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In the past few years, I've generated over $6 million online through content creation, and let me tell you, it's completely transformed my life. At just 23 years old, I've been able to build a life of financial freedom where I work on my own terms, retire my mom so she never has to stress about money again, travel all over the world, and invest in multiple properties. Becoming a content creator is one of the biggest opportunities of our time. Those who start now and do it right can set themselves up for financial freedom and build generational wealth.
And how do I know becoming a content creator is the biggest opportunity right now? Well, all your favorite gurus who are telling you to start an agency, dropshipping business, stock trading, copywriting, or Amazon FBA aren't even all in on those business models. They're actually full-time content creators because it's way more profitable and scalable. Personally, I have made over $6 million as a content creator in the past 4 years through digital products, affiliate marketing, coaching, YouTube AdSense, and sponsorships. There are so many ways to make money as a content creator, which is why this is truly the best business model. And while I did have to show my face on camera, don't worry, you also have the option of being a faceless content creator. Unfortunately, the industry is getting more competitive, so please take full advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build generational wealth before it's too late.
Now, I'm going to walk you through the eight-step process I followed to build a $1.8 million a year content creator business so that you can copy me and start seeing results. Before we dive into the first step, let me show you what a typical month of income looks like for me. I made $28,000 from YouTube AdSense, $54,000 through affiliate marketing, $91,000 from digital product sales, and $30,000 from brand deals, bringing the total to $203,000 in just one month, which is absolutely insane. Now, on to the first step, which is to pick a niche, and here's how to find the perfect one.
First, list your passions and skills. Think about topics you love or have experience in. Examples could be fitness, personal finance, cooking, or gaming. Write these down in a Google doc or notebook. Next, you need to ensure that your niche solves a specific problem or fulfills a desire for your audience. For example, helping parents navigate the challenges of raising kids in today's world is a broad but powerful idea. It's something so many people are trying to figure out, meaning that there will be a large audience of people that will be interested in your content and products. Next, you need to analyze competition. So check out what other creators in your chosen niche are doing. Study their content to find gaps you can fill or ways to differentiate yourself. You can also see which of their content performs best, and that will likely be the type of content that will do well for you too.
Once you have a niche, the next step is deciding whether you want to build a personal brand or a faceless brand. A personal brand is all about putting yourself out there—your face, your personality, and your story. It's great for connecting with your audience on a deeper level because they will feel like they know you more, just like how I've done with Sarah Finance. On the other hand, a faceless brand focuses more on the niche or the message rather than you as a person. This can be ideal if you're not comfortable being the face of your content or if you want the brand to stand on its own. Both options can work; you just need to pick what feels right for you. I'd suggest a personal brand if you're comfortable; it's great for building trust and creating a deeper connection with your audience so you can easily sell products to them. But if you value privacy or want your content to stand on its own, a faceless brand can be just as successful.
The next step is to figure out which social media platform you want to double down on. Most people recommend that you only focus on one or two platforms at first to avoid burnout. However, I personally believe you should be on all social media platforms, even when you're first starting out, as this can actually help you in the future, especially since you can repurpose content for multiple platforms later on in the video. I'll share a resource with you that helps with repurposing content. Now, the best platforms to be on are TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest. I would say TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest are all pretty similar as you create more simple, attention-grabbing content like short videos. However, YouTube is a whole different game where you can plan longer-form videos that provide deep value and attract a more loyal audience that will buy into whatever you sell.
Now, the next step is to figure out what content to post, which can be the hardest part, but I'm going to share a few methods that can help you. First, you should look at successful creators in your niche and see which of their videos are performing the best. Use their high-performing content as inspiration to create your own unique spin on the idea. This is essentially how I get most of my ideas, even right now as a big content creator. Luckily, there are probably thousands of content creators in your niche that you can get ideas from. My suggestion is to open up a new Google doc and put 50 to 100 links of videos that went viral on your competitors' accounts. This way, you can come back to these videos later on and remake them. Another way you can get great ideas is by simply asking ChatGPT. This is my go-to for everything. For example, I just asked ChatGPT, "Can you give me some YouTube content ideas I can remake that are similar to the ones on Sarah Finance's channel?" and I got a list of some pretty cool ideas. You can also try out Perplexity and Claude, which are great AI tools. Another suggestion I have is to browse through comments on your competitors' videos or forums like Reddit and Quora to find out what questions people in your niche are asking. Then, create content that answers those questions. Ultimately, if you can create content that solves your audience's problems, you're going to stand out, build more trust with your audience, and be able to make a ton of money.
