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During my first pregnancy, my thoughts were predominantly focused on work. As the founder of Bridesmaid for Hire since 2014, I had become accustomed to long hours, extensive travel for business, and a lifestyle that intertwined my identity with my career. The prospect of becoming a mother fueled my ambition to maintain that momentum.
I initially planned for six weeks of maternity leave, organizing childcare and scheduling business commitments including managing weddings and speaking engagements right after. However, following the birth of my daughter in early 2023, my priorities shifted. The overwhelming desire to manage my business simultaneously with quality time with my newborn became paramount.
In the early days, I maintained a work schedule of 40 to 50 hours a week while my daughter napped or when my husband was home. However, as she began to require more hands-on parenting, I found it challenging to sustain that workload. Realizing that my approach needed to change, I endeavored to create a system that provided both financial support and the necessary attention for my child. Now, I generate approximately $6,300 monthly through passive income. Here’s how I achieved this.
Monetizing My Website Through Ads
As a business owner, I’m always eager to innovate with new offerings. But recognizing the constraints on my time, I opted to explore monetizing existing resources. A viable strategy was adding Google ads to my website, which attracted roughly 463,000 visitors last year. The income from ads fluctuates based on traffic; however, I typically earn about $391 monthly without expending any time to manage it.
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This advertising approach can sometimes interfere with user experience and distract from my core offerings, prompting me to disable ads during significant product launches to prioritize quality and conversion rates.
Recommending Products to My Audience
I dispatch weekly newsletters to over 100,000 subscribers and maintain a robust social media presence with over 90,000 followers across platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. A significant portion of my content revolves around wedding-related advice, making affiliate marketing an advantageous avenue.
Joining programs like Amazon Associates and RewardStyle allowed me to curate product lists and share these links in my social media profiles and newsletters. This effort requires roughly two hours of my time each week.
If someone purchases a recommended item via my affiliate link, I earn a commission, which varies depending on the platform and product. On average, this activity yields about $129 monthly.
Developing AI Tools to Enhance Services
Writing maid of honor speeches is a popular service I offer, but the extensive time investment—typically five to six hours per speech—was unsustainable, particularly after becoming a mother. There were instances when I had to decline requests due to time constraints, occasionally agreeing to take on clients even after giving birth.
To resolve this, I partnered with a developer to create an AI tool for crafting maid of honor speeches. This tool was programmed using over 200 of my past speeches, enabling me to maintain my style while offering a more accessible price point of $35, down from $397. This innovation has allowed me to reach a wider client base. We have recently expanded the tool’s capabilities to include various wedding speeches and even created a similar tool for eulogies.
This initiative now brings in an average of $5,380 monthly, requiring around five hours a week for marketing, writing SEO blog posts, and creating relevant social media content.
Selling Digital and Physical Products
My journey in generating passive income began with an online course I developed in 2017, inspired by a strong demand for guidance on starting similar wedding-related ventures. It took several weeks of preparation to create videos and assignments.
Since then, I have launched over a dozen courses about varied topics, including public speaking and personal branding, which are promoted through my website, social media, and newsletters. Maintaining and marketing these courses takes me about two to three hours monthly.
Additionally, I offer three books and a newlywed card game. Earlier this year, I also introduced a paid tier for my weekly newsletter, providing subscribers access to exclusive content and bonuses, which requires merely an additional hour per month to manage.
Overall, these digital and physical products generate approximately $380 monthly.
Embracing a Reduced Workload
The multiple streams of passive income have ensured my business remains viable while I dedicate time to my most anticipated projects, such as new product launches and a podcast.
Above all, I have no regrets about scaling back my work hours to cherish moments with my toddler.
Jen Glantz is the founder of Bridesmaid for Hire, author of “Finally the Bride: Finding Love after Walking down Everyone Else’s Aisle,” and the creator of The Pick-Me-Up newsletter. Follow her adventures on Instagram @jenglantz.
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