- The Work Wife
- Posts
- my 7 different income streams & how I make money
my 7 different income streams & how I make money
pulling back the curtain and spilling everything
Sabrina Molu
March 20, 2024
if you’re a paid subscriber there will be a link below that will allow you to listen to this entire post.
Sometimes I forget that because I’ve been in this world for so long, it’s still a mystery to others. I started my blog 13 years ago, when people were still posting food pics with the Valencia filter on Instagram and a blog was basically an extension of a personal Xanga or LiveJournal. This was barely a hobby and a “job” literally didn’t exist.
I started my blog in college because I was obsessed with reading blogs. It felt like an inside look into people sharing thoughtful things that resonated with me. I followed petite fashion bloggers, budget bloggers (oh the Forever21 days!), and great storytellers - so I decided to share my story. How the landscape has changed in the last decade and a half.
I forget that people don’t know how creators make money. It’s shocking to them when I tell them I don’t make money from the organic content that I create on social media. At least not a sustainable amount.
Here’s a little sneak peak at my Instagram for the past 30 days.
I reached 1.5 Million people, created 261 pieces of content, and earned $14.37 — and that’s up 45% from last month.
Since $14 isn’t going to pay my grocery bills, I wanted to pull back the curtain and share about how creators actually make money. I went deep and included my 7 different income streams and how I plan to big picture strategy for each of them in 2024.
In writing today’s post I realized I could do an entire newsletter on what my work day looks like, what tasks I give my team, and so much more. If this type of content is interesting, will you reply to this email and let me know?
THIS WEEK’S HIGHS
I finally feel like I’m able to focus on work from a strategic level. For the past two years, I’ve been doing the bare minimum. When I had a few hours to work, I would film organic videos, edit them, respond to brands that would land in my inbox, draft pitches, accounting, contracts, etc.
I finally feel this sense of being able to zone in and do the things that I’ve been pushing off for well… two years. But there’s a downside (see below)
THIS WEEK’S LOWS
The other side is that I’m biting off way more than I can chew and feel more behind than before. It almost felt like an excuse to be able to do the bare minimum and now that I have more time, I feel like I have a million things to tackle and want to do them all.
I know it will take some time to get my bearings, but I really want to be the woman who shuts off after 8 pm and reads a book before bed instead of frantically editing tomorrow’s post.
💫 work wife trivia
📆 weekly report is in
Read, Eat, Play, Obsess, Recommend, & Treat
📚I’m still reading ACOTR, but I’m trying to add in an audiobook in my “multitasking time” to focus on storytelling and brand work. First up, “So Good They Can’t Ignore You” by Cal Newport
🍴There is a Lemon Parmesan salad at Whole Foods from Taylor Farms and I’m obsessed with it. Please try it, it’s delicious.
🎲 Let’s talk about what I’m WATCHING this month. I am on the final episodes of my rewatch of Ugly Betty — if you haven’t seen it before, I highly recommend. There are 4 seasons on Netflix.
🛍️ I’m keeping all of my daily Ulta sale picks in one place. My team updates this page every single day. The deals are only available for 24 hours but they are 50% off - this literally never happens. Today I bought the viral lip oil from Sharktank and I can’t wait to get my hands on it!
🤌 The Hanni body salve is literally magical. If you hate putting on lotion after the shower, you gotta try this in shower moisturizer. I’ve mentioned it before, and you guys love it too!
🍦 I just preordered the LARGE round brush attachment for my Dyson Airwrap. The blowout is honestly the only thing that stays in my hair, so looking forward to this attachment for longer hair.
My newsletter is my favorite piece of content that I create each week. This is my inner circle and somewhat of a safe space for me. You always heard that using social media to reach your audience is like “renting.”
Using email is like “owning.” With social media, we’re at the mercy of the ever-changing algorithms. With email, I’m able to show up for people who want to hear from me in a way that is reliable.
Thanks for being here besties!
P.S. I love being able to share my goodies with you all in the weekly giveaway. You can find the secret password at the bottom of the email, but there's no rush - enjoy the email. I've worked hard on it :)
🔍️ My 7 Different Income Streams + How Creators Make Money
When I first launched my newsletter, I knew I wanted to do a post like this. I hoped it will help answer some questions about my work, income, and satisfy general curiosity. Now let’s answer some of your biggest questions!
If you don’t get paid for your videos on Instagram, how do you make money?
In this post, I break down my 7 different income streams, how affiliate marketing actually works (and how much I make off of it), plus the ugly truth on gifted products and what I’m planning to do instead to build a sustainable business for myself and my family.
I have been creating content on the internet for free for 13+ years. But I believe that my community wants to see me win. They know that I’m a woman, an entrepreneur, and a mom. For the price of a latte once a month, they are able to get my best work.
But this post is an important one, and a really in depth one. I want you to be able to read it. If you’re not a paid subscriber, you can sign up fo tr a 7 day FREE trial to read the entirety of this post.
So how can you support me?
By being a paid member of this newsletter community. It’s $60 for an annual subscription which breaks down to $5 a month.
Comment and like ALL of my posts. Engagement helps tell Instagram that my work is good and they should show it to more people.
Please tell your friends and family. Sharing my posts in your group chats or WhatsApp - helps me reach a wider audience that will hopefully find my content valuable.
Now you tell me: Was a post like this helpful? Was it interesting? Please share your feedback. I know it seems weird to reply to an email, but I promise you I read every response. Or you can always DM me on Instagram too!
This week's giveaway will be a bundle hundreds of dollars of makeup and beauty products. In order to enter, you need to BOTH of the two things.
As a reminder, be sure to like AND comment on my last 6 posts to be entered to win.
1) Go to my Instagram profile here & like/comment on my last 6 posts. This tells the IG algorithm that you like my content and want to see more of it. #besties
2) Go to my stories and enter the secret password "curtain" into the box in my Instagram stories now. The box will remain up till 8:00 AM EST on Thursday 03/21sr
Can’t wait to see you for the next edition of The Work Wife!