College teacher turned ghostwriter | Scaling founders, coaches, and consultants to $100K+ /mo | Writing to build wealth and better self | 98,000 on Twitter (X)

Taylin John Simmonds

I just want you to know, it’s possible to become a full time writer. 

It might take longer than expected. It might not happen the way you expected. But it is possible. 

Please, on the hard days, remember that.

College teacher turned Substack ghostwriter | Helping multi-passionate writers and creatives earn on the internet | 2 billion impressions | $4,000,000+ revenue generated | All in on Substack

I ghostwrote for 6 months with zero pay.

3am writing sessions to hit deadlines. Then I’d teach college classes from 8am to 6pm (exhausting).

I tracked every win. Saved the screenshots. Studied what worked.

That invisible work became my portfolio.
That portfolio landed my first paid client at $3,000 a month.

To get paid, get proof.

I’m 31, Canadian, introverted, and run a small online writing biz with my high school best friend.

Last year, we did $315,000 in revenue.

What we sell (copy us if you like):

– Social media ghostwriting: $4,700/mo + 10% commission
– Newsletter ghostwriting: $2,000 /mo
– Ghostwriting coaching: $5,700/qtr
- Ghostwriting course: $500
- Paid Substack newsletter: $99/yr

How we market:

– Post on LinkedIn 5x/week
– Post on Substack 7x/week
– Post on Twitter 14x/week
– Email my list 2-3x/week
– DM 100 people/mo on LinkedIn

Tools we use:

– Loom (SOPs and audits)
– Stripe + Whop (payment processors)
– Calendly (calendar bookings and pre-sale automation sequences)
– Heartbeat (community platform for coaching)
– Eden (all writing + my entire life in systems)
– Notion (company systems)
– Claude + ChatGPT (AI assistance)

Where I started:

4 years ago I was a college teacher who knew nothing about business, marketing, or sales. I just wanted more control over my time and to make a little more money. Today, I have exactly that.

if you do a fraction of this, you can make $100K /yr on Substack alone. You just need the right offers, strategy, and time.

I hope this gives you some direction.

—Taylin

My tiny writing biz did $315,000 last year.

If I were starting over and wanted 6 figures, I’d ghostwrite newsletters on Substack.

Go to LinkedIn, find business owners, health coaches, and tech founders. DM them. Show them how a paid newsletter will make them more per mo than they pay you.

Do this well and you’ll have more clients than you can handle.

Funny... After 31 years of exploring, my happy life turned out to the simple one.

• Reading great books
• Going on walks to think
• Writing what I’d love to read

A little breathwork. A lot of time with my gf.

That’s it. That’s happiness.

Build in public (show your process)
Think in public (share your insights)
Write in public (show your skill)

Public credibility creates private opportunities.

If you want to level up in life, you must create more than you consume.

Create art, books, content, products, and businesses. Shape your body, mind, and environment. Build your ideal life one tiny step at a time.

Most people are stuck because they only watch. Don’t be like them.

Create something. Anything.

You only need 1 client.

Not one who underpays, drains your energy, and ignores boundaries.

1 client who pays more than most corporate salaries, treats you like a professional, and builds with you long term.

That single client will permanently change what you think is possible with a one person business.

You're exhausted because you have too many open loops.

Too many books you’re reading. Articles you’re writing. Skills you’re learning. Businesses you’re building. Problems you’re solving.

Pick one thing (for now). And grieve the rest. 
Energy will follow.

Don’t write with AI. Write assisted by AI.

AI can come up with ideas. You decide which are worth writing.
AI can research. You fact-check.
AI can give feedback. You choose what to keep.

You think. You write. You lead.

You bring the perspective, taste, and truth that no machine can.

AI saves you time.

Not so you can write less, but so you can write more, write better, and write more you.

Solo building is overrated.

Find your people. Meet daily. Build cool sh*t together.

I’m creating a newsletter ghostwriting course with two close friends and it’s the most fun I’ve had in months.

Few things beat building with people who care as much as you do.

