Photo by Katie Harp on Unsplash
?Well, how much did you make last month?? my Mom asked.
?I made just over $10,000 Mom,? I replied.
She sharply inhaled, took a second, and said something like ?Wow Tom, that?s incredible.?
That was 10 months ago. I?ve since crossed the $10,000-in-one-month threshold a few other times, and I?m always in awe of the internet when I do.
I don?t have much to offer people, honestly. I know how to write better than most, I guess, and I really enjoy making videos.
Sometimes when these videos go viral, I capture a couple thousand dollars off the ads alone. I?m getting ahead of myself.
It Started In 2015 For Me
The truth is, since 2015 I?ve been making money from the internet.
It has taken me a full 3 years to get anywhere close to making $10,000 in a single month online. I used to make most of my money as a freelancer, actually, but I wasn?t making much.
I transitioned into blogging online in late 2016, and that?s when the bacon started coming.
In December of 2018, I Made $10,000 Online
Fast forward to the last month of 2018. Here I was sitting on $10,000 earned in a single month. If I put enough of those months together, I?d be talking about six figures in a single year.
The money I earned in December came from a variety of places. Let?s get into where they came from.
Writing | $1,500
Most of the time, writing in exchange for money accounts for about 20% of my revenue every single month, but this month it was 15 percent.
These earnings typically come from one-off freelancing projects, paid blog posts, and money I earn on this very website.
In December I was approached by someone to write a blog post in exchange for $450. I took it, obviously, and that ballooned my writing income a bit.
I also write about 8?9 blog posts every month, too. I published maybe 3 blog posts here in December and made a good bit of money from that.
Online Courses | $3,800
Normally my online course makes me about $3,500 ? $5,000 per month if we?re being transparent. This month it accounted for 38 percent of my total earnings, or $3,800.
To take you behind the curtain a little, my online course thrives on new email list signups. Without anybody new signing up for my email list, I?m essentially dead in the water and won?t make any money.
I write blog posts to grow my list, mostly. I can also leverage LinkedIn in some ways if I wanted to, and every month I receive about 700?900 new email signups.
Everybody likes to say the size of your list is the biggest thing that matters. It definitely matters, don?t get me wrong, but I think the more important thing is how many new people are signing up for your list every day. If you can find ways to maximize that number, then you can easily make $3,000-$4,000 per month from online courses or other products.
Facebook Video Ads | $3,600
For those who don?t know, I also make videos on Facebook occasionally. Every now and then, a video goes viral.
Most times, I make about $500 per month on Facebook, but when a video goes viral, like it did in December, I made about $3,000 extra from it.
Facebook, to me, is a superior platform for video creation compared to Youtube for a variety of reasons, one being you can make more money from ads on Facebook compared to Youtube.
Facebook also has a ?share? button which, when pressed, immediately puts your video on the timelines of most of your friends. This can significantly drive up views and engagement.
I normally format my videos into squares and put a title above them, like this!
That helps people understand what the heck I?m talking about, and I think it accounts for about 75% of my success on Facebook. Formatting is a big deal on this platform.
Your page needs 10,000 Facebook likes and 30,000 1-minute views to get approved for Facebook?s ad-break program, so keep that in mind before you potentially pursue making videos on that platform.
Facebook Supporters | $300
Facebook Supporters are basically like supporters on Patreon. Not every page has the option for viewers to become supporters because you need 100,000 likes on Facebook to qualify for the program ? or something.
This is just another serendipitous thing that came out of making videos online. Sometimes I get free travel here in the Philippines, free products, and I occasionally get sponsored trips where people pay me to make videos about their city or province.
I donate basically everything I make from my Facebook Supporters to charity here in the Philippines, but nevertheless I still make a pretty good chunk of change from Supporters every month.
Youtube Ads | $700
You guessed it. I repost all my videos from Facebook straight to Youtube because why not? I don?t get anywhere near the reach on Youtube that I do for Facebook, but at least I get something.
You need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time to become a partner with Youtube and start making money from ads on your videos.
Keep that in mind.
Coaching | $400
One last thing I offer sometimes is coaching. I?ll hop on a call with someone for an hour for $150 on occasion. I mostly offer writing advice, but I?ll also consult with someone on social media strategy and what decisions I think they should make to monetize their creativity online.
Every few months I book a few calls, but this is mostly just something I do when I have time.
Final Thoughts On Making Money Online
I?d say it?s best to go all-in on something until you make a sustainable income from it, and then it?s best to start diversifying into other areas.
For me, writing was my ?cash cow,? until I started diversifying into video later on.
I hope my transparency here can give you a few ideas for your own side-hustle/online business.
Get a few free writing tips from me here.
