People nowadays straight up can’t read. I wish it was more complicated than this, but it’s just true. We live in an era during which people simply haven’t honed their reading comprehension skills. This is because we simply don’t read much as a species. People spend a lot of time on websites like TikTok and YouTube. This has taken away from books and newspapers. But people are still reading. Apple News and Google send popups to all of our phones. We often neglect online writing, because it isn’t front and center. But there’s a lot of online writing out there, and it brings in a lot of collective eyeballs. This is because of Google, the news aggregators, and social networks. Any writer can drive traffic to their work in today’s age, meaning that even if it’s not as popular as it used to be, it can bring in some attention, and that attention can pay big dividends.
Advertisers still need eyeballs
Even though people largely can’t read, they still *think* they can. This means that you can still get their attention with words or an article. People are bored. Their eyes go random places. It’s wild how much time people waste on their phones. This presents an opportunity for all writers. Fill the online demand. Sometimes what you’re writing doesn’t need to make a ton of sense. Get eyeballs, sell ad space, make money.
Literacy has decreased, but the pool of active readers has grown
The internet has done wonders for people who have a message. Nowadays, people can talk about anything and find at least a small audience willing to follow them. Additionally, people who read are always going to have better comprehension skills than those that don’t. So, the people who really matter are most likely to understand you. Your customer base has grown significantly from the age of needing to go to the bookstore.
Just repeat your message
If you repeat yourself over and over again, people will generally eventually get the gist of what you were saying. And even if they don’t really understand, they’ll either support you enough for you to make money or hate you enough to give you the eyeballs necessary to make a living. Repeating yourself also allows you to create more content. That content acts like a billboard for your personal brand and products.
Writing online isn’t a get rich quick scheme. You’ll likely need a decent sized portfolio before you make any money at all. But it’s definitely possible to make a living doing it. Everyone’s on their phone all the time. Swipe, swipe, swipe. Sometimes people swipe or tap their way into some words. So do it. I personally suggest starting a blog. Then you can create some social media posts. Blogs are a bit of a ghost town at the beginning, but they tend to bring in long-term profits. I highly recommend you get started.
Thanks for paying attention.
