I help you write confidently, build your audience, and scale your income. Subscribe for first-hand insights and actionable strategies to turn your ideas and knowledge into a thriving digital business, so you can make money doing what you love.
The cool thing about being your own boss
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Happy Friday, Reader! Normally, you receive my newsletter on Thursdays but this week's email wasn't ready yet, so you're receiving it now. You might think I'm weird for sharing this because you don't care when exactly you receive my emails as long as you enjoy reading them. But I have a different message here: The beauty of being a creator/writer is that you make the rules. I love my job (getting paid to type words on my computer is pretty cool), but there are a gazillion things that I love much more. If I have to decide between going on a hike, playing board games, dancing to Taylor Swift songs, sipping iced coffee on a Greek island, or staring at my computer screen, I'll choose the option without the screen. 😆 ⛰️ 🎲 🪩 🇬🇷 I started to write because I wanted freedom. I worked my ass off to build my audience, business, and income in the first year, but now I'm all about working smarter, not harder. I take breaks and get back to work without feeling guilty. Despite being a full-time writer,I sometimes go without publishing new content for months. When I'm ready to get back to a consistent routine, I do it without judging myself. If you've ever struggled to get back to your writing routine after a long pause, this might help:
🥜 Your content should be addictive (like M&Ms) If you want to build an audience, your content has to be easy to digest. People are busy, so your writing has to be clean and clear. Nobody will read your intro sentence three times to understand what you're trying to say. Your content has to be addictive (in a positive sense). Here's what I mean: Did you ever eat just one peanut and stop? Or one piece of Pringles? One cookie? One M&M? NO, right?! Nobody has that kind of willpower, lol. (Let me know if you do - I'd love to know what your secret is!) You don't just eat one M&M. You eat the next, and the next, and the next one. And before you know it, the whole bag is empty. That's what your writing should feel like: After each sentence, your reader should desperately want to read the next sentence! 📝 Even if your writing is deep and meaningful, you want it to be "snackable" to ensure your reader doesn't get bored. Want more ideas to improve your writing? 🥂 The BEST Medium news *ever*?! I published my first story on Medium in 2018. Six years later, it's still the only platform I write on. My writing has reached millions of readers and generated six figures in earnings through Medium's Partner Program. I'm proud to say Medium is the backbone of my entire business for several reasons: 🎉 Medium is an ad-free platform, which means there are no distractions for readers. 🎉 Readers pay to read on Medium. This means you can dive deep into your ideas and write long stories! You don't have to cut yourself short and beg for attention by publishing 15 pieces of content daily. Quality beats quantity on Medium. 🎉 The Partner Program makes it stupidly easy to monetize your writing - even if you're a brand-new writer, have no idea about marketing, and are just getting started. But like every platform, Medium has its own challenges. One of them has been the sheer number of AI generated content and spam by people who try to game the system and make quick money. According to a recent announcement, this won't be possible anymore: We will revoke Partner Program enrollment from writers that publish spam, fraud, AI-generated stories, and other low-quality content that demonstrates clear misalignment with our mission. And we’re proud to protect the community from this kind of behavior. This might be the most exciting Medium announcement I've seen in years because it means: 🩵 Less spam Writing on Medium is not a get-rich-quick scheme. There's no "hack" to make a lot of money quickly. It's an amazing platform that helps writers share their message with millions of readers each month. 👋 Want more?
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Write • Build • Scale with Sinem Günel
I help you write confidently, build your audience, and scale your income. Subscribe for first-hand insights and actionable strategies to turn your ideas and knowledge into a thriving digital business, so you can make money doing what you love.
Hey Reader, When I started to publish on Substack this summer, I received dozens of emails with questions like: Why did you start to write on Substack? Are you leaving Medium? Is Substack better than Medium? How did you grow your audience on Substack so quickly?! The short answer is that Substack is an addition to my existing channels like Medium and Convertkit. I'm not replacing those. And to be fair, Substack has proven to be an excellent addition with lots of benefits that I don't have on...
Hey Reader, Over the last 4 years, I've worked with thousands of writers, and one question I see beginners share all the time is this: What should I even write about?! There are many ways to decide what to write about, but I'll share a simple one today: Write what you care about. One of the wonderful writers I got to work with this year is Melon Dash, an adult swimming instructor. I was lucky to meet Melon in person back in June and have a deep conversation about her work and what writing...
It's sad story time, Reader.. my friend canceled on me last Friday, and I was too lazy to make new plans. My fiancé Philip has been on a long walk (his newest obsession), so I was alone at home. And guess what a writer with no plans does on a Friday evening?! I wrote newsletters! My ✨creative juices✨ were flowing and I wrote three newsletters for you. Sent one on Friday. One is scheduled for later this week. And the third was supposed to be sent.. today. Except, it's gone. When I opened...