3 Core Things You MUST HAVE to Make Money Online

Hey Friend!

I am so thrilled to share this post with you. We’re going to be jamming on 3 core things that you must have. Not might have or would be nice to have, or could have. Things you must have in order to make money online. So if you have on your heart to create a for-profit business or even a nonprofit business, it still has to be able to reach the masses and reach the ears and the hearts of the people that God has called and created for you to serve. This post is for your future success. Let’s go.

Testimonial

Hey, Stef, it’s Lindsey Nichol. I just wanted to come on and share my big win. So I launched my Podcast on October 10th. Thanks to this incredible community and CYC and PPU, I am just over the moon because I had so much clarity and confidence that I received from God with zero expectations. I just wanted to impact one woman with my launch. I had 42 women join the team, of which I received 29 reviews and 5-star ratings.

In just 3 weeks after the launch, I passed over 800 downloads and ranked in the top 5% in Health and Fitness globally in a few countries. My heart is just super grateful. I’m overwhelmed with joy and just letting God lead and see where this goes for my business. I feel so much peace around no longer having to be a slave to social. Thanks, Stef!

I’m Over the Moon Excited for You

I love it so much when you finally step into this place of knowing there must be another way to run a business. You’re so going to do this and fully commit to this way that God has led you to. Kudos for jumping into Podcast Pro University, following that launch plan, having that big success, and hiring your first person. I’m cheering for you from the other side of the mic.

Friend, if you too are looking for a way to really grow an audience from behind a microphone instead of from behind your phone 24/7, check out my courses, Clarify Your Calling and Podcast Pro University. And when you’re ready to take your business to the next level and make money, Podcast to Profit is waiting for you.

3 Core Things to Make Money Online

Let’s get into today’s content. We’re going to talk about the 3 things that you MUST HAVE if you want to make money online. I just want you to be really honest with yourself as we walk through these 3 things and know that you will not have 100% clarity all the time. But it’s, “Am I on the path to it? Am I getting closer to it? Am I taking steps and strides in the right direction? If your answer is yes, you’re winning.

This is not, snap your fingers and you have a profitable online business. This is an evolution. It is a journey. I have overnight success that only took me 13 or 14 years. Just be realistic about where you are and what you are consistently looking for.

If the answer is no and you don’t have one of these 3 core things really where you want it to be, how do you take the next right step closer to that goal? Show lots of grace in this process. I don’t expect you to have it all figured out, but I do want you to know ultimately where you are growing and what you are striving towards.

Core Thing Number 1 to Make Money Online: Clarity

The first thing you must have to make money online is clarity on your calling. You have to know what you are called to do in this business. Obviously, I have my course, Clarify Your Calling. If you guys need help on that, it goes through all of these things. In essence, are you super clear on what the business is that God has created for you?

Some of the mistakes I see here often when I am working with my students, or in the past when I met with private clients, was that they were looking for ways to make money. They would build a business around something that they thought would be profitable instead of looking inward and saying:

• What are the things that I have accomplished?
• What are the things that God has walked me through?
• What are the things I’ve been triumphant in?
• What are the clues and the things that I’ve already experienced in my life?

Those are the things I truly believe 99% of the time, foundationally set you up to build a business around. Some of the time, it’s just counterintuitive to what you think would make money.

What Are You Called to Do?

For example, I’ve seen people go out and they say, “Well, I’m going to start a business teaching people how to start a business.” But yet they haven’t even started a successful business themselves. When in reality, what they’ve actually done is restore their broken marriage. They’re missing making any money because they’re completely out of alignment with what they’re actually called to do.

And they’re so hyper-focused on this thing that they think that they should create instead of what God has already proven to them that they are successful in. They can now go and help and shepherd and steward other people.

So are you 100% clear on your calling? If not, you’ve got some work to do in that bucket. Again, I’ve got my Clarify Your Calling course. That course goes through 4 weeks of getting super clear on what you’re called to do. We look at your:

• Spiritual Gifts
• Vocational Gifts
• Trials
• Triumphs
• Experiences

We look through all of those pieces and we find the core common denominator because it’s already there for you. The clues are all there. You just don’t know how to piece them together into this perfect puzzle of what business God has for you. I help you turn that into an actual business plan with a:

• Title
• Tagline
• Content Ideas

So that you can then move that into the next step of building a business that actually makes money. This brings us to Core Thing Number 2.

Core Thing Number 2 to Make Money Online: Long-Form Content

The second core thing you must have to make money online is a long-form content outlet. So what do you guys think that is? If you’re over here in Stef Gass World, it’s a podcast. In today’s day and age, you must have a platform that cultivates trust. That’s it.

So whether you choose to podcast or not, ask yourself:

• Is this long-form content?
• Is this content evergreen?
• Is this content that has no shelf life?
• Does this content cultivate trust?

