avatarAndrew Crider

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an.md/">Obsidian</a> is starting to pull me in). Whether you use Notion, Roam, or just OneNote, you need to track all of your thoughts to quickly output content as you are learning or keep the color scheme constant over all of your content. I also use it to house articles so that I can easily refer to them. If there is one tool that I use every day and has paid off handsomely, it is Roam Research.</p><h2 id="02f0">Website/Blog</h2><p id="0a2a">I’ve used Medium as my primary cash cow for my articles. But I also bought a domain and hosted my website. I try to keep <a href="http://www.recusiveautomation.com,">www.recusiveautomation.com,</a> and its associated Medium publication strictly focused on home automation, but as my hobby expands, I’ve published my posts to GeekCulture and The Startup. Here’s a great listing of Medium Publications to help you find your niche.</p><div id="14b0" class="link-block"> <a href="https://bettermarketing.pub/43-active-publications-on-medium-in-2020-8a03c1e5b7c9"> <div> <div> <h2>The Ultimate Guide to 43 Active Publications on Medium</h2> <div><h3>A massive curated list of publications with topics, followers, tags, and how to apply</h3></div> <div><p>bettermarketing.pub</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*_KoHhVuAX2i2ef3O)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h2 id="ab51">Branding</h2><p id="d459">I’m not great at graphic design. However, I will spend a little capital to create my graphics. My time is valuable, so a little outsourcing goes a long way. <b><i>Note, links below are affiliate links</i></b>:</p><p id="126f"><a href="https://go.fiverr.com/visit/?bta=263886&amp;brand=fiverrhybrid&amp;utm_campaign=mediumArticle"><b>Fiverr</b></a></p><p id="ded6">When I want to outsource my content creation completely, I use Fiverr. I’ve had logos, code creation, and app onboarding screens done quickly. A great seller did the logo below, and you can order content directly from the seller <a href="https://go.fiverr.com/visit/?bta=263886&amp;brand=fiverrcpa&amp;utm_campaign=mediumArticle&amp;landingPage=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fiverr.com%2Frubinaanjum">here</a>. Fiverr has a quick turnaround with a very low-cost investment. Pretty easy.</p><figure id="194e"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*m5g65a7rSy6JgaPCxcZWGg.png"><figcaption>One Logo … 5 Minutes of my time</figcaption></figure><p id="0377"><a href="https://affiliates.fiverr.com/commission-plan/">Fiverr Affiliate Rates</a> are:</p><ul><li>Fiverr CPA — One Time Commission of 15 – 150 for every new buyer</li><li>Fiverr Hybrid — Revenue Share 10 + 10% Revenue Share for 12 Months for every new Buyer</li></ul><p id="46d9"><a href="http://1.envato.market/ZdxJ4K"><b>Placeit</b></a></p><p id="b36e">I used PlaceIt in a previous venture called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LiveArtsLive">Live Arts Live</a>, my partners and I wanted to showcase local artists and creators via Zoom during the 2020 pandemic. Here is one of the promotional <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LiveArtsLive/videos/1487689968101077">videos</a>. I also used Placeit to create a short promotional video for my Second Brain Journal.</p> <figure id="9c24"> <div> <div> <img class="ratio" src="http://placehold.it/16x9"> <iframe class="" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2F6pQTW1kwCV8&amp;display_name=YouTube&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D6pQTW1kwCV8&amp;image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2F6pQTW1kwCV8%2Fhqdefault.jpg&amp;key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&amp;type=text%2Fhtml&amp;schema=youtube" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" width="854"> </div> </div> </figure></iframe></div></div></figure><p id="2ada">I like Placeit because it has many drag and drop templates for various mediums (Videos, Twitch banners, Facebook and Instagram Ads, etc.)</p><p id="8b77"><a href="https://placeit.net/affiliate-program">Placeit Affiliate Program</a></p><ul><li>20 per monthly subscriber referred</li><li>$50 per annual subscriber referred</li><li>50% of one time transactions.</li></ul><p id="9b13"><a href="https://www.canva.com/join/smy-xnj-vrn"><b>Canva</b></a></p><p id="633a">I used this service to create the pages for the Second Brain Journal that I published through Amazon Direct Publishing Service. Canva is another Drag and Drop SaSS editor that is easy to use and can quickly aid when creating content.</p><p id="9d21"><a href="https://unsplash.com/"><b>Unsplash</b></a></p><p id="b896">This is a source of free (with accreditation) images for your blog posts. Search, copy the citation, and paste.</p><h2 id="5940">Create a Book or Journal</h2><p id="3a21">I was skeptical after reading the below articles. How could I possibly sell on the Amazon Marketplace as an independent contribut

