Building multiple income streams, using the skills I already have, and creating a life that gives me more freedom.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we make money and how much of our lives we spend working for it.
Not too long ago, I was sitting in my bedroom, getting ready for work, with my laptop open. I had been looking through TikTok when I decided to check on a few online accounts I hadn’t been giving much attention.
My Walmart Creator account. My Amazon storefront. My YouTube channels.
These are all opportunities I already have access to, but I haven’t been using them consistently.
And that got me thinking.
Sometimes we don’t need another job. Sometimes we need to start using the opportunities and skills we already have.
That’s what I want to talk about today.
Not getting rich overnight. Not quitting your job tomorrow. Just finding ways to create additional income without constantly exchanging more of your time for money.
Why I’m Focusing on Multiple Income Streams
I’ve spent a good portion of my adult life working in healthcare, primarily as a surgical technologist and surgical first assistant.
Early in my career, I wasn’t making the kind of money I wanted to make.
So I did what made sense to me at the time. I took the skills I already had and started traveling for work.
As a traveling surgical technologist, I was earning around $1,500 a week. Eventually, I became a surgical first assistant, and some of my travel assignments paid around $3,000 a week.
That was a significant amount of money, especially considering the cost of living in Jacksonville, Florida, at the time.
But there was a trade-off.
I was traveling to places like California and New Mexico, spending months away from home. My son was younger, and although I had family support, I still missed being home.
I missed the everyday things that come with being a mom.
And even though I was making good money, I was still exchanging my time for it.
When I wasn’t working, I wasn’t earning that income.
That’s when I started thinking differently about work.
When a Good-Paying Job Makes You Comfortable
There’s something I’ve noticed about myself over the years.
When I’m making good money at work, I tend to get comfortable.
Not necessarily comfortable with my lifestyle, but comfortable with knowing that a paycheck is coming.
When I was working full-time in surgery, sometimes more than 40 hours a week and taking call, I didn’t always have the energy or motivation to work on my other projects.
I had the skills.
I had the ideas.
I even had some of the platforms already set up.
But I wasn’t consistently doing anything with them.
Why?
Because I didn’t have to.
My job was paying the bills.
The problem was that I was also spending so much time working that I wasn’t creating the lifestyle I actually wanted.
Making more money wasn’t necessarily giving me more freedom.
Eventually, I started experimenting with working travel assignments for part of the year and spending the remaining months at home.
During those months at home, I had to figure out other ways to earn money.
Sometimes that meant doing Instacart. Other times, it meant working through an online customer service platform called Arise.
And sometimes it meant returning to the websites, YouTube channels, and other online projects I’d been building over the years.
I learned something about myself during that time.
When I wasn’t depending on a regular paycheck, I became more motivated to use my other skills.
I’m not suggesting that everyone should reduce their working hours to create financial pressure. That comes with real risks, especially when you have a family and financial responsibilities.
But for me, having time away from traditional employment helped me recognize just how many other opportunities existed.
I’ve Been Learning How to Make Money Online for Years
One thing people might not know about me is that I’ve been creating things online since around 2008.
I started learning about websites, blogging, online advertising, and digital marketing long before I started taking my YouTube channels seriously.
Over the years, I’ve taken online courses, joined digital marketing communities, built websites, and experimented with different ways to generate income.
Most of what I know about building websites and creating online content has come from teaching myself, practicing, and sometimes paying for training.
It didn’t happen overnight.
And I still have plenty to learn.
But now I have skills that allow me to create something from an idea.
I can build a website, create a video, write a blog post, and promote that content across different platforms.
Those skills have become valuable to me because I can use them without needing someone to hire me.
And that’s one of the biggest reasons I continue learning.
I want to be able to create opportunities for myself.
How I Use YouTube, Amazon, and Walmart to Create Income
One of the simplest ways I’ve found to start earning money online is through affiliate marketing.
If you’re unfamiliar with affiliate marketing, it’s basically a way to earn a commission when someone purchases a qualifying product through your referral link.
You don’t have to manufacture the product.
You don’t have to store inventory.
And in many cases, you don’t even have to buy anything new to get started.
You can share products you’re already using.
That’s the part I like.
1. Amazon Associates and Amazon Influencer
I shop on Amazon regularly, so becoming an Amazon affiliate made sense to me.
Amazon has an Associates program and an Influencer program. They’re related, but they offer different ways to share products.
With Amazon Associates, you can create affiliate links to qualifying products and earn commissions on eligible purchases.
The Influencer program also allows approved creators to build storefronts where they can organize and recommend products.
For example, I already have products I’ve purchased for my home, my rental property, and everyday life.
Instead of buying things just to make content, I can create videos around products I already own and use.
