building residual income streams

Looks like we have a number of writers or potential writers here?

I'm currently reading up on what's working in publishing with an eye to doing a lot of it in the near future and thought I would share what I've found so far.
I have one book up on Kindle that bumps along making $40 - 50 a year ( How to be a School Bus Driver ) and was looking into what's working currently. I'll share what I've got so far - warning - big info dump. not logically sorted but hopefully helps with the issues:

This one was an eye opener. An honest voice in the fog of questionable advice:

https://ellegriffin.substack.com/p/publishing-industry-truth

After reading through more of her stuff, it seemed Substack or Medium might be the way to build a following, assuming I'm patient about making any money for a while. I'm also thinking working with one of those may be a good way to break down the work of writing that book into doing one post at a time then assembling them all.

Going for a quick, generic explanation, Medium is equivalent to a blog, Substack is a glorified email list with some income possibility by people paying to subscribe to you, starting at $5 a month. To make any $$$, (and it won't be a lot) on Medium you have to be selected as one of their best writers.

also:

https://becomeawritertoday.com/make-money-on-medium/

https://www.zuliewrites.com/blog/is-writing-on-medium-in-2021-still-worth-it

https://hulry.com/medium-vs-own-blog/   -    What he goes into here, I had a parallel but different experience on Quora, a mod took offense at something I said and blacklisted everything I wrote.

from:
https://versushq.com/substack-vs-medium-every-writer-needs-one/?

Substack focuses on how many people want to read your content while Medium is focused on how good your content is.

The substack algorithm is based on what’s popular, whereas the Medium algorithm is based on your interests. Medium recommends articles based on your interests, not what’s trending.

from:
https://dariusforoux.medium.com/substack-vs-medium-which-platform-is-best-for-you-fa005086205a

“What time commitment do I want to make?”
Do you publish only when you have something to say? Or do you want to be like Ben Thompson, creator of the newsletter Stratechery, who typically sends out four emails a week?
If you’re planning to publish around 1–2 articles a month, you’re better off with Medium. Substack subscribers generally expect several high-quality posts/articles per week. That doesn’t mean you should only post 1–2 articles on Medium. More high-quality attracts more readers.

One of the biggest differences between Medium and Substack is how people find your content. On Medium, people find your work through reading recommendations on the platform. Your content has the potential to get distributed widely among Medium’s readers. Substack only features top posts and newsletters.

So if you’re an unknown writer with zero followers, you’ll have to put more work into marketing your Substack newsletter. Meanwhile, the Medium algorithm distributes your work to readers on the platform.
So for writers with a small or non-existent fanbase, I’d recommend going with Medium. Substack is better suited for people who already have a significant number of followers.

On Substack, people generally pay to read newsletters that cover specific topics. From what I’ve seen, news and finance analyses from experts do well on Substack. But if you plan to write about broader topics like productivity, health, relationships, and so forth, Medium is the more suitable platform.
Look whether there’s a fit between your topics and the platform. For example, let’s say you want to write poetry and you can’t find another person on a platform that does well with poetry, it’s probably not a fit. It doesn’t mean no one cares about poetry. It means no one comes to that platform to read poetry.

https://on.substack.com/p/grow-4

Find potential readers where they’re at. After you define your readership, research where these people congregate online and in real life: conferences, Facebook groups, subreddits, and more. Create a rolodex of potential outreach opportunities, and start engaging in these spaces and sharing your work. For his local news publication, Tony Mecia partnered with Charlotte’s local radio station, local Facebook Groups, and even hosted an awards show.


Comment on other writers’ publications. Substack displays your reader and writer profile when you comment on other Substacks. Engaging with other writers’ work helps their readers find yours. (Don't know where to start? Attend one of our upcoming Office Hours or Shoutout Threads.)

https://basicincomeworld.substack.com/p/how-to-succeed-on-substack

Substack is a great planform for writing in the Creator Economy since they decouple advertising and give publishers ownership of their Email list and growth. Substack has said that Content creators own their audience data from now on. Forever.

https://www.growthmachine.com/blog/should-you-publish-on-medium

The biggest problem with making Medium your primary blog is that you don’t own your content. If Medium decides to turn off their site, delete your articles, or ban your blog, there’s nothing you can do. They can delete everything you’ve written and the audience you’ve built.

