Nick is the owner of Somewhere.com, He buys real estate, starts companies, and has built an audience of over 494,000 followers on X by sharing strong opinions about business, health, wealth, and life.

Recently, he shared a list of things he believes sound crazy today but will become normal over the next decade.

Whether you agree with him or not, the list is thought-provoking. Some ideas are backed by growing research, others remain controversial, and a few are likely to spark heated debates.

Here are his predictions:

1. Fluoride will be viewed as harmful, even in small doses.

2. LED lights, excessive screen time, and lack of sunlight will be recognized as major contributors to obesity, depression, and metabolic diseases.

3. Chemical sunscreens will face much greater scrutiny over long-term safety.

4. Vaccines will be questioned far more than they are today.

5. Female hormone therapy will become much more common.

6. Sugar—especially around workouts—will be seen differently than it is today.

7. Carbohydrates will be embraced as an essential part of a healthy diet, with around half of daily calories coming from them.

8. Circadian rhythm—getting enough natural sunlight—will become one of the biggest pillars of good sleep, energy, and mental health.

9. Polyester underwear will be considered a bad idea for long-term health.

10. Creatine, magnesium, and B vitamins will become common supplements for children.

11. Vitamin D deficiency will receive much more attention, with higher target levels becoming standard.

12. Supermarket fruits and leafy vegetables will face increasing criticism over chemical exposure.

13. Ordering raw salads or fruit at restaurants will become something more people avoid because of pesticide concerns.

14. Poor lighting environments will be linked more strongly to obesity, diabetes, and metabolic disorders.

15. Blue-light-blocking glasses after sunset will become as common as prescription glasses.

16. Extended fasting (72+ hours) will become a mainstream health practice for some people.

17. Intermittent fasting will lose popularity, while eating breakfast regains importance.

18. Sleeping on electrically powered smart mattress covers will be viewed as unhealthy.

19. AirPods and frequently holding phones to your ear will become less socially accepted because of health concerns.

20. The thyroid will receive far more attention, with many hidden thyroid disorders being diagnosed.

21. Testing for thyroid antibodies will become routine.

22. Gluten and modern wheat production methods will receive much greater scrutiny.

23. The thymus and immune system will become a much larger focus in preventive healthcare.

24. Higher doses of BPC-157 will become more common.

25. Stem cell injections will become widely available.

26. Peptides will transform many areas of medicine and human performance.

27. Doctors will continue to lag behind emerging health trends because medical systems move slowly.

My Thoughts

I don’t necessarily agree with every prediction on this list - and neither should you simply because someone influential said it.

Some of these ideas are supported by ongoing scientific research, others remain highly debated.

And a few currently lack strong scientific consensus.

But that’s what makes the list interesting.

It forces us to think about how quickly “common knowledge” can change.

Many ideas that sounded ridiculous 20 years ago are now accepted. Likewise, some beliefs we hold today may be completely overturned in the next decade.

The best approach is simple:

• Stay curious.

• Question everything.

• Follow good evidence.

And be willing to change your mind when the facts change.

Quick Update

The Cold Pitching Series that started on July 27, 2026 isn’t over yet.

We’ll continue tomorrow, August 1.

If you’ve been following along, make sure you don’t miss the next edition. I’ll be sharing more practical strategies you can use to land clients consistently.

See you later.

Extrastiv

Founder of Freelance Job Zone

In our previous lessons, we broke down the difference between cold emails and cold DMs, you can read it here.

Today, we are diving into the absolute foundation of successful outreach: RESEARCH

Your cold pitching process is not complete if you skip this step. You will always struggle to get replies. This is the reason why many remote workers and freelancers always complain online. They grab a list of 50 emails, paste the exact same message to everyone, and hope for a miracle to happen.

Take a look at this thread, you will understand why you need to get your pitches personalized. The conversation rate was a total mess.

Research is what turns a cold, ignored message into a warm conversation. Before you write a single line, you need to spend a few minutes understanding who you’re reaching out to and where their gaps are.

(Kemi, the popular AI video creator on X is hosting her monthly AI video creation masterclass on the 25th to 28th of August 2026. This is a four day live training.

Time: 8:00 PM WAT

If you want to learn how to use AI to make your first $1000 before the end of this year, I highly recommend her class. I made my first AI video creation money this year via her teachings. Join over 1300+ freelancers who has taken the class here.

Take a look at this video she created with AI, she got massive brand deals after this video, this can be you too.

Back to class…..

The 3 Pillars of Pitch Research

Whenever you examine a brand, train your eyes to look for these three things:

• The Right Business: Are they actually active? Do they post regularly or run ads? Don’t waste your energy pitching a dead business that can’t afford your services.

• The Angle or “Trigger”: Why are you reaching out today? Did they just launch a new product line? Did they hire new team members? Are they missing short-form video content on TikTok while dominating Instagram?

• The Decision-Maker: Businesses don’t read emails—people do. You can skip the general info@ addresses. Look for the Founder, CEO, Head of Marketing, or Creative Director on LinkedIn so your pitch lands directly in front of the person who holds the budget.

The 5-Minute Research Rule

A huge trap freelancers fall into is spending 45 minutes over-analyzing one company before sending a single message.

Use this quick 5-Minute Checklist:

1. Minute 1: Scan their main website or profile (Confirm active business + revenue signs).

2. Minutes 2–3: Spot one specific gap or opportunity (Website load, missing reel captions, outdated creative).

3. Minute 4: Find the direct name and title of the decision-maker.

4. Minute 5: Note down one personal hook (from their bio, recent post, or site) to use as your opener.

If you can’t find a clear hook or gap within 5 minutes, move on to the next prospect.

(Take note, there is every possibility that you will spend more time on research if you can’t find the decision makers contact, it has happened to me before😂)

Smart Gaps & Real-Life Hooks

When you are researching a prospect, make sure you are looking for a specific piece of information that proves you actually paid attention to them.

Here is how you turn quick observations into attention-grabbing openers for executives and CEOs:

1. The Website / Technical Gap

Say you visit an e-commerce brand’s website and notice their best-selling product page loads painfully slow on mobile, or their email pop-up form has a broken link.

• Don’t say: “I am a web developer and I noticed your site has issues.”

• Use a real-life hook instead: “Hey [Name], was checking out your [Product Name] on my phone today and noticed the checkout button hides below the fold on mobile. You’re likely losing impulse buyers at the final step—here’s a quick 15-second screen recording showing where the gap is.”

2. The Personal Profile / Bio Hook

Always check the decision-maker’s personal profile (LinkedIn, X, or Instagram bio). People hide gold in their bios, and using it instantly proves you aren’t a bot.

I used this exact approach when reaching out to an e-commerce CEO. Right in her bio, she wrote: “Time wasting is not my vibe.”

As a sharp guy, I didn’t ignore that—I used her own words as my opening line:

“Hi [Name],

Knowing fully well that time wasting is not your vibe, I’ll get straight to the point...”

She read it, loved it, and replied almost immediately. Why? Because it proved I actually looked at who she was before messaging her.

In our next issue, we will take the research gathered here and move to Step 2: Crafting the Outreach Message - where we build the exact pitch structure that turns opens into paying clients.

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve ever noticed on a prospect’s profile or website while researching them?

Hit reply and let me know.

See you in the next edition.

©Extrastiv.

Founder of Freelance Job Zone

Author of Stop Waiting For Clients.

Subscribe now

Amaka is present today and she came back to school with Locs😅

(At the end of this class, there is an assignment for you, make sure you do it religiously. Also, if you need a cold pitch tracker to track your prospects, you can get it here)

One of the biggest mistakes freelancers make is treating cold DMs and cold emails as if they are the same thing.

