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  • Business, blogging & Money, Career

    How to Become a Paid Influencer (Without Millions of Followers)

    This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

    The word “influencer” still conjures images of celebrities with millions of followers and private-jet partnerships. That version exists, but it is not where most of the money changes hands anymore. Brands have shifted a large chunk of their budgets to small creators — people with a few thousand engaged followers, or sometimes barely any audience at all.

    That shift is your opening. In this guide I will show you how to become a paid influencer the unglamorous way: pick a lane, build proof, and plug into places where brands are already spending — like TRIBE, a marketplace where brands post paid briefs and creators pitch for them. No follower milestones required before you can start.

    Fair warning up front: this is a real income stream, but a lumpy one. I will cover the downsides too.

    What “paid influencer” actually means in 2026

    Getting paid to create content comes in more flavors than sponsored Instagram posts:

    • Sponsored content — a brand pays you to feature their product on your channels.
    • Content licensing and UGC — a brand pays for content you create, to run on their channels and ads. Your follower count barely matters here.
    • Affiliate partnerships — you earn a commission per sale you refer, regardless of audience size.
    • Long-term ambassadorships — recurring monthly deals, usually after a few successful one-offs.

    The “without millions of followers” secret is simply that the last three barely depend on reach. Brands need a constant stream of authentic content and trackable sales, and they would rather pay ten small creators than one celebrity.

    Step 1: Pick a lane a brand can classify

    Brands book creators the way you book a plumber: for a specific job. “Lifestyle” is not a job. “Budget family travel”, “plant-based cooking for beginners”, “home office setups” — those are jobs.

    You do not need to stay in that lane forever. You need to be classifiable long enough for a marketing manager to look at your profile and instantly know which campaign you fit. Pick the overlap between what you genuinely do daily and what companies sell products for. That second part matters: “vanlife on a shoestring” is charming, but “skincare for sensitive skin” has ten times the advertisers.

    Step 2: Build a portfolio, not an audience

    Before pitching anything, make sure the first nine to twelve posts on your grid (or your channel, or your blog) could pass as work samples. Good light, clear subject, captions that sound like a human. That is your portfolio, and it beats follower count in almost every brand conversation you will have at this level.

    If you are starting from zero, create three mock posts featuring products you already own and love. Nobody pays for them, and that is fine — they demonstrate you can shoot a product like someone worth hiring. This is exactly how UGC creators start; I listed my favorite free tools for new UGC creators if you want to build that kit without spending money.

    Step 3: Go where brands already have budget

    Cold-emailing brands works eventually, but it is the slowest possible start. Marketplaces flip the dynamic: brands post campaigns with budgets attached, and you pitch.

    TRIBE is the one I point new creators to first. Brands publish a brief — the product, the vibe, the deliverable — and you respond with a pitch showing how you would feature it. If the brand approves, you create, they pay. You are competing on the quality of your idea and your content, not on the size of your following. Check their current creator requirements on the site, because they evolve.

    Beyond marketplaces, influencer agencies keep rosters of micro-influencers for client campaigns. Getting on several rosters costs you nothing but applications — I keep a running list in my post on the highest-paying influencer agencies for micro-influencers.

    Step 4: Learn to pitch a brief

    Most creators pitch like this: “Love your brand! Would love to collab!” Delete that. A pitch that wins briefs has three parts:

    1. The concept — one or two sentences describing the exact post you would make. “Flat-lay of my Sunday reset routine with your candle as the anchor, caption about closing the week calmly.”
    2. The fit — one sentence on why your audience or style matches. Not flattery, evidence.
    3. The sample — your strongest comparable content, attached, not linked three taps away.

    Write ten of these and you will feel the quality jump. It is a craft, and almost nobody at the entry level practices it — which is precisely your advantage.

    Step 5: Price yourself and package it

    Rates in this industry are foggy on purpose. A workable starting frame: price the deliverable (one photo, one video, one post with usage rights), not your follower count, and raise your rate every few successful deals. Always charge extra when a brand wants to run your content as ads — usage rights are a separate product.

    Put your niche, formats, past work and starting rates in a simple one-pager. A media kit template saves you fighting with layout software and makes you look like someone who has done this before, even on deal number two.

    Step 6: Add an income stream that pays while you sleep

    Brand deals are feast-or-famine: three campaigns in November, silence in January. The creators who survive pair deals with affiliate income — recommending products with tracked links, earning commission on every sale, no brand negotiation required.

    It compounds slowly, then meaningfully. When I got serious about it I took Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, the course by Michelle Schroeder-Gardner — the blogger who built a $50k-plus monthly affiliate income — and it is still the clearest system I have seen for doing this without being pushy.

    The honest downsides

    This path is not for everyone, and pretending otherwise would make me part of the problem.

    • Income is unpredictable. Do not leave a job for this until months of consistent deals say you can.
    • You must disclose. Sponsored content and affiliate links legally require clear labels. Non-negotiable, and honestly, audiences respect it.
    • Rejection is constant. You will lose most briefs you pitch. That is normal math, not a verdict on you.
    • It is a job. Deadlines, revisions, invoices, taxes. If you want a hobby to stay a hobby, keep it one.

    FAQ

    How many followers do you need to become a paid influencer?

    Fewer than you think. Marketplaces and UGC work reward content quality and engagement over raw reach, and plenty of brands specifically book nano-influencers with small but genuine audiences. A few thousand engaged followers — sometimes fewer — is a workable start.

    How do paid influencers actually get paid?

    Through campaign fees (flat rate per deliverable), content licensing, affiliate commissions, or retainers. On marketplaces like TRIBE, payment terms are handled through the platform once a brand approves your work, which spares you chasing invoices.

    How much do micro-influencers earn per post?

    There is no honest universal number — rates depend on niche, format, usage rights and the brand’s budget. The reliable pattern: video pays more than photos, usage rights pay more than posting alone, and rates rise fastest when you can show results from earlier campaigns.

    What is the difference between an influencer and a UGC creator?

    An influencer is paid for reach and trust with their own audience. A UGC creator is paid for content the brand uses on its own channels, so audience size barely matters. Most new creators today do both, and UGC is usually the faster first dollar.

    Do I need a media kit to start?

    Not for marketplace briefs, where your profile does the work. You will want one the moment you pitch brands directly — it answers rate and audience questions before they are asked and quietly signals professionalism.

    Becoming a paid influencer without a huge following is mostly a numbers game played with good materials: a clear niche, a portfolio that looks hired-ready, and steady pitching where budgets already exist. Create your TRIBE profile, pitch your first three briefs this week, and treat every rejection as a rep. The creators earning from this are rarely the most famous — they are the ones who kept pitching.

  • Business, blogging & Money, Finance

    Ledger Review: Is a Hardware Wallet Worth It?

    This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

    TL;DR: If you hold more crypto than you would be comfortable losing, a Ledger hardware wallet is worth it — it takes your coins off exchanges and puts the keys in your hands, offline. If you own a small amount you actively trade, you can skip it for now. For everyone in between, a Ledger is the most sensible upgrade you can make to your crypto setup.

    Every cycle, the same story repeats: an exchange freezes withdrawals or collapses entirely, and people discover that the crypto in their account was never really theirs. The collapse of FTX in 2022 made that lesson expensive for a lot of ordinary investors.

    A hardware wallet is the boring, unglamorous answer to that problem. In this Ledger review I will explain what the device actually does, what it costs you in money and convenience, where Ledger as a company has stumbled, and who genuinely does not need one.

    What is a Ledger?

    Ledger is a French company that has been making hardware wallets since 2014. A hardware wallet is a small physical device that stores the private keys to your crypto offline, inside a dedicated secure chip — the same category of chip used in bank cards and passports.

    The important mental shift: your coins do not live on the device. They live on the blockchain. What the Ledger holds is the key that authorizes transactions. Because that key never leaves the device, malware on your computer cannot steal it, and an exchange going under cannot take it down with them.

    You manage everything through the Ledger Live app on your computer or phone: checking balances, sending, receiving, staking and swapping. Every outgoing transaction must be physically confirmed on the device itself, which is exactly the friction you want.

    Ledger pricing and models

    Ledger sells several models, and prices change with promotions, so I will not quote exact numbers here — check current pricing on their site. As of 2026 the lineup looks like this:

    Model Screen Best for
    Ledger Nano S Plus Small monochrome screen The budget pick: buy, hold and rarely touch it
    Ledger Nano X Small monochrome screen Holders who want a step up from the S Plus
    Ledger Nano Gen5 2.8-inch E Ink touchscreen The newer mid-range option
    Ledger Flex 2.8-inch E Ink touchscreen Frequent use: swapping, staking, DeFi
    Ledger Stax 3.7-inch curved E Ink touchscreen The premium model, biggest screen

    All models support 500+ coins through Ledger Live, with thousands more via third-party wallet integrations. For most readers of this blog, the cheapest model does the job — the security core is the same across the range. Compare the current Ledger models and prices here, and always buy directly from Ledger, never from a marketplace reseller — a tampered device is the one risk you cannot audit.

    What Ledger does well

    Your keys actually leave the exchange

    The core job. Buying crypto on an exchange like Coinbase is convenient, but leaving it there long-term means trusting someone else’s security, solvency and terms of service. Moving long-term holdings to a Ledger removes all three of those dependencies in one afternoon.

