The Truth About Side Income—and Why It's Okay to Get Paid for Your Work
Someone recently left a comment on one of my YouTube videos that pretty much sums up what a lot of folks are thinking these days:
"Feels like there's hardly any side income opportunities left that are actually lucrative… everything's saturated, too risky, or takes a ton of time and money without guaranteed profit. And when creators like you start promoting your own stuff, it just feels like one big sales pitch."
Alright, let’s talk about this.
First off—yes, a lot of the easy money plays have dried up. That’s how it goes. The gold rush days of eBay, Kindle publishing, or affiliate marketing always slow down once enough people jump in. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing left. It just means you’ve gotta be smarter, more creative, and willing to grind a little. That’s life. It rewards the people who keep moving forward, not the ones waiting for a guaranteed payout.
Second—this idea that promoting your own product somehow cheapens your message is just wrong. If I spend months creating a course or writing a book that I know will help people, why wouldn’t I mention it? Why wouldn’t I charge for it?
We live in a world where folks will spend $100+ on shoes made in China without blinking. But suggest they spend $47 on something that might actually teach them a skill or help them earn money, and suddenly you’re the bad guy? Come on.
I give away a lot for free—videos, blog posts, newsletters—but yeah, I also sell things. That’s how this works. It’s called value for value. You get something useful, I get paid for my time. No one’s twisting your arm to buy anything.
If someone’s not interested in what I’m offering, that’s fine. Scroll past. Watch the free stuff. But don’t complain because a creator has the audacity to try to make a living from their work. You wouldn’t do your job for free. Neither would I.
Bottom line: side income is still out there. It just takes effort. And creators have every right to earn from what they build. If that bothers you, maybe the problem isn’t the creator—it’s your mindset.
Appreciate the support from those who get it. For everyone else—I'm still gonna keep doing what I do. Too many people think the world owes them something while they give nothing back. I guess they feel like I should spend six months writing a book, then send them an autographed copy, pay the shipping, or maybe hand-deliver it, and maybe even sit there and read it to them too.