About Me
Welcome to The Flexipreneur
I am Catherine, aka ‘The Flexipreneur’ and this is where I share my tips and tricks for making money online. I have fingers in many pies- but my main income comes from self publishing on Amazon KDP and selling digital downloads on Etsy.
How did I get started?
I have run my own business for a very long time, but when the dreaded Covid struck it was a real struggle. I couldn’t operate because of all the restrictions, and it would have been pretty impossible anyway with three children, a new puppy and homeschooling……. but I was reliant on that income and needed to do something (anything) to earn some money, pay my bills and keep my main business afloat until I could operate again.
I started to explore ways to make money online, doing surveys, mystery shopping, market research and even managed to get a remote job checking automated web results for accuracy. I was astounded how many different ways there were to earn online through apps, websites and the gig economy. Ultimately, while I did make money, I didn’t love it and it was all very time consuming and wouldn’t be sustainable when I returned to my full time role after Covid. So I decided it would be better to spend my time in lockdown creating something that might create a passive income later on.
At the time, our puppy was waking up at 5am and I sat and cuddled her while watching You Tube videos on passive income ideas. I was excited by POD (print on demand) marketplaces like Redbubble, Zazzle, Spreadshirt and Teespring which seemed to be exactly the kind of money making opportunity I was looking for. I already had a Canva account and a little bit of graphic design, marketing and SEO experience from running my business and website and began to hone my skills. I set up my first Redbubble shop in June 2020 and around that time discovered KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) which has become by far my biggest earner.
Self Publishing on Amazon KDP
Looking back, it is funny that I realised pretty quickly that KDP was the right opportunity for me. I love books and had always wanted to write a book. I had attempted to write a novel in the past. I buy books, for myself, for my children and as gifts so it was a market I understood well. My Redbubble shop was doing okay and making sales (still is, even though it is very neglected) but I was mainly creating slogan T Shirts and although I enjoyed making the designs and was brimming with ideas it wasn’t something I would really buy myself.
After a couple of months binge-watching YouTube videos, I started KDP in earnest in September 2020 and within a few months was making over $1000 a month and $5000 a month after a year. Now that I am back to my day job, I juggle KDP self publishing with a couple of etsy shops and earn an (almost) passive income from these and other POD sites.
My KDP earnings over the last 18 months just topped have just topped $64,000 and are now pretty consistent month on month.
Selling digital downloads on Etsy
Somewhere along the way I also started an Etsy shop selling digital downloads, and I now have two Etsy shops which bring in $1500 profit each month between them with lots of room for growth, and have just opened a third Etsy shop to sell my Canva templates for A+ Content on KDP.
I have learnt so much on this journey and I still have so much to learn- the journey is far from over. There are so many money making opportunities online that allow flexible working around other commitments like childcare, work or caring responsibilities that I am convinced there is an opportunity for everyone. I am excited to share my money making experiences, successes and failures and share some of the knowledge I have learnt.
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