The Most Expensive Mistake Writers Make (and How to Never Make It Again)
Why your writing isn’t making money—no matter how talented you are—and the brutal shift that flips it all.

If your content isn’t selling, it’s not because your ideas aren’t good.
It’s not because your voice isn’t strong.
It’s not because “the algorithm” hates you.
It’s because your content isn’t solving a painful enough problem.
This single shift?
This brutal, unsexy truth?
It’s what separates the writers who earn… from the ones who endlessly publish without making actual money.
Want to make money from your writing?
Solve bigger problems.
Every profitable business is built on this one principle:
“You get paid in direct proportion to the difficulty of the problems you solve.” — Elon Musk
If you’re a writer who still thinks you can monetize “your journey,” your opinions, or some romantic version of “authentic self-expression,” let me be lovingly blunt:
That dream dies in the face of the monthly bills.
Writing becomes a business the moment you stop making it about you and start making it about solving something for someone.
So ask yourself: what’s the one painful, frustrating, expensive problem you can solve better than anyone else?
Start there.
Because when you stop creating content that just sounds good, and start creating content that does good…
You stop hoping to get paid.
And you start becoming impossible to ignore.
Stay Unplugged!
Yana
P.S. Here’s a deep dive into what types of problems you need to solve to make sure you maintain a high conversion rate.
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