Why I Need You To Get Paid
Elections Provide Clarity
This Week’s Guest:
Later this week I’m sharing Rahkim Sabree with my Creators Getting Paid Community. I’ve held onto this case study and conversation until the right time and this week is that time. Keep an eye out for it. He is also the founder of the Overcoming Financial Trauma Substack.
What Was My Why?
I started Creators Getting Paid because I noticed that there were so many creators who had created another job for themselves. They were constantly rushing to find freelance writing work, social media management clients and other done for you projects that took energy away from what they hoped to grow. I was in an interesting position of seeing creators become millionaires, yes, millionaires using the internet to build impactful brands for their communities, themselves and their families.
I wasn’t one of them
I created Creators Getting Paid because despite winning awards, being well-liked and respected in my space-I wasn’t making the type of money that I hoped for by leveraging the internet. The internet provides the opportunity for creators of unique communities and spaces to scale their messaging, impact, mission and money. I was getting 3 of those things right but not the fourth. With that in mind I asked myself the following question:
What Was I Missing?
(About Creating a Financially Sustainable Online Brand?)
In the past two years I’ve spoken with numerous content creators about the work that they’re doing and the spaces that they're building. As a result I’ve begun to earn more, understand more and pay it forward through this project. I’m going to share a few of those lessons below. I also attend events such as FinCon.
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FinCon 2024 Review: Atlanta (Podcast)
This week’s podcast episode. FinCon 2024 Atlanta review (different from what I cover in today’s newsletter).
7 Reasons Why Creators Aren’t Making More Money
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this question. In speaking with my guests, observing my own work and looking at successful digital brands I’ve come up with some food for thought.
You Have Too Many Projects and They Are Way Too Complicated-This one is so freaking hard. The digital landscape is so amazing because you can explore all of your creative ideas. I’m a multi-passionate content creator and I have more than one project. That means that my focus is split to a certain degree. As time has moved on I’ve learned when to pause, pursue or purge a project. I continue to have 4 branded projects and I treat them very differently. The other challenge with having multiple projects is project complexity. The more complicated each projected the more split your focus will be.
Creators Getting Paid-This is my signature project that I tell people about. There’s a newsletter, website and podcast associated with it. This is where my 75% of my monetization efforts are focused.
Public Speaking
Affiliate marketing
Workshops
Sponsorships
Newsletter subscription
Consulting Work
Books
To Be Announced Personal Finance Project-This project will be launched in January. The audience is completely different to the audience for Creators Getting Paid. These are folks who love talking about money. I will not be actively pursuing monetization for this project beyond donations. That makes things much easier as I work on this project.
Donations
Square State Colorado-This is my website and podcast about Colorado. I treat this like a freelance project and it’s a lot of fun to work on when I work on it.
Affiliate Revenue
Ads on the website
My Romance Pen Name-I’m back to writing romance and I love everything about it.
Book sales
You Avoid Building And Aggressively Growing an Email List-This is my number one mistake. I didn’t avoid growing an email list, I just didn’t prioritize it. Then I built a list for my romance book pen name and started making money. I felt so silly. What was I afraid of? The folks who signed up for my list were adults and knew what to expect. When their journey with me was over, they unsubscribed. It wasn’t personal. The money is in the list. You’ve likely heard this said before and it’s the truth.
You’re positioned in front of the wrong people-What do I mean? You serve one audience but they aren’t the people who actually pay the money for whatever it is you’re selling. I’m hosting a workshop in early January where we will work through this.
Lack of connections-Sometimes it’s not “What you know” but “Who you know” Are you meeting people, experts, thought-leaders in the space that you’re in? I’m not suggesting transaction connection. I’m talking about the type of connections that take time to build, nurture and grow. Who I know has been the #1 way I’ve made money in my brand. These are the people who have believed in me when other people haven’t.
Brand Confusion-Are people understanding the work that you’re doing? Is the name of your project confusing people? Do you need to add a tagline to clarify what you’re doing?
Who is your audience?
What do you sell?
Do you stay “On brand” of deviate from your brand messaging?
No Earnings Strategy-Have you sat down and worked through a sales strategy for your products? Do you wing it or do you focus and plan?
Staying to Safe-You will create products that won’t sell. Those products will help you design the products that will sell.
How Has This Helped Me
I’ve begun to earn more. The unique projects that I’ve consulted on paid more, my products began to earn more and I’ve grown in terms of clarity around the purpose of my brand.
I Need You To Get Paid
Selfishly, I need you to get paid for the work that you’re doing. From the products that you’ve designed. If you’re a United States based creator on my list-we have headwinds coming at us.
Weakening of grants and other services focused on uplifting projects and spaces created by Black, Brown and Allied Spaces.
Economic Uncertainty-We’ll have new economic policies that will impact the work that we do and the communities that we serve. We’ll be needed more than ever.
I Need You to Get PAID for the projects that you’re building and I need you to double-down on your efforts. I don’t care if you’re retired, it’s a part-time project or a full-time focus.
It’s time to get serious.
Last week I shared what to consider as we focus on protecting the work and communities we’re building.
Now, I need you to make money. That will change your options.
I Need You To Get Paid
So that you can make choices when things get tough. To protect yourself, your family, community and work.
Coaching Sessions
📣 I’ve set aside paid coaching hours for the end of 2024. Last day for 2024 coaching will be Wednesday, December 11, 2024. Coaching sessions are no $147 for 90 minutes.
Take advantage of the holiday pricing.
Looking forward to helping you work through your 2025 brand building and monetization plans.
Pay for your session. Click here.
I will reach out in 24-48 hours to set a time.
Become a Paying Money Sprouts Community Member Today 🌱💰🌱💰🌱💰
A paid subscription gives you access to the following:
📹 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 via the Substack platform or email me at:
thebrandbuildinglab@gmail.com
Some Words From Michelle
For the Creators Getting Paid Community