If you want to make money online, I think you should be stealing as much as you can get away with. When I say this, I’m not talking about breaking the law, or infringing on people’s copyrighted work and profiting off of it. I’m talking about stealing concepts. If you want to earn a living from this stuff, the best thing to do is to take from others. It sounds crazy and unethical, but it’s the truth. The more concepts you take from other people, the better you’re going to do as a blogger, especially as one who is invested in a multi-niche blogging business. Blogging is a tough gig. It’s competitive, and you have to be consistent in order to get traffic. But if you’re able to steal ethically, you can win big. You might not be the type of person to totally rip someone’s content (I’m not either), but you might have also had the urge to use an idea you’ve seen in public or in another piece of art in your work. You were on the fence because you “knew” it was stealing. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about, whether you’re a writer, comedian, or musician. I’m here to tell you that in the future, you should just steal that idea you like. Here’s why.
More content is usually better
There are a few people who have written too much content and ended up banging their heads against the wall when it comes to blogging. This can be surprisingly easy to do. We’re told to expect certain results from blogs, and those can be few and far between at the beginning. It can be easy to blindly create a lot of content and end up having nothing to show for it. That being said, most people are in no danger of finding themselves in this position. If you’ve written fewer than 200 articles, odds are you’re going to get a lot out of writing more. Most people don’t have 100 articles, but sometimes it takes a while to break through. When you think about it, 200 articles isn’t a lot of content in the grand scheme of things. Certainly not when compared to publications such as Forbes or the New York Times. If you’re struggling, odds are you need to write more. Write until you have a solid number of articles under your belt and start a YouTube and TikTok Channel in order to promote your articles and website. Stealing ideas for your content will allow you to maximize how much you’re able to write.
Good ideas can come from anywhere
This is really what I mean by stealing. You want to be stealing content ideas from the world around you. Look at what’s going on. Observe. Is there something that you can condense into a thesis statement? Once you have a thesis statement, you can write a good article. Your article needs to be organized and is hopefully at least 600 words long. That is quite easy to do, provided the original idea you had was reasonably complex. When you’re in a content-creation burst, you want to consume as much stuff as possible. Watch good media, bad media, all media. Get as many ideas as you can. Engage in unconventional learning. You would be surprised what ideas you come up with, and how much content you end up being able to create as you work. Every single little “lightbulb” in your brain is an idea. Those that come from others and have seen success can be stolen.
Do what the industry leaders do
Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Follow what the best and brightest people in your industry do to make money. If that means posting on Pinterest, then post on Pinterest. If your competitors are doing well on YouTube and TikTok, then you know what to sign up for. Following the leaders in your industry is the best way to succeed. Steal their blueprint and copy it to the best of your ability. You should be able to live quite comfortably if you can do things even half as well as them. Just make sure that you do your best and actually go hard. Invest the totality of your energy into what you’re doing.
Run with the concept, don’t copy the media
A singer can prevent a rapper from “clearing” a sample, but it’s hard for a guitarist to sue another guitarist over the use of a give Chord progression. If you’re trying to come up with a form of derivative media, you need to make sure you aren’t outright steal. This is especially true if you’re looking to make money as a result of your efforts. You don’t want to violate copyright laws. Generally speaking, the USA’s copyright laws are the most important. But try to familiarize yourself with the EU’s as much as possible too. You want to run afoul of as few rules as possible. If you see a good idea, run with it. But don’t just “copy-paste”. Be smart.
What’s an example of stealing?
If you’ve read this article, you’ve been a witness to a minor heist. I stole the concept for this article. Have you ever heard the expression “good artists copy, great artists steal”? This expression comes from Pablo Picasso, one of history’s greatest painters. The title of this article is a play on that expression. You probably knew that, but sometimes it isn’t obvious. We don’t always pay attention when we consume content, and a lot of content is already derivative or stolen. If you put your own spin on things, it doesn’t “feel” like anything has even happened, as far as the reader/viewer/consumer is concerned. Have you ever enjoyed a pop song, only to find out it’s based on some other pop song? Exactly. Great content creators steal.
Good bloggers write, great bloggers steal. Great bloggers get a lot of web traffic and a lot of money. Duplicate content doesn’t work on Google. You’re highly likely to get penalized if you copy a website. But any concept can be copied. As long as you’re producing a lot of content and remaining somewhat original, you’re going to be able to steal concepts from both media and real life and spin them into content. Give it a shot. I promise you’ll find yourself becoming infinitely more creative. This is because those “muscles” in your brain won’t be overexerted. You’ll be coming up with ideas and taking from others. If’s moral as long as you cite your sources when discussing facts or detailed concepts. When it comes to smaller stuff (general ideas), don’t worry. Lots of great bloggers steal. If you put in a bit of effort, check the laws, and apply the most basic levels of morality, you’ll be fine.
Thanks for paying attention.
