Introduction
At age 26, I woke up from a slumber that made me wander aimlessly through life. I decided then that I wanted to have a mobile lifestyle. I wanted to work from my laptop, travel and decide my own work hours. The internet was the only avenue I saw for someone like me who doesn't have a college or university degree.
I failed in that pursuit for years. I'm incredibly grateful for those years of stuggle, they've shaped me and ultimately have brought me to where I am today.
Blogging
One thing that I did for 2 years was to blog every day...sometimes twice a day. English is my second language and I've never wrote much in my life before. So you can imagine how much I sucked at the beginning.
After two years of blogging...I didn't have much to show for(in earnings). I'm sure that a lot of people thoughts back then that it was a complete waste of my time. But looking back, I think that it was the most powerful activity I could have ever engage in to be prepared for something like steemit.com
Are you new to blogging? Please be patient
I get angry at people who come here with no experience and no audience and expect upvotes to rain down on them like manna from heaven. There is much more to steemit.com than writing words online.
Even if you only make $0.50 per article, it's still more than I ever did for 2 years while paying for hosting, domain names and plugins.
Blogging is more than writing words. It's writing copy that is engaging to your audience. It's networking in a way where people see you as a valuable ally. It's creating ways to keep your audience engaged with your blog.
Learn the Craft!
Here are the few things I did to get better at writing:
1. Copy by hand great sales copy
You might won't believe this or think it's crazy but I copied by hand "Lazy Man’s Way To Riches Ad by Joe Karbo" everyday for an entire month.
Copying by hand sales copy is incredibly powerful. Just realized and let it sink in:
This ad sold 3 Million books without it ever been available in bookstores.
To be considered a best seller, you have to sell 5000 books. When you sold that, you're already in the top 1% of writers. This guy was able with a single page of "words" to sell a book for over 20 years consistently.
By copying great copy, you start to think like the person who wrote that ad...I lack words to explain how it works but it does. To this day, this was the most powerful thing I ever did to improve my writing.
NOTE: This is exactly what famous writer Hunter S. Thompson did. He copied the "The Great Gastby" by hand
2. Write everyday
Writing every day is difficult at the beginning. But believe me, the more you write the easier it gets.
Find the best time for you and the best setting. I find that my best time is first thing in the morning with a coffee. Somehow that's just how it is for me.
The more practice you get, the better you get at the craft. There is nothing to replace that.
3. Tell Your Story
Always wrap your content with context. We are people of stories. Stories are memorable and they move us beyond our own self. If you want your audience to feel like they know you, you have to let them in and be more transparent about how you are just like them: someone who's half messed up, that has struggles and victories, someone who's doing it's best to slay their own personal dragons.
Be open about who you are and find a way to attach your story to the content you are presenting. People will love you for it.