    The security model is genuinely strong

    Keys sit in a certified secure element chip, transactions are signed on-device, and you physically press buttons to approve anything. Even if your laptop is riddled with malware, the attacker still cannot sign a transaction without your hands on the device.

    It is not just for hodling anymore

    Through Ledger Live you can stake several coins and swap between assets while keys stay offline. The touchscreen models make this noticeably less fiddly than the button-only Nanos.

    Where Ledger falls short

    The company has had trust wobbles

    Honesty required here. In 2020, Ledger’s marketing database was breached — no funds or devices were affected, but customer names, emails and addresses leaked, which led to years of phishing attempts against Ledger owners. And in 2023, the company announced Ledger Recover, an opt-in paid service that backs up your seed phrase with third parties. It is optional, but the community backlash was fierce, because it proved such an extraction was technically possible.

    I still consider the devices themselves the standard in this category. But you should know the company’s record before you buy, and you should never enter your recovery phrase anywhere except on the device itself — no email, no website, no support agent will ever legitimately ask for it.

    You become your own bank, fully

    Lose the device and your 24-word recovery phrase, and nobody can restore your crypto. Not Ledger, not me, not a locksmith. That responsibility is the entire point, but it is also the part people underestimate. Write the phrase on paper or steel, store it somewhere safe, and never photograph it.

    Who should not buy one

    If you hold a small amount of crypto as an experiment, the device can cost a meaningful share of your holdings — keep it simple until the stakes grow. If you actively trade daily, your funds need to be on the exchange anyway. And if you know you are careless with important papers, be brutally honest with yourself about the recovery phrase before switching to self-custody.

    Is a hardware wallet worth it? My verdict

    My rule of thumb: the moment losing your crypto would genuinely hurt, it belongs in cold storage. Crypto is the volatile, speculative slice of a portfolio — which is exactly why the custody side of it should be the most boring, secure thing you own.

    It also helps to see crypto in context. It is one idea among many — I walk through the alternatives in my post on simple investment ideas for beginners, and if you like tangible assets, my piece on buying silver ingots covers a very different flavor of “cold storage”. Diversification beats conviction.

    But if crypto is part of your plan, do the custody properly. Pick the Ledger model that fits your budget, set it up on a quiet afternoon, and sleep better through the next exchange drama.

    FAQ

    Is Ledger safe to use?

    The devices store keys offline in a certified secure element and require physical confirmation for every transaction, which is a strong security model. The main risks are user-side: losing your recovery phrase or typing it into a phishing site. The device protects your keys; protecting the phrase is on you.

    What happens if I lose my Ledger?

    Your crypto is not gone. You buy a new device (any brand that supports the same standard) and restore access with your 24-word recovery phrase. This is why the phrase matters more than the hardware — anyone who has it, has your crypto.

    Is a Ledger better than keeping crypto on an exchange?

    For long-term holdings, yes. On an exchange you own a claim on the company, not the coins — if it is hacked or goes bankrupt, you are a creditor. For active trading or small amounts, an exchange account is a reasonable trade-off of risk for convenience.

    Which Ledger model should I buy?

    If you mostly buy and hold, the cheapest Nano model provides the same core security as the premium devices. The larger touchscreen models (Flex, Stax) are nicer if you transact often. Security-wise you are not buying more safety with a bigger screen — you are buying comfort.

    Has Ledger ever been hacked?

    The devices’ secure chips have not been remotely drained in the wild, but the company’s marketing database was breached in 2020, exposing customer contact details. The practical lesson: expect phishing emails if you are a customer, and never enter your recovery phrase anywhere except on the physical device.

    Self-custody sounds intimidating until the first time an exchange makes the news for all the wrong reasons. Head over to Ledger, choose the model that fits how you actually use crypto, and move your long-term holdings offline this week — it is one of those tasks that takes an hour and removes a worry permanently.

  • Business, Business, blogging & Money

    WebinarGeek Review: The GDPR-Friendly Webinar Platform

    This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

    TL;DR: WebinarGeek is a webinar platform built by a European company with GDPR compliance baked into how it handles data, which matters if you’re marketing to EU audiences or just don’t want to think about it constantly. It covers live, automated, and on-demand webinars in one plan structure. It’s not the cheapest option and its brand recognition outside Europe is lower than the big US platforms, but the compliance angle and feature depth make it a solid pick for course creators and coaches running regular webinars.

    Webinars remain one of the highest-converting formats for selling a course, a coaching offer, or any higher-ticket product, because live (or convincingly live-feeling) presentations build trust faster than a sales page alone. WebinarGeek’s whole pitch is doing that without the data-compliance headaches that come with hosting on a platform built under different privacy rules.

    What is WebinarGeek?

    WebinarGeek is a webinar and online-event platform that supports live webinars, automated (“evergreen”) webinars that run on a schedule without you presenting live each time, and on-demand replays, all from one account. It’s built by a Netherlands-based company, and GDPR compliance is a core part of its design rather than a bolted-on afterthought, which matters if you’re collecting registrant data from EU visitors.

    Beyond hosting the webinar itself, it handles registration pages, reminder emails, and post-webinar follow-up, plus analytics on who attended, how long they stayed, and where they dropped off — the kind of detail you need to actually improve your webinar over time instead of guessing.

    WebinarGeek pricing

    Plan Viewers Best for
    Basic Up to 50 Small, occasional live webinars; check current pricing
    Premium Up to 1,000 (configurable in smaller tiers) Regular live and automated webinars with custom branding; check current pricing
    Enterprise Up to 5,000 Larger organizations needing Salesforce/HubSpot, SSO, and SLA support; check current pricing

    I wasn’t able to get exact monthly prices to display during verification — WebinarGeek’s pricing page loads the actual numbers dynamically — so check current pricing directly on their site before committing. All plans include a 14-day free trial, which is enough to run at least one real webinar and judge the platform for yourself before paying anything.

    What it does well

    The automated webinar feature is the standout: you record a presentation once, and the platform runs it on a recurring schedule with interactive elements — polls, chat, timed offers — that make it feel live to attendees. This is a serious tool for course creators who want a repeatable sales webinar running in the background without presenting it fresh every time.

    The GDPR-first approach is a genuine differentiator if you market primarily to a European audience, or if you’d simply rather not audit a US-based platform’s data practices yourself. Built-in registration analytics, reminder sequences, and marketing integrations mean you’re not stitching together three separate tools to run one webinar funnel.

    For a course launch, that combination matters in practice: you set up a WebinarGeek registration page and reminder sequence once, let the automated webinar run on its schedule, and check the attendance analytics afterward to see exactly where interest dropped off — all inside the same account, instead of gluing together a separate landing page tool, email platform, and video host.

    Where it falls short (and who shouldn’t buy)

    Brand recognition is lower outside Europe, so if you’re specifically looking for the platform with the biggest name recognition among a US audience, WebinarGeek isn’t that. The viewer caps on lower tiers (50 on Basic) will feel tight quickly if your webinars regularly draw a large live crowd, pushing you toward Premium sooner than you might expect.

    It’s also not the cheapest webinar tool on the market, particularly once you factor in higher tiers for bigger audiences. If you only run a webinar once or twice a year and don’t need automation, a simpler video-conferencing tool with basic webinar features might cover your needs for less money.

    Worth naming too: the interface leans functional rather than flashy. If you’re expecting the kind of polished, marketing-heavy dashboard some US competitors lead with, WebinarGeek’s design prioritizes the mechanics of running and analyzing webinars over visual flair. That’s a fair trade for most course creators, but it’s worth knowing going in.

    Who it’s for

    WebinarGeek fits course creators, coaches, and small businesses running webinars as a regular part of their sales funnel, especially anyone marketing to European customers who wants GDPR compliance handled at the platform level rather than pieced together themselves. It’s less suited to someone hosting a single one-off webinar with no plans to repeat the format.

    FAQ

    Is WebinarGeek actually GDPR-compliant?

    It’s built by a European company with GDPR compliance as a core design consideration, including how registrant data is stored and processed. That said, using a compliant platform is one part of overall compliance — your own privacy policy and cookie consent setup still matter.

    Can WebinarGeek run webinars automatically, without me presenting live?

    Yes. Its automated webinar feature lets you record once and run it on a recurring schedule with simulated live elements like chat and polls, which is useful for an evergreen sales funnel that doesn’t require your ongoing presence.

    How much does WebinarGeek cost?

    Pricing is tiered by viewer capacity across Basic, Premium, and Enterprise plans, with a 14-day free trial available on all of them. Exact current pricing is best checked directly on their site, since it can change and varies by billing term.

    What’s the viewer limit on the cheapest plan?

    The Basic plan supports up to 50 viewers per session, which suits small or early-stage webinars. Larger or growing audiences will need to move up to Premium, which scales up to 1,000 viewers.

    Is WebinarGeek better than US-based webinar platforms?

    “Better” depends on your priorities. If GDPR compliance and European data handling matter to your business, it has a real edge. If you need the platform with the widest US brand recognition or the lowest possible entry price, it’s worth comparing against alternatives first.

    If webinars are — or should be — part of how you sell online, the compliance and automation combination here is hard to match elsewhere. Start a free WebinarGeek trial and run your first webinar without committing to anything.

