The Real Story Behind Making Money Online as a Course Creator
Humans need instruction. We have few instinctive reflexes to help us navigate the world around us. We have to learn from others. Our immediate caregivers, and then the entire world. The person who is able to offer instruction to people who want to learn new skills or ideas in a format that is tailored to their needs is a valuable contributor in the global marketplace.
With the Internet, course creation is no longer about one teacher in front of a blackboard with a captive audience of 30 students. Now there are tens of thousands of teachers, and the range of subjects they offer is as varied as the styles they employ.
Course creation is also not just for traditional subjects. Online instructors can teach how to bulk cook and freeze dinners, how to hit a baseball, how to clean out your garage, how to start an online business, how to travel in Bhutan…and so much more.
And they can provide instruction to millions of people at a time. The most popular creators deliver lasting value that energizes their students by delivering the results they want.
As a course creator, you produce packaged material that can be delivered live or on-demand, to an unlimited number of students all over the world.
You build once and earn money over and over again. Course creation is one of the most lucrative online business opportunities because you can scale your price as you scale your sales, and experiment with market demand. You can also customize the course – for example with live training – that increases the value and provides you with direct feedback.
But you have to create a course that people want to buy, and spend a lot of upfront energy to produce a quality product.
Yes, you can create a course about anything – for free. You can post introductory material online and leave a link to the full course, teach ‘live,’ or have a webinar that introduces the ‘what’ but does not reveal the ‘how,’ or even put the material in an app.
But you have to create a product people want. You can end up spending a lot of time and money on creating professional course materials only to learn you missed the target audience. So make sure you are producing for a buying audience.
You earn money from your online courses when someone is ready to buy. But you might have to spend time cultivating those potential buyers, and learn to deliver in different formats. But once you know what your students want, you can charge anything from $27 or $27,000 or more to deliver as promised.
If that sounds good to you? Read on for the details…
While starting an online business is an extraordinary opportunity for you to establish a foundation for your own professional satisfaction, financial security, and lifestyle freedom, to get started you have to select an online platform that fits your interests, skills and budget.
Course Creation is a high risk, high reward way to get started.
If you have an area of expertise or even just an interest, on any subject that requires instruction, you can train interested students through an online course.
You create a framework, pathway, system or open a door to new knowledge that helps people understand your expertise. You can take the course content beyond online presentations by holding live in-person or virtual events. Or you can just put the material up in a portal where people can find it.
If you have the right information, course creation is where you should place your focus. Despite being in the midst of the ‘information age,’ people understand less and less each day.
Just think about:
- The functionality in your smartphone – what do you really know how to use?
- The dynamics of artificial intelligence – what’s it going to do to your job?
- The changing workplace – where do your skills fit?
- The contradictions in healthcare and fitness – what really works?
- The massive amount of available information – what can I really use?
How about:
- Healthy, inexpensive meals
- Buying a fixer upper in this tough housing economy
- Learning to drive a smart car
- Making your money last
Sure people have put information about all these topics into the global marketplace already, but still…no one knows anything.
That’s your cue to step in and fill the void.
If your online platform of choice is course creation, you need to be prepared for the opportunity and challenges.
In this article, I explain the real story behind how to make money creating online courses.
Content Creation is For the Detail-Oriented
Online course creation is about providing information, knowledge, education or training in accessible on-demand formats to students anywhere in the world.
You can teach your own material, or aggregate other people’s information – if permitted – into a more accessible format.
You can teach the material yourself, literally using your own voice and face, or leave it to someone, or something else. So a course creator can be a talker or shy; a speaker, writer or outsourcer; the creator or finder of knowledge; tech savvy or tech averse; a thinker or a doer; and anyone in between.
But you must be delivering valuable information that people want to buy.
The key is content. The most successful course creators produce excellent content that their students can actually use. And when the students are successful, they post about it, tell their friends, and bring more attention to the product.
If you can find questions people want answered, and organize and present an approach that they can successfully follow. You may be on your way to becoming a successful online course creator.
Does Size Matter?
Potential course creators often believe that they need to create massive amounts of content to be considered legitimate. That’s not true at all. You have to be able to take people from Point A to Point B through a process they can understand.
A 20-module course with 60-minute videos and 114 PDF downloads is completely useless if your target customer cannot understand what you are trying to say.
A one-module overview is just as bad.
When people are paying for information, they want results. So your number one consideration as a course creator is the pathway and presentation you will deliver to your buyers.
And you will be able to demonstrate your delivery success through those results. You will need testimonials and statistics from happy customers to prove that your course does what you say it can do.
Who Should Start a Course Creation Business?
To start as a course creator, you need a topic to teach.
From all your interests and hobbies, education and training, or online surfing, where can you add value?
Unlike a virtual coach who has to be visible and hands-on, you can be a course creator no one has ever seen.
If you:
- Have a topic to teach
- Have a method or approach that people can follow
- Interest in promoting and driving people to your process
- Pay attention to detail to create valuable material
- Can demonstrate results – even if you are example #1
…you should consider becoming a course creator.
How to Start as a Course Creator
Before spending endless hours creating beautiful powerpoint presentations, you must understand the topic you intend to teach and the type of students you are hoping to reach.
Talk or Write
Start talking about your topic of interest. If you have created an approach that you think people can be taught to get the results you promise, start telling the world.
Post on social media, guest podcast, guest blog, create mini-instruction videos, start getting the word out. If you receive favorable feedback with people asking for more, you can offer them your course.
Advertise
If your course idea is well-developed, you can go straight to advertising. Use Facebook or Google ads to attract your ideal buyers through great copy that lets them know you have something to offer.
Some course creators advertise the course before they have created it. This gives them a chance to learn customer demand. But remember, if they buy it, you must deliver. So be prepared to create content on demand if you sell it before it’s ready.
Design Your Course
As mentioned above, your course can be any length, scale or format. So you have to know what type of product your dream students are willing to buy. To find out, you can ask them, or start experimenting.
