If you think making six figures a month from art sounds too good to be true, I get it.

But I’m going to show you exactly how I made $151,414 last month from five different revenue streams.

I’ll break down where every dollar came from, what it cost me, how much was actually profit, and why some of those revenue streams work way better than others.

And more importantly, how you can get started with them too.

Because if someone like me, who never went to art school or business school can figure this out, then maybe there’s something here that can help you too.

And before you click away thinking, “Oh great, another online guru story,” let me be super honest about something: this took me almost 20 years to figure out.

When I started my first jewelry business in 2006, it was honestly a hot mess.

I was making products nobody wanted. I couldn’t figure out who my customers were or where to find them online. And I was pricing everything completely wrong.

That same business actually lost money last month.

So when you see a number like $150k, I know it might sound unbelievable. But here’s the thing: neither my husband nor I went to art school.

In fact, I was terrible at art in school. Like, seriously, couldn’t draw, couldn’t paint. I still have so much fear around that kind of art.

We both taught ourselves Photoshop. And I learned how to sculpt polymer clay from scratch, using YouTube videos, Google, books, asking questions, and a lot of trial and error.

When I started, my work looked terrible but I kept practicing and I got better.

It took me six to eight years to make a full-time income from that first business because I made every single mistake possible.

Each business I started after that got easier because I finally started learning what actually works.

Now let’s talk about the big question I get a lot: If one revenue stream is working so well, why bother with more?

Here’s why: having multiple revenue streams isn’t just about making more money (though, of course, that’s nice, who’s gonna say no to that?).

It’s really about not putting all your eggs in one basket. Some months, Etsy sales tank. Sometimes, ad costs go way up, algorithms change, your audience shifts.

Having multiple income sources means I’m not panicking when one thing goes wrong. It gives me breathing room, options and sustainability. And that’s what I want for you too.

The next thing I have to point out is this: We made all that money while only working part-time hours.

Most of these income streams are pretty leveraged, basically, they keep bringing in money even when we’re not actively working.

It’s kind of like passive income, though I wouldn’t say it’s 100% hands-off.

We still do the work but not in the “sit at your desk 9 to 5” kind of way.

A while back, I actually tracked my time for an entire week just to see where it was all going.

And honestly? I was shocked.

I thought I was working way more than I actually was because by the end of most days, I felt super productive.

But the numbers didn’t lie. On average, I work around 3 to 5 hours a day on my businesses.

The rest of my time? It’s a mix of things I love. Like auditions, creative care (basically self-care, but for my creative energy), reading, playing video games, taking classes.

Masterminding with friends, which I love because those convos stretch my brain in the best way. 

And, of course, trying new restaurants around town, because food is joy.

This level of income was totally possible for us without working full-time hours. And we’re living full, vibrant lives outside of our businesses too.

But let me be clear, it didn’t happen overnight. It took years of trial, error, and business experience to get here.

Plus, we have an amazing team that supports us behind the scenes. So, here’s a breakdown of our first revenue stream…

Revenue Stream 1: Etsy Custom Family Gifts

You’ve probably heard it before, “Etsy’s too saturated” , “It’s impossible to make real money there anymore.”

And sure, I get why people say that. But the truth is, Etsy can work.

The real problem? Most sellers get emotionally trapped by it.

Let me tell you what happened with one of our Etsy stores. It’s a personalized art shop that uses print on demand. Last month, that store brought in $26,200, just from Etsy.

We started that business back in 2019 and from day one, we set up our own website.

A few months later, we also launched the store on Etsy and here’s where things got interesting.

Etsy is incredibly tempting when you’re new. It’s easy to set up, there’s a built-in audience and if your product and photos are solid, you can literally make your first sale the next day.

That’s exactly what happened to my husband. He started getting sales fast. Really fast!

Now, I always tell people to do more of what works. And normally, that’s great advice. So he doubled down on Etsy because Etsy was working.