    If you also want the rest of your site’s cookie and privacy compliance sorted at the same time, iubenda handles that side of the equation. And if webinars are part of a bigger list-building push, my ultimate guide to email marketing covers what to do with attendees once they’ve registered.

  • Blogging, Business, blogging & Money

    How Many Page Views Do You Need to Make Money Blogging?

    This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

    “How many page views do I need before I can make money?” is one of the most common questions new bloggers ask, and it’s also the wrong question. The honest answer depends far more on how you monetize than on your traffic count. A blog with 2,000 monthly visitors and one well-placed affiliate link can out-earn a blog with 50,000 visitors running only display ads.

    I built most of my own understanding of this from Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, which is where the traffic-versus-income math finally clicked for me. Here’s the realistic breakdown by monetization method and traffic stage.

    Display ads need real volume

    This is the model where page views matter most directly, and it’s also the slowest to pay off. Premium ad networks like Mediavine typically require around 50,000 monthly sessions before you can even apply, and Ezoic and other entry-level networks work at lower traffic but pay far less per thousand views. Below roughly 10,000-20,000 monthly visitors, display ads alone are unlikely to add up to meaningful income — you’re better off treating them as a small bonus on top of other income streams rather than your main plan.

    Revenue per thousand pageviews (RPM) also varies enormously by niche, which is why two blogs with identical traffic can post wildly different ad income. A personal finance or software blog often sees an RPM several times higher than a general lifestyle blog, simply because advertisers pay more to reach readers close to a purchase decision. Traffic alone tells you very little without knowing what that traffic is worth to advertisers in your specific niche.

    Affiliate marketing works at much lower traffic

    This is where traffic quality beats traffic quantity. A single in-depth review post ranking for a specific, buyer-intent keyword — “best X for Y,” a comparison, a how-to that naturally recommends a tool — can convert readers into affiliate income at a few hundred visitors a month, if those visitors are actually looking to buy or sign up for something.

    That’s the core idea behind targeted affiliate content, and it’s exactly what a structured approach like Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing teaches: picking products your specific audience is already inclined to want, rather than chasing generic traffic and hoping some of it converts. A new blog with ten genuinely useful, specific posts will often out-earn a blog with a hundred generic ones.

    Digital products and sponsorships need even less

    If you sell your own product — a template, a mini-course, a guide — or work with sponsors directly, the traffic bar drops further, because you’re not relying on a percentage of ad impressions or affiliate commissions. An engaged list of a few hundred subscribers who trust your recommendations can outperform a much larger, less-engaged blog audience. This is part of why building an email list early matters more than chasing raw page views.

    Picture a $97 template or mini-course sold to just ten people a month from a list of a few hundred engaged subscribers — that alone can produce more revenue than a display-ad setup needs tens of thousands of monthly visitors to match. The tradeoff is upfront effort: building and validating a product takes longer than dropping in an ad script. But the traffic required to sustain it is a fraction of what display advertising demands.

    Realistic numbers by stage

    Under 1,000 monthly visitors, focus on one or two genuinely useful, specific posts with a clear affiliate recommendation, and start your email list. Don’t bother applying to premium ad networks yet — there’s nothing there for you at this stage. Quality matters far more than quantity here: five posts written around specific buyer intent will out-earn fifty generic ones.

    Between 1,000 and 10,000 monthly visitors, targeted affiliate income becomes realistic if your content matches buyer intent, and entry-level ad networks start contributing a small amount. This is usually where a blog’s first consistent income shows up.

    Between 10,000 and 50,000, premium ad networks become worth pursuing, and affiliate income should be scaling alongside your growing content library. Past 50,000, most successful blogs are running several income streams at once — ads, affiliate, and often a product or service — rather than depending on any single one.

    What actually determines income more than traffic

    Niche matters enormously: a smaller audience actively researching a purchase (software, courses, gear) will out-earn a much larger audience reading for entertainment. Content depth matters too — a thorough comparison or review converts better than a shallow one, regardless of how many people see it. And an email list gives you a direct line to readers instead of depending entirely on a search algorithm’s mood that week.

    FAQ

    How many page views do I need to make money blogging?

    There’s no fixed number. Affiliate income can start at a few hundred targeted monthly visitors, while display ad income that adds up to real money typically needs tens of thousands. It depends far more on your monetization method and niche than on raw traffic.

    Can I make money blogging with under 1,000 visitors a month?

    Yes, through targeted affiliate marketing or a digital product, especially if your content matches specific buyer intent. Display ads won’t produce much at this level, so they shouldn’t be your focus yet.

    Is it better to focus on traffic or monetization first?

    Monetization strategy first, traffic second. Knowing which affiliate products or ad networks fit your niche shapes what content is worth writing, rather than writing generic content and hoping it converts later.

    How much traffic do I need for premium ad networks like Mediavine?

    Mediavine has historically required around 50,000 monthly sessions. Entry-level networks like Ezoic accept much lower traffic, but pay considerably less per thousand views, so they work better as a starting point than an end goal.

    What’s the fastest way to start earning from a smaller blog?

    Affiliate marketing focused on a specific, high-intent topic. A few well-researched posts recommending products your exact audience is already looking for tend to outperform broad content aimed at maximizing pageviews alone.

    Traffic is one input, not the whole equation — matching the right monetization method to your niche and content matters more than hitting some arbitrary page view number. Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing lays out exactly how to do that, even at a small blog’s traffic level.

    For more on this, see my posts on making money blogging with a small following, what you should know about blogging and money, and how to make money blogging as a complete beginner.

  • Business, Business, blogging & Money

    Designrr Review: Turn Blog Posts Into Ebooks in Minutes

    This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

    TL;DR: Designrr turns blog posts, PDFs, or podcast transcripts into formatted ebooks and lead magnets without any design skill, and it does that one job well. It’s not a full design tool — templates can look similar to other Designrr users’ output, and true custom layouts take patience. If you need lead magnets fast and don’t want to learn a design program to make them, it’s worth the subscription.

    Turning a handful of blog posts into a downloadable ebook is one of the highest-leverage things you can do for list growth, and also one of the things bloggers put off longest because it sounds like a design project. Designrr exists specifically to remove that excuse.

    What is Designrr?

    Designrr is a browser-based tool that converts existing content — blog URLs, Word docs, PDFs, YouTube videos, or podcast audio — into a formatted ebook, complete with a table of contents, chapter breaks, and a cover. You pick a template, the tool pulls in your content and applies the formatting, and you edit from there rather than building a layout from a blank page.

    The core use case for bloggers is turning a cluster of related posts into a single downloadable guide: a content upgrade, a lead magnet for your email list, or a low-priced digital product. It also exports to formats built for Kindle and other ebook stores if you want to go beyond a simple opt-in freebie.

    Say you’ve published fifteen posts over the past year on one specific topic — meal prep, budgeting, freelance pricing, whatever your niche happens to be. Feed those URLs into Designrr and you get a formatted first draft of an ebook in roughly the time it would otherwise take to lay out a single chapter by hand. That draft still needs editing — Designrr assembles and formats your existing words, it doesn’t rewrite them for you — but skipping the manual formatting is where most of the time saving comes from.

    Designrr pricing

    Plan Price Best for
    Standard $29/month Occasional ebooks, one user, 100 templates
    Pro $39/month Frequent creators wanting Kindle/ePub export and a flipbook option
    Premium $49/month Repurposing podcasts or video (includes transcription hours)
    Business $99/month Higher-volume creators needing more transcription hours
    Agency Premium $249/month Agencies managing ebooks for multiple clients

    There’s no permanently free plan, and every tier is a monthly subscription rather than a one-time purchase — worth factoring in if you only need to make one or two ebooks a year. Plans can be cancelled anytime, so you can subscribe for the month you actually need it and cancel once you’ve exported what you needed.

    What it does well

    The content-import side is genuinely useful: pointing Designrr at a blog URL or a batch of posts and having it pull the text and images in, rather than copy-pasting everything into a design tool by hand, saves real time. The templates look professional out of the box, which matters if design isn’t your strength, and the table-of-contents and chapter-break handling is automatic instead of something you have to build manually.

    The transcription and video-to-ebook features on the higher tiers are a genuine differentiator if you already create podcast or video content — turning an existing episode into a written guide is a repurposing shortcut most competing ebook tools don’t offer.

    Where it falls short (and who shouldn’t buy)

    Because everyone’s starting from the same template library, ebooks made in Designrr can end up looking somewhat similar to each other if you don’t spend time customizing fonts, colors, and layout details. If brand-perfect, fully custom design is non-negotiable for you, you’ll still want a proper design tool for the final polish.

    The transcription hours are limited on the lower tiers, and if you’re repurposing a lot of long-form video or podcast content regularly, you’ll want to budget for Premium or Business rather than Standard. It’s also a recurring cost with no lifetime plan, which makes it a harder sell if ebook creation is a rare, occasional task for your business rather than an ongoing part of your content strategy. And if your source content is thin or unedited, Designrr will format it beautifully, but a nicely formatted ebook built on weak content still reads as a weak ebook — the tool speeds up production, it doesn’t fix the writing underneath it.

    Who it’s for

    Designrr makes the most sense for bloggers and content creators who already have a backlog of posts, or existing podcast and video content, and want to repurpose it into lead magnets or low-priced products without hiring a designer. If ebook creation is a one-off task, a single month’s subscription covers it. If you’re building a system where new content upgrades come out regularly, the time saved on every single ebook adds up fast.