If you think about social media and posting little clips and stories, it’s not long-form content. It’s not sustainable, it doesn’t have a long shelf life, and it also doesn’t cultivate trust. Because nobody is over there deeply consuming your reels and getting an emotional connection to it. It’s just too short.

They’re in the dopamine loop, which we’ve talked a lot about on the show when they’re on social. So that’s out. Then you look at building a business on LinkedIn. Maybe it has a little bit longer shelf life but is it cultivating trust? No! Because people aren’t actually sitting with you for any length of time and getting a transformation or feeling something or experiencing that transfer of belief.

You Can’t Skimp on Long-Form Content

So that really leaves us with either video, which would maybe be on YouTube. Blogging, which I think is really difficult. It’s getting more and more difficult too as we face AI. Or podcasting, which is audio. For me, podcasting is the easiest of the three.

I’m not at all opposed to video or blogging if that is what aligns for you the best. That’s great, and you can do that. If you want to actually make money online, you do not get to skimp on having long-form content. Unless you have a ton of money to pay to play, use social media to your advantage, or do all the Google clicks and things of that nature, you must have long-form content.

You want to actually build something that is sustainable and that’s going to convert organically for you over and over and over again. You have got to get into the long-form game and get there like yesterday. And you got to fight. You’re going to stay in it and you’re going to stick with it.

90% Start and Then Quit a Podcast

Because what happens is a bunch of people think it sounds cute to start a podcast, but 90% of people quit. You will be successful if you are consistent, dedicated, and disciplined in the long-form game. It is a when not an if. If you’re serious about building an online business organically, I believe this is absolutely nonnegotiable.

I’ve talked to you guys on this podcast about what my show has done for us from a revenue perspective. The podcast makes multiple sales every single day completely organically. We sell all the different products that I offer straight from the show. People that come from the podcast don’t just tend to buy one thing.

They often purchase two offers and 50% of people end up going through all three of my programs. We are absolutely blown away by the level of conversion that happens because someone’s a listener of the show. It’s because:

• I’m super clear on my calling.
• I don’t mince words.
• I am not confused, therefore, you are not confused.
• This podcast is my long-form content outlet,

I have been disciplined and dedicated and dialed into this baby for five years. It’s almost to the day, my 5-year anniversary of this podcast. Five years of dedication. That’s what I’m talking about.

Core Thing Number 3 to Make Money Online: Systems

The last thing that I think you must have in order to make money online is systems. Systems are super critical and systems are also something that I think a lot of business owners aren’t well versed in and definitely they are not natural.

Because if you have a CEO type of personality which is more of a visionary than an integrator, systems may not be something that just comes simply for you. Now some of you I know are very detail-oriented and you are systematic, great! That will give you a little bit of a jump and leg up here. But if you do not have systems, you will consistently get stuck at different levels of success.

I made it pretty quickly and seamlessly to 400k in revenue with basically me and a VA. I think it was because I’m super scrappy, extremely driven, and I’m not afraid of failure. Plus, I really don’t care what people think of me.

Gusto Will Only Get You So Far

I’m going to fail my way forward but that level of effort and gusto will only get you so far. I kind of got stuck and plateaued there for a minute because what I did not have were systems. They would allow me to scale beyond my own time-for-money and the complete hustle and burnout of:

• Managing Inboxes
• Trying to Create Multiple To-Do Lists for Everybody
• Trying to Stay Cohesive and Clear on What We Had Coming Up

To be really honest with you, it was a mess. So I brought in an operations person. We dialed in and figured out how many things were missing and broken. We invested in getting really systemized inside of our business from the ground up. Everything from the way that we utilize the:

• Planner
• Calendar System of the Company
• Email Management Systems
• Operational System of Excellence
• Contracts
• Success Metrics

All of that was a really long evolution but it all began with some really simple organizational systems in my business. And that allowed me to now scale to what it will soon be. We’re very close to a 7-figure-revenue-company per year, which is amazing. I really attribute that to not just clarity on my calling and long-form content but also having really strategic systems.

Bonus Core Thing to Make Money Online: Have a Team

I have a bonus point for you. If you want to make money online, I think it’s imperative for you to have a team. As you guys start growing and scaling and really looking at making some serious profit in your company, do you have the team to support it? If you don’t have the systems and you don’t have the team, you will get stuck. That’s something those of you who make 6-figures or multi-6-figures are really going to have to start getting serious about in the near future.

I’m Here to Help

So those are the 3 core things that you must have to make money online. Again, if this finds you in the beginning stages of your business and you’re really trying to get clear on calling, you haven’t started the podcast yet, or you have the podcast and you want to rebrand it, I’m here to help.

Maybe you’re stuck on systems and working from an Asana checklist instead of an actual operating system. Then I really encourage you to prayerfully consider the following courses, Clarify Your Calling, Podcast Pro University, and Systemize Your Life.

I pray this blesses you!

Xo,

Stef

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