How I Monetized My Knowledge & Skills Online (With These 8 Income Streams)

Yes, you can turn your expertise into income on the internet.

Photo by Carlos Muza on Unsplash

We’re living in the age of the creator economy, where it’s possible to earn a living by teaching your knowledge and skills online.

Whether it’s through content, courses, e-books, coaching, or digital products - there are dozens of ways to monetize your expertise.

But where do you start?

What are the most profitable monetization methods?

And how do you know which one is right for you?

It took me two years to figure out how to consistently and reliably earn a living by sharing my expertise (productivity) online.

But since then, I’ve generated multiple six figures in income through eight different monetization methods - each with its own pros and cons.

In this member-only article, I’ll share exactly what those monetization methods are, how profitable they are, and whether or not I recommend them.

---

#1: The Medium Partner Program

I started writing on Medium in 2018, and it completely changed my career as an online creator and digital entrepreneur:

• It was the first serious money I made as an online creator (I’ve made over $100k directly through the Medium Partner Program)

• It helped me build an online audience of 64k followers

• It helped me grow my productivity newsletter from zero to 17k subscribers (which I monetized on the backend through digital info products and 1-on-1 coaching)

Although the platform has definitely changed since I began writing there, it’s still the best place if you’re just getting started with growing an audience and monetizing your knowledge and skills online.

That’s because:

• You get paid based on how much time paying Medium members spend reading your articles (which means you only have to focus on writing and sharing your knowledge, not on marketing or selling a product)

• You can easily experiment with different topics and niches while you’re getting paid in the meantime (and once you’ve found your niche, you can turn it into an email newsletter or online business)

• You can generate an income while building an audience and email list at the same time (so instead of paying to grow your audience, you get paid for growing your audience)

The only downside to monetizing your expertise on Medium is that the income from the Partner Program can fluctuate heavily from month to month.

One month I would make $3,500 on the platform, while the next month I would only make $500, so you shouldn’t rely on it as your main income source.

But all in all, writing on Medium can be the first step in monetizing your knowledge and skills online. It’s how my journey as an online creator and entrepreneur started, so Medium will always have a special place in my heart.

---

#2: Mini-Courses

I’m a big fan of creating online courses because they are scalable, have great profit margins, and can be priced much higher than e-books.

In an average month, my productivity courses earn between $3,000 - $5,000 in revenue. The best part is, it doesn’t take more than a few hours per month to manage my courses.

The hardest part is building the course (creating the slides, recording the videos, writing the sales page, etc.). Once that’s done, it’s an income-producing asset.

In the past, I thought that the bigger your online course, the better. So, I spent months creating an ‘ultimate’ productivity course, and it didn’t do that well.

That’s because people get intimidated by big courses filled with dozens of hours of video material. It triggers information overload and becomes another thing on our to-do lists.

That’s why, these days, I only create 'mini-courses’ (like the Procrastination Antidote, which you can see in the image above).

Mini-courses are different than most online courses because: