Anyone can be creative when inspiration lights a fire in their soul. It’s easy to write on deadline. What’s rare is the person who exercises creativity like a muscle. You get the most out of your writing by training it like any hard habit.
Ignore excuses. Do the work daily. Don’t break the chain.
Yes, there will always be another work task. You’ll find another errand to run or chore to check off the list. Don’t worry, your books and Netflix shows will be around when you’re done. Let the internet scroll without you for an hour or two.
Just write.
Just publish.
It can define your career.
This essay is a reminder to myself because I’ve not been the most consistent writer. And I regret it.
In my eight years of writing online, I’ve seldom been the person who publishes on a regular cadence. I break a lot of the best practices of building an online writing portfolio and personal brand. My posts are sporadic. I don’t have a large social following.
I’m a bad example of the sort of writer who deserves big wins for publishing online.
So, why do I write so passionately about writing online?
Because despite everything I’ve done “wrong” in building an online portfolio over the years, writing on the internet is still the greatest investment I’ve made in my career.
I’ve taken a haphazard approach to writing and still managed to eke out a storied, high-paying career. Let me paint the picture.
Writing is the dominant source of leads for my business, and there’s not a close second. You might call writing the “proof” business. Founders, marketers, and editors only want to work with you after they’ve seen what you can do with a pen.
The proof is in the portfolio. If you have scroll-stopping essays and samples, no one cares where you worked or what you studied in college. I don’t even have a degree. Yet almost every new paid writing opportunity shows up in my inbox because of something I published online.
Think of every new post as a marketing asset for your mind. Clear writing demonstrates clear thinking. A good story shows that you can capture and hold someone's attention.
These marketing assets compound as you publish more of them. Sometimes clients find you from the post you published this week. Other times they’ll discover you from an article you wrote five years ago.
What else?
Writing is the most effective networking tool in the world. I’ve made friends through writing. I’ve worked with influencers with millions of followers because somehow those influencers found my writing online. I’ve worked with some of the most successful tech founders of the past few decades.
All of these folks are far smarter and more accomplished than me. Yet they put time on my calendar because something I wrote connected with them.
Okay, one more.
Writing puts you in the media. You can stop scrolling the news and instead be part of it.
Writing on X helped me appear in The Wall Street Journal and Hubspot. Twice I’ve been interviewed on the radio because of blogs I authored (not to mention a handful of podcasts). My articles passively earn quotes and backlinks from other bloggers and news sites.
I’ve earned press in Adweek, Foundr, Built In and maybe a dozen other news sites because I pitched work to editors. One of my favorite authors, Cal Newport, republished one of my most popular articles.
Reminder to self: It’s time you take writing on the internet more seriously. Be the sort of person who doesn’t miss a writing day.
It almost doesn’t matter where or how you publish. Publish today, figure the details out later. Good storytelling works everywhere.
From one writer to another, publishing on the internet is a career superpower. Get serious.
Don’t waste the gift.
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