Either your topic is too niche, or the market is saturated.
Pick one. You can’t use both excuses.
I get it. Earning income online can be tough. There are so many methods and tactics out there it’s hard to know what to focus on. And once you pick one, you still have to compete for attention with your competitors, AI slop, and the general noise of social media.
But there’s one solution that most people are overlooking (or even abandoning) that enables you to rise above the noise and competition. And it actually becomes your most valuable intellectual property without having to slave for algorithms and trends.
It’s not some new software or a magical AI prompt. It’s a clear, unique perspective you own. And the best way to get a clear, unique, owned perspective is through long form writing.
I know, I know, this isn’t what you wanted to hear. You thought you were done with writing in high school.
But trust me, long form writing is one of the highest value skillsets you can develop in an era of AI noise. And I say this as someone who hated writing with a passion for my entire life, and somehow, ended up making it my career.
There was one key realization that transformed me from someone who avoided writing at all costs into the person who can turn a few thousand words into a few thousand dollars.
But before I share that with you, we have to first address the real problem. Not the tactics and strategies that have let you down in the past, but the lack of perspective, vision, and direction.
And it all stems from a contradictory belief that most people hold without even realizing it.
The Paradox of Paralysis
If you’ve tried any of those tactics, you know that “shiny object” feeling.
You roll your eyes at yet another Youtube ad, your cursor hovering in the bottom right corner of the screen just waiting for the skip button to pop up.
But by the time it does, the talking head has your attention, and you find yourself wondering if this is the solution you’ve been missing.
You know this feeling. You’ve felt it before.
But this time, you tell yourself, it’s different.
You listen. You bite. You buy.
And 6 weeks later, the project is half finished, the course is stale, and you find your mouse hovering over the skip button once again, feeling the same feeling. Again, thinking this time is different.
I get it. I’m no stranger to this feeling myself, and I’ve beat myself up countless times for succumbing to Shiny Object Syndrome.
But it’s okay. It’s not actually your fault.
Even though it might feel like it, shiny object syndrome is not actually a discipline problem. It’s really more of a direction problem. When you’re not committed to a long-term goal, every new tool or tactic looks like the answer.
Those shiny objects usually do work, they’re not selling snake oil. But they didn’t work for you because they’re only a piece of the puzzle. Most visions require multiple tools and tactics, but if you don’t have a clear vision, you don’t know how those tools and tactics fit in to support that vision and bring it to fruition.
Of course, the direction problem is an invisible problem. In the moment, it just looks like the strategy that the stupid course is teaching isn’t working for you, and you don’t know why. So you start to put the blame on the teacher, or the platform, or AI.
And this makes sense. But these are just symptoms of the real underlying problem, and jumping from shiny object to shiny object is just a subconscious effort to avoid it. The only way to solve the problem is to face it head on and ask yourself what you really believe and who you’re here to serve.
Long form writing is not only the best way to articulate that, and also one of the best ways to excavate it. I call this your “Brand Canon” because it acts as a source of truth for your core values and perspective. What stops most people from going down that road is a pair of contradictory beliefs that create the paradox of paralysis.
My interests are too niche, I’ll never be able to grow an audience.
Even if people did share the same interests, why would they listen to me?
If that resonates with you prepare yourself, because you have to swallow these truths before you can go any further:
You are not special. Your interests are not unique. There are 1000s out there like you.
Your experience is special. Your perspective is unique. Something no one else can offer.
The reason these 2 core beliefs are paradoxical is because you simultaneously think you’re so special no one can relate to you, and you also think you’re so boring no one will listen to you. Both of these ideas make logical sense on their own, but when examined together it seems insane.
The point is, no matter what, you have something to offer. You could be teaching finger style guitar. You could be teaching sewing. You could be teaching ancient history. You could be teaching dog tricks. You could be teaching cooking. You could be teaching dieting. You could be teaching cooking on a diet. You could be teaching a language. You could be teaching physics. You could be teaching underwater basket weaving.
It doesn’t matter.
There is a 100% chance that you have a unique perspective on something.
There is a 100% chance that there are plenty of people who are interested in that thing.
