How to Write Better Original Content

July 16, 2022

Welcome back to The Loaf - a weekly newsletter sharing money and business tips for creators & freelancers

Creator Crumbs

Business: Turn Social Media Impressions into Dollars [article]

There are more than 50 million creators in the world, but almost 30% of full-time creators earn less than $10,000 per year..

This presents a problem, and an obvious opportunity.

If you can learn how to create content that creates income, you can build a sustainable career online. This article shows you first-hand experience on how to do it.

Money: How do tax write-offs *actually* work? [article]

Taxes are the thing I get asked about most, so I wrote an in-depth piece breaking down how tax write-offs (deductions) actually work.

If you work for yourself or make 1099 income, you should check it out.

free financial advice*

Topic of the week: How do I write better original content (that gets readers hooked)?

- Akshay, 24

A quick break from personal finance with a content writing question all the way from India!

As I write this from my apartment in Kansas City, a few thoughts come to mind:

First, you have to define your audience and imagine that you're writing for just one person. This will help you write more contextual, actionable content. Think about these few questions: what problems do they have that you're trying to solve? what would be entertaining to them? what knowledge do you have that would be helpful to them on their journey?

Second - because no matter how good the content is, if no one clicks on or reads the article, it doesn't matter. So you have to spend a lot of time on two things:

Crafting a headline that makes someone want to click
Writing an intro that gets them to read the next sentence

In last week's newsletter I shared this - 4 Tips for Writing Fascinating Intros

Also recommend checking this out: Headline Mastery Examples: 25 Templates Anyone Can Use

When you're writing, think about where you can break the article up to make it more consumable. Like I did above with the bullet points, you may be able to do with a list or bullet points with a TL;DR.

Use subheadings to your advantage as well - it should be clear what the article is about just by reading the subheadings.

My number one tip for writing better original content is using personal stories. For example, I wrote the "tax write-off" article above. There are thousands of articles about tax write-offs out there, but I wrote part of the piece with my own perspectives and shared my own tax return - so that can help your content stand out.

Nobody else has your story and your experiences. Leverage them.

If you can't use firsthand stories, maybe you can use examples from creators who have shared content about whatever topic you're writing for.

I would also consider reaching out to people for original sources, because then they also might share it with their audience and you can attract new readers if the content delivers.

My last tip - create graphics. Not only does it help your reader absorb the information better, but you can rank in search via the image tab relatively easy. Here's a graphic that I put in an article I wrote for Creatorbread, and it's the #2 image when you search "tax deductions for freelancers" - and the post was only published two months ago:

💰 Have a question about money or business? Submit it here

If you have a question but don't want it answered publicly, you can still reply and I'm happy to help directly :)

money matters

Everyone's had the dream of being a digital nomad.

Traveling the world, making memories, while maintaining a style of work that you enjoy.

Mitko Karshovski has been location independent since 2017 and has taken a small team of workers into a multi 6-figure company of over 25 professionals.

This week's Money Matters:

What’s one piece of advice you would give to a creative trying to make their first remote hire (assistant, editor, etc)?

Hiring is an art form, and like any art form, it takes a lot of practice to become a pro. So, if you're new to hiring, the only way to improve is to practice. Accept that you will likely not make the best hires in the beginning and adopt a "hire slow, fire fast" mentality.

If someone is not a "hell yes" hire, let them go and find a replacement... this way they can go on to find the right company to shine in and you can find the right fit for your company. There are many tips you can find online on how to hire well, use them, but understand that the only way to become good at hiring is to practice.

How has your life improved since you’ve been location independent?

Location independence ruined my life. It's one of those things that before you have it life is great, but when you become location independent it's like you can suddenly see colors and taste flavors you couldn't before.

And it's not just because you can travel whenever you want. I can now spend way more time with family. I grew up in Bulgaria and moved to the US when I was 10. Before becoming location-independent I could only visit my grandma, who helped raise me, back in Bulgaria 1 or 2 weeks a year... now as she closes in on her 91st birthday I've been able to spend months with her.

I really think the same way people map out their lives as before and after getting married, or before and after having kids, we can include before and after becoming location independent to that.

What does financial independence mean to you?

For me financial independence has a very specific answer - consumer debt-free, earning a yearly salary of $250K per year (avg top 5% across the US), and spending 95% of time in my element which includes ideation, networking, building new businesses/products etc.

The reason my answer isn't a more generic $5m in the bank is that I feel like most of the time, that is associated with retirement.

I've taken "mini retirements" in the past and I did not enjoy it. I got bored by day 3 and started working on side projects by the end of the first week. There are parts of what I do that don't energize me, but every year I reduce the time I spend working on those and to me, financial independence is when I have complete freedom to spend a large majority of my time working only on things that give me energy while never worrying about the price of something.

(Bonus) What’s your favorite thing to spend money on?

I love to spend money on gear, convenience, and outsourcing. I am a complete gear nut (specifically backpacks) and am giddy whenever I get to buy a new backpack that I've often times spend hours researching online. I am also a huge fan of spending the extra money to make things more convenient.

This ties in to outsourcing as well - for example, in Mexico there is a service called Rappi Favor which is like Uber Eats but on steroids. You essentially pay people for little favors like if you forget your keys they can go get them for you, or if you realize you're at a cash only restaurants instead of running to an ATM you can get them to bring you cash.

But my favorite way I've used it is when a new Marvel movie came out and we had someone go to the theater (which did not have an online order option) as soon as it opened and select the exact seats we wanted and then bring us the tickets.

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