In August 2022, I received my first paycheck outside of my day job.
Earning $1 online can feel like the equivalent of earning $1,000 at your day job.
That feeling is priceless.
You see, for years, I had been looking for ways to earn money online.
I started off with a blog, with the intention to monetise through ads. Unsurprisingly, it bombed big-time. The back-end logistics of a blog proved too much of a hassle for me to handle.
That’s how my journey with Medium and Substack began. Fuss-free and clean interface, with no need to deal with back-end stuff.
To clarify, I am no expert at this. I am still learning along the way.
If you would like to know the exact steps to how I got started, here goes.
How I got started
In October 2021, I first started publishing my articles on Substack, to build an email list for myself.
4 months later in February 2022, I posted my first article on Medium.
From February 2022 to July 2022, I was posting about 3 articles per month on average on Medium.
All while gaining little to no views, until July 2022.
This article in particular went semi-viral.
13 ‘stupidly simple’ money rules- from a couple who retired with $1 million before 35
Steve Adcock and his wife retired early at 35 and 33, respectively, after accumulating $870,000 working in information…medium.com
It was through this one article that pushed my follower count towards the 100 mark, the requirement to monetise on Medium.
My Exact Process
Instead of looking at the dollars and cents, start by providing value to the online world.
When you are able to do this, the rewards will come eventually.
1. Leverage on established authorities
One of the biggest lessons I learnt was to use content that is already performing well.
Don’t plagiarize. Repurpose the content.
Offer a unique perspective, using your personal experience.
2. Systems to keep you accountable
Maybe your forte is not in writing, but in video content etc.
Whatever the case may be, set aside time to create.
Start with one article or one video per week. Have a system in place such that you release this at the same time every week.
The key to getting results is consistency.
For consistency to happen, there needs to be a system in place to keep you accountable.
Conclusion
Creating on the internet is simple, but not easy. It requires you to keep going despite the lack of results/ traction.
Having a mentor also helps me in the accountability aspect. Taking action, no matter how imperfect, is the way to move forward.
If you’d like to get your own side hustle up and running, do check out the link below.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfxzNajCk3D8pwEipt6K7oGbLJDBcuGEqpIB3oFZDzz5yBUmQ/viewfor