Starting a few years ago, I decided to live my life by a bold principle – I could make money gently and easily.
This may or may not sound bold to you, but to me, it felt like a radical hope.
As someone who was never super motivated by money or a prestigious career, I bounced around a lot of different pathways of what I wanted to “be” when I grew up.
In time, I became pretty certain that the 9-5 life wasn’t for me. Neither was hustle culture.
Still, I believed that with this crazy and wonderful World Wide Web we have, there was a way to make money that doesn’t follow a traditional path.
I decided to adopt my own principle of making money. I didn’t want to be a shark in the cutthroat competition of business. Nor did I want to be a tiger in a dog-eat-dog world.
I wanted to make money gently, fluttering from project to project, doing things that felt creative and fulfilling to me – without being pushy or scammy.
I call this “making money gently.”
If you can relate, you might also want to start making money gently.
How can I make money gently?
Here are my four principles of making money gently:
1. Sell things you genuinely love creating.
I believe the best and simplest way to earn money gently is by selling something online.
When you truly love what you create and sell, you feel a greater sense of satisfaction and joy in your work. You won’t feel that dreaded “grind” feeling.
Thanks to the internet, there are many ways you can monetize things that you love to create.
One of my online businesses is selling low-content books on Amazon. I’ve always been a hoarder of cute notebooks and journals, and when I learned that I could create my own and sell them on Amazon, I discovered I loved to make them.
I started out making random notebooks and journals, but my sales really took off once I created books that I was excited about using myself!
Another way you could “sell” something you genuinely love creating is by starting a blog. Blogging is a fantastic way to create products based on what you love, because you can start a blog on any topic.
If you’re an artist or love making crafts, you can create products that you find joy in creating.
If you sell a service, like consulting or freelance work, make sure you love what you do. If you can, niche down until you’re doing your very favorite kind of work.
Of course, selling something that you love to create doesn’t mean that you will love all aspects of your business. Nor does it mean that you will never have days where you don’t feel like creating.
But if you believe in what you’re selling and can find genuine joy in sharing it with others, you’re on your way to making money gently.
2. Set up systems so that sales can run on autopilot.
There are two main parts to setting up systems to help your sales run on autopilot: advertising and handling orders.
As you grow your gentle business, you’ll want to explore ways to advertise your product, blog, or service. You might do this by growing traffic on Pinterest, paying for Facebook ads, or keeping an email list of potential customers.
Constantly being on social media to post reels and photos is not part of my gentle marketing strategy. It doesn’t have to be part of yours either.
As far as handling orders on autopilot, this is easiest if you sell digital products or print on demand items. With those, you usually don’t have to do anything for a paying customer to get their product.
If you sell physical products that you need to create and ship yourself, your sales might not run completely “passively,” but you can still set up systems to make the process go smoother.
For instance, you could start with creating a schedule and routine for handling orders and shipping. How can you make the most of your time when you’re creating your products? How can you organize your shipping materials so the process is so easy that it practically runs on autopilot?
Setting up systems make take some time upfront, but it will pay off when your streams of income are oh-so-gentle to maintain.
3. Keep your marketing helpful, not spammy.
I personally hate feeling “salesy.” A lot of people who crave making money gently are the same way.
Luckily, you can sell your products or services without feeling pushy or sleazy.
If you have something of value to share, share it. Being honest and knowing who your target audience is will help you find the right people.
When people find that you or your product can provide value, and it’s something that they’re interested in, they’ll buy.
Some people won’t be interested, and that’s fine. If not enough people are interested, you may want to re-evaluate the value of what you’re selling. How can you make it better?
If you approach marketing this way, you won’t need to shove sales down people’s throats. You will simply be sharing a product that provides value that some people will love, and some won’t.
4. Take plenty of time to rest from work.
Making money gently includes taking time to rest and recuperate. It means putting a high priority on your physical and mental health.
You will be the best creator you can be if you regularly take time off so that you can rest, spend time with loved ones, and do things that you love (things that aren’t related to your business).
This will help you live a life of balance and clarity, and it will help you make better decisions related to your business.
So, take some time to rest, practice self-care, and have some fun!
Recommended: 100 Ways to Have Fun as an Adult
How can I apply the principles of making money gently?
These 4 principles act as guidelines for me as I create a life and work structure that I want.
When I need to make decisions about what to focus on in my businesses, I make sure that I’m aligned with these guidelines.
Remember, making money gently is a process. You won’t have all these principles down perfectly from the beginning.
If you’re at the beginning of your passive income journey, start with principle #1 and focus on figuring out what you can create that is of value to others that you love to provide.
Recommended: How to Make Passive Income by Selling Something Online (Ideas + How to Get Started)
At every step of the process, incorporate principle #4, taking plenty of time to rest. Remember that the journey is part of the destination, and learning to incorporate meaningful rest (and play) into your life now will give you a healthy foundation so that you avoid burnout and stress in the future.
Before You Go…
One of my favorite ways to make money gently is by affiliate marketing. It easily fits these gentle principles if I promote something I genuinely love and market it in helpful, not spammy, ways. And, of course, affiliate systems are set up so that you can earn money on autopilot.
If you’re serious about making a big chunk of your income from affiliate marketing, I highly recommend looking into Michelle Schroeder-Gardner’s course, Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, to learn the best ways to do it. This course is where I learned most of what I know about affiliate marketing.
No worries if you’re not ready to sign up for a course. You can still learn from Michelle in this free ebook about Affiliate Marketing Tips for Beginners.
Best of luck!
