NOTE: The following EPIC post comes from the book,”The Digital Writer’s Guide to Highly Effective Work Habits.”
Enter your best email address in the box below, absorb the free content once a week, then take action on what you learn. You will be a more successful writer.
I have two questions for you.
How successful do you want to be? And how willing are you to do what it takes to become that successful?
How you answer these questions will likely dictate your level of success.
Often, we see people on the other side of the hump – after they’ve found success. From so-called overnight sensations to the Next Big Thing, when people pop on our radars, seldom do we see the of hard work that went into their climb. We think they caught a lucky break or knew the right people.
Yes, luck plays a part in success, but you can make your own luck by working hard and networking.
We see the novelist who made it huge on Amazon when last month we didn’t even know her name. What we didn’t see, were all the countless hours she spent hammering away at stories, writing book after book, perfecting her formula until she found the one(s) which caught the attention of readers and publishers.
It’s what others don’t see which often makes the biggest difference.
Outsourcing
How much time do you spend writing? Probably not nearly enough.
Successful entrepreneurs spend the bulk of their time doing what they’re best at. For you, that probably means writing. Doing menial tasks that someone else can do just to save a little cash is shortsighted and can keep your career from growing as it should.
There are dozens of tasks writers can outsource. The hesitation to pay someone else to do things you could do yourself will probably be strong, especially if you’re first starting out and trying to get your feed off the ground. Then again, most of the people who hire you to write could do it themselves if they really wanted to, right?
The only thing that can’t be outsourced is the final draft with your name on it! It might seem wrong to have others do your research and editing, but considering the value of your time, can you really afford to do everything yourself?
Learn to outsource early and often. The below list is not exhaustive, but it should serve as a starting point to get you thinking in the right direction.
Things That Can be Outsourced
- WordPress and/or website work
- Research
- Data Entry
- Analytics
- Editing
- Accounting and Invoices
- Link building and other traffic strategies
Build Systems
The biggest online dollars are generated by scalable systems that allow for exponential growth.
Building a scalable system means you’re no longer limited by what you can do on your own, and that you won’t need to start from scratch on every project. Fail to build a system and the ceiling on what you can do will remain frightfully low.
Outsourcing will be a core component in your systems, but you’ll want to go beyond hiring competent people, and find teammates who can work independently to learn your system, so in time, you’ll be able to coordinate their work like cogs in a well-oiled machine.
You will need an action plan for every type of project so you’ll know in an instant what needs to be done and by whom. That way, several tasks can be worked on simultaneously, instead of one at a time.
Once you have a system, you’ll be able to get more done in less time because nobody will waste time wondering what to do next or where things should go.
Your writing, editing, art, layout, sales, and other processes can be broken down into their own systems. Each group can function independently to complete their tasks, then coordinate seamlessly to put them all together into one finished project.
Every system will be different depending on the products you are selling, the business you are in, and your own preferred work structure. It will take trial and error to find the ideal system for your business, so don’t be discouraged when things seem to be falling apart – nothing is perfect on the first try and you’ll learn more by tinkering around than you ever will by copying what someone else is doing.
There is no perfect system, just the one that performs best for your business and suits your work style.
Once you’ve set a system in place, you can use it to build more businesses and repeat your initial success repeatedly. The genius of having systems is that they can be taught, so in time, you won’t have to oversee every detail yourself. You’ll be able to devote yourself to what you do best and leave the management to others.
Write as Fast as You Can
If you want to produce your best work, you should always write as fast as you can.
I didn’t used to believe it, but the more I write, the more I understand this essential truth. Writing fast is easy, at least once you break down the initial barriers. I fought the fact for a long time, before seeing the light. Writing fast is more than efficient, it’s also a tremendous way to write clean copy with extraordinary voice.
I used to try for perfect prose every time. But that’s not possible for any writer. Sometimes your body of words will be remarkable, but perfect isn’t reasonable unless your entire composition exists in a sentence.
I have a dream; To be or not to be; It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. These are not complicated ideas. Great writing comes from articulation, not composition. The faster you write, the closer you will come to your natural voice.
Slowing down and giving yourself time to dwell on every sentence will stilt your pace. Worse, it will dull your rhythm and allow your mind to interfere when your voice is doing its job.
Don’t think. Just write.
There’s nothing to lose – no one has ever died from this exercise.
Get a timer and set it for five minutes. Think of a topic and write three prompts, these can be as short as a word or as long as a question. Start writing. Don’t stop until the timer goes off. Now read over what you wrote. Your writing is better than you thought it would be, right?
This won’t seem easy until it finally is, but it will happen almost immediately. Again, don’t concern yourself with quality. You can always go back and edit, though you won’t need to clean up nearly as much as you think. This section, from the top sentence, “Write as fast as you can,” to right now took five minutes to write. The timer is just about to go off.
You can learn to do this, too. Do it well and you can make money just by picking up a pen. Well, as long as you’re consistent.