The happiest people I know are not doing more. 
They are noticing more.

They pause to celebrate small wins others ignore. Ten minutes of focused work. One uncomfortable email sent. An honest start on a low-energy day.

That habit will make you effective.

Because people who notice progress keep going.

Multi-passionate people get stuck because they over-consume and under-create.

You don’t have to give up learning. But you do need to devote yourself to producing work daily.

Create for 2-4 hours in the morning. Explore for 1-2 hours in the evenings.

That’s how you both learn and earn with multiple interests.

You don't need motivation to achieve great things.

I don't always feel like writing.
I don't always feel like working.
I don't always feel like exercising.

Honestly, MOST days I don't feel like it.

But I do it anyways.
And I never regret it.

The future won’t belong to specialists who refuse to change.

It will belong to people who can become someone new again and again.

Technology is moving too fast for fixed identities.

Agency, learning speed, and keeping cool under uncertainty are the new job security.

A lack of pressure leads to an abundance of procrastination.

New milestone: 100 paid subscribers on Substack!

The Mindful Creator | I talk about mindset, creativity, & content writing | Building The Mindful Creation Blueprint

I wasn’t supposed to be here.

Five and a half years ago, my life was going the other way...

I was: 

🔹Drinking every day
🔹Running from myself

And one night alcohol took my right eye in a freak accident

That was my wake-up call.

I had two choices: 

1. Keep spiraling downwards (and potentially die) 
2. Rebuild myself

I chose to rebuild.

I got sober. 

Which forced me to face the sides of myself I’d been running from. 

And in the process, I discovered something most people never realize...

Your identity shapes your whole reality. 

Who you believe you are determines what you're capable of creating. 

That lesson became the foundation of everything I do now.

When I started my consulting business...

I was in college studying audio engineering.

Just a normal guy who had to figure it out from scratch.

Since then... 

I built my consulting business to six figures organically on LinkedIn.

And I've watched my clients break through the same walls I had broken through in my own life.

Today, my mission is simple:

To help established leaders and creatives get to $20K/m by doing the inner work combined with the business work.

Because I know what it feels like to lose everything.

And I also know what it takes to build yourself back stronger.

Darion Rae

Delusional self belief...

That's where it all started for me.

Not everyone is going to support you.

Not everyone is going to believe you can do it.

(Some people might secretly want you to fail).

One of the few things you can control though...

Is betting on yourself.

(Huge shoutout to Kelsey Schaefer for having me on Inspired Idiots. If you haven't seen what she's up to... check her out)

Helping you master → yourself, value creation, & productizing your knowledge

If what you're working on doesn't:

🔹Fire you up
🔹Get you obsessed
🔹Excite you when you wake up

You're headed in the wrong direction. 

You can think it's idealistic for me to say it.

You can even disagree...

But I know one thing for certain:

Life is too short to spend your time doing sh*t you don't care about.

--

🔷 If you love self-mastery, value creation, and productizing your knowledge, follow me Darion Rae

I don’t want an easy life.

I want a meaningful one.

Easy now gets harder as you go.

A meaningful life is the exact opposite.

It’s hard now, but gets easier later. 

That’s the trade most people never consciously choose.

If you’re even thinking about this…

You’re already playing a different game than most people.

People who feel unfulfilled usually aren’t lazy…

They’re misaligned.

They never chased excellence in what they’re meant to do.

(Their life’s task)

So they stay stuck going through the motions.

Working on things they don’t enjoy and aren’t passionate about. 

This is why I’m so committed to chasing mastery in what I love. 

And why I believe we all need to be. 

When you remove distractions and commit to one path long enough…

Meaning and fulfillment come naturally. 

Yes, being a polymath is important.

Yes, having multiple skills is important.

But you need to go deep into 1 or 2 things.

Mastery requires it.

--

🔷 I recently ran a workshop teaching my 6-figure content system & strategy.

If you're struggling to write content that feels aligned with you while still attracting your dream clients on LinkedIn...

Catch the free recording here:

https://lnkd.in/eUqPr7vK

I never mastered my early passions as a kid.

