We live in a world where your job simply will not pay you enough. Even if you make $300,000/year, it won’t be enough to live comfortably in your high-income city.
You must make additional income, and you can do that either actively or passively. You do the work once as you build a portfolio of creative assets.
After completing your creative masterpiece, it continues earning you money—day in and day out.
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There are many ways to earn passive income from creativity, but today I will focus on two. Blogging and podcasting represent your foray into the world of creativity and audience-building and can help you earn much more.
Choosing your destiny. Writing articles for a blog and recording audio for a podcast are eerily similar yet vastly different. Put simply, would you rather talk or write?
Your creative career path will start the same no matter your choice; you will begin at the bottom with no audience.
The hardest part of starting these creative pursuits is taking or writing into the black void of nothingness. You will get zero traffic, likes, or comments when you release a podcast episode or blog article.
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I started my blog in July 2020 and received no responses for over a year. It takes time for you to build an audience. Are you prepared to write and record when no one listens or reads?
Preparing yourself for your creative career. Only 3-5% of the world are producers (creators), and the rest are consumers. These stats mean you will need to go above and beyond your normal life to become a creator.
I recommend reading a book on each creative path before you pick one. For blogging, I recommend “How to Blog for Profit,” and for podcasting, I recommend “Podcasting for Beginners.”
The career paths look the same on paper: start at zero, slowly build an audience, and monetize your audience with affiliate marketing, sponsorships, and products.
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All businesses require an audience, a solution to a problem, and consistent behavior from their owner. Once you understand general business practices, you can determine which route works best.
Start with a blog. I am a blogger and can see the power of attracting people from Google Search. I highly recommend starting a blog before doing any creative media (video, podcast, music, photos, art, software).
Google Search (and web search in general) uses a different algorithm than other media-based search results. Google search prioritizes domain authority and older proven content.
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Over time, your blog content becomes stronger. Once you have earned powerful search results, you can keep traffic coming for years. So it takes longer to rank, but you can see traffic for 10-20 years.
For YouTube, Facebook, and Apple Podcasts, it’s the opposite. You will need to compete with newer shows and fresher media constantly. You will be on the hamster wheel as you compete against exciting faces and current events.
As I wrote in “Blogging vs. YouTube,” you want a blog to be your base of operations. Once you have consistent traffic to your blog, you can add links to your podcasts.
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Using multiple search engines to succeed. Once you have a good handle on search engine optimization, you can use it on all the other platforms.
You want your content on as many platforms as possible, starting with blogging and Google Search.
You can upload your podcast to multiple distribution sites like Apple, Google, and Spotify. You can upload the audio to YouTube by looping a generic video background. You can also transcribe your podcast episodes and place them as blog posts.
Now you will leverage multiple search algorithms to grow your audience over time. However, it takes time (2-4 years) to build an audience and gain substantial traction. Add another two years before you monetize your audience enough to go full-time.
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How much does it cost to get started? Hosting a blog will cost roughly $200/year. You will probably need a subscription to Canva to produce art for your articles.
You can start podcasting relatively cheaply ($200-$400), but you will want to build a quiet room quickly. This room (you can use a walk-in closet) needs cushions to prevent echoes.
For both methods, you will need an email client that collects email addresses from your audience. Email marketing is still the most effective way to access your audience directly.
All in all, both methods will cost you roughly $500/year once you add in all the services, hosting, email, etc. It’s not an awful amount of money, but you will want to keep your day job.
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Your time is important. I love blogging because I am 100% time-independent—I answer to no one. I don’t have to release an article for a year, and my blog will continue to grow in my absence. That’s how the search algorithm works.
There are many types of podcasts (education, interview, conversational, solo-casts, podcast theater, and true stories) and most require guests. Therefore, you must schedule interviews or shows around other people’s time requirements.
If you are working full-time, it may be tough to find the time when dealing with others. You can overcome this obstacle, but it is something to consider when starting a podcast.
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Monetizing your creative pursuit. The main difference between a blog and a podcast is that a podcast doesn’t generate passive ad revenue.
With a blog, you can monetize your content simply by subscribing to Google AdSense. It only pays a little, but it integrates itself with little effort. Google AdSense is available on YouTube channels as well.
With a podcast, you have to get sponsored directly by a company. It will pay you more than Google AdSense; however, you have to become prominent in your niche before receiving a sponsor.
That’s why it’s essential you start a blog first. You can transcribe your podcast into words and receive Google AdSense revenue from the written word.
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Conclusion. All creative pursuits begin small—with you starting from zero. Ultimately, you must go with what you can do every day without fail.
If you love writing, go with blogging first. If you love talking, go with podcasting first. However, all content creators will eventually need to dabble across all the creative mediums.
Bloggers need to blog, release books, publish to Medium, start a YouTube channel, begin podcasting, and take online courses.
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Podcasters must write a book, record audiobooks, go on a speaking tour, conduct interviews on other podcasts, and become coaches and mentors.
To make an actual second income, you must become a multi-faceted entertainer. It may seem daunting, but it happens over time. First, become a legendary podcaster or blogger, and slowly focus on adding additional skill sets.
If I can do it, you can also. I recommend everyone start blogging because the algorithm is conducive to building long-term “sticky” traffic. You can then redirect to your other creative pursuits. Good Luck!
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