That may seem like a far-fetched, unlikely event, but when you see how Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and other social platforms regularly shut down accounts, you don’t want to put yourself at risk of that sudden de-platforming. No matter how benign your content is

The true value proposition or unique value proposition of Substack might be this simple: Creative freedom.

This means they are moving away from a follower and algorithmic model that always felt like a carrot and stick (think Medium).

Community Exists on Substack
You write about Trans Rights, I write about quantum computers, we can be friends. For example. Substack has various Zoom events with different kinds of writers.

https://becomeawritertoday.com/substack-vs-medium/

The business models between the two platforms are completely different. If you are using Medium, then you will get paid based on the total amount of time someone spends reading your content. If you are using Substack, and you have access to a subscription-based model, and Substack takes a 10 percent commission. You are in control of what you're charged.
Even though you can send emails to your readers using either platform, Substack is the better option for doing this. Substack is a platform that has been specifically designed for email newsletters and writers.
If you are looking for a way to improve your blogging profile, then becoming a Medium writer is the better option for doing this. It has a much higher domain authority, increasing your online visibility. Furthermore, you have access to more tools that can help you drive traffic to your blog.

medium.com/yourpublication

There’s, however, one approach where you can make Medium work for you with acceptable side-effects.

How?

Mirror your blog on Medium

https://www.reddit.com/r/Blogging/comments/erm2tt/medium_vs_substack/

Write on Substack first, publish the majority or all of your newsletter content as free-to-read. That's an existing feature of the platform - it's not like everyone you ever wanna reach needs to pay.

forgot to save the link to attribute this:

I really disliked when Medium put up a paywall to view content. It made me feel like it would be difficult to build up my newsletter beyond a certain point, so I chose substack. When I did, I discovered a couple issues with sharing (leads back to .substack site instead of direct to social/email) and also found out that readers could not comment on the free version. That makes for some lonely posting...

While I think using both is okay, it seems a bit confusing to tell people where to go. "Oh you can see my content on my newsletter which goes to substack, or medium which goes to my substack and blog, or my blog where I post as well and gather leads for my newsletter. "

As for newsletter discoverability, here's a list of newsletter discovery projects you can submit yours to.

https://www.getrevue.co/profile/readpluswrite/issues/what-s-in-store-for-newsletter-discovery-215338

https://bonneraison.ca/why-i-chose-medium-over-substack-b964e651ee79


While both platforms are free to use, the important difference is that Medium assumes at least some of the responsibility for promoting their writers’ work; whereas Substack leaves this responsibility mostly to its writers.
By assuming at least some of the responsibility for promoting their writers’ work, through content curation, distribution and an infrastructure with built-in promotion capabilities(4), Medium gives its writers more time and energy to focus on their craft which, in turn, can help them to improve and grow as writers.
Although writers should still make an effort to promote their work (e.g. on social media), the knowledge that they’re not doing it alone should be a welcome relief and gives an early edge to Medium.

https://kevin.lexblog.com/2021/08/17/substack-likely-to-put-a-fork-in-medium/

Well, 2 years down the road from my post above and Substack is the clear winner.

Here's something I posted on a FB page by way of more explanation:

I think Substack or something similar will soon replace publishing books, assuming they don't succumb to "enshittification" as Corey Doctorow so accurately describes it. Look him up for a more detailed explanation of that.  Self publishing looked promising for a while until all the scammers flooded it with crap and repackaged public domain stuff.  Z library continues to exist in spite of massive efforts by publishers to shut it down and almost any book you would want to read is there for free.  As a writer trying to make a financial  living you just can't compete with that. One more plus to Substack is that you don't have to compile an entire book before publishing, but you can get to where you could compile all your Substack posts into a book while still getting paid as you write, and to see if there is a market out there for what you're writing without "complete a book" level of work. If no one signs on to paying you a small amount monthly there is no commercial market for what you're doing.

paul wheaton wrote:Here is something I have said about 40 times to about 40 photographers.   And I suspect zero of those photographers have followed my advice.

Take a great pic, reduce the size of the pic to 700 pixels wide and post it to permies.   Post the high res pic out at a stock photography site.  Put a link to all of your pics at the stock photography site in your permies.com signature.  Repeat daily for a month...

Now do this for a full year and discover that you are getting $800 per picture over a ten year span of time.   $2500 per month comes in and you don't do anything more.  It is all on autopilot.

