#106 Content Machines & Careless Communication

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Welcoming you back with some personal experience…

Today’s Making Cents is all about using content creation to make money. I think when we see all these influencers getting rich online, it’s possible to get the wrong impression. This sh** isn’t easy! Here’s what my experience has been like and the adjustments I’ve made to improve results:

I’ve been writing this newsletter every week for more than two years now, and we just started making money. I’ve been writing on LinkedIn for two years but was only posting twice a week. Now I’m posting 4x per week and I’m getting more profile views than ever before. I hadn’t taken short-form video seriously until recently; now, I’m posting 4-5x per week, and I’m seeing my follower count rise steadily.

Like with anything else: the more you put into it, the more you get out.

I think content creation is like starting a business. It takes sacrifice, grit, resilience in the face of endless self-doubt (Is it worth it? Why am I doing this? Can I really succeed?). But you need to keep your eye on the prize, and that prize, for me, is a more fulfilling life.

More specifically, the life Morgan Housel describes in The Psychology of Money:

Whatever you’re pushing toward, keep that front of mind, and keep going.

Where This Edition’s Going…

FATTENING THE WALLET 💰️ 

• Making Cents of Becoming a Content Machine

• Hustle Hub: 5 Business Ideas, 3 Resume Tips, and 2 Coffee Side Hustles

ELEVATING YOUR BRAND 📈 

• Did You Know Featuring Student Loans, Liars, and AI in the Wrong Hands

• Cool Communicator: “Hey Hanging” is Never Okay

BOOSTING YOUR PRODUCTIVITY🚀

• A Food For Thought on Not Stopping

MAKING CENTS 💰️ 

Becoming A Money-Making Content Machine

Short and Sweet: Anyone can make money as a content creator, but it’s even better to become a content machine. The distinction? A machine has the ability to generate content regularly, across various mediums, in order to generate consistent revenue. And with the help of AI (an actual machine), it’s never been easier!

10 TIPS TO KEEP IN MIND

1. Start by sharing what you know, not what you’re selling.
What’s helped me is sharing personal experiences, insights, and mistakes that are valuable. This builds trust. Without trust, it’s unlikely someone would ever buy from you.

2. Consistency builds familiarity.
People value consistency. Post consistently to become that person they recognize and listen to.

3. Relatability > Perfection.
You don’t need to sound like a corporate robot or be a viral sensation. Show your personality—people engage with humans, not brands. Be a little vulnerable, too.

4. Solve problems.
Drop content that helps people get ahead. If you become someone they turn to for answers, you’ll stay top of mind.

5. Build credibility before you try to monetize.
It’s not likely someone is buying your course, e-book, or product without receipts. Showcase wins or client feedback. People want to see results.

6. Content builds your digital portfolio.
Every piece of content can lead to opportunities—consulting gigs, freelance work, partnerships, or job offers. Your online presence is your new resume.

7. Engage!
Reply to comments, DM people back, collaborate with others. Building a brand is like networking on steroids—relationships first, income second.

8. Content creates leverage for bigger deals.
When people know who you are, opportunities find you instead of the other way around.

9. AI helps you scale faster.
Use AI to brainstorm ideas, refine copy, and edit videos. It’s your personal assistant, making sure you stay productive (with less burnout) while keeping quality high.

10. Patience + consistency = money.
Build your brand, gain trust, and keep going, and you’ll eventually monetize through ads, sponsorships, courses, consulting, or even your own products. But don’t chase the bag too early—chase the trust first. You’ll know when the time is right to then go out and make money.

O.T.F. 
O.F.T - One Final Thought

If you’re ever interested in learning more about how to become a content machine, email me at [email protected]. I’d love to discuss how I could help out.

HUSTLE HUB 📈 

YOUR SUCCESS:

Get Ideas - 5 high-profit business ideas “no one is talking about” for 2025.

THEIR SUCCESS:

Get Inspired - Enjoy this interview with Mark Hellweg, who started not one but two coffee-related side hustles that became thriving businesses.

YOUR SUCCESS:

Get Employed - If your current hustle is looking for a new 9-5, here are three resume trends that will secure an interview (courtesy of a resume expert).

DID YOU KNOW🕺 

• Self-Interest: We know the Department of Education’s future is tenuous at best, but did you see how it will affect current student loan borrowers?
  

• Human Interest: Did you know people with these personality traits are more likely to lie?
  

• Artificial Interest: Did you hear what Sam Altman said about authoritarian governments using AI?

   

COOL COMMUNICATOR 🤝 

Never “Hey Hang” (At Work or Anywhere Else…)

Courtesy of Huffington Post, a big no-no when it comes to workplace etiquette is dropping a “hey” (or some variation of this) in a digital workspace like Slack and then leaving it hanging.

TL;DR Takeaways

1. A greeting “with no follow-up or with a heavy pause…can be downright unnerving when it comes from a manager” and can “leave you second-guessing yourself” when it comes from a colleague you’ve never chatted with before.
   
   It’s the unknown - what does this person want? Am I in trouble? What am I going to be asked to do - that induces anxiety.
   

2. “All communication at work via email or Slack should have a clear agenda and purpose, either providing information or enough context for the receiver to reply.”
   
   This is genuinely a good rule of thumb for all communication - there should be a clear purpose.
   

3. A greeting “with no other text or context accompanying it suggests that the sender is waiting for a little chitchat before getting to their point.”
   
   This is just inefficient…
   

4. “Human communication often involves a lot of nuance, much of which is lost in text format…[with brief communications like ‘hey’] there isn’t enough to go on and it’s easy to come up with a lot of different interpretations, not all of which are good.”
   
   Take the guesswork out of it; avoid misunderstandings; and just get to the point.
   

5. “When it comes to online chatting, less isn’t always more.”
   
   The best communicators value clarity above all. It’s obviously better to get your message across succinctly, but if you’re too short - to the point of anxiety-inducing, you’re better off spending a little extra time and energy on writing something longer.

   
    

O.T.F
O.F.T: One Final Thought

I’m always working on improving my communication skills. This article was a great reminder, especially when messaging in the workplace.

IMO, all communication - professional or personal, written or aloud - should be clear and purposeful enough to compel a response. A message like “Hey” that just sits there with no detail, context, or call to action accomplishes nothing (outside of the person on the other end wondering what it is you actually want…). You might think it’s a nice, low-pressure way to initiate a conversation, but it often has the opposite effect.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT🚀 

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Before You Go

Next week, we’ll be back with February’s AI Edition, which will include a use for ChatGPT we haven’t covered before (my favorite hack), a new Always Informed, and much more. In the meantime, we’d love to hear from you in this week’s poll:

Last Week’s Poll Results:

DO YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN BUILD A PERSONAL BRAND WHILE WORKING A 9-5?

• YES - 100%

• NO - 0%

See you next Tuesday 🤝 

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