1. Host a webinar
Last year, I started a ghost blog account — totally anonymous. I wanted to see how hard it was to get started again. It was pretty tough, but not impossible. I wrote once every week and was able to earn $1,000+ in a few months.
That’s not the method I’m talking about, though. When I did that, I found that publications were actually the critical factor for my success. So I designed and ran a free webinar about how I grew the ghost account.
After the webinar, I sold my course that helps people use publications as a tool to grow. I created and sold the course back in 2021, but I updated it and made around $1,600 from that webinar.
The upfront work: Six months of writing on a ghost profile (2021–2022)
Three years of building my newsletter (2019–2022)
Four years of writing experience (2018–2022)
Ten hours creating and designing the course (2021)
The execution: Two hours designing the webinar
Two hours writing the marketing emails
One hour running the webinar
The result:
2. Sell affiliate products
I am blessed with a lot of talented friends who have made some pretty spectacular products.
I have never made a full-blown “how to make money writing” course, and I’ve never particularly wanted to. One of my good friends
A few weeks ago, she asked me if I wanted to help participate in the launch of a new course. I was thrilled because I knew my audience would love whatever she had built. I sent two emails to my email list in September and earned around $1000 in affiliate commissions.
The upfront work:
- Two years developing my relationship with Sinem (2020–2022)
- Three years of building my newsletter (2019–2022)
The execution:
- One hour writing the marketing emails
The result:
3. Use a slow email funnel
That same course has actually earned around $10k just through my own slow email funnel. When someone signs up for my mailing list, they go through three sets of emails.
First, you get a free five-day email course walking you through the basics of starting and monetizing a blog.
Second, you get my sales pitch — why I think publications matter so much, and how you can leverage their power. That’s when I sell my course.
Regardless of whether you buy or not, you then get my third sequence: a three-email service series, where I answer the three most frequently asked questions I get: how to get followers, an email template I use to get accepted to publications, and whether or not you should reply to comments.
After that, you get my usual weekly broadcasts.
That email course has made me around $10k over the years I’ve had it on autopilot.
The upfront work:
- Ten hours creating the course
- Three hours drafting the sales and service sequences
- Three hours drafting the email sequence for the starter kit
- Two hours designing the downloadable PDF starter kit
- Three years of publishing articles to gain readers that subscribe to my newsletter (2019–2022)
The execution:
- 1 minute adding the CTA to the bottom of my articles
The result:
4. Bundle your assets
Every six months or so, I add another product or service to my set. Today, I sell consultations, editing services, my course, and a PDF article template.
It (finally) occurred to me two weeks ago that it might be smart to bundle those products. They work really well in conjunction! So I made a sales picture in Canva, drafted the email copy, and send a few emails to my list two weeks ago. I made around $1,200 from that mini-launch.
The upfront work:
- Three years of building my newsletter (2019–2022)
- Ten hours creating the course
- Three hours designing the PDF template
The execution:
- One hour per consultation
- Thirty minutes per edit
- Two hours drafting the sales emails
- Thirty minutes creating the Canva picture
The result:
A quick reflection on “passive” income
I’ve written before about how most “passive” side hustle income ideas aren’t passive at all. I hope that by providing time estimates for all these “easy” passive side hustle ideas, I give you a better glimpse behind that passive curtain.
I love my job. I love making these products. I love sharing them with my audience. But it’s not easy. It takes time, effort, and consistency to build up your assets — digital, relationships, trust with your audience, newsletter — to the point where you can make these low-effort income gains.
I’d love to hear your thoughts: do these insights surprise you or help you? Do they make them feel more or less achievable? Looking forward to seeing what you think of these low-effort income options!
0 comments