a website & community for women who write & blog
Like nearly every other black woman in the United States of America, I kicked off my weekend by going to see Girls Trip with one of my best friends. The movie follows four college BFFs as they reunite for a long overdue girls trip to New Orleans for ESSENCE Festival.
I think I was in the 5th grade when I first declared I was going to be a writer when I grew up. I had been writing really bad poetry since I was about 7 or 8 and in 5th grade I started reading the work of Maya Angelou. And so I decided I would one day be a famous poet like her.
As I got older the type of writing I did changed, but my love for writing never did. And as I got older I started asking myself a question that 5th grade Javacia didn’t think much about — How will I make money as a writer? This is probably a question you’ve been asking yourself, too. And this is a question I want to help you answer in part four of the Write Like a Boss series. (Be sure to read part 1, part 2, and part 3, if you haven’t already.)
Let’s discuss seven different ways you can make money with your writing skills.
If I write it, they will come.
If this has been your motto for marketing your work, you need to stop lying to yourself.
As declared in part one of the “Write Like a Boss” series, to be a writer all you have to do is write. And the more you write the more you’ll get clear on the type of writer you are, as discussed in part two of the series. To be a writer who makes money and makes a difference, you need an audience and to find that audience you’re going to have to do more than just write. You must market your work. People can’t read your writing if they don’t know it exists.
Chances are you hate to hear the words, “Build your brand.” Thinking of yourself as a brand may feel gross or even wrong. But it’s not. Building a personal brand simply means defining and clearly conveying what you’re all about — who you are, what you do, and why you do it.
In part one of the “Write Like a Boss” series, we established that you are a writer. Remember, to be a writer all you have to do is write. But I want you to be a writer who makes money and makes a difference. One thing that will help you do this is building a personal brand.
The highlight of my Saturday this past weekend was attending the first Black Bloggers United Power Hour event to be held in Birmingham.
Black Bloggers United, an organization dedicated to enhancing and highlighting black content creators, hosts monthly blogger meet-ups in cities across the country with the help of regional directors. (You can read my interview with BBU Birmingham regional director Keoshia Kyneard of BusyDoingMe.com here.)
Chatting with local bloggers over my favorite Starbucks tea reminded me why I love blogging so much in the first place — community. Writing can be a very lonely art, but through blogging communities, both local and national, we writers can find our tribe.
Some of the ladies who attended Saturday’s meet-up had yet to start their blogs. I couldn’t help but put on my coaching hat and try to figure out what was holding them back. They all had the same answer: “I want to write about too many things!”