They're not.

Both are forms of cold outreach. You're reaching out to someone who doesn't know you yet. But the way you approach each one is completely different.

Understanding the difference will help you choose the right channel, write better messages, and increase your chances of getting replies.

Let's break it down.

What is a Cold DM?

A cold DM (Direct Message) is a message you send to someone on platforms like LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok without having an existing relationship with them.

The goal is usually to start a conversation - not immediately sell your service.

What is a Cold Email?

A cold email is an email sent to someone who has never interacted with you before.

Unlike DMs, emails are more professional and structured. They allow you to explain your offer in more detail and are easier to scale.

The Biggest Differences

1. The Platform

Cold DM

• Instagram

• LinkedIn

• X (Twitter)

• Facebook etc.

Cold Email

• Gmail

• Outlook

• Company email addresses

Simple enough.

One happens on social media.

The other happens inside an inbox.

2. Tone

A cold DM should always feel like a conversation. Like you are talking to your friend but not too casual. There should be a certain level of respect.

A cold email should feel like professional business communication.

You don't want your email to sound like a casual Instagram chat, and you don't want your Instagram DM to sound like a legal document.

Match the platform.

3. Personalization

Cold DMs require more personalization. Before sending one, spend a few minutes looking at the person's profile.

Maybe they recently launched a product.

Maybe they just hired a new employee.

Maybe they posted something you genuinely found interesting.

Mentioning details like these shows that you're talking to them, and not broadcasting the same message to everyone.

Cold emails also need personalization, but because they're often sent at a larger scale, the personalization is usually shorter (this depends on who you are sending it to)

4. Volume

This is where email wins.

You can send far more emails than DMs.

Social media platforms limit how many people you can message daily. Sending too many DMs can trigger restrictions or even get your account flagged.

Email gives you much more room to scale, especially if you understand email deliverability.

When Should You Use Cold DMs?

Cold DMs work best when your prospects are active on social media.

Great examples include:

• Restaurants

• Fashion brands

• Gym owners

• Photographers

• Coaches

• Creators

• Influencers

• Personal brands

• Small local businesses

If they post consistently, chances are they also check their DMs regularly.

When Should You Use Cold Emails?

Cold emails are usually better when you're targeting professionals or companies.

Examples include:

• SaaS companies

• Tech startups

• Marketing agencies

• HR managers

• CEOs

• Founders

• B2B businesses

• Finance companies

• Healthcare companies

Business decisions are often made through email.

That's where these people expect professional conversations.

Before we continue, I would love to address a very important issue. It's for the social media managers reading this.

As a Social Media Manager, Don't Skip Warm Pitching

This is something many of y'all get wrong.

Imagine receiving this message

(This is a real life DM sent to the DM of one of the clients page imam managing😂😂)

"Hi, I manage social media pages. Looking at your page, I realized you are not posting enough, and I know you need the help of someone to handle your page for you, send me a DM whenever you are ready to work with a professional SMM”

The question is…

Who are you even talking to?

Many business Instagram pages are managed by interns, customer support staff, receptionists, junior marketers, or agency employees—not the owner.

Even if your message is good, the person reading it may not have the authority to hire you. Some social media managers will even delete the message because your DM is a threat to them😂. Do you want to to an their job?

That's why sending a cold DM without first warming up the relationship usually isn't the best approach.

Instead:

• Follow the page.

• Engage with a few posts genuinely.

• Leave thoughtful comments.

• Understand the business.

• Then send your message.

When your name already looks familiar, your DM no longer feels weird. It feels like the start of a conversation.

Warm pitching doesn't guarantee a client.

But it dramatically increases your chances of getting a response.

Can You Use Both?

Absolutely.

In fact, many experienced freelancers do.

Here's a simple workflow:

Day 1 Send a personalized cold email.

Day 3 Engage with one or two of their social media posts.

Day 5 Send a short, friendly DM saying you also sent them an email.

This multi-channel approach increases familiarity.

People are more likely to reply when they've seen your name more than once.

Example of a Bad Cold DM

Hi.

I'm a social media manager.

I can help your business grow.

Can we work together?

Generic.

No research.

No personalization.

No reason to reply.

Example of a Good Cold DM

Hi Sarah, I came across your bakery page and loved how you tell the story behind each product. One thing I noticed is that your reels perform much better than your image posts. I have a few ideas that could help you get even more local reach. Would you be open to a quick chat this week?

Short.

Relevant.

Personal.

Curiosity-driven.

Example of a Good Cold Email

Subject: A quick idea for your LinkedIn content

Hi David,

I came across your company's LinkedIn page while researching B2B startups.

I noticed you publish consistently, but most of the posts receive very little engagement.

I have a few content ideas that could help improve reach without increasing your posting frequency.

If you're open to it, I'd be happy to share them.

Best, Stephen

So... Which One Is Better?

Neither.

The best channel depends on who you're trying to reach.

If your prospects live on social media, start with a DM.

If they spend most of their day in business meetings and emails, send a cold email.

And if you really want to maximize your chances, use both strategically.

The goal isn't to send more messages.

The goal is to start more meaningful conversations.

Because that's where clients come from.

Assignment 📝

Reading alone won't help you get clients. Taking action will.

This week, complete the tasks below:

1. Choose your outreach channel. Decide whether your ideal clients are more active on social media or email. Explain why you chose that channel.

2. Build a prospect list. Find 10 businesses or people you would like to work with. Include their name, niche, and where you found them (Instagram, LinkedIn, company website, etc.).

3. Warm up your prospects (if using DMs). Engage genuinely with at least 3 posts from each prospect before sending any message. Avoid generic comments like "Nice post" or "Great." Add something meaningful to the conversation.

4. Write one cold DM and one cold email. Using what you learned in this newsletter, write:

• One personalized cold DM.

• One personalized cold email.

Don't copy the examples. Write them for your own target client.

5. Send your outreach. Send your message to at least 5 prospects this week.

Remember: don't focus only on getting replies. Focus on writing better messages and improving with every outreach.

Bonus Challenge: If you receive a reply — whether it's positive or negative — analyze what worked and what you could improve before sending your next message.

If you want my complete cold pitching system, including the tracker I used as a newbie to organize every prospect, you can get it here.

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People called me delusional- some said I was mad literally. And to be fair, a huge percentage of those pitches were below standard. But I kept sending them anyway, adjusting, improving, and learning from every single attempt.

That is the ultimate hack: the more messages you send, the better you get. Since 2024, I haven't stopped because it genuinely works. If you also want cold outreach to work for you especially as a freelancer like me, you need to be ready to learn the basics which I talked about inside this newsletter.

(I packaged all the 25 cold pitch templates and strategies I used when I first started out inside this ebook, you can download it here)

PS: Amaka did not come to class today.

Cold pitching simply means reaching out to a potential client - someone who doesn't know you yet, and introducing a personalized solution to a problem(s) they have. Simple as ABC. Don't overthink it

Why Should You Cold Pitch?

Before focusing on "how to pitch", you need to understand "why" it's the ultimate client acquisition strategy:

Here are some of the reasons,

1. Not all clients post job openings on public job boards.

In fact, many high-value clients don't even realize they need help until you point out a problem and offer a solution.

2. Eliminate the competition:

When a job is listed on LinkedIn or Upwork, you compete with hundreds of applicants fighting for attention. With cold pitching, you land directly in the decision-maker’s inbox - it’s just you and them.

3. You take control of your pricing

Job board clients usually dictate the budget, forcing freelancers to just accept. When you initiate the contact, you position yourself as an expert consultant, giving you total control over what you charge based on the value you deliver.

