An Untethered Life 3 Non-Negotiable Criteria For Successful Freelance Writers Hello Reader, There's a ton of noise in the freelance and writing spaces. You've got countless newsletters (including mine), blogs, courses, and other resources vying for your attention. Many of them promise the world, claiming to show you how to earn thousands of followers almost overnight in their quest to make you a world-renowned writer and online entrepreneur. Too bad 98% of it is sheer bullshit. (And that's...
17 days ago • 3 min read
An Untethered Life Writing Tools vs. Writing Skills: The Crucial Difference Hi Reader, There's no shortage of online courses, lists, coaches, templates, and software collections that purport to give you the tools you need to succeed as an online writer. Just one problem: they're barking up the wrong virtual tree. Because it's not tools you need. It's skill. And there's a huge difference between the two. A quick example: The "Framework" hustle A short example from my own life might be helpful...
24 days ago • 2 min read
An Untethered Life Why I Deleted A Full Month Of Content Hi Reader, You may (or may not) have noticed that my newsletter has failed to hit your inbox over the last several weeks. Please accept my apologies for that. I took a self-imposed hiatus from all public-facing writing starting late last month and lasting until mid-October. On the off-chance that you were curious about how I spent that time - or why I took the time off in the first place - I thought I'd use this space to offer some...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
An Untethered Life Does Your Content Pass The Only Test That Matters? Hi Reader, Much of the writing I come across online is thinly veiled commercial pablum designed solely to pitch something, get clicks, increase followers, or accomplish some other obvious goal that has nothing to do with the reader's enjoyment of the piece. In my view, this kind of content fails the only test that online writing should be subject to. And that test can be summed up in a single question: If you stripped out...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
An Untethered Life Maximizing the ROI on Your Writing Hi Reader, It's easy to write a lot and wind up without a lot to show for it. Plenty of people toil in obscurity only to see their writing fall through the online cracks, unread and unnoticed. So, how can you avoid this fate? How can you ensure that your writing gets read by someone, somewhere? How can you use it to make money, get attention, or gain fulfillment in your personal life? In this edition of An Untethered Life, I'll provide you...
2 months ago • 4 min read
An Untethered Life The Commodification of Writing Hi Reader, There's a war being fought in the online writing space. On one side are the writers - and their allies - doing their best to demonstrate their value as unique, distinguishable providers of a premium product. On the other side are the forces doing everything they can to reduce writing to a commodity. The consequences of the war will be dramatic. If the writers win, we all have an economic future doing what we love to do. If we lose,...
2 months ago • 3 min read
An Untethered Life A Technique for Defeating Writer's Block Hi Reader, Whether you're writing copy and content for money (as I do), writing on a schedule on social media, or creating a newsletter, you're going to find that deadlines and client demands invariably conflict with your internal motivation. You're going to run into periods of time where you don't feel like writing but you've just gotta get stuff down on paper. I'm stuck in one of those (prolonged) stretches as we speak. Unlike my...
3 months ago • 3 min read
An Untethered Life A (Mini) Freelance Writing Industry Roadmap Hi Reader, The freelance writing industry is a bit of a Wild West. There are a ton of different paths you can take: full-time, side-hustle, content, copy, social media, blogging, grant writing, etc. The possibilities and combinations are endless. And how you approach the forks in the road as you wander down your own unique path will depend on what you're looking for from your writing and your particular skillset. In today's email,...
3 months ago • 3 min read
An Untethered Life Beware The Writing Coaches Hello Reader, Last week, I emailed someone requesting that I be added as a writer to a publication on Medium so I could submit a story for consideration. I got a friendly and timely reply saying that I'd been added. I went ahead and submitted my story, which was accepted and published. Great, right? Well, not so fast. Apparently the editor of this publication promptly added me to his mailing list. He wasted no time as he began pitching what I...
3 months ago • 4 min read