17 months ago my friend and Medium top writer
made his first dollar writing online.
Okay, it didn’t pay off his mortgage, but it did something more valuable: It caused a seismic shift in his mindset.
“Maybe this could work? Grow my audience and make a nice side income.”
He wasn’t oozing world-beating confidence. But he’d started to believe. And self-belief supercharges your writing engine.
Guess what happened next? He suddenly earned about $1,000 writing on the buzzy publishing platform Medium.
“Today is Medium payday and $961 has landed in my account. I find this astonishing. Because I’m nothing special.”
In this week’s podcast, we talk headlines.
Derek knows it’s not sexy, but writing non-sucky headlines that people click on is vital.
It’s a skill anyone can develop!
Derek took a scientific approach to online writing and studied top writers on Medium and other platforms.
What tricks do they use?
He devoted hours to crafting his (viral) headlines.
“Your headline is the most important sentence you write. Don’t treat it like an afterthought. Don’t use the first idea you have. It's takes time to craft a winner.”
17 months ago Derek was a struggling writer. Now he makes over $2500/month and quit working full-time
What’s super cool is that Derek shared in an exclusive guest essay for my Online Writing Club that he now earns enough with his part-time business that he can go part-time in his main job.
“It’s so exciting to be in control of what I do.This hasn’t been easy. It took 18 months of hard work. And a zillion mistakes. But my little writing business is flourishing. 12 months ago I was a struggling writer earning $25/month. But now I make over $2500/month.
Derek loves templates. They are an easy way to write faster headlines and in our podcast interview, he shared 7 proven templates with you.
“Don’t rush your headlines. Devote time to your headliness, steal my templates and something magical could happen!”
Ready to be better than 97% of writers?
You can listen to this week’s interview on Substack and/or watch our interview on YouTube - ⚠️but be warned. You might become overwhelmed with a flood of new readers and subscribers:
✅ What we talk about:
00:00:00 Why Headlines Are Important to Get Clicks
00:01:05 Who is Derek Hughes?
00:02:30 Is Writing a Full-Time Job for Derek?
00:03:15 Biggest Mistake that New Writers Make
00:05:56 How Consistency Has Changed Derek’s Writing
00:07:42 Derek’s Formula for an Irresistible Headline
00:10:36 Derek’s Thoughts on Clickbait and How to Avoid It
00:12:56 How can Writers’ Headlines Stand Out?
00:15:08 The 4P Approach to Headline Writing
00:18:06 Headline Examples from Derek
00:25:08 What is the Rule of 10?
00:28:52 How Derek Infuses Emotions in His Writing
00:32:40 How Derek Fights Procrastination
00:35:02 What is Derek’s Writing Process and Is Repurposing Worth It?
00:42:25 Personal Questions for Derek
Use Derek’s 4P Framework to draw more readers to your writing
To reward you for sticking with us for so long, here’s Derek Hughes's 4 P’s Template you can steal:
1. Problem - What’s this about?
Be crystal clear on the problem you’re solving.
Never write about a topic. Always solve a problem. This gives you an angle. And a reason for people to read it.
How do you know what problem to solve? Listen to your readers. Read their comments. Ask them questions. If you don’t have a big audience. Read comments on bigger writers in the same niche. Use numbers or emotive words to dial up the power.
2. Person - Is this for me?
People wonder Am I the sort of person who should read this?
Help your readers know this is for them. A common mistake is being too general. You think this widens your appeal. That more will click. But the opposite is true. Being narrow strengthens your attraction.
Knowing who you’re writing for helps you frame your title.
Compare these titles:
3. Product - What are you offering?
This is where you show what type of writing this is.
People need to know what they’re getting. This makes it more attractive. Vagueness repels. Is it:
a listicle
your life story
actionable advice
lessons from a book
what you’ve learned from doing something
4. Promise - What’s the reward?
Readers are selfish.
They’ll read if they gain something. New writers focus on themselves and their content. This is a big mistake. Zoom out and think about your reader. Why should they spend time reading this? What will they get from it?
People are looking to:
solve problems
make money
save time
ease pain
If you help with these, people will read your stuff. Find a way to make this clear in your title. Use numbers. Or powerful, emotive language. Avoid clickbait by overpromising. You serve your readers by making the promise clear.
