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In 2014, I was fresh out of university and imagined I experienced my lifestyle all prepared out: Go to professional medical school, get a six-determine work as a medical professional, and make my mother and father proud.
None of that labored out. I understood I hated blood and needles, and received turned down from a lot more than 15 health care faculties. My dad and mom were not so satisfied.
From 2014 to 2019, I took on tutoring facet hustles, did some modeling gigs, started a drop shipping and delivery organization, and even worked as a authentic estate agent. But almost nothing was reliable in earning me a constant earnings stream.
Immediately after numerous enterprise attempts, I at last observed a thing that labored: Submitting monetary assistance on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. In 2021, my articles generation enterprise introduced in $1.5 million in earnings — and my mom stopped sending me work listings.
How I constructed a $1.5 million-for every-year organization
I had been publishing on YouTube because 2006, but the information was random and inconsistent. So I resolved to stick with the matter that fired up me the most: funds.
Growing up in a painfully frugal spouse and children, I was usually interested in coming up with techniques to be smarter about earning, saving and investing. In 2018, I established a new YouTube channel dedicated to money tips. I posted virtually just about every day, as properly as on Instagram and TikTok.
In 2021, Chang’s small business introduced in $1.5 million in gross income.
Image: Charlie Chang
My very first few videos obtained close to a dozen views every single, half of which have been from my mom. I was continue to earning most of my dollars by odd careers and aspect hustles.
But in April 2020, about a month after Covid-19 was declared a pandemic, I recognized a spike in interest close to stimulus-similar articles. That month, I posted 20 YouTube video clips about the stimulus and reduction initiatives. One particular of my videos went viral — earning me $10,078 in advert income and 30,300 subscribers.
In May, I posted 19 movies and produced $15,791 in advert revenue. And in June, I landed my 1st sponsorship offer with Foundr, an online training company they compensated me $250 to develop a single TikTok submit.
I ongoing to experiment with distinctive varieties of video clip articles to see what was most powerful in escalating my viewers and attracting fascination from brands.
By November, soon after securing one more partnership offer and reaching all around 200,000 subscribers, I resolved to start my 1st on the internet course instructing people how to get started their own successful YouTube channels.
In 2021, I additional affiliate advertising to my cash flow streams. I manufactured $86,000 in January, then scaled to an regular of $150,000 for every month in 2021.
How to make many revenue streams
Right now, I have about 650,000 YouTube followers. So considerably this yr, I have produced about $197,700 for each month through 5 cash flow streams — a number of of which create passive income. At a person place, I produced $245,000 in a month.
What I enjoy about the enterprise I have designed is that I can opt for when and where to operate. Some times I am going to perform zero hrs, and other times I’ll put in 12 hours. On ordinary, I function 35 hours for each week.
This is how I built each and every of my income streams:
1. Affiliate promoting: 40% of regular monthly revenue
With affiliate internet marketing, I make commission for selling another brand’s products or solutions. I write-up affiliate one-way links in the descriptions of my YouTube films and on my web page, then get compensated each individual time another person is directed to a brand’s product page or will make a acquire.
To make passive cash flow through affiliate advertising, you need to include backlinks on qualified written content in a specialized niche that individuals are browsing for. This can guide to clicks for months, even very long just after you’ve got posted. For illustration, I hyperlink to captions based on preferred search conditions, which I find employing the Google Tendencies device.
I get most of my affiliate bargains by way of partnership management platforms like Effect Radius, Partnerstack and Share-A-Sale. Creators with any viewers sizing can use these web sites to locate and join affiliate link programs.
2. Brand sponsorships: 25% of regular revenue
With manufacturer sponsorships, firms primarily fork out me to point out them in 1 of my videos or on my site.
Makes normally attain out to me via the e mail deal with on my YouTube profile, but I also function with companies like Spacestation to protected far more sponsorships.
Getting a area of interest assisted me increase a loyal and genuine audience, which has been essential to my achievements. I answered Covid-related finance issues that no just one else was addressing. Then I took the concepts with the best viewers engagement and ran with them.
“What I love about the enterprise I have crafted is that the revenue I make is not right tied to my time,” suggests Chang. “I can opt for when and in which I want to get the job done.”
Obtain your very own market by asking: What is a distinct trouble that I can solve with my story and special understanding? Have an understanding of the ins-and-outs of your audience, like their age, locale and typical passions. Throughout the negotiation system, remind manufacturers why that audience is important to them.
3. YouTube advertisements: 25% of month-to-month money
I make a further quarter of my money from YouTube Adsense adverts that surface prior to or during my YouTube video clips.
To sign up for this software, you will have to have at the very least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of look at time in the past 12 months. After you happen to be part of the program, it is significant to write-up persistently and generate videos centered on what your audience responds nicely to.
4. Online course sales: <5% of monthly income
My “6-Figure YouTube Academy” and “Personal Brand Masterclass” courses are both hosted on Kajabi. These courses took months of planning, research, filming and editing.
For YouTube Academy, I outlined what I was going to teach in each video using Notion, an online workspace organization tool, then created slides to play during each video on Keynote. It took me a week to film more than a hundred videos, which I edited myself using Final Cut Pro X.
From there, I organized my videos on Kajabi and started to market the course on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. I don’t spend any money on advertisement.
5. Coaching: <5% of monthly income
I meet with clients one-on-one to consult on how to make their businesses more successful. This is a great way to connect with my audience and get to know them on an individual level.
My coaching sessions are done via Zoom, which allows me to meet with anyone from anywhere across the world. I charge $500 per 60-minute session.
Recently, I started building StartupWise, a resource platform for new businesses and entrepreneurs. I’m also working on a company called Side Hustle Mastery, and its complementary newsletter called Hustle Club.
Charlie Chang is a content creator and serial entrepreneur whose mission is to educate people on personal finance and entrepreneurship. He is a UCLA graduate and founder of StartupWise. Follow him on Instagram and YouTube.
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