Will April Showers Bring May Flowers For New Content Creators?

My feed on various social media platforms are constantly being filled with people touting success stories.

“This is How Much Money I’ve Earned From Publishing Over 180 Articles”.

“0 to $5K: How I Reached $5,000/Month in Four Months of Freelancing”

“66,700 New Subscribers from LinkedIn in 24 Hours”

"My YouTube Subscriber Count Went Up %500 After This..."

I don’t feel ashamed to say that I want part of it. I love writing, and I ove interacting with people who love writing, so I keep writing regardless of the outcome because over the years I’ve come to discover that writing is my life. There’s nothing out there as satisfying as creating something beautiful from a blank page.

That’s why I work so hard now to make it my only profession. Including the page you’re reading right now, I’ve published my first article this month, and I’m resisting looking at my stats too much. So far, so good.

Besides Vocal, I’ve been hard at fumbling around with my first novel. The final draft is coming along nicely, and after being away from the (novel) writing community for so long I managed to scrap together a good amount of beta readers. I woud say my fans to-be can expect it next m onth, but I’m too busy banging my head because I was supposed to be marketing the book months before release. Somehow after all my marketing research I letsimple fact slip by, too busy hustling my endless side-hustle goals.

So now I’ve put progress in the final draft on hold to focus on getting my cover designed, seting up my website and researching the best email newsletter service. At the end of each night I wonder to myself if all this is going to pay off. Will I arrive at the success I see so many entrepreneural optimists gushing about, or join the pessimistic ranks of other not-so successful artists? Will the effort I’m expending now pay itself in dividends or will it have all been for naught?

Will April showers bring May flowers?

I don’t know, and I don’t care to dwell on it any longer. The official slogan of this year is ‘consistency’. In fact, it’s my new religion. I hope all you preaching it as a virtue are right.

In the meantime, I’ve also been studying the hell out of Medium too. Here’s what I’m doing to organicaly grow my brand in 2022:

Reading

I make sure to read at least a single article a day. Just as the late Stephen King declared, “If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time to write, simple as that.”

I am less agreeable with writers that claim you have to read more than you write, or read at least four hours a day. Not all of us have that much free time (or attention span).

But I make it a priority to read what other content creators are putting out because they provide an infinite well of inspiration and insight. The amount of things I’ve picked up on, even if its a satire peice with nothing concerning content creation. We learn on a subconcious level too.

Interacting

When I do read a post, I make sure to interact when I can. Writing is best when its a social hobby, at least for me, and I value any relationships I can build from it.

I usually forget to follow people, but Isaiah McCall is one new writer that I recently found and I’ve been going through all his stuff while ignoring the part of my brain that’s screaming at me for wasting time for the upteenth time.

Ira Robinson is another fantastic creator I’ve discovered recently. He’s not your typical writer. He’s blind, yet he’s also authored over a dozen books. His resilience is part of the inspiration for this very post. Please give him a follow.

SEO research

I’ve seen articles talking about SEO dying. Not sure if that’s true. It is true that people drawn from google to your article who aren’t subscribers won’t benefit you any extra money, but if you ask me it’s the exposure that counts. Plus, if you convert them by getting them to click on your affiliate link, you’ll receive a larger portion of their fee anyway, so it’s a win-win.

Consistency

It must be the name of the game (the rat race). It’s like they say. Winners never quit and quitters never win. Why give up when giving up means you negate everything you did beforehand, throwing all your accomplishments down the drain.

No matter what, you won’t see me leaving here for a while, results notwithstanding. I’m dedicating my time at least until the end of this year. Actually, I take that back, because if I happen to win the lottery, which I never play, you might see me a bit less.

I don’t know what will come of this. Still, while I’m living in reality, it’s worth a shot.