How to make $6k+ per month with a ONE PERSON BUSINESS (3 big online income streams)

Summary

The speaker, a seasoned self-employed entrepreneur, shares insights on three common income streams for solopreneurs: freelancing, digital products, and content creation. They discuss the administrative and legal aspects of starting a business, including registration, bookkeeping, and licensing. The video explores the pros and cons of each income stream, offering practical advice on how to get started and grow. Freelancing offers high-value transactions and sustainability, digital products provide passive income, and content creation opens up multiple income streams. The speaker emphasizes the importance of building an audience and diversifying income sources, recommending tools like Worky for scheduling and portfolio building, and the use of email lists for audience retention.

Takeaways

• 😀 Starting a business requires handling administrative and legal aspects first, such as registering the business, bookkeeping, and opening a business bank account.
• 🇨🇦 For Canadians, the service 'Owner' is recommended for business registration, and resources like 'Small Business BC' can provide valuable guidance.
• 📚 Bookkeeping can be managed through simple tools like Google Sheets or software like Wave, QuickBooks, and FreshBooks, or outsourced to a professional.
• 💳 It's important to separate personal and business finances by opening a business bank account and a business credit card for easier expense management.
• 📝 The need for additional licenses depends on local regulations, and consulting with an accountant or local business community can provide clarity.
• 🔧 Three common income streams for solopreneurs are freelancing, selling digital products, and content creation.
• 🛠️ Freelancing involves offering a service and has the advantage of higher value transactions and potential for monthly retainers, but can be challenging to secure initial clients.
• 📚 Digital products offer a passive income stream once created, but require multiple sales to match the value of a single freelancing contract.
• 📈 Content creation provides multiple income streams, including brand deals, but requires building an audience before monetization can occur.
• 🌐 The video mentions using platforms like Worky for scheduling and portfolio management, and emphasizes the importance of a strong online presence for freelancers.
• 📈 To grow a business, it's suggested to start with one income stream and gradually stack on others, such as adding content creation to a freelancing business.
• 💌 Email lists are highlighted as a crucial component for all business models, providing a direct line of communication with customers outside of social media platforms.

Q & A

What are the three common income streams for solopreneurs mentioned in the script?

The three common income streams for solopreneurs mentioned are freelancing, selling digital products, and becoming a content creator.

What are some initial administrative and legal steps recommended for starting a business?

The initial steps include registering your business, bookkeeping, opening a business bank account, and checking for any necessary licenses depending on your location.

How does the speaker suggest registering a business in Canada?

The speaker recommends using a service called 'Owner' to register a business in Canada, which is suitable for those looking to start a sole proprietorship or a corporation.

What are some options for managing bookkeeping as a solopreneur?

Options for managing bookkeeping include doing it yourself using tools like Google Sheets, using software like Wave, QuickBooks, or FreshBooks, or outsourcing to a bookkeeper or accountant.

Why is it important to separate personal and business expenses?

Separating personal and business expenses is important for clear financial management and record-keeping, which is beneficial for tax purposes and understanding the financial health of the business.

What is the advantage of using a platform like Worky for freelancing?

Worky is an all-in-one freelancing platform that allows you to set up a portfolio, schedule meetings, invoice clients, have video calls, and integrate with other apps, making it easy to manage your freelancing business.

What are some challenges faced when starting a freelancing business?

Challenges include getting the first few clients, especially for higher ticket offers, and the fact that you're trading time for money, which means the income is not passive as you have to work to earn.

What is the potential downside of selling digital products compared to freelancing?

The downside of selling digital products is that each sale typically generates a smaller amount of revenue compared to the higher value transactions possible with freelancing.

How can a solopreneur start selling digital products?

To start selling digital products, one should first identify their niche, determine the platform that best suits their product, and ensure they have the necessary skills in graphic design or other relevant areas.

What are some platforms where digital products can be sold?

Some platforms for selling digital products include Etsy, Creative Market, and other online marketplaces, as well as through one's own website or email list.

What are some of the benefits and challenges of being a content creator?

Benefits include the ability to start with minimal equipment, the potential for diversified income streams, and the opportunity to monetize through platforms like YouTube AdSense. Challenges include the time it takes to build an audience and the potential discomfort of being on camera or creating content.