The sales were rolling in, so naturally, he thought, “this is where I need to spend my time.”

He went all in, built systems, automations. He spent hours researching Etsy hacks, constantly tweaking listings and trying to crack the algorithm like it was a code he could master.

Meanwhile… our actual website? The thing we owned and controlled? It just sat there.

Ignored. Then, like clockwork, things changed. Etsy sales started to dip and the algorithm shifted!

More sellers entered the space. And no one really knew why it happened. But what did happen was totally human: when something stops working, you try to fix it.

So my husband doubled down again. More energy, more optimization and more chasing.

It started feeling like an emotionally toxic relationship. Etsy would give him just enough success to keep him hooked, then take it away. So he’d push harder and continue ignoring our own site.

Our website traffic tanked and sales dropped. And guess what?  I see this same pattern all the time.

One of my clients built a seven-figure business entirely on Etsy. She started with my A Sale A Day Business System program, and she didn’t even have a product idea at the beginning.

She found success fast, until she didn’t. When her sales started dropping, she panicked but instead of putting energy into her own website, she kept going back to Etsy.

Why? 

Because that’s where she had seen the most wins. But now she’s stuck in this constant, exhausting spiral. Trying to fix something that was never built to be in her control.

Here’s the lesson: Etsy is like renting an apartment.

Sure, you can live well, make decent money but you’re still at the mercy of the landlord.

And the rules? They change all. the. time.

So what do we do now with Etsy? We keep it simple. We optimize our listings for high click-through rates from search. We run Etsy ads.

Optimizing listings sounds basic, but it’s a whole skill in itself, from product design, pricing, keywords, photography, videos… it’s a lot.

But I always remind people: never make Etsy your main focus.

I’m not anti-Etsy. In fact, I think it’s a great place to start and it’s a smart platform to diversify onto. But it should never be your only strategy.

If you want long-term sustainability in your business, you need something solid. Something stable and you own. That’s your website. Etsy can absolutely be part of your sales system but it should never be the whole system.

Because when you rely entirely on a platform where everything’s out of your hands, the rules change constantly and your traffic disappears overnight. And the emotional rollercoaster? It’s brutal.

Too many people burn out and shut down their shops after a few years. Not because they didn’t have great products, but because they were stuck on a hamster wheel they didn’t build and couldn’t control.

So if you’re on Etsy now? Great, but make sure you’re also building your own foundation.

That’s how you stay in the game and how you build something that lasts.

Revenue Stream 2: Shopify Store (Custom Family Gifts)

Most people think building your own website is hard, and making sales? Even harder.

Especially when you’re used to something like Etsy, where there’s already a built-in audience just waiting to shop.

But what if I told you, we made almost the exact same amount on our own website last month as we did on Etsy? Actually, a little more!

To be specific, our website brought in $27,809 in sales from the same business. That’s even more than what we made on Etsy.

And the wild part? Building that site was way easier than most people think.

Now, let me brag for a second, because honestly, my husband is one of my favorite success stories.

When we started this personalized art store back in November 2019, he knew nothing about selling online but I taught him everything I knew.

And from day one, we built our own website. We didn’t wait until we were “ready” or had it all figured out. And that first full year in business, we made over seven figures from that store alone.

We weren’t just relying on someone else’s platform. We owned our digital real estate.

Also, let’s be real, 2020 had a lot to do with it. Everyone was stuck at home, online shopping exploded, and a lot of businesses had a great year, including us.

We’re still able to match (and even exceed) our marketplace sales using a platform we fully control.

We spent roughly the same amount on ads to drive traffic to both and that tells you everything you need to know.

You don’t need Etsy’s traffic. You can build your own.

You don’t need to post constantly on social media, to have a big launch. You don’t need to keep releasing new products every month just to stay visible. We don’t do any of that.

And I’ll walk you through what we do instead in a bit.

Now here’s a key difference: Our Etsy sales? They could disappear tomorrow.