Now, I've already shared a lot of information with you, and there's more to come, but you might be wondering, "How can I ensure this works for me and I actually become successful?" Well, if you're serious about building a successful content creator business, I recommend you join my coaching program. I genuinely believe it's the best program if you want to go from making $0 to $10,000 per month or more. Just imagine where you could be in 90 days from now if you had the exact strategies and systems I use to make over $150,000 per month as a content creator, one-on-one support from me and my team throughout the entire process, and access to a community of like-minded individuals to support and inspire you. The amount of value in this program is unreal. Now, I can't coach everyone, and this offer is very exclusive. I'm only working with serious individuals that want to scale to $10,000 a month or more. So if that's you, click the link in the description and fill out the application, and my team will reach out to you if you qualify. But for now, let's move on to the next step, which is to create and upload your content.
Let's start with creating short-form videos for TikTok and Instagram and YouTube Shorts. If you want to take the faceless brand route, I suggest using Pictory AI to create short videos. With Pictory AI, all you have to do is give a detailed explanation of the video you want, and it'll create it for you in under 2 minutes. Here's an example of a video that I created with Pictory AI. Another way you can create AI videos is with Arc Ads. Arc Ads will create video ads for you with AI actors, which is pretty cool. So essentially, you can have an AI actor represent your brand, and you never have to show your face. Lastly, you can take the traditional route, which is just using free tools like CapCut or iMovie to edit videos with stock footage. I've seen many successful faceless content creators who will still film their own content but hide their face, which is pretty cool.
Now, if you're taking the personal brand route, creating content will be much different, as you'll be the face in all your content. When I first started back in 2020, I was just recording TikToks and Instagram Reels on my iPhone, and that is still how you do it. Simply record content of yourself, whether you're speaking directly to the camera or if that's B-roll footage, and you can edit your videos on TikTok and Instagram's app or use a software like CapCut, which is great for more advanced editing. I always suggest for your first 30 uploads you just remake videos that have already gone viral on your competitors' accounts. That's why I told you earlier to make a Google doc with 50 to 100 videos of your competitor's viral videos, so now you can reference those and remake them with your own unique twist. This is a simple strategy to follow as it helps you grow quickly and learn the process.
Now, in terms of what you should be posting on Pinterest, this is very different from the other platforms, as you'll just be posting images that link to your long YouTube videos or product you want to promote. Creating images for Pinterest is super simple; you can just use templates from Canva. This is an image I created for my Pinterest account using Canva; it literally took less than 2 minutes, and you can get all your content ideas from your competitors on Pinterest. Creating short-form videos and images is pretty simple, but where it gets challenging is with long YouTube videos. Now, a common question I get asked is, "Do you have to post long YouTube videos as a content creator?" and the answer to that is no. A lot of creators just focus on short-form content, so it's a personal preference. If you want, you can start by posting short videos and then later on start creating long videos so you don't overwhelm yourself.
Now, if you do want to create high-quality long YouTube videos, you'll need to come up with a video idea, a good title, script the video, film the video with a proper setup, edit the video, create an eye-catching thumbnail, upload the video, and track its performance. Honestly, creating long YouTube videos is a lot of work when you're first starting out, but it gets easier with time. I made a full step-by-step YouTube tutorial on everything you need to start making long YouTube videos, so I highly suggest you check that out; it'll be linked in the description.
Now that you have a better understanding of creating content, the next step is to follow a posting schedule in order to grow steadily. Let's first start with TikTok. I suggest when starting out you post one to three times a day. This sounds like a lot, but once you're more established, you can upload a lot less, like five to seven times a week. I suggest you also upload your TikTok videos to Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. For Instagram, it's also important that you post daily stories. This can help you build trust with your audience and connect with them on a deeper level. You probably follow a ton of influencers that post daily stories, so you know what I'm talking about. For Pinterest, I suggest you upload three images a day. As I said before, these are super simple to make, so you might as well just do it. Now, for YouTube long-form, I'll be honest; if you can do once a week, that would be perfect. However, these videos can take a while to make, and there are so many moving parts when it comes to this, so even two a month that are high-quality is a good starting point.
Now, I know this all sounds like a lot, and it is, but something that's helped me is batching my content production. So I'll take one day out of the week and just plan out all my content, and then I'll take another day out of the week and just film all the videos on that day. When you group your tasks, it just saves you so much time and helps you stay consistent. Now, if you feel like you need some support and guidance to make this work, I'd love to have you join my coaching program. Inside, you'll find the exact blueprint I've used to scale my content creator business to over $150,000 a month, plus you'll have my personal support and important guidance every step of the way. If you're ready to join, click the link below, fill out the application, and my team will reach out if you qualify.
