I thought I was a writer. So I decided to become a Content Writer and use it as a side hustle to supplement my income. I enrolled on a course and completed the assignments.
Three months later I am overwhelmed with the information overload, yet to set up my system, create my pitch leave alone make any revenue. I almost gave up.
Are you in the same boat starting with high energy and then losing focus? Read on to identify and overcome the beginner’s dilemma and succeed as a content writer.
I am still a beginner content creator. I am still feeling my way around on the shores of this ocean. I am challenged by the depth of the learning I need to cover to become successful.
Let me share the course correction I am taking to realize my goal.
Being overwhelmed and challenged signifies growth, it means we are pushing beyond our known territory. Learning anything new and worthwhile will bring its own set of challenges.
So it always helps to have a clearly defined why. And a will to persist and keep taking action. Action requires energy, hustle means energy and growth requires energy.
Contents
What are the main challenges of creative writing?
I confused professional writing with essay writing I did at school. Writing stories is different. Writing for customers to generate revenue requires additional skill sets.
These skill sets can be learned and mastered with proper guidance and personal initiative. Every successful content creator has developed a content writing process of their own. By and large, the major points that remain the same can be good content writing tips for beginners.
How to structure our content?
We must have clarity of the subject and maintain a sequential flow. There are some well-laid paths that can be followed to automatically create the different stages of our articles. Along with the subject matter, SEO plays a very important role in the success of our effort.
What to write?
Define the user requirements and answer customers’ questions. Here keyword research comes in as a saviour. When we know what our customers want to read we can create value-added content for them.
What process to follow?
Every good content is created by following a well laid out process. A great headline, an attractive introduction and structured material will make the content worth reading.
Who are our target customers?
A clear picture of the user persona. When we identify our niche, I stress our niche and not the niche others have succeeded in, we need to embed our subject matter expertise and authority in our content so that our readers get the confidence to read on.
How to overcome the beginner’s dilemma?
Nothing of value is free. We need to seriously invest in our learning to reap any benefits. This means time and money.
The online digital marketing platform is huge and highly dynamic so if we are not continuously upgrading ourselves we will be left behind. This is the pain every entrepreneur takes willingly.
So how do we remain focused on our goal to succeed as content writers?
A few things can definitely help.
An Entrepreneur’s Mindset
The first and foremost is our mindset. Unless we are fully committed to our purpose we will not make progress and stumble at the first challenge we face. A side hustle is a business that will make us money for the service we provide to our customers. We must focus on providing immense value before we expect any returns.
Finding a mentor
One is finding a mentor who can guide us through a good training program. I have found Sanjay Shenoy as my guide to learning content writing after researching various options available. HIIT Content is a great way to kick start one’s blogging and content writing journey.
Then being part of a like-minded group of individuals is very important. Discussing various challenges and learning from others’ success stories i.e. understanding how others overcame their problems can help in amazing ways. During those periods of a slump, these stories can boost us and help us stay focused.
The support of a mastermind group or community does wonders to negate any comments of our distractors and naysayers.
Importance of SEO in content writing
After going through content writing I understood the importance of creating content that will get noticed. The internet is a vast ocean with an unimaginable amount of content being generated every single day. Thus to reach out to my focused readers I felt the need to learn SEO. Search Engine Optimization follows a set process that helps us to find the market demand and create content that the search engines notice and rank for our customers.
So I enrolled on the HIIT SEO by Sanjay Shenoy also. This is a real eye-opener for me as to how the market wants us to write content that will pay us. The support of an amazing community is the real bonus. The intensity of completing the assignments brings a sense of fulfilment and being a finisher adds a ton to our confidence. Being in service as many of you are makes it all the more challenging.
As I have mentioned earlier that SEO provides us with the much-needed structure, the framework around which we can build our content.
What next?
We must always accept that any course or program cannot just guarantee our success. It depends on how we use our knowledge and how fast we implement the ideas. That we will fail is a forgone conclusion.
How we rise from our failures will confirm our POC or proof of concept. It will take some trial and error to finally find our sweet spot.
And as I have felt that it is absolutely essential to have an answer to the “what next?” question that our minds ask when we are down mentally, emotionally and physically.
We have to put on our shield to ward off any such evidence of doubt and crush it. It is difficult as it comes from within.
However, remembering that we as beginners are playing on the shores and getting ready for our dream journey will help temper our expectations. We must not make the mistake of seeing our destination from our starting point. We can always visualize it but cannot see it. It will evolve as we move forward winning our battles to ultimately win our war.
To win motivation and inspiration are required. But if we are passionate about what we have set out to achieve we will be driven and we will not require any external factors to drive us forward.