How people make (great) money on the internet with literature quotes

Intro. We underline quotes, forward them to friends, and make them our mobile wallpapers. Ward Farnsworth, dean of a Texas University, says people have an "appetite for well-expressed wisdom, motivational or otherwise." Savvy entrepreneurs have learnt to monetize this appetite👇

Some people think quotes are corny and cringe - others find genuine motivation in them. No matter what you think of quotes plastered all over social media, one thing is for sure: quotes are now a "highly lucrative industry." Let's look at some people making bank in this world.

Shawn's twitter page Motivational Quotes has more than a million followers - but he started with a humble newsletter in 1998. He used SEO to optimize his website and built an impressive following on social media. He redirected all traffic to his website, where he sold ads.

Shawn describes the appeal of quotes: "You get this euphoric feeling, almost like a drug. I like to call it the ‘wisdom buzz’. You get a buzz of wisdom and it feels as if your mind has just expanded and you’re open to a whole new idea that you’ve never before conceived of."

Shawn himself prefers "esoteric quotes" from thinkers like Schopenhauer, but they tank with his audience. He's made his peace with people's choices: "Everybody’s at different levels in their own development, and you’ve got to realise you’re edging humanity along inch by inch."

Laura Belgray, a copywriter, went viral in 2018 with her article: I Get Paid $6,000 a Day to Write Inspirational Quotes for Instagram. After Belgray's original quotes on Instagram did well, a life coach named Sasha Heinz hired her to produce quotes for her too.

Sasha would send ideas: "When you make your eating or exercise routine carry the burden of your self-esteem, it’s going to buckle." Laura made them memorable: "If your self-worth is the number on the scale, it’s going to go up and down every day." Laura was paid $950 per hour.

Wisdom theory is a twitter page that posts insightful tweets and redirects its audience to a Gumroad audiobook. Wisdom theory also maintains pages such as Schopenhauer Now where he shares quotes from the philosopher and redirects people to his premium Gumroad content.

3 ways: Monetize via ads (Shawn), monetize via premium content (Wisdom Theory), monetize via writing services (Laura). Ads work if you don't want to make original content (OC), OC works if you have something to say, offering services work if you want a client to take the lead.

Bottom line. The common denominator across all three styles is getting attention. Do you have a knack for expressing insights in a catchy way - or know a thinker who should be more widely known? Start posting - perhaps on Memod - and you can be a Quote-preneur too.