All it takes is one algorithm update or a random decision from Etsy that they don’t like your shop. It’s not in your control.

But our website sales? That comes from something we own.

We control every single part of the customer experience, the design, pricing, shipping policies, the branding. Everything! We’re not constantly worrying about what our “competitors” are charging right next to our listing because on our website, we’re the only shop they see.

And here’s another huge win: We own all the customer data.

When someone buys from our website, they become our customer. We can email them, send a thank-you, and invite them to our next sale. We can also remind them to shop for the holidays and actually build a real relationship.

On Etsy? They’re Etsy’s customers who just happened to buy from us. There’s no easy way to stay in touch or nurture that connection. Which makes it so much harder to build a business that lasts.

I’ve been doing online business for almost 20 years now and one of the biggest reasons I’ve lasted this long? I don’t rely on platforms I don’t own or control.

These days, we focus on paid ads to grow our own site like google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Instagram Ads.

Instead of trying to compete inside someone else’s crowded search engine, we drive people straight to our store, something we actually built and control.

And here’s the best part, every dollar we spend improving our website, every customer review, every tweak we make, all of it adds to the value of our business.

Our website is a real asset. Something we could sell someday, if we wanted to.

Our Etsy shop? That’s not worth as much if we ever wanted to walk away, because Etsy can shut it down at any time.

And if you’re thinking, “Okay, but building a website sounds really hard,” I hear you.

That’s what a lot of people assume until they actually do it.

In fact, I was just looking at one of my A Sale A Day students’ websites the other day, Ryanne’s, and it honestly blew me away. 

She’s proof that you don’t need to be super techy to build something beautiful and functional.

It looked so professional, super fast, clean and easy to navigate. She actually built the whole thing using Hostinger. 

What I love about Hostinger is how beginner-friendly it is. They’ve got this AI website builder that makes it ridiculously easy to create a professional-looking site, even if you’ve never built a website before. 

You don’t need to know how to code or be “techy.” If you can read English and click buttons, you can build your own store.

You can literally have a gorgeous website up in one afternoon. I usually recommend getting a .com domain because it’s familiar and trusted. But they also give you a free .store domain,  which is perfect if you’re on a budget or just getting started.

And here’s one feature that really wowed me, their AI product listing tool.

You upload your product photos, and it automatically generates multiple product listings, complete with descriptions and details. It’s a HUGE time-saver.

Because honestly, the more time something takes, the more likely you are to procrastinate launching. And I don’t want that for you.

And probably the most important thing is the checkout process is smooth and lightning fast. If you’ve ever lost a sale due to a clunky checkout, you know how crucial that is.

So if you’re ready to stop paying rent on someone else’s platform and start building something you own, check out Hostinger. 

Just click the link here: http://hostinger.com/creativehive (use code: CREATIVEHIVE for a discount!)

Revenue Stream 3: Shopify Store (Tiny Hands)

So, you’re thinking about starting a website. Sounds amazing, right? Your own space. Full control. Total freedom.

But here’s what no one really tells you: just having a website isn’t enough.

My first business has been losing money every single month this year, even after being around for almost two decades. 

I started my first handmade business, Tiny Hands, way back in 2006. I was making scented polymer clay food jewelry. It was cute.

But I made every foundational mistake in the book. 

Mistake #1: Designing what I loved, not what people wanted to buy

I was obsessed with tiny food. Like, miniature bacon and eggs dangling from your ears kind of obsessed.

And because I loved it so much, I assumed others would too. But let’s be honest,  nobody’s out here Googling “strawberry-scented cupcake necklace.”

That’s not a thing people wake up needing.

Mistake #2: I had no idea who my customer was

At first, I thought I was making jewelry for people like me, adults who loved quirky, kawaii stuff. But how do you even find those people online?

There’s no clear “cute things” Facebook group. It was just way too vague.

