Found the rhythm—Now comes the money

Since I stopped focusing on selling my art and designs, I’ve been much happier, but my wallet is a lot thinner, and I’m starting to feel the pinch now.

No more screwing around because this needs to become a net positive pursuit, or I’m going to have to start robbing banks.

The new computer is one of my most significant line items on my expense sheet. I’m glad to have it, and it’s working great, but I need to recoup over $2k from my efforts.

Now that I’ve finally established the three legs of my content tripod, it’s time to focus on making those things pay the bills, and that revenue will (hopefully) come from these sources:

• Sponsors/Affiliate Partners

• YouTube Adsense

• Memberships

• Courses

• Digital Goods

On that last one, I finally switched the lights back on at DaveConrey.com. There’s not much there right now, but that will change over time.

For this to work, I must focus on growing the subscriber base of YouTube, The Hungry, and this newsletter (forever now known as The Dave).

I’m doing a lot, perhaps too much, but the path seems clearer than it has been in the past. It’s time to take advantage of that clarity.

The Recap

All the stories you may have missed since the last time we did this.

• 3 weeks of getting my butt handed to me (Work/Life Balance)

• These are my content pillars for 2024 (Strategy)

• Back! (YouTube)

• Cheap software can be your best investment (Story)

Join Dave+ to get access to these:

• I have some goodies for you (download)

• Like a giant sandworm burrowing into my brain (Creative)

The Breakdown

Starting with this update, I’ll break down the Beehiiv numbers and share growth on both ConvertKit and YouTube to accurately represent how things are going.

Also, I won’t include the actual revenue numbers any longer but will summarize the profit and expenses to give a sense of what’s happening.

The Dave

This account has been a slow burn. The plan to have people join Dave+, my paid membership, has gone sluggish, as has my attempts to garner affiliate revenue from the platform. Slow growth is still growth; I’m in this for the long haul, not the short return. Also, my expenses increased because I’m now paying $49 a month for Beehiiv. It’s not paying for itself yet, but I have faith.

As far as growth, I was hoping to receive some referrals within the Beehiiv network, but I’ve seen none. Any increase in subscribers has come from referrals through Threads, YouTube, and The Hungry.

The Hungry

This first quarter was a rough one. After launching my first live course, The Hungry started seeing significant churn. Between December and January, the newsletter lost nearly 5% of subscribers, and only now, in March, am I back up to where I was before the end of 2023.

Revenue was good in January because of the Choose Your Words course but has been slow in February and March. Affiliate partner revenue has also been leaner than in previous quarters, and I’m not sure why. I’ll need to look into this because it has been my main revenue generator.

YouTube

This is new-ish. I’ve had my Dave Conrey channel for a long time, but I took an extended break away from the platform last year and only returned last week. I intend to make it consistent but not regular, which means when I have an impulse to make a video, I will, but I’m not holding myself to a regular schedule.

Although I earn revenue from YouTube, it’s been in decline in recent months. My revenue for the last 90 days was just over $100, but over half of that has come in the previous 28 days, so things are looking up.

That will do it for this one. If you have any thoughts about anything in this one, please share them. I’m eager to know how you feel about The Dave newsletter.

Cheers,

The Dave