My Plan to Make $1,000,000 next year as a Content Creator with No Brand Deals and No Employees

There are so many different ways of earning money in 2025.

You can be a solo freelancer, a content creator, an influencer, build an agency, hire a team, build a new software product, or the most expensive to start: develop a new physical product based business.

If you can earn money independently of an employer, then you already have your own business.

Entrepreneurship and business are the gateway into designing your own life, earning the money you want, and have the impact you would like to see in the world.

But there are a lot of business models to choose from.

The easiest business model to start — the one that can get you into the game and earn your first few hundred thousand dollars per year — is actually right in front of you.

It’s a newer business model that most people don’t understand or see.

So congrats. You can now explore biggest opportunity of our generation and the new age of wealth creation.

I’m not interested in managing people or building a massive machine like corporation.

I want to make cool creative work, enjoy freedom in my life, and still achieve my financial goals — all while having a good impact on the world.

This newsletter is a breakdown of my personal plan — how I’m working towards earning $1,000,000 per year as a photographer and creative without hiring a single full-time employee.

I’m going to share the business model that has little to no risk, unlimited upside, unlimited freedom and flexibility, and is ultimately the best business model to start when you’re a beginner. (or someone who hasn’t made their first $1,000,000 from their own business yet)

This is the same path that almost all modern day entrepreneurs follow. (Alex Hormzi, Iman Gadzhi, Tim Ferris, Dan Koe etc.)

So first let’s get clear on the path and design your future lifestyle intentionally.

• We first get clear on the life and business you actually want

• Next we create an online digital offer that’s aligned with your skills and lifestyle. (digitalize your business)

• Then you build an audience that allows everything to scale and gives you options to grow and pivot in any direction you may want in the future.

  Let’s break it down.

Define the Lifestyle

Before anything else, the first step is getting real with yourself: what kind of life do you actually want to be living?

Most people skip this and dive straight into occupation or business model without ever asking if their choice would even best match the lifestyle they want.

You have to zoom out.

You need to define what your ideal day looks like, how much you want to work, how you want to spend your time, and where you want to do that work from.

A lot of freelancers and early-stage entrepreneurs find themselves stuck in the client-work hamster wheel.

You might be booked out and technically successful, but you’re exhausted.

If you’re doing one-on-one service work, you’re always trading time for money.

And even if you “scale” by starting an agency or hiring a small team, your time just shifts into managing projects or people.

You might get to a point where you’re making decent money, but you’ve maxed out your time and you’re still tied to your laptop every day.

Worse, you’re probably paying out a lot in salaries and contractors, which eats into your profit.

So you’ll just end up with more revenue, more expenses, and a similar profit.

So the stress goes up, but the margin doesn’t.

On top of that, many freelancers are limited by location.

If you shoot content in person or work with clients in a specific location, your freedom is limited by default.

You can’t travel or work from anywhere in the world, or even just be flexible day to day on where you want to setup.

So, you need to decide: are you building for income, or are you building for lifestyle? I think you can do both — but only if you’re intentional.

Personally, I’ve decided that my business goal is to earn about $56,700USD per month, which is roughly $1,000,000 per year in Canadian dollars.

That’s my first major milestone.

Happy to make anything beyond that but it won’t change my lifestyle too much.

That number gives me the freedom to travel as much as I want, pay for everything I need, work on projects I care about, and not be constantly stressed about overhead.

And I want to do it without full-time employees:

I’d rather have one or two part-time contractors — like a video editor and a client success manager — and keep things lean.

If I want to launch something new or pivot into a different kind of business — whether it’s a SaaS company, an AI tool, or something I haven’t even imagined yet — I’ll have the cash flow to self-fund it.

That gives me full control.

I don’t need investors.

I don’t need to give away equity.

I get to stay true to the vision I actually want to build.

Defining your personal number, your work boundaries, and your ideal way of living is the foundation of building a business that feels aligned.

For me, that means remote-friendly, no full-time team, highly profitable, and flexible enough to evolve with me.

Once you’ve defined the goal, the next step is figuring out what kind of offer will actually support that vision.

Building your Authentic Digital Offer

If you’re currently making money through freelance or service work, you’re most likely getting paid based on your time and availability.

That works — especially at the beginning — but it’s not scalable and if your goal is freedom and flexibility then we need to get creative.

The key shift is moving from being paid for your time to being paid for the value you can deliver, without having to be there in person.

