I’m a second-generation immigrant.
Dad’s a train driver.
Mum’s a fraud investigator.
Other than the fact that I:
Was tipped to represent Team GB in Taekwondo in the 2012 Olympics
Lost my best friend to knife crime at age 17.
Walked away from the opportunity to be a professional footballer (soccer player) twice.
Was part of a religious cult.
I’m quite… ordinary.
5’9. No degree.
In fact, I barely finished school because I signed a football contract at 15.
Back then, I dreamed of becoming a professional footballer. But I gave up in 2016 after I accidentally joined a religious cult (a story for another day).
If it weren’t for that, I would be at the tail end of my football career, probably have a few houses across a few continents, married with kids, a Porsche 911, you know… footballer stuff.
And would’ve NEVER gone back into education in 2017 to study accounting and business.
Especially not as a 21-year-old.
Do you know how ridiculous it feels to have a bunch of 18-year-olds crush on you because you’ve got a beard and a decent car?
Okay, I’ll admit… that was a nice ego-stroker.
But that’s not the point…
That place sucked.
I hate the education system with all my soul.
Anyway, I’m getting carried away…
What I'm trying to tell you is that, despite all the crazy things I've experienced, NOTHING in my background prepared me to make a living writing online.
Yet I’ve still been able to build a 6-figure business doing it.
And if I could figure out how to do it without a degree, connections, or any special advantages, I'd bet my house on it (when I get one) that you can too.
Here are the 7 steps I’d recommend you follow:
Step 1: Do some epic sh*t
Nobody gives a cow’s ass about what you have to say unless you’ve got something to show for it.
So the first step to earning a living writing online is to do some epic sh*t.
And by epic, I don’t mean you need to become a millionaire, win an Olympic medal, or build the next Google.
You just need to do something worth talking about.
You have to give people a reason to listen to you.
For example, nobody wants to listen to a 19-year-old kid talking about life.
I mean, they might if he’s lived a previous life as a successful entrepreneur and remembers everything that happened.
But that’s my point…
You’ve got to do something to stand a chance of getting people to listen to you.
Because, quite frankly, in the world we live in today, most people are lazy (which isn’t always a bad thing).
They don’t want to spend months figuring things out on their own if they can learn in half the time from someone who’s already done it.
This creates an opportunity for people like you and me.
If we dedicate our lives to collecting valuable experiences, we will never struggle to find someone on the internet to lend us an ear (or eye, if you want to get technical).
And the crazy thing is, it doesn’t even need to be that insane…
In 2019, all I did was teach myself math, Python programming, and AI.
That was the foundation for how I claimed my little corner on the internet. And it’s the basis of how I make $100,000+ each year today.
My point being, you’ve just got to do something people care to know about.
This will set you up perfectly for the next step…
Step 2: Tell people about the epic sh*t you’ve done (or are doing)
Remember what I said about people earlier:
“They don’t always want to spend months figuring things out on their own if they can learn in half the time from someone who’s already done it.”
By that measure, your experience is worthless if it stays in your head.
Because how are people supposed to know what you’ve done, what you’ve learned, or what they can learn from you if you never tell them?
Exactly.
But there’s more to it than just telling people about what you’ve done.
HOW you tell them matters too.
It’s got to be done in a way that aligns with your personality AND where you are in your journey.
To make more sense of what I’m saying, I’ve identified 5 creative archetypes you’ll see sharing content online (in no particular order):
1. The Expert (The Experienced Veteran)
This is someone who has spent years developing expertise in a particular field.
They share hard-earned lessons, proven frameworks, and insights from their experiences.
Example hook:
I’ve spent 10 years building AI products.
Here are 7 mistakes I see new AI founders making:
Their advantage is that they’ve already done the work and have results to show for it.
2. The Explorer (The Curious Learner)
This person doesn’t pretend to know everything.
They’re learning something new and inviting people to follow their journey.
They document their progress, share their mistakes, and explain what they’re discovering along the way.
Example hook:
I’ve spent the last 30 days learning Python.
Here are 5 things I wish I’d known before starting:
You can be an explorer as long as you’re curious enough to learn something and willing to share what you discover.
3. The Curator (The Information Filter)
These are the people who save everyone else hours of research.
They find useful information, filter out the crap, and organize what’s left into something people can easily understand.
Example hook:
I went through 50 free Python courses.
Here are the 5 I’d recommend to complete beginners:
Their value comes from doing the research, so other people don’t have to.
4. The Relatable Peer (The Storyteller)
This person connects with people through personal experiences.
They share their struggles, mistakes, wins, and lessons in a way that makes readers think, “Bloody hell, I’ve been through that too.”
Example hook:
I spent 6 months trying to learn programming and nearly quit.
Here’s what finally helped me make progress:
They don’t necessarily need to be the most knowledgeable person in the room.
Their ability to make people feel understood is what makes their writing valuable.