The 3 Core Elements of Cold Pitching

To make your cold pitch actually convert, it must hit the three core elements written on the board:

Personalization:

Ditch generic templates. Show the prospect you know who they are by referencing a specific project, a gap on their platform, or recent news about their business. It immediately tells them, "This wasn't sent to 500 other people - it was written specifically for them.

Value Proposition:

Value proposition in cold pitching is arguably the most important element of cold pitching because both personalization and proof are all parts of value proposition.

A proper value proposition answers one question in the recipient’s head within the first 2–3 lines:

“If I give this person 30 seconds of attention, what tangible result do I walk away with that I currently don’t have?”

Here is how to do it in three tight moves:

• Name their exact situation or friction (proves you looked)

• State the specific outcome you deliver (not the process)

• Add a proof fragment or constraint that makes it believable (optional but powerful)

That’s it. Everything else is just icing on a cake.

Quick examples.

Bad (generic):

“Hi Sarah, I’m a freelance copywriter who helps SaaS companies improve their messaging. Would love to chat.”

Good:

“Sarah — saw the new pricing page for [Product] still has the old ‘Start free trial’ CTA that was converting at ~2.1% last year. I’ve rewritten three similar pages in the last 90 days that moved the same metric past 4%. Happy to show you the exact before/after if useful.”

Why it works:

Names a real page + real metric (they know it’s true).

Outcome is clear: higher conversion on that specific page.

Proof is recent and parallel.

No ask for a call yet — just offers the value.

Another example (agency → e-commerce brand):

“Marcus — your Instagram ads for the summer collection are driving solid traffic, but the landing page has a 68% bounce rate on mobile (checked via SimilarWeb). We cut bounce rates for three similar apparel brands by 30–40% in the last quarter by fixing the first 3 seconds of the page. Want the three specific changes we used?”

Why it works:

Points to a public, measurable problem they can verify.

Outcome is quantified and recent.

Offers the actual fix list instead of “let’s hop on a call.” (Let's hop on a call is good if it's a cold dm, we would get to that later)

Investor / partnership version:

“Alex — noticed [Fund] just closed the Series A for three logistics startups this year. We’ve already cut delivery costs 18% for two of them using the same route-optimization layer. Open to a 5-minute look at the data if it might fit the next one you’re looking at.”

Why it works:

Shows pattern recognition of their recent deals.

Specific, already-proven outcome.

Positions you as useful to their next decision, not as a pitch.

How to build yours in under 5 minutes

Spend 2–3 minutes on their site / LinkedIn / recent posts / ads / product.

Find one friction, metric, or goal that is visible and real.

Write one sentence that says: “You have X → I have already moved X to Y for similar people → here’s a tiny piece of that.”

Delete every sentence that talks about you, your process, or your company history.

That single sentence is the value proposition. Everything else in the pitch exists only to support or deliver it.

Proof:

Build instant trust as a stranger on the internet. Share a relevant case study, a quick video audit, or a tangible result you've achieved for a similar client.

This is just the intro class to lay down the foundation - in our next sessions, we will go deeper into finding the right prospects and structuring the perfect outreach message and lots more.

Quick question for you if you read this till the end

What specific service or industry are you planning to target with your next pitches?

This is not ragebaiting. Stay with me.

(Before you continue, FREELANCE JOB ZONE posted 100+ gigs last week, 70% of it were content and marketing gigs, more will be posted this week, you can be the first to see them when they drop, gain access to the channel here, it's totally free)

The reason why we have so many social media managers creating content for brands is simple: most brands cannot afford (or simply refuse) to pay the separate salaries of real content creators — the designers, writers, illustrators, video editors, and motion artists. So the entire load falls on the social media manager, especially when that SMM is already a solid copywriter or can handle basic design.

This version of social media managers — the ones who are good with copies and can still manage and grow a page — are the ones that have quietly spoilt a lot of these brands. Just because you want to get the job by all means, you refuse to properly define your role. You accept the double duty. The brands know what is happening. They see you doing the work of two or three people. But they will not address it because it saves them money.

I cannot blame the freelancers though. Everybody wants to survive. Social media management is still treated like an entry-level role that anyone can do on the side. Most copywriters and content writers can create content and still manage a page, so they simply add the management on top and call the whole package “social media manager.” That is how the misconception became normal.

But if you still have doubts that social media managers are not supposed to “create content,” try working as an intern in a big marketing agency. Or ask any freelancer who has actually worked inside one. They will tell you the same thing.

In a large, professional marketing agency, the difference becomes clear the moment you step onto the floor or join the Slack channels. Roles are sharply divided by specialization, not blurred by necessity.

Content creation belongs to a dedicated creative or content team — copywriters, graphic designers, video producers, motion artists, and sometimes dedicated social content creators. Their entire job is to concept, script, design, shoot, edit, and refine the assets. They work from creative briefs, brand guidelines, and campaign objectives. Once the content is approved and polished, it is handed over.

The social media manager’s responsibility begins after that hand-off. They take the finished (or near-finished) assets and make them perform: building and maintaining the content calendar, adapting formats for each platform, scheduling posts at optimal times, writing or refining captions and CTAs when needed, managing community engagement, responding to comments and DMs, monitoring real-time performance, running A/B tests, adjusting paid amplification, reporting metrics to clients, and iterating strategy based on data.

Their success is measured by engagement rates, growth, sentiment, reach, and contribution to business goals — not by how many reels they personally filmed or how many carousels they designed from scratch.

You will notice it in meetings: the content team presents concepts and drafts, while the social media managers discuss posting cadence, community guidelines, crisis protocols, competitor benchmarks, and performance dashboards. You will see it in the tools — creative suites versus scheduling and analytics platforms. You will feel it in the deadlines: content has production pipelines and revision rounds; social has live engagement windows and daily reporting cycles.

This separation exists for a good reason. In a big agency handling multiple clients across industries, volume and quality demands are high. One person cannot simultaneously deliver consistent, high-caliber creative production and handle the full operational, analytical, and relational workload of channel management without something suffering. Specialization protects both quality and sanity. The content team focuses on craft and storytelling. The social media managers focus on distribution, audience relationships, and results.

Smaller companies and freelancers collapse these roles out of budget constraints. That is why the misconception persists. But step into a properly structured agency and the boundary becomes obvious. Social media management is strategy, orchestration, community, and optimization. Content creation is production. They collaborate closely, but they are not the same job.

So, if you are that social media manager currently in charge of creating content and posting for a brand, you need a raise. You are doing two jobs. Charge for both.

Here is how to fix this:

• Freelancers and in-house SMMs: Stop accepting vague scopes. Write your contracts clearly — “Social media management (strategy, scheduling, community, reporting)” separate from “Content creation (copy, design, video).” If the client wants both, price them as two distinct services.

• Brands and founders: Stop pretending one person can sustainably do the work of a full creative team plus channel management. If your budget is tight, start with a content creator and a part-time manager, or accept slower growth. The hybrid model burns people out and eventually lowers the quality of both the content and the management.

• Agencies already know this. That is why their work looks cleaner and more consistent. Division of labour is not a luxury. It is how professional work gets done.

Have you worked in a marketing agency before? What was your experience?

For those who still do not believe that they are separate roles, here are some receipts for you.

This is Linkedin job board. Can you decode what's going on here? If you can't forget about it.

This is from Google search

Pl

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And lots more on FJZ.

See you in the next edition.

If you want to go viral multiple times, double down on what works the first time you went viral.

