Getting back to basics
How I made my first $1 online.
Back around 2012, I started blogging because the academic writing required from my university was boring as hell. Blogging allowed me to write without rules and more importantly, express myself.
The topic of my blog was simple. I would share personal experiences and the lessons learned. Over time several dozen people became regular readers.
I didn’t blog for profit, but I never was against the idea of getting paid. I even put some ads on my site, but they made $0.
The first dollar came in when one of my readers messaged me with something like, “Raymond I really like your writing. Can I pay to you to write for my business?”
They offered me $50 and I accepted. I wrote several articles for them and stopped blogging and started writing for clients. This is how I eventually became a copywriter.
For the unaware, copywriting is basically sales in writing. The text you see in advertising and anything promotional is called copy. Unlike writing you see in the news or in a book, copywriting is designed to make you take an action.
Fast forward to today and the impact copywriting has had on my life has been extraordinary. Writing has allow me to live and work from 38 different countries. I wouldn’t have seen the world, met my wife, or had hundreds of wild and interesting experiences if not for copywriting.
But lately, I’ve drifted away from copywriting because it became boring. One of the results of being a good copywriter is attracting clients who pay well but don’t offer the best product or service.
Doing that for years sucked away my soul. I now shutter at the idea of working as a copywriter again. Yet despite my attempts to transition to something else… I haven’t been able to replicate my level of success as a copywriter from other ventures.
This is a problem.
I want the monthly income I used to generate from copywriting, but I don’t want the same types of clients. While the money is nice, writing the text required feels like digging out my eyes with a spoon. Life is too short for such torture.
So, I’m doing something else instead.
I’m getting back to what worked for me at the start, blogging. The idea and mentality will be the same now as before — to write regularly about the things I’m interested in and the experiences I’ve had. I’m confident doing so will eventually lead to multiple positive outcomes:
Paid work
Better writing
Improved mental health
A lot has happened since I started blogging in 2012. There’s a lot to share and discuss. From my experiences traveling the world to being one on the only Americans in a city of 700,000 people, it would be a sin to not share my thoughts with the world.
For those reading this today, for those who find my blog 250 years from now, and for both new and current subscribers, welcome. By the way, if you haven’t yet subscribed, you can do so below.