If someone finds that content helpful and decides to purchase through my affiliate link, I may earn a commission.
Amazon’s commission rates vary by product category, and there are rules about which purchases qualify.
It’s not guaranteed income.
But it is an opportunity to earn something from content I can continue sharing.
2. Walmart Creator
Another program I’m part of is Walmart Creator.
And this one makes sense for me because I shop at Walmart all the time.
When I opened my account to work on my storefront, I realized how little attention I’d been giving it.
I had already been accepted into the program, but I wasn’t actively creating content or promoting products.
So naturally, I wasn’t earning anything from that account.
That was a reminder that having access to an opportunity and actually using that opportunity are two different things.
Walmart Creator allows eligible creators to share products and potentially earn commissions on qualifying sales.
There may also be campaigns and special promotional opportunities.
For me, the goal isn’t to go out and buy a bunch of things just to make videos.
It’s to document the things I’m already doing.
If I purchase something for my home, my garden, my hair, or my everyday life, I can share my experience with it.
And if there’s an affiliate opportunity available, I can use it.
3. YouTube
YouTube is another income stream I’ve been building.
One of my channels is already monetized through the YouTube Partner Program.
That means I can earn a portion of eligible advertising revenue generated through my content.
But advertising isn’t the only way to make money from YouTube.
You can also use affiliate marketing.
For example, if I make a video about a product I’m using, I can include a qualifying affiliate link in the description.
If someone watches the video, finds it helpful, and makes an eligible purchase through that link, I may receive a commission.
You don’t necessarily need to be earning YouTube advertising revenue to begin affiliate marketing.
You do need to meet the requirements of whichever affiliate program you want to join.
That’s an important distinction because I have multiple YouTube channels, and not all of them are monetized through YouTube itself.
But I can still explore other ways to earn income from the content.
Why I Have Multiple YouTube Channels and Websites
I know having several YouTube channels might seem like a lot.
But there’s a reason I’ve built them this way.
I enjoy documenting the things I do.
I have a channel about my surgical career, another about gardening and homesteading, and another about my experiences with rental properties.
Then there’s Keioffa Unlocked, where I can share more of my everyday life, thoughts, experiences, and personal journey.
Some of those topics are very different from one another.
And because I want the content to reach people who are actually interested in those subjects, I created separate spaces for them.
For example, someone looking for information about becoming a surgical technologist might not be interested in watching me work in my garden.
And someone who wants to learn about renting rooms might not care about surgical instruments.
That’s okay.
I don’t expect everyone to be interested in everything I do.
What I want is for each platform to provide something useful to the people who find it.
My process is pretty simple:
- I do something I’m already interested in or need to do.
- I document the experience through photos or videos.
- I create content that might help someone else.
- I publish that content on a relevant YouTube channel or website.
- I explore appropriate ways to monetize it, such as advertising or affiliate links.
Sometimes that process generates $50 here or $100 there.
Sometimes it doesn’t generate anything.
And sometimes I don’t give a project enough attention for it to grow.
That’s part of what I’m working on changing.
You Don’t Always Need Another Job to Make Extra Money
I think a lot of us automatically start looking for another job when we need additional income.
And sometimes another job really is the best option.
There’s nothing wrong with that.
I’ve worked different jobs and used gig platforms when I needed extra money.
But I also think it’s worth asking yourself a different question.
What can I create with the skills, knowledge, and resources I already have?
Maybe you know how to braid hair.
Maybe you’re good at organizing homes.
Maybe you enjoy cooking, gardening, teaching, or working with technology.
Maybe you already have experience doing something that other people want to learn.
Those skills might be useful in ways you haven’t considered.
For me, my surgical career became one of those opportunities.
I spent years learning and working in surgery. Eventually, I started sharing some of that knowledge online through Surgical Tech Career.
Now that content can reach people even when I’m not physically working in an operating room.
That doesn’t mean every video makes money or that building an online business is easy.
It means the knowledge I gained through my career can continue providing value in another form.
And I like that.
What About Working From Home?
Before I started focusing more on content creation and affiliate marketing, I also spent years working through a platform called Arise.
Arise connects independent service providers with opportunities to provide customer support services for different businesses.
I used it off and on for approximately ten years.
One of the services I provided was roadside assistance.
At the time, it gave me another way to earn income from home.
There were training requirements, and some opportunities involved paying for certification or other costs.
It wasn’t perfect, and I know everyone has different experiences with these platforms.
But for me, it served a purpose during that stage of my life.
I could work from home and earn money without taking another traditional hospital position.
Today, I have more digital skills than I did back then, so I tend to focus on other opportunities.
But I don’t dismiss the value of something just because I’ve moved beyond it.
