Start Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a way for publishers like you and me to promote products and services that we like and use to the people we serve through our platform. It’s my favorite kind of marketing arrangement because when used appropriately, it’s the perfect match of a person (me) promoting a product they like (made by someone else) to the people that have chosen to give me their attention (you). I want to talk about what it takes to start affiliate marketing.

Start Affiliate Marketing

Let me state two details at the beginning: there will be affiliate links in this post as there are in lots of my posts. (I disclose that fact on my about page, which is good to do and also the law in the US – more on that later.) Second, these are my simple methods for affiliate marketing. There are far more intelligent and complex ways to do this executed by the really smart people I’ve met at events like Affiliate Summit. Start with me, but if you get really involved in this space, go to that conference.

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Start Affiliate Marketing

7 Businesses You Could Start Right Now

Many of us dream of starting our own business. Often, we long for a great work life balance, and we just can’t get the flexibility working for a company. Or, perhaps because we have seen the mistakes others make, and feel we could do better. Here are some great businesses you could start yourself, today.

Photography

If you have a good camera, and take high quality photographs, it’s quite easy to make a little extra cash by selling your photographs to stock photo sites. However, to turn it into a business, you will need a lot of talent, and some more professional equipment. You’ll also need a website and a portfolio. Then you can start advertising yourself as a photographer. While it might be hard work, it can also be an incredibly fun career, getting to share in people’s special moments is wonderfully exciting.

Baking

Baking, again, takes a lot of talent. But all the equipment you really need to start your business is probably already in your kitchen. People are willing to pay a lot of money for celebration cakes. Start advertising and showcasing your skills on your social media profiles to gauge interest and see if you could make it profitable.

Catering

Catering is something you could either start from home, or in a restaurant. There is a lot of competition in the restaurant world, though, so you need to either be better or different to succeed.

Marketing

Now is a great time to get into marketing. With the growth of digital marketing, including social media and blog marketing, more work than ever can be done from home. While formal qualifications are helpful, you don’t necessarily need them if you have a lot of experience.

Writing

Writing can either be done as a freelancer, or writing your own material. With the rise in eBook publications, you can self-publish on Amazon quite easily. As a freelancer, you will find a lot of writing work available in all different niches.

Blogging

If you have already got a blog, all you need to do is monetize it. If not, it’s relatively easy to set a new blog up and get writing. Great content is the most important thing, so you might want to consider sticking to one topic. Then use your social media accounts to grow your blog before you consider monetizing. Some people make a successful living through things like advertising and affiliate marketing.

Crafts

If you have any skills at crafting, from producing jewelry to home furnishings, you could start by trying to sell them on sites like Etsy or eBay with the aim of setting up your own e-commerce store if it goes well. Or ever open a brick and mortar store.

When starting up a business, the first thing you should do is write a list of anything you enjoy doing, and feel you are good at. Then ask yourself if others would pay for these talents. If any meet these requirements, think about what you need to get started. In many cases, a great website is all you really need to get going. In others, you might need some premises. Do some research, read about other startups and entrepreneurs, learn from their mistakes, and heed their advice.

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Blogtrepreneur – For Busy Entrepreneurs

7 Businesses You Could Start Right Now

“What Kind of Business Should I Start?” A Surprising Answer from A Successful Entrepreneur

I often get asked what you might think is a simple question: “What kind of business should I start?”

For the first time in many years, I find myself in the same boat as the folks who ask me that question. I (surprisingly) don’t have a concrete answer to this question for myself right now–but, as I’ll show you in this post, I have a way to figure it out.

After I sold my software company last year, I did a ton of soul-searching. I coached other successful entrepreneurs, and ended 2014 by taking a 3-month, part-time marketing consulting gig for Help.com, a funded software startup. I’m helping them launch a successful software product into the world while I figure out what kind of business I’d like to start.

Is Starting a Business Right For You?

The first question you have to answer for yourself is deciding whether you really want to start a business, or if you’re more interested in the idea of running a business than the actual daily grind of doing so. You have nothing to lose here–be honest!

The truth is, there are many more profitable routes (especially when you take into account short-term profitability.) I make more money now as a consultant and coach than I did when I was running my software company–and that’s not unusual for strong consultants with an in-demand skillset.

Realistically, if I were only looking at the money side of it, I could easily fulfill all my financial obligations and then some by continuing to do coaching and marketing consulting. I also enjoy what I do–as an early-stage startup consultant, I get to do everything from coding a front-end website to writing blog posts to coaching CEOs to writing marketing copy. I have a unique and interesting skillset that’s in high demand. So why not just do that for a while?

