Which revenue stream is right for me?
Part Two: Future-Proof Your Freelancing
In the last post, I outlined what a diverse income looks like and what benefits it can bring you. In this post, I’ll run you through seven different revenue streams that you can pursue. There’s also an exercise to help you work out which might be right for you.
Seven Revenue Streams For Freelancers
1. Audience-funded/membership model
What is it: When your followers or audience pay you directly
Example: Newsletters! This newsletter is a reader-funded model. Other examples include making exclusive creative content for Patreon subscribers or publishing videos for paying YouTube members.
Platforms you can use: Patreon, Substack, Memberful, YouTube Membership
Who can do it: Anyone with an engaged online following. The keyword there is engaged – you don’t need tens of thousands of followers to do this.
What skills you need: Creativity, confidence, entrepreneurial spirit, marketing (or a willingness to learn how to promote yourself)
Real talk: Developing an audience-funded model can be brilliant because it generates the holy grail of reliable monthly income. At the same time, it is a lot of work, especially when you first start out. You’ll spend a lot of your time on admin and marketing. As long as you don’t go into this option thinking you can set and forget, it will be worth the effort.
Further reading:
2. Commercial writing
What is it: Writing copy or other written materials for brands or companies
Examples: Commercial projects run the whole gamut of writing. There’s copywriting, branded content, ghost-writing, thought leadership, blogging, website copy and B2B writing. In practical terms, this means internal publications, white papers, company blogs and trade publications. The possibilities are endless if you’re prepared to write for places that aren’t news outlets and magazines.
Platforms: Contently, Skyword, Clearvoice, The Dots, and LinkedIn,
Who can do it: Anyone who can write!
Skills you need: Ability to write in different tone/style, people skills, “professionalism” (in the sense of knowing how to interact with people from the corporate world), interviewing skills, ability to digest large amounts of information, jargon translation
Real talk: Commercial writing can be so lucrative that you start to question whether you should even bother with editorial work anyway. However, corporate clients can be demanding and their working culture may jar with that of some freelancers. It can be hard to initially crack into this world; many freelancers will only consider commercial writing gigs when they really need them and then struggle to find them. If you’re serious about finding commercial gigs, be prepared for the initial legwork to find the best clients.
Further reading:
3. Brand partnerships
What is it: A brand pays you to make content for them
Example: The most well-known example of a brand partnership is Instagram paid posts. However, brand partnerships can also happen on a brand’s page (for example, lots of brands are currently hosting Instagram Lives with creators). Sponsored videos and podcasts are also examples of brand partnerships
Who can do it: Anyone with an engaged online following. Like the audience funded model, you don’t necessarily need tens of thousands of followers to start out with this option.
What skills do you need: Creativity, confidence, entrepreneurial spirit, self-starter, adaptability, open-mindedness
Real talk: Brand partnerships make a lot of creators feel icky. There are ethical considerations to take into account when taking money from a brand, especially if you’re a journalist. It’s never black and white and you’ll have to find a way to police your own lines between church and state. If you’re open-minded, however, you’ll find this option can be a really great way to support a creative career.
Further reading
4. Public speaking
What it is: Delivering a talk or presentation at an event (can be virtual!)
Example: Giving a keynote at a conference, chairing a roundtable discussion, hosting a webinar or Instagram Live.
Who can do it: Anyone comfortable speaking in public
Skills you need: Clear articulation, calm under pressure, engaging presence, reading a room, sense of humour, vulnerability
Real talk: The hardest part about talking in public (whether it’s IRL or online) isn’t the fear of messing up in front of an audience, it’s how draining it can be. Talking takes time and energy – from preparation and travel (although you don’t have to worry about that right now at least!) to feeling tired after delivering your talk. As long as you factor in the time around the talk itself, speaking can do wonders for boosting your confidence, profile and income.
5. Teaching
What it is: Teaching your skills to students
Example: Teaching includes institutional-based education like guest lecturing at a university or college, but it also extends to delivering a (virtual) workshop to a company and even peer-to-peer online learning
Platforms: Skillshare, Teachable
Who can do it: Anyone with a creative skill (usually a little experience is necessary)
Real talk: Similar to public speaking, teaching carries hidden emotional costs. Students will want to stay in touch after your guest lectures, and you’ll want to continue helping them so setting boundaries is really important for anyone thinking about teaching.
Further reading:
6. Products
What it is: Selling products, which can either be physical or digital and can be sold either directly or indirectly.
Examples: An illustrator could sell physical prints directly from their website or a writer could sell books indirectly through a publisher. You can also sell things like ebooks and digital downloads from your own website
Who can do it: Anyone with a marketable idea
What skills do you need: Time management, creativity, patience, sales
Real talk: The real value of selling products is usually in the expertise and clout it gives you rather than the actual revenue you will generate. This is especially true for physical books sold through a publisher. The real value will come later, when you’ll land speaking gigs and further writing opportunities off the back of your book. As long as you’re prepared to play the long game, it can unlock a new level for your freelancing.
Further reading:
7. Grants
What it is: Non-profits and foundations will give you a lump sum to fund a project
Example: A reporting grant would cover the cost of travelling to complete an assignment or a business grant would fund the seed money to launch a creative project.
Platforms: Journo Resources, GrantsOnline.org.uk
Who can do it: Anyone
What skills do you need: Clear writing, ability to write to a brief, self-promotion, patience
Real talk: Grants are the golden goose of freelancing because it’s money to do a project with few strings attached. It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, though, that for that very reason, they’re hard to come by. Grant writing is also a skill unto itself – often the applications are lengthy and filling them out is time-consuming. It’s also worth bearing in mind that right now, applications for grants are higher than usual so competition will be fierce.
How to figure out what revenue stream is right for me
1. Do a skills audit
Make a list of the skills you have. Don’t overlook the skills that you find easiest (or even boring!), those are the most valuable.
Get specific! Some questions to ask yourself:
What do you love doing?
What do your friends tell you you’re good at?
What comes very easily to you?
What can you do but you find boring?
Here’s an example list:
Writing how-to guides
Giving advice
Figuring out how to do things
Finding information
Getting people to help me do something I don’t know how to do
Connecting with people online
Building communities of like-minded people
2. Match your skills with the streams above
From your list, there should be some revenue streams that pair nicely with your existing skills.
For example, from the list I put together above, a great match would be brand partnerships.
The benefit of doing a skills audit is that it helps you get super clear on what options are available to you and your existing expertise. It’s very easy to look at that list of revenue streams and think that none would work for you, but by starting with the know-how you already have, you’ll surprise yourself how many paths are actually open to you.
3. Is it right for me?
This week, spend some time drilling down into one or two revenue streams that came up as a natural match for your existing skillset. As you research these options, ask yourself:
How do you feel about these revenue streams?
What preconceptions do you have?
Are you excited about the prospect of developing this income avenue?
What limiting belief do you have about it that is holding you back? How could you replace that with a new belief that would help you take the next step in pursuing this project?
Really looking forward to this. Looks great!