Better” Arguments: If everyone else is just stating the facts, or shooting opinions from the hip, you can be the one to challenge conventional wisdom. Instead of writing about what to do, write about what not to do. Instead of talking about things people should learn, talk about what things most people never learn—and fail as a result.

“Better” Context: If everyone else is giving advice or sharing their opinions, you should be the one to give context as to why your advice, opinion, or story is different. For example, it’s one thing for me to say, “There are 5 things you need to know about ghostwriting for executives.”

Once data enters the equation, this is where the “Who Do I Want To Be?” conversation gets interesting. Do you want to keep writing what you had originally wanted to write about? Or do you want to write what people clearly want more of? My answer is: you should always do both. Data doesn’t lie. But data is also a reflection of the external crowd, an

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can interact and build meaningful relationships with other writers and readers. You can build an audience, faster, in an environment that allows you to reach them quickly and effectively. You still “own” all of your content. Unlike writing for a major publication, you can do whatever you want with your content—including copy/pasting the exact same

The art of online writing is all about letting readers tell you what it is they want more of, and what they’re willing to pay for.

The Advertising Model

in order to even be considered as a paid contributing writer, you need to 1) already have proven your ability to drive viewership elsewhere (I did this on Quora), 2) be a credible source of information in your chosen category, and 3) guarantee you can write a certain number of articles for the site per month. If you fall below that quota, you won’t

Chapter 4 Where You Should Be Writing Online—And Where You Should Not