Somewhere at the back of your mind you have always known this. And yet here we are. You went viral once. Something clicked. You got people's attention. And then life happened and you walked away from the exact thing that was working. You’ve been trying to recreate that magic ever since.

I am not judging you. I did the same thing.

My X(Twitter) account blew up because of a series.

I called it the Creator’s Diary. The idea was simple - find real people, digital creators, freelancers, celebrities - and tell their stories honestly. Not just the version you see when everything is going well. The real version. The one with the failed launches, the broken client relationships, the months where they had more self-doubt than they had income.

I did not expect what happened next.

People went mad for it. I got thousands of followers in less than 30 days, gigs started coming to me. Brand deals I never pitched for. Ambassadorial opportunities landing in my inbox from people and businesses who had been following the series.

For the first time in my content journey things felt easy. Natural. Like I had finally found the frequency I was supposed to be broadcasting on.

Guess what happened after a few months?

I took a break.

I got distracted. I told myself I would come back to it. That my audience was not going anywhere. That the momentum would hold.

I was wrong on all three.

The gigs slowed down so gradually I almost did not notice at first. Then one week passed without an opportunity and then another. To cut the long story short, I neglected my winning strategy and I paid for it. I’m starting all over again. Not from scratch though. I still have some motion.

That shift from being found to doing the finding again is a horrible feeling. One I never want to repeat.

But why does this keep happening?

Not just to me. To almost every creator who has gotten at least one real moment of traction online

The first reason is what nobody wants to admit - we do not understand what a viral moment actually is. We treat it like a lucky break. A fluke. Something that happened to us rather than something we created.

And because we think it was luck we do not study it. We enjoy it. We celebrate it. Then we move on looking for the next piece of luck somewhere else.

But luck is not what happened.

What happened is that you accidentally gave your audience something they were genuinely hungry for. Something they had not seen said quite that way before. You solved a feeling they had been carrying around and had not been able to name. And they responded the only way social media allows them to -they liked, shared, saved, commented, and told other people.

That is not luck. That is a signal. A very clear, very loud signal about exactly who you are to your audience and exactly what they want more of from you.

Most creators miss it completely.

The second reason is that we are scared of being repetitive. We get bored of our own content faster than our audience ever does. So we abandon the series, change the format, pivot the niche, start something completely new - all in the name of keeping things fresh. But your audience does not want fresh. They want familiar. They want to see your name in their feed and already know the feeling they are about to get. That recognition is what builds a real following.

The third reason is the one that is hardest to fix - there is no system holding things together.

Most creators are running their entire content operation from a combination of memory, random phone notes, and good intentions. No content calendar they actually use. No workflow. No way of knowing what performed well six months ago let alone why it performed well. So the moment life gets busy or the motivation drops even slightly, content stops. And when content stops, everything stops with it.

This is the silent killer. Not a lack of ideas neither is it laziness. Just the absence of a structure that keeps things moving even when you are not at your best.

What you are actually losing

People frame this conversation around numbers. Views dropping. Followers not growing. Engagement going cold.

But numbers are not what you are really losing.

Every time you show up your audience trusts you a little more. They start expecting you. They save your content. They recommend you to other people. They think of you first when a conversation in your niche comes up. That trust is the most valuable currency in content creation and it is built entirely through consistency.

Every time you disappear you make a withdrawal from that account. Miss enough weeks and the account empties. And the brutal truth about an empty trust account is that rebuilding it takes twice as long as it took to build it the first time. Your audience will find someone else who gives them the same feeling you gave them but shows up for it reliably.

There is also a financial reality here that nobody talks about directly.

Brands do not sign creators on potential. They sign them on proof. Proof that you show up. Proof that your audience is engaged. Proof that three months from now you will still be posting and not in the middle of another unannounced break. The Creator’s Diary brought me brand deals not just because it got traction. It brought them because for a period I was showing up with it every single week without fail. The moment I stopped, the pipeline stopped too.

Now let us talk about how to fix this

Go back and look at your content. Not just what went viral - look at what consistently gets saved, shared, or replied to even when it does not blow up. That overlap is where your lane lives. Name it and give it a format. Turn it into a series with a title people can recognize and look forward to.

A series changes everything. It gives your audience a reason to come back before you even post. It gives the algorithm proof that you are committed to a specific space. And it gives you a container to work inside of instead of starting from zero every single time.

Stop treating every post like a new invention.

If you went viral talking about freelance struggles you do not need a completely new idea. You need a new angle on the same idea. Different story, same emotional core. Different example, same lesson underneath. Your audience is not tired of the topic. You are. Learn the difference.

Build a repurposing habit before you think you need one. One newsletter becomes a tweet. One tweet becomes a thread. One viral story becomes a case study that becomes a carousel that becomes a talking point in your next brand pitch. Nothing you create should have one life. Stretch everything.

Automate everything that does not require your actual brain.

• Scheduling posts.

• Tracking which content performs and on what days and time

• Following up with brands who have not responded.

• Organizing your pitch outreach etc.

These are not creative tasks. They are logistical tasks eating your creative time. Every hour you spend on logistics is an hour you are not spending on the work that actually builds your audience. Use tools. Build automations. Protect your thinking time the way you protect your sleep.

Keep a simple content record. This sounds like something everyone already does but in reality only a few actually does. After every post, note down the topic, the format, the emotion you led with, the time you posted, and what kind of engagement it got. After three months you will have your own personal data set and you will stop guessing about what works. You will know.

And finally, let your best content breathe twice.

Something that went viral four months ago has a completely new audience it has never reached. Post it again with a new story attached to it. A new angle.

The creators you admire most are not operating on a different level of talent. They are not consistently lucky. They are not waking up every morning overflowing with fresh ideas and motivation (Some creators are exceptions though but they are still not different).

They found their thing. They studied why it worked. And then they showed up for it so consistently that their audience started doing the marketing for them.

That is available to you.

You already had your moment. You already found your thing. The Creator’s Diary was mine. You have yours. The question is not whether you can go viral again. The question is whether you are willing to go back to what worked and stay there long enough to build something real with it.

Momentum does not announce itself when it arrives. It builds in the background, post by post, week by week, until one day opportunities are finding you and you cannot fully explain why.

But it leaves quietly too.

Do not let it leave again.

Share this newsletter to one creator who went viral once and never followed it up. They need it more than you do right now.

Share

SPOTLIGHT CREATOR

Pejuola HR tweets about careers, workplace culture, visibility and navigating life as a young professional.

She has over 26k followers on X.

Here is one of her recent tweets

“Back in 2021, I met a lady who told me about this app where blind people could video call volunteers whenever they needed help with something.

Out of curiosity, I downloaded it and signed up.

I still remember how surreal it felt the first time I got a call. Someone was simply trying to decide what to wear and needed me to tell them if the colors matched. Another person needed help checking something on their TV screen.

And there I was, in my room in Nigeria, helping complete strangers from different parts of the world through a random video call.

It wasn’t paid or anything. It was just volunteering.

But I remember being so fascinated by the idea that technology could connect people in such a deeply human way. For a few minutes, you literally became someone else’s eyes.

Till today, that remains one of the most beautiful things I’ve experienced online.”

TRENDING FREELANCE GIGS

1. Senior Copywriter

BGB Group

📍 New York, United States (Remote)

🏠 Remote friendly: Yes

Write compelling copy for a leading healthcare communications agency. Craft brand messaging, campaign content, and marketing materials for pharmaceutical and biotech clients. Requires strong copywriting experience in healthcare or agency settings.

Apply Now →

2. SEO Content Writer

📍 United States (Remote)

🏠 Remote friendly: Yes

Create search-optimized content for a growing digital platform. Research keywords, write engaging articles, and develop content strategies that drive organic traffic. Strong SEO knowledge and writing skills required.