Options

or? I didn’t follow all of <a href="undefined">Christina M. Ward</a>’s suggestions, as I wasn’t looking for a money maker, just another way to monetize content that I had already created. So if you took the time to do keyword searches, you could make more than I did. However, I’ve now made more money over the past two weeks than nine months on Medium. The article by <a href="undefined">Casey Botticello</a> dives farther into the economics and strategies about publishing on Amazon’s platform.</p><div id="55c4" class="link-block"> <a href="https://bettermarketing.pub/the-complete-guide-to-uploading-a-marketable-book-on-amazon-kdp-64f70eddfd2c"> <div> <div> <h2>The Complete Guide to Uploading a Marketable Book on Amazon KDP</h2> <div><h3>For self-published authors, diligent formatting is key</h3></div> <div><p>bettermarketing.pub</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*zVFwC78xsHgT0BeqWksnkA.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="4104" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/how-to-make-158-404-in-passive-income-writing-books-for-amazon-kdp-efc7470afb11"> <div> <div> <h2>How to Make $158,404 in Passive Income Writing Books for Amazon KDP</h2> <div><h3>Mastering A9 — Amazon’s organic product ranking algorithm</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*F9yEKUEGJmKSC7WcSpIDPg.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="17fa">These articles, plus the potent Canva editor, allowed me to quickly put together a journal that I could list and sell on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing Program. Again, my focus was on reusing material, not creating new content, so this was just copying and pasting it into another editor. If you’re interested in what it looks like having your own book published, check out this <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B099K43ZS7">link</a>.</p><h2 id="4b30">Mailing List</h2><p id="64b5"><a href="https://www.mailerlite.com/invite/3f32b764af5f5">MailerLite</a> was the e-mail marketing tool I ended up with. Easy to manage, a great editor, and can quickly set up automations and member segments. It also has a plugin for my WordPress website.</p><p id="2a73">Here is a sample of what signing up a <a href="https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/j8m9o3">mailing list</a> looks like created in MailerLite.</p><h2 id="f744">Miscellaneous</h2><p id="64e9">Other tools that I used:</p><p id="cbd4"><b>Todoist</b> — a great Todo app that has an API that I can use to power some of my automations</p><div id="db62" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/import-your-todoist-tasks-nto-roam-research-fa364050f32d"> <div> <div> <h2>Import Your Todoist Tasks Into Roam Research</h2> <div><h3>Using Python, MatPlotLib, and Markdown to monitor your Todoist Activity with Roam</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*UsM6LTrXuHN0W5bLRZumXg.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="c8b0"><b>Zapier</b> — An automation service that I use to glue all of my applications together. You can quickly create automations, and it supports many applications together.</p><figure id="b2cd"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*hFgxD5s_sCShSkqZmqeJrw.png"><figcaption>A Zapier Flow incorporating MailerLite, Todoist, and Home Assistant</figcaption></figure><h2 id="4da1">Looking to the Future</h2><p id="a8b2">As I mentioned above, I’m not creating content because I think it will be a full-time job; I’m creating a way to subsidize my hobby. As I produce more content, I hope to make money to buy dinner once a month. Some ways that I’m thinking about increasing my velocity include:</p><ul><li>Create an E-Book on Home Automation (<i>from material that I have already created</i>)</li><li>Produce a course on how to set up your own Home Automation System (<i>from material that I have already created</i>)</li><li>Create an app to assist in creating a Personal Production System (<i> I have to learn Flutter somehow!</i>)</li><li>Exposing My Knowledge Management System Findings through Substack (<i>Monetize my most significant time sink</i>)</li></ul><p id="5084">If I can buy dinner once a month, that will be great. But as long as I am still having fun, it’s not a job, it’s just a hobby.</p><p id="18f3">This article includes affiliate links of various sorts. Any engagement with the services mentioned above may cause my hobby to be better subsidized.</p></article></body>

I Don’t Have a Side Hustle — I Have a Public Hobby

A side hustle is work. A public hobby has a financial reward for doing something that you were already going to do.

Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash

Over the past two weeks, the following has happened:

  • I have had a daily average of thirty Article Views on Medium
  • I have sold five journals on Amazon
  • My website averages eight visitors a day
  • I spent $20 on Facebook Ads
  • I bought a Fiverr Logo Design for $23
  • My Amazon Affiliate Account was suspended for Poor Performance

That’s when I realized I don’t have a side hustle… I have a partially subsidized hobby I do in public.

But I’m not discouraged! I’m even more emboldened to write more, learn more, and continue to contribute to the internet’s ever-changing knowledge graph.

My Medium Earnings, Screenshot by writer

Why is someone who has been on Medium for nine months and just crossed the $20 threshold excited about his future in the content creation space? Because I would have done most of the hard work, anyway.

My side-hustle, sorry, my amateur content creation hobby, reflects what I love to do. I like automating my home. I’m constantly looking for new things to think about and writing about them helps me to refine those thoughts.

If you’re looking to supplement your hobby with a piece of the attention economy, here are some tools that will allow you to build on your current hobby.

Time

Does maintaining a website, writing articles, and publishing content take time? Yes. However, I only spend 10% more than I usually would by simply documenting the tasks that I was already going to do.

