The power of building online: a Tokyo story

By 2012, sharing my work online had already changed my life.

I was earning enough from remote illustration work to live anywhere with an internet connection. So I chose Tokyo.

This freedom didn't happen overnight.

It started five years earlier, when I began posting my illustrations online. Raw, unpolished work at first. But I shared consistently. I eventually found my style.

I had no formal training in illustration.

A community of those who liked my work developed.

Those years of making pictures gradually opened doors even if no one seemed to notice. It seemed surreal that I could do that from the comfort of a laptop.

Client work started flowing in.

Then, while living in my tiny Tokyo apartment, the email from Google landed.

They'd been following my journey and reading my blogs. They saw the progression.

They didn't care about formal qualifications.

They cared about my commitment to the craft.

And, thanks to regular sharing, I had been visible.

This isn't a story about natural talent. It's about understanding how sharing your work strategically, consistently, and authentically builds real opportunities over time.

And it comes sooner than you think.

Most people focus on the endpoint - "guy gets hired by Google" - missing the crucial middle: five years of showing up, sharing work, building connections, and developing a distinctive voice.

Build online, even if no one seems to care at first.

I learned that every single step of the way was significant.

My third step influenced the fourth. The fiftieth influenced the fifty-first.

It all counts.

Since then, I've decoded precisely what makes online writing and content click with people.

When you know how to make your words resonate, you can quickly build an audience that attracts opportunities.

And you can do it in a fraction of the time it took me because I show you the playbook.

Ready to transform your online writing into something that opens doors?

Learn more here.