After years of trial and error, I finally figured out my real customers were actually moms and aunts shopping for little girls.

But even then, finding them online wasn’t exactly straightforward.

Mistake #3: My pricing didn’t match my market

Each necklace was priced between $30 and $50. Which is fair, considering the time and care it took to make them.

But for most parents buying gifts for kids? That’s a tough sell. There was a huge mismatch between what I needed to charge and what they were willing to pay.

Mistake #4: I built my business around scent

This was a big mistake. The charm of Tiny Hands was that each piece smelled like what it looked like, chocolate chip cookies, strawberries, cupcakes.

Adorable? Yes. Reliable? Not so much.

The scents would fade after a few months. Customers would get upset. Some emailed asking for refunds because their piece “didn’t smell anymore.”

Ironically, when they mailed it back to me, I could totally smell it.

Or, someone would complain they didn’t like the scent I picked, because, well, everyone’s nose is different.

I wanted people to love the craftsmanship of the charm. But all they could focus on was the fragrance.

And that scent issue? It crushed my wholesale business

At one point, I was working with sales reps, doing trade shows, and had products in over 100 stores across the U.S.

Stores stopped reordering. Customers complained that the scents faded. And with the price point being too high for impulse buys, it just wasn’t a great fit for retail.

All of those foundational issues added up.

It took me 6 to 8 years to finally make full-time income from Tiny Hands.

And today? It’s the business that still struggles the most.

Last month, it brought in $6,652 in revenue but lost $642 after expenses.

Ouch. These days, I let it coast while I focus on businesses that are built on stronger foundations. 

So here’s the real lesson: a website won’t magically fix a shaky foundation.

If you don’t have the right fundamentals in place, you’ll end up spinning your wheels for years, just like I did.

The four foundations that actually matter:

1. Products people actually want to buy and are willing to pay good money for.
   
2. Crystal-clear ideal customer, you need to know who they are and where to find them.
   
3. Pricing that matches your market, not what you think it’s worth, but what they’re happy to pay.
   
4. A sustainable business model, one that isn’t dependent on fragile gimmicks or things you can’t control.

I used these exact foundations when starting my newer businesses.

The business my husband runs now? Hit 7 figures in its first year. 

My coaching business, Creative Hive, grew faster and stronger than Tiny Hands ever did, even though I tried so hard to make Tiny Hands work.

So, if you’re tired of guessing, if you don’t want to spend years figuring it all out the hard way like I did, I created a free workshop that walks you through exactly how to build these foundations the right way.

You’ll learn the exact system I use to build online stores that are profitable from Day 1, without needing social media fame, a big launch, or spending forever creating new products.

You can sign up here: https://tinyurl.com/r7masdua

Revenue Stream 4: Creative Hive (Coaching Business)

“Oh great, another course creator claiming they make money teaching how to make money.”

I hear you. And honestly? I get the skepticism. 

This space is full of people who just popped up yesterday and suddenly have a $999 course and a webinar funnel promising you six figures in six weeks.

But here’s the thing: I’ve been sharing my income reports online since 2014, way before it was cool.

My first blog post for Creative Hive is from 2011.So no, this isn’t some trendy side hustle I whipped up to cash in on the coaching wave.

Before I ever sold a single course, I was in the trenches, building my own online stores.

Hands dirty. Lessons learned. Money made. Mistakes made too, lots of them.

The truth is: I’m kind of obsessed with business strategy.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that I get excited about conversion rates, sales funnels, and A/B testing email subject lines.

For me, marketing is like a giant strategy game, and I love figuring out how to win.

So how did Creative Hive start?

It started when I finally figured out a system that worked after years of trial and error running Tiny Hands.

I saw all the things that didn’t work, endless social posts, relying on Etsy, products people didn’t actually want and then I started doing what did work.

Once that clicked, I couldn’t help but share it with others. I started teaching that system and soon enough, it started working for other people, too.

