How to Make $5,000 a Month on X (From an Industry Insider)

Apologies for the tardiness of this email. I'm currently in sunny Spain and spent yesterday chugging beer in the sun and eating thoroughly mediocre food. Sometimes you've got to prioritise the important things in life, eh?

Right, let's talk about making proper money on X. Not pocket change, not "beer money"—I'm talking about $5,000 monthly that can literally change your life.

I've got a unique perspective on this because I used to work for a ghostwriting agency that charged clients exactly $5,000 per month for X and LinkedIn content. Just content—a few long-form posts and some shorter pieces each month.

And the mad part? Half of our clients didn't even care about lead generation. They wanted vanity metrics. Likes, followers, views—the whole popularity contest. They'd pay five grand monthly just to look important online.

Anyways - turns out this is just ONE way to make money on this platform - here’s everything you need to know:

Three Proven Paths to $5K Monthly

Method 1: High-Ticket Service Sales

This is the fastest route to $5,000 monthly because the maths is simple: you need 2-3 clients paying $2,000-2,500 each.

The beauty of X is that it's your daily demonstration reel. Every tweet about your process, every insight you share, every client win you mention (anonymously) becomes proof of your expertise to potential clients scrolling their feeds.

Businesses desperately need content creators, social media managers, copywriters, and digital marketers. X becomes your shop window where you prove you know what you're talking about, day after day.

Method 2: Creator Revenue Sharing

This is where things get interesting. X pays creators a share of advertising revenue based on the ads shown in replies to their posts. But most people have no clue how it actually works.

Here's what you need to qualify:

• X Premium subscription (£8/month or $8/month)

• 5 million organic impressions over the last 3 months

• 500 verified followers (the blue tick proves you're Premium)

• Live in a supported country

The payments vary wildly—some creators report earning $500-2,000 monthly from revenue sharing alone, while others with similar metrics earn much less. It depends on your audience, engagement quality, and the types of ads being served.

But treat this as a bonus that pays you to market your actual skills, not as your primary income strategy. The real value is building authority while you work towards those impression numbers.

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Method 3: X Subscriptions

X allows creators to offer paid subscriptions directly on the platform. Subscribers pay monthly ($2.99 to $9.99) for exclusive content, early access, or subscriber-only posts.

The requirement is simple: you need X Premium and to be accepted into the program. Once approved, you can offer tiered subscriptions with different perks at each level.

Successful creators are charging $4.99-7.99 monthly and targeting 700-1,000 subscribers to hit that $5,000 monthly target. The key is providing genuine value that people can't get elsewhere—insider insights, detailed breakdowns, or exclusive community access.

The Platform Essentials

X Premium is non-negotiable. Beyond the £/$8 monthly cost, it gives you:

• Wider reach in the algorithm (Premium posts get prioritised - v hard to get exposure without one)

• Detailed analytics to understand what's working

• Access to both revenue sharing and subscriptions

• The blue tick that signals credibility (well, everyone has them now so maybe not so much nowadays)

Communities are your secret weapon. Places like Build in Public, Indie Hackers, or niche industry groups give you immediate engagement regardless of follower count. These communities actively support members' content, giving you the initial momentum needed for broader discovery.

Content scheduling tools save your sanity. Typefully and Hypefury are the gold standard here. Consistent posting is crucial for algorithm success, but manually tweeting 3-5 times daily isn't sustainable long-term.

Engagement farming exists (and works). You can negotiate retweets and engagement boosts if you know the right people and have genuinely viral-worthy content. It's a grey area that deserves its own deep dive, which I'll cover in a future email.

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Beware the Trolls

Let's address the elephant: X has become a very right-leaning platform, and you need thick skin.

I've had tweets about Elon Musk get millions of views—completely objective observations—and half the responses were people losing their minds without even reading what I'd written. The number who react before reading is genuinely staggering. (funny thing is, I drive a Tesla but was hated on for talking about his new pay package - wild).

Anyways, controversy drives engagement, and engagement drives discovery. It’s a tool you can use at your disposal.

What Works (According to the Algo Boss)

Nikita Bier, X's platform lead, cut through all the growth-hacking nonsense: "Tweet about your expertise every day for six months and you'll be boosted to be unstoppable."

That's it. No complex strategies, no viral tricks. Just

The algorithm rewards engagement and consistency. The difference now is that authenticity matters more than entertainment. People can smell genuine expertise from miles away.

Your Next Move

The ghostwriting agency I worked for understood something crucial: they used X to demonstrate expertise and build authority, then converted that into consistent monthly retainers.

That's your blueprint. Use the platform's reach to build credibility in your niche, then monetise that credibility through services, revenue sharing, or subscriptions.

Best of luck, amigos.

Lewis

P.S. Fancy FREE access to my digital writing course? Just forward on your unique link below and I’ll give you the keys (RRP $159):

P.P.S. This newsletter is built on Beehiiv —after MailChimp banned me for sharing genuine money-making opportunities (yep), I needed a platform that supports creators building businesses, and Beehiiv has been a fricking Godsend. Get a 30-day free trial via the link.