    FAQ

    Can Designrr turn a blog post directly into an ebook?

    Yes. You can import directly from a blog URL, and Designrr pulls in the text and images to build out chapters automatically, which you can then edit and reformat inside the editor.

    Does Designrr have a free plan?

    No, there’s no permanently free tier — pricing starts at $29/month for the Standard plan. Since plans can be cancelled anytime, you can subscribe for a single month if you only need to produce one or two ebooks.

    Can I sell ebooks made in Designrr, or only use them as lead magnets?

    Both. Designrr exports to formats suitable for Kindle and other ebook retailers as well as standard PDF, so the same ebook can double as a free opt-in and, later, a paid product with light reformatting.

    Do I need design experience to use Designrr?

    No. It’s built specifically for people without design skills — you choose a template and the tool handles layout, chapter breaks, and formatting. You can go deeper and customize fonts and colors if you want, but it isn’t required.

    Is Designrr worth it for a small blog?

    If you have even a handful of posts on one topic, turning them into a downloadable guide is one of the faster ways to grow an email list. For a small blog making its first lead magnet, a single month on the Standard plan is enough to find out if it’s worth keeping.

    If you’ve got blog posts sitting around that could be a lead magnet or a small product instead, that’s the fastest way to put them to work. Try Designrr for a month and turn your best posts into an ebook — and if you’re still building out the content to repurpose, my ultimate guide to blogging covers what to write first.

  • Business, Business, blogging & Money

    How to Create an Ebook With AI (And Actually Sell It)

    This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

    An ebook is still the easiest first digital product you can make. You don’t need a course platform, a videographer, or a launch team. You need something useful to say and a way to package it so people will happily pay for it.

    That second part is where most people stall. Writing 40 pages from scratch feels enormous, and formatting a book in a word processor is its own special misery. This is the gap AI tools have closed. In this tutorial I’ll walk you through the workflow I recommend: build the ebook with Designrr, a tool made specifically for turning existing content into books, then sell it through Payhip.

    One honest note before we start: AI can draft, structure, and format for you, but it cannot make the book worth buying. That part stays your job, and I’ll point out exactly where your input matters most.

    What you’ll need

    • Source material: old blog posts, a podcast transcript, workshop notes, or at minimum a clear outline
    • A Designrr account — plans start at $29/month, and the Standard plan covers a text-based ebook
    • A Payhip account to handle checkout, delivery, and VAT
    • Two to four focused hours, spread over a few days if that suits you better

    How to create an ebook with AI, step by step

    Step 1: Decide what the ebook is actually for

    Before you touch any tool, choose: is this a free lead magnet or a paid product? A lead magnet should solve one small, specific problem in 10 to 20 pages. A paid ebook needs to go deeper and deliver a complete result someone would pay for. This one decision changes the length, the depth, the cover, and the price, so don’t skip it.

    Step 2: Gather the content you already have

    The fastest ebooks are assembled, not written. If you’ve been blogging for a year or two, you probably have a book’s worth of material sitting on one theme already — you just haven’t seen it as a book yet. Pull together the five to ten posts that fit your topic. If you’re newer and don’t have an archive, that’s fine too; you’ll simply lean harder on the AI drafting in the next step. And if you’re still building that archive, my ultimate guide to blogging is the place to start.

    Step 3: Import or draft inside Designrr

    Designrr’s core trick is importing. You paste in the URLs of your blog posts, or upload Word and Google Docs files, and it pulls the content into a book project with the formatting handled. For gaps in the manuscript, its built-in AI writer (Wordgenie) can generate an outline and chapter drafts from a topic prompt. My advice: let Designrr assemble the skeleton from your existing content first, then use the AI only to fill holes — an intro here, a missing chapter there. Books built this way sound like you, because most of the raw material is you.

    Step 4: Edit like an editor, not a typist

    Here’s the part nobody selling you an AI dream mentions: raw AI drafts are competent and completely forgettable. Your job in this step is to add the things AI can’t — your stories, your examples, your opinions, the mistakes you made so your reader doesn’t have to. Cut the filler sentences that state the obvious. Check every fact and number the AI produced, because it will occasionally invent them with total confidence. This step takes longer than generating the draft did. That’s normal, and it’s what separates an ebook people finish from one they refund.

    Step 5: Design the cover and layout

    Designrr ships with template libraries and cover designs, so pick one close to your vibe and adjust colors and fonts to match your brand. Resist the urge to overdesign. A clean, readable layout with consistent headings beats a decorated one every time. The cover matters more than the interior — it’s what shows on your sales page — so spend your fussing budget there.

    Step 6: Export the right format

    For selling on your own site, export a PDF — it’s what buyers expect and it looks the same on every device. If you also want e-reader formats, the Pro plan and up adds Kindle and ePub-style exports plus flipbooks, but honestly, for a first product a well-made PDF is plenty. Don’t let format perfectionism delay your launch.

    Step 7: Set up your Payhip product page

    Now the selling part. I like Payhip for a first ebook because it’s genuinely simple: upload the PDF, write your sales copy, set a price, and it handles checkout, instant delivery, and EU VAT for you. You can start on their free plan, which takes a percentage of each sale instead of a monthly fee — check current pricing on their site. Write the product description around the result your reader gets, not the number of pages.

    Step 8: Launch it to your list, even a tiny one

    An ebook without a launch just sits there. Send it to your email list in a short series: one email announcing it, one answering objections, one last-call. Twenty warm subscribers beat a thousand cold Instagram followers for a launch like this. If your list barely exists yet, this product is the perfect excuse to fix that — my ultimate guide to email marketing walks you through the setup.

    Pro tips and common mistakes

    • Don’t publish the first draft. The single biggest mistake. AI-generated books that skipped human editing are flooding every marketplace, and readers can smell them. Yours has to be better to sell.
    • Read it out loud once. Awkward AI phrasing hides from your eyes but not your ears.
    • Price on outcome, not page count. A 30-page ebook that solves a painful problem can cost more than a padded 120-page one.
    • Add affiliate links inside the ebook for tools you genuinely recommend, with a disclosure. It turns a one-time sale into ongoing income. I learned this properly from Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, the $197 course by Michelle Schroeder-Gardner (who built a $50k+/month affiliate income) — it’s the course I took myself.
    • Make a mini version as a lead magnet. Chop out one chapter, give it away for email signups, and let it sell the full book for you.

    FAQ

    Can you really create an ebook with AI?

    Yes — AI handles the heavy lifting of drafting, structuring, and formatting. Tools like Designrr assemble a book from your blog posts or generate chapters from prompts. What AI can’t do is supply your experience and stories, which is exactly what makes an ebook worth paying for. Plan to spend real time editing.

    Is it allowed to sell AI-generated ebooks?

    On your own site or via Payhip, yes — you set the quality bar. Marketplaces have rules, though: Amazon KDP, for example, requires you to declare AI-generated content when you publish there. Wherever you sell, a heavily edited, genuinely useful book is both safer and more profitable than raw AI output.

    How long does it take to make an ebook with AI?

    If you’re assembling from existing blog posts, a focused weekend is realistic: a few hours for import and drafting, and the bulk of your time on editing and the cover. Starting from scratch with AI drafts, give yourself one to two weeks of part-time work so the editing doesn’t get rushed.

    What should I charge for my ebook?

    Most self-published ebooks in the blogging and business space sell somewhere between roughly $9 and $47, depending on how specific and valuable the outcome is. Lead magnets are free by definition. Start at a price you can say out loud without flinching, and test upward from there.

    Do I need Designrr, or can I use free tools?

    You can absolutely build an ebook in Google Docs or Canva for free — it just takes longer and the formatting fights you. Designrr earns its $29/month when you’re importing lots of existing content, want polished templates, or plan to make more than one ebook. For a single tiny freebie, free tools are fine.

    That’s the whole system: pick a real problem, assemble what you know, let AI do the grunt work, and put your name on something you’re proud of. Head over to Designrr and turn the content you already have into an ebook you can actually sell — the sooner it exists, the sooner it can earn.

  • Blogging, Business, blogging & Money

    How Bloggers Actually Make Money in 2026 (7 Real Models)

    This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

    Ask ten people how bloggers make money and you’ll hear the same vague answer: “ads, I think?” The reality is more interesting and a lot more doable. Most blogs that pay their owner combine two or three income models, and almost none of them rely on ads alone.

    In this guide I’ll break down the seven models that actually generate blog income in 2026 — what each one requires, how long it takes, and who it fits. No inflated screenshots, no “quit your job in 90 days” energy. If you want the deepest dive into the model I’d start with, that’s affiliate marketing, and Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing is the course that taught me the fundamentals.

    Let’s go through the seven, roughly in order of how accessible they are for a normal blog.

    The 7 real blog income models

    1. Affiliate marketing

    You recommend products you use, link to them with special tracking links, and earn a commission when readers buy. It’s the most accessible model because it needs no product, no inventory, and no big audience — just content that helps people decide.

    What it takes: honest reviews, tutorials, and comparisons around products your readers already want, plus proper disclosure. Timeline: your first commissions can arrive within months, meaningful income usually takes a year of consistent publishing.