5. The Contrarian (The Provocateur)
This person challenges popular beliefs and questions the way things have always been done.
They’ve been around the block and have seen a thing or two.
Hence, a good Contrarian can explain WHY they disagree.
Example hook:
Learning to code isn’t the hardest part of becoming a software engineer.
Learning to solve problems is…
Their advantage is having a perspective that makes people stop and reconsider what they believe.
A lot of people mess up when telling others about the epic sh*t they’ve done because they try to adopt an archetype that doesn’t match where they are in their journey (or their personality).
For example, it makes zero sense for someone who’s only just started learning AI to position themselves as an AI expert.
What track record do they have to prove their methods work?
That’s like someone who’s been homeless their entire life trying to teach you how to become a millionaire.
It’s also quite daft for a beginner to try to be the contrarian because you still need to be clued up on a topic to take a different opinion… or else you’ll just look misinformed.
So if you’re a beginner, start with one of the remaining three. As you develop more expertise, lean into the expert or contrarian archetypes if you want.
You can also combine them, but it’s better to become known for one style.
Step 3: Pay attention to requests
As you share the epic sh*t you’ve done (or are doing), people will start reaching out to you with questions.
Heck, some will even tell you outright they’ve lost brain cells trying to get to where you are.
These are cries for help.
And some of them are worth a LOT of money.
But to extract that money in large quantities, you’ve got to make sure there’s enough demand first.
So track every cry for help.
One person asking you for help could be a coincidence.
But recurring questions are clues into problems people want solved.
Justin Welsh is a great example of someone who used this to spot an opportunity hiding in plain sight.
Before becoming the unofficial father of solopreneurship (as I like to call him), Justin was a sales executive.
He helped scale two healthcare/SaaS companies to billion-dollar valuations, but he burned out and wanted a change.
Naturally, he started sharing lessons, insights, and frameworks from his sales experience on LinkedIn.
And his following grew fast.
People initially followed him for his sales content, but they couldn’t help but notice how quickly his LinkedIn audience was growing.
So they started asking him questions about how he was growing so quickly.
Being the sharp salesman he is, Justin noticed the pattern and did what we’re going to cover in the next step…
Step 4: Supply the demand
In 1920, the United States banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol.
And almost overnight, a new generation of criminals started getting filthy rich selling it illegally.
One of those guys was an American of Italian descent called Al Capone.
He became one of the most notorious mob bosses in American history, ruling the Chicago Outfit and building an empire that reportedly made $60M a year off the back of the 18th Amendment.
This guy understood something about business that many people, especially writers, overlook when they venture into the business world…
And that is, you’re not so important in the grand scheme of things.
What do I mean?
Well, it is said that there was once a time reporters caught up to Capone while he was vacationing at his lavish estate in Florida.
They asked him about the brutal street violence and gang wars taking over Chicago.
And Capone looked right at them and replied, “I am like any other man. All I do is supply public demand.”
That’s the key detail.
Your customers don’t care about what you want to sell.
They’re just fixated on what they want to buy.
And if a lot of people want something that’s hard to get, the value of it goes up.
Now, I don’t want to turn this into an economics lesson, so let’s backtrack a little…
Remember what I said in Step 3?
Recurring questions are clues into problems people want solved.
Well, if people are willing to part ways with their hard-earned cash to solve a particular problem, you’ve found demand worth supplying.
Your next job is to create an offer that gives people what they’re looking for.
These first four steps are the foundation of making a living writing online.
Skip any of them, and you’ll make life unnecessarily difficult for yourself.
Step 5: Get wins (and use them as proof)
This last bit is just about making selling your offer a heck of a lot easier.
To get people to buy, you’ve got to increase their confidence that your offer will give them what they want.
And the way to do this is with proof.
How has your offer helped people (including yourself)?
The proof must tie back to the outcome that people were trying to achieve when they were asking you questions.
For example, if they want help growing their account, show proof of how you’ve used your methods to grow your account and others’.
The more confident you make buyers feel that they will achieve their desired outcome, the easier it becomes to get them to part ways with their hard-earned cash.
So make it your mission to get tangible results.
Then share those results as case studies.
Final Thoughts
Any Tom, Dick, and Harry can make a living writing online.
And I’m the living proof of that.
No degree. No wealthy parents funding my ambitions. No network of successful entrepreneurs helping me behind the scenes.
I didn’t mention it earlier, but I even had to retake my English GCSE’s (and I’m a native speaker).
Again, I say all of this to drive home the point that making money writing online is simple.
Not easy… Simple.
Meaning you’ll have to work your socks off a little to figure things out. And you may have to invest some money in developing your skills along the way.
If you get it right, you can build a life on your own terms and work with whoever you like.
You’ll also meet some pretty dope people along the way too.
After all, if an ordinary guy who had to retake his English GCSEs can make $100,000+ a year doing it, what’s stopping you?
And in case you ever need any assistance, just drop me a message.
Thanks for reading!