Apply Now →

CHECK FREELANCE JOB ZONE FOR MORE QUALITY GIGS

Start with a long-form article relevant to your niche.

It can be something you wrote yourself or a top-ranking piece you found through a quick Google search.

Either way, aim for at least 5,000 words and make sure it is properly formatted (clear headings, structured sections, logical flow).

Once you have your article ready, open Claude AI and use the prompt below.

PROMPT 1

I am a content marketer and social media strategist for SaaS brands. As a thought leader in this space, I create and sell digital products, publish long-form articles, and produce talking-head video content centered on content strategy and marketing.

Below is a high-performing long-form article from within my niche. I need you to conduct a thorough content analysis.

• Identify the specific structural, strategic, and topical elements that contributed to its top ranking on Google.

• Highlight what is working, what gaps exist, and where there is room for improvement.

Use the insights from this analysis as a content source to generate 50 high quality content ideas: text-based posts for X (Twitter) and video concepts for TikTok.

[Paste article link or full text here]

Note: You may include more than one article for a richer, more layered analysis.

That single prompt does the heavy lifting. Claude analyzes the article, reverse-engineers what made it perform, and turns those insights into a ready-to-use content bank across two platforms (Twitter and Tiktok)

The more articles you feed it, the stronger the output. Two or three high-ranking pieces from the same niche will give you richer, more varied ideas than one alone.

I have 3 more prompts for thought leaders and prompts for those building in public in my Notion Library, I don't want to make this newsletter boring to you by making it long. If you want me to send you the link, click here.

CREATOR SPOTLIGHT

Meet Chioma Amadi. She is a career counselor and the founder of Her Growth Hub. She’s built a 46K+ following on X helping Nigerian remote workers land global roled.

Last week, she dropped a thread that’s worth bookmarking.

Here is the link to the full thread

TRENDING FREELANCE GIGS

1. Mind Body Green is looking for a writer with a family history of bone loss (or firsthand experience) in their late 30s or 40s for a sponsored content project

2. Apartment Therapy Media is looking for freelance writers who are empty nesters to write personal essays

3. ALFA is looking for a writer (ex-journalist/aspiring journalist) for a big project on oceans

4. DNA & STONE is looking for strategy communications freelancers with deep experience in telecom, CPG, wellness/healthcare, tech, or banking/financial services

5. BC/DC Ideas is looking for a contract communications specialist to support strategic communications for mission-driven orgaynizations—$35 per hour

Join my private telegram channel to get daily writing and marketing gigs updates here

Thanks for reading till the end

Extrastiv

Founder of Get Paid To Write

Founder of Stop Waiting For Clients
Founder of Ink and Income Community (A community of writers and content marketers)

I’ve made over $200 from this newsletter in my first week, I will share how it happened in my next newsletter edition. Stay with me.

Subscribe now

This is something that keeps happening to creators, and not enough people talk about it.

Someone starts sharing content online. Real stuff - things they have actually learned, real experience, real lessons.

People start following. The comments are good. The engagement is warm. Everyone loves them.

Then one day they launch something - a course, a paid newsletter or a coaching offer - and instead of sales, what they get is noise and complains.

The same people who liked every post suddenly feel cheated.

“So now you want to charge?”
“I thought you were doing this to help people.”

The exact audience they spent months building turns around and questions them.

And this is not because the product is bad nor because the price is wrong but because those people had already decided in their heads that everything from this creator would always be free.

This has happened to too many creators. And the ones it hits hardest are usually the ones who gave the most. They were the most generous, the most consistent, the most open with their knowledge and that very generosity is what came back to bite them.

"When you give everything away for free, you are not just sharing value. You are setting a price. And that price is zero."

AT THE END OF THIS NEWSLETTER IS A LIST OF TRENDING FREELANCE GIGS FILTERED FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES ONLINE, MAKE SURE YOU CHECK IT OUT BEFORE LEAVING THIS PAGE

What nobody tells you about giving free value

The popular advice is simple - give, give, give, and people will eventually trust you enough to buy.

That is not completely wrong. Trust matters a lot in selling. But the advice leaves out one very important thing:

if you give for too long, with no sign that you are also a business, what happens quietly over time is that a certain kind of follower builds up in your audience.

They are not bad people. They just got used to getting your best stuff for nothing, and they never expected that to change.

They are not your customers. They were never going to be your customers. But they are loud. And when they feel their free supply is being cut off, they make enough noise to make you feel like your entire audience is against you.

The painful truth is that the loudest complainers on your launch day are almost always people who were never going to buy anything from anyone.

They came for the free content. That is fine - free content exists for a reason.

But their opinion of your pricing is not data. It is just noise. And the sooner you learn to tell the difference between the two, the less power that noise will have over you.

“Your audience and your customers are not the same people. Your audience consumes what you share. Your customers invest in what you sell. These two groups think differently, act differently, and want different things from you.”

The real damage is not the comments, it is what they do to your head

When people drag you on your launch, most creators do one of two things.

They either post more free content to calm the noise down, or they pull back from selling and convince themselves their audience is just “not ready yet.”

Both feel like reasonable responses in the moment. But both of them make things worse.

Every time you retreat from selling to please people who were never going to buy, you are teaching your audience - including the real buyers who were watching quietly that you are not serious about your business. That if they wait long enough, you will give it away.

The deeper damage is what happens inside you. You start to wonder if your offer is actually good. You start lowering your prices to soften the reaction.

You start asking “maybe I should give more before I charge?” when the real answer is the complete opposite.

You let a loud minority - people who are not paying your rent, not funding your time, not investing anything in your work - make decisions about your business.

That is the real problem. Not the product neither is it the market. The fact that you gave strangers who owe you nothing the power to decide what your work is worth.

The people who are meant to buy, will buy

While all that noise is happening on your launch post, something else is happening quietly.

Someone who has been reading your content for weeks, someone you have never heard from, never interacted with, never noticed is clicking the buy button because your free content showed them how you think, how you teach, and whether you can actually help them.

They were never waiting for more free stuff. They were waiting for the right offer.

These people exist in your audience right now. Every audience has them. They are not the loudest. They do not comment on every post.

But they are watching, they are learning, and when you put the right thing in front of them at the right moment, they move.

The only thing that can stop them from finding you is if you stop selling because you are scared of what the non-buyers will say. Do not let that happen. The buyers are there. Keep showing up for them.

Look around you - even the biggest creators are selling

If you still feel guilty about putting a price on your knowledge, here is something that should settle that guilt for good.

Look at the people you follow. The ones with hundreds of thousands of followers, the ones whose content you have been reading for years, the ones you look up to as proof that this whole thing works.

Every single one of them is selling something. Not some of them. All of them.

They have courses. They have communities. They have coaching programs, newsletters behind a paywall, consulting packages, merchandise, affiliate deals, brand partnerships, ebooks, templates, live workshops.

Some of them have entire companies built on the back of the audience they grew.

The content you love them for - the free threads, the free videos, the free advice is not the product. It is the advertisement for the product. The free stuff is how they bring you close enough to eventually offer you something worth paying for.

Nobody drags them for it anymore because from very early on, those creators made it normal. Their audience knew from week one that this person was building a business.

That is what happens when a creator builds their audience the right way - with transparency, consistency, and no shame about the fact that good work deserves fair pay.

Do not feel embarrassed to post your offer, or scared to send that sales email, or hesitant to mention your product in your content - the people you aspire to be like are doing it every single day.

Your audience benefits from you staying in business. Selling is how you stay in business. It is that simple.

