How I Used Data Science to Create Five Consistent Streams of Income
Proven ways to actually make money with data science
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Happy New Year!
As we enter 2022, I’m sure many of you have thought of some resolutions and goals that you’d like to achieve. Some of those goals might entail increasing your income whether it be through a promotion or by adding new streams of income.
To give you another perspective, I wanted to share with you how I used my data science knowledge to create five streams of consistent income. BUT before I do, I want you to know that I didn’t do this overnight. In fact, most of these channels took at least a year to build before I got anything substantial out of them.
Keeping that in mind, let’s dive right into it!
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1. Career as a Data Scientist
The first one seems obvious, but this is the first one I wanted to talk about because it’s most likely going to make up the largest proportion of your income. This means that this should take the highest priority from that perspective.
On top of that, the experience you gain from your career as a data scientist will help you develop other streams of income, like consulting, as you’ll have more reputability and knowledge.
Therefore, your main goal should be to learn concepts and topics that will help you advance yourself in your career.
2. Consulting
The second stream of income that I wanted to talk about is my consulting practices. This one is an interesting one because data science consulting is not limited to building ML or DL models. In fact, none of my projects were related to building models. Some of the projects that I worked on this year included the following:
- I reviewed a Python package that a company created and provided feedback in terms of its simplicity, utility, and intuitiveness.
- I worked with a security company to come up with a methodology to compare two sets of data that were incomparable (apples to oranges) and worked on a script to automate 100s of personalized reports.
- I advised a food delivery company on high-level data strategy, helped them define and establish key KPIs, and built simple frameworks for decision-making.
My point is that there are many ways to "consult" with data-related knowledge, so keep an open mind about what kind of projects you want to take on.
Now you’re probably wondering how I found my clients, and that leads me to my next stream of income:
3. Medium
Medium is especially a great source of income if you write about coding or data science because there are well-established publications, like TDS and Better Programming, that help with outreach.
If you want to read more about how I built a successful data science blog, check out my article below:
Not only is Medium a great source of income but it’s also a great marketing tool. It’s because of Medium that I was able to…
- Get several job opportunities from startups in Silicon Valley and Toronto
- Build my network with some of the biggest world leaders in the data community, including the Head of Data & Analytics at Google
- and find clients for my consulting practice as well as my technical writing practice.
And that leads me to my fourth income stream:
4. Technical & Content Writing
Believe it or not, there is a huge need for technically sound data scientists who can write! Through Medium, I found several clients that wanted me to write tutorials, content, and articles all related to data science.
The pay for this kind of work varies. In the beginning, I was only making about 10 cents a word. Now, each piece can make from $100 to $500. Some of my work included:
- A guide to revenue cohort analysis in SQL
- An article on what statistical bias was and the types of biases
- A comprehensive course on learning advanced SQL
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5. Substack
My last stream of income is from Substack. I only started it recently so it’s insignificant right now, but I’m optimistic about this platform.
If you were to ask me whether to use Substack or Medium, I wouldn’t be able to answer that because it’s like you’re comparing apples to oranges. The content and audience that I write about for Medium are much different than my Substack newsletter.
I’m hoping to make my Substack newsletter more personable, bite-sized, and more frequent (at least that is the goal).
If you want to subscribe to my personal newsletter, sign up here.
Thanks for reading!
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Not sure what to read next? I’ve picked another article for you:
and another one:
– Terence Shin
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