsoever. This is the first thing people see. If it sucks, people will ignore your content and scroll through it.
Headlines are promises. If the promise is enticing, they’ll click. If you fulfill it, you’ve gained a fan.
If you publish content on:
- Medium
- YouTube
- Your blog
- or Substack
Then you need to learn how to write good headlines.
Social media is a bit different.
There are no headlines. Instead, you write good hooks to get people interested in your content. If it’s boring, no one will read the rest of your content.
Get good at making exciting promises. Then, fulfill them (or you’ll end up being a clickbait puppet).
Skill #2: The secret to profitable content
This one will scare you.
The best way to make money with your content is by selling your own stuff. That way, you keep 100% of the profit margin and don’t have to sell your buttocks to advertisers.
But to make people buy from you, you need to pitch.
Most writers are pissing their pants when it comes to pitching an offer. They think it’s dirty. They play it safe. They don’t want to say that they have something to sell. They are afraid to look like a used car salesman.
As a result, they’re broke as a joke.
I used to be that guy. The reason?
Many:
- Lack of confidence
- Low self-esteem
- Fear of rejection
You should be proud of what you have to offer. Your paid stuff makes your audience’s lives easier and solves their burning problems in a simple way.
All content creation is about offer creation:
- My offer to you for reading this article was to master a few micro skills to make money.
- To make people join your email list, you make an offer: that’s your lead magnet.
- To make people buy your stuff, you make them… Guess what? An offer.
Great content creators are great offer creators.
Skill #3: Turn into a beast
This seems crazy to most people.
But the more you publish, the more chances you get to be discovered. Each piece of content is a new entry door. Simultaneously, you’ll also become better at creating content. All of this compounds. And that’s how you build a hungry audience.
When you have a hungry audience, making money is easy.
You can sell almost anything:
- Ads
- Books
- Retreats
- Seminars
- Coaching
- Consulting
- Physical products
It’s a simple formula.
Most people don’t publish daily because they think it’s too hard. They think they’ll run out of ideas. But it’s a skill that can be learned. It’s not a divine gift.
There’s no such thing as writer’s block. There’s only:
- Laziness
- Overwhelm
- Procrastination
- Lack of systems
- Imposter syndrome
Get something out there every day. That’s the best way to build an audience that wants to buy from you.
Skill #4: The antidote to boring content
When I first started to write content, it was all about sharing information.
Let me show you how to do this… Let me show you how to do that. Blah, blah, blah.
If you want to bore your reader, only give away how-to information. But if you want your reader to resonate, write with empathy.
It’s the secret sauce that makes your content connect with readers.
Empathy is the ability to understand what others are going through. It’s the ability to feel their pain and see the world through their eyes.
The most successful content creators are the most empathetic. They know what their audience is going through because they’ve been through the same things (or simply done their market research homework).
95% of my clients see that my emails and philosophy resonate with them.
The reason? I empathized.
Skill #5: Stop being a lukewarm arse
This one is going to make you a lot of haters.
So if you’re sensitive and only want “public love” — better to skip.
There’s too much lukewarm content out there. So if you want to get ignored, simply say the same thing as everyone else. Don’t have a unique angle. Don’t have unique ideas.
Be a parrot.
But if you want a chance to get seen, dare to be bold. Don’t regurgitate the same old sh*t. Provide a fresh perspective that makes your audience think differently.
To find unique angles, ask yourself these questions:
- What do I believe that most people don’t?
- What’s the opposite of what everyone else is saying?
- How can I take a popular topic and make it less popular?
The last question is a good one to ask. It’s a contrarian approach.
But the secret is not to be contrarian just for the sake of being contrarian. It’s simply looking at things from a new angle and finding what you disagree with and what you hate about popular content.
Then, build your whole philosophy around that.
Now, go do the work
These skills take time to develop. Don’t expect to become world-class at them by next Tuesday.
But if you deliberately work on them every day, you’ll be ahead of 96% of other creators.
You’ll make a nice cushion of dough. And you’ll thank me later.
Now, most people will click away from this article and never apply a single one of them. Or get bored. Or get distracted.
I hope you’re not one of those losers.