The creator you admire has a link in their bio. They have a checkout page. They have a sales email going out right now to their list while you are reading this and talking yourself out of sending yours.

The difference between you and them is not talent. It is not audience size. It is not how much free value they gave before they started charging.

The difference is that they decided their work was worth paying for and they stopped waiting for everyone to agree before acting on that decision.

You do not need permission to sell. You need the same decision they made.

This is not about never giving anything free

To be clear - this is not saying that free content is bad or that you should put everything behind a paywall from day one.

Free content is one of the best tools available to anyone building an audience online. The problem is not generosity. The problem is giving without ever letting people know that you also run a business.

When your audience has no idea that you sell things, your first product launch will always feel like a surprise - and people do not like surprises when money is involved.

The fix is not complicated. From your very first post, let people see that this is your work, not just your hobby.

• Mention a client you worked with.

• Reference something you built.

• Talk about a student who got results.

You do not have to be pushy about it. You just have to be visible about it. When people know from the start that you are a professional who also shares generously, paying you later feels completely natural. It only feels strange when they never saw it coming.

Here is what you should do:

1. Make your business visible from day one

You do not need to sell in every post. But every week, at minimum, your audience should see some sign that you are a professional - a client mention, a result, a product reference.

Just enough so that when you launch something, nobody is shocked. The goal is that a product launch feels like the next natural step, not a sudden left turn.

2. Sell something small before you sell something big

The hardest sale is always the first one. So make it easy. A one thousand naira template. A five thousand naira guide. Something small that breaks the ice and gets your audience used to the idea of paying you.

Once someone has bought something from you, buying something bigger is a much smaller mental jump. Keep the small offers going regularly so selling never becomes a once-a-year alarming event.

3. Stop trying to convert people who will never buy

Every audience has three types of people in it - people who will never buy anything from anyone, people who might buy something someday if everything lines up, and people who are actively looking for exactly what you sell right now.

Your free content can speak to all three. But your offers should be built for that third group only.

The more specific your offer is for buyers, the faster the right people find it and say yes.

4. Count before you react to backlash

When noise hits after a launch, before you change anything - count. If 8 people are complaining on a post that 15,000 people saw, that is not your market talking.

That is less than 0.1% of your reach making 100% of your anxiety. Set a rule: you only make changes if a real percentage of actual buyers tell you something specific is wrong. Everything else, you filter and keep going.

5. Connect what you teach for free to what you sell

The smoothest path from free reader to paying customer is when your content and your offer solve the exact same problem.

If your posts are about getting freelance clients and your course is about getting freelance clients, the switch from reader to buyer feels obvious.

The confusion only happens when your content talks about one thing and your product is about something totally different. Keep them tight and buying will start to feel like a logical next step.

6. Build a content ladder

Think of your content in levels. The bottom level is broad and freely available - posts, threads, short videos. The middle level goes deeper - longer pieces, email content, detailed breakdowns. The top level requires an investment - your course, your community, your coaching.

When each level is noticeably better than the one below it, people climb naturally.

And people who climbed to the top on their own will never feel cheated when they find a price there. They earned their way up. They are ready.

Thanks for reading till the end

Extrastiv
Founder of Get Paid To Write

Founder of Stop Waiting For Clients
Founder of Ink and Income Community (A community of writers and content marketers)

One question before you go
Has this ever happened to you? You built something, shared your knowledge, grew an audience - and then felt scared to charge for your work because of what people might say? Hit reply and tell me where you are with it.

Trending Freelance Gigs🗞️

1. Coefficient Health is looking for freelance medical writers to build field‑force training assets for sales, market access, and MSL teams

2. Etched Communication is looking for a freelance social media content writer ASAP

3. Unwell is looking for US-based conceptual freelance writers who are interested in tech

4. Dispatch is looking for writers

5. Digimancy Entertainment is looking for a female writer for a 2-year project who has experience writing for the western cRPG genre

6. NY Post is looking for freelance writers with experience covering the world of residential real estate

7. Gizmodo is looking for freelance writers to write about midrange phones, wearables, and midrange laptops for news and reviews

8. MakeUseOf is looking for a few freelance tech news writers

9. The 19th is looking for a contract climate reporter to join its team for three months—$50 per hour (deadline to apply is 4/15)

10. City Cast is looking for a freelance writer for a Twin-Cities-focused newsletter—starts at $200 per week (deadline to apply is 4/17)

11. Langland is looking for a freelance principle medical writer and senior medical writer ASAP

12. DG Labs is looking for a freelance LinkedIn ghostwriter

13. BNN Bloomberg is looking for a freelance news writer with a background in TV or radio broadcasting

That’s all I’ll be sharing here today.

I actually found a lot more solid opportunities, but I didn’t want to overwhelm you with too many links at once.

So I’ve moved the rest to my private Telegram channel where I drop more curated, high-quality freelance jobs from across the world.

If you want access to the remaining opportunities (and future ones), you can join here

Creator of The Week

I came across a particular post on X earlier this week. It was made by one of my gist partners online. Her name is Kemi

Kemi is a SaaS social media strategist, and she shared something most freelancers overlook.

Her post was about when to pitch clients, and the main idea was simple:

Don’t wait for job posts.

Pitch before they even start looking.

She broke down 5 real signs to know when a company is about to hire - from recent funding to weak content and inactive social pages.

What stood out to me was how practical it is.

This is the kind of thing that can literally reduce your competition overnight if you apply it well.

Instead of fighting with hundreds of applicants, you’re showing up early.

If you’re serious about landing better clients, this is worth your time.

Check it out here:

PS: Apologies for the late easter greetings😂

HAPPY EASTER

I almost didn’t post this edition, but I did anyways.

Fake lifestyles will be the end of many creators online.

Posting screenshots of deals, client payments, new cars, or other “wins” that make it look like they are thriving, but it’s all lies.

Many of these creators are struggling financially. They know it, but they are scared of showing their reality because they have built an image of success that they feel they must protect.

What makes it worse is that some of them are actively spending money they don’t have just to look like they have money.

The performance is not free. It is costing them the little they have left.

The pressure to appear rich online has trapped them in a cycle where they cannot ask for help, guidance, or support from people who could actually help them grow.

A lot of them want to seek help, but they just don’t have that courage to shout for it.

They are scared of getting humiliated and mocked. And the longer they keep the act going, the harder it becomes to stop.

And the mental weight of it all is something people rarely talk about. Living a public lie is exhausting.

The anxiety of being exposed, the cognitive load of managing a false narrative, and the isolation of never being able to speak honestly - these quietly break many creators.

This illusion of success has real consequences.

» It keeps creators from taking practical steps to improve their careers.

They focus on pretending rather than learning skills, building networks, or pursuing real opportunities.

» It isolates them.

When people believe you have everything figured out, no one reaches out to offer mentorship, partnerships, or assistance - because they assume you don’t need it.

» It distorts your feedback loop.

When you perform success, your audience stops telling you what they actually need because they assume you already have it figured out.

You lose the honest signals that would help you improve your offers, your content, and your positioning. Inauthenticity makes you strategically blind.

» It damages trust.

Platforms like Twitter are becoming smarter at detecting fake claims, and audiences are beginning to see through exaggerated posts. Once credibility is lost, it’s much harder to regain.

DON’T FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT

Instead of pretending, creators should focus on authenticity. Share your journey honestly - the wins and the struggles.

Talk about what you are learning, the obstacles you are facing, and the small victories that matter.

Ask for help when you need it; let your network support you. Collaborate with others who are serious about growth rather than trying to impress them with false success.

