I’ve been writing on the Internet for half a year now.
The medium used to be the only service that I used for producing online work, but as my following’s grown and I’ve seen potential for engaging on other platforms and expanded to produce content there too.
As well as this, I’ve been using a select number of apps to run everything behind the scenes as well, from note-taking apps to newsletter services.
I’m going to cover the key components of the stack in this article. All the services provided here are free when you’re starting out, so there’s no cost to you copying this stack and trying to start a business or side hustle for yourself!
Let’s get started…
Obsidian
This is the hub, the second brain, where all the creative planning and research happens.
I’ve used Obsidian to write about Obsidian (amongst other things) on Medium for two months now, and I’ve found that it’s head and shoulders above any other note-taking app. Follow the Obsidian Observer if you want to check out the work of myself and other users of the software.
Obsidian is as responsive as a simple text editor, and as feature-rich (with the help of free plugins) as any other personal knowledge management offering. I can use Kanban boards, flashcards, databases, custom AI scripts and workflows, whiteboards and task management in the same program.
The main use of Obsidian within my business is to manage the outlining and planning of articles and other pieces of work that I want to create. I can access my knowledge and resources easily, referencing them when I’m writing. This allows me to create writing with structure, that people find engaging to read.
Gumroad
I recently started creating digital products, and I needed a place to sell them.
I’ve chosen Gumroad for now, because it’s a popular solution that’s easy to set up, with no fees for hosting your products on there. All that’s taken is a 10% cut of any sales you make. Because all the products I have on there are free at the moment, this is not a problem.
You add your products, choosing which category they lie in out of a selection containing options like course, subscription, digital resources and eBooks. All you need to do is add some details to the product listing, connect your Stripe or PayPal, and you receive pay-outs on a weekly basis.
If you want to check out what I’ve been selling on Gumroad, I currently offer a single free product. It’s about how you can find a niche on Medium and begin to make money writing on what you have knowledge about. Check it out!
Medium and Twitter
These are the two platforms I focus on when creating content in my online business. Medium is for longer work, and Twitter is where I write short-form.
This platform has been a place for me to go about sharing my knowledge with the world, building writing skills and exposure at the same time. They’re how I’ve been able to build an audience for the newsletter that I’ll talk about in a bit.
I’ve been able to find a niche and write about things that people find value in, for which I’m very grateful. Medium has always captured my respect, as a place where people work hard to publish high-quality long-form content regularly.
In the long term, I plan to continue writing on Medium, branching out into building an audience that’s interested in many of the same things I am. Hopefully, this will lead to connections and networking in which I can provide value to people as a writing service.
Twitter is on the other end of the spectrum in terms of content length. I find it a very useful contrast to Medium, meaning that I can practice writing both longer and very short pieces of work, rounding my skills as a writer.
I’ve been experimenting with using different services to schedule the publishing of work that I’m creating for Twitter, but I can’t settle on a single offering for now. Perhaps this will change in the future, as I continue to value my time more and want to batch-produce content for the platform.
Beehiiv
Recently, I’ve been made aware that I should have an email list because you don’t actually have ownership of your account on any of these other writing platforms.
Using Beehiiv, a relatively new newsletter service, I’ve been sending out an issue every Friday for the last five weeks. Mainly thanks to my readers here on Medium, my publication has grown to nearly 80 subscribers in a very short space of time.
If you want to subscribe, I write about productivity and creativity strategies, helping you ‘conquer content creation’ online. Thank you to everyone who’s already signed up!
Beehiiv’s free whilst you have a few subscribers and you find your feet in the newsletter creation world. This is perfect for someone who’s going to take a while to build up a larger audience base. The editor within the service is a joy to use, and you can customize how the publication looks.
Unlike other newsletter email services, Beehiiv allows you to build a blog-like website alongside the newsletter, so if you want to read any of the past issues that I’ve posted, you can visit the Fundamentalised website here. I’ve also made a publication for back issues here on Medium, where I release the previous week’s issue on the same day as the current week’s.
So that’s the tech stack that I’ve built over the last six months, which I’m currently using to build an online business revolving around my writing.
I hope that you’ve learned something new from this article, or that it’s given you a suggestion for you to try out. Thanks for reading!