I see it happening all the time...
Creators who just started publishing their work are already comparing themselves to people who are hundreds of steps ahead.
And I get it.
It's easy to scroll through LinkedIn, see someone's viral post about making $50k in a month, and wonder:
But let me zoom out and give you some perspective:
I've been writing online since 2018.
This has been my full-time job since 2020.
I've spent thousands of hours refining my craft, studying marketing, building products, and working with clients.
And nothing I've achieved happened because of a single action.
Everything I've done for the past 7 years accumulates:
- Posts I published years ago continue to attract views and grow my email list
- Partnerships I built years ago led to clients who still lead to new opportunities
- Products I launched years ago continue earning passive income
If you're just starting out, the worst thing you can do is look at an established creator and think: I should be doing what they're doing.
That won't work.
Because you don't have their environment, audience, or experience.
If you're starting at zero (no audience, no credibility, no network), you have to double down on YOUR strengths and put in the reps.
But here's the good news:
Anything above zero accumulates.
Even if you just:
- Publish one piece of content per week
- Connect with one potential client or collaborator
- Create one simple product to validate your ideas
...you'll eventually hit big numbers.
That last point is critical, by the way.
Most creators wait too long to create their first product.
They think they need a massive course or a perfect offer to start making money.
But some of the most successful creators I know started by launching rapidly launching small offers.
My partner Jari Roomer, for instance, writes about how he launched a digital product in 24 hours and made $1,140 from it.
Here's exactly how he did it.
The point isn't perfection.
It's momentum.
So stop comparing yourself to creators who have been doing this for years.
Your only job right now is to stack small wins.
Start small.
Publish that piece.
Test your ideas.
Learn what your audience actually wants.
The creators who win aren't the ones with the biggest launches.
They're the ones who start small, validate fast, and compound their efforts over time.
Big love from my screen to yours,
Sinem
P.S. Looking back, there are three things I wish I had done differently while building my online writing business.
If you're just starting out, learning from my mistakes might save you months (or years) of frustration.