How can a solopreneur grow their business once they have established one income stream?

They can grow their business by stacking on other income streams, such as adding a content creation business to a freelancing business, or incorporating affiliate marketing and email list building.

Why is starting an email list important for a solopreneur?

Starting an email list is important because it provides a direct connection to your audience that you own and control, which is not subject to the whims of social media platforms or potential account issues.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Starting a Solopreneur Business: Legal and Administrative Basics

The speaker discusses the importance of handling administrative and legal aspects when starting a solopreneur business. They mention the necessity of registering a business, bookkeeping, opening a business bank account, and ensuring compliance with local licensing requirements. The speaker, based in Vancouver, Canada, recommends using a service called 'Owner' for business registration and suggests tools like Google Sheets, Wave, QuickBooks, and FreshBooks for bookkeeping. They also emphasize the importance of separating personal and business finances and consulting with accountants or local business organizations for guidance.

05:01

🔧 Freelancing as a Solopreneur: Platforms and Strategies

This paragraph delves into freelancing as an income stream for solopreneurs, highlighting the ease of starting due to pre-existing skills. The speaker categorizes coaching and consulting under freelancing and outlines the benefits, such as higher transaction values and the potential for monthly retainers. They introduce Worky, a platform for scheduling, invoicing, and conducting business meetings, and offer a discount code for the audience. The cons of freelancing, such as the initial difficulty in acquiring clients and the trade-off of time for money, are also discussed. The speaker provides actionable steps for starting a freelancing business, including creating a portfolio, leveraging social media, and networking.

10:02

🛍️ Selling Digital Products: Etsy and Beyond

The speaker explores the process of selling digital products, particularly on platforms like Etsy and Creative Market. They discuss the ease of starting, the potential for passive income, and the challenges of making sales with typically lower transaction values. The paragraph covers the importance of understanding one's niche, creating high-quality listings, and the necessity of building an audience for sales. The speaker also touches on the skills required, such as graphic design, and the equipment that might be needed, such as a microphone for recording courses. They provide insights into their own experiences with creating an Etsy listing photos course and emphasize the importance of knowing one's customer base.

15:03

🎥 Content Creation for Solopreneurs: Monetization and Growth

The final paragraph focuses on content creation as a means for solopreneurs to generate income. The speaker advocates for the versatility of content creation, mentioning brand deals and platform-specific monetization options like YouTube AdSense. They discuss the challenges of building an audience and the various income streams available, such as affiliate marketing and email list building. The speaker also suggests starting with one income stream and then stacking others, like adding content creation to a freelancing business. They recommend using email list providers like ActiveCampaign and highlight the importance of trust in recommending products to an audience.

Keywords

💡Self-employed

Being self-employed refers to working for oneself rather than for an employer. In the video, the speaker has been self-employed for five years, exploring various income streams available to individuals running their own businesses. This concept is central to the video's theme, as it sets the stage for discussing different entrepreneurial ventures.

💡Freelancing

Freelancing is a type of entrepreneurial activity where a person offers services to clients, trading time for money. The video discusses freelancing as one of the common income streams, with examples such as social media management and calligraphy services. It is relevant as it represents a significant way individuals can generate income on their own.

💡Digital products

Digital products are items that are produced, distributed, and consumed in a digital format, such as online courses, templates, or photos. The script mentions selling digital products on platforms like Etsy and through one's own email list. This concept is key to the video as it illustrates a passive income stream that can be leveraged by solopreneurs.

💡Content creator

A content creator is an individual who produces and publishes various forms of content, typically on social media platforms. The video highlights content creation as a way to generate income through brand deals, platform monetization, and selling to one's audience. It is a central concept as it represents a modern approach to entrepreneurship in the digital age.

💡Coaching

Coaching, in the context of the video, refers to offering guidance and expertise to clients for a fee. It is mentioned as a subset of freelancing where the speaker includes coaches and consultants as service providers. This concept is integral to the video's discussion on service-based income generation.