    This is where I’d point every beginner first. Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing ($197, with a 30-day guarantee) is the course Michelle Schroeder-Gardner built from the strategy she used to earn over $50,000 a month with affiliate marketing — and the one I took myself. If you’re not ready to spend anything, my free affiliate marketing tips ebook for bloggers covers the starting points.

    2. Display advertising

    Ad networks place banners on your site and pay you per thousand pageviews. It’s genuinely passive — and that’s exactly why it pays the least per reader.

    The honest math: ads only become interesting with serious traffic, and the premium networks have minimum-traffic requirements a new blog won’t meet. Treat ads as a later-stage layer, not a starting strategy. A blog with modest traffic earns coffee money from ads while the same traffic could earn real money from models 1, 3, or 5.

    3. Digital products

    Ebooks, templates, printables, presets, spreadsheets — products you create once and sell repeatedly. Margins are excellent and nobody can change an algorithm on your product shelf.

    What it takes: knowing your readers well enough to build something they’ll pay for, plus a simple storefront. Timeline: you can launch a first small product within a couple of months of starting; selling it consistently requires an email list, which is why list-building comes first.

    4. Online courses and workshops

    The premium version of digital products: you package a transformation instead of a file. Courses carry higher prices and higher expectations — students want outcomes, support, and structure.

    This model works best once your blog has proven which topics people trust you on. Building a course before you have an audience that asks for one is the classic order-of-operations mistake.

    5. Services and freelancing

    Writing, design, virtual assistance, coaching, consulting — your blog becomes the portfolio that brings clients in. This is by far the fastest path to actual money: one client can out-earn a year of early ad revenue.

    The trade-off is equally clear: you’re selling hours, so it doesn’t scale, and client work competes with your blog for time. Many full-time bloggers start here, then gradually swap client hours for product and affiliate income.

    6. Sponsored content and brand partnerships

    Brands pay you to feature or review their product in a post, newsletter, or social share. Rates depend on your niche and audience trust more than raw size — small, engaged blogs land deals too.

    Do it right: only work with products you’d genuinely use, label sponsored posts clearly, and mark paid links as sponsored so search engines understand the relationship. Say no often; every mismatched sponsorship spends trust you can’t buy back.

    7. Newsletters and memberships

    Recurring income from your most loyal readers: a paid newsletter tier, a membership community, or exclusive content. Predictable revenue is wonderful; the treadmill is real, because paying subscribers expect a steady drumbeat of value.

    This model rewards blogs with a strong voice and a defined niche. It’s the hardest to start from zero and one of the best to add once trust exists.

    How the models stack (this is the actual secret)

    The blogs that pay real money rarely run one model. A typical mature stack looks like: affiliate income from evergreen tutorials, a couple of digital products, one service offer, and ads layered on top once traffic justifies it.

    Each layer feeds the next — the tutorial that earns affiliate commissions also builds the list that launches the product. That compounding is what the “how do bloggers make money” question usually misses: it’s not one paycheck, it’s several small engines running on the same content. Affiliate marketing sits at the center of most stacks because it monetizes from your very first readers — the exact system is what Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing walks you through, from finding programs to placing links without sounding like a billboard.

    And no model works without the boring foundation: a self-hosted blog you own. If you’re pre-launch, I recommend SiteGround for hosting — simple setup, reliable support, and you can start on their smallest plan.

    The honest timeline (read this before you start)

    Blogging income is back-loaded. The first months pay almost nothing; year two is where the compounding shows. Anyone promising faster is selling the dream, not the work.

    You also don’t need a huge audience — you need the right one. I’ve written about making money blogging with a small following, and it’s genuinely possible: a thousand readers who trust you beat fifty thousand who scrolled past.

    Who shouldn’t count on blog income? Anyone who needs money this quarter (freelancing or other money-making ideas are faster), and anyone who plans to publish AI-generated volume without personal experience — that window has closed.

    FAQ

    How do bloggers make money in 2026?

    Mostly through a combination of affiliate marketing, digital products, services, sponsored content, and — at higher traffic levels — display ads. Successful blogs typically stack two or three of these models rather than relying on one.

    How long does it take to make money blogging?

    First affiliate commissions often land within 3-6 months of consistent publishing; replacing a part-time income usually takes one to two years. The timeline shortens if you add services and lengthens if you rely on ads alone.

    How much traffic do you need to make money from a blog?

    Less than you think for affiliate marketing and products — engaged readers matter more than raw pageviews. Display advertising is the exception: it only pays meaningfully at high traffic volumes.

    What is the best monetization method for a new blog?

    Affiliate marketing, because it works from your first readers and teaches you what your audience actually buys. Add a small digital product once your email list starts growing, and consider services if you want income sooner.

    Is blogging still profitable in 2026?

    Yes, for blogs built on real experience and trust. AI answers absorbed the generic-information traffic, but readers still follow human recommendations before spending money — which is precisely where blog income comes from.

    So: bloggers make money by helping specific people decide, buy, and learn — through affiliate links, products, services, and partnerships stacked over time. If you start with one model this year, make it affiliate marketing: head over to Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing and build the skill that keeps paying on every post you’ll ever write. For the step-by-step beginner route, my guide on how to make money blogging for beginners picks up right where this one ends.

  • Business, Business, blogging & Money

    How to Sell Templates Online (Canva, Notion & More)

    This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

    Templates are one of the most sensible digital products you can sell. You design something once — a media kit, a Notion planner, a budget spreadsheet — and sell the same file hundreds of times, with no inventory, no shipping, and no client deadlines attached.

    But “make it once, sell it forever” only works if you pick the right kind of template, sell it in the right place, and actually market it. In this guide I’ll cover what sells, where to sell it (marketplaces versus your own shop), and how to set up a storefront in an afternoon with Payhip — the platform I recommend for starting out, because the free plan gives you a full shop with no monthly cost.

    What template sellers actually sell

    The template market is bigger than most people think, and it’s not just designers earning here. The most popular categories:

    • Canva templates — Instagram post packs, Pinterest pins, media kits, ebooks, workbooks, price lists. If you can design a clean layout in Canva, you can productize it.
    • Notion templates — content planners, habit trackers, freelance dashboards, second-brain setups. Huge demand, low design skill required, high logic skill required.
    • Spreadsheets — budget planners, pricing calculators, content calendars for Google Sheets or Excel.
    • Documents — resume templates, contract and proposal templates, pitch decks.

    The pattern: people pay to skip a blank page. The best-selling templates solve one specific, slightly tedious problem for one specific person — “media kit for food bloggers” beats “social media bundle” every time.

    Marketplace or your own shop?

    You have two routes, and they trade discovery against control.

    Marketplaces like Etsy and Creative Market bring built-in search traffic, which is great when nobody knows you exist. The downsides are real, though: listing and transaction fees stack up, you’re competing on page one with thousands of lookalikes, and — the part that stings long-term — the customer relationship belongs to the platform, not to you.

    Your own shop flips that. With Payhip you get your own storefront and checkout, you keep every customer email address, and there are no listing fees. The trade-off is honest too: you bring the traffic yourself, via Pinterest, SEO, or your email list.

    My advice: do both if you can. Use a marketplace for discovery and your own Payhip shop for everything you promote yourself, so your best traffic builds your list instead of Etsy’s.

    Setting up your template shop on Payhip

    This is genuinely a one-afternoon job. Create a free account, add your first product, and connect PayPal or Stripe to get paid. Payhip handles checkout, file delivery, EU VAT, and discount codes — the boring parts you don’t want to build yourself.

    Payhip’s pricing is refreshingly simple, and all features are included on every plan:

    Plan Monthly price Transaction fee
    Free Forever $0 5%
    Plus $29 2%
    Pro $99 0%

    Start on Free Forever. The 5% fee only hurts once you’re doing serious volume, and at that point upgrading to Plus pays for itself — it’s a nice problem to have.

    For delivery: Canva templates are sold as a PDF containing the template share link, Notion templates as a duplicate link, and spreadsheets as the file itself or a copy link. Include a short “how to use this” page — it cuts your support emails in half.

    How to price templates

    Don’t overthink version one. Single templates tend to sit at pocket-money prices, bundles and full systems justify noticeably more — a “90-day content planner with training video” can charge several times what a lone template can. Raise prices as reviews come in.

    Two principles that matter more than the exact number: bundles out-earn singles almost always, and a small free template is the best marketing you have. Give one away in exchange for an email address, then let your email list do the selling.

    Marketing: the part that decides everything

    Templates are visual products, which makes Pinterest the natural traffic channel — pins showing the template in use keep converting for months. A blog helps too: a post like “what goes in a media kit” can sell your media kit template at the end of it.

    And because you own the customer emails with your own shop, every buyer becomes a future buyer. A simple sequence — deliver, check in, recommend the next template — is enough.

    Worth knowing: template shop traffic also monetizes beyond your own products. Once you’re writing content that attracts buyers, affiliate recommendations slot in naturally next to your templates — Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing ($197, the course I took myself) teaches exactly that model. And if you want to expand your product line fast, some sellers build on PLR products as a starting point — with heavy customization, please.

    The honest downsides

    Selling templates is real work, so let me name what the “passive income” crowd skips.

