avatarJenn Leach

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Abstract

   <div>
          <div>
            <h2>$1,500/month as a Microinfluencer</h2>
            <div><h3>How I monetized my five-month-old Tik Tok account</h3></div>
            <div><p>millennialnextdoor.medium.com</p></div>
          </div>
          <div>
            <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*RnwZuJPhfVX5ZD2D)"></div>
          </div>
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      </a>
    </div><p id="301e">And, the size of my audience is desirable to brands.</p><p id="292e">Having 1,000, 5,000, 100,000+ followers or subscribers in your network means when you talk, all those people are potentially listening.</p><p id="1c5a">And, they are interested in the niche you’re talking about. That’s what brands are looking for.</p><p id="6b3d">So, a portion of my monthly income comes from these sponsored posts. This can be sponsored blog posts, sponsored social media posts, or sponsored newsletters.</p><h1 id="0ee7">Sponsored links</h1><p id="f5e4">This works the same as sponsored posts except instead of creating an entire written post or social post around or related to a brand, all I have to do here is insert a link into existing content.</p><p id="b1dc">I include banner posts in this category, too. This is where companies pay me to have a side banner or content banner on my website.</p><h1 id="7fc0">Affiliate marketing</h1><p id="a80b">I promote companies as an affiliate and when readers click the link and take action (like making a purchase), I earn a commission.</p><p id="25a9">For example, I was in an affiliate program where I earned $1,100 when a customer bought the product.</p><p id="5f18">If I make 5 sales in a month, a cool $5,500!</p><p id="2897" type="7">5 sales X $1,100 affiliate commission each = $5,500</p><div id="87ed" class="link-block">
      <a href="https://readmedium.com/i-added-a-4-000-month-income-stream-to-my-business-7561a56713b7">
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          <div>
            <h2>I added a $4,000/month income stream to my business</h2>
            <div><h3>I started over the summer — here’s how I did it</h3></div>
            <div><p>medium.com</p></div>
          </div>
          <div>
            <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*uY29K8RyA4gZ7Gbd)"></div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </a>
    </div><p id="aa41">Affiliate marketing is pretty low-risk and easy for anyone to start making money with.</p><p id="23b6">As a beginner many years ago, I was making around $20 to $80 per month starting out.</p><p id="607f">Eventually, I got up to $800 to $1,500 per month, and today, I make much more than that every month from affiliate marketing commissions.</p><p id="8838"><a href="http://www.millennialnextdoor.com/onlinebusiness">My free ebook</a> talks about how to start making money with affiliate marketing.</p><h1 id="32af">UGC</h1><p id="0354">This is about creating user-generated content for brands. For example, you might film short-form videos, TikTok-style, for customers to use.</p><p id="44f9">I’ve done gigs like this, making $200 to $750 per piece of content I produced.</p><div id="e4d1" class="link-block">
      <a href="https://bettermarketing.pub/i-got-my-first-long-term-ugc-deal-ff2f9e66a85">
        <div>
          <div>
            <h2>I Got My First Long-Term UGC Deal</h2>
            <div><h3>How I did it and three ways you can get in on UGC</h3></div>
            <div><p>bettermarketing.pub</p></div>
          </div>
          <div>
            <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*d5lpr6lmDCPKFJOx)"></div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </a>
    </div><h1 id="53b9">Substack</h1><p id="d44b">I have a <a href="http://www.jennleach.substack.com">Substack newsletter</a>.</p><p id="c972">There’s a free and paid version. The free version gets subscribers limited newsletters per month (around 1 or 2 emails) and the paid version gets 4+ emails monthly plus perks like discounts on my products, freebies, exclusive content (like my income reports), video trainings, and more.</p><p id="cb2e">I charge $5 a month or $40 a year for paid Substack members.</p><h1 id="8fda">Ko-fi</h1><p id="382a">These are “coffee” donations I get periodically.</p><p id="0fa3">Not a stable source of income but, a nice treat and unexpected surprise when I get a random donation here and there.</p><figure id="bd0e"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*TfIgzKHGndX2qNhUE32uQw.png"><figcaption>Millennial Nextdoor Ko-fi</figcaption></figure><p id="f919">I’ve had people donate a $1, $3, $5+ tip via <a href="https://ko-fi.com/millennialnextdoor">Ko-fi</a>!</p><p id="c037">I have a few different Ko-fi accounts for the various personal brands I have.</p><h1 id="e552">Content writing</h1><p id="bc0a">This is money that comes from content writing platforms like Medium and Newsbreak.</p><p id="b703">You write, get views, and get paid.</p><p id="d90