But let’s be real: selling courses is not as easy as people make it seem.

For years, Creative Hive was just scraping by. In 2019, I was making about $10,000/month from it, which sounds decent…

Until you subtract expenses. After software, ads, team costs, taxes? It wasn’t enough to get a full-time salary.

Digital products are hard to sell. Unlike physical products, people can’t touch or hold what you’re selling. There’s nothing tactile about an online course.

Which means you have to work so much harder to communicate its value. And there’s more competition, because anyone with a Canva account and some time can whip something up and call it a course.

But making a great course that people actually want to finish and recommend? That takes real work.

One small messaging issue, one funnel hiccup, one slightly-off price point can be the difference between profit and a money pit.

And I spent years tweaking, testing, and struggling to get it to work consistently.

Everything changed when I decided to go all in

About a year ago, I finally said: Okay, let’s do this right!

I invested over $20,000 into hiring professional instructional designers. I spent a full year completely revamping my flagship course, A Sale A Day.

I wanted it to actually get people results. Not just share info but change how they run their businesses.

I also worked with a bunch of coaches, some were incredible, others, not so much.

But I took lessons from all of them and I wove the best of those insights into my business.

Fast forward to 2023–2024, Creative Hive started consistently bringing in $30,000/month.

Now? We’re making more than double that.

Last month, Creative Hive earned $67,913 and that doesn’t even include sponsorships or YouTube ad revenue (which I’ll get into next).

I’m not here to be a guru. I’m not sipping martinis on a beach while writing this on my laptop (though that does sound nice).

I’m someone who simply figured out a system that worked. A system that helped me and started helping others too.

I’ve had students like:

• Stephanie from Pottery Awesomeness
  
• Ivan & Gaby from The Paper Memory
  
• Jen from Forged Flare
  

They’ve built real, sustainable businesses from scratch, some didn’t even start with a product idea.

And I’ll be honest: sharing information isn’t enough. There’s a skill, an art, to how you teach it. There’s psychology, empathy, and care involved. That’s what separates a course business that fizzles in two years from one that can grow and evolve for many years.

I think being a slow learner as a kid actually made me a better teacher.

I had a tough time in school and now, when I teach, I’m constantly asking:

“How can I make this simpler?”
“How can I make it stick?”
“How can I make this repeatable and clear?”

Because if I can’t explain something in a way that’s easy to follow, what’s the point?

Want to teach what you know? Start with a website. 

If you want to sell courses or share your knowledge, you need your own website.

It’s how you build authority and trust over time.

Teaching online is a completely different business model from selling physical products. For Creative Hive, I rely heavily on content marketing, not social media trends.

I write blog posts like this one. I film YouTube videos. I create free resources that show people I know what I’m talking about.

And over time? A percentage of those people become my students.

So, if you’re wondering, do I use social media? Yes, for Creative Hive, I do. But only to share my content, not as the core engine of my business.

I treat social media as a distribution tool, not the business itself. Which, if you’ve followed my thoughts on Etsy, you know how strongly I feel about not building your empire on someone else’s platform.

Bottom line: this isn’t overnight success and this isn’t passive income magic.

Revenue Stream 5: YouTube AdSense and Sponsors

Let me just say it: YouTube is my favorite platform.

Because it doesn’t punish you for not showing up every single day. I don’t have to dance. I don’t have to chase trends. And best of all? My videos keep working long after I post them.

A good video on YouTube is like compound interest. You make it once and it keeps giving. And that’s what makes YouTube super leveraged income.

But here’s the kicker: I didn’t monetize my channel until December 2022. I could slap myself for waiting that long.

I was afraid of “selling out”. For the longest time, I didn’t want to turn on ads. I didn’t take sponsors.

I told myself I didn’t need the money or that it would make me look like I was “just in it for the cash.”

But then I started getting dozens of sponsor emails every single day, I’m not even exaggerating. And I said no to almost all of them.

