Building wealth looks different for everyone; but, for self-made millionaire Codie Sanchez, it means juggling an impressive 17 revenue streams.
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The finance influencer and founder of Contrarian Thinking broke down her approach in a recent YouTube video, revealing exactly how she diversifies her revenue.
Here’s a closer look at Sanchez’s strategies for creating sustainable income — and how you can apply the same mindset to your own financial journey.
Many believe you need a big following to make money from YouTube, but that’s a misconception, according to Sanchez. You also don’t need to go viral.
“You just need consistent, watchable content,” she said. “When you hit 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours on YouTube, they unlock something called the YouTube partner program. That means YouTube starts showing ads on your videos and gives you a cut of that money.”
You can make anywhere from $3 to $20 per 1,000 views. An example she gave was if you post a video and it gets 100,000 views, you can pocket $500 to $2,000 for just one piece of content.
Sanchez earned $360,000 on YouTube in 2024, and her favorite aspect of this income source is that it’s easy and enables her to make money while she sleeps.
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It’s no secret that brands and companies will pay influencers to promote their products on social media channels or in newsletters. According to Sanchez, you don’t need a massive following to get paid, but you do “need some trust and an audience that cares about what you say.”
And it’s easy to earn a nice figure if you cross-promote.
“For example, you do a YouTube video and mention a sponsor in the first 60 seconds, that’s typically a flat fee,” Sanchez explained. “You write a newsletter and include their product as a featured link, that’s another check. You post on Instagram with a product you already use, same deal.”
Here’s how much Sanchez says you can earn:
5,000 to 10,000 followers: $250 to $500 per post or newsletter
50,000 to 100,000 followers: $1,000 to $5,000
All you need to do is understand your audience, create a media kit that showcases your reach and don’t take all the deals. Build trust with your followers.
Public speaking isn’t for everyone and it’s not something Sanchez set out to do, but she switched her mindset.
“If you can clearly explain a topic you know to one person at a time, you could be a public speaker,” she said.
Sanchez explained that several organizations — including mastermind groups, colleges, conferences and companies — will pay anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 to a speaker for 30 to 60 minutes.
Affiliate marketing is a common practice among influencers — and it’s an almost effortless way to make money. If you recommend a product or service and someone clicks on the link you provide to buy, you get a piece of the pie. And the best part is, you’re not involved with the inventory or shipping.
“You don’t have to really build a whole business,” she said. “You basically are like a digital connector making introductions. You bring the buyer to the seller, they close the sale, you get paid.”
According to Sanchez, some companies will pay you 30% of the monthly subscription fee as long as someone stays subscribed to a service you recommended. She also revealed that AI companies are currently paying a significant amount of money for affiliate programs.
“I’m talking two-year payouts,” she said. “Let’s say you help 100 people sign up. That’s $3,000 a month for as long as those people stay.”
To get started, join affiliate programs such as Amazon or ShareASale — or visit the company’s website to see whether they offer a rewards program. Make sure to “keep it legal” and tell people you’re part of an affiliate program.
Consulting is a straightforward way to utilize your skills to earn money. You’re solving issues that you already know the answers to, Sanchez said.
“Whatever you do for a living — marketing, business, accounting, social media, trades, just being young and having opinions — sometimes there are people that want consulting on that,” she said.
It’s a fast revenue stream because “it requires almost no overhead.”
Sanchez doesn’t mind picking up “unsexy” income streams. She makes money off roofing, window cleaning and garage upgrade companies. By owning local businesses that offer services such as fixing leaking toilets, she gets paid but is not running the day-to-day operations. Instead, she helps with marketing and strategy.
“We have this one company called Brezi Brands that owns a bunch of these service businesses,” she said. “And we take a cut of all of the royalty revenue that our members make. So, for every franchisee that I have revenue driving and making money, well, I get paid a little piece of that.”
To get started, you can buy an existing one, partner with an operator, build a brand or go with an SBA loan. According to Sanchez, they can help you “to buy 10% down.”
Sanchez said this revenue stream is a “turning point” because it allows for scaling up to serve many people rather than just one at a time, by creating online communities and digital courses. You can get creative by having events and offering different levels of courses.
“You take what you know, what you’ve done, what you’ve built, what you figured out (and) you turn it into a structured format that helps other people get the same result,” she explained.
She suggested focusing on one thing you know, turning it into an easy, structured format, and not overly complicating the idea by teaching everything at once. Before launching the course, Sanchez advised the following:
Recording it ahead of time and playing it back on your phone
Running your course by a focus group
Offer the first one at a discount
Choose a platform like Slack or Discord and allow your customers to connect
Venture capital funds sound intimidating and it’s not an easy income stream, but it can be lucrative if you have the skillset, according to Sanchez.