If you want to improve your writing, pay attention
Despite what it says on your Services Page, you’re not selling your ability to arrange words in a way that meets the rules of grammar and syntax. You’re selling your unique ability to take information from a variety of sources and synthesize it into copy that’s informative, compelling, or entertaining.
A writer who can’t, or won’t, observe the world around them is doomed to sink to the bottom of the heap.
Writers don’t break into the upper echelon because of flawless grammar or impeccable spelling. They do it because they have something unique to say and a way to say it that resonates with readers.
Too many aspiring writers hide themselves from the world, depriving themselves of inspiration, images, and information when they should be doing the opposite – diving into life’s rich experiences. You won’t be much of a writer if you coast through life oblivious to what’s going on around you. The molecules of your world must hit your eyes then nest in your mind.
Sharing your observations is an excellent way to bring your writing to life and involve your readers in the story. Reeling off facts and figures does nothing for most people, but tell them an anecdote or paint a scene illustrating your main idea, and you will give them a reason to care.
You don’t have to be the stereotypical writer, sitting alone at an outdoor cafe, but you do want to pay more attention to life. Here are a few ways to do it:
- Keep your cell phone in your pocket
- Do one new thing or visit one new place each week
- Don’t be afraid to go places alone
- Skip the iPod or audiobooks occasionally
- Take time to simply be
Most of all, take time to read.
Read
It’s astonishingly easy for writers to lose the reading habit.
Most of us become writers because of our early, voracious reading habits. We were the kids with the textbook read cover to cover by the second week of school. We were the ones begging our school librarians to please, please, please let us check out the books reserved for the kids three grades up.
When you’re writing for a living, reading is sometimes the last thing you want to do with your down time. It’s all too easy to let the allure of mindless television and Web surfing win your time. At least until one day when you sit to write and realize your inspiration has vanished! Your mojo is missing and every word you type seems to tremble with timidity.
Reading is nutrition for your mind. Even reading the trashiest airport novel will expose you to new styles, ways of pacing, and wonderful words and expressions. When the only things you read are borne in your own mind, your worst habits are reinforced and you fail to find new things to try.
Reading also helps you stay in the loop and discover what’s popular. Pay attention to different styles and voices. Watch how other writers handle transitions, pacing, and foreshadowing. Delight in the ways they play with language and take note of what doesn’t quite work.
Reading exposes you to new people, places, and points of view. The more information and perspectives you have at your disposal, the more likely you are to come up with unique ideas and angles in your own writing. We build on our gathered ideas. A failure to read is famine for your frame of reference.
If you’re waiting for some magical time that your life as a writer will slow down, stop. The only way to get reading time is to make reading time. The more you read, the stronger your reading habit will grow. Soon enough, you will automatically turn to a book, magazine, or other reading material when you have a spare moment.
You will find that the more you read, the easier it will be to find inspiration to write.
Write
The more often you write, the better your writing will be.
Writing is a daily habit you must develop early and practice often. Without a solid writing habit in place, you won’t write with regularity and will cheat yourself of your best possible future.
If you’re writing as a hobby, that’s different. But you probably wouldn’t be reading this book, or at least you wouldn’t have made it this far if that’s the case. Writing isn’t easy, but as you’ve been reading since page one, it’s one of the most lucrative careers in the world when approached from the right angle.
That angle requires writing every day.
If words are the backbone of your entrepreneurial enterprise, you can’t just write when you have the time or are in the mood. For you, writing is a priority. Hit the keyboard sporadically and you’ll never have enough momentum to grow.
Writers write, whether they’re in the mood or not. Successful writers know how to root themselves and keep producing until they meet their minimum output for the day, even if their ratio is 90% garbage to 10% brilliance, as Hemingway once famously said about his own work.
Every writer struggles with procrastination and distraction, especially online. But of all the advice in this post – build your list, read, grow your audience, engage in social media, build your assets – none of it matters if you’re not writing.
Write your new life a word at a time; one day you’ll look back and realize how much each one mattered.
Life Blogs Every Digital Writer Should Follow:
The 99 Percent
LifeHacker.com
LifeHack.org
Pick the Brain
Leo Babauta – Zen Habits
John Soares – Productive Writers
Henrik Edberg – The Positivity Blog
Epic Posts On Work Habits That No Digital Writer Should Miss:
6 Common Work Habits That Sabotage Your Productivity – Lifehack.org
How to Keep Creating a New Habit When You Feel Like Giving Up – Henrik Edberg
How to Stay On Track for Your Goals – Ali Luke
Of course, this EPIC Post would not have been possible without the awesome book,”The Digital Writer’s Guide to Highly Effective Work Habits“.
Please share this EPIC Post on Twitter, Facebook and any other social media outlets where your audience will benefit.
Enter your best email address in the box below, absorb the free content once a week, then take action on what you learn. You will be a more successful writer.
Until next week!
I did it. So can you.
P.S. If there is a person you feel every digital writer should follow on Twitter, or a post on blogging that should be included in this post, please add it to the comments and I will look into it as soon as I can. If you have a question or comment, please leave it below and I promise to answer within 24 hours.
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