Member-only story
Be careful about attracting beginners
They often can’t afford what you sell or will try it once and move on.
Instead, create content for your ideal client instead, one can afford your offer and will do the work.
I wrote blog posts and articles for new authors and writers for a few years.
Two examples come to mind. I wrote a several thousand-word guide to using Scrivener for blogging, packed with pics, examples, and templates.
I also published a huge step-by-step breakdown about how to crowdsource great book covers over at 99designs.
Creating beginner content takes hours.
I covered every step, including pics, supporting videos, explainers, and examples. It was kind of like writing a recipe but it took far longer. And I had to eat my own dinner, i.e. use Srivener to blog for a few months and spend money on getting a book cover from 99designs.
When I get this type of content right, it does well on search or social for a few months. I was OK with this measure of success for a few years. More search or social traffic meant more ad revenue.
I like it when DMs and comments roll in, too. They always fall into one of three camps.
