Falling in Love with Passive Income
After Losing It
Before I share this edition of Creators Getting Paid, I wanted to tell you that I’m sharing a creator conversation with everyone in today’s newsletter. Normally, these conversations are offered to the Money Sprouts paid community. However, with this topic-I wanted to make it available to everyone. Guest Amelia Hruby and I talk about building an online brand without social media.
I Love Passive Income!
The year was 2012, almost a lifetime ago when I first hear about passive income. I was a newbie blogger writing about personal finance because I had things on my chest. And those things I felt like sharing online and if my story helped at least one other person-I was happy about that outcome. In fact, the concept of making money online was hard for me to wrap my head around. How on earth would I be able to do that writing about my financial pain?
At the time I was unable to unlock what making money online would look like for me. Overtime, I ended up having a large number of friends and acquaintances who figured out. I had my head down to the ground just trying to dig myself out of a financial mess-some of my own making, some not. As things began to stabilize financially I started paying attention to what I saw other people doing.
Because I was creating content in the personal finance space, I found the numbers that people were sharing inspiring, overwhelming and hard to wrap my head around. Then in 2018 I started dabbling in designing and selling my own products and services.
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It. was. so. scary.
Who was I to declare that I was an expert in any sort of way about anything? I also had so many doubts because my life was still pretty messy at the time. Not as bad as before but I still had stuff that I was dealing with and what no one talks about is how creating an online brand and business can amplify whatever personal crap you’re dealing with.
Then I Published a Book
That was the turning point. I’d made money affiliate marketing, but publishing and earning $514 from a book that I wrote in 27 hours was a wildly heady experience. Especially as doubled-down on marketing and selling that book. Then I felt a little audacious and decided to sell a course teaching how to make money selling digital books online. I made thousands of dollars from being bold and taking a risk.
That book was a romance. I didn’t care-I used my writing skills to craft and share a story that people still enjoy to this day.
It. was. so. scary.
What was wild about all of this is that I’d fallen in-love with the idea of passive income years ago. And I was starting to have a vision for what that would look like within my own business and brand. I kept growing my income. Some months it was hundreds of dollars other months it was a few thousand. That money changed how I showed up in my online business.
Then COVID Happened
My state shut down. For three months I was able to recreate no further than 10 miles from my home…inconveniently located 40 miles from the Rocky Mountains. I could hear the Black Lives Matter protests from my home. The noise of flash bangs echoing throughout the City.
The uncertainty was overwhelming and my ability to focus was gone. All of the effort that I put into building up course income, book income and affiliates-the energy and focus was gone and so I pivoted.
Sometimes You Have to Miss Something
To Truly Appreciate It
Building passive income sucks….until it doesn’t. When I look back at the past 7 (ish) years there are three pivotal moments in my passive income journey that stand out.
#1-The first $514 dollars from a product that I designed and sold in a space that was different from the primary space that I was focused on (romance instead of personal finance)
#2-The second moment was when I was under quarantine in my home and I wasn’t under any financial duress because I knew that money would be coming in. My bills were paid. This was huge because a lot of content creators lost clients and other contracted work during that time. I had book income, course sales and some affiliate income that I’d built up and was being paid during those months.
#3-When I was making a decision about moving out of the country…and my passive income had dried up. Not only had it dried up, I also realized that I did NOT enjoy having a heavily freelance focused brand. The way I imagined making choices within my online business changed because so much of my business depended on the following:
Getting an editor to say “yes” to my pitch
AI not shutting down a writing division/department that I was writing for
Time of year
Having a certain number of clients
I could share more but you get the picture. I’m so grateful that these things happened because I found myself assessing my business and brand and admitting to myself that I loved building and growing passive income. There was one final thing to consider.
Passive Income Isn’t Passive
It takes a lot of time, energy and focus to build up “passive income” Maybe I was able to focus on it again because I was rested? Or because I’d moved from the initial trauma of COVID, etc. to some other trauma?
Is it worth it?
Yes, it’s absolutely worth doing. You will experience your business and brand differently as you grow income that you control.
Controlling stuff such as…
When you sell your product and how often
The price of your product/goods or services
To whom you would like to sell these items
How you leverage your expertise as it relates to what you’re trying to sell.
I understand the resistance to building out passive income. The community that I support is filled with amazing creatives who are making money:
Collaborating with brands
Selling products such as digital downloads and other types of printables
Getting paid to speak
Making money with low-ticket offerings
Earning money with high-ticket offerings
Oftentimes, though, these amazing creators aren’t making passive income. I want to change that and I want to change it for so many reasons. The number one reason is to shift control in your business back into your hands.
If you feel overwhelmed, anxious or can’t imagine how you would start earning passive income within your brand I’ve created a new challenge:
Zero to $500 a Month: Start Growing Your Passive Income
The Challenge
This challenge will help creators rethink, focus on and build that initial $500 a month in recurring income. It’s a significant strategy shift and once you start earning $500 a month regularly, you’ll then be able to scale that knowledge. You can’t unlearn what you already know.
Keep an eye out for this challenge coming the end of September or the first week of October.
It Will Change Your Business
Building recurring (somewhat) passive income will change how you experience your digital business and brand. It takes time to grow it so I’m encouraging you to start now.
Free Printables Workshop
Click here to watch Gold City Ventures free printables workshop. I’m not an expert in growing and developing a printables business. That’s why I reached out to Cody from Gold City Ventures to share his experience building his printables business. If you’re interested in designing and selling printables-check it out.
Become a Paying Money Sprouts Community Member Today
A paid subscription gives you access to the following:
📣 I set aside 5-10 paid coaching hours a month (depending on the month). These coaching hours are only available to Money Sprouts Community Members. Coaching sessions are currently $197 for 90 minutes.
📹 Pre-recorded and live-conversations with content creators who have grown online brands in thoughtful and empathetic ways.
🧠 🏛Pre-recorded or live-workshops on different topics related to monetizing an online brand. Free and paid workshops. Discounts on paid workshops are offered to paid subscribers
🙍🏿♀️ Zoom and In-person Q & A’s and meet and greets with Michelle and the Creators Getting Paid Community
Financial Hardship Requests
If you’re dealing with a financial difficulty and would like to become a Money Sprouts member-DM me on the Substack platform.
Money Sprouts Community September Workshop
When: Thursday, September 19, 2024 at 6:00 pm MTN/8:00 pm EST. Via Zoom. Zoom details will be shared closer to the date with Money Sprouts Community Members
Enjoy A Peak Behind the Scenes
Today I’m sharing a conversation that I recorded with Amelia Hruby. I’m a huge fan of hers and love her assertion that you don’t have to have social media to grow an online facing brand.
I don’t focus deeply on social media anymore and focus on building my
Support Amelia
This conversation is an example of what I host behind the scenes. Please forgive the audio quality of this video-I was at my favorite coffee shop when I recorded this conversation.
My lips were not ashy LOL! That’s sun glare