Based on My Personal Experiences

I’ve been obsessed with financial freedom since 2017, perhaps even earlier.

Have I reached it now in 2023? I believe I did. I have barely any financial worries and I can do almost whatever I want.

For example: If I want to travel from Europe to the US, or to Japan, or New Zealand and stay there for a month (or even longer), it would be possible because I have a couple of income streams that keep on running.

How to start NOW in 2023?

Many people have been asking me this question.

Well — Option #1, you can find your own passion, or find something that you’re good at, and you pursue this passion. Make a business out of it. There are more than enough tutorials, lessons, resources online that can help you scale your business.

OR — Option #2: If you REALLY don’t know where to start, then I recommend doing the following:

Step 1: Start a blog

Just go to Medium.com or Vocal.Media for example. P.S. You need to be a Medium Member if you want to monetize your blog. I recommend doing it, it also gives you access to all writer’s content.

Create your account and start a blog.

Why a blog?

A few reasons:

• Writing is good for your personal development
• It’s accessible, anyone can do it
• It increases your vocabulary & knowledge
• It’s easy to get started
• You can get started at your own pace
• Flexibility: You can adjust, change things along the way
• It is a good way to wind down / relax after your normal work day
• ….

But most importantly:

Written text is the foundation of your further journey.
Everything is based on CONTENT & CONTENT CREATION!

But what should I blog about?

Anything.

You can write about your everyday lives. About your hobbies. About your pains and struggles. About your lifestyle, about your relationships, about your job, about your pets, about your clothing choices, about vacuum cleaners… whatever.

You can also check this article I wrote about blog topics, might be useful.

IMPORTANT TIP #1: just get that content out there!

Whether you think it’s good or not. Just publish it. You will improve along the way, and besides; you can always get back to your old articles and edit them.

IMPORTANT TIP #2: BE CONSISTENT!

Aim to publish at least 3 articles per week. And keep doing this, regardless of whether you get views / subscribers or not.

Once you know how to write, and you’re getting views, reads, subscribers, it’s time for the next step.

Step 2: Create your OWN blog website

There are a few ways to create a blog website, like:

• using Wix.com
• using Weebly.com
• (preferred) Getting a hosting and installing WordPress with Elementor web builder

Personally, I went for the last option, because I love the flexibility it gives me. I can integrate a lot of plugins that will help me along my journey (plugins that you’ll need later on, for marketing).

So I would recommend using WordPress + Elementor.

I have built my website with Elementor, I can high recommend this website builder, it’s SO easy. You can start with the free version (it’s just a plugin you can download), it has everything included. They even have a hosting, should you be interested.

I’ve written a more in-depth article about how I built my website here (P.S. it looks a bit different now, because I’m constantly working on it).

Having your own blog it always a good idea, because it gives you the freedom to post whatever you want without any specific platform rules.

Plus, you’ll need it for the next few steps… so just get it.

Step 3: Start a Podcast and/ or YouTube channel

You already have your content. You have your scripts.

Now, just get a camera — or use your phone — and start recording yourself.

P.S. You don’t even have to put your content public in the beginning, because you’ll learn so much — not only about yourself, but also the whole content creation process.

So, the process:

• Sit down, and once a week, record/create 1 video.
• Select your best article and cover that (check your story stats)
• Talk about the stuff you wrote about.
• Upload the video YouTube
• Add links to your website & blog

For example, this is how a guy — Ryan Hogue — that I follow does it (I’m a big fan):

I know some of you probably don’t like to have your face on camera. That’s alright. In that case you can:

• Use only stock footage (make sure it’s royalty-free).
• Record your screen (with software like OBS)
• Use “drawing software” like Doodly.com
• Outsource everything (like I do, via Fiverr.com)

However, I highly recommend to record yourself, even if you don’t do anything with the video, you can probably still use & edit the audio. Make sure the quality is good though.

Plus speaking for a camera has many more benefits:

1. You’ll enhance your communication skills (always useful)
2. You build a more personal connection with your following
3. You can show a visual demonstration of concepts or products
4. You become “a brand”.
5. Your content can be more entertaining by adding personal anecdotes and experiences
6. ….

And don’t forget to be consistent!

Just like your blogging, you video creation should be consistent. Once a week, publish 1 YouTube video and/or podcast.