A good course is not about the prettiest powerpoint template. It’s about results. Can your student follow the material step-by-step to achieve a result?
When designing your course:
- Brainstorm to layout the steps and ideas you want to teach
- Add examples and stories that illustrate the points
- Create the material, usually videos, but maybe also audio and text documents to supplement the material, or provide alternative formats
- Consider bonus material for students who want more detail or different approaches
Test
You can post test material – PDF, audio or video – to see if people are receptive to your ideas. If not, try again with a different version of the same material.
Ask for student volunteers, give the material away for free in exchange for feedback and testimonials. But make sure you have serious students who are willing to help and are the potential buyers of the course.
The final product can be free or thousands depending on your skill and how you want to present the material. Black text on a White background that leads people to their goal is far superior to flashing animations and agonizing over font sizes. Just get the material in front of potential students, let them consume it, and deliver feedback and comments directly to you.
But the training must be engaging and valuable. If you keep the formatting simple, keep the delivery fascinating. People are not looking for flash and bang if they are engaged in the information you are telling them.
From Lecture to Business
You move from selling a few copies of your course from a landing page to creating a business when you build a structure around your work.
If your focus is to remain as an online course creator only, emphasize your website or sales funnel where you will be sending new customers. Manage and maintain that site while continuing to promote the course to your interested potential students.
If you are ready to branch out, take your course on the road by offering in-person instruction, live webinars and guest lecturers. But always stay focused on the results you are delivering.
If your approach works best strictly online, then stay online with it.
Making Money with Course Creation
You set a price for your course and have people pay you for it. If it’s good, they’ll tell friends or leave comments on social media, and you’ll continue to earn more.
But that means you have to let people know what you have to offer. That’s marketing. And you can do it for free on social media, podcasts, YouTube or blogs. Or you can pay for advertising. Either way you have to drive traffic to your course page from the places where your dream students are looking for the material.
As your course becomes popular, you can extend the brand to teach one-on-one, speak or create joint ventures with other creators with complimentary products. Find out what supplementary products or services your dream students are interested in next, and be the first to deliver for them.
What Makes Course Creation Successful
Content is the name of the game with online course creation. The platform is flexible, but the demand is the same – results. Students buy the course because of the promised results. Many never complete the course because of the presentation. Try to meet your dream students halfway by delivering the complete roadmap that they’ll need to follow for success.
Is Course Creation Right for You?
A successful online course can be a lucrative foundation for your online business. And you become the educator, aggregator or influencer of a specific topic that you already enjoy. You must make sure you have an offering that delivers results and you are prepared to market your product to potential dream customers.
So are you prepared to find your dream customers?
Will you create all the core and supplementary content that covers the topic you want to teach?
Are you comfortable adjusting your platform and content to meet the demands of paying students?
If you can answer “yes” to these questions, then online course creation may be your platform for earning money online.
You just have to get started.
The Real Story Behind Making Money Online as a Freelancer
Everything you have learned – in school, on the job, during that afternoon course you used to take, on your own – everything adds up to your skills.
And you probably have skills that others do not have because they do not have your unique perspective or singular approach to getting work done. You can combine the information, abilities and knowledge you have to create a service that others are looking to buy.
And you can do it without being tied to a single employer, schedule or pay scale.
That’s called freelancing.
Freelancing has always been around as an opportunity for people to offer their skills to the highest bidder. The most successful freelancers are those who can build a reputation for delivering value on each and every project they deliver for individual buyers.
And with the Internet, online freelancers have the opportunity to deliver products and services to a worldwide audience of buyers.
If you can identify your transferable skills for online delivery, you can have a career as an online freelancer.
Yes, you can earn an income as an online freelancer.
You have to be able to deliver your services over the Internet. That means delivering digital products, consulting, coding, marketing, or even administrative work which can be outsourced to freelancers, anywhere in the world.
Your own how you charge for services – by project, by the hour, by content – and you deliver on your own schedule.
But you have to be responsible, reliable and communicate well.
And you must consistently complete projects that satisfy your buyers requirements, and lead to excellent reviews.
If that sounds good to you? Read on for the details…
While starting an online business is an extraordinary opportunity for you to establish a foundation for your own professional satisfaction, financial security, and lifestyle freedom, to get started you have to select an online platform that fits your interests, skills and budget.
Starting as an online freelancer allows you to earn income on a per project basis, build a reputation for delivering quality, and maintain your skills.
As freelancer, you are creating for someone else’s business. Either you are creating for an idea they have, or you are asked to come up with a new idea that they will use. Either way, it’s their business, not yours. So as a freelancer, you have to be able to quickly understand the business needs, and quickly move on when the work is done.
An online freelance project may take you less than an hour or could run for several months. You may receive a lot of feedback from the buyer, or none at all. Sometimes the short project can turn into a full-time job offer. You decide how much or how little you want to take on.
With a well-written profile and examples of your work, you can begin to attract business without advertising or promotions. And you can keep growing as long as there are buyers who are looking for what you have to offer.
If your online platform of choice is freelancing, you need to be prepared for the opportunity and challenges.
In this article, I explain the real story behind becoming a freelancer to make money online.
Freelancing Requires Real Online Skills
To earn an online income through freelancing, you must be able to deliver completed products or services over the Internet. And you must actually be able to do the work.
There are several freelancer sites that allow you to post a profile and examples of your work. In exchange for a percentage of your fee, they give you access to thousands of buyers who are looking for skilled help.
Who Should Start as an Online Freelancer?
Probably you.
You might be surprised by the range of products or services that can be offered online. If you are prepared to put time aside to work on projects whenever they’re available, and put other work aside to finish on deadline, you can be working as a freelancer.
Pick a Skill
What types of products or services can be delivered online? Take your pick.