By being transparent, you build trust, attract genuine opportunities, and create a path for real progress - both online and offline.

Your growth shouldn’t be a performance. It should be real.

Stop acting rich for clout and impressions, and start building real wealth in skill, experience, and relationships. Let people help you, because that’s how creators truly scale their careers.

In the last edition of this newsletter, I talked about how I made 1 million naira in 2025 selling digital products online without ads. You can read it here

Thanks for reading till the end.

Extrastiv
Founder of Get Paid To Write

Founder of Stop Waiting For Clients
Founder of Ink and Income Community (A community of writers and content marketers)

TRENDING FREELANCE GIGS 🗞️

During the week, I saw some writing gigs online. For those who are actively looking for gigs, you can apply for these:

1. Reporter Wanted – Finance, Fintech & Economic Policy
Do you love digging into high finance and making complex economic stories accessible? Observer is looking for a sharp freelance reporter who can cover everything from hedge fund strategies and unicorn CFO IPO playbooks to young fintech entrepreneurs shaking up banking. If you’re comfortable breaking down the movers and shakers behind the markets, send your resume and clips to business@observer.com.

2. Freelance Writers – Plants & Gardening
If gardening is your passion and you love sharing your personal experience with plants, lawn care, or yard maintenance, this gig is for you. A new package is coming up, and they’re looking for writers who can make plants fun and relatable. Interested? Reach out through the contact link

3. Arrowmac is looking for a freelance ad copywriter for an ad agency client

4. Apartment Therapy Media is looking for some freelance writers who can share their personal experience with gardening and lawn/yard care for an upcoming package

5. AdMax Local in the US is looking for a freelance copywriter with SEO/AEO experience

First of all, I would like to give a special shoutout to SELAR for building a platform where creators can easily sell their digital products without going through unnecessary technical stress.

In 2025, I crossed one million naira in digital product sales without running ads. Just content on X, written consistently and intentionally.

And before you imagine that I was going viral every week, let me say this clearly: the money did not come from viral tweets. It came from tweets that converted.

There is a big difference.

A tweet can go viral and still not make you a single naira. At the same time, a tweet with moderate engagement can quietly drive sales because it attracts the right people and explains the right idea at the right time.

This is where most content marketers get it wrong. They are chasing impressions when they should be studying how content actually works in real time.

One of the most underrated skills you can develop as a content marketer is paying attention to detail.

It sounds simple on the surface, but it is the difference between someone who casually posts online and someone who understands how content influences people.

If you want to make money with your content, you cannot just scroll past posts all day. You have to slow down and observe what is happening.

You have to study.

When I started paying close attention to the creators doing well in my niche, something interesting started happening. I began to notice that the same patterns kept showing up again and again.

The tweets looked different on the surface, but the underlying structure was often the same.

So instead of randomly posting content every day, I started doing something more intentional.

Whenever I saw a tweet that performed well, I would pause and ask myself a few questions.

Why did this post get engagement?

What structure did the creator use?

How did the hook pull people in?

How was the idea explained?

Those questions sound small, but they completely change the way you see content. Instead of just consuming posts like a regular user, you start analyzing them like a marketer.

Over time, this kind of observation trains your brain to recognize patterns.

And patterns are everything in content marketing.

Once you start seeing them, you realize that high-performing posts are rarely accidents. They are usually built on a few key elements that consistently work.

After studying creators for a long time, I began to notice four patterns that showed up repeatedly in posts that performed well.

=> Strong hooks.

=> Catchy stories.

=> Voice switching.

=> And a good sense of humour.

Let’s break these down properly.

1. Strong Hooks

A lot of people underestimate how important the first line of a tweet is.

Your hook decides whether someone keeps reading or keeps scrolling.

People on X are moving fast. Their timelines are crowded with thousands of posts competing for attention. If your first line is weak or predictable, the reader will simply move on.

The best creators understand this very well. They spend real time thinking about their opening line because they know it controls the entire performance of the post.

A strong hook usually does one of three things.

1. It introduces curiosity.

2. It makes a bold statement.

3. Or it touches a problem the reader is already thinking about.

When you study enough posts, you start recognizing how experienced creators shape their hooks to trigger curiosity without sounding forced.

Download the 10 hook writing method that got me my first dollar online here

2. Catchy Stories

Facts inform people, but stories hold their attention.

One thing you will notice about high-performing creators is that they wrap their lessons inside stories.

A story does two important things.

First, it makes the content feel real. People connect more easily with something that happened to an actual person than with abstract advice.

Second, stories naturally create emotional movement. The reader wants to know what happened next.

For example, instead of writing:

“Cold pitching is a good way to get freelance clients.”

A creator might say:

“In 2021 I was drowning in debt. One cold pitch I wrote at 2am landed a client that changed everything.”

Immediately the reader becomes curious.

• What happened next?

• How did the pitch work?

• What did the client say?

The lesson will eventually come, but the story pulls the reader in first.

This technique is everywhere once you start paying attention.

3. Voice Switching

This is a subtle writing technique that many people overlook.

Voice switching happens when the writer changes tone inside the same post to keep the reader engaged.

Sometimes the writer sounds serious, sometimes conversational, and sometimes humorous. This shift in voice makes the post feel dynamic instead of flat.

For example, a creator might start with a strong statement, then move into a personal story, then switch into a teaching tone to break down the lesson.

That variation keeps the reader mentally engaged because the rhythm of the post keeps changing.

If a thread maintains the same tone from beginning to end, it often becomes predictable and boring.

Great creators understand how to move between voices naturally.

4. A Good Sense of Humour

Humour is one of the most powerful engagement tools online. People like to laugh, and humour makes content feel human.

But good humour in content marketing is not about forcing jokes. It is usually subtle observations that make the reader smile because they recognize the truth inside them.

For example, a creator might say:

“Some freelancers don’t want clients. They want motivation quotes.”

That small line carries humour, but it also communicates a real point about procrastination.

Humour lowers resistance. When readers enjoy your content, they stay longer and are more open to your message. Simple as ABC.

Why This Matters for Sales

All these techniques are not just for engagement. They exist to guide the reader toward a deeper understanding of your idea. And when that idea connects with a real problem the reader has, conversion is inevitable.

The main goal is not to go viral. The goal is to build trust and clarity.

When someone reads your posts consistently and sees that you understand their problems, they begin to see you as someone worth listening to.

That trust is what eventually turns readers into buyers.

In my case, many of the people who bought my digital products had been quietly reading my content for weeks or months.

By the time they saw the product link, they were already convinced that the knowledge would be useful. That is the power of well-structured content.

It warms up the audience before the offer even appears.

What You Should Start Doing Immediately

If you are serious about making money as a content marketer on X, start treating your timeline like a research lab.

• Pick five creators in your niche who consistently get engagement.

• Study their posts carefully.

• Whenever a tweet performs well, break it down.

• Look at the hook.

• Look at how the idea flows.

• Look at the tone.

• Look at the story structure.

Over time you will notice that many successful posts follow recognizable patterns. Once your brain starts seeing those patterns, writing strong content becomes much easier.

Your audience stops seeing you as just another account posting random thoughts. They begin to see you as someone who understands what they are doing. That perception alone can change your entire career online.

If there is one thing I want you to take away from this newsletter, it is this:

The difference between creators who make money and those who struggle is often hidden in small details.

Pay attention long enough, and the patterns reveal themselves. Once you see them, you cannot unsee them.

And that is when content starts working for you instead of against you.

Thanks for reading till the end.