A YouTube video is a MUST, because our goal is to monetize (yes, YouTube can make you tons of money).

Step 4: Get into affiliate marketing

Our goal is to make money, right?

So, whatever you’re writing and talking about, search for related affiliate programs.

When you sign up for and promote these affiliate programs, you will be paid a commission every time someone purchases a product through your link.

Start adding these programs to your blogs, YouTube video description and podcasts.

Better do it as early as possible — you might never know one of your pieces goes viral.

How to find affiliate programs?

Just Google.

For example, I write a lot about Print on Demand and regularly review Print on Demand tools. If it’s a good tool, then I Google if they have an affiliate program.

Important: Never promote something that you don’t believe in.

Step 5: Create (digital) products

Let me give you some examples to clarify this:

• Create an eBook about your best performing articles
• Create digital files (downloadable) that might help your readers with some things. For example if you write about gardening, create a “Cheat Sheet” about how to best maintain which plants.
• Create a course (via for example Podia, this is a great platform). More on this in Step 8.
• Create any content that might help your audience reach their goals. For example, I am working on a full Lifestyle eBook, on how to change your life — starting with your health and ending with personal financial freedom. It’s a whole package.
• …

Add the product(s) to your website

Once these products are created, add them to your website, as a digital download.

Exchange them for email addresses. You’ll need these in the future.

Below is a great example from Tim Denning’s website (an awesome blogger) — he created an eBook called “Burned out to Fired Up”, which you can download for free in exchange for your email address.

Step 6: Building an email list

You NEED an email list.

Think about it: People literally subscribe to you because they like your content and they want to see more of it.

Right?

Deliver your content straight to them

I was talking to the writer of “Making of a Millionaire” earlier on Substack, and I asked him why he sent out his articles as emails. His reply was: “because my open and read rate on e-mails is WAY higher than it is on Medium”.

Think about it: there is so much content available online. Millions upon millions of blog articles, YouTube videos and podcasts are available online, and hundreds of thousands get added every day.

You don’t want your content to get lost in all this clutter — instead, just deliver it straight to the people who are interested in it.

Makes sense?

Step 7: Start mail campaigns

Once you have your list, do the following things:

• Send out your best blog posts to your email subscribers via Substack
• Send out your digital product promotions
• Add affiliate links to your mail campaigns
• Set up an automated mailing campaign via e.g. ConvertKit.com, ActiveCampaign.com or GetResponse.com (Personally I prefer & use GetResponse).

I would recommend doing a combination of these. You can set up automated mail campaigns via GetResponse, and do some manual newsletters via Substack.

Your podcasts can also be made available through Substack, you can for example offer them to paid subscribers.

The possibilities are endless!

Step 8 (optional): Teach other people

I know what you’re thinking: “there are millions of fake coaches”, offering their courses for a crazy $997, right?

If you’ve been in this online scene as long as I have, then you probably have seen it as well.

But is it bad? In my opinion — no.

And is $997 (the “usual” price) too much? Also — I don’t think so. Think about it this way: by the time you feel comfortable to create your own course, you’ve probably been writing blog posts, creating videos, podcasts and other content for over a year…. you’ve put SO much time and effort into your business… You should be able to comfortably call yourself an expert. People pay for your expertise and knowledge, which took you a lot of time to accomplish.

There are seriously good people, with good, valuable content out there. For example, a while ago I bought Ryan Hogue’s Print on Demand course, and it’s so valuable that I don’t regret it for a second.

And don’t forget: everyone’s approach is different. Perhaps you prefer person X’s content more than person Y’s. Everyone has their own preferences. So just because something has been done already, doesn’t mean you can do it different or better.

Remember, in the end it’s all about marketing and getting yourself out there.

If you really want to help people and change their lives, then coaching and courses are a great opportunity to do so.

Key Takeaways 🔑

Here’s a small recap of my recommended way to make money in 2023:

1. Start a blog via Medium.com
2. Start a personal blog website via Elementor.com
3. Start a YouTube channel
4. Get into affiliate marketing
5. Create digital products
6. Gather email addresses
7. Send out emails
8. Optionally: Create a course / start a coaching business

Best of luck!

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out in the comments!

Thanks for reading!