💡Bookkeeping

Bookkeeping involves the recording and organizing of financial transactions for a business. The video emphasizes the importance of bookkeeping for managing business finances and mentions tools like Google Sheets, Wave, QuickBooks, and Fresh Books. It is a critical concept for maintaining financial order in a self-employed venture.

💡Business bank account

A business bank account is a separate financial account used solely for business transactions. The speaker highly recommends opening one to keep personal and business finances distinct. This concept is essential for the video's theme of establishing a professional business structure.

💡User-generated content (UGC)

User-generated content refers to any form of content, such as videos or posts, created by users rather than companies. The script mentions UGC as a new income stream for the speaker, where they pitch their services to companies. This concept is significant as it showcases an innovative way for solopreneurs to collaborate with brands.

💡Monetization

Monetization is the process of generating revenue from a business, product, or service. The video discusses various monetization options for content creators, such as YouTube AdSense and brand deals. It is a key concept as it underpins the financial sustainability of solopreneur ventures.

💡Email list

An email list is a collection of subscribers' contact information used for sending newsletters, promotions, and updates. The speaker advises starting an email list as a way to maintain direct contact with customers. This concept is crucial for the video's overarching message of building a sustainable and direct customer relationship.

💡Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing strategy where businesses reward affiliates for each customer brought in by the affiliate's marketing efforts. The video suggests affiliate marketing as a potential passive income stream for solopreneurs. This concept is relevant as it offers an additional revenue source for those with an established audience.

Highlights

Self-employed for 5 years and explored various income streams for solopreneurs.

Discusses the importance of handling admin and legal aspects before starting a business.

Recommends registering a business, bookkeeping, and opening a business bank account.

Suggests checking for licenses depending on local regulations.

Advises using services like 'Owner' for registering a business in Canada.

Mentions the option of doing your own bookkeeping or outsourcing it.

Recommends software like Wave, QuickBooks, and FreshBooks for bookkeeping.

Advises separating personal and business expenses and opening a business bank account.

Suggests getting a business credit card for easier expense management.

Recommends checking with local organizations for business resources and advice.

Introduces three popular income streams for solopreneurs: freelancing, digital products, and content creation.

Details the benefits and cons of freelancing, including ease of start and higher transaction values.

Provides tips on starting a freelancing business, including creating a portfolio and networking.

Discusses the advantages of selling digital products, such as ease of creation and passive income potential.

Mentions the challenges of selling digital products, like competition and the need for good design skills.

Explains how to get started with digital products by identifying a niche and choosing the right platform.

Talks about the benefits of content creation, including diversified income streams and ease of start.

Highlights the challenges of content creation, such as building an audience and overcoming the fear of being on camera.

Provides strategies for growing a solopreneur business by stacking multiple income streams.

Recommends starting an email list as a crucial part of any solopreneur business.

