making money on social media is easy, actually.

I always had a knack for giving advice and sharing what I was passionate about.

But when I tried to get paid for it by creating content and selling digital products, I slowly discovered that no one cared.

I thought I was smarter than everyone.

"If I was a content creator, I'd be making millions, it's so easy".

"All you have to do is talk to a camera and post a link to your website".

I was horribly wrong.

I created content and no one engaged.

I promoted my products and no one bought.

The "smart businessman" I thought I was, meant nothing.

I started to doubt myself.

I started to second-guess every decision.

And worst of all, I told myself the worst lie of them all.

"My life isn't interesting and I haven't done anything worth talking about"

Said every person who ever thought about building a personal brand.

I repeated those same words to myself just a few months ago in July 25'.

Unknowingly, trapping myself into a mental box before I created my first piece of content.

And the thing is, I seen so many others say the same thing.

Shooting themselves in the foot before even giving the whole "content creation" thing a chance.

It's like when you say a food doesn't taste good without even trying it.

You really can't say if it's good or bad until you take the first bite.

And this heavy mindset was weighing on me through my content journey.

For months actually.

You see, I started off by posting on TikTok. I tricked myself into thinking that "I'm just creating content to promote my product".

It felt as if my videos were a shell of who I truly was.

It didn't have my humor, my personality, my beliefs, my values and so much more of what makes me, me.

I was just trying to promote a digital product that I created and bring in sales.

As you can probably guess, that didn't happen.

I woke up everyday and felt like a slave to my content. It wasn't fun, it wasn't exciting. It felt hard, it felt like a waste of time and I started to hate it after awhile.

Ending every single day more lost and confused.

A similar story to 99% of content creators who try to make money on social media but end up feeling "burn-out" before they ever see any real traction.

Mentally, it got really draining.

I started to question myself. I felt anxious every time I recorded.

When I posted, I was just glad that the video was over with.

Day after day of just hating the process of creating content.

Eventually, I tested different platforms, like Youtube, Instagram, and Twitter.

Some of them were fun but I still wasn't seeing any of the progress I was looking for.

But one thing stayed the same, my determination to "make it".

I'm a true believer that life happens FOR you, not TO you.

You see this time period in my journey was a teaching moment. It taught me to appreciate the art of creating content and building an audience.

It isn't something that happens overnight.

It takes work.

It takes consistency.

It takes grit.

And most importantly, it takes authenticity.

Something that I had paid no attention to at the start of my journey.

If I would have blown up and made a ton of sales, my life wouldn't have gotten any better. Why?

Because I would've just built a shiny prison. Money would've made things a little bit more enjoyable but that excitement would've quickly wore off.

That's because building a profitable personal brand isn't just about money, it's about people.

Your personal brand is the roadmap for someone who's on a similar journey as you.

It's not about promoting a product and getting paid.

That's why you see so many creators use the word "burnt-out" even if they're making a ton of money. God created us with purpose and money never comes before our purpose, only after.

Whether you've already started creating content or you’re thinking about building a personal brand. Stop and audit yourself for a second.

I'll be honest, I was just thinking about myself. Not the person who I was helping on the other side of the screen.

That's why building an authentic personal brand, that aligns with,

Will always outperform the person who's just "promoting a product".

There needs to be a mission behind your brand. A deeper purpose.

Now, don't think I've ruled out money completely. That is still a vital part of the equation and there's nothing wrong with wanting to make more money.

The pursuit of making more money improves your quality of life. Not only you but the people around you and even the audience that you will build.

And that is the journey that I am currently on, building a brand that allows me to make newsletters like this, talking about topics that I truly believe in and want to share with other people trying to achieve the same thing.

But there's a specific way you must weave your brand together so you can quite literally monetize yourself.

Let's break it down together.

Before we begin, you must understand what it actually means to monetize yourself and the different moving parts that go into it.

My personal philosophy for monetizing yourself is slowly crafting the best version of yourself while also providing value for others.

To give some more context behind it, it isn't just selling a product and making a few dollars.

Monetizing yourself means figuring out what you want in life and improving your current state of,

and committing to providing value to someone other than yourself.

And as a very basic business lesson, in order to make money you need…

Transactions.

Your ability to transact will determine how "well" your able to monetize yourself. The world runs on transactions, exchange of value. For each and everything that you do.

Think of it like this, if I create a shitty product and make shitty content, will people want to transact with me? No.

These are all transactions. You give one thing and someone gives you another. As a beginner, you probably won't be good at any of these. But that's the beauty of it, you get to improve each and every day and as you get better you start to climb the transaction ladder.

Eventually, you make enough transactions to where you can start to create an income.

So what are the moving pieces of turning this dream into reality?

I break it down into 3 phases.

