avatarTaimur Ijlal

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d that took up all my writing energy</p><p id="c985">Despite this , Medium still gives a nice income and is an amazing way to make some income PLUS create your own brand on the side</p><figure id="723e"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*GxtZ8Rsj8U-_mwPe9fMTkg.png"><figcaption>My medium dashboard</figcaption></figure><p id="3b7c">If you are interested in tech writing then check out my below article</p><div id="435a" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/the-complete-guide-to-becoming-a-tech-writer-in-2023-123646aea72d"> <div> <div> <h2>The complete guide to becoming a Tech Writer in 2023</h2> <div><h3>Follow these steps and reap the rewards as a Tech Writer</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*km3r4jKhQKWsGTIC)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h1 id="fe4d">Self-publishing on KDP</h1><p id="ce86">KDP is another great way to make money as a cybersecurity professional where you can monetize your knowledge by writing books</p><p id="2e08">I have two books ( not four ) as the dashboard says and they still made me around GBP 250 with zero Amazon ads which is pretty awesome</p><p id="ba2e">I took Greg Lims awesome <a href="https://greglim.gumroad.com/l/author">course</a> which I cannot recommend highly enough so KDP is something I am going to take more seriously this year</p><figure id="f7f9"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*8eFtDweQ6QMKxIMuXjJYXw.png"><figcaption>my KDP dashboard</figcaption></figure><h1 id="e74f">Youtube</h1><p id="0c66">My love / hate relationship with Youtube continues as I continue to fall shy of the monetization mark every month 🤦</p><p id="735f">Yet despite this .. it is a great way of sending traffic to my courses , books and Medium profile</p><p id="ecdd">Youtube is definitely something you should have a presence on if you are a cybersecurity professional as it really cannot be beat as a traffic generation method even if it is not making me any income</p><figure id="dac1"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*UnoWobOsi_n-NQ2UHHO_fg.png"><figcaption>My youtube dashboard ( so close ! )</figcaption></figure><p id="1ca3">Please do consider subscribing below and help me reach that monetization goal !</p><div id="ca00" class="link-block"> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW-tgNtHKnAdCNoOr1qtM_g"> <div> <div> <h2>Cloud Security Guy</h2> <div><h3>🤔 ABOUT CLOUD SECURITY GUY 😃 Hello ! I am Taimur Ijlal and I am a multi-award winning, information security leader…</h3></div> <div><p>www.youtube.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*jz8aAVnkCh21zS7j)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h1 id="6b85">Gumroad</h1><p id="6ac3">I have a few of my courses and a book on Gumroad and surprisingly I made some money which I was not expecting at all !</p><figure id="00d0"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*2G86cZHIai8LnD_w-kCZ4Q.png"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><p id="6489">Someone was kind enough to pay a hundred dollars just for my USD 4.99 book which was amazing !</p><p id="73d6">If you have eBooks or courses then Gumroad is recommended but you note that you need a traffic generation method like Medium or Youtube to send traffic there</p><div id="ff57" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/someone-paid-a-hundred-dollars-for-my-usd-4-99-ebook-on-gumroad-5665d6922c25"> <div> <div> <h2>Someone paid a hundred dollars for my USD 4.99 Ebook on Gumroad</h2> <div><h3>This is why I love making digital products</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*v6TZ1_oBD7DlXyIr)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h1 id="7bc9">Substack</h1><p id

Options

="c58d">SubStack is another great platform to make money .. I have not gone all on this paid newsletter platform but did try monetizing it and surprisingly got a few paid subscribers</p><p id="2782">Currently I am mostly repurposing my Medium content on Cybersecurity but plan to write more original content</p><p id="d8b9">Paid subscribers are getting free access to my courses on Udemy which is how I am trying to give value back</p><figure id="1493"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*b5QwXYTj6jhRQnRvVVyVcQ.png"><figcaption>Substack dashboard</figcaption></figure><p id="6be3">You can read more about what I did below</p><div id="111f" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/i-got-my-first-paid-substack-subscribers-744501403da7"> <div> <div> <h2>I got my first paid Substack subscribers</h2> <div><h3>Small wins go a big way</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*FoglDCy7IsHhi06W)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h1 id="44e9">Freelancing on Fiverr</h1><p id="dd39">The last platform I tried was Fiverr which is VERY competitive and requires quite a lot of effort ! However the income from Fiverr can be life changing for many people</p><p id="bb87">Fiverr is not passive income and should be treated like a proper side hustle if you are interested.</p><p id="57ca">It can be tough going but a lot of people are benefiting from the tips I am sharing so lets see how far I can take this</p><div id="81f6" class="link-block"> <a href="https://taimurcloud123.medium.com/i-reached-fiverr-level-2-as-a-cybersecurity-freelancer-5c0758fdea10"> <div> <div> <h2>I reached FIVERR Level 2 as a CyberSecurity freelancer</h2> <div><h3>Why freelancing is still worth it in 2023</h3></div> <div><p>taimurcloud123.medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*F-Oib1XSaHcs4HWi)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="ac74">So there you have it .. I will continue to work more on these streams and try to create new ones which I will share in the coming months</p><p id="6caa" type="7">I hope this motivates you and makes you see there are still great ways to make income and monetize your cybersecurity knowledge. If you are interested in learning more check out my free Ebook below</p><figure id="523b"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/0*z3-iFza-x_-3GkdO"><figcaption><a href="https://cloudsecguy.gumroad.com/l/passive">https://cloudsecguy.gumroad.com/l/passive</a></figcaption></figure><figure id="2324"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/0*7l535nZ404Gtmcdg.png"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><p id="8d3d">Taimur Ijlal is a <b>multi-award-winning, information security leader</b> with over two decades of international experience in cyber-security and IT risk management in the fin-tech industry. Taimur can be connected on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/taimurijlal/">LinkedIn</a> or on his YouTube channel “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/CloudSecurityGuy">Cloud Security Guy</a>” on which he regularly posts about Cloud Security, Artificial Intelligence, and general cyber-security career advice.</p><p id="29af"><i>You can get full access to every story on Medium for just $5/month by signing up through the below link :</i></p><div id="c31f" class="link-block"> <a href="https://taimurcloud123.medium.com/membership"> <div> <div> <h2>Join Medium with my referral link — Taimur Ijlal</h2> <div><h3>Read every story from Taimur Ijlal (and thousands of other writers on Medium). Your membership fee directly supports…</h3></div> <div><p>taimurcloud123.medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*EoTmIGR7Hvj9cr0p)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Cybersecurity side-hustles — Q1 2023 income report

