I am going to be honest—I have never liked the whole side hustle culture. This mindset is one of the primary reasons why most content creators fail: they treat content creation like a side hustle.

Goldman Sachs Report: Content Creator Earnings

Goldman Sachs released a report earlier this year showing that only 4% of all content creators make more than $100k annually. One of the main reasons for this is that most content creators treat their craft as a side hustle.

Why Side Hustles Don’t Work for Content Creators

The whole “side hustle” phenomenon stems from a misunderstanding of what people mean when they say, “most millionaires have seven streams of income.” Yes, it's true that most millionaires have seven streams of income. This came from an IRS report in the USA in the early 2000s, which found that high-net-worth individuals who died between 1996 and 2002 had seven different forms of income:

1. Earned income
2. Investment income
3. Capital gains
4. Rental income
5. Profits
6. Royalties
7. Interest income

This message has been misinterpreted to mean that to get rich, you need to have seven side businesses or ways of earning money. But what people miss is that most of these wealthy individuals built their wealth by focusing on one highly successful career or business. They then used their income to buy assets that provided diversified income streams.

So, they didn’t get rich from their “side hustles.” They got rich from one job or one business and then used that income to create other sources of income.

The Commitment to Content Creation

At the start of your career, there will be seasons where you work a full-time job while starting your business. I have done this twice in my life:

• Working as a real estate agent while launching my first business (a villa resort in Bali)
• Working in Google Ads while launching my first YouTube channel, which is now a seven-figure business

The difference is that my “side hustle” was always going to be my main focus for the next season of my life. I had to continue working in my current job to pay for living expenses. My “side hustle” was something I was fully committed to, but I had to keep working in other areas until I could leave those jobs to work full-time on my new business.

The mistake people make by trying to set up multiple income streams is that they don’t end up doing any of them well. Successful businesses need your full commitment and attention.

🤔 What's the best advice for new content creators in 2024?

Three Practical Steps to Become a Profitable Content Creator

Now, let’s dive into the three practical steps you need to become a profitable content creator so you can leave your current job or business.

Step 1: Have a Monetization Strategy from Your First Video

The common theme of becoming a profitable content creator is to grow an audience and then get brand deals or sell products. However, this strategy is not the best model due to the time it takes to build a large enough audience.

Growing an audience takes time—VidIQ data shows it takes an average of 15.5 months to reach 1,000 subscribers. My own experience confirms this, as it took six months to reach 600 subscribers on my current channel, even though my first channel has over 85k subscribers.

Despite this, I am already earning income from my current channel and have had a $5k month without relying on AdSense or brand deals. This was achieved through a monetization strategy in place from the start, using my YouTube sales loop:

1. Each video includes an invitation to download extra teaching for free.
2. When viewers do this, they join my database.
3. I can then email them to advertise my courses, coaching, and communities.

For this strategy to work, you need a well-thought-out sales funnel, including high-converting landing pages and sales emails. To learn more, you can download my 6 Figure Sales Funnel kit, which includes copies of my high-converting emails.

Step 2: Set a Schedule for Video Releases

I release two videos a week, each ranging from 8 to 20 minutes. This schedule is set in stone, and I pre-record content if I’m going on holiday to ensure consistent uploads.

Whether you release one video a week or two a month, what matters is having a schedule and sticking to it. This consistency helps you match your upload times with when your audience is on YouTube.

Step 3: Plan and Record Your Content Regularly

Setting aside time to plan and record your videos is crucial. If you don’t schedule it, other things will come up and prevent you from recording.

For me, recording happens on Monday mornings before I even open my email. This ensures I consistently produce enough content. Your ideal time might be Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon—the important thing is to have a regular schedule that you stick to.

By following these steps and treating content creation as a full-time commitment rather than a side hustle, you can join the 4% of creators earning more than $100k a year. Dedicate yourself fully, plan meticulously, and monetize strategically from the beginning.