All forms of graphic design, illustrations from book covers to advertisements; computer coding and programming; social media management; editing; consulting; coaching, mentoring, data analysis, videos, podcasts, games, music, writing, research…it’s a long list of opportunity.
Although having knowledge and experience in the work you want to deliver is a plus, you can also just be starting out. But be honest with buyers. Create examples of the work you can do so buyers can make a fair assessment of your capabilities.
If you are not sure where you believe you can add value, go to a freelancer site like Fiverr, look at the listings, especially titles and example work, and see where your knowledge and experience fits.
Select Your Platform
Online freelancer platforms like Fiverr, Upwork or Freelancer, all offer the opportunity to sign-up for free, post your skills, and begin to find work. The value of these sites is that they are magnets for buyers who are looking for specific skills. You give up a portion of your project revenue for access to their buyer’s market and the other functionality they provide on the platform.
Comparing Platforms
Every platform allows you to set up a profile and communicate in the app with potential buyers. They also take a percentage of your price – 10% to 20% depending on the scale.
You might cringe at that fee, and it’s not universally accepted, but just remember it’s a cost of doing business. The platforms are giving you a place to find buyers from all over the world who may be interested in your services, as well as security protections, communication tools, training and community.
The fee does often feel like a burden, but like everything it’s a trade-off.
D-I-Y
As a freelancer, you can also set up your own virtual shingle. You can create a landing page or website that displays your skills, and use social media to drive people to your services.
If you have a specific niche, you can also be an influencer in your field, and leverage your posts and other content to encourage people to hire you for work.
Create Your Profile and Examples
You win business by having an excellent profile and examples of your work that a buyer can use to make a decision.
When a buyer is randomly searching through profiles to find someone to work for them, you want to stand out.
Take the time to write a profile that clearly states your background, the work you are able to deliver, and why you are the best choice for a potential buyer.
And create examples of your work for buyers to view. The more information you can offer, the better your chance at being selected.
Start Cheap
On a freelancer website, you will be trying to grow your reputation by receiving 5-star reviews. Once you have a lot of great reviews, the work will come easier.
So start by offering your work at the lower end of the price scale. Some people are only looking for inexpensive assistance and will hire someone to do normally expensive work on the cheap.
Starting out, you may feel cheated if you spend two hours on a project and only get paid $10 (minus the 20% fee), but if you do 5 projects at that price and get 5 5-star reviews, you can raise your prices to attract the buyers who are looking for well-reviewed freelancers.
You can also offer different types of work at different prices. You can keep a $10 basic package to attract interested buyers, but upsell them to more expensive offerings after they make contact with you.
Building a sustainable freelance income takes time, effort, and a lot of patience.
At first, you might find yourself struggling to land clients. Without a solid portfolio or established reputation, convincing clients to take a chance on you can be challenging. This is why many freelancers offer lower rates or even work for free to build up their portfolio.
While this can help you gain experience and testimonials, it’s important to recognize that it might take a while before you can start charging what you’re truly worth.
Like Waiting in the Farmer’s Market
Being an online freelancer is like being a vendor at the Farmers’ Market. You stand behind your table waiting for the buyers to come to you.
Once you have created your profile and defined the work you can do, you are now waiting for interested buyers to find you. This may take days or weeks depending on the information in your profile.
If you offer unique services or have a really eye-catching profile or examples of your work, you may find the buyers coming to you faster than you thought possible. But you do have to be patient.
When you think about freelancing, the first thing that comes to mind is likely the freedom it offers. No more commutes, no more office politics, and no more rigid schedules. As a freelancer, you have the flexibility to choose your projects, set your rates, and work from wherever you want. Whether you’re sitting on a beach in Bali or in your cozy home office, the choice is yours.
But while the freedom and flexibility of freelancing are undoubtedly appealing, they are only one side of the coin. To succeed as a freelancer, you need to balance these perks with the realities of running your own business.
Or Hustling for Attention
Once you’ve landed your first few clients, the next challenge is consistency. Unlike a traditional job where you receive a regular paycheck, freelancing income can be unpredictable. One month, you might have more work than you can handle, while the next month, your inbox could be eerily quiet.
So you can also take a proactive approach to finding clients and projects. This means constantly marketing yourself, networking, and staying active on freelance platforms.
If you really want to make your online freelance income to replace your regular paycheck, it’s not enough to sit back and wait for clients to come to you—you need to go out and find them.
You can use social media, reach out to physical world buyers, attend networking events, send cold e-mails, become an influencer in your skill area, or ask friends or colleagues for referrals.
Whether waiting online at the market or hustling in public spaces, building a steady stream of clients takes time and effort, but if you can transform some of those new clients into regular buyers, you’ll start to see more consistency in your income.
Completing Projects
When the buyer comes to you, make sure you ask as many questions as you need to get the project completed the way the buyer expects. Some buyers do not know exactly what they need and could be relying on you to provide them with tips and guidance.
When setting up your service, set the parameters. Will you allow revisions? Do you want to speak to the buyer first to clarify questions? What format do they want to have delivered? What is the turnaround time for the work requested?
Look at how other freelancers have set-up their offers and select the best examples that fit your skills.
And always deliver on time. Sometimes things happen, but in the freelancer world, you want to be known as someone who delivers quality work, on time.
If you have to deliver late, tell your buyer and provide a new time frame.
But remember, without the structure of a traditional job, it can be easy to overwork yourself or, conversely, to fall into the trap of procrastination. Successful freelancers know the importance of setting boundaries and sticking to a schedule. This might mean setting specific work hours and taking regular breaks.
Communicate
The best way to work successfully with buyers is to communicate. Before, during and after the project, keep asking clarifying questions as necessary.
Let them know about any expected delays.
Over deliver if appropriate. If you created test examples for your work that may be helpful to them, go ahead and deliver those also. You don’t have to do more than defined in the requirements you agreed to, but a little extra goes a long way to building your reputation for excellence.