What worked and what failed in Q1 2023

Photo by Mathieu Stern on Unsplash

Hard to believe but the first quarter of 2023 has already passed ! I feel it was just yesterday that I was making plans and goals for how this year would go.

Setting down concrete goals and tasks is a great way to track if you are improving ever year.

If you have been following my earlier series then I have been experimenting with various side hustles in cybersecurity and sharing my results here

Those articles have really resonated for a lot of people so I thought of sharing what I was able to do in Q1 2023

You can check my earlier one below:

As always I am sharing what I have done myself and not recommending stuff that I have just read about !

So without further ado let us see how I did in the last months of 2022

Udemy

If you have followed my earlier work then you know I am a big Udemy fanboy.

Despite the crazy competition, it is still a great way to make passive income provided you do the proper research

I created two courses one of which did well and one sank like a stone 🙁

However one major breakthrough was two of my courses got accepted into Udemy business which are courses that Udemy curates and provides to top companies worldwide

The figures for those have not yet been finalized but you can see I have been seeing a steady increase. Nothing spectacular but slow and steady !

My Udemy dashboard

If you are interested in Udemy then do check out my article on the same below !

Medium

Medium is another way of making some great income but I was not able to give it the time it deserves in Q1 2023 sadly

Reason being that I was busy with some ghostwriting projects and that took up all my writing energy

Despite this , Medium still gives a nice income and is an amazing way to make some income PLUS create your own brand on the side

My medium dashboard

If you are interested in tech writing then check out my below article

Self-publishing on KDP

KDP is another great way to make money as a cybersecurity professional where you can monetize your knowledge by writing books

I have two books ( not four ) as the dashboard says and they still made me around GBP 250 with zero Amazon ads which is pretty awesome

I took Greg Lims awesome course which I cannot recommend highly enough so KDP is something I am going to take more seriously this year

my KDP dashboard

Youtube

My love / hate relationship with Youtube continues as I continue to fall shy of the monetization mark every month 🤦

Yet despite this .. it is a great way of sending traffic to my courses , books and Medium profile

Youtube is definitely something you should have a presence on if you are a cybersecurity professional as it really cannot be beat as a traffic generation method even if it is not making me any income

My youtube dashboard ( so close ! )

Please do consider subscribing below and help me reach that monetization goal !

Gumroad

I have a few of my courses and a book on Gumroad and surprisingly I made some money which I was not expecting at all !

Someone was kind enough to pay a hundred dollars just for my USD 4.99 book which was amazing !

If you have eBooks or courses then Gumroad is recommended but you note that you need a traffic generation method like Medium or Youtube to send traffic there

Substack

SubStack is another great platform to make money .. I have not gone all on this paid newsletter platform but did try monetizing it and surprisingly got a few paid subscribers

Currently I am mostly repurposing my Medium content on Cybersecurity but plan to write more original content

Paid subscribers are getting free access to my courses on Udemy which is how I am trying to give value back

Substack dashboard

You can read more about what I did below

Freelancing on Fiverr

The last platform I tried was Fiverr which is VERY competitive and requires quite a lot of effort ! However the income from Fiverr can be life changing for many people

Fiverr is not passive income and should be treated like a proper side hustle if you are interested.

It can be tough going but a lot of people are benefiting from the tips I am sharing so lets see how far I can take this

So there you have it .. I will continue to work more on these streams and try to create new ones which I will share in the coming months

I hope this motivates you and makes you see there are still great ways to make income and monetize your cybersecurity knowledge. If you are interested in learning more check out my free Ebook below

https://cloudsecguy.gumroad.com/l/passive

Taimur Ijlal is a multi-award-winning, information security leader with over two decades of international experience in cyber-security and IT risk management in the fin-tech industry. Taimur can be connected on LinkedIn or on his YouTube channel “Cloud Security Guy” on which he regularly posts about Cloud Security, Artificial Intelligence, and general cyber-security career advice.

You can get full access to every story on Medium for just $5/month by signing up through the below link :

Side Hustle
Passive Income
Cybersecurity
Technology
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