I Took a $297 Writing Course for You. Here's What I Learned.
#008. the last course that changed my life.
Starting a one-person writing business nowadays is easier than ever. But growing it without breaking your mental health is the real challenge.
And that's what happened to me. At one point, I was working for three clients, writing about topics I didn't enjoy. And on top of that, my final exams were coming.
Everything was so messed up that I burned out, lost two clients, and got into depression. I didn't write for weeks.
That's when I decided to take a risk.
At that time, I had $346 in my PayPal account, so I decided to take a $297 writing course (more like a Creator Business Course).
I was very nervous because it was my second time spending my hard-earned money on a high-priced course.
Plus, I wasn't making any money at that time.
But it completely changed my writing business. Not only did it save my mental health, but it also helped me build a writing business system that works.
Here’s what I learned from a $297 writing course:
A Writer With No Freedom Isn't a Writer
Ever wonder why you chose to write on the internet? To have freedom.
To have control over the 4 W's: work from wherever you want, on whatever you want, whenever you want, and with whomever you want.
And you know why more than 90% of newbie writers quit in their first year of writing online?
Not because they don't get results. The main reason is that they don't have control over the 4 W's as a writer.
And it just feels like another 9-5 job with no salary, no guarantee, and it's time-consuming.
So, at the end they give up and quit.
That’s what was happening to me, and that’s why building a writing business felt so forced and boring.
The lesson I learned from the course is that by focusing on my personal desires, I can find my own way to enjoy writing more and connect better with my audience.
Learning the 4 W's of a writer model allowed me to build a daily writing system that suits me perfectly.
So answer your 4 W's and build a writing system that suits your life perfectly.
And if you still don't know how to do it.
Here’s a full in-depth guide on building a writing business with a perfect system that suits your life.
1. Your Ikigai is Your Superpower
"A writer without a niche is like a compass without a needle. In the end, they both lack direction and purpose." -
Other creators: You don't need a niche.
Really???
No matter what others tell you, as a new writer, having a niche helps you build the foundation of your writing.
Here's how you can find your niche using the Ikigai exercise:
What you love: Identify your passions and interests.
What you're good at: List down your skills and strengths.
What the world needs: Find their needs and problems you can solve.
What you can be paid for: Find out what people are willing to pay you for.
This simple exercise helped me realize my passion for writing about the creator journey, audience building, and personal development.
And this exercise not only helps you find a personally fulfilling niche but also a profitable one.
2. It's Time to Become the Niche
Instead of just owning a niche, become the niche itself by sharing your unique stories, achievements, insights, and different ways of presenting things.
Applying this personal touch to your niche helps build a stronger connection with your audience, making them follow you for your personality rather than just for your content.
For example, share your journey, your wins and fails with your audience.
Remember, your audience appreciates your personal stories about your wins and fails rather than just writing content that always sounds flashy and clickbait.
3. Build Your Audience Growth System
Content is important for a writer to grow. But nowadays, writing content just isn't enough to grow your audience.
If you go the "just write & you'll grow" route, it will take you forever to even get your first 100 followers or subs.
Here's my favorite way to step out and grow your audience:
As you write, consider investing your time in reading other writers' work, engaging with them, hitting their inboxes, and building a network of potential writers.
Once you have a good number of followers, start collaborating with other creators to reach new audiences. Do guest posts, shoutouts, joint webinars, and other projects together.
You might also invest in paid newsletter ads if you have a budget to grow your audience.
However, at first, I highly suggest you focus on writing as much as you can and build a library of content. So once new audiences visit your profile or newsletter, they will have a number of content pieces to read.
So, build your strong foundation first, then work on expanding.
4. Your New Audience
"If your audience is right, they can make your future bright." -
Building a targeted audience always makes a business thrive.
For a writer, the first step is to focus on quality over quantity by narrowing down what your audience actually wants to read.
Here's how you can target the right audience:
Identify your ideal reader: Understand who would benefit most from your content.
Create value: Offer valuable content that solves their problems and addresses their interests and needs.
Engage: Interact with your audience by replying to their comments, emails, and DMs.
Convert: Use freebies like eBooks or templates as lead magnets to test out your products and build a sense of trust with your audience by providing quality freebies. Convert them from followers into fans.
Writers like
, , and are good at this. They focus on providing free value, especially freebies, to their audience, which has helped them build loyal followings.5. Create Your $100k Offer
Doing all those steps will give you an idea of what your audience's needs are.
Then, all you need to do is create a compelling offer and package it as their problem's solution. You can present your offer in many formats, like
Low-ticket products.(eBooks)
Paid communities.
Consulting services.
High-ticket workshops or courses.
Convert your valuable pieces of content into a profit-generating machine with well-crafted offers and great marketing.
If you really want to create a best-selling irresistible offer, read "$100 Million Offers" by Alex Hormozi and apply it to your offer.
That's all you need to master offer creation.
I already read this one last year and am currently planning to read it again this year.
Now, this is all I learned from a $297 writing course, and I took this course almost 10 months ago.
I didn't write this post like a course review article because I don't want to.
I already tried all the lessons I learned from this course, so that's why I wrote this article like I'm sharing my own personal thoughts.
Hope you love this one and it helps you in your writing journey.
happy writing!
Thank you fro sharing your experience, it was really insightful.
Great tips !