Ask for Reviews
The freelancer platforms generally encourage buyers to leave a review, and you can do the same. Be polite and respectful about the ask.
For example: “I’m thrilled you are happy with my work and I hope you would consider leaving me a positive review.”
Remember in a world of random selection, reviews are the name of the game.
Making Money as an Online Freelancer
Earning income online as a freelancer is direct and simple. You do the work, you get paid.
If you are on one of the freelancer platforms, the money is collected at the beginning, and held for a period of time – usually two weeks – after the work is done. Disputes are managed through the application, and there are plenty of rules and ethical practices to support you.
If you are on your own, you can still collect the money upfront, but there is no ‘middleman’ to arbitrate disputes or deal with refunds. When working on your own, make sure you build up a good rapport with your clients, be transparent about your prices and policies, and deliver excellent work on time.
In the digital world, you actually have a record of all your conversations and deliveries, and even your production for the project. This is when you’re happy that everything can be traced. Keep up-to-date quality records and avoid conflicts by documenting everything you do.
The Reward: A Lifestyle of Your Own Design
Despite the challenges, the rewards of freelancing are undeniable. As an online freelancer, you have the power to design a lifestyle that works for you. Whether you’re a night owl who prefers to work late into the evening or a parent who wants to be home with your kids during the day, freelancing allows you to create a work-life balance that suits your needs.
With time, experience, and persistence, online freelancing can become a lucrative and fulfilling career. Some freelancers find themselves earning more than they did in traditional jobs, with the added benefit of flexibility and independence.
Is Online Freelancing Right for You?
But freelancing is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It’s a legitimate career path that requires finding buyers, understanding their requirements, delivering quality work on time, and repeating the same often enough to replace your current income.
So are you prepared to handle the uncertainty of inconsistent income?
Are you disciplined enough to manage your own schedule and workload?
Do you have the patience to build a reputation and client base from scratch?
If you can answer “yes” to these questions, then online freelancing may be your platform for earning money online.
You just have to get started.
The Real Story Behind Making Money Online With Affiliate Marketing
Somewhere, clever marketers, strategists and designers are assessing marketplace demand, looking at offerings, and creating a range of products for other people to sell.
They specifically put together packages of material – landing pages, videos, banners, images, graphics – intended for promotion and sharing among a community that has no connection, no network and no bond except the product itself.
That is affiliate marketing. A stand-alone multi-billion dollar industry covering every product category imaginable, and providing opportunity for those who have no talent or inclination for upfront creativity or complex investment.
The affiliate marketing opportunity is an open door to online business for the range of entrepreneurs who have yet to define their own unique product, but are prepared to deliver their singular perspective to others.
While starting an online business is an extraordinary opportunity for you to establish a foundation for your own professional satisfaction, financial security, and lifestyle freedom, to get started you have to select an online platform that fits your interests, skills and budget.
Affiliate marketing provides a low cost and diverse entry to online platforms, with an opportunity for a robust revenue stream if you can promote and market to an identified target market.
If you think you would like to promote other people’s products, in the context of an endorsement or recommendation, your online business can be affiliate marketing.
But do you have the tools to creatively promote products you had no role in creating?
If your online platform of choice is affiliate marketing, you need to be prepared for the opportunity and challenges.
In this article, I explain the real story behind becoming an affiliate marketer to make money online.
Affiliate Marketing is For Promoters
Affiliate marketing is the practice of promoting and selling other company’s products in exchange for a percentage of the sale or a commission.
With the number of businesses running affiliate programs increasing every year, the range of products on offer has made affiliate marketing a multi-billion dollar industry.
An affiliate can promote almost any product, using any legitimate method that will drive clicks to their affiliate link, and begin to earn income without worrying about the actual product creation or manufacturing.
For an aspiring entrepreneur trying to learn business models, being an affiliate provides a worthy training ground in marketing techniques and practices…
…and an uphill struggle to separate a product that possibly hundreds or thousands of others are promoting at the same time.
To be successful, the affiliate marketer must establish a strategy that works for any type of product, and repeatedly apply it across different online platforms to achieve results.
The Trick is Your Attention
From travel to gaming, romance to survivalist tools, technology to hobbies and beyond, affiliate marketing products cut across every industry and category. When you become an affiliate, you can almost certainly find products that match your interests and experience.
Affiliate marketing includes signing up to promote a product you already use, linking to a range of products available in stores, and becoming a member of a dedicated affiliate marketing site which partners with thousands of other companies specifically to create opportunities for affiliates.
It is the latter which will be the emphasis of this article, as signing up for an affiliate program is the deliberate form of getting started.
Who Should Start Affiliate Marketing?
If you want to start an online business, but have no idea how to set-up and market a product, affiliate marketing is your direct path in…
If you:
- Enjoy researching products
- Are prepared to promote
- Have or will create a platform for promoting
- Have or will cultivate a consumer community
…you should consider becoming an affiliate marketer.
You can select the products you want to promote, and the platform from which you will be promoting, and then let the funds come to you.
How to Start Affiliate Marketing
The affiliate marketing platforms are sites – including Awin, Clickbank and Flexoffers – that list thousands of affiliate products available for third parties to promote.
On the site, you sign-up for a free account, browse the offerings, get your affiliate links, and begin marketing on your preferred platforms.
When a consumer uses your link to purchase the product, you collect your percentage or commission. The affiliate sites usually have statistics on sales and commissions to let you know which products are the most likely to be selling well.
Some products stay at the top of the list for years, and are marketed by thousands of affiliates. But once you know how you want to proceed, you can put the product in front of your own community.
You must follow the product rules before you start promoting. Some companies do not want direct ads on Facebook or other social media platforms. To avoid being associated with spam, the Amazon Affiliate program does not want direct links from emails to their products. Some companies require that affiliates receive permission to promote, others leave the offers open.
All of these issues must be taken into consideration before you begin placing the product in front of new potential customers.
