I’m a RICH Software Engineer Who Creates and Sells
[Article.Preface]
Success in the future will be determined by one’s ability to create and sell. We as software engineers are able to create digital products and sell them to our audience, Digital products can be an article like what you are reading now, a YouTube video, or anything else on the Internet. I will be sharing my experience about finding the solution to make passive income as a software engineer.
[Article.Authrozie]
- I am a software engineer, but I’m financially illiterate,
- I yearn for freedom, whether it’s financial or in terms of time.
- I don’t know the secret to making money even while I sleep.
If (you can’t answer YES to at least one of these questions) then
throw a new IrrelevantArticleException(“This article is not for you”)
[Article.Reason]
I’m a software engineer, always trying to keep up with new tech and programming languages. Finance topics like the stock market and crypto trading don’t really interest me, and I don’t want to work extra on weekends on another part-time project for more money.
But, is there a way to make money with my interests? BIG Yes, definitely!
[Article.Definitions]
Before we jump into the solution, let’s quickly go over some important concepts (you might be familiar with these, but it’s good to refresh our understanding).
Passive income
Passive income encompasses various ways to earn money without active effort. For instance, you may have written a book, created an online course, or even authored articles. These assets continue to generate income over time without requiring constant external effort, making them sources of passive income.
Digital product
In this digital age, there’s a wealth of digital products available, ranging from technical ebooks, YouTube videos, online courses, and garticles, to small software as a service (SAAS) offerings. These digital creations have opened up numerous opportunities for individuals to generate income online.
Selling ad space
There is a multitude of advertising networks available. You can write an article and post it on your personal blog, and then allocate space for advertisements, which can be managed by various platforms. Most advertising platforms typically offer two common methods of payment:
- Pay-per-view (PPV)
- Pay-per-click advertisements (PPC)
Affiliate links:
When you write an article and publish it on an online platform or your personal blog, you can include an affiliate link at the end of your article or in the video description if you’re creating video content. These affiliate links are unique to you, and whenever someone clicks on the link and makes a purchase, you earn a small percentage of that sale. It’s a way to earn commissions by promoting products or services to your audience.
[Article.Solution]
Fantastic! Now it’s time to demonstrate how you can start making money by simply pursuing your passion.
You already possess the essential skills needed to create and sell something on the internet:
- Internet Proficiency: Your familiarity with the internet is a valuable asset for reaching a global audience and promoting your offerings.
- Social Media Savvy: Knowing how to use social media effectively can help you market your products or content to a wide audience.
- Technical Skills: Whether it’s coding, project management, product design, or any technical know-how, these skills enable you to develop and deliver valuable digital products or services.
With these skills in your arsenal, you’re well-equipped to turn your passion into a profitable venture online.
[Article.MyStory]
I had been a software engineer for ten years, enjoying the excitement of my field where I learned something new every day. Occasionally, I’d write tech articles, on different platforms but not regularly, or consistently on a specific platform.
Then, life changed when I became a family man. I needed more money, but two challenges stood in my way. First, I didn’t have time for a side job. Second, staying updated on tech was tough with limited time. But I really wanted to make money online; I just didn’t know HOW…!!?
Let me tell you a bit more about my failure stories in making money by creating content on the Internet:
1- Personal blog
A few years back, I set up a personal blog where I published technical articles. For some of these articles, I decided to charge readers to access them. Unfortunately, this approach didn’t yield the desired results. The main reason behind this setback was my lack of knowledge in crucial areas like SEO, reader engagement, and digital marketing strategies.
2- YouTube channel
I also ventured into creating videos and posted them on YouTube, hoping to gain subscribers naturally. However, even after making five videos, I failed to attract a substantial audience. The primary issue here was my lack of knowledge on how to effectively promote my channel through social media and other promotional channels like articles.
3- Writing on different blogging platforms:
From time to time, I would sporadically write technical content on different platforms. While I managed to gain some followers, my inconsistency eventually led to burnout once again.
Here you can see one of my articles which was published on 3 platforms:
The mistake I made here was scattering my articles across different platforms right from the start. As shown in the picture above, the total views for one of my articles exceeded 50,000. I consider this a significant achievement, especially for my fourth article.
[Article.SolutionDetail]
You see I had the knowledge, it’s necessary but not enough, now it’s time to tell you about the right flow if you want to create a Digital product and make money through that.
I went through extensive research, delving into countless YouTube videos and articles, all in search of a solution, despite the challenges I faced.
The outcome of this deep dive was an “aha” moment — I chose to write technical articles and create technical tutorials. It might sound straightforward, but let me explain why research was crucial.
The key to success in this endeavor revolves around a concept called “FLOW”
Here, I’d like to outline the flow for writing technical articles on Medium, but this approach applies to other platforms as well. Whether you’re interested in running a YouTube channel or engaging on different content platforms, this flow can be adapted to suit your needs.
1- Just start(avoid perfectionism)
I’ll begin by writing a single technical article and publish it on a relevant publication. This initial step is essential, especially when you don’t have a large following yet. It’s crucial to grab some attention and build your presence gradually.
2- Have Consistency
I’ve established a plan to consistently publish one or two articles per week. This regular cadence should help me steadily grow my audience and engagement over time.
3- Make a real value
Creating a high-quality ebook is an excellent strategy to attract an audience. You can offer it for free and promote it on social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn. This ebook could cover a topic relevant to your expertise, offering valuable insights and solutions to common challenges in your field. It serves as a powerful tool to showcase your knowledge and build your online presence. As readers find value in your ebook, they may become more engaged with your content, and some may even become loyal followers or customers.
3- Promoting my article on Social Media
I’ve developed a routine after publishing each article. I create a LinkedIn post that includes a concise summary of my recently published Medium article. I always include relevant hashtags that connect with the article’s topic and reach a broader audience. This approach helps drive traffic to my articles and engages my LinkedIn network.
4- Create different channels for presenting your digital product
I recommend that once you’ve gathered a following of at least 200 followers, it’s a good time to consider creating YouTube videos based on the articles you’ve previously published on Medium. This transition can help you expand your reach and engage with a broader audience, leveraging your existing content to create valuable video content.
5- Pushing existing followers to a new channel- Youtube
By embedding YouTube video links within your articles, you create a valuable interconnection between your content. This encourages your readers to explore your YouTube channel while also driving YouTube viewers to your written articles. It’s a strategic approach to expand your audience across both platforms.
6- Pushing existing followers to a new channel — SkillShare
You can create short courses on technical topics and share them on SkillShare. Your existing audience, who enjoys your content, can easily discover and enroll in your courses, offering a chance to earn money while delivering valuable learning materials.
7- Affiliate links
When you’ve gathered over 1000 followers on platforms like YouTube and Medium, you can leverage your content to earn through affiliate marketing. Write an article or create a YouTube video promoting a product you’ve mentioned in your content. Include your affiliate link and encourage your audience to make purchases, whether it’s a book on Amazon or any other relevant product. This way, you can earn commissions from the sales driven by your recommendations.
[Article.Summary]
As software engineers, we have the potential to turn our passion into profit. We already possess essential skills such as Internet Proficiency and Social Media Savvy. To make this journey successful, we need to understand the process of generating passive income and follow a step-by-step approach. We’ve now covered all the necessary steps, and we’re prepared to embark on this imperfect but promising journey.🤞
Yeah, here it is, thanks for reading my story, I’d be interested to hear about your experiences and challenges in trying to make money through online content creation. Please go ahead and share your failure stories.