I got above average…

Then moved onto the next thing that excited me.

Every time.

Now that I’m older, I see why.

Magic, breakdancing, basketball, rapping…

They were my training wheels.

Looking back at all those passions I was able to see similarities. 

They were all rooted in:

🔹Self-expression
🔹Technical skill
🔹Performance

And best of all they were permissionless. 

They all led me here to creating value online and productizing my knowledge. 

And now I’m chasing mastery for the first time in my life, and it feels damn good. 

So this is my reminder to you…

Yes, go wide in a bunch of things, follow your curiosity and interests.

They’ll help you realize what you need to go deep in.

--

🔷 If you love self-mastery, value creation, and productizing your knowledge, follow me Darion Rae

In the digital age, nothing is more important than mastering:

🔹 Yourself 
🔹 Value creation
🔹 Productizing your knowledge

Yourself because there's never been more distractions.

Value creation because the internet allows everyone to build their own business. 

Productizing your knowledge because to reach as many people as possible... you need scale.

Tactics don't mean sh*t if you don't become the personal capable of getting the outcome you want.

--

🔷 I recently ran a workshop teaching my 6-figure content system & strategy.

If you're struggling to write content that feels aligned with you while still attracting your dream clients on LinkedIn...

Catch the free recording here:

https://lnkd.in/eUqPr7vK

Ever since I was a kid I was chasing mastery without even knowing it.

My first passion was magic. 

I wanted to be a magician so badly after my uncle did some magic tricks for me and my friends at one of my birthday parties. 

I would practice in front of the mirror for hours every single day after school.

Just me working on my slight of hand and all the angles. 

I even pretended my reflection was the person I was performing for. 

Then I found breakdancing when I was 10. 

It opened a whole new perspective for me on self-expression.

It was creative, technical, and performance based (just like magic).

There was always another move to learn, or another way to do a move that I’d never seen anyone else do. 

It kept me hooked. 

Then a couple years later I found my greatest love…

Basketball.

It consumed me.

And when I say consumed me… I mean I was absolutely obsessed. 

I woke up at 5 AM before school to practice.

I slept with my ball.

I trained at lunch between classes, after school…

Pretty much anytime I wasn’t eating or in class,

I was practicing. 

This has been a trend my whole life.

After basketball it was rapping…

Then 3.5 years ago, I found online entrepreneurship and never looked back. 

Here’s why I’m telling you all this…

---

🔷You can read the full post on my blog here: https://lnkd.in/ewa_Aq4m

Last year something felt off in my business.

Which is strange because the year before in 2024 I:

🔹Hit 6 figures
🔹Thought I was building my dream biz
🔹Helped a lot of people get clients on LinkedIn

So I couldn’t quite put my finger on what didn’t feel right…

All I knew was I wasn’t inspired to write content anymore.

I didn’t get fired up to start work in the morning like I did the year before. 

My obsessiveness over my craft pretty much disappeared. 

And my business took the hit. 

After a lot of self reflection and brutal honesty with myself,

I realized what happened...

🔷You can read the full post called 'Most People Never Discover What They're Meant To Do (How to find your heart's task)' here:

https://lnkd.in/eiATk8Km

Abby struggled with her writing business for 3 years before we started working together.

Before we met she:

🔹Had no strategy or repeatable systems
🔹Offered every type of copy you can think of
🔹Only signed a couple one off ‘project’ clients
🔹Didn’t feel like a business owner who ran an actual business
🔹Was ready to give up because she thought maybe it wasn’t for her

Now in less than 10 months she:

🔹Feels like a real business owner
🔹Is working with 6 clients she’s aligned with
🔹Has a specialized offer built for recurring revenue
🔹Has a system and strategy she can wake up and execute on without guessing
🔹LOVES what she does

So if you’re a leader or creative who wants mastery over 3 key areas:

💎 Yourself
💎 Value creation
💎 Productizing your knowledge

I show you exactly how inside my community here → https://lnkd.in/gnn6TGAe

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The Battle

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