Where to Market Affiliate Products
Once you understand the rules for marketing a particular product, then the challenge in affiliate marketing is to decide how and where you will market the products. Your strategy may determine your success, and your ability to turn your affiliate marketing into a business.
Affiliates have created a multitude of approaches for marketing, among the most popular are landing pages, product specific content, product tie-ins, and paid ads. And you distribute one or more of these options via social media, email or even in-person.
Landing Pages
A landing page is a stand-alone webpage. On the page, you can create any content you like – videos, text, images – about the product. You give potential customers the page link, which in turn has your affiliate link to the product.
To create the landing page, you can use a service like Click Funnels or Leadpages – both have a free 14 day trial before switching to paid.
The key to a successful landing page is to make the page copy compelling, and targeted to the audience you are trying to reach. You can either write the copy yourself, or outsource it to a freelancer who can create the wording for you.
You drive people to your landing page to create the pre-sell or pre-suasion that prompts them to click on your affiliate link, and purchase directly from the product site.
Product Specific Content
To help your customers decide on the value of a product, you can create informational content – blogs, podcasts, videos – that provide background information, further research, details or data about the product that is not readily available elsewhere.
If you make the content legitimate and not strictly commercial, you are providing future customers with value prior to making the sale.
Creating this content may cost you time and money. You can invest in equipment, record, edit and distribute, and promote the content directly to prompt customers to go indirectly to the product.
But additional content is an excellent differentiator in situations where thousands of affiliates are promoting the same product. If you target the content to niche customer groups, you can also find customers who may be ignored by the other marketers.
Product Tie-Ins
If you have your own products – books, courses, physical products – that can be appropriately connected to an affiliate product, you can promote the affiliate product with your product.
For example, if you offer a book for free in a sales funnel that leads to affiliate product offers on the thank you page. The affiliate products should fit with the story in the book, and the connection can be explained on the landing page.
Look at your own products and determine if any would work well with the affiliate offers that you see listed on the affiliate site.
You can then create a sales funnel or landing page for your product, with the affiliate links on a second page or on the confirmation or thank you page.
The idea is to put the affiliate product in front of your customers as an option, an extension of your main offer. You do not want the affiliate product to overwhelm your main offer, or be in conflict, so select your affiliate product with care, and present it as a natural additional offer.
Paid Ads
If you have money to spend, you can create ad copy and drive customers directly to the product landing page by buying paid ads. Some platforms, and companies, have strict rules about how ads are to run and identified to viewers. Everyone is trying to avoid appearing like a scam. But assuming you follow the rules, ads are a direct and effective marketing tool.
The key to paid ads is to keep your ad costs below your commission payouts. And you can do this through excellent ad copy.
You can learn to write ad copy yourself, or pay a freelancer to do it for you. Developing the skillset yourself gives you more flexibility. You can adapt and change ad campaigns as the market requires without having to be constantly paying a freelancer to do it for you.
To run paid ads, select your preferred ad platform – Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter – set up your account, set a budget amount, create your copy, post your ads, and frequently monitor the results.
Many entrepreneurs set up paid ads and let them run without checking for effectiveness. This approach will certainly cost you more than you need to spend. Stay on top of your ads, and protect your investment by making sure your ad strategy is delivering for you.
If the ads are not working, stop running them, and either tweak the ad copy or try another strategy.
Making Money with Affiliate Marketing
Since the only way to make money as an affiliate is to have customers buy the product through your link, you have to make sure you are promoting your link in places where your customers are located online, and that you give them a compelling reason to click and learn more about the product.
The product companies will tell you about the successful conversion rates and high commission values, but it’s up to you to try and duplicate the results for yourself.
Affiliate marketing can be a promising and lucrative business, if you find the right approach for the people you are trying to reach, and consistently present them with a message they cannot resist.
What Makes Affiliate Marketing Successful
Once you have found your community of buyers, you can continue to promote appropriate products to them again and again.
In a consumer society, people always find a reason to buy – to improve their health, wealth or happiness – in a complex world.
Your ability to be successful doing affiliate marketing depends on identifying the desires of your customer base, and delivering solutions to them that they will want to purchase.
The more you can convince people of the value of the products you’re promoting, the better your chance to become a successful affiliate marketer, and make other people’s products, your business.
For Case Lane Affiliate Products:
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The Real Story Behind Making Money Online With YouTube Videos
by Case Lane
You know once seen…a dramatic image cannot be unseen.
We do not say this about information we hear, or notes we write down. But what we see stays with us as an impression we cannot shake.
When you are trying to decide which online platform you want to use to build your online business, if you want to choose videos, you can start a YouTube channel with information, guides or even commentary that attracts an audience.
Being a YouTuber, for lack of a better term, is actually one online business that literally requires no investment. But it also requires the highest level of courage. You have to be comfortable on camera, or artistic or creative enough to create images that do not require you to be on camera.
And you have to be consistent and popular enough to attract the minimum audience that allows you to earn from advertising on YouTube. That may be a challenge, but if you make it work, you can also attract sponsorships, build a community, and become a web search recognizable influencer for your subject area.
While starting an online business is an extraordinary opportunity for you to establish a foundation for your own professional satisfaction, financial security, and lifestyle freedom, to get started you have to select an online platform that fits your interests, skills and budget.
Videoing is a powerful communication medium that only requires a minimum audience to begin earning advertising revenue.
But are you camera ready?
Does the YouTube platform have all the elements you want and need for an online business venture?
If your online platform of choice is to be creating videos, you need to be aware of the joys and limitations of the effort.
In this article, I explain the real story behind starting a YouTube channel to make money.
YouTube is For Creative Imagers
YouTube is a video hosting platform that as a division of Google is also a search engine the second largest in the world, delivering answers to questions asked every second by searchers. While there are other video platforms, and it is possible to build a following on another one, YouTube remains the dominate force for all viewers.
