DEV Community

Cover image for How Much Money I Made in 2021
Bonnie
Bonnie

Posted on • Edited on

How Much Money I Made in 2021

Financially, 2021 was a pretty good year for me compared to 2020, where I made a total of zero dollars.

Technical writing was my primary income earner where I made $600 from writing three articles in 2 and half months.

Below are all my sources of income in 2021, with tips on how to use the same sources to make money.

Sources of Income

I had a total of six sources of income for the year 2021.

These sources of income were:

  • Technical Writing
  • Affiliate Marketing
  • Freelance Web Development
  • Twitter Marketing Campaign
  • A 9 to 5 job
  • A casual job

I will start with the source of income that made me the least amount of money and end with the one that made me the most amount of money.

1. Affiliate Marketing

I made only $5 with affiliate marketing after making one sale.

This is because I only started doing it in December.

Affiliate marketing is about promoting products and getting a commission every time someone buys a product through your affiliate link.

The best way to get started with affiliate marketing is by buying a product and using it. If it solves your problem, you can start promoting it by joining the productโ€™s affiliate program.

I have been promoting two products(ebooks), and the one that has given me the best results is Twitter Toolkit.

It teaches you everything you need to know about Twitter growth strategies.

Below are the screenshots of before and after getting the ebook.

Image description

Image description

I hope you can see the difference in results.

You can grab the ebook by clicking this link if you want to up your Twitter game.

2. Freelance Web Development

Freelancing as a web developer only made me $10.

I could have made more with freelancing if:

  • I Did more client outreach.
  • I Had shown more of my work.
  • I Knew how to convert potential clients to paying customers.

This year am looking forward to improving my coding skills to help me make more money with freelancing.

You, too, can make money as a freelance web developer by learning:

  • HTML, CSS, and Basics of Javascript.
  • Responsive design.
  • How to host websites.

If you make an effort to improve and market your coding skills, you can make a lot of money freelancing.

3. Twitter Marketing Campaign

Marketing products on Twitter made me $50. It was a 5-tweet-pack, which means I was getting paid $10 per article.

Twitter marketing is about posting paid or sponsored tweets.

You can make money through Twitter Marketing if you have a big audience.

That means building an audience on Twitter can be valuable because it can bring you opportunities that you never knew existed.

4. A 9 to 5 Job

I made $239 from working a 9 to 5 job for almost two months before quitting.

This was between September and October where I took this job after a business I had started with a relative failed terribly.

I needed a source of income that would help me to pay the bills and, at the same time, have money to invest in my goals and skills.

Getting a 9 to 5 job can be very helpful, especially when you donโ€™t have money to invest in your goals.

Then during your free time, you can work on your goals and improve your skills.

Once what you are working on part-time starts making you more money than the 9 to 5 job, then you can decide to quit your job.

5. A Casual Job

I took this job between February and March 2021, where I made $255.

I had tried making money as a freelance web developer, but things were not working out as I wanted.

I needed money to afford internet data so that I could be able to continue improving my coding skills.

So this job was the only way I could start making some money.

If you find yourself in a situation where what you are doing is not working out, you can get any job and then invest what you make in improving your skills.

6. Technical Writing

Technical writing was my biggest income earner for the year 2021.

I made $600 from writing only three articles in two and half months.

Technical writing can be a source of income for you as a developer if you have good writing skills.

If you are interested in becoming a Technical Writer, check out this article.

Also, here is a list of platforms paying technical writers in the range of $200 to $600 per article.

Total

Adding all money I made from the six sources of income brings my earnings for the year 2021 to $1,159.

My Financial Plans For 2022

My financial plan for 2022 is to make $1,000 per month.

I will make this possible by creating multiple sources of income.

Those streams of income will be:

  • Building websites
  • Writing Technical Articles
  • Creating HTML and CSS templates
  • Selling ebooks
  • Affiliate Marketing
  • Sponsored posts

Conclusion

I will be sharing my journey on how to make this possible, and the best way to follow along is by following me at Bonnie on Twitter.

You can also subscribe to my weekly newsletter, where I will help you become the best version of yourself, a better developer, and a better content creator.

Top comments (1)

Collapse
 
qinyanjuidavid profile image
day qinyanjui

Awesome