Options

d">This is one of my lowest-earning income sources from the platform payments specifically but there are other ways to monetize the content.</p><p id="dde6">For example, with Medium, you can sell your products, book services, and refer affiliates to make affiliate marketing income.</p><p id="5967">It goes way beyond the Medium Partner Program, as you an see.</p><div id="c026" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/medium-is-a-money-grab-but-most-writers-arent-doing-it-right-b5029b3597da"> <div> <div> <h2>Medium is a money grab — But, most writers aren’t doing it right</h2> <div><h3>I get the feeling that a lot of writers here on Medium are really tightly focused on Medium’s Partner Program (MPP)…</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*0o0WHssxNrzLYGCQybwznQ.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h1 id="659f">Writing clients</h1><p id="ea8c">This is the client work I do around freelance writing. I have a few clients I work with and I love working with them!</p><p id="c930">I may bring on my clients in the future but for now, I’m pretty happy with my workload.</p><p id="dfaf">I found these clients on:</p><ul><li><a href="http://www.millennialnextdoor.com/starterstory">Starter Story</a> (look at the interviews and look for the interview question about staffing then contact the company)</li><li><a href="http://www.problogger.com/jobs">ProBlogger Jobs</a></li></ul><h1 id="6df9">Digital products</h1><p id="bdf9">I sell ebooks and online courses.</p><div id="127c" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/ive-made-nearly-10k-from-my-gumroad-passive-income-business-here-s-how-68f814cdbb10"> <div> <div> <h2>I’ve made nearly 10K from my Gumroad passive income business — Here’s how</h2> <div><h3>I never thought I’d try out Gumroad. In the past, I had experience creating and selling digital products that I used…</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*Ewc8eHPNnNv8aCwu)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="b101">This is an awesome source of passive income. You create products once and then sell them indefinitely online.</p><p id="d1b9">I use Gumroad for ebooks, which helps me collect payment from the customer, distribute the product and pay me!</p><figure id="5902"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*hebihlMU3A3skXDFK6wJ0Q.png"><figcaption>Gumroad homepage</figcaption></figure><p id="4787">And <a href="http://www.millennialnextdoor.com/teachable">Teachable</a> for online courses.</p><h2 id="87de">Would it surprise you to learn that this isn’t it?</h2><p id="1b44">I make money in other ways but, not any that I’d include as a part of my content business, like from investments, website flipping, and other ways.</p><div id="0e54" class="link-block"> <a href="https://millennialnextdoor.medium.com/my-student-made-over-30-000-website-flipping-95fc4e2d782b"> <div> <div> <h2>My student made over 30,000 website flipping!</h2> <div><h3>Last summer, I talked about my student making over 20K website flipping. When I checked in on her progress recently, I…</h3></div> <div><p>millennialnextdoor.medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*o1FSDg-WGmQ_Hq9L)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h1 id="ca85">Onto You!</h1><p id="e626">There you go!</p><p id="bfc0"><b><i>What are some ways you monetize your content business?</i></b></p><div id="b7e6" class="link-block"> <a href="https://millennialnextdoor.medium.com/list/43498b1f75be"> <div> <div> <h2>Start a Business with Website Flipping</h2> <div><h3>Edit description</h3></div> <div><p>millennialnextdoor.medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*27e31d6fc7dce2d7ebaf04f0c6aa207cc459510a.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="a37d">Note: Affiliate links are in this article which means if you click a link and make a purchase, I earn a commission at no additional cost to you</p><p id="bcae">I hope you enjoyed reading this. If you’d like to support me as a writer, consider signing up to <a href="https://millennialnextdoor.medium.com/membership">become a Medium member</a>. It’s just 5 a month and you get unlimited access to Medium.</p></article></body>

9 Surprising Ways I Make Money Online in My Content Business

Detailed Breakdown

Photo by Vlada Karpovich: https://www.pexels.com/photo/confident-young-businesswoman-with-laptop-and-notebook-sitting-on-floor-modern-apartment-4050351/

If you’re as obsessed with how people make money as me, I’ve got something special to share! I’m going to take a deep dive going into all the ways I make money online in my content business!

I’m writing this to share, be transparent, inspire, and give you ideas for how to monetize your own content business.

I’d also love to hear from you, so don’t be afraid to comment and share your thoughts on these, including some ways you monetize your own business.

Before we start, here’s a super quick background…

How I started my content business

I always loved creating content. I’m a creative at heart and love doing creating things from…

  • Drawing
  • Styling Pinterest pins
  • Creating flatlay images for Instagram (back in the day), and
  • Writing

I’ve always been drawn to all this.

I went to college not sure what I’d “be when I grew up,” then graduated and fell into banking and finance.

After a decade in that field, I started something cool (an online store) that allowed me to leave that life behind, in exchange for entrepreneurship!