And if you stop posting pics, that money just keeps coming in year after year.

- - - -

Today I got another email from somebody that wants to pay for a high res pic they saw here on permies.  

This is freaking brilliant!! My daughter is an amateur photog, though she could have made a career of it, she's so good. I'm sending this post to her! Thank you!

I have to say, I am not totally sold on passive income being truly passive. Lets start with the “try 100 things, 2 will work”. How much time do the other 98 take? Seems like the 2 would have to be spectacular to make up for the high failure rate… and then a lot of them, when you dig in, require maintenance and relearning every time the search engine changes the its algorithm, or your book sales taper off, or whatever. I am not saying the strategies don’t make money, I just wonder if you factor in the failed attempts and the maintenance, just what would the hourly salary be? Again, they might still work as a flexible job, especially if you enjoy it, so not dissing it overall!

Lina Joana wrote:I have to say, I am not totally sold on passive income being truly passive. Lets start with the “try 100 things, 2 will work”. How much time do the other 98 take? Seems like the 2 would have to be spectacular to make up for the high failure rate… and then a lot of them, when you dig in, require maintenance and relearning every time the search engine changes the its algorithm, or your book sales taper off, or whatever. I am not saying the strategies don’t make money, I just wonder if you factor in the failed attempts and the maintenance, just what would the hourly salary be? Again, they might still work as a flexible job, especially if you enjoy it, so not dissing it overall!

I'm not speaking for everyone, of course, but I have way more time than money. If I spend my spare time cruising the web or napping, no one is paying me for that time. If I spend the time trying different things to create passive income, maybe I won't get paid for that either, but maybe I will. At the very least, I'll learn a lot of things I didn't know before. Personally, I would spend my time trying things that cost little or nothing, since I don't have a lot to spare.
Doing the maintenance on an idea that is producing income seems reasonable. If it's not working, you don't have to maintain it, right? Nothing ventured, nothing gained, as the prophets say.

M Wilcox wrote:
I'm not speaking for everyone, of course, but I have way more time than money. If I spend my spare time cruising the web or napping, no one is paying me for that time. If I spend the time trying different things to create passive income, maybe I won't get paid for that either, but maybe I will. At the very least, I'll learn a lot of things I didn't know before. Personally, I would spend my time trying things that cost little or nothing, since I don't have a lot to spare.
Doing the maintenance on an idea that is producing income seems reasonable. If it's not working, you don't have to maintain it, right? Nothing ventured, nothing gained, as the prophets say.

Oh, for sure! If you enjoy writing, or photography/videography, or fiddling with ads, or whatever and you can make extra cash then you are ahead for certain. Even if your hourly wage is lower than you’d get at a part time job, everything is flexible and that can be worth a lot. I just sometimes see it sold as money for doing nothing, and I have a feeling that if you counted all the flops, it might not be quite that passive. But as long as you are learbing and having fun and not going into debt, not reason not to try!

Other major fallacies with marketing aside from "earn while you sleep" are that you have to do whatever it takes to get attention and that you are in a hurry to get all this done.

In the end, what I might call organic marketing, happens slowly, one satisfied customer at a time, and so much better that way long term.

You're not annoying people by playing "influencer" and getting in their face way too much, or borderline spamming/scamming.

To have the luxury of building your little biz slowly without having to survive on the income  is a gift.

If you're attempting financial survival by taking a biz from the ground up it's hard to resist the temptations to squeeze more income out of it via methods that  are just not sustainable, and marginally ethical.

My sister was a management consultant, and in her overview of many different businesses she worked with the single biggest killer of small (and large) biz was growing too fast.

The business very easily gets out ahead of your ability  to have all the things in place that you need to correctly manage the growth.
You then annoy your customers by failing to deliver and the end is in sight.

There's also the factor of the wild economic swings in the economy, the most recent being the 2008-9 mess and Covid. These used to come at a fairly predictable 8 year interval, and weren't nearly as bad, but it's a very different world now.

If you're not over committed financially or otherwise you can usually survive...or at least shut it down to re-open when things get a little better without losing it all.  To paraphrase Warren Buffet, when the tide goes out, we get to see who's swimming naked.

If you're growing slowly you'll spot these problems and can counter them before they become fatal.

Take your time and enjoy the ride.