How I Grew a Half-Million View Publication By Simply Being Myself
Niche & Voice Masterclass #2
In 2019, my Medium publication got 500,000 views in a month.
We had the biggest names on Medium writing for us, like Michael Thompson, Nik Göke, and Jessica Wildfire. It was incredible!
I remember starting that publication in 2016, by myself, writing short articles for it every weekday.
And here we were, three years later, with 100’s of contributors and half a million monthly views!
When I started that publication—The Post-Grad Survival Guide—I had no experience. I was a 23-year-old kid making $400 per week. I’m sure career experts or financial influencers would’ve made much better, more helpful content.
But somehow, people listened to me!
Why?
Because I grounded my writing in my own personal experiences, not PHD level expertise.
Expertise can be great! Don’t get me wrong. But many writers think that if they don’t have a ton of expertise or credentials, nothing they write will be useful.
I’m living proof that that’s false.
And that should fill you with hope, dear reader!
Your Stories Are Way More Interesting To Read Than Anything Else
I started my publication with one objective:
Ground my posts in personal experience.
I ALWAYS wrote about lessons I had actually learned. I never gave people guidance I never personally learned firsthand.
That felt too cheap to me, you know? If I teach people how to trade stocks, and I’ve never done that, it just feels hollow and impersonal. But if I teach people how to save money while road tripping across the USA because I did my own 23-state road trip?
THAT’S more exciting to write, and read, because I get to tell a fun story, and it really happened!
When Tom Cruise jumps out of an airplane in Mission: Impossible, what makes it so insane is that HE’S ACTUALLY DOING HIS OWN STUNTS! What you’re seeing is real. Audiences can feel that, and they love that. Doing the same thing in your writing has that same power.
A lot of blogging experts say to write for your reader, not yourself. I disagree. Doing both at the same time is ALWAYS better, because readers can sense when the author is stoked about what they’re writing. It makes them excited in return.
Telling our personal stories bridges these two worlds perfectly.
It keeps our writing fun, and useful, at the same time.
Don’t Dismiss The ‘Expertise’ You Actually Have
Who do you want writing advice from?
Sally Writer who just got started blogging yesterday
Stephen freaking King
Obviously, Mr. King.
But what if you’re not Mr. King? Doesn’t matter!
I started my Medium publication at 23 years old. Did I have all the secrets to the universe? No! Did I need to have all the secrets to the universe? Also no!
All I needed to do was be able to help recent grads who were behind me in their development. I didn’t need to be Simon Sinek. I just needed to be Tom Kuegler.
I could help recent grads:
Get started with freelancing
Plan cheap travel
Get inspired
Learn important, hidden life lessons
I wasn’t teaching people how to make $100,000 per year freelancing, but then again, I didn’t need to. I was helping people take that first step, and get introduced to the world of Upwork—not create a 6-figure business.
My “expertise” was built-in to my personal experience. I mean, there’s a reason that expertise and experience sound so similar.
If your goal is to have more “expertise” in your writing, look no further than your own personal experiences! Full stop.
Your Stories Taught You Lessons Others Are Dying To Hear
I graduated college in 2015 and was scared sh*tless. I woke up—way too late—to how much of a prison modern American life can be, and I wanted out. Huge problem, right?
Over time, I learned how to make money online via freelancing, then blogging, then Youtube.
I found a way OUT of that dilemma, and then I helped others with that dilemma, too.
So, my audience is just me. And if that’s the case, NOBODY knows my audience quite like I do. It’s like being able to talk to a twin who’s been through everything you’ve been through. They’re going to be able to speak your language, right?
Right.
I have a theory about blogging..
What we write about is just a compilation of struggles we overcame.
The deeper the struggle, the better the content. It resonates more, because people will appreciate you helping them with a problem that’s haunted them for years, and maybe even decades of their life.
If someone could help you with your biggest problems—problems you’ve had for decades—how much would you love them?
Exactly.
Personal Stories Make Our Writing Way More Emotional, Too
Most content that teaches lacks one HUGE thing..
Emotion.
When you ask ChatGPT to teach you something, do you feel any emotion when you read the answer?
Of course not.
But when someone opens with a personal story about how they learned what they’re about to teach you, it really raises the stakes!
For instance, this blog post. I opened with a story about growing my publication. It (hopefully) inspired you a little, right? You felt some joy, and excitement! That’s because I felt joy and excitement writing it.
Emotion adds SO MUCH to a piece of writing. It can take an article that’s a 5/10 and make it a 10/10 immediately. This is a huge benefit we get if we incorporate our stories into our writing more.
All Your Writing Is Grounded In Personal Experience Anyway
What do you write about?
I guarantee that whatever your answer is, it’s born from something that actually happened in your life.
I’m not going to write about Astrophysics, am I?
I write about how to grow on social media, because I’ve grown big followings on 7 major platforms.
Now, I COULD write in a way where all I give is advice, guides, prompts, and no stories, but the fact remains that I’m writing about THIS topic because I actually have experience with it.
That’s why, whenever I try to find someone’s “ideal niche” or “brand” I ALWAYS start with their stories. Because, whether writers know it or not, their writing IS based on their expertise, which is created by experience.
Stories have the richest emotion, the clearest lessons, and are often therapeutic to write about.
It’s a win-win-win. ALWAYS start with your stories.
You Might Not Be Writing About What You Should Be Writing About
Oof, I hope you were ready to read that.
It’s fascinating how many students of mine are writing about the wrong topic.
They think that they HAVE to write about what they have the most experience with, or that can make them the most money.
But this is keeping them from their very best writing.
I’ll be 100% frank.. To have your best shot at blogging success, you need to write about what you love with all your heart. Anything else isn’t going to work.
“But it can’t make me money!”
First off, that’s wrong. Anything you write about can make you money.
Second, you’re not going to make money with your current topic anyway, because your heart isn’t in it.
My most viral videos and articles were ALWAYS rooted in deep emotion—in things I believed with 110% of my heart. It felt good—nay, ORGASMIC—to get it out.
“Did Tom just use the word ‘orgasmic’ in a sentence?”
And to go viral, you need to feel that same STRONG emotion in the creative process. If you don’t, it’s just not going to cut it.
Go ahead and laugh, but when’s the last time you felt ORGASMIC writing a post? If the answer is never, you need to switch something up immediately.
And hey, maybe you’re in the right niche, but you just don’t incorporate your own stories enough. Start doing this! It adds a layer of emotional depth that will help your content do way better, and be more fun to write.
Start using your stories RIGHT NOW
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