It took me seven years to understand what actually matters when you’re trying to build an audience online.

A few days ago, I had a Zoom call with a writer I’d known for several years. He had a notebook open beside his keyboard, and every few minutes, he would pause to jot something down before returning his attention to the screen.

About halfway through our conversation, he asked me a question I’ve heard countless times:

“If you could start over, what would you do differently to build an audience and become successful?”

After growing an audience of more than 50,000 followers, I’ve learned there are plenty of things I wish someone had told me before I published my first article.

So I gave him the honest answer.

I told him about the mistakes I made, the years I spent chasing followers, the hundreds of articles I published, and the lessons I had to learn the hard way.

I’ve been writing online for about seven years. Every now and then, another writer sends me one of their earliest articles and asks for feedback.

I can usually predict what I’m going to see before I even open the draft.

Long introductions.

Awkward transitions.

Too many unnecessary words.

And sentences that sounded impressive in my head but somehow felt completely different once I clicked “Publish.”

Looking back, I realize that becoming a better writer wasn’t just about writing more.

It was about learning what readers actually care about, understanding why certain pieces connect while others disappear, and developing the discipline to keep improving even when nobody is paying attention.

Here are the lessons I wish I had learned from the beginning.