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You might notice a new look in my email today 😁
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I am testing out a new platform and putting on a new logo. But don't worry, everything else stays the same. It's still Naz here 🙋♀️
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As promised in my last email, I wanted to share something I have been thinking about a lot lately: autonomy.
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The Cambridge Dictionary defines it as "the ability to make your own decisions without being controlled by anyone else."
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It sounds simple. But when you actually apply that definition to your work, either your job, freelance work, or any side hustles you're doing, you will start to realise how much (or how little) of it you actually have.
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I have noticed more and more people building side income streams or becoming content creators not just for the money, but because they want control over what they do. And I think that makes so much sense 💯
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Most 9-5 jobs do not give you that level of autonomy or at least not until you reach a senior or managerial position. And even then, it is conditional. Someone is still signing off on your decisions.
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So I thought it would be useful to share the different income streams I have tried, and how much autonomy each one actually gives you.
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1- Building my own courses and coaching programme
When you teach or coach independently like building your own curriculum, setting your own rates, choosing who you work with, you have a high level of control over everything as the content is yours. You own your schedule and you direct the path of your course(s).
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The one exception is, if you are affiliated with an organisation (school/ university/ government-linked agency), then some of that control shifts back to whoever you answer to. But if you are doing it independently, the way I do with my own program (TFCC), the autonomy is high.
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How do you earn: through programme registrations & no of students
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2- Working with copywriting clients (freelance and project basis)
This one surprises people. Freelancing sounds like freedom and in some ways, it is. You get to choose your clients, your rates, your project.
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But here is the behind-the-scene: When you are freelancing, you are working on someone else's project. You answer to their brief, their deadline, their feedback, their approval. The work AND the direction of the project are not yours.
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That doesn't mean that freelancing is bad, it is just the reality of doing client work. The autonomy is moderate because the output is always ultimately in service of someone else's goal.
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How do you earn: through clients who hire you for their projects.
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3- Selling digital templates on Etsy
I started this a few months ago selling Instagram templates on Etsy (partly because I do enjoy graphic design!) and what I can tell you, the level of control is real. You decide what to create, how to price it, how to present it. Nobody approves your work before it goes live.
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The only downside is...when you sell on a platform, you are subject to their fees and policies. Etsy can change its algorithm, its fee structure, its rules. You do not own the platform. So the autonomy over your product is high, but your distribution is still dependent on someone else's ecosystem.
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How do you earn: every time someone purchases a template or any digital products you sell, you earn based on your listed price + minus the platform fees.
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4- Building a niche site or blogging
This is the one I am most excited about right now, which is partly why I am building Naz Writes and another niche site in the travel niche.
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A niche site is basically a website focused on one specific niche. The reason the autonomy is so high is that you own the asset entirely.
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- the content
- audience relationship
- and the direction.
No algorithm deciding whether your content gets seen (well, except the search engine like Google).
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But I can't deny, it takes longer to build. The results are slower. But the compounding effect is real and you have almost absolute control over it.
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There are several ways to earn through building a niche site (also known as "blogging").
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Technically, owning a blog means owning a digital asset on the internet. Think of it like buying property, when you own a house or a piece of land, you own an asset.
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It does not depreciate in value over time. A profitable website works the same way. The difference is that before it becomes profitable, you have to put in the work to build it first.
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Several ways to earn through blogging:
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- Affiliate marketing (you paste a link, and earn commission when somebody buy the product/service)
- Display ads (you get paid based on the number of traffic on your website)
- Selling your own digital products directly (instead of going through a platform like Etsy)
So, here's where I want to pick your brain 😉
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Most of us default to the income streams that feel safest or most familiar — which usually means the ones that give us the least autonomy. Client work, a salary, a platform that controls our reach.
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None of those are wrong (In fact, you still need them to build your safety net).
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BUT, if autonomy matters to you, you have to start being intentional about which income streams you are building toward and what level of control they actually give you.
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I wanna know what you're thinking! 🤗 Feel free to reply to this email and let me know -how much autonomy do you feel you have in your work or side hustles right now?
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