YouTube is the search engine results come to life in picture. You will find content that ranges from short How-Tos, to multi-hour courses, trailers to movies, questions to indepth interviews, book quotes to novel readings, reviews, music, podcasts, speeches, news reports, documentaries, commentaries, comedy routines – from every era of video recording to the present day – from every corner of the globe and outerspace.
Five hundred hours of video uploaded…every minute!
One billion hours viewed…each day!
And what may look like insurmountable odds for getting noticed for the average new YouTuber is actually the opportunity to create a business based on your video recording capabilities.
With tens of millions of viewers scrolling the site every second, looking for new and original content, the videos that will be the next to go viral, are the ones that attract enough attention to convince someone to share.
And the shared videos can skyrocket a YouTuber to success overnight.
Creativity is the Answer
Music videos are the most watched videos on YouTube. The genre defined by the rise of MTV (the Music Television cable network) now has a dominant home on the platform. And it was music videos that transformed from bands standing on stage to opera-worthy movie productions that made the MTV generation take notice.
Luckily, you do not have to compete with music videos.
Because the next level of dominance belongs to How-Tos where viewers will take any step-by-step explanation that they can follow and copy.
And commentaries and reviews, where honest words, clever presentations and solid content pre-dominate.
But to operate in this space, and be recognized, the videos that attract the attention are the most creative. While the content is important, the design of YouTube videos – drawings, special effects, spectacular settings, bright lights, awkward angles, intriguing props – all make for videos that can catch…and hold the attention of viewers.
The creator who can take an instructional or motivational video, or a spoken-word piece or lecture, and turn it into art…will stand out and move forward on YouTube.
Who Should Start a YouTube channel?
Whether you want to unleash your image creativity or simply speak directly to the camera, you will have to find content topics that your potential viewers are seeking.
If you:
- Like to be on camera
- Have enough creative ideas to be behind the camera
- Are prepared to promote
You could consider starting a YouTube channel. And you control the amount of work you do by deciding how elaborate or plain-spoken you would like to make your videos.
How to Start a YouTube Channel
Of all the online platforms, YouTube is actually the only one that really requires no investment. Assuming you have a digital device with a camera, microphone and access to the Internet, you can make videos and post them to the platform.
But on YouTube, you are literally competing with all the media companies, global advertisers, and world-class performers who also use the platform for their promotions. While this may be true with other platforms, the issue with YouTube is that it’s so easy for your potential audience to become distracted by another video.
YouTube constantly feeds viewers suggestions of other videos that they may be interested in seeing, and unless you have a significant library of content, the recommended videos will not be yours.
The challenge with YouTube is getting your potential audience to notice you, and to do that, you need the next level of creativity.
Using YouTube
Technically, uploading videos to YouTube is straight-forward. Once you have recorded, and possibly edited your video file, you can upload. But truly understanding the functions and capabilities of the platform can take you to a new ‘school,’ where you can spend time learning how YouTube really works.
As a beginner, take the time to go through YouTube’s own training videos to learn the basic functions, language and best practices. As you become more comfortable with the platform, you may find there are features you would like to incorporate to extend the impact of your videos, and drive viewers on to your content.
Start with Content
Whether you are explaining How-To, or commenting on the state of the world, your YouTube video must be able to hold the attention of the viewer.
Before you start recording, think through your presentation. If you’re creative and adept with video tools, you might be able visualize a spectacular layout. If you’re thinking only of the words you will use, focus on how you will present them.
You on Camera
If you plan to be in front of the camera, as most YouTubers are, you will have to consider how you want to look.
This is where video can cost you money. You can invest in an external camera, ring lights, stands, green screen (for virtual backgrounds), and stand-alone microphone. Even your clothes, hair and makeup, and room props can be stylized for your intended on-screen presence.
While many rage about the need for authenticity in marketing and online business, it’s hard to imagine that many of the videos you see are spontaneous creations by singular individuals. The polished smiles, cute poses, hand gestures, and clean backgrounds all speak to a level of intention in creating the ‘right’ atmosphere for their presentation.
As you decide what works best for you, consider your audience, who are you trying to reach and why a particular approach might appeal to them.
Props for Your Vision
To separate your videos and establish your creative presence, you are going to want to make an investment in time, money or both.
And your YouTube channel can cost you even more money.
You can differentiate your videos by adding virtual effects like dynamic headlines, or real props that allow you to stand out. Some of these editing options are included with video software, some can be bought separately.
Recording and Editing
Creating your video can be as simple or as complicated as your budget will allow. While high quality, professional videos are great, they are not always what works best on YouTube.
If you are doing an explanation video on your desktop, a screen recording using Screenflow (for Mac) or Camtasia (for PC) would be sufficient for viewers who are looking for information.
But if you want to make an impactful message video about major issues, you will want to separate your work from all those who are doing similar activities. You can record your own live video, or use apps that have pre-cleared live video scenes that you can incorporate with your own words and graphics.
And once you have recorded your video, you can spend time editing to include music, layered images, additional videos or other features that create a polished product.
You can do all this work yourself, or outsource editing, if you have the budget for those costs. Either way, when your video is ready, you can upload directly to YouTube and be live.
Making Money with YouTube
YouTube is the only major platform that enforces minimum interest numbers before allowing you to profit from your content. As of this writing, you need 1,000 subscribers to your channel, and 4,000 hours of viewing to monetize your video channel with advertising.
But prior to reaching those numbers you can still make money if you are able to obtain sponsorships or promote your own products.
Sponsorships
Being a YouTuber is one time when using other people’s products can be particularly lucrative. If you are creating videos that use specific products to tell the story, you may be able to have the products’ companies sponsor your videos.
You will have to show you have an audience, and deliver a sense of the value the sponsor could derive from the video. Sometimes advertisers will only be interested in sending you more free product to promote, but others may be inclined to pay you a fee if you have a niche audience they want to target.
