At some point in our lives, writing is required. In school essays, exams, ads, autobiographies, and job applications, writing is waiting at every junction. For some, like Ayodeji Awosika, writing is a walk in the park, while for others, it is a series of continuous baby steps.
The idea of Medium was birthed by the former co-founder of Twitter and Blogger, Evans Williams, who was aimed at providing a platform that can take in more than Twitter’s 140 characters. Now, Medium consists of all kinds of text content – from budding to seasoned writers.
Imagine YouTube with its millions of content, but for writers. Medium is like a worldwide blog where artists, writers, poets, motivational speakers and so many other professionals all find a platform to harness their writing skills, and for some to make money as a writer.
In this pool of writers, Ayodeji Awosika is this article’s spotlight. With over 89 thousand followers on his Medium page and earning over 10 thousand dollars monthly, it is intriguing how he made a business off this platform. Here, our focus is on the tips and the tricks he used to scale through.
A Little Background On Ayodeji Awosika
One thing Ayodeji does not shy away from is his vulnerability when it comes to writing. He talks about his journey upfront; from his dropping out of college and working 12 hours a day in a factory. The writer had a drug problem and would get stoned every day.
He speaks about how he was regarded as the kid with ‘the spark’, the one who would pick up skills and had the brains that soaked up knowledge like a sponge. Parents and teachers often told him how the only thing that was required of him was the effort, but he relied on that spark everyone saw and that was enough for him until it was not.
He landed in jail for a few days in his past, and the turning point occurred when he took a deep look into his life and all the choices that led him to that point. Ayodeji cleaned up by taking a huge step toward changing his life for the better.
He read 75 books in a year, was intentional about taking in positivity from all sources, and he began writing when his friend launched a new site and needed content. Ayodeji has continued writing from then on and now makes a whole career out of it.
Writing is an art in itself, and Ayodeji has plenty of tricks up his sleeves on how to go about it. Now a writing coach, a mentor, and an author of three books that have sold over 20,000 copies worldwide, he has shared several posts on his Medium account aimed at getting the best out of one’s writing journey.
Ayodeji Works In His “Flow State”
In our previous article, we talked about the flow state and its role in creativity. Ayodeji has written about how this flow state has been one of his hacks in churning out top-quality articles for his readers. He talks about how four hours of work is needed to get him into that creative zone.
Ayodeji And How To Generate Content Ideas
Let’s face it; one of the hardest things content creators complain about is getting content for their space. Be it video, text, or audio. Ayodeji has shared a simple hack on how to go about that on Medium; an idea generator. His popular idea is to write ten headlines every day, no matter how senseless they may sound because eventually, some sense will arise from them.
This is one of the breakthroughs of his consistency in the writing game.
Ayodeji on Listicles and How-To Posts
No one is a well of knowledge, and that is why we always look up the internet for how to do this or that. For Ayodeji, his headlines and articles focus on listicles – arranging an article in a list form – and producing how-to posts for writers to better their skills. His YouTube channel is flooded with many how-to titles that make one curious enough to click.
Ayodeji On Reading As A Hack To Writing
We all know that voracious readers make good writers, and Ayodeji is good proof of that. Ayodeji shares books that have helped him scale through his life and his career. He describes them as his own “life-changer”, and draws from them as his constant source of inspiration.