Transcripts

I've been self-employed for 5 years and

I would say I have tried most of the

common income streams that one person

businesses or solopreneur have and

specifically they are freelancing slash

becoming a coach second one is digital

products or selling your own courses the

third one is being a content creator so

I will go through the pros and cons of

each of these businesses and tell you

how exactly you can start doing this but

first before you like do anything with

any kind of business you have to get get

the admin legal stuff out of the wafer

so I'm going to talk about that quickly

you want to make sure that you've

covered your bases in terms of

registering your business bookkeeping

and opening a business bank account and

also just making sure that you don't

need any other kind of license depending

on where you live like depending on your

state or your city or Province I live in

Vancouver Canada and this is for

Canadians if you are looking to start a

soul proprietorship or a corporation in

Canada I used a service called owner to

register my business and I highly

recommend it for Canadians who want to

start a business I've added a link in

the description for bookkeeping at the

very beginning you can do your own

bookkeeping because you probably aren't

going to have that many expenses and

like it's probably not going to be that

complicated with clients or the money

you're making so you can just keep track

of it using either like a simple Google

Sheets or you can use different kinds of

softwares so there's wave QuickBooks

fresh books for me personally I hate

bookkeeping and everything so I

Outsource that so I have a bookkeeper

slac accountant who helps me do it and

the software we're using is QuickBooks

and make sure you are separating your

personal and business expenses so I

highly recommend opening up a business

bank account most of the big Banks like

wherever you are should have options

available for either I think maybe like

a very low price maybe like $5 a month

and I would definitely open up a credit

card for just business expenses cuz it's

just so much easier to manage everything

if you have like a separate thing for

your business expenses and depending on

where you live check if you need any

other kind of license like either your

city or state or Province you might have

to have like a business license for that

and if you're feeling really lost I

would double check with an accountant or

with a couple of business friends that

you have in your local area and there

are also a lot of useful organizations

for example I live in BC Canada so we

have small business BC who they have a

lot of resource is online about what you

need to register and what you need to do

like all the process and everything so

see if your area has a small business

office kind of thing where you can check

uh and look at resources so now let's

get into the three popular ways that you

can make money as a solo preneur and you

can definitely have a mish mash of these

three like right now I do have like a

mishmash of these income streams but at

the beginning I would suggest you just

start with one to focus on or else like

it's just going to be really hard to

manage everything the first one is

freelancing where you offer a service

these are some examples of freelancing

for me I've done social media

freelancing and also offering

calligraphy Services I know that's not

like a digital thing but it is something

that I offered and yes I was a

freelancer for the purpose of this video

I'm also going to slot in coaches and

Consultants under the freelancing

category because it's kind of the same

where you are offering a service you're

trading your time for money and you have

clients the pros of a freelance business

is it's pretty easy to start because a

lot of the times you already have some

kind of skill right you've lived your

life for x amount of years you have some

kind of skill and you can sell that

skill it could be photography web design

writing services teaching something like

for me I taught calligraphy or even

things like offering a haircut okay I

know that's not digital but still a good

example the other Pro is that when you

get one client it's usually like a

bigger payment compared to if you were

going to sell digital products which you

might make $10 per customer right but

with freelancing each transaction is at

a higher value so you might make $100 in

one transaction or $500 or $2,000 $5,000

in one transaction or in one contract so

when you secure one client it's like

bigger money depending on what you do

with freelancing you could also have

like monthly retainers where you keep

offering the service so it could be a

more sustainable income stream but it

depends on on what kind of service

you're offering like with social media

Services um you could get like a monthly

retainer for example and the other Pro

is that it is usually pretty easy to set

up because you already have the skill

you basically just need to set up a

portfolio um maybe reach out to some

people you spread the word about your

business and you can get clients that

way in the last four months I've been

using worky which is a all-in-one

freelancing platform and it does a lot

of things you can set up your freelance

portfolio schedule me invoice clients

have video calls and there are a lot of

other Nifty things that you can do with

this platform right now I'm using worky

for two main things the first thing is

to schedule free coffee chats with

companies that I am trying to do ugc

with which by the way is user generated

content and the second thing is to

schedule paid coaching calls with people

who are interested in starting or

growing a business it integrates with

stripe PayPal Zoom Google Calendar and a

lot of other apps so it's very easy to

just integrate work key into your

workflow my favorite thing is that you

can create a portfolio website and then

you can link your meeting scheduling

links directly into that portfolio

website and this is different from other

scheduling tools for example like

calendly which don't let you create like

a portfolio website recently the worky

team just updated the platform so you

can record your meetings directly within

the website there's a lot of invoicing