Now, moving on to the next step, which is how you can make money as a content creator. There are four main ways you can make money as a content creator. The first way is affiliate marketing. This is simply when you promote a brand's product or service to your audience, and anytime someone signs up or purchases through your link, you make a commission—pretty cool since all you're doing is promoting the product and don't have to worry about anything else. I currently make over $50,000 a month promoting products and services I genuinely believe in. A huge part of that comes from my Sarah Finance personal brand where I promote different products to my audience on YouTube and my other social media platforms, but another part of that comes from my faceless brand that I run on Pinterest, which is pretty cool. Platforms like Impact and ClickBank are excellent places to find high-paying affiliate programs. Once you have a few solid affiliate links, you just need to create honest reviews or tutorials featuring the products you're promoting.
The next way you can make money is by selling digital products to your audience. A digital product could be like a planner, artwork, any kind of template, or online course. For example, if you're good at cooking and want people to learn how you do it, you can create a digital cookbook using the platform BookBolt. Or if you're good at investing and want to teach people about that, you could create an online course for investing. I earn well over $50,000 a month from selling different courses to my audience. These courses are truly valuable and something my audience has benefited from a ton. I believe selling digital products is one of the best ways to make money as a content creator, as once you create the digital product, you can sell it forever and make almost 100% profit from every sale. You probably follow a ton of people on YouTube that sell some kind of course, and there's an obvious reason for that: it's extremely profitable.
The next way you can make money is through YouTube AdSense. You can enable monetization on your YouTube channel once you hit 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours, then you start getting paid for every single view you get on your videos. You can see in 2024 my channel made over $300,000, which is honestly insane. This is just from posting videos; imagine getting paid to create content that you genuinely love. There's nothing that can top that. The next way you can make money is through sponsorships. Brands continuously reach out to me and pay me anywhere from $15,000 to $30,000 for a simple mention in one of my YouTube videos or to be featured on my other social media platforms. The nice thing about this is that brands will just reach out to you via email if your content stands out, and it can be a simple way to earn a ton more money.
Another great way you can make money is through offering exclusive content or perks through platforms like Patreon or YouTube Memberships. You can even offer consulting or coaching services, which can create a pretty steady income stream for you. The next way you can make money is by starting an email newsletter. So if you ever get emails from a brand that's promoting something to you, that means you're subscribed to their newsletter. And so as a content creator, it's very important you have an email newsletter so that you can be sending out weekly emails that promote your products and services to your audience. Think about it: if you had 10,000 engaged email subscribers and every week you promote one of your affiliate links or digital products to them, you could be making a lot of money, and the more email subscribers you get, the more money you can make. I currently make over $10,000 to $20,000 a month just from my email newsletter. Great platforms where you can host your email newsletter would be Beehiiv, ConvertKit, or Omnisend; they're easy to use, and they have a free plan to get started. Now, if you actually want people to subscribe to your newsletter, you just have to tell them that you're going to provide a ton of value and solve their pain points. You can also offer them a freebie in exchange for them subscribing to your newsletter.
Now, if you feel like you need more guidance with everything I've mentioned so far, I'd love to have you join my coaching program, which will be linked in the description. Now, once you're earning consistently, the next step is to focus on scaling and automating your content creator business. An AI tool that you can use to help is Videorate, which automatically creates clips from your long YouTube content, making it easier to repurpose your videos for TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. And you can use a platform like Buffer to schedule your social media posts to be much more efficient. And remember, the goal is to get as many eyeballs on your content as possible. Now, to really take your business to the next level, you can't be a one-man show forever, and so you'll need to hire freelancers who can script, edit videos, help design content, or manage your email inbox. You can find freelancers on Fiverr or Upwork and even hire family and friends if they're skilled.
I know starting as a content creator can feel overwhelming, especially if you're starting from scratch. That's exactly why I created a coaching program to guide you step-by-step in building a successful content creator business. I've poured my heart into this program over the past year, and I'm beyond excited to share it with you. Inside, you'll find the exact blueprint I've used to scale my content creator business to over $150,000 a month, plus you'll have my personal support and guidance every step of the way. My goal is to help you hit consistent $10,000 months and then scale from there. This is a rare opportunity to work closely with me and fast-track your success. If you're ready to join, click the link below, fill out the application, and my team will reach out if you qualify.