Why? Because most were from brands I’ve never used or didn’t believe in. And the last thing I want is to recommend something to you that I wouldn’t use myself.

But somewhere along the way, I had this moment: “Wait. I already use these tools. I already recommend them to my students, why shouldn’t I get paid for that?”

And you know what? You’re getting this content for free. You can sit through a few seconds of ads, right? 

That mindset shift changed everything.

Between YouTube AdSense and the few sponsors I actually love and use, last month I made $22,844 just from YouTube.

Not including course sales, not affiliate income. Just ads and sponsors.

I’m seriously kicking myself for not doing this sooner. But it just proves how much we get in our own way. 

In 2024, I tracked over six figures in sales that came directly from YouTube.

That doesn’t even count the people who found me there and later bought through email or other platforms.

YouTube isn’t just a revenue stream for me, it’s a traffic driver, a trust builder, and a conversion machine.

And here’s what surprised me the most: You don’t need to post all the time to win on YouTube

Back in the day, I was all about consistency. I posted once a week, every week, for an entire year.

Sounds great, right?

Well, guess what? I hit 100,000 subscribers doing that, which felt amazing. But when I posted new videos? Most of those subscribers didn’t even come back to watch.

I’d get less than a thousand views on videos, on a channel with six figures in subscribers.

Meanwhile, there are channels out there with fewer than 50 videos that have millions of subscribers.

So what really works? Over the past year, I developed a YouTube system I haven’t seen anyone else talk about.

It’s a strategy that basically guarantees every video I publish lands on the homepage. No more guessing. No more wasting time making videos no one watches.

Would you rather post 52 videos to get to 100k subscribers or just 12?

That’s the power of doing it strategically. That’s how I got my next 100,000 subscribers, faster and with way less effort. Plus? I’m having way more fun!

I’m actually creating a pilot program teaching this system, showing you how I guarantee that every video I make knocks it out of the park. 

It’s going to be the lowest price it’ll ever be and the only time you’ll get to work with me this closely in this container. 

So, if that’s something that interests you, you can join the waitlist for that here: https://tinyurl.com/fymtf3wa

Okay, so what about actual profit? Let’s talk about real numbers.

Last month, we made $44,000 in before-tax profit, which is roughly 30% profit margin across all our businesses.

Not bad considering one of my businesses actually lost money last month.

So, where did the money go?

Here’s the breakdown:

• Etsy ads: We spent $8,361 to make $26,200. Not a bad return!
  
• Facebook, Instagram, Google ads (coaching + Shopify): We went hard here, $50,000. Honestly? I overspent. We pushed big and it almost cost us. Lesson learned.
  
• Print-on-demand costs: $14,096 went straight into printing and production.
  
• Our team: $14,989, worth every penny. They’re how we can run all of this without burning out.
  
• Tech, tools, software: The usual subscriptions that make everything run.
  

If you’re sitting there thinking, “This sounds great but where do I even start?”

Pick one thing. Just one. Start it. Stick with it. Make it work really well before you try to juggle five other things.

Because if you’re like me and prone to overthinking or analysis paralysis, starting small is the only way to get anything done.

I have a blog about how to stop overthinking and actually start. 

Read it here if you need help getting out of your own head and into action: https://tinyurl.com/bddps6z5

Building a business that actually supports your life, not drains it,  is 100% possible. 

But it doesn’t happen by chance. It happens by being intentional with where you show up, what you build, and how you grow.

Whether it’s selling physical products, coaching, YouTube, or all of the above, success doesn’t come from doing more, it comes from doing the right things, well.

You don’t need to be everywhere. You don’t need to go viral. You don’t need to hustle 24/7.

What you do need is a strategy that works for you, systems that support you, and the courage to actually start. 

You don’t have to have it all figured out today. 

The more you can stop making it harder than it needs to be (like I did for years), the faster you’ll start building the business and the life you really want.

Start where you are.