A friend texted me this morning:
“Do you think I need to quit my job in order to build an internet empire?”
My response:
“I think the smartest thing to do is build your audience and carve out a niche for yourself while working full-time.
Then build up a side hustle like consulting, coaching, newsletter, or some way to make $$ without pissing off your boss.
Then transition when you feel comfortable.
But having distribution makes you feel more confident.
This guy worked on his side hustle for a while while working full-time. Then, eventually transitioned full-time.
And this guy was the CEO of an auto company while building his anonymous Twitter account to hundreds of thousands of followers.
Now he makes 7 figures with his media biz.
But if you wanna scale, then I think you probably need to quit eventually.
Otherwise, it might clash with your job (or be a conflict of interest if it’s within the same domain as your 9-5).
Also, your employer might get upset that you’re spending so much time on your side hustle, or you’ll have to deal with internal company politics.”
His response back:
Now, before I share exactly what I would do if I were in his shoes, let’s break down how we’re defining “Internet Empire” here.
An “Internet Empire” has 3 main parts:
1) Revenue – A product or service that you can predictably make money from.
2) Distribution - Owned audience across social, email, and/or closed community platforms.
3) Ownership - You own and control your work. You get the final say on everything. You can work on it whenever you want. On your own time.
Then it’s just a matter of scaling each of these.
Now, here’s a rough checklist I would go through if I were in my friend's shoes (I used fake numbers and topics just to get the point across — swap with your own) :
Niche - “Venture capital”
Goal - “Build a profitable newsletter business that replaces my $100k salary”
Monetization - “I will monetize via sponsorships & subscriptions”
Timeline - “I want to leave my job in the next 12 months”
Platform - “Aside from the newsletter, LinkedIn will be my promotional platform.”
Cadence - “I will write a weekly deep dive and promote 5 times per week on LinkedIn for the next 12 months.”
Milestones - “by month 6, I will have 10,000 subscribers, 200 paid subscribers (each paying $99/year), and at least $20,000 in sponsorhip revenue”
Validation - “If I cannot hit the above milestone, then I will reassess the goal, overall strategy, and timeline. If I do hit the goal, then I will scale.”
Growth - “Re-invest some of the revenue back into growth to scale faster before quitting the job”
Exit - “If I’m pacing towards goal, have enough savings put aside, and I’m seeing the momentum I want (subscribers, shares, engagement, etc.), then set a firm deadline, tell a few people to keep me accountable, and go for it.”
And if you think this is impossible, here’s how Lia Haberman made the transition from Corporate Exec to Full-Time Creator/Consultant (shoutout to ChatGPT for the summary here).
1. Leverage Unexpected Change
Catalyst: Two pandemic layoffs pushed her to rethink her path.
Mindset Shift: Instead of rushing into another potentially unstable corporate role, she asked: “Before I build someone else’s empire, can I try building my own?”
Lesson: Even if you don’t plan to leave, be ready to use unexpected disruptions as a springboard.
2. Build on Existing Expertise
Background: Years in media, corporate marketing, and influencer campaigns meant she understood:
How to grow audiences
How brands hire creators
How to position and market content
Application: She used that experience to launch her ICYMI newsletter, knowing the content, audience, and monetization levers.
3. Start with Multiple Revenue Streams
Newsletter — built first as free content, then added a paid tier in year three when she knew she could consistently deliver value.
Consulting — advised enterprise brands on creator and social strategy.
Teaching — lectures on creator marketing at UCLA and other universities.
Why It Worked: Consulting clients came directly from newsletter readers; consulting insights fed newsletter content. Each fed the other.
4. Treat Creator Work as a Timed Opportunity
Reality Check: Most creators have a 3–4 year “hot” period before:
New platforms disrupt the space
Audiences move on to fresh voices
Brands look for new faces
Her Approach: Monetize and network heavily during that period, but plan for the next thing rather than assuming indefinite demand.
5. Keep Corporate & Creator Worlds Connected
Maintains consulting work to:
Stay plugged into teams and trends
Avoid isolation from working solo
Spot challenges and stories that make strong newsletter topics
Many consulting clients came from ICYMI readers who referred her internally.
6. Build While in a Job (Ethically)
Started ICYMI while employed.
Published Fridays at 7 a.m. so it was clearly outside work hours.
Principle: Don’t give your employer the impression you’re building your side hustle on their time — optics matter.
7. Maximize Relationships
Corporate Tip: Every project with external partners or vendors = networking opportunity.
Long Game: Past work relationships have led to new contracts, speaking gigs, and client work years later.
8. Have an “Exit-Ready” Asset
By the time she fully leaned into creator work, her newsletter had:
Thousands of subscribers
A consistent publishing schedule
An identifiable voice and niche
This made monetization easier when she added the paid tier.
And here are a few more people who transitioned from making their side hustle their full-time gig:
And if you plan on going down the creator route, then this is a must-watch.
Justin Moore is literally the sponsorship king.
Hope you found this helpful
See ya next week
-Ish
🫡