Write what you want to write and then cut it in half. Yesterday I wrote a post titled Make That Paper: Monetize Your Skills And Passions. Today I took that piece and cut it down to half the words.
We write too long. School and University teach us to be overly wordy to fill page number requirements and word counts. As we write we tend to fall in love with our own writing and brilliant [to us] word use. We read, learn from, and are graded by professors who think they are the best writers ever and who think the world just grovels to read their 500 page, 200 dollar book.
We need to unlearn this.
People in the real world are busy. They don’t have time to read an article or email that is five pages long and filled with wondrously wordy prose. Get to the point. Keep your sentences short. Keep your paragraphs short. Write with purpose and quickly and clearly make your point known.
Reading both my pieces should help you get an idea of the value of being concise.
Original Piece:
Ending my love with my own writing version (short piece):
Earning money is all that matters in your professional life. It’s great to have people say you’re awesome at something, but it is quite another to have them pay you for it.
I work a lot with language and have done a number of translation jobs both for money and for free. Needless to say, the jobs I did for money were many times more satisfying than just the dollars I made.
What It Means To Be Paid
Earning money means that someone values whatever you are producing, selling, providing more than their own hard-earned dollars. It means that you have convinced that person to part with their resources in order to obtain your skill or product.
It costs very little to praise someone or click “like” for their work. This costs a little bit of social capital and nothing more. On the flip side, when your article or website is liked or shared you receive only a fleeting sense of accomplishment. This feeling pales in comparison to the pride of being paid.
Because when people pay you for something it means that your work is so amazing and valuable that they choose to work their asses off just to have it. This is something to be proud of.
Money’s Bad Rap
Money making remains a taboo in our society. The more money you make the more people look at you with suspicion. This stems from not understanding that the money you make on the market is directly proportional to the value you create for other people.
On top of money making’s bad rap, we grow up with zero training on how to monetize our skills. We spend our time in school writing essays for people who have to read them–regardless of the value it brings them. We do presentations not to sell products or methods, but to prove that we can regurgitate information we read in the textbook.
Monetize monetize monetize!
Money is the ultimate test of value creation. It the ultimate vote of confidence people can give you. Whether it is a side hustle or your career, you can find a way to monetize it.
Put yourself out there and earn money through your passions. You will gain nothing but experience and confidence. Even if you fail.
People value good work and will pay for it.