The 9 Steps to Start a Writing Career from Dan Koe

If you are trying to introduce writing into your life for the many benefits that it can bring, including potential income, here are 9 steps on how to start and stay consistent in this journey from Dan Koe:

1. Choose a topic that you can't shut up about

Write down your:

• favourite books
• Youtube watch history
• Favourite social media accounts
• What you would write about if money was not an issue

Good writing is about energy transfer, not being professional.

2. Brainstorm a unique perspective

• Novelty catches attention, and attention is necessary for people to read what you write.
• People need to be reminded more than they need something new.
• People need to be reminded with something new. They need to be reminded with the fundamentals but with a new perspective (your perspective).

3. Write 1000 words on the topic

How you structure it?

• Paint a picture of the problem and how it affects someone's life.
• Talk about your personal experience with it.
• Give a step-by-step advice on how to solve the problem.

Actionable advice is how you build an audience at the beginning to prove your worth and value.

4. Sign up for a blog or a newsletter software

Create a content ecosystem:

• 1 newsletter a week.
• Upload newsletter as a blog.
• 1 thread condensed from newsletter.
• 3 tweets a day from ideas in the newsletter.

Those get turned into :

• Youtube video scripts.
• LinkedIn posts.
• Instagram carousel.
• Reels.
• Tiktoks.

5. Repurpose the actionable part of the newsletter

• Start by establishing authority in one domain before asking for anything.
• Actionable and in-depth advice is the most potent and beginner friendly way to start growing on social media.

6. Learn how to network and grow on the platform itself

• The non needy networking process.
• You need both good content and eyes on that content.
• You also need Readers sharing your writing (happens for good content).
• Network with similar follower account and grow together.
• Commenting on larger account so people can notice you.

7. Turn ideas into impactful tweets from your newsletter

• Create lists. For example. If you write about bodybuilding, list 5 reasons to become a bodybuilder, then take each of the reasons and write about them.
• You will do that once a week because you are rotating topics anyway based on the newsletter.

8. Develop a writing system

Study writing and social media frameworks.

Here are few examples of writing frameworks:

• PAS: Problem, amplify, solution.
• AIDA: Attention, interest, desire, action.
• PASTOR: Problem, amplify, story testimony, offer resolution.

Write down a process you can test to write newsletter, tweets, etc.

Test it daily and refine it when you hit a roadblock.

9. Branch out to different platforms.

My favourite advice about writing, which is not in the list, is to just start, start small and ideas will follow. Procrastination comes in different forms, one of them is to wanting to see the whole picture before starting.