    • Saturation is real. Generic templates (“Instagram templates, pink”) are everywhere. Without a specific niche, you’ll drown.
    • Copying happens. Your bestseller will inspire imitations. Your brand and list are the defense; the files themselves are not.
    • It’s a volume game at low prices. Meaningful income means either lots of sales or higher-priced bundles — usually both, eventually.
    • Licensing rules matter. For Canva templates, read Canva’s content license: build sale templates with your own or free elements, not Pro content. Boring, but it protects your shop.

    Who shouldn’t do this? If you want money this month, selling templates will frustrate you — selling stuff you already own is faster. And if you hate marketing, a template shop without promotion is just a very organized folder.

    FAQ

    How much money can you make selling templates online?

    It ranges from a few sales a month to a full income, and nobody can promise you a number. The sellers who do well niche down hard, build an email list from day one, and treat marketing as the main job — the template is only half the product.

    Do I need Canva Pro to sell Canva templates?

    No, you can design sellable templates with a free Canva account. Just make sure the elements you use are allowed in templates for sale under Canva’s content license — your own uploads and free elements are the safe route.

    Is it legal to sell Canva and Notion templates?

    Yes. Canva explicitly allows selling templates via share links within its content license rules, and Notion templates are simply pages you created and share as duplicates. What you can’t do is resell someone else’s template or Canva’s Pro assets as your own.

    Where is the best place to sell templates online?

    Etsy and Creative Market win on built-in discovery; your own shop on Payhip wins on fees, control, and owning customer emails. Most successful sellers end up combining a marketplace with their own store.

    How are templates delivered to buyers?

    Usually as a link: a Canva template share link inside a PDF, a Notion duplicate link, or a copy link for spreadsheets. Platforms like Payhip deliver the file automatically after checkout.

    Templates won’t make you rich by Friday, but they’re one of the most realistic ways to earn from design or organizational skills you already have. Head over to Payhip and open your free template shop — pick one specific person, solve one tedious problem for them, and put your first product up this week.

  • Blogging, Business, blogging & Money

    Blogging in the Age of AI: Why Blogs Still Win in 2026

    This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

    Every couple of years someone declares blogging dead. Social media was supposed to kill it. Then video. Then podcasts. Now it’s AI, and I’ll be honest: this time the question deserves a real answer instead of an eye roll.

    So, is blogging dead? The 2019 version of it — publishing thin answers to easy questions and collecting Google traffic — yes, that’s gone. But blogging as a business is alive, and in some ways healthier, because the lazy competition is disappearing. In this guide I’ll show you what actually changed, which blogs are dying (deservedly), and how to build one that still earns in 2026. And if earning is the point for you, the course I took myself, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, remains the most practical foundation for turning readers into income.

    Let’s take the question seriously, because the answer decides where you put your energy this year.

    Why everyone thinks blogging is dead

    The worry isn’t irrational. AI Overviews now sit on top of many Google results and answer simple questions before anyone clicks. A growing share of searches end without a single visit to a website. If your blog’s job was answering “how many grams in a cup”, that job no longer exists.

    Social platforms make it worse by keeping people inside their apps. And AI writing tools flooded the internet with generic articles, which made readers more skeptical of everything they open.

    Here’s the honest part: informational traffic has genuinely declined for a lot of sites. Anyone telling you nothing changed is selling something. But traffic was never the business — it was only ever the top of the funnel.

    What AI actually changed (and what it didn’t)

    AI killed commodity content. Definitions, basic explanations, unit conversions, generic listicles — an assistant answers those instantly, and frankly better. Blogs built on that model are done.

    What AI can’t replace is first-hand experience. A model has never migrated a newsletter, returned a disappointing product, or nursed a Pinterest account through an algorithm change. When you write “I tested this and here’s where it annoyed me”, you’re producing the one thing AI can only quote, not create.

    That quoting part matters more than most people realize. AI search tools cite sources, and they favor pages with clear structure, specific claims, and real experience behind them. I’ve written about the production side of this in my roundup of the best AI tools for creators — the people winning right now use AI for speed and keep the judgment human.

    And one thing didn’t change at all: an email list you own is still the most stable asset online. No algorithm sits between you and your subscribers.

    Four reasons blogs still win in 2026

    1. You own the platform

    Instagram reach, TikTok reach, even YouTube reach — you rent all of it. A blog on your own domain, paired with your own list, is the only setup where a policy change can’t erase your business overnight. That’s not nostalgia; it’s risk management.

    2. Blog posts compound; social posts expire

    A good blog post works for years. It gets cited by AI assistants, pinned on Pinterest, linked in newsletters, and found in search long after you hit publish. A social post has a shelf life of a day, maybe two. Old posts keep bringing in readers and affiliate clicks long after the work is done.

    3. Affiliate income needs the right readers, not massive traffic

    A few thousand engaged readers who trust your recommendations can out-earn a hundred thousand drive-by visitors. That’s the model Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing teaches — Michelle Schroeder-Gardner built it from the strategies she used to earn over $50,000 a month with affiliate marketing, and it’s the course I started with when I got serious about monetizing. It focuses on trust-based recommendations, which is exactly the kind of blogging AI hasn’t touched.

    4. AI lowered the cost of everything except trust

    Drafting, outlines, research summaries — cheaper and faster than ever, for everyone. Since we all have the same tools, the scarce resource is a recognizable voice and a track record of honest recommendations. Small personal blogs are structurally better at this than content factories.

    The blogs that actually are dying (and should)

    Let me be blunt about who loses, because this is the part most “blogging isn’t dead” posts skip.

    • Pure SEO content farms. Sites chasing keyword volume with zero perspective are being replaced by AI answers, and nobody misses them.
    • AI-generated volume sites. Publishing hundreds of unedited AI articles a month worked for about five minutes. Spam updates and reader distrust ended it.
    • Blogs with no list and no niche. If all your traffic comes from one algorithm and your topics are everything-for-everyone, you’re one update away from zero.

    And blogging is the wrong choice for some people, full stop. If you need income in the next three months, get a client or a job instead — a blog usually takes a year of consistent publishing before it pays meaningfully. If you’re not willing to actually use the products you recommend, your posts will read exactly like the AI slop you’re competing against.

    How to build a blog that wins in the AI era

    Pick topics where experience beats aggregation. Reviews of tools you use, comparisons you’ve actually run, processes you’ve personally been through. If an AI could write it without living it, skip it.

    Structure for citations, not just rankings. Clear headings, a direct answer under each one, an FAQ on every post. AI assistants lift and credit well-structured answers. I’ve collected the questions I get most in my blogging FAQ if you want the checklist version.

    Build your email list from day one. Every post should give readers a reason to subscribe. The list is the one part of your audience no AI overview can intercept.

    Keep the tech boring. At the start you need fast, reliable hosting and little else. I point new bloggers to SiteGround because setup is simple and support actually responds — check current pricing on their site, since intro deals change often.

    Monetize deliberately. Affiliate recommendations first (low lift, works with a small audience), your own products later. For the full playbook, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing covers finding programs, placing links without being pushy, and the disclosure rules. Want to start free? My ebook with affiliate marketing tips for bloggers covers the basics.

    What this looks like in practice

    Three examples of posts that still win, so this doesn’t stay abstract.

    A comparison of two email platforms you’ve genuinely used, with a table, honest downsides, and a recommendation per situation — AI assistants cite these constantly. A tutorial documenting a migration step by step, including the error messages you hit. A yearly “what I actually use” stack post that you update and re-share.

    None of these are fast to produce. That’s the moat. And if you’re starting from scratch, my ultimate guide to blogging walks through the whole setup in order.

    FAQ

    Is blogging dead in 2026?

    No, but generic blogging is. Blogs that answered easy questions lost that traffic to AI answers. Blogs built on experience, reviews, and trust still earn — often more than before, because weaker competition has left the field.

    Can you still make money blogging in 2026?

    Yes, mainly through affiliate marketing, your own products, and sponsorships. The model rewards engaged niche audiences over raw pageviews, which means small blogs can genuinely compete.

    Does AI-generated content rank on Google?

    Sometimes, briefly. Unedited AI content tends to get filtered out by spam updates and rarely earns citations or links. Using AI for drafting is fine; publishing it without human experience layered in is a losing strategy.

    Do people still read blogs?

    Yes — the behavior shifted rather than disappeared. Readers now arrive via AI citations, newsletters, Pinterest, and search, and they still seek out human reviews before spending money on anything meaningful.

    Should I start a blog in 2026 or is it too late?

    It’s too late for a content farm and early for a trust-based blog. If you can publish consistently for a year about topics you have real experience with, the economics still work.

    Blogging in the age of AI comes down to one question: are you publishing something a model could have written without you? If the answer is no, you win. And when you’re ready to turn that into income, head over to Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing — at $197 with a 30-day money-back guarantee, it’s the most direct path I know from “blog” to “business”, and the exact course I started with.

  • Business, Business, blogging & Money

    20 Digital Product Ideas You Can Create in a Weekend

    This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

    The hardest part of selling digital products isn’t the selling — it’s overthinking the product for six months. So here’s the constraint that fixes it: pick something you can genuinely create in one weekend, put it up for sale on Monday, and improve it once real buyers react.

    Every idea below fits that constraint. For the “put it up for sale” part I recommend Payhip, because the free plan has no monthly fee — you pay a 5% fee per sale and nothing before that, which is exactly the risk profile you want for a weekend experiment. Let’s get into the ideas.

