This post may contain affiliate links. This means I will earn a commission if you use my link to buy the product I am promoting at no extra cost to you.
If you are a content creator and you monetize your blog, YouTube, or whatever. Don’t just rely on YouTube or Twitch. If a creator wants to have YT on the side and a full-time job that’s their choice. However some of us it has to be one or the other because of our disabilities. For us due to heavy burn-out and chronic fatigue. Either a full-time job or Youtube. At least with YouTube or my blog, I can pick my own schedule. If you’re able to, create multiple streams.
You will never know what will happen. Even if you have the money, still go budget on your gear. Meaning instead of spending 300 dollars on a mic just because the money is in your bank. Instead, go for around 100 bucks. You don’t have to buy run-down stuff. Instead of 1K for a camera, go for 300-500.
I bought the Divi theme for this blog with my Covid check and bought their yearly plan. Then I had to cancel when my earnings dipped. I should have just got the lifetime plan. Then I found a nice affordable theme on a website for WordPress themes. I you make a plan now, you won’t have to scramble when revenue dips derail you.
A little backstory
I found this crypto blogging site called Steemit (it’s like Reddit) due to unemployment. I embed my Yt videos and people can reward it. I can exchange the credits from Bitcoin to USD. Depending on the coin price decides what I get in USD. Last year, the Steem Back Dollar (SBD) price was 7 dollars a coin so if I collected enough SBD, I got 200 sometimes 300 USD. That extra money helps because you only get so much money a month in disability benefits. In April, instead of getting SBD, I got Steem, the Steem price is lower so that means it would take longer to save enough for a reasonable amount. As a result, I started struggling. My post-earnings dipped. On Steemit and Hive. Hive is like a Steemit clone that was created after a new CEO took over Steemit.
Also by me being a small creator, getting supporters on Patreon or Kofi won’t be a walk in the park. I just got monetized on Facebook. its going to take time to build up the funds. Facebook and Ig had the reels bonus but discontinued it for some reason. I feel they should have kept it and improved it. or waited until they had a replacement on deck. Say they can roll out the replacement in October, and discontinue reels program in August. Facebook invited me around Thanksgiving. Fortunately, I passed 1k followers and unlocked ads.
Why saving is important
When I was getting the 200-300 dollars, I should have put at least 50 into my savings or kept at least 50 in my Coinbase account. Now I am only getting earnings from Hive and all I can make is 30-50 bucks a month. I combined my earnings from both sites.
I’ve had to cancel non-business subscriptions like Amazon prime. I had to cancel Adobe premiere pro and go back to Filmora since Filmora’s yearly plan is within my budget. My blog earnings are not a stable revenue source since indefinitely, I lost a good chunk of my earnings. If I had put back at least 50 then I would have had a helping hand. Also, I ended up having to give my grandma 125 bucks for a new heating/AC system. If I had started saving, I could have used that.
I wanted to hire an artist for thumbnails for my Roblox content. I commissioned a banner from them before the dip. They’ve reached out to see if I was interested in a thumbnail but I had trouble getting them to understand my situation.
Saving is important because you will never know when your earnings will drop and how badly the drop will affect you.
New revenue source?
I got a notification that I was eligible for Facebook’s reels bonus program where I can get money for my plays. It’s gonna take time to build my money. Once I roll out more content I can make good money with my reels content. Once I roll this out, I will put at least 50 dollars to the side. This will vary depending on what I can make. It will take time before I have enough content on my profile. At least it’s a start. My reels get a couple of hundred views. Update facebook stopped the reels program for whatever reason. Lucky for me I passed 1k followers and unlocked ads and stars. Still, the money won’t come pouring in like a waterfall. its going to take some time to build.
Some extra thoughts
I’ve been trying to monetize my blog with affiliate links by showing off the products that I use for Youtube. Since I am on a budget, I buy budget gear that I suggest new creators start with. Or maybe your mic broke and you don’t have a lot of money to spend. Especially since the epidemic derailed a lot of people.
I also have a Ko-fi page. You can get early access to my videos. I also can edit videos for shorts/reels/TikTok. Since that -2000 IQ client wouldn’t give me anything so I will know how the video should be edited then wanted to act surprised when they didn’t like the result. I made a blog post about this . If someone reaches out to me outside of this blog, I will send a link to my hire me page. I added a new term that I may ask for a layout so I can get an idea of how the video should be edited and if you chose not to provide me with anything, it’s not my fault if you don’t like the results.
Content creation is accessible
Content creation is the only accessible job most disabled creators can do. We can go at our own pace, pick our own schedule, pace ourselves and take a break when needed without hassle. When I went down south, I was able to post to my YouTube and such remotely since I had a laptop. Also when I caught the flu, I was able to step down easily. I can stream and at my own pace, clip moments to post for a Facebook reel. This blog, my Youtube. I can go at my own pace, and accommodate myself. Since my earnings on the crypto sites dropped I gotta pick up a backup source which is why I launched my Ko-fi and Patreon. You can join to get my recorded let’s Play and edited VODS early.
Remember, when you’re self-employed, putting away money is just as important as say, your job is bagging groceries.
No Comments