My problem seems to be one that plagues many of my readers, and might sound familiar to you as well: I just don’t enjoy working for other people as much as I enjoy working for myself.

I’m now in my mid-thirties and have started, run, and sold several companies, so I no longer fear diving off a cliff and starting a new business. What’s holding me back right now, though, is that I’m not sure what kind of business I want to start.

That’s why I figured I’d open it up here on my blog.

Stepping Up to The Plate with Personal Transparency

I’ve long been a fan of personal and professional transparency, as espoused by people like Pat Flynn and John Lee Dumas with their monthly income reports, and Buffer with their vow of complete transparency with their company. More recently, Dan Norris has come onto the scene doing some great income reports and open transparency on his blog.

I like all of these folks, and their respective companies–but I think it’s time for some other people to step up to the plate in this area, particularly more women. And I know that if I feel that way, I need to take the lead and make this happen! So this year is the year where I become more transparent on my blog about what’s going on with my businesses–even if, like you, I don’t always know exactly where I’m headed.

“So How Do You Decide What Business to Start?”

My first step is to take stock of who I am and where I stand right now. If you’re in the same boat I am, give this a shot as well! What are your strengths and weaknesses? Be honest with yourself.

Here’s where I stand:

1. I want to build a software company, or something that has software as a significant component. I love to code. I’ve been building websites from scratch since 1996 and I still love doing it, 19 years later (wow! 19 years!)
2. I have a large, overarching goal of building a university. In the interest of full transparency, I don’t think of “building a university” in the typical sense of a giant campus with towering buildings, dorm rooms, and beautiful open spaces. I think of it more as a platform that teaches hyperactive ADHD folks like me how to learn.

   I find startups in this space like Coach.me interesting in that sense–a mobile app where you “check in” to your goals every day and can hire coaches to help you. That’s something in the general space of what I’d like to build when I say “I want to build a university.”

3. I’d like to start a podcast, but I don’t want to take on too many things at once.
4. I’m determined to get back into blogging. I’ve realized that to do so, I have to make specific time for it every week. It’s the difference between saying “I’d like to do some yoga” and actually going to classes a few times a week. Blogging takes discipline and focus–two mental muscles I need to build right now, if I want to start another company.
5. I want to build a profitable company. I definitely feel at odds with the whole “seed funding” mentality. I’m not saying getting funding is wrong for everyone–just that my personal preference in building businesses is to take something that has a small up-front monetary investment and turn it into a profitable cash cow, month after month. That’s who I am and what I do–and that’s what I intend to do in 2015.

Looking at all this, one thing is clear: I don’t yet know exactly what I want to build. This is the point where a lot of people stop–they don’t know exactly what they want to do, so they don’t take action.

Yet, I know a profitable business will only be found by going out there and building something. I’m also excited to blog the entire process, because it will be so illuminating to those of you who really want to become an entrepreneur, but–like me right now–don’t know exactly what you want to do.

The Scary Part: Making A Commitment

My commitment to you is: Every week, I’ll blog here about my progress. If I fall flat on my face, I’ll blog that. If I didn’t do crap for the past week, I’ll write about that. If I end up building something that has nothing to do with software or building a university, but it’s still profitable and works, I’ll share all the details about that!

And, if for some reason, I don’t blog one week, well, I’ll pick it up again the next week. I will fail as I go along. I understand my weaknesses (focus and commitment) and my strengths (a strange and exciting combination–I equally love to code and write copy!)

It’s my hope that, in a year, I can come back here and read at least 50 posts about how I built a business that makes money, is profitable, and is growing. Failing that, I can at least read 50 posts about how I tried–how I found out, week by week, what worked and what didn’t work in going from “I have a vague idea of what I want to build” to actually building a business that makes money.

And, with those 50+ posts, I’ll be able to answer one huge question that hundreds of people have asked me: What kind of business should I start?

I’m right where you are. Stay tuned (and join my email list, below) if you’d like to have some input into where I’m headed in 2015. I welcome your feedback.

Here’s to a very interesting 2015!

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The post “What Kind of Business Should I Start?” A Surprising Answer from A Successful Entrepreneur appeared first on Starting Your Own Business with Erica Douglass.

Starting Your Own Business with Erica Douglass

“What Kind of Business Should I Start?” A Surprising Answer from A Successful Entrepreneur

Week 2: “How Do I Start A Business When I Don’t Have Any Time?”