Derek started writing online with ZERO followers or experience
“You won’t believe how bad my writing was when I started. (Please don’t look it up). I was 51 with no experience and decided to give it a go.”
His only advantage was his curiosity and willingness to learn. So if he can do this. Anyone can!
As a Medium writer myself, I decided to not put all eggs in one basket in fall 2022. Now I’m a Substack bestseller and garner 85,000 views with my newsletter.
Luckily I inspired Derek to start writing on Substack and now he’s building his Medium/Substack flywheel too.
As I always say:
“Substack and Medium go together like peanut butter and jelly!”
5 days ago, Derek reached the amazing milestone of 15,000 followers on Medium:
On Substack, he’s growing rapidly too.
Inside our writing community with more than 300 members, Derek shared a few weeks back (now he has already 600+ subs):
As tribe member Derek, you’ll get:
access to the members-only community of 300+ like-minded writers and creators ($97 value p.m. )
access to all expert-led LIVE workshops, e.g. our special and hands-on “Headline Writing Like a Pro” session with Derek; next session “Pitch The Media Like a Pro” will be with
, Weds, Oct 16, 1 pm EST.
access to all Kristina-led LIVE workshops, e.g. this month: Canva for Substack Level Up Your Home with Guest Posts, From Zero To Recommendations Hero.
access to The Substack Halloween Party in the last week of October with spooky surprise guests
access to all replays of past LIVE workshops
access to all courses, e.g. Substack School, Medium School, Freelance School ($700 value)
quarterly earnings reports, next one will come in 2-3 posts
discount on Bootcamps for annual members, e.g. Derek and mine NEW “Substack Curious? The Medium/Substack Flywheel Kickstarter Bootcamp” (starting Oct 18) and a $90 discount on 1:1 coaching
NEW: Founding Members get a 1:1 strategy session with Kristina ($187 value)
I’d love to have you on board and support you every step of the way.
🌟Binge-listen to “The Online Writing Club” podcast🌟
🎙️#5 - How to Get Published in The Huffington Post in 2024 | Learn From Ashley Broadwater
🎙️#4 - 7 Mental Models To Make $1 Million As A Writer | Learn From Michael Simmons
🎙️#3 - From Beginner to First Book Deal | How Evelyn Skye Became a 6-Figure NYT Bestselling Author
🎙️#2 - 100K/Year Without Social Media | Writer Tom Kuegler Shares His Eye-Opening Journey
🎙️#1 - From Medium Post to Bestselling Book | Interview with Debut Author Michael Thompson
Are you giving your headlines enough attention? Are you thinking hard enough? Share a headline (and link to your post) that worked or a question.
We want you to get better and better and better!
PS You did it. Nice! If this wasn’t the worst podcast episode of all time, give us a like. Even better: share it with a friend who needs some headline help. Thanks!
PPS Watch out for our “Substack-Curious? The Medium/Substack Flywheel Kickstarter Bootcamp” starting November 18. I tripled my income and will have a 10,000 subscribers year. I want the same for you.
I just looked at his Medium page and it seems his success (like yours) is from articles coaching other writers. Is this the only successful genre? Do people on these platforms read about anything other than the hustle? Is it possible to be successful writing about any other topic?
This is a great question Jennifer. If you look at any platform (Substack, Medium, YouTube) - there's a vast range of topics. And most readers are not creators. So this is a very niche area. Plenty of other topics available,
Sure. Walter Rhein is a great example. He's writing on Medium and Substack.
I started writing about parenting. I have many people in my tribe who share personal stories.
I have a background in marketing and comms plus journalism :) so I'm not a guru telling you : Do this, not that!
I'm just sharing what I'm doing part-time with two kids in the house and the stories of others that helps us grow.
As for Derek, you can take his tips for ANY genre.
Jeanette from our tribe shared with me she got one paid subscriber by using Derek's headline tips! She's writing about hourse breeding. We have dog beahviourists, psychologists and so many other wrtiing about Canada, humor, music. Check our ben Ulansey or Robin Wilding and ALL the others. My husband is software dev and huge. Others are writing about gardening. THe ones you're reading (me and Derek) are the ones sharing their successes and success stories of others. But those who have them, often don't dare to share them. I'm happy to make them shine and be seen. Derek is known on Medium but not on Substack so I wanted to introduce him to you.