Phase 1: Self-Reflection

Uncover the hidden desires and dissatisfactions of your heart. Your dream life isn't outside of you, it's already baked into who you are and what you want. You just have to move some distractions out of the way. Here's what I recommend.

A vision allows you to know where you want to end up and be known for.

An anti-vision allows you know where you don't want to end up and not be known for.

A mentor allows you to learn from someone who's already reached your end-point.

A self-audit allows you to know what skills you have and what you need to work on.

A starting point allows you to be clear on where you currently are.

A first step allows you take action.

Some people argue that a mentor is overrated but here's a question I'd like you to ask yourself (if you're one of those people).

Have you ever started a new job without someone who already had the skills, training you?

Probably not.

And if you didn't have someone training you, you can probably imagine how long it'd take for you to learn the ropes yourself.

That's why most beginners quit. They think they can do it on their own and a "mentor" is scammy. Which says more about you than anything else, but that's a topic for another day.

So that's phase 1.

And if you need more help, I created a free template just for you. Click here to access How To Monetize Yourself 1.0.

Phase 2: Trials & Tribulations

At this stage you know what you want. Or at least, you have somewhat of an idea.

Which is all you really need.

Your mind may try to trick you into feeling like your still lost. That sense of "I need to know everything before I get started".

The truth is, you don't.

Accept the fact that you will never know everything.

The most powerful thing you can do for yourself is to just start taking action, immediately.

That's it.

Create your first product.

Create your first piece of content.

Create your first service.

Reach out to your first potential customer.

Order your first batch of inventory.

Invest into your first stock.

Launch your first app.

The goal here is to LEARN, not be perfect. As you continue to try, you will refine your skills and become better.

"As you start to walk the way, the way appears. - Rumi"

In other words, you won't know the path until you begin walking. It's like asking a baby to walk before they crawl, they haven’t gained enough data, confidence or experience.

And as you begin to walk, you'll experience much trial & error, that's okay. It's a part of the journey.

But there's one slight issue about this phase, some people stay stuck here for days, weeks, months, years or even worse, their entire lives.

Which I believe happens for a few reasons,

Only you & God can control how long you are in the trial and tribulation phase. There is no amount of motivation, inspiration or wishful thinking that can get you out of this phase.

But here are a few traits that can help you progress much faster than anyone else in your field of work.

Implementing and routinely practicing these 7 traits while on your journey will change your life. Without a doubt.

But most people struggle with one or more of these, which keeps them in the same cycle.

I will also hint that, you never truly leave this phase. Even though that sounds a bit contradicting, hear me out.

Even as you start to see success, you will always have a trial of some sort. The expectation here is to reach a new level and deal with the NEW trials that come with that level.

We don't want to remain on level 1 and experience the same trials over and over, instead we want to level up and deal with the new trials as we improve.

Phase 3: Ladder of Transcendence

Which introduces the ladder of transcendence.

I like to picture this is as a video game where you never actually finish the game.

There will always be new levels.

There will always be challenges.

There will always be new missions.

There will always be new bosses.

In the trial and tribulation phase, you build your XP (experience points).

Which really means you gain more skills and experience.

You start to master some of the skills you set out to learn.

For example,

So on and so forth.

With each step you climb, you become stronger.

For example, when I first set on the journey to monetizing myself.

I didn't know how to create content, how to create an offer, how to sell to an audience, how to build a digital product, etc.

I knew these were all things I needed to do in order to create the income that i wanted to make.

But I couldn't learn them all in one day, it took time.

It took trial and error.

But slowly, I researched, attempted and failed at each one.

As I did more of that, I learned those skills and it allowed me to climb the ladder.

I was no longer the person I was when I first started.

As you stack each skill and get better, your income will start to grow.

Knowing how to create good content might help you get to your first, $1000.

Knowing how to create a irresistible offer might help you get to your first $10,000.

Knowing how to communicate and articulate might help you get to your first $100,000.

So on and so forth.

With time, you get better at each skills, you discover new ones and you become a stronger entrepreneur because of it.

The same skill set that got you your first $100k may not be the same skill set that gets you your first $1m.

Regardless, with each step you climb, you continue to become a better version of yourself.

A version of yourself you once felt was impossible to achieve.

And you keep climbing the ladder.

I hope by now this article has made sense for you and you're able to understand your starting point to monetizing yourself.

The journey isn't about being perfect or knowing everything.

The journey is the path to becoming the best version of yourself and getting paid to do it.

Not only do you get paid to do it but you get to have an impact on the people who come into contact with you.

You become the best you.

You learn about you.

You transform you.

Remember, to get, you must first give.

P.S. If you’d like my personal help to discovering your path and building a profitable brand, here’s the link to my 30-Day Monetize Hacking that you can follow.