features and there's also full support

of workie on mobile workie is a free

tool to start but you can upgrade as you

go along and I do have a sweet 75% off

discount for you on all worky plans you

can use my code Dena 75 when you check

out to start your freelancing journey

now what are the cons with a freelancing

business first I would say it is a

little bit hard to get clients

especially the first couple of clients

cuz you're going to start building your

portfolio but then you might think how

am I you supposed to build a portfolio

if I don't have any clients oh yeah I do

have a how to start freelancing video

this one has a lot of strategies on how

you can get your first client so I would

definitely watch that one right after

you watch this but yeah getting clients

and especially if you are selling like a

higher ticket offer it is going to be a

little bit harder the other thing is

that you're still trading your time for

money so while you are working for

yourself it's kind of like you created

your own job for yourself and so like

the income you make is not that passive

cuz you still have to do the work to

start freelancing the main things you

need to do are to create a portfolio by

the way you can use worky for that

remember you have a portfolio website

right within the platform the other

thing I would recommend is to have some

sort of social media so I would say

Instagram LinkedIn um those are all very

good I would say it depends on what kind

of a freelancing business you're

starting maybe LinkedIn is better for

some of them U maybe not there's also

Outreach and networking strategies which

I definitely talk more about in this

video I did mention earlier in the video

that I'm trying to do more user

generated content and this is a new

income stream for me that I I just kind

of realized I could do because a lot of

companies I was talking to for

sponsorships on my YouTube channel a lot

some of them aren't a super duper good

fit for my YouTube channel but I'm still

like a user and a fan of their products

so now I'm pitching my ugc services to

these companies and they can run ads on

the videos that I make so yeah I made a

portfolio and I'm using an Outreach

strategy and make sure you subscribe if

you are interested in my ugc journey cuz

I'm going to be making a video probably

in a couple of weeks on how my ug

journey is going and how much money I'm

making the second common way to make

money as a onep person business or a

soulle priner is to sell digital

products a lot of you are following me

for my Etsy stuff and so selling digital

products on Etsy is definitely one of

them um you can also sell digital

products through a lot of other

different ways so for example I do have

a Etsy listing photos course that I'm

selling mainly through my email list and

my YouTube channel so that is a digital

product like a course that I'm selling

there are also other websites where you

can sell digital products like I think

creative Market is another one Etsy I

would say is like the most popular but

there are other platforms that you can

sell digital products on the pros of

selling digital products is that it is

very easy to start like you literally

just need your computer um and sit in

front of your computer and make some

things so I would say it is pretty easy

to start um the products could be very

easy to make if you already know

something about the product or about the

industry and the other good thing about

digital products is that they can be

very passive so once you make the

product and you post it people can keep

buying your things and you don't have to

do a lot of upkeep the hard thing with

digital products is that every time you

make a sale it's it's like a very small

sale it might be $10 or $50 or maybe

like $200 but every time you make a sale

like compared to freelancing cuz with

freelancing you could make a lot more in

one transaction with one client and it

could be like a retainer client like

every single month but with a digital

product most of the time you're going to

just sell it like one time you can

upsell other products but most of the

time people just going to buy it one

time right so you need a lot of sales

and to get a lot of sales you either

need to have well there's it depends on

where you're posting these digital

products and how you're selling the

digital products like for example with

Etsy you need to either create a lot of

listings or you need to have like an

outstanding product that is in demand

where there's not a lot of competition

to get a lot of sales or if you're not

selling on Etsy or like one of those

kinds of platforms and you're selling it

by yourself then you need like an

audience to sell the product and so the

building the audience part can take a

while the other thing is that you kind

of need to be good at graphic design to

some extent when you make a digital

product or depending on like what kind

of digital product if it's a template or

something

then you have to know how to use the

whatever software you're using like

either it's canva Photoshop or like if

you're making a otion template you need

to be familiar with that but if you're

making a course or something then

obviously you have to be on video right

and that might take a while for you to

feel like natural on video or you might

need to get some like equipment like a

microphone or something and how do you

get started with digital products the

first thing I would say is you need to

think about your Niche cuz if you're

selling digital products um you're

trying to find an AUD audience that

needs the product and so you kind of

have to know who that is and when you

make the digital product it kind of

helps if you are the customer like for

example when I made my Etsy listing

photos course like I was thinking back

to a year and a half ago when I was

making my first ever Etsy listing and I

had no idea how to make listing photos

and so that course that I made it's kind

of for me like it's for the old me a

year and a half ago who was feeling

super loss with making listing photos

and so because I like I am the customer

I know the struggles of the customer I

know like what uh I am stuck with so I

know kind of like already what to create

when I make the course so you need to

