Reddit’s Had a Facelift — And It’s Now a Goldmine for Writers
Let me show you
Photo by Brett Jordan on Pexels
Guess how many monthly users Reddit has?
Go on — take a stab.
If you’re like me, the answer might surprise you:
Screenshot from Backlinko.com (stats updated March 2023)
“Reddit has over 430 million monthly active users.”
How does this compare to other social apps?
According to various sources:
Twitter has 396.5 million total users
LinkedIn has 61 million people using it for job searches each week (930M+ total members)
Medium had 134.2 million visits in April 2023
We’re not here to compare apps. I just wanted to throw in these numbers to show you that Reddit is in the same ballpark as some of the biggest players in this space.
And yet I see no one talking about it.
That’s a shame because Reddit is a goldmine for freelance writers — particularly since its facelift.
Let me show you.
It started with an experiment…
For the past two months, I’ve been answering questions in various Facebook groups.
I know — I thought Facebook was dead, too 😂
For example, one comment (left panel) led to a flurry of responses (middle and right panels):
Screenshots by author — sorry it’s so blurry!
People asked if I could send them a template, which I mentioned in the original comment, so I encouraged these people to contact me on my website.
This led to a flurry of sign-ups to my email list.
One kind person even invited me down to London!
Screenshot by author
Here are my reasons for answering these questions:
I’ll have an idea about what sort of questions writers are asking, which is useful for creating content
I can turn my responses into an ebook (almost complete!)
Writers may click on my profile → stumble down the rabbit hole of my content → join my email list → become a coaching client
That’s the plan, at least!
In this LinkedIn post, I share my method for posting in Facebook groups:
Screenshot from my LinkedIn post
And so far, this method has been going swimmingly.
My email list grew by just over 5% last month, and I’ve had a number of enquiries about writing coaching.
The only snag is the groups I answer in don’t receive a ton of posts. They’re also hit-and-miss. Not all of the posts relate to freelancing.
I needed fresh blood.
Mwahahah 🧛
Enter Reddit
Truth be told, I’ve been following a similar strategy on Reddit for quite some time.
However, I neglected it when I found Facebook groups, and I’ve only been answering questions more seriously in the past two weeks.
But the results are looking great!
The spike in email sign-ups on June 1st was from ConvertKit’s creator network (huge thanks to Eve Arnold!), but there’s been a steady trickle from Reddit too:
Screenshot from my ConvertKit dashboard
I also love Reddit’s new interface.
When you sign up for an account, you’ll be greeted by a screen that looks like this:
Screenshot from Reddit taken by the author
Let’s compare this new interface to how it used to look.
Yeah — chalk and cheese:
Screenshot from Chrome Store
By clicking the top-left corner on the new interface, you can join Subreddits.
You can think of Subreddits like Facebook groups. They’re basically online communities where people come together to discuss a particular subject.
These are the two writing Subreddits I like the most:
r/freelanceWriters
r/freelancewriting
Screenshot from Reddit taken by the author
And whenever someone “upvotes” your answer to a question (equivalent to a Facebook like), your “karma” increases.
I don’t really know what this means.
I guess it’s just social proof:
Screenshot from Reddit taken by the author
All this is to say, Subreddits can be incredibly active. If you apply the following strategy, you could see a nice bump in your email list.
Hell — it could even lead to a job directly.
You never know who’s watching.
Reddit Method
Join 2–5 Subreddit communities about writing. You’re looking for Subreddits with at least 2+ daily posts, over 5K members, and lots of engagement.
When someone posts a question you can answer, provide a detailed response. The more detail, the better. I aim to post three detailed responses daily.
Spruce up your profile. When people check you out, you want to point them to your website or preferred social platform.
Screenshot from Reddit taken by the author
Takeaways
Reddit and Facebook groups are underrated.
I almost don’t want to post this article so I can keep this secret for myself!
However, share I must because I want to help you grow your email list, create content, and turn your knowledge into a side hustle.
This method could also work for other topics. For example, if you like sewing, you could answer questions in sewing Subreddits and direct people to your YouTube channel, podcast, or whatever.
So go on — start posting and let your imagination run wild!
The online world is waiting.
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