Money Is Not The Goal. Money Is The Consequence.
You've watched, heard, read the number of successes in the digital world where successful bloggers, YouTubers, Influencers earn up to 6 figures a month just by doing what they do. You look at the *kaching* and think, "I can do it too." And the truth is, you potentially can. No doubt about it. But such successes don't happen overnight. And such successes didn't even look at the money to begin with.
How did they start? They started by doing what they enjoyed. Be it writing about their favorite food or talking about their best money saving strategies, guiding people via video to create a healthier version of themselves or talking about their favorite products, every successful digital personality created a service that people enjoyed and kept returning to. Their vibe attracted their tribe, and their tribe kept growing and growing. Which is how they started growing their business, which in turn grew their worth.
1. Start With Your Why
Let me put it out there right now. You're in for a HUGE disappointment if you're going to start with, "because I want to make money." You're going to feel stressed, disappointed, frustrated, angry, and a whole load of curse words will form. Unless you're talking about budgets and savings and the different kinds of stocks, otherwise you're not going to be seeing a single cent for a long time.
Many in the digital world give up simply because they couldn't get the success they were chasing from the start. When they feel their effort doesn't equate to the amount of money made. Yes, the money looks great. Who doesn't want to rake in 6 figures every month? But it shows when you're chasing money. People can see through you. That's a major turn off.
Do something you enjoy. Talk about something you love. Write about your favorite things. Why do you like doing them? What do you like about them? How can people go about seeing/doing/enjoying what you love seeing/doing/enjoying? When your why is focused on doing what you love, it makes things more pleasurable for you. You don't feel stressed that you're not getting the followers count. You don't feel frustrated that you're not getting any financial gains. Your subscribers will in turn enjoy what your put out more.
2. Serve Don't Sell
You are just like everyone else and will press the skip ad button button the moment it allows you to in YouTube. So will 83% of every person who comes across your content should you start by going "BUY THIS FROM ME!" Will the 17% who stuck around but will they convert to sales? Maybe? But a very itsy bitsy teenie weenie chance. And that's if you're lucky. Instead of trying to sell your service or product, why not serve them?
People will come to you to seek for a solution. How do I drop my fat percentage? How do I gain muscle mass? How can I be more flexible? Our job is to tell them what they are here for. Give them the solution. Help them with their pain points. We are all very terrified to give out all our ideas. But the truth is, all the ideas you have, whatever you can think of, are already on the internet. There are possibly 1001 other Youtubers who've talked about your solution, but yet people still come to you. Why? Because they want to connect with you. So, connect with them!
Be genuine and be consistent. Be proactive in reaching out and be willing to offer your talent and expertise. Solve their problem, create a connection, build a relationship. People will be more inclined to subscribe to your service if they know, like and trust you. People who trusts you and who feel supported by you will recommend their friends to your website, social media platform or YouTube channel. This allows you to grow your community, which in turn grows your worth.
3. Be Patient
For many YouTubers, it took them at least 2 years of consistent work to get them to a level where they were able to monetize their channel and get paid. For writers, it can take couple of years before blog your posts start generating traffic. If you're concerned about money, like I mentioned before, you'll be sorely disappointed. This isn't a sprint. This is a marathon. It'll take a lot of sweat, tears and hardship before you can attain even the slightest success.
You will constantly need to remember your "Why" as that will be your source of motivation when things feel rough and you feel like you're dragging your feet along. There are no shortcuts in this. Well, there is. You can pay for followers and likes. That usually ends up bad as it doesn't convert to sales. Possibly a product endorsement or two, at least until the companies realize you're a fraud. Plus the possibility of you getting banned from your social media platform, not worth the money spent or risk.
You'll get there. You just need to be patient.