How This Creator Made $57K in First Year After Leaving Engineering Career

Today we explore how Joel (@JoelRoac) was able to leave his $73,000 engineering job to pursue content creation full-time. Learn from Joel’s diversified income portfolio and his advice for anyone aspiring to position themselves to do the same

Profile

• Background: Joel began his career in engineering and left the field after early success on Instagram helped him realize his greater joy for content creation and videography than engineering

• Instagram: That Instagram grew to >100k followers in 6 months alongside his day job, so he decided to take a chance on making content creation work

• Content Focus: Joel creates is a skilled cinematic content creator and focuses on spreading a motivational message to the world. Additionally, he demonstrates and teaches videography techniques for both beginner and advanced audiences

Financial Snapshot

• Total Income: $57,200 in 2023

• Top-Performing Months: $22,000 earned in November & December alone. Even if he doesn’t grow in ‘24, he’s on pace to do >$120k

• Goals for 2024: Joel aims to triple his income in 2024

Income Streams Breakdown

1. YouTube Revenue - $53

   • Recently monetized lead by the 1 video driving >100k views, 4.2k subscribers and 5.8k watch hours

   • Unfortunately, this top video faced challenges with copyrighted music and was ineligible for monetization. It continues to drive views and subscribers to the channel with >280k views to date

2. Instagram Earnings - $690

   • $144 from advertisements; $546 from Instagram subscriptions he has since discontinued

   • The best reel earned $17 with 2.1M views

   • Low payouts per view, but Instagram has additional value building an audience for other sponsorships revenues and a marketing funnel towards long-form videos and digital products

3. Sponsorships - $9,603

   • Joel shared sponsored posts and videos for brands aligning with his values, avoiding sponsorships that did not

   • Additionally, Gifted Sponsorships were not included in earnings, but the free product for reviews was valuable perk when he wanted the product

4. Online Course: Videography Business - $18,960

   • Joel’s videography business selling his services commercially to clients that he plans to expand in 2024

5. Online Course: Content Creator Course - $19,073

   • Teaching others to edit videos with the same techniques used in his videos

6. Intrepid Clothing Brand - $4,286

   • Sweatshirts and apparel with inspiring messages, such as “How much did they pay you to give up on your dreams?”

   • High upfront costs led to this being roughly breakeven after costs, but there is profit potential for future launches with learnings

7. Other

   • Videography Digital Products: $4,075 providing videography tools & plugins

   • Amazon Affiliate: $517 recommending products he uses

   • TikTok: $0, unsure why he’s not making anything

Key Advice for Aspiring Creators

1. Save Before You Leap: Joel saved $18k before quitting their job, ensuring 12 months of financial stability based on his spending habits

2. Set Realistic Goals: Initial goal was to make $2,000/month to cover expenses of $1,500/month

3. Stay Consistent: Your efforts are compounding. It will take some time to grow, but building a strong audience and catalog of quality content will accelerate growth over time. His video course for example will take minimal further effort to continue selling and his old content will continue to grow his audience

4. Diversify Income: Experiment with multiple revenue streams—some will work better than others

Parting Thoughts

Joel’s journey shows that with proper planning, consistency, and a willingness to learn, content creation can become a sustainable career. While the path isn’t without challenges, the rewards can be life-changing.

Connect with Joel

How Much I Made in My First Year as a Content Creator
YouTube | Instagram | TikTok

Cheers,
Abe Colwell
Creator in Public