It’s week 2 of my adventure in 2015 to start a business. I started out last week not knowing what kind of business I wanted to start. This week, I’m taking an introspective look at another common issue people have when they want to start a business–and one that plagues me as well! It’s all about the feeling of not having enough time to start a business.

Technically, I work part-time right now; I’m wrapping up a 3-month consulting gig with Help.com, building their launch plan, website copy, an ebook, and more. (My work will be live on Help.com soon!)

But, when you factor in my coworking space, this blog, finishing taxes and other miscellany of my business that failed/got acquired last year, and helping my boyfriend (who is also an entrepreneur) with his business, the hours I spend working pretty quickly ramp up to full-time.

So I’ve been exploring: How do you build a business when there are so many other things that compete for your time?

Most “Productivity Systems” Don’t Work. Here’s What Does.

And, after months of considering this and testing various “productivity systems”, I’ve come to a pretty simple conclusion. You do one thing every day that moves your business forward–and you don’t let anything stand in the way of getting that one thing done.

This doesn’t mean you don’t take any days off. Feel free to take a day off here or there. In fact, it looks an awful lot like the thing you do to get in shape, or to accomplish any other goal you have set for yourself. Want to get healthier? Walk 10 minutes a day. That’s it. (I often do this if I have to be on a conference call–I think best when I’m pacing, anyway, so it’s a good way to get my exercise.)

The same goes for your business. Want to start a business? Do one thing every day toward making that a reality. Have no idea what you want to start? Your one thing today may be going out to lunch with a local business owner and asking him or her what problems he or she faces–in business or in personal life!

Getting Coaching and Help: Surprisingly Valuable?

Or it could be taking a free, intro “deep coaching” call with a business coach. In this vein, I recently decided to do something that I felt was a bit risky: I asked my friend Rich Litvin to connect me with some of the best coaches he knows so I could do an introductory coaching call with all of them. It felt risky because I know how much coaches charge, and I’m unsure whether I want to commit to spending a lot of money on a coach. But then I thought, how could I ask people to spend money on me as a coach, as I did last year, if I don’t feel comfortable spending a similar amount?

So, between Rich’s intros and reaching out to friends of mine who are professional coaches, I put six in-depth intro calls on my calendar in just two weeks. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I have a call with a new coach.

The second coach I met with, John P. Morgan, when I told him about this, had one thing to say: “Wow! This is going to be a life-changing two weeks for you!” And now, about halfway through it, I’d have to agree.

I love that Rich introduced me to people who span the gamut of coaching, from people who’ve run successful businesses to executive coaches to artists like Allison Crow Flanigin, who is a painter and encouraged me to get in touch with my creative side and to bring more “me” into the world. I sort of feel silly saying this after I’ve already hung my shingle out as a coach and had paying clients, but I really get the value of coaching as a business leader now.

I’m glad I overcame my fear around this. At some point, I’ll hire a coach. Why? Because I’ll find the person or people who can propel me forward such that the coaching fee looks like peanuts compared to the value they provide. And if that sentence makes no sense to you, I strongly encourage you to do the same thing I did and schedule intro “deep sessions” with coaches until you find one or more of them who really opens you up and gets you going–and you realize that your creative efforts will be multiplied by hiring them. Honestly, all of the coaches I’ve worked with so far fit in that category. And if the money is a stretch, bring that into your coaching call. Work on creating enough value in the world that the money won’t be a stretch.

I probably sound like I’m writing a sales pitch for my own coaching here, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I coached full-time for a few months in 2014, and although I’d be happy to take a really special, rock star client here or there, it’s not my path to coach full-time. It’s my path to use what I learn from being a coach and apply that to a larger, wider audience: you!

Are You Really “Too Busy”?

One point of clarity that has come up for me through these coaching calls is that I’d like to create a product in 2015. What I want to create isn’t totally clear yet, but I want to work on something around teaching ADHD, super creative people how to get stuff done and launch something out in the world. Obviously that’s something I’m still working on doing myself this year!

Side note: It will be a great sales pitch–I chuckle every time I think about this. “Well, Erica,” some smartass will invariably say, “How do I know your course on Getting Sh*t Done for Highly Creative People will actually work for me?” And I will get the trump card of replying, “Because it exists! Yes, because I used the principles in the course to make the course itself!” Yes, the ultimate smartass comeback. This is what I think about at 1AM when I’m awake in my bed and my brain won’t shut off…comebacks to objections that don’t yet exist about a product that doesn’t yet exist. BlogThis!