Solving my morning alarm via Home Assistant? I just wrote up what I did (extra 30 minutes) — Net: $0.19

Helping Fellow Consultants with their Career Path? Wrote the PowerPoint and the Article Side by Side — Net: $3.27

Identifying what metrics I wanted to track for my Personal Productivity System? Created a Journal and wrote an article (extra 5 hours) — Net: $26.15

There is a time commitment to writing, proofreading, finding images, but writing regularly has also helped me with my communication skills. Also, it’s all material that can be aggregated down the line, for example, into a self-serving article about how my hobby only cost me a hundred dollars.

Personal Knowledge Management

I use Roam Research for my Personal Knowledge Management Tool (though Obsidian is starting to pull me in). Whether you use Notion, Roam, or just OneNote, you need to track all of your thoughts to quickly output content as you are learning or keep the color scheme constant over all of your content. I also use it to house articles so that I can easily refer to them. If there is one tool that I use every day and has paid off handsomely, it is Roam Research.

Website/Blog

I’ve used Medium as my primary cash cow for my articles. But I also bought a domain and hosted my website. I try to keep www.recusiveautomation.com, and its associated Medium publication strictly focused on home automation, but as my hobby expands, I’ve published my posts to GeekCulture and The Startup. Here’s a great listing of Medium Publications to help you find your niche.

Branding

I’m not great at graphic design. However, I will spend a little capital to create my graphics. My time is valuable, so a little outsourcing goes a long way. Note, links below are affiliate links:

Fiverr

When I want to outsource my content creation completely, I use Fiverr. I’ve had logos, code creation, and app onboarding screens done quickly. A great seller did the logo below, and you can order content directly from the seller here. Fiverr has a quick turnaround with a very low-cost investment. Pretty easy.

One Logo … 5 Minutes of my time

Fiverr Affiliate Rates are:

  • Fiverr CPA — One Time Commission of $15 – $150 for every new buyer
  • Fiverr Hybrid — Revenue Share $10 + 10% Revenue Share for 12 Months for every new Buyer

Placeit

I used PlaceIt in a previous venture called Live Arts Live, my partners and I wanted to showcase local artists and creators via Zoom during the 2020 pandemic. Here is one of the promotional videos. I also used Placeit to create a short promotional video for my Second Brain Journal.

I like Placeit because it has many drag and drop templates for various mediums (Videos, Twitch banners, Facebook and Instagram Ads, etc.)

Placeit Affiliate Program

  • $20 per monthly subscriber referred
  • $50 per annual subscriber referred
  • 50% of one time transactions.

Canva

I used this service to create the pages for the Second Brain Journal that I published through Amazon Direct Publishing Service. Canva is another Drag and Drop SaSS editor that is easy to use and can quickly aid when creating content.

Unsplash

This is a source of free (with accreditation) images for your blog posts. Search, copy the citation, and paste.

Create a Book or Journal

I was skeptical after reading the below articles. How could I possibly sell on the Amazon Marketplace as an independent contributor? I didn’t follow all of Christina M. Ward’s suggestions, as I wasn’t looking for a money maker, just another way to monetize content that I had already created. So if you took the time to do keyword searches, you could make more than I did. However, I’ve now made more money over the past two weeks than nine months on Medium. The article by Casey Botticello dives farther into the economics and strategies about publishing on Amazon’s platform.

These articles, plus the potent Canva editor, allowed me to quickly put together a journal that I could list and sell on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing Program. Again, my focus was on reusing material, not creating new content, so this was just copying and pasting it into another editor. If you’re interested in what it looks like having your own book published, check out this link.

Mailing List

MailerLite was the e-mail marketing tool I ended up with. Easy to manage, a great editor, and can quickly set up automations and member segments. It also has a plugin for my WordPress website.

Here is a sample of what signing up a mailing list looks like created in MailerLite.

Miscellaneous

Other tools that I used:

Todoist — a great Todo app that has an API that I can use to power some of my automations

Zapier — An automation service that I use to glue all of my applications together. You can quickly create automations, and it supports many applications together.

A Zapier Flow incorporating MailerLite, Todoist, and Home Assistant

Looking to the Future

As I mentioned above, I’m not creating content because I think it will be a full-time job; I’m creating a way to subsidize my hobby. As I produce more content, I hope to make money to buy dinner once a month. Some ways that I’m thinking about increasing my velocity include:

  • Create an E-Book on Home Automation (from material that I have already created)
  • Produce a course on how to set up your own Home Automation System (from material that I have already created)
  • Create an app to assist in creating a Personal Production System ( I have to learn Flutter somehow!)
  • Exposing My Knowledge Management System Findings through Substack (Monetize my most significant time sink)

If I can buy dinner once a month, that will be great. But as long as I am still having fun, it’s not a job, it’s just a hobby.

This article includes affiliate links of various sorts. Any engagement with the services mentioned above may cause my hobby to be better subsidized.

Medium
Side Hustle Tips
Content Marketing
Content Creation
Affiliate Marketing
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