There is a 100% chance that there are enough people who want to listen to your perspective.
But there’s a 0% chance that you ever make any money from it if you don’t take the time to figure out what it is. Everyone has a unique perspective to offer, and I’m about to show you how to determine yours even if you’ve never had a single original idea in your entire life.
No Such Thing
I personally never considered myself to be a writer.
I would consistently rank writing as my least favorite school activity from first grade all the way through college.
Like dead last. Every year.
It wasn’t until years after college I realized that I’m not “not a writer.” What I am is a deep thinker. When I realized that writing is simply the mechanism to articulating my own thoughts, not only was I able to write more, but I actually began enjoying it.
So if you can think, you can write. The problem is most people find themselves waiting around for an original idea to magically appear before they start writing.
But I’ll let you in on a secret. There’s no such thing as an original idea.
This is good news and bad news. The bad news is that if you’re waiting for an original idea, you’ll be publishing your first piece from the grave. The good news is that you don’t have to wait for originality. You are already just as original as all your favorite creators.
Most of the ideas we come up with, we come up with because we were influenced by people who had the same or similar ideas. Whether consciously or subconsciously, you pick up little influences from everywhere in your life, and they all contribute to who you are. This is what gives birth to your unique perspective and why people should (and will) listen to you instead of someone else. Because no one has that combination of influences, even though most of what makes up your perspective isn’t really original ideas.
I’ll prove this to you in a very simple way.
That paragraph above is not a new idea. It’s almost plagiarism. That paragraph was influenced by the Dan Koe, who says, “There is no such thing as original thought, only original articulation.” So while the idea of long form writing as a mechanism of articulating thoughts and preserving your unique perspective is not an original idea, my articulation of the idea as “brand canon” is uniquely mine. And if “brand canon” helps you understand the concept better, you’ll probably associate the idea with me, even though it’s not my idea originally, AND even though I TOLD YOU it’s not my idea.
And to be fair, it’s not Dan’s idea either. When talking about this topic of articulation and original thought, he often quotes a tweet from JK Molina which says “Twitter is about saying one thing in a thousand different ways.” As you can see, this concept has been around long enough to exist back when Twitter was still Twitter and people actually shared profound insights on the platform.
This should be encouraging. Remember, no one is really an original thinker at all. You are as original as your favorite creators, you just don’t think so because you haven’t tried to articulate the beliefs you pull from them in your own words. The difference between you and them is simply that they decided to articulate their perspective publicly, and you haven’t.
Yet.
Your Brand Canon
So if the problem is a lack of perspective and direction, and the solution is original articulation, the mechanism is long form writing.
In the age of AI slop, long form content is one of the only ways to articulate and share deep, meaningful, thought-provoking ideas.
By building your library of long-form content, you are building a moat around your brand and intellect, protecting you from the competition and swarms of AI-slop-creators jumping on the bandwagon of every trending topic or popular take. This is your Brand Canon at work.
Your long-form writing establishes your unique perspective and thought process. It simultaneously gives your audience content to binge while also allowing them to understand you on a deeper level. The more long form writing you publish, the more you protect your unique perspective and insulate yourself from competition. Others may promote the same or similar products or make some of the same points, but no one will ever reproduce every single essay you ever publish because no one has your unique thought process and exact collection of influences.
Your brand canon is more than just bingeable content. It becomes a reference library you can point to when backing up your convictions. Any time you find yourself saying “I’ve made this argument before,” you can reference the relevant piece. And if it doesn’t exist yet, you have something new to write about.
It’s most useful through the selling-by-serving lens. You know your beliefs and values best. You know which problems you can help people solve, and who needs the solution.
Sometimes these people need convincing, so if someone is on the fence about your offer, you don’t have to pitch them, you just point to the article that addresses their hesitation directly. You’ve already clearly articulated the argument which will get them over that hurdle and one step closer to solving their problem.
For instance, this article is for all the people that say “I want to earn income online, but I don’t know what I care enough about to build a business around.” This If that’s you, this piece should encourage you that you do actually have something worth writing about and turning into a business.