Sometimes an opportunity is useful for a particular season of your life.
And that’s okay.
You Can Start Creating Content With Your Phone
Another thing I want people to understand is that you don’t necessarily need expensive equipment to start making content.
I record a lot of my videos on my Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.
I also have a tablet, another phone, and a laptop.
But I actually prefer editing videos on my phone or tablet.
It’s convenient, and I’ve gotten comfortable with the process.
Over time, I’ve invested in equipment that makes my work easier, but I didn’t need everything at once.
I also don’t believe in replacing my electronics just because a newer model comes out.
If something still works well for what I need, I’m going to keep using it.
My phone allows me to record, edit, upload, and manage content.
That’s enough to get started.
The important part is learning how to use the tools you have.
The Part Nobody Should Ignore: It Takes Time
I don’t want to make earning money online sound easier than it is.
Yes, there are opportunities.
Yes, you can earn commissions from affiliate marketing.
Yes, you can build websites and YouTube channels.
But none of those things guarantee income.
You have to learn how the platforms work.
You have to create content.
You have to understand who you’re creating it for.
And you have to keep showing up long enough to figure out what works.
I’ve been learning these skills for years, and there are still accounts and projects I haven’t fully developed.
That’s something I’m being more intentional about now.
Instead of constantly looking for something new, I’m trying to do more with what I’ve already started.
I have websites.
I have YouTube channels.
I have affiliate partnerships.
I have experience creating content.
The next step is to become more consistent and figure out which opportunities are worth my time.
Because my goal isn’t to stay busy all day.
My goal is to build something that supports the life I actually want.
I’m Not Trying to Work More. I’m Trying to Live Differently.
At 43, I think about my time differently than I did in my twenties and thirties.
I’ve worked hard.
I’ve traveled for work.
I’ve made good money.
I’ve also spent a lot of time away from home, working long hours and dealing with the demands of a healthcare career.
And while I’m grateful for the skills and opportunities that career has given me, I don’t want the rest of my life to revolve around a work schedule.
I want more time at home.
I want to enjoy my garden.
I want to be present for my family.
I want to work on projects that interest me.
And I want to have the freedom to decide how I spend my days.
That’s what creating multiple income streams means to me.
It’s not necessarily about becoming wealthy.
It’s about creating options.
I don’t want all my financial security tied to one employer, one platform, or one source of income.
I also understand that having multiple income streams doesn’t automatically create freedom. Some of them require a lot of time and effort to maintain.
That’s why I’m learning to be more selective about what I build.
I want income streams that make sense for my lifestyle, not just more things to manage.
My Advice if You’re Thinking About Making Extra Money Online
If you’re interested in creating another source of income, I would start by looking at what you’re already doing.
Think about the products you use, the things you know how to do, and the experiences you could share.
You don’t have to turn every hobby into a business.
And you certainly don’t have to become an influencer.
But if you enjoy sharing information, making videos, writing, or teaching, there may be opportunities worth exploring.
Start small.
Learn one platform.
Understand how it works before adding another.
And don’t spend a lot of money trying to look like you have a business before you’ve figured out what you want that business to do.
For me, creating content has become a natural extension of my life.
I document what I’m doing, share what I’m learning, and look for opportunities to earn income along the way.
Some things work.
Some things don’t.
And some things take longer than I expected.
But I’m learning.
And more importantly, I’m building a life that feels more like my own.
Final Thoughts: More Income Shouldn’t Always Mean More Work
I used to think that if I wanted to make more money, I needed to work more hours.
And for a long time, that worked.
I could take another shift, travel for another assignment, or work more call hours.
But now I’m interested in a different approach.
I want to build on the knowledge and skills I’ve already developed.
I want to create things that can continue reaching people after I’ve finished working on them.
And I want to see what happens when I give those opportunities the same attention I’ve given my traditional career.
I’m not saying I’ve figured everything out.
I’m documenting the process as I go.
And if you’re also trying to create a life where you have more control over your time, maybe some of what I’m learning will help you along the way.
Because sometimes the goal isn’t to make more money so you can do more. Sometimes the goal is to create enough freedom to simply enjoy your life.
I’m sharing more of my journey on Keioffa Unlocked, where I talk about everyday life, building income streams, and figuring out what freedom looks like in this season of my life.
I’d love to hear from you: Are you interested in creating another income stream, or are you trying to find a way to work less and enjoy more of your time? Let me know in the comments.
✨ Creating a Life With More Freedom
I’m sharing my journey of building multiple income streams, working less, and creating a life that feels more like my own. From career changes to everyday experiences, I’m figuring it out one step at a time.
Follow my journey at Keioffa.com — and maybe you’ll find a little inspiration for creating the life you want, too.