For this one, limited partners give you money to invest on their behalf. You make money by charging a fee to manage the investment.
Here’s what you’ll need:
An understanding of how to invest
A proven track record
A network that trusts you
People willing to give you money
“If you’re somebody who’s already angel investing or advising startups, or you have a strong personal brand in a niche, you might be a lot closer than you think,” Sanchez said.
With technology constantly evolving, it’s easier now to create a resource that people need and to generate income from it. Sanchez does that with her company BizScout, a marketplace for buyers and sellers.
“You build a tech tool that solves a problem,” she said. “Usually, that tech tool was previously a service. So, people pay to use the tool every month. It runs 24/7, whether you’re online or not.”
Brokers typically help buyers find small businesses to buy, but BizScout is designed to take on that role.
“Now we replace that broker with technology,” she said.
Sanchez owns a few Airbnb properties in California and a couple of other states and revealed three ways to get involved in this side hustle:
Buy the property, which means you have more control.
Rent the property, which is known as “rental arbitrage.” With the owner’s permission, you can sublet the property on Airbnb. However, she warns that you must understand the local laws.
Co-host and manage another listing. You’ll deal with the guests, hire the local staff and take a fee of 10% to 30%.
In addition to Airbnb, Sanchez is also involved in multi-family units, which she says is “stable” because of the monthly income from renters.
“You get multiple checks from just one property,” she explained. “So, that diversifies your income, reduces risk a little bit.”
Buying larger buildings can be expensive, so to get your foot in the door, consider purchasing a duplex or triplex and living in one unit while renting out the others. Another way to get into the business is to partner with a friend or two, making it more affordable and allowing you to rent out the rooms.
“With an FHA loan, you can do this with as little as 3.5% down,” she said.
Stock portfolio dividends — earnings that profitable companies pay if you own stock — are a smart way to rack up savings because it doesn’t require much of your time.
“You just hold and collect,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez’s tips for investing include:
Investing in bonds is different than buying stocks because when the market dips, bonds stay steady. Sanchez uses a company to help her invest in bonds.
“Percent allows me to invest in small companies in their debt, and they have a little bit higher interest rate,” she explained. “You’ve got to pick what’s right for you, but I’ve been investing in bonds probably since 2008.”
Sanchez has around 700 franchises for her company, ResiBrands, and explained why it’s a great revenue stream.
“You do the hard work once. (You) build the business model, create the systems, get it profitable. And then, instead of running 100 locations yourself, you let 100 operators do it for you and you collect a slice from each.”
Licensing content is where other people pay you to use your content or brand, which is an income stream Sanchez called “powerful.”
“It’s infinite leverage,” she said. “You do the creative work once; other people turn you into revenue streams.”
It can be a strong revenue source, but Sanchez advised protecting your license-worthy content with a trademark or copyright before partnering with distributors.
If you’re knowledgeable about a certain subject, write a book: “Every single copy that sells puts money in your pocket,” Sanchez said.
However, writing is just the first step. You also have to be able to sell the book. To help increase sales, Sanchez relied on Omnisend — a company that sends out personalized messages on behalf of customers.
“You can set up a Shopify store, plug it into Omnisend, and let it handle the heavy lifting — crafting subject lines that people actually open; sending welcome emails that sound like me, not a robot; reminding readers who left the book in their cart to come back and actually check out,” she explained.
Once it’s set up, it works around the clock without any assistance from you and it helps boost sales.
There are two primary ways to approach writing a book: traditional publishing, which typically pays 10% to 15%, and self-publishing, which can yield up to 70% on Amazon or Kindle. Sanchez did a publishing deal and makes 10% to 15% of every book she sells.
“I’m making a couple of bucks per book, but if you sell hundreds of thousands continuously over time, it’s a nice little income stream,” she said.
When you put money into a start-up, that’s called angel investing, which is high risk because you don’t know if the company will take off. But if it turns out to be a successful venture, the payoff could be financially rewarding.
If you’re just starting out, Sanchez suggested sticking with an industry you know. “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” she said. She also recommended joining a syndicate such as AngelList, where you can invest as low as $1,000.
Sanchez’s diverse 17 income streams serve as a great reminder that building wealth isn’t about relying on a single source — it’s about creating multiple, sustainable paths to financial freedom.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Codie Sanchez: 17 Income Streams I Use — and You Can, Too — To Build Wealth
