I Make 4-Figures Online Without Being a Social Media Influencer

Here is how I do it so that you can try it too.

I used to think that making money online was impossible if I didn’t actively post photos on Instagram, create stories and retouch myself to look perfect.

After all, that’s what everyone does on Instagram, but I feel this trend is slowly dying.

The same is valid for other platforms, like Twitter, LinkedIn, Quora, and more.

Being a hard worker, I expected the path to self-sustainability to be challenging. However, I was not ready to publicly display my life 24/7.

I wanted to have some time off for myself.

I wanted to have holidays without making content for Instagram.

I wanted to avoid retouching myself to impress someone else.

This list can go on and on.

I wanted to start a side hustle in 2018, but I was convinced I’d fail because I did not want to follow others.

“Is it the end? Do I necessarily have to be like others to become successful online?” — I asked myself.

I hesitated to start any project because I knew I lacked the motivation and courage to talk about many topics.

They are private.

I don’t want to talk about many things in my life publicly.

Many people do it and have massive support on social media, but it’s not about me.

Over time, I’ve realized it’s not the end of the world, and there are ways to build successful side hustles for introverts and people who don’t want to become public figures.

The path is not easy, though.

Nothing is easy by default, but you can build multiple scalable side hustles without being an influencer.

Here is how I started and what I did.

Writing unlocked the opportunities I never knew existed

Without knowing where to start, I started writing.

It happened accidentally during the lockdown in 2020.

Back then, my only intention was to write on this platform to make money.

I knew I was a novice writer with poor writing skills, but my first story was published in the top Better Marketing publication, which gave me a bit of confidence.

Over time, I learned that my audience follows my transformation, solopreneur journey, achievements, failures, etc. Furthermore, they learn and grow together with me.

I see the same people reading and commenting on my stories, making me set my content quality bar even higher.

I carefully consider every topic before writing an article because I know what my readers expect from me.

Wondering if you can achieve the same?

It took over 200 unsolicited pieces to discover my writing niche, even though it was not my end goal.

That’s the answer for anyone who wants to quickly find and monetize their niche without putting much effort.

After gaining a couple of thousand followers on Medium (which is not much compared to other writers), I learned about my audience’s struggles, which changed my mindset.

From this: “I write to get money for my writing.”

To this: “I can monetize my audience regardless of size by using various means. My end goal is to bring value; everything else is secondary.”

Writing and this mindset shift helped me build multiple income sources I never knew I could create. More on this later in the article.

You might say writing is not for everyone.

Yes, I agree.

However, writing is a perfect alternative to social media blogging that does not require daily updates. Your audience won’t unsubscribe because you were silent for a few days. It’s not how it works.

You can build several 4-figure revenue sources (my case) without becoming a public figure.

I could have earned way more by becoming an influencer. But I damn like my freedom and don’t have any inner desire to sacrifice it.

My inner self is happy now.

My endless monetization opportunities

I say “endless” because I no longer see the limits.

It was challenging to start, but new opportunities popped up one after another.

All thanks to one particular day when I pushed myself to try writing.

Nowadays, writing is my calm way of making four figures from different income sources.

Here they are (I know you are curious).

My ebooks

This may be the safest and quickest way of making money online.

Having no email list, I sold over 50 copies of my ebook on “How to write blog posts that hit the Google front page” and made $2,000+ from it.

You can read more about my experience with selling ebooks on Gumroad here.

An ebook can be a great semi-passive income source even if you don’t actively promote it, like me.

I don’t remind my readers about my ebooks daily because that’s annoying.

Instead, I share a word about my ebooks in my success stories, showing how my knowledge and experience helped me get from point A to point B.

It works!

Here is the proof.

If you are a newbie to Gumroad and want to learn how to sell ebooks from me, check my Gumroad guide here.

My website

Having a website is a dream for many.

However, not everyone realizes that it’s only possible to monetize it when there are visitors.

How to get them?

Social media, email campaigns, and forums are popular means of traffic acquisition. However, this traffic has one huge con — it’s temporary.

If you pause and don’t publish anything for a while, your traffic is gone!

That’s why I focused on search engine optimization, which helps me create high-ranking content pieces that generate traffic for a long time.

Guess what?

I dedicate the least time to my website, but my optimized content drives 65%+ of all traffic (data from Google Analytics).

If interested, you can read more about how I write high-ranking content in my SEO book.

The following are different ways I monetize my website since it consistently gets thousands of views.

P.S. they don’t require daily maintenance.

Paid guest posts. Yes, I sell guest posts on my website, and I don’t feel guilty for doing it.

My SEO writing services. I promote my SEO writing services and close collaborations with companies and individuals.

My ebooks promotion. I promote and sell my ebooks through my website.

Paid collaborations with brands. I create exclusive content for brands and get paid for it accordingly.

I never start big

I start small when it comes to growing a website or creating digital products.

By small, I mean starting with an easy-to-create product that my audience will benefit from and does not take much time to create.

This way, I do not risk failing.

Well, there is always a risk, but I won’t lose much if it does not work out.

Instead of creating long digital courses, I start with ebooks.

Instead of investing in a complex and impressive website design, I start with an MVP (minimum viable product).

This careful approach lets me slowly and consistently diversify my income sources and make more money online.

What’s your approach to digital product creation?

In conclusion

Being a public figure or influencer is not for anyone.

However, it does not mean you won’t be able to do online business if you are not there 24/7.

I publish only two stories on my website per month, and it grows.

I post up to ten stories on Medium monthly and make $900+.

I’ve recently started building my email list. Nevertheless, I’ve sold 100+ copies of my ebooks.

I am sure influencers’ journey is exciting, but I like my freedom and would not give it up for anything else.

Grab my 5-day email course on how to write articles that rank on the 1st page of Google.

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