decide on your Niche then think about

like what platform is best Etsy is not

always the best U by the way like if you

are thinking about doing Etsy you have

to watch this video because I explain

other alternatives to selling on Etsy

it's not that easy to to be successful

with an Etsy Shop like there there's a

lot that goes into it so definitely

check out these Alternatives after you

watch this current video the third

common way that you can start a

oneperson digital business is to become

a content creator so being on some kind

of social media platform obviously I'm

very bis towards YouTube I think YouTube

has the best

monetization options but you can start

anywhere Instagram Tik Tok because with

a content creator business actually the

pro is that there are a lot of income

streams that can come with a big one is

definitely brand deals and on pretty

much all the social platforms you can do

brand deals however you do need to build

an audience first so that is the con it

is difficult I think for the average

person to build an audience like it's

going to take some time but once you do

have the audience then it's a lot easier

to make money through brand deals you

can combine this method with the other

one which is selling digital products so

you can then sell digital products to

your own audience and depending on the

platform you could make money from the

platform itself like with YouTube you

have YouTube AdSense and to give you an

idea and I'm very transparent about this

every month I'm making about 1,600 to

1,800 in USD and you can also add your

freelancing services into the content

creator business that you have so you

can offer whatever service you're

offering or you can offer coaching or

Consulting as well with the content

creation business the pro is that

basically anybody can start and it's

very easy to start we all have a phone

you can start making videos short form

is very easy to make you can make long

form too but if you are doing YouTube I

would recommend getting a microphone you

don't need a camera right away but audio

is really really important the other Pro

I mentioned is there's a lot of income

streams like many many Diversified

income streams for a content creator

business the con is that you do have to

build an audience to be able to access a

lot of these income streams so building

the audience part takes a while and the

other thing is that for a lot of people

people who aren't used to being on video

like making the first video and posting

the video can be a huge hurdle because

either you you you you feel like you're

not qualified to talk about whatever or

you're not confident or you're just you

feel like you're awkward so I think that

is also a huge hurdle I guess another

kind of content creation business is a

Blog so you don't necessarily have to

make videos you can write blog posts um

so that is another option too for me

I've been self-employed for 5 years so I

have tried all three of these ways and

you know what I actually like doing a

whole bunch of things all at once just

so I don't feel stuck so right now I'm

I'm still creating videos like I'm

trying to start like more freelancing

stuff like doing the ugc stuff and I'm

still working on my Etsy Shop creating

digital products and I'm still trying to

sell my course the Etsy listing photos

course so there's a lot of things that

are keeping me busy and it's really fun

once you start with one of these things

either the freelancer or creating

digital products or becoming content

creator now how do you grow so the way

to grow is once you've built up one

income stream then you're going to stack

on other income streams so just to give

you an example you could start as a

freelancer trying to get clients you

built your portfolio maybe you have a

couple of clients and then what you can

do is you can tack on a content creator

business to that so while you're getting

these clients then you can share about

your freelancing journey on social media

you can talk about like hey I just

started my freelancing journey 1 month

ago and here's how it's going because

there's always people going to be

interested in your journey honestly I

think with anything that you do in life

you can make content out of it so

content is really easy to tack onto

whatever you're doing and other things

to consider are affiliate marketing as

well especially if you have a bigger

social media following joining affiliate

programs can be very very good passive

income but I will recommend that you

join affiliate programs where you

actually love the products because you

want to make sure that with you and your

audience like you don't break the trust

right so you want to make sure that

whatever you're recommending you have

tried it yourself personally and you

like it the other thing that I would

recommend to add on to all of these is

start an email list and I think an email

list is important for all three of these

freelancer digital products and content

creator because you own your email list

a lot of the times we depend on social

media for a lot of things right but what

if your account gets hacked what if it

gets deactivated or suspended for

whatever reason you still have your

email list so there are a lot of email

lists providers the one I've been using

since 2019 is active campaign I do have

a code if you want to try out active

campaign but there are a lot of other

ones like a MailChimp mailer light

convert kit flow desk honestly there's

like so many different kinds and it

really depends on what you want to do

with your mailing list so you can

definitely Google like which one is best

for you but at the beginning I knew that

I wanted to have like a really robust

email list provider so that's why I

signed up with active campaign oh by the

way if you want to join my email list

cuz I send out a Weekly Newsletter every

Friday with updates of what's going on

in my life and my business and useful

advice if you want to start a business

I'll put a link below and you can sign

up also if you sign up for any one of my

freebies like the business plan template

the start your Etsy checklist or the

start your YouTube checklist like you

will be added to my email list so feel

free to look at the freebies as well

because they might be useful for

you