12 subtle habits that helped me grow my readers to over 220,000

I’ve been writing for many years, but it’s only in recent years that I saw my reader numbers rise in leaps.

I had ample time in the years prior to follow the voice in my head that said, ‘Alex, stop, this isn’t for you.’

I’m glad I stuck with it through the hard moments because with each passing year, I’ve picked up new ways to stay motivated and grow as a writer.

Now I have a kick-ass asset (you guys who lean into what I say) that will protect me in the coming years.

An audience. A tribe. A movement.

I haven’t always got it right, but the hours spent writing showed me patterns that point the way.

Here are some habits that helped my audience grow:

Write when it doesn’t always seem needed or ‘reasonable.’

Few commit to a daily writing habit, and fewer still write when they don’t really feel like it.

But its impacts are exponential. Just have the faith to give it time.

Walk far daily.

The more I walk, the more my audience grows.

You can fill in the gaps.

Things took a massively positive turn when I brought more vulnerability into my writing.

This doesn’t mean revealing my ugly side for the sake of clicks.

It’s about exposing myself to criticism with the ultimate aim of serving one reader in a relatable way.

I view my writing as service.

Much of this means writing stuff that people understand on their first run.

And 95% of making your words readable means cutting out crap. Readability is overlooked because it seems so obvious.

But using long words to sound impressive is a great way to diminish your followers, not grow them.

I started addressing real, often unacknowledged problems.

There’s a difference between writing about ‘cool stuff’ and writing about things people genuinely struggle with.

Ask other people, or rewind your mind to a recent challenge that kept you up at night.

Write about that.

That cuts to the core.

Tripling down on proven ideas (and platforms).

I apply a loose rule to the types of content I focus on.

80% of the time, I write about topics that have already done well, perhaps with a fresh twist. The rest of the time, I experiment with new ideas or untested angles, structures or even platforms.

You can’t ever stumble on something new that works without experimenting. I borrow from other successful posts and hooks, for example. Or I talk about topics I know my audience already responds well to.

That way, I am practically guaranteed solid engagement and growth from a piece of content.

I play the long game.

So many brilliant creators quit.

Years of writing showed me that it’s less about talent or skill, and far more about faith in the medium and the craft.

Give yourself space to fall in love with it, rather than getting hung up, like most do, on fast results. It sounds easier than it is.

Follow a system.

Writers often romanticise the craft and end up depressed.

They bought too much into their feelings, and took themselves too seriously. But really? Forget yourself. I created a system that works (and is positioned for continual improvement) and I simply follow my system.

That means writing regularly, sharing my newsletter lead magnet continuously, and writing an email to my subscribers most days.

There’s no ‘me’ in that. Just a system that works.

I honoured the craft.

I get it. You can write, make videos, record audios and the common thread is you’re a storyteller or a leader or a teacher.

That’s true. But too often, people use this as an excuse to detach from the art of writing.

Writing is indeed an art and one that I would have left long ago had I not fallen in love with the craft itself (and getting better at it).

I worked on my sense of humour.

I wrote to make myself chuckle like a goofball.

When this happened, people responded well.

The same applies to emotional writing. When I write angry, those do well too.

I learned my reader.

And I am still learning about them.

I ask them questions through surveys, for example. I am connected to their real-life daily concerns and write to them as much as possible.

Much of this I get through my own personal experience of life, but I get a lot of that from comments and talking to people too.

I get people telling me that ‘I show up just at the right time’ nearly every day.

Let go through writing.

Most people view writing as this serious ’chore’ that involves tensing up and trying to communicate like a ‘professional.’

No. Writing should be a nearly spiritual experience that cracks you open and lets your spirit out. If this requires you to write crap for ten minutes to loosen up, do that.

I learned people did not show up for my Safe Alex, vanilla, dumbed-down version.

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Thank you.

Alex