    1. Printable planner pages

    Daily planners, habit trackers, meal planners, budget sheets. Design a cohesive 10-20 page pack as PDFs, and be specific: a “content planner for food bloggers” outsells a generic planner. Printables are the classic first digital product for a reason — no delivery logistics, no updates, evergreen demand.

    2. Spreadsheet templates

    A budget tracker, a freelance income dashboard, an affiliate link tracker, a content calendar in Google Sheets. If you’ve built a spreadsheet that solves your own problem, clean it up, lock the formulas, add an instructions tab, and sell it. Spreadsheet buyers pay for the formulas they don’t want to build.

    3. A short, specific ebook

    Not a 200-page book — a 25-40 page guide that solves one problem: “how to pitch brands as a nano-influencer” beats “social media marketing”. If you blog, you’ve already written half of it; compile, restructure, and edit over a weekend.

    4. Canva templates

    Instagram post packs, Pinterest pin templates, ebook layouts, media kits. Build them in Canva and deliver them as template share links in a PDF. Designers dislike this advice, but non-designers happily pay for a starting point that already looks good.

    5. Lightroom presets

    If your photos have a recognizable look, package it. Export 5-10 presets, show honest before/after examples, and niche down: presets for food photography, moody travel shots, or bright product photos all have their own buyers.

    6. Phone and desktop wallpapers

    Small price, easy volume. Seasonal quote wallpapers, minimalist calendars, illustrated packs. These work best as an entry product that introduces people to your bigger items rather than as your main earner — be realistic about the price point.

    7. Checklists and cheat sheets

    A one-page SEO checklist, a podcast launch checklist, a travel packing list by climate. Cheap to make, genuinely useful, and excellent low-priced products that turn browsers into first-time buyers who trust you with bigger purchases later.

    8. Email swipe files

    Welcome sequences, sales emails, pitch templates for freelancers. Writers who’ve sent hundreds of emails forget how paralyzing a blank draft is for everyone else. Package 10-20 fill-in-the-blank emails around one goal.

    9. Digital stickers and GoodNotes elements

    The digital planning community on iPads buys stickers, washi strips, and planner decorations constantly. If you can illustrate — even simply — a themed sticker book is a fast weekend build with a devoted audience.

    10. A recipe collection or meal plan

    Seven dinners with a combined grocery list, a batch-cooking plan, 15 high-protein breakfasts. Food content converts because the buyer saves time every single week. Photograph as you cook one weekend and write it up the next day. Selling food PDFs works well on Payhip since every plan supports digital downloads with unlimited products.

    11. A workbook or guided journal

    Prompts plus structure: a goal-setting workbook, a burnout recovery journal, a brand clarity workbook. The value is the sequence of questions, not fancy design. Pair it well with an ebook you already sell.

    12. A mini video course

    One outcome, 60-90 minutes of lessons, recorded over a weekend with screen recording and a decent mic. Think “set up your first Pinterest ad” rather than “master marketing”. Short courses often outsell long ones because people finish them.

    13. A recorded workshop

    Even faster than a course: teach one live 90-minute session, record it, sell the replay with the slides and worksheet. The live version funds the product, and the deadline forces you to actually make it.

    14. Audio: meditations or affirmations

    Guided meditations, sleep audio, affirmation tracks for specific situations (before a job interview, after a diagnosis, morning routines). Record with a quiet room and a good mic; sell packs of 5-10 tracks.

    15. A stock photo bundle

    Bloggers and small brands need styled photos: flatlays, desk scenes, seasonal imagery. If you already shoot for your own content, batch one themed shoot and sell 30-50 images as a bundle, with a clear license note.

    16. Resume and CV templates

    Job seekers buy polished, ATS-friendly templates in Word and Google Docs formats. Add a short “how to customize this” page. Evergreen demand, and niching helps here too: creative fields, academia, career switchers.

    17. Pitch and proposal templates

    Freelancer proposals, brand collaboration pitches, sponsorship one-pagers. Anyone who sells services needs these documents and hates writing them. If you’ve closed real clients with yours, that story is your sales page.

    18. Coloring pages

    Adult coloring books, kids’ activity packs, seasonal sets. If you draw — or design clean line art — a 20-30 page PDF pack is a comfortable weekend project with a buyer base that returns for new themes.

    19. PLR content packs

    Write once, license many: sell blog post packs, email sequences, or social captions that buyers may edit and publish as their own. I’ve explained how this model works in my post on boosting your online sales with PLR, and why it fits busy creators in this piece on embracing PLR. Ironically, PLR is also a shortcut on the buying side: some sellers start by customizing PLR instead of writing from scratch.

    20. A small resource library membership

    Bundle several of the ideas above — templates, checklists, printables — into one vault with a monthly price. This is the natural upgrade once three or four individual products exist. Payhip supports memberships alongside downloads and courses, so you can add this later without switching platforms.

    FAQ

    What are the easiest digital product ideas for beginners?

    Printables, checklists, and spreadsheet templates. They need no filming, no course platform, and no design skills beyond Canva basics. Start there, learn what your audience buys, then graduate to workbooks and mini courses.

    Where should I sell digital products without monthly fees?

    Payhip’s Free Forever plan charges $0/month and a 5% transaction fee, with all features included. When sales grow, Plus is $29/month at 2% and Pro is $99/month with no transaction fee — you upgrade when the math favors it.

    How much should I charge for a weekend-made product?

    Price on the problem solved, not the hours spent. Checklists and wallpapers sit at the low end, templates and workbooks in the middle, courses and bundles higher. Test a price for a month before deciding it’s wrong.

    What if I’d rather not create products at all?

    Then sell other people’s products as an affiliate instead — it’s how I’d start with zero creation time. The course that taught me the model properly is Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing ($197), by Michelle Schroeder-Gardner, who built her $50k+/month affiliate income with exactly what she teaches.

    Do I need an audience before launching a digital product?

    No, but you need access to one: your email list, Pinterest traffic, a niche community, or SEO. A small product is actually a good reason to start building that audience — it gives every post and pin somewhere to point.

    Pick one idea, block out Saturday and Sunday, and ship the imperfect first version — that’s the entire strategy. Head over to Payhip to set up your free store so that by Monday morning, your weekend project has a buy button.

  • Blogging, Business, blogging & Money

    How to Move Your Blog to a New Host (Zero Downtime)

    This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

    Moving your blog to a new host feels like open-heart surgery on your business. Your traffic, your rankings, your email signups — all of it depends on a site that stays up while everything underneath it changes.

    Here’s the reassuring truth: done in the right order, a WordPress migration involves zero downtime. Your readers never notice. In this tutorial I’ll walk you through that exact order, using SiteGround as the destination host, because it’s the host I recommend and their free migration tooling removes the scariest steps. The same sequence works for any decent host, though — the order is the trick, not the brand.

    What you need

    • Access to your current hosting account and your domain registrar (where you manage DNS)
    • A new hosting account — on SiteGround, the StartUp plan ($2.99/month promotional, renewing at $17.99) handles most single blogs; GrowBig ($4.99/month promo) adds staging and room for multiple sites
    • A full backup of your site (we’ll make one in step 2 regardless)
    • A quiet two-hour window, ideally on your lowest-traffic day

    One honest note on pricing: like most hosts, SiteGround’s headline prices are first-term promotions and renewals are noticeably higher. Factor the renewal price into your decision, not just the promo. Both plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so a migration you regret is reversible.

    The migration, step by step

    Step 1: Set up the new hosting account (don’t touch the old one)

    Sign up with your new host but do not cancel your current one yet — that mistake causes most horror stories. When you check out at SiteGround, use your existing domain but skip any domain transfer for now. Hosting and domain are separate things; moving your files does not require moving your domain registration.

    Step 2: Take a full backup at your old host

    Before anything moves, back up both halves of your site: the files (themes, plugins, uploads) and the database (posts, comments, settings). Use your old host’s backup tool, or a plugin like UpdraftPlus, and download a copy to your own computer. You’ll probably never need it. Make it anyway.

    Step 3: Lower your DNS TTL a day ahead

    This is the zero-downtime secret nobody mentions. Your DNS records have a TTL (time to live) — how long the internet caches the answer to “where does this site live?”. If it’s set to 24 hours, some visitors will keep hitting your old server a full day after you switch. Log in at your registrar 24-48 hours before migration day and drop the TTL on your A record to 300 seconds. Now the actual switchover propagates in minutes.

    Step 4: Move the site with the migrator plugin

    For WordPress, SiteGround gives you two free routes: the SiteGround Migrator plugin, or a professional transfer — your first migration is handled free by their team. The plugin route is simple: generate a migration token in your new SiteGround dashboard, install the Migrator plugin on your old site, paste the token, and let it copy everything across. Your live site keeps running untouched the whole time, because everything is being copied, not moved.

    Step 5: Preview the copied site before switching anything

    Never point your domain at an untested server. Use the temporary preview URL your new host provides (or edit your computer’s hosts file to force just your machine to the new server) and click through the copied site properly: homepage, a few posts, images, menus, the admin area, your contact form. If the preview misbehaves, fix it now — I’ve covered the most common culprit in my guide on what to do when a SiteGround staging site fails to load, and the same fixes apply to migration previews.