For sponsorships, it does not hurt to ask for the opportunity, and see how the potential sponsor responds.
Product Promotion
You can also be your own sponsor.
If your videos tie in with your own products – books, courses, physical products – you can either incorporate them directly into your videos, or simply place links in your video description.
Promoting your own product can enhance your video’s message, if you are aligned with the message of your video.
Of course, blatant direct promotion with no value will not win you any viewers. But information tailored to help your audience can be seen as integral and effective in reaching out.
Advertising
If you continue to grow your channel organically using messaging that supports your audience’s interests, you will eventually hit the numbers necessary to profit from advertising on YouTube.
At that point, YouTube’s own programs will step in to direct ads to you based on your video content. As your channel grows, with viewers and likes, your advertising revenue can grow also.
Although you can indicate certain preferences for ad placement on you YouTube videos, in general Since YouTube controls the ads, and there is no option to do your own advertising with affiliates like you could with a blog or podcast. But as mentioned previously, you can incorporate any type of advertising directly into your videos, and make them part of the creative process.
What Makes YouTubing Successful
The numbers really are spectacular. If you can drive viewers to your videos, and your videos are shared, you have an opportunity to make more money.
YouTube is part of the search engine, writing your video title and description to include keywords and search terms can help drive discovery. Many people go directly to YouTube when searching for specific information. They want to consume a video rather than read a post with the same details. If you plan to be YouTubing, you should keep that in mind.
Successful YouTube channels have consistent valuable content, usually a lot of it. Once viewers find a look and style that’s appealing, they want to return for more. If you enjoy making your videos and can continue to deliver new and different subjects, your audience will continue to grow.
The real story behind YouTubing to make money online is that while you can start for nothing, you have to differentiate your videos with creativity that you post, share and cultivate for an audience that will keep coming back for more.
YouTube is a huge platform and a key element in search, if you can align your own creativity and ability to attract viewers, you will benefit from the opportunity to turn your YouTubing into an online business.
For Case Lane’s YouTube channel, click here:
The Real Stories Behind Making Money Online Blog Series
What does it really take to earn an online income? Is there a trick? A special sauce? Magical fairy dust?
Or is it just about hard work, perseverance and persistence?
Or do you have to get lucky? Know the right people? Have friends who will buy your stuff?
The Series
In this multi-part blog series (which is also a podcast series), Case Lane takes a detailed look at eight online business platforms, and answers the questions every aspiring entrepreneur wants to know:
- Am I the right type of person to start this business?
- How do I get set-up?
- Where does the money come from?
The Platforms
Click the image or blog link to read the Real Story Behind the Online Platforms that interest you.
And if you are not sure which business to start…read the whole series or listen to the podcast episodes on The Ready Entrepreneur podcast episodes 143 to 150 here: https://www.readyentrepreneur.com/podcast/
The Real Ultimate Podcast Directories List and Service – links to over 70 sites
After millennia of using the spoken word to transmit information and understanding from one person to another, millions of enthusiastic talkers have started a podcast to move their message to the next level.
Podcasting has transformed time by creating endless spaces where a listener can hear conversations they never had access to, get training they could not otherwise afford, document advice that can change their lives, extend their entertainment options, and provide revenue opportunities by attracting a niche audience.
But finding podcasts – discovering the shows you want – is a challenge for even the most committed listener. The podcast directories are not robust search engines, and have unique approaches to organizing and delivering podcast information.
To get the most out of podcasting as a podcaster, listener or potential guest, you need to understand how to navigate the podcast directories.
What is a Podcast Directory?
A podcast directory is the list of all podcasts that are available through a podcast platform like a website or an app. Popular directories like Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Amazon Music are also the platforms where podcast listeners search for shows.
But no two directories are alike in their search capabilities, categories or listings, which means podcast discovery is a challenge. Once a podcast listener learns to navigate a specific directory, and is satisfied with the search results, they tend to stay with their selection.
Types of Podcast Directories
Podcast directories can be desktop-only, app-only or both. Some are designed simply to list all podcasts, others are aimed at specific listener groups or languages.
Podcast search capabilities typically allow searching by keyword that returns all podcasts using the keyword in the show or episode title. Some directories also incorporate tags into their search.
Directories have show pages for each podcast in their listing. Most also have links to listen to episodes. Show pages have the show description, sometimes links to the show website or RSS feed, and episode information.
How to Use a Podcast Directory
Podcasting has a few best practices, but no rules. Podcasters create show titles, episode descriptions and tags based on their own assessment of their content. Podcast directories take these terms verbatim, and return search results based on the podcast definitions. This means podcast discovery is a huge challenge.
Word-of-mouth, advertising, and popular blogs tend to drive podcast attention and listener growth. But to find the podcast in a directory, a listener has to know how the directory search works.
While initial search will be by the podcast name or a keyword, some directories also provide suggested search which displays similar programs or subjects. Suggested search recommendations also connects shows that are about similar topics, but are not using the same keywords in the title.
For Podcasters
Since listeners come from all directions, podcasters should make sure their podcast is in every directory they know. Many podcast hosting services will automatically distribute the podcast to the most popular directories, but no service distributes the program to every directory.
Podcasters should use the lists like the this website’s Real Ultimate Podcast Directory list to check for their podcast in every available directory. If the show is not listed, the podcaster should submit it for consideration.
If the show is listed, bookmark the show page for future reference.
For Guest Podcasting
Potential podcast guests use the podcast directories to find shows that are speaking about their specific subject or issue. Understanding how the directories display information and search results is critical to D-I-Y Guest Podcasting, where guests search for shows on their own, and do not pay an agency or service to find shows for them.
For potential guests, start by listing all the possible keywords that are associated with your subject. For example, if you speak about tulips, you will want to search for flowers, gardening, outdoor activity, fragrances, and other key terms.
As you understand the search results, you will be available to refine your keywords to identify the most relevant programs.
