Diversification is the name of the game for many content creators. While I prefer a more minimal approach, I can’t shine with numbers like the following.
7 income streams and over 888K dollars in 2021 alone.
Who
This content creator is a YouTuber with two channels, a designer and web developer, creator of digital products, and more. He also writes. On Substack, but that’s not one of his income streams.
The man I’m talking about goes by the name of Oliur on most of his social media and work-related outlets. You’ll also find his shop under the name UltraLinx.
Some might be familiar with Oliur. He isn’t even 30 yet, but he’s had tremendous financial success over the past 5 years.
How
So, what’s he doing exactly?
I came to know Oliur through his main YouTube channel, called Oliur. On that channel, he talks about tech, mainly Apple products, and minimal, aesthetic accessories for these products. He occasionally ventures into lifestyle and fashion as he has a very stylish, minimal look, wardrobe, and home.
Now, to the important: His income streams.
1. YouTube
As I said, his main channel “Oliur” is a big part of his success. He has amassed over 200,000 followers and made over 240 videos to date.
With this main channel, he made a little over $40,000 in 2021. That’s a basic 9-to-5 income where I live (in Germany). For him, it’s only the beginning.
His second channel “Oliur Online” where he talks about money, finances, success, etc. is only 1 year old. He got monetized somewhere at the 6 months mark.
With this second channel, he made over $5000 since he got monetized by YouTube.
To be exact, these numbers of 40,000 and 5,000 dollars are purely ad revenue from AdSense ads in the YouTube videos.
He’s made more money with YouTube though. Next is:
2. Sponsorships
A huge part of the YouTube business model for most creators isn’t the monthly AdSense income, but rather the paid sponsorships they take on.
Oliur is very specific with his sponsors, as he only promotes gadgets or services that fit his aesthetic and lifestyle.
From sponsorships, he made a staggering 82,000 dollars in 2021.
As you can see, sponsorships are more lucrative than YouTube ad income itself. This is a mind-blowing number that most of us would be perfectly happy with as our lonely yearly salary.
But the list goes on.
3. Affiliate Marketing
Since Oliur makes videos on tech products, affiliate marketing is an easy income stream to take advantage of. Affiliate links to products he uses and shows are everywhere in his video descriptions, newsletters, social media posts, etc.
From these affiliate links, he made around 20,000 dollars in 2021.
As you can see, even this completely passive income stream is earning Oliur a considerable amount of money per year. All from placing the right links in the right places.
4. Digital Products
Next in line are digital products. Oliur started out as a designer and web developer back in the day. He took on clients and started making good money by developing Tumblr themes.
Yeah, I know, Tumblr of all places. That’s still active, did you know?
Since his early days, he’s created multiple digital product lines that sell well on Gumroad (his main outlet).
He offers digital products like iOS icon packs, wallpapers, Lightroom presets, and more on his Gumroad page.
With these digital products, he earned over $50,000 last year.
Additionally, with his aforementioned Tumblr themes, he made another $6,000.
And he hasn’t touched these themes or created anything new for Tumblr in multiple years! Again, true passive income.
5. Online Courses
Like every successful creator these days, Oliur offers some online courses as well. He’s actually good friends with Ali Abdaal, a YouTuber who made a few hundred thousand with his courses alone in the past.
Oliur uses Skillshare to sell his classes, and he hasn’t actually created a new course in 2021. All existing courses were made in 2020.
Still, he made $7,800 from these Skillshare classes.
6. E-commerce
Finally, his last income stream is his largest one.
Oliur has an online store called UltraLinx. There, he sells both digital and physical products.
Ultralinx is a drop-shipping business. He mainly sells accessories for tech products, your home office, and more.
With his store, in 2021 Oliur made an astonishing $678,922.
Fun fact: This number is actually lower than his previous earnings. He earned over $1 million in 2020 with his store Ultralinx. All in all, since he started the drop shipping business, he has earned more than $2 million.
The bottom line
These are Oliur’s 7 income streams (if you count the YouTube channels separately).
If we sum up his earnings, it’s exactly $888,800.
What does this tell you and me?
Diversifying income streams, trying different platforms, ideas, and outlets, and being part of the content creator community is the way to go for 2022.
I’m down for that!