I Made $1 Million Writing Online
I swear
The internet is a crazy place.
It’s the land of infinite possibilities, cat memes, and people who swear they made a million dollars by “just writing.”
You’ve seen them.
The Twitter threads, the LinkedIn posts, the blogs that promise you too can achieve financial freedom by simply “writing great content consistently.”
And somewhere between your third cup of coffee and an existential crisis about your own productivity, you start to wonder:
“Wait… could I do that too? Can I make $1 million by writing online?”
Short answer: No.
Long answer: Also no, but in a more elaborate way.
Writing is wonderful
It is.
Writing truly is wonderful. It is fulfilling. It can influence people, change minds, and even—on occasion—pay for a decent meal.
But when someone says, “I made a million dollars just by writing online,” what they really mean is: “I made a million dollars by writing and then aggressively monetizing something else.”
Let’s break it down, shall we?
The Classic “I Made a Million Writing Online” Formula
Step 1:
Write a lot. Blog, post on Medium, tweet your little heart out. This step is crucial because it gives the illusion that writing itself is the money-maker.
Step 2:
Build an audience. Maybe you write about finance. Maybe you write about productivity. Maybe you write about writing itself (classic move).
People follow you because you seem like you know things. Or, at the very least, you seem relatable.
Step 3:
Sell something. This is the part they forget to mention when they tell you about their lucrative writing career. The truth is, the writing is the bait.
The real money is in whatever they’re selling:
A book. (“You love my blog posts? Now buy this 200-page expansion of them!”)
A course. (“Why read my free blog when you could pay me $497 to tell you the same thing in video form?”)
A coaching service. (“You, too, can make a million dollars writing! Just pay me to tell you how.”)
Affiliate links. (“I use this software, and you should too. Please, for the love of God, click THIS link.”)
Sponsorships. (“This post about personal growth is brought to you by a meditation app that I absolutely swear I use every morning while I drink my coffee”)
Suddenly, the million-dollar figure starts to make a lot more sense.
It wasn’t the writing…
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The “Write and Get Rich” Dream
Making money online is possible. Very possible. Many do it.
Some people even do it well.
But the whole “I just wrote my way to wealth” story… is a little misleading. Writing online is the vehicle, but the revenue engine is everything else.
Some lucky people make good money from just writing—maybe through a paid newsletter or ad revenue on a wildly successful blog.
But the people who write the headlines “make a million writing” are making a million from everything else but writing.
Which, hey, is still impressive!
Don’t get me wrong. They don’t care that it’s not the writing. And it’s not a bad thing to make money with other things, obviously.
But What If I Just Want to Write?
If you genuinely love writing and don’t want to turn into a marketing machine, great!
Just… adjust your expectations.
If you want to write without worrying about monetization, don’t expect to be swimming in cash unless you stumble upon a magical SEO loophole or a billionaire who inexplicably enjoys your Substack.
If you want to make money, you’ll have to sell something—your book, your expertise, your soul...
If you just enjoy writing and aren’t looking for a quick buck… I can’t help you
The Bottom Line
Can you make a million dollars writing online?
Yes, sure, but not in the “sit down, type words, and cash magically appears” way that some people want you to believe.
The writing is the gateway, the lead magnet, the honey pot. The real money is in what comes after.
If you want to write, write.
But if someone tells you they made seven figures “just” from writing online, smile, nod, and know that somewhere in the fine print, there’s probably an expensive course involved.
And an affiliate link. Always an affiliate link.