Extrastiv
Founder of Get Paid To Write

Founder of Stop Waiting For Clients
Founder of Ink and Income Community (A community of writers and content marketers)

SEE YOU IN THE NEXT EDITION

2.6k profile visits for just one post😎

When people talk about building a personal brand online, they often focus on consistency, value, and patience. Those things matter, and I would never argue against them.

But if we are being honest about how social media actually works, there is one factor that accelerates everything else: visibility.

Going viral is not a compulsory requirement to build a personal brand on X. Plenty of people grow slowly and still build meaningful careers. But if you experience virality even a few times, the level of exposure it brings can multiply your opportunities in ways that are hard to ignore.

More people see your work. More people visit your profile. And if your positioning is clear, some of those people eventually become clients, collaborators, or followers who amplify your voice further.

Visibility is the oxygen of a personal brand. Without it, even great content can remain hidden.

Over the years, I started noticing certain patterns behind posts that travel far on X. These patterns are not tricks or gimmicks. They are simply ways of presenting ideas so that people feel compelled to engage with them.

Below are some of the most reliable ways to create posts that have a higher chance of spreading across the platform.

1. Speak from direct experience

People on social media can quickly sense when someone is speaking from real experience and when they are repeating something they read somewhere else. Advice built on theory often feels flat because it lacks the small details that make a story believable.

Posts that go viral usually carry the weight of personal experience. They describe something the writer has seen, done, or learned the hard way. When readers feel that authenticity, they trust the message more and are more likely to share it.

For example, instead of saying “Freelancers should build a strong portfolio,” someone who has actually done the work might explain how a single portfolio piece landed them their first paying client. That specific insight is far more powerful than general advice.

People share what feels real.

2. Say the thing people are already thinking but haven’t said out loud

One of the most common reasons a post spreads quickly is because it puts words to a silent frustration many people already have. When readers come across that type of content, they immediately feel understood.

They repost it not just because it is insightful, but because it represents their own thoughts.

You see this often with topics around freelancing, work culture, or social media myths. When someone challenges an idea that everyone has quietly doubted, the reaction can be explosive.

The key here is honesty. If you have spent enough time observing an industry, you will start noticing things that people avoid discussing publicly. When you articulate those observations clearly, people respond because the message resonates with their reality.

3. Write in a way that feels like a conversation

Many writers make the mistake of sounding too formal on social media. They write as if they are submitting an academic essay instead of speaking to a real person scrolling through their phone.

Posts that travel far usually feel conversational. They read like someone sharing a thought or lesson directly with the audience.

When people understand your message without struggling through complex language, they are more likely to interact with it.

Clarity always wins on platforms where attention spans are short and distractions are everywhere.

The goal is not to sound smart but to be understood quickly.

4. Use strong openings that make people stop scrolling

The first line of a post decides whether someone continues reading or moves on. On a fast-moving platform like X, this moment matters more than most people realize.

A strong opening introduces tension, curiosity, or a bold claim that makes the reader want to see what comes next. It gives them a reason to pause for a few seconds in the middle of a busy feed.

For example, starting with a statement like “Going viral on X changed my freelancing career” immediately creates curiosity. Readers want to understand how and why that happened.

If the first line does not create interest, even the most insightful thread may never be read.

5. Share lessons people can apply immediately

Content spreads faster when readers feel they can use the information right away. Practical insights tend to travel further than abstract ideas.

When someone finishes reading your post and feels they have learned something useful, they are more likely to repost it so others can benefit from it as well.

This is particularly powerful for creators building a personal brand around skills such as writing, marketing, freelancing, or business. People are always looking for small ideas that can improve their work.

If your content consistently delivers those ideas, it naturally attracts attention.

6. Write posts that encourage discussion

Another common trait of viral content is that it invites people to respond.

Sometimes this happens through a strong opinion. Other times it happens by asking a question that many people want to answer.

When people start replying to a post, the platform’s algorithm interprets that activity as engagement. The tweet begins appearing in more timelines, and the discussion continues to grow.

A post that sparks conversation can travel much further than one that people simply read and forget.

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Going viral is only useful if the attention leads somewhere meaningful. Many people focus entirely on creating viral posts while ignoring what happens when someone clicks on their profile.

Imagine a tweet reaching fifty thousand people. Hundreds of those people may visit the author’s page to understand who they are and what they do. If the profile clearly communicates expertise and services, some of those visitors may eventually become clients or collaborators.

If the profile is confusing, the opportunity disappears.

This is why positioning matters. Your bio, pinned post, and recent content should make it obvious what you are known for. That way, when virality brings people to your page, they immediately understand the value you offer.

The idea that virality does not matter is often repeated in online circles. Technically, it is true that you can build a personal brand without ever going viral. Consistency and useful content will eventually attract the right audience.

But dismissing virality entirely ignores how powerful visibility can be.

When a post spreads across the platform, it introduces your work to people who would have never discovered you otherwise. That sudden exposure can open doors to opportunities that months of quiet posting might not create.

The real strategy is not chasing virality blindly. It is understanding what makes people engage with content and using those principles to communicate your ideas clearly.

Do that consistently, and every once in a while, the internet will amplify your voice in ways you cannot predict.

And when it does, make sure your brand is ready for the attention.

PS; If you want me to add freelance gigs section to this newsletter, drop a love emoji in the comments.

When I finished my NYSC program in early 2024, I had already made up my mind that I was not returning home.

In my head, going back home felt like failure. I had spent the past year living on my own, and the thought of packing my bags and returning to my parents’ house didn’t sit well with my pride.

I was already making a little money from freelancing. Nothing stable, but enough to make me feel confident. A $100 gig here, a $200 gig there, and suddenly I started believing I could handle the world on my own.

I even began making plans to renew my house rent.

The funny part is that I almost renewed my house rent. My current rent wasn’t even due yet, but I was already planning ahead like someone who had everything figured out. I was acting tough.

Then something interesting happened one night.

I was scrolling on Twitter and stumbled on a Twitter Space. I joined as a listener without really expecting anything serious.

But for the next 45 minutes, I was there quietly listening to a young guy share his experience of staying back after NYSC while depending entirely on freelance money.

“What kind of coincidence is this”, I said to myself. I never expected that to be a topic of discussion on a Twitter Space.

He talked about how things started becoming difficult after his parents stopped sending him money. Since they believed he was now independent, the financial support slowly disappeared. That meant he had to carry the full weight of his bills alone - rent, feeding, transport, and every other daily expense.

At first he tried to manage it, but the freelance money was not always steady.

According to him, there were weeks when nothing came in, but the bills kept coming. Slowly his savings dwindled, and he found himself in a very uncomfortable situation. Eventually, he had to accept the reality and go back home to regroup.

When I left that Twitter Space, I could not stop thinking.

His story sounded too close to what my own life could easily become. I didn’t say anything to anyone about it, but that conversation stayed in my mind.

Still, I stayed back for two more months.

And those two months showed me real life. Premium shege, as we like to call it.

Unexpected expenses started showing up, gigs were not always consistent, and my savings started dropping faster than I expected.

At some point, I knew I was pushing my luck.

That was when I made the decision to go back home. I packed my things and took the first bus leaving Anambra and returned home to recover.

And looking back now, it was one of the smartest decisions I made that year.

Living at home gave me breathing space. My expenses dropped significantly, and I had time to stabilize my income again without constantly worrying about rent and survival bills.

Eventually, when things improved, I moved out again properly.

So whenever I see young graduates feeling ashamed of living with their parents after NYSC, I honestly laugh a little.

There is nothing wrong with it.

Sometimes social media creates unnecessary pressure that makes people rush into situations they are not financially ready for. Independence is good, but financial stability is even better.

Do not let online pressure push you into avoidable hardship.

See you in the next edition.