✍️The Introverted Thinker: I'm back - and an important announcement!
An essay 'On Passion and Hatred', my niche switch, and more recommendations.
Hello everyone!
Remember me? It’s been a loooong time since I sent an email on this list.
However, to clear things up, I’ve now moved my newsletter over to ConvertKit, and you can switch over by clicking this button below to subscribe:
Now a quick background story before I send you the regular email.
I’ve switched from writing on Medium as a self-improvement/philosophy blogger, to the solopreneur, business, and copywriting side of things.
I’m also heavy into storytelling now.
That’s why I may have ‘disappeared’ from your timelines and inboxes.
You can now find me on LinkedIn, where I talk about building a business from writing online.
And also on my new newsletter, where I send emails twice a week.
Now here’s the regular edition of ‘The Introverted Thinker’ I sent last Sunday, where I give the background of why I quit writing for two years.
(PS. I’ll only be sending a few more emails on this list to remind you to switch over to my new list, then it’ll be dead here again)
Read time 2.5 minutes.
Many of you may not know this, but I started building my personal brand and getting into the copywriting scene in August last year (2023).
Before that, I was writing and publishing multiple articles a week from December 2019 to roughly April 2022.
That's just over three years of writing online.
I was 17 when I started...crazy to think.
I remember typing up "How to make money online" during covid and stumbled across a video of someone talking about Medium, a blogging platform.
So I started writing...
I was heavily into self-improvement and philosophy books back then, so I just shared all the stuff I was learning from these books.
I was addicted to writing. I did it day in and day out.
I built a nice comfy following, and a recurring income at around $1,500 (low but not bad for a 17-19-year-old).
I also made so many amazing connections and friends.
But I still ended up hating writing so much that I quit, and went to find regular jobs in commercial kitchens.
Yes, I worked as a pizza chef.
So why and how did this happen?
Simple answer really.
I was chasing numbers.
Views
Likes
Income
With this platform, the more you publish, the more you make. We were paid based on reading time.
And I fell into the trap.
I HAD to write a certain number of articles to keep it up.
It wasn't out of passion anymore, it was purely for money and to hit my quota.
So long story short, I ruined writing for myself.
From April 2023-August 2024, I tried so many times to get back into blogging.
I have about 30 unfinished drafts that will never see the light of day, cause I came back, then left, came back, then left...
But faith somehow reunited me with writing.
I felt part of myself missing. I missed the hustle of online business. I truly felt empty on the inside.
Believe it or not, the catalyst for getting back into writing was when my dad showed me Jasmin Alić on LinkedIn.
I looked up to him instantly, as he is from the same tiny country as my father (and me, sorta), Bosnia, and he was getting so much traction and was killing it!
I told myself, hey, why can't I do that?
So from reading his posts, I started to learn what copywriting was all about, and I haven't stopped since. :)
Podcast of the week:
'How to Master Storytelling | Shaan Puri | How I Write Podcast'
I got recommended this podcast episode last week. It was the first (rather embarrassingly) that I had listened to from this podcast.
But it's fair to say, I think I have a new go-to podcast for all things writing.
Shaan Puri has built up a killer personal brand and has a podcast that pulls in 25 million annual listeners. He's also a hell of a lot of other things.
Best way to sum up this pod? It's just a mini masterclass in storytelling, creative practices, marketing, and psychology when it comes to copy.
Give it a listen!
A book I'm reading:
'Copywriting Made Simple: How to write powerful and persuasive copy that sells' by Tom Albrighton
I just started this book a few days ago, and I realised something big.
This book is a damn gold mine.
If you look at some of the big copywriting gurus on LinkedIn, it's like each page of this book is one of their highly-performing posts.
This is the type of book you read with a pen and highlighter in hand.
CRAZY value, trust me.
I'll finish it by next Sunday, and maybe include a few of the top lessons.
See ya,
Alen
Thank you for reading another email!
If you haven't already, say "Hi" to me on LinkedIn 👋.
And if you're interested in working with me, or want to talk about something, you can book a call here ☎️.
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PS. Now that you made it this far, there are a few goodies for you.
Here are a few ways I can help you: