This is a question I ask myself regularly, especially when my stats are showing that my views are constantly cycling up and down. What I want to know is where I’m headed. This is also something that you should consider.
From what I read here, many new writers are unhappy because they don’t make money in their first month or two. But next to no one does. That’s just the way it is.
But this is a platform that can work wonders if you take a long-term outlook.
Most of the higher earners have been writing both here and on other platforms for many years. Tim Denning has been published daily for the last 8 years. He probably earns what seems like a small fortune to most of us.
But stop for a moment and think about it. If you’ve only been here for a few months, like I have, we’re not going to get anywhere near the earnings of someone that’s been a writer for 8 years.
But what if we think long-term? When we do that we can more easily see the possibilities.
If you have 1K, 2K, or 3K followers, you may look on with envy at those that have 10K, 20K, or 30K followers.
But most of those writers started exactly where you and I started. With 0 followers.
They built their large following over time. We can also do that. But it takes time. Obviously. And work.
If I look at my current stats for the last (almost) 6 months, I see the following:
Articles: 266
Followers: 2,830
Email Subscribers: 90
Referred Members: 12
Views Over Last 30 Days: 56,958
Monthly Earnings: $1,415.69
The question I ask myself is what would happen if I continued doing this for 5 years? I’d have written 10X the number of articles I’ve currently written. Possibly all my other stats would also go up 10X.
I don’t things don’t work out that perfectly, but this is just to get an idea of what’s possible. If after 5 years I’d written 2,660 articles, it would be mind-boggling if my followers, subscribers, views, and referred members didn’t rise as well.
Maybe they won’t all 10X, but maybe they’ll 5X. Or maybe the compounding effect will accelerate them to a 15X or 20X gain. I simply don’t know. But I want to make some kind of guess.
For the sake of this exercise, let’s assume all my stats continue to grow as they until now.
I’d end up with the following.
Articles: 2,660
Followers: 28,300
Email Subscribers: 900
Referred Members: 120
Views Over Last 30 Days: 569,580
Monthly Earnings: $14,156.90
I should be able to achieve a 10X for the number of articles written, and maybe even for the followers and subscribers. However, over 500,000 views per month feel excessive.
The earnings also seem super-high. Can I really achieve that?
But it doesn’t matter. What matters is that I can see what’s possible. That is enough to motivate me to continue. Even if I achieve half the above I’ll be well happy. I’d happily write even for a quarter of the above. And that is surely possible if I keep writing for 5 years.
The above figures are just for this platform. I’m also planning to write a few books, maybe start on Substack, and who knows what else. All of these will add additional income. 5 years down the line I could have a real full-time income from writing. And so could you.
Note that I’m not saying I’m expecting the above to happen or that I think it’s certain. It’s just what’s possible if I project the figures forward.
Now it’s your turn. Take your current stats and project them into the future. What would they look like? Does that inspire and motivate you?
Good luck on your journey. Together we can do this.