    Step 6: Freeze content, then update your DNS

    Pick your quiet moment. Pause scheduled posts and hold off on approving comments for a few hours, so nothing new lands on the old server after the copy. Then update the DNS at your registrar: either switch your nameservers to the new host’s, or update the A record to the new server’s IP. Thanks to step 3, the change takes effect within minutes for almost everyone.

    Step 7: Reissue SSL and check the locks

    On the new host, issue a fresh SSL certificate for your domain (on SiteGround this is a free Let’s Encrypt certificate, a one-click job). Then load your site and confirm the padlock shows, and that both the www and non-www versions redirect to your preferred one. A migration that breaks HTTPS technically counts as downtime — don’t skip this.

    Step 8: Verify everything, then wait before canceling

    Test the things that make you money and the things that break silently: forms, checkout if you sell anything, your newsletter opt-ins, permalinks on a handful of old posts. Crucially, check your email. If your email runs through your old host, you need your MX records recreated correctly, or your messages will vanish into the void. Keep the old hosting account alive for another five to seven days as a safety net, then cancel it.

    Pro tips and common mistakes

    • Migrating and redesigning at the same time. Change one variable at a time. Move first, redesign later, or you’ll never know what broke what.
    • Forgetting email. The number one migration casualty is MX records. Screenshot your old DNS records before touching anything.
    • Canceling the old host same-day. DNS stragglers and forgotten files make this expensive. A week of overlap costs a few dollars and saves your sanity.
    • Ignoring hardcoded URLs. If your old site used a temporary URL anywhere, run a search-replace so images don’t quietly point at a dead server.
    • Migrating a mess. Delete inactive plugins and old themes first. Less to copy, less to break.

    And if you’re reading this without an existing blog, you get to skip all of it — my walkthrough on starting a WordPress blog with zero technical knowledge starts you on the right host from day one.

    FAQ

    How long does it take to migrate a WordPress host?

    The copying itself usually takes minutes to a couple of hours depending on site size. The full process — setup, backup, testing, DNS — fits comfortably in an afternoon. The TTL preparation in step 3 is the only part that needs a day of lead time.

    Will migrating my WordPress site hurt my SEO?

    Not if your URLs stay identical, which this method guarantees. Google doesn’t care which server hosts your content. Rankings suffer only when migrations change URL structures or leave the site down for long stretches — both avoidable here.

    Can I really migrate with zero downtime?

    Yes. The method is copy first, test the copy, then repoint DNS with a short TTL. Both servers run the same site simultaneously during the handover, so every visitor reaches a working version regardless of which server answers.

    Is SiteGround’s migration actually free?

    Your first migration is free — either via their WordPress Migrator plugin or handled by their team. I verified this on their site, but hosting terms change, so double-check when you sign up.

    Do I need to transfer my domain to the new host too?

    No, and I’d wait. Your domain can stay at your current registrar indefinitely; you only change where its DNS points. Once the migration has settled for a month, consolidate if you want to — it’s a convenience, not a requirement.

    A host migration is a sequence, not a gamble: copy, test, repoint, verify, and only then cancel. If your current host is the thing holding your blog back, head over to SiteGround to set up your new home — with the first migration free and a 30-day money-back guarantee, the safety nets are already in place.

  • Business, Business, blogging & Money

    Gumroad vs Payhip: Fees Compared (Keep More of Your Money)

    This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you decide to make a purchase via my links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. See my disclosure for more info.

    TL;DR: On fees, Payhip wins at every sales volume I ran the numbers for: its free plan takes 5% per sale against Gumroad’s 10% + $0.50, and paid Payhip plans push your fee to 2% or 0%. Start on Payhip’s free plan here if keeping more per sale is the goal. Gumroad still earns its cut if you want marketplace exposure through Discover and completely hands-off sales tax.

    Gumroad and Payhip solve the same problem: sell a digital product without building a store. Both let you start with no monthly fee, both handle file delivery and checkout, and both take a slice when you sell. The slices are very different sizes, and since fees quietly decide how much of your work you keep, this comparison is mostly math. I’ll show my numbers so you can check them against your own products.

    The fee structures, side by side

      Gumroad Payhip
    Monthly cost $0 $0 (Free), $29 (Plus), $99 (Pro)
    Fee per direct sale 10% + $0.50 5% (Free), 2% (Plus), 0% (Pro)
    Marketplace sales 30% via Gumroad Discover No marketplace
    Payment processing No separate line on their pricing page Stripe/PayPal standard rates on top
    Tax handling Merchant of record since January 2025; handles sales tax worldwide Collects and remits EU and UK VAT on digital sales

    One honest wrinkle before the math: Payhip’s percentages exclude payment processing (in the US, Stripe’s standard card rate is 2.9% + $0.30), while Gumroad’s pricing page lists no separate processing line. To keep the comparison fair, I’ve added full Stripe processing to Payhip’s side in every scenario below. Payhip still comes out cheaper each time.

    The math at three revenue levels

    Assume a $20 product. Here’s what each platform takes per month, with Stripe processing added on top of Payhip’s cut.

    Monthly sales Gumroad (10% + $0.50) Payhip Free (5% + processing) Payhip Plus ($29 + 2% + processing)
    25 sales ($500) $62.50 $47 $61
    100 sales ($2,000) $250 $188 $157
    250 sales ($5,000) $625 $470 $349

    At $5,000 a month, Payhip’s Pro plan ($99, 0% platform fee) beats everything: $99 plus roughly $220 of processing is $319, half of Gumroad’s $625. The gap widens as you grow, because a flat 10% scales with your success and a flat $99 doesn’t.

    The upgrade points are worth memorizing. Payhip Plus starts beating the Free plan just under $1,000 a month in sales, and Pro overtakes Plus around $3,500 a month. Below those lines, stay on the cheaper plan; the beauty of Payhip’s pricing is that every feature is included at every level, so upgrading is purely a fee decision.

    What the fee table doesn’t tell you

    If fees were the whole story, this post would be over. Three things genuinely favor Gumroad.

    Sales tax, handled completely. Since January 2025, Gumroad acts as merchant of record: it collects and remits sales tax worldwide, and legally it is the seller. For creators with buyers in many countries, that removes a real administrative burden. Payhip handles the biggest chunk (EU and UK VAT on digital products) but other jurisdictions remain your homework.

    Discover, the built-in marketplace. Gumroad can send you buyers you didn’t earn through its Discover feed, at a steep 30% fee on those sales. Thirty percent of a sale you’d never have made is a fine deal; just don’t build a business plan on marketplace traffic, because for most sellers it stays a trickle.

    Familiarity. Buyers have seen Gumroad checkouts for years. It’s a small trust advantage, and smaller every year.

    On the other side, Payhip’s structural advantage beyond fees: your money lands directly in your own Stripe or PayPal account at the moment of sale, rather than flowing through a platform payout schedule, and every feature (coupons, your own affiliate program, memberships, courses) is available on the $0 plan.

    Verdict: who should pick what

    • You have an audience (blog, list, socials) and sell direct: Payhip, no contest. The 5% free plan keeps the most money in your pocket at the start, and the paid tiers scale cheaper than 10% + $0.50 ever will.
    • You have zero audience and hope the platform brings buyers: Gumroad’s Discover is the only marketplace option here, but temper expectations and mind the 30%. Building your own audience remains the real fix; my ultimate guide to blogging is where I’d start.
    • You sell globally and dread tax admin: Gumroad’s merchant-of-record setup is genuinely valuable, and for some sellers worth the higher fee.
    • You’re scaling past a few thousand a month: Payhip Pro turns your platform fee into a flat $99, which is where serious margins live.

    Whichever you pick, sell through an email list rather than hoping for passing traffic; my ultimate guide to email marketing covers building the asset that makes any store work.

    FAQ

    What fees does Gumroad charge?

    Gumroad charges 10% + $0.50 per sale made through your own links or profile, with no monthly cost. Sales that come through its Discover marketplace carry a 30% fee instead. Since January 2025, Gumroad is merchant of record and handles sales tax worldwide.

    What fees does Payhip charge?

    Payhip’s Free Forever plan charges 5% per sale with no monthly cost. Plus is $29 a month with a 2% fee, and Pro is $99 a month with 0%. Stripe or PayPal processing fees apply on top of every plan.

    Is Payhip cheaper than Gumroad?

    For direct sales, yes, at every volume I’ve modeled, even after adding full Stripe processing to Payhip’s side. The gap grows with revenue: at $5,000 a month on a $20 product, Payhip Pro costs roughly half of what Gumroad’s 10% + $0.50 works out to.

    Do I pay Stripe or PayPal fees on both platforms?

    On Payhip, yes: the processors charge their standard rates on top of Payhip’s percentage. Gumroad’s pricing page doesn’t list a separate processing fee alongside its 10% + $0.50. The comparison table above adds processing to Payhip’s side, so the totals stay honest.

    Who handles VAT and sales tax?

    Gumroad handles it all as merchant of record. Payhip automatically collects and remits EU and UK VAT on digital products, and leaves other jurisdictions to you. If most of your buyers are in the EU, UK or US, Payhip covers the hard part; a truly global audience tilts this point toward Gumroad.

    Run the numbers on your own product price and volume, but the pattern holds: the platform fee is the biggest lever on your margins, and it’s the one you control today. Open a free Payhip store, keep 95% instead of roughly 87%, and let the difference compound with every sale.