What are you writing about? Are you writing on Medium? and Substack? Tell us a bit more.
What are your writing dreams?
Hope this helps :) Hugs, Kristina
PS You don't earn much money with META stories about the creator economy or writing, that's a myth. But you can earn money with helpful tips and success stories
Add me in your group list
You can become a paid subscriber and will get access to our writing group and school
How i become a paid subscriber.
https://www.onlinewritingclub.com/subscribe
I wants earning in this plateform.i have no money for paid.sorry.i live in Pakistan.
I need this plate form and don't waist our time plz tell me tip.in which i success full in short time
You can watch my YouTube videos and join as a paid subscriber=member
I need your help gor paid subscribers
Sure. What are your questions and your plans? Tell us
I wants to grow our substack.help me
Tip no 1: change the title of you Substack :)
"Shahzain"this title change??
Tell me tips
Thanks for sharing this, Kristina.
Hi Raveen, nice reading from you. You're welcome. Many more awesome voices to come. Derek is a headline genius and I'm happy to share his awesomeness today.
Is there anyone you'd like to see an interview with?
Not at the moment, thanks.
This feels more like altering your writing to gain an audience. I would rather draw an audience that appreciates my style.
This is a great question Noelle - it's important to write in a way that gain attention from your target reader and reflects your unique style. Headline frameworks like the 4Ps can help with this
Oh, hi Noelle, it's more about understanding your audience and thinking a bit harder about the headline so that you find YOUR audience and YOUR audience knows what she gets.
No matter how good your post is, if no one clicks it it's sad. That's why it's smart to experiment with headlines. Since Derek spends a lot of time analyzing headlines, he's the man :)
Any questions? I bet Derek will reply
I do have one question. How exactly do I come up with a headline? Where do I put it? I usually just put the title of the story.
Title/Headline is the same thing. Looking at your Substack you might gain more readers by using the 4P Framework in this podcast
Beautiful article - and so helpful. I really appreciate the specific, actionable steps to crafting good headlines. I'm gonna reread this again right now.
Good luck with your headlines Shmuel
Hi Derek, do you know how many subs you got through this guest post?
I want to write a guest post about communiy building and got some examples already. Maybe you know the impact or had a great conversation based on this OR the Bootcamp maybe?
Hi Shmuel, how's your current situation? How are you feeling?
And did you reach out to Ashley?
You can listen to it ^^ on the go. I often listen to podcasts while cooking now
Hello Kristina, and thanks for asking!
Things here in Israel are quite intense at the moment, the security and political situation is unstable and worrying. Thankfully I've been off the news and social media for a few weeks already, which has greatly improved my mental health, because I'm less caught up in the minute-to-minute drama, of which there is plenty. (I'm learning that - no judgment on anybody - my mind just isn't wired to be able to handle these tools sanely.)
Yes, I was in touch with Ashley, she was quite helpful, I'm following up on her suggestions.
As for the podcast, to be honest, I'm much more of a reader than podcast listener.
Hi Smuel, that's why I offer both. Written posts and audio episodes. You can also read the transcript but... that's too much I think. You learned with this post one framework. In case you listen to the pod, let me know what you think. I'm happy about suggestions of any kind.
Glad you stopped watching the news etc. ( I stopped this during the pandemic. I wa pregnant and it killed me to see al this drama). Big HUGS! Stay happy and healthy.
Gad you connected with Ashley? Was i a coaching call? I thought she could maybe pitch the media for you. Our session is on Wednesday about becoming a Pitching Pro
Great idea to do both, expand the potential audience. Maybe one day I'll be able to do that, but now I'm focusing on practicing what I preach - healthy living from a Jewish angle - and prioritizing what works for me even if it doesn't cover every possible direction.
Ashley and I, so far, just communicated by email a bit, it didn't sound like pitching it for me was relevant.
May we hear good news soon!
Hey Lisa, are you from YouTube?