That online store burnt me out to the nth degree and I sold it, moving on to blogging.

Early days of blogging were a struggle. I bounced around from blogging to website flipping, with a little consulting and coaching, to writing in between, some small e-commerce projects throughout, and remaining active on social media.

Today, nearly ten years after setting out on my entrepreneurial journey, my business looks a lot different but, I absolutely love it, so happy about where things have fallen into place!

When people ask me what I do for a living, I proudly say digital publishing.

I love that I can:

  • Wear casual comfy clothes daily
  • Work out of my favorite local coffee shop
  • Vacation when I want
  • Take morning naps when I wish
  • Be available to my son for field trips, half days, doctors appointments, sick days, holiday breaks, and,
  • Live a life of freedom and independence in my work

With that said, here are the 9 ways I make money in my content business.

Note: I won’t share many numbers here but, if you want to read the numbers, I do share quarterly income reports with members of my paid Substack newsletter.

You’re more than welcome to join to see all the numbers there!

9 Ways I Monetize My Content Business

Here we go…

Sponsored posts

Brands pay me to talk about them in blog posts. That’s how sponsored posts work, in a nutshell.

Why do they pay me as opposed to paying others?

  • My audience
  • My reach

I write in specific niches and those niches align with companies I partner with.

For example, if my niche was AI products, then AI software companies may want to partner with me.

And, the size of my audience is desirable to brands.

Having 1,000, 5,000, 100,000+ followers or subscribers in your network means when you talk, all those people are potentially listening.

And, they are interested in the niche you’re talking about. That’s what brands are looking for.

So, a portion of my monthly income comes from these sponsored posts. This can be sponsored blog posts, sponsored social media posts, or sponsored newsletters.

Sponsored links

This works the same as sponsored posts except instead of creating an entire written post or social post around or related to a brand, all I have to do here is insert a link into existing content.

I include banner posts in this category, too. This is where companies pay me to have a side banner or content banner on my website.

Affiliate marketing

I promote companies as an affiliate and when readers click the link and take action (like making a purchase), I earn a commission.

For example, I was in an affiliate program where I earned $1,100 when a customer bought the product.

If I make 5 sales in a month, a cool $5,500!

5 sales X $1,100 affiliate commission each = $5,500

Affiliate marketing is pretty low-risk and easy for anyone to start making money with.

As a beginner many years ago, I was making around $20 to $80 per month starting out.

Eventually, I got up to $800 to $1,500 per month, and today, I make much more than that every month from affiliate marketing commissions.

My free ebook talks about how to start making money with affiliate marketing.

UGC

This is about creating user-generated content for brands. For example, you might film short-form videos, TikTok-style, for customers to use.

I’ve done gigs like this, making $200 to $750 per piece of content I produced.

Substack

I have a Substack newsletter.

There’s a free and paid version. The free version gets subscribers limited newsletters per month (around 1 or 2 emails) and the paid version gets 4+ emails monthly plus perks like discounts on my products, freebies, exclusive content (like my income reports), video trainings, and more.

I charge $5 a month or $40 a year for paid Substack members.

Ko-fi

These are “coffee” donations I get periodically.

Not a stable source of income but, a nice treat and unexpected surprise when I get a random donation here and there.

Millennial Nextdoor Ko-fi

I’ve had people donate a $1, $3, $5+ tip via Ko-fi!

I have a few different Ko-fi accounts for the various personal brands I have.

Content writing

This is money that comes from content writing platforms like Medium and Newsbreak.

You write, get views, and get paid.

This is one of my lowest-earning income sources from the platform payments specifically but there are other ways to monetize the content.

For example, with Medium, you can sell your products, book services, and refer affiliates to make affiliate marketing income.

It goes way beyond the Medium Partner Program, as you an see.

Writing clients

This is the client work I do around freelance writing. I have a few clients I work with and I love working with them!

I may bring on my clients in the future but for now, I’m pretty happy with my workload.

I found these clients on:

Digital products

I sell ebooks and online courses.

This is an awesome source of passive income. You create products once and then sell them indefinitely online.

I use Gumroad for ebooks, which helps me collect payment from the customer, distribute the product and pay me!

Gumroad homepage

And Teachable for online courses.

Would it surprise you to learn that this isn’t it?

I make money in other ways but, not any that I’d include as a part of my content business, like from investments, website flipping, and other ways.

Onto You!

There you go!

What are some ways you monetize your content business?

Note: Affiliate links are in this article which means if you click a link and make a purchase, I earn a commission at no additional cost to you

I hope you enjoyed reading this. If you’d like to support me as a writer, consider signing up to become a Medium member. It’s just $5 a month and you get unlimited access to Medium.

Make Money Online
Business
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneur
Content Creation
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