I Wrote Online For 10 Months (This is What Happened)
You will save time when reading this
I started writing on this platform around October last year (I can’t remember exactly, around that time).
At that time, I used ChatGPT to support my writing a lot.
About 2 months later, I thought about giving up.
Have you ever felt like that?
When we do something without results, we tend to give up.
I wonder why?
What did I do wrong that even the post couldn’t reach the users.
Until…
I discovered an account named Paul Rose
I noticed that her writings always appeared on my feed, initially as Medium recommendations (I had not followed her yet).
She only had a few thousand followers, a modest number at that time similar to my current situation.
As a new user habit, I visited each individual profile to see what articles the platform-recommended people had.
I found out…
All of her articles were of very high quality, carrying the strong personal brand of the writer.
For that reason, I decided to follow her to read more of the articles she publishes on the platform.
The secrets I discovered
Her writing style is very natural, completely different from what I have read on this platform before.
This is probably what captivates readers, which I didn’t realize and just thought it was luck.
Until I asked her to coach me on how to write more engaging articles that reach a wider audience, here are some key points you can consider.
Algorithm on platform
It will prioritize new posts, and with the frequency I currently publish, only a few posts per week, it will not reach many readers.
Therefore, I am gradually losing the motivation to write because I feel like no one is reading my posts.
With Paul’s advice, I have learned that I need to write more frequently for the algorithm of the platform to reach the content that I share.
That’s called consistency
I briefly think…
It’s true, the 80/20 ratio as in Pareto’s law has been proven for a long time!
80 percent is generated from 20 results
So this means that in order for my posts on this platform to reach more people, I have to fulfill the following 4 factors:
- Attractive Headline: This 20% will help attract readers from the get-go
- Quality Content: Focus on the 20% core content that is most valuable and interesting at the beginning (within the first 30 seconds to hook in 65% of readers… I’m sure I don’t need to explain why this is important, right? haha)
- Images and Graphics: Use 20% for illustrations and evidence to make the article more persuasive
- Marketing Distribution: Allocate the final 20% to discuss what you want to share outside (such as an Ebook, a call to action to share email addresses for follow-up,…)
By focusing on the most important factors above, I can create a compelling content.
That’s the plan
So,
How would you implement that plan?
First, in the title of the article, I will give you some tips to make it more attractive, sexier.
Go to your Email inbox and look for the Highlights that this platform sends you.
Or check on the Medium app, in the Explore section every time you refresh, there will be quality content there (we just need to take the title as inspiration)
Those are quality headlines that readers usually want to click on
Like the picture below, I achieved
I have a success rate of 20%!
Next is about the content of the article, this can only be written by someone who has a personal experience and makes the readers interested.
I only know Etsy, so everything I can write about is in that field.
So I have 20% more, but there is an important point that I learned from Paul Rose, which is the “I” factor.
Readers will feel like they are listening to a story rather than reading a newspaper article.
The important thing is to turn your writing into a storytelling form.
Storytelling to Make Content go Viral
Finally, there is the visual evidence.
I realize that there is nothing better than telling a story while also incorporating specific visual evidence.
According to psychology, humans prefer to see the outcome before taking action, so a good article to attract attention and keep readers engaged longer is because of images.
I’ll give you an example, this is a picture of me that adds value to the article.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
I think that’s enough, the final call-to-action in the article is up to you.
With just the above things, our article can be viral.
So how to expand the idea?
I need more sources to refer to.
Sometimes when I have inspiration, I can create many articles. But without inspiration, I don’t write anymore.
To ensure that the resources never run out, I usually prepare myself a list of high-quality articles and arrange them in descending order.
I suggest you a completely free tool that is helping me to do that.
As shown in the picture, I can see all the viral posts of someone I care about or a list of people I follow.
I already have a reference library, so now my job is to write more related posts and rely on those factors to create viral posts.
This is what I have achieved, even though my followers are only 500 people.
How about you?
About the author
I am John, selling products on Etsy, and I am also a writer.
I hope that my sharing can inspire you to have more motivation in your work.
My shares have achieved a high reading rate, so I can say that the experiences I share can definitely help you achieve similar results
Success comes from both big achievements and small contributions!
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