This is where your authentic digital offer comes in.

And I say authentic on purpose — because the offer needs to be rooted in your past experiences and expertise.

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel or fake expertise.

You just need to get honest about what you’ve learned, what you’re actually good at, and where you’ve already been helping people.

Start by reflecting on your last couple of years.

What topics or problems do people constantly come to you for help with? What things do you know more about than your friends or peers — just from lived experience? That’s your niche.

That’s the space where you can build a real offer that feels natural and personal, not forced.

There are many ways to package value online: Done for you Services, Done with You, and Do it Yourself all delivered in different ways across all different niches. You can pick how you want to deliver your value through your own business, expertise and niche.

But if you’re starting out, it doesn’t have to be complicated, especially if you’re not online yet.

One of the best ways to begin is by creating a hybrid offer — something that combines online guidance with a bit of personalized support. This would be a mix of a Done for You and Done with You.

This is what I have done for all of my Catalyst clients in the private group.

It’s a hybrid style that allows for my clients to get the best results possible and not feel stuck at any point.

The more customized service allows for your clients to get more results, and move faster along their journey.

Rather than courses and cohorts can sometimes have people feeling overwhelmed or lost.

For example, if you’re a photographer or videographer, you could offer a program that teaches small business owners or creators how to shoot better content on their own.

You’d walk them through lighting, scripting, camera presence — and then either help them edit it or connect them with an editor to help them to launch an actual personal brand and social media profile.

That way, you’re still using your skillset, but you’re doing it online.

You’re helping people get to their result without you physically being there.

This hybrid model is one of the simplest ways to get started and start earning online income.

And once you’ve got proof of concept, you can evolve the value you’re creating into courses, cohorts, or whatever suits your niche and lifestyle.

This would take more upfront time to see results but is the most scalable.

Your offer should be flexible enough to evolve as you grow, but strong enough to help people right now.

Growing an Audience and Building a Content Ecosystem

Once your offer is dialed: it’s time to build the ecosystem that brings people in — consistently, naturally, and without you having to sell.

I’ve built my business purely through organic content.

I prefer it that way.

It’s slower at first, but way more powerful over time.

And the reason it works is because the content isn’t just surface-level or random — it’s strategic and layered.

Once you dominate on organic, paid ads will just add fuel to an already burning bonfire. If you don’t have good organic content then paid ads would feel more pouring fuel on a wet, dying fire with a small flame.

At the top, I create short-form content around five to seven times per week.

These are Instagram Reels, TikToks, short YouTube clips — whatever is relevant at the time.

This content is meant to spark curiosity, start conversations, and pull people into my world. It’s not super deep, but it catches attention and builds familiarity.

From there, I go deeper through my weekly newsletter and my weekly YouTube video.

These formats give me space to really explain my ideas, share stories, and build trust.

This is where people get to see what I actually believe in — and why I do things the way I do.

That deeper connection is what creates long-term brand gravity. People come back and continue to learn more along their journey.

They engage. They refer others. And when I have something to offer, they’re already ready to take the next step.

That’s how I view the content ecosystem: short-form for reach and visibility, long-form for depth and conversion.

It’s about being present consistently, building trust over time, and creating a brand that stands for something.

Not just selling — but creating a real movement around your work and your values.

This system is what allowed me to leave traditional client work, travel full-time, and build something sustainable.

It’s not an overnight process, but it’s real, and it works.

So Here’s Where I’m At

I’m building a one-person, location-free creative business that’s profitable, personal, and aligned with the life I want to live.

The goal is $1M CAD per year and I’m doing it without hiring employees or giving up my freedom.

If you’re in the early stages of your own online business — or maybe you’ve been at it for a while but feel stuck — I’m reopening the doors to my 1:1 program and group called Catalyst. Built to help you launch and monetize your personal brand through organic content.

I’ll help you build your first offer, get your first sales, and start setting up the kind of content ecosystem that can actually support your dream lifestyle.

This group is for anyone monetizing or currently monetizing and needs to ramp things up with organic content that will sell without you selling.

It’s designed to get you earning online — simply, clearly, and with intention.

If you’re curious about Catalyst or want to explore what that might look like for you, just DM on instagram (56) and reach out to me directly. Do not reply to this email.

I’ll send over all the details and we can chat about whether it’s a good fit.

Talk soon,

Ethan