Think about it like this. Each piece you write is like planting a tree, and you are planting a forest. The more trees you plant, the bigger the forest gets. And over time, the trees themselves also get bigger as your ideas develop. The branches grow upward and outward and eventually start overlapping, connecting concepts you may have initially thought of as completely separate. Eventually, you no longer see a bunch of trees, but a forest of your knowledge.
Planting a forest may seem daunting, but writing is actually one of the best places to start in that case. Many people are intimidated by writing and publishing long form content because they don’t know what to write about. It may seem counter-intuitive, but writing is one of the best tools for figuring out which direction you want to go.
Everyone has their own thought processes and their own unique set of influences. Even if two people consumed the same content from the same creators, they still have a different perspective on a wide range of topics because the internal processes are different.
I promise you DO have something to write about. You DO have a perspective worth sharing.
So how do you figure out what that is?
Where To Start
The core of most people’s beliefs comes from either external influences, internal introspection, or a combination of both. The flow chart below will point you in the right direction to start defining your beliefs and architecting your brand canon. I’ve also written an AI prompt that will interview you to excavate your core values and convictions, determine your most notable influences, and create your personalized brand canon blueprint.
The Deep Thinker Diagnostic:
START: Do you consider yourself a deep thinker about anything in particular? Do you find yourself contemplating certain topics throughout the day? Do you find yourself in debates (hypothetical or real) about the right/best way to do something? Do you have a strong set of values or moral principles you adhere to?
If ANY YES: Do these beliefs mainly come from your own introspection or mainly from external influences (authors, podcasters, etc.) or a combination of the two?
If Introspection: Focus on writing and articulating your ideas clearly, and make them digestible for people to understand. Get clear on why it’s important for people to understand these ideas and which kind of people it’s important for (a lot of the time it’s not everyone). As you spend time contemplating your ideas, frameworks will emerge that make it easier to teach and consume these ideas.
If Influences: Focus on synthesizing the high impact insights from your favorite thought leaders. Get clear on how those insights impact you, and how the creator is able to deliver the insights in an impactful way. Determine which beliefs you actually hold and which you adopted without really thinking about it. Then focus on writing and articulating your ideas clearly, and make them digestible for people to understand.
If Both: Articulate your personal beliefs and examine your influences to determine which beliefs came from which influence. Get clear on why it’s important for people to understand these ideas and which kind of people it’s important for. As you contemplate your ideas, frameworks will emerge that make it easier to teach and learn these ideas.
If NO: Stop mindless content consumption. Start consuming content mindfully. That means paying attention to what kind of content captures your attention, why it’s interesting to you, what additional questions arise after having consumed that piece of content, whether you agree or disagree, and how that information impacts your life. Spend some time on this (a few days, a few weeks, no more than a month) and once you start noticing patterns, come back to this flow chart and start again. Eventually, conscious consumption will be engrained in you and it will be very easy to notice which ideas resonate with you, why, and how you can put your own spin on it that will benefit your audience.
Set aside a few minutes for the flow chart and follow the process to really lay out your beliefs and establish your brand canon. If you get stuck or need some stimulus to get the ball rolling try out the AI prompt I wrote specifically for this purpose. I’ve made it available for free here.
And if you’re looking for some additional support, share your writing with me. I’m always looking for new writers I resonate with on any topic, to learn from and collaborate with. The best way to do that right now is to post your writing on Substack and connect with me there. If you really want to be an over-achiever, join the Future of Freedom VIP Community and message me there. That’s the fastest way to get me to read your writing.
Whether you publish your essays or not, I encourage you to develop a writing habit. Even if you never share your writing with another human, a regular writing practice will benefit you in many other ways.
Primarily, like we talked about, it allows you to articulate your thoughts more clearly. This not only makes writing easier, but also speaking to people about that topic, and even thinking about that topic you can go deeper, having concretized your perspective.
And you DO have a unique perspective.
Stop making contradictory excuses.
Stop waiting for original ideas.
Just write.
Talk soon,
Tim
“A man is what he thinks about all day long” —Ralph Waldo Emerson