For Listeners
With the rise of podcasting, interested listeners are having to learn how to find shows that are of interest to them.
Listeners must also use keywords to find new podcasts. For example, if you are interested in entrepreneurship, you would search for words like ‘entrepreneur’ or ‘entrepreneurship,’ or phrases like ‘start an online business.’
The directory will return thousands of results, often in no particular order, and you will still have to sift through the results to find the types of shows that you are seeking.
Unfortunately for listeners, the lack of a robust search engine limits their potential to find the full scope of programming that may fit their search needs.
Dead Shows
In the list of nearly three million podcasts are every podcast that has ever been posted. But many, probably the majority are not active or have not done more than a handful of episodes. Because podcasters come and go as they please, directories do not know if a show is finished or on hiatus.
If you are just intending to listen to a podcast, you are simply checking for availability. But if you intend to do guest podcasting, you have to know if the show is active. In directories, look for the last updated episode date or timeframe, this will help you understand if the show still has new episodes.
The Best Directories for Search
The best podcast directories for search provide two levels of relevant information. On initial search by keyword, the directory returns the show name, at least part of the description, and last episode uploaded date (to confirm if still active).
On the specific show pages, you can see the full show description, episode title, episode description, and episode uploaded date, plus links to the show website, RSS feed or even email, and recommendations about similar shows.
Only a handful of directories provide this type of information, and none of them are the big platform names that most people search by default.
To find quality search results take a look at:
Listen Notes – initially free to use but after a number of searches you will be prompted to sign-up and pay
Player.fm – free to use, also has search by tags which returns all podcasts using a specific tag
Podknife – free to use, one of the only directories that flags ‘inactive’ or ‘archived’ shows on initial search
TuneIn – free to use, but accessing information requires an extra click to collapse/uncollapse each section
Know Your Directories
To successfully navigate the podcast directories, you want to first identify your goals – confirming your podcast listing, searching for listening, or guest podcasting – and then understand how the directory is going to return results.
As you use the different options, you will decide which one best suits your purposes and will become your go-to directory in the future.
Podcasters! Confirm Your Show is Available in all Directories…click here to Get the Real Ultimate Podcast Directory List and Service today!
Author’s note: This blog by the same author is also available on https://podcastgueststar.com/
How You Really Make Money Online with Podcasting
by Case Lane
This post is part of the Real Stories Behind Making Money Online Series.
Information is valid as of February 26, 2022
The oral tradition has sustained humanity for millennia. Without the spoken word, and the passing of information through speech, our progress would have been severely slowed.
So when the podcasting format appeared, with its ease of use and access, no human should have been surprised when everyone decided to start a podcast.
But in fact, although podcasting looks like the ready domain of every talker across all subjects and ideas, today there are over 3 million podcasts, a fraction of which have at least ten episodes, and another fraction of which are considered consistently active.
As the least crowded of the major online platforms, podcasting is an extraordinary opportunity for anyone with a message. But creating a podcast does require production equipment, some technical skill, and quiet time to get your show recorded.
And of course, there is the talking part…
Podcasting is for those who can carry on a conversation, teach, entertain, or facilitate discussion for an audience they cannot see. It is not for those who are turned off by the sound of their own voice, afraid to play with digital files, and have no interest in promotion.
With podcasting, the opportunity to create and join the podcaster community remains a reality for those who want to try it. As each new show emerges, a successful gem brightens, and the excitement over podcasting begins again.
And it’s important to understand how you can monetize your podcast, and use the audio program to your advantage.
Podcasting as Your Online Business
While starting an online business is an extraordinary opportunity for you to establish a foundation for your own professional satisfaction, financial security, and lifestyle freedom, to get started you have to select an online platform that fits your interests, skills and budget.
Podcasting allows you to have open discussions about any subject in the world, share the conversations you want, grow an audience that enjoys listening to valuable information, and earn income through sponsorships, advertising and memberships.
But does the platform have all the elements you want and need for an online business venture?
If your online platform of choice is to start a podcast, you need to be aware of the joys and limitations of the effort.
In this article, I explain the real story behind starting a podcast to make money online.
Podcasting is for Talkers
A podcast is a streaming audio program, usually recorded, sometimes live, that can be supported by advertising, sponsors or listeners.
The term podcast comes from merging the idea of an iPod, a portable audio player, with broadcasting to, in the beginning, play radio programs. The pod part remains a mystery for those who may not know the word iPod was made up by a copywriter.
Although many have tried to develop an acronym for it…the word is just iPod. A word now forever tied to the podcast communication medium. While most iPods remain buried in the back of consumers closets, the podcast holds firm as the legacy creation from the device’s existence.
Today, podcast content has gone far beyond existing radio programs. The range of programming you can listen to includes commentaries, historical narratives, interviews, true crime, sports analysts, fictional dramas and much more.
If you want to start a podcast to make money online, you have to consider the subject you will be delivering to your listening audience. Is there an angle or viewpoint missing from the current offering of podcasts (there always is), and how can you deliver for that audience?
Podcasting is for talkers, and podcasts are for listeners. The content you need to create to make podcasting pay must align with that basic fact. You have to create audio programming that people want to hear.
Become a Podcast Host
When you create a podcast, you are the host. Whether you plan to speak solo on a subject for a half-hour, interview an interesting speaker, or direct a debate between two guests, you are in charge of the show.
When you are thinking about creating your podcast, consider who you want to be, and how you want to run the show.
Podcast Format
Podcasts are found through podcast directories, and all list various categories of related content. But all of the categories are subject…not format, specific.
You are going to want to select a format for your show.
Decide on the type of show you want to host. Some shows sound like parties, others are serious. Some have a lot of adult language, some play music, some are always live…you can do any type of performance to attract your audience.
You can even mix your formats, maybe have a commentary episode , then an interview, then a teaching episode, then back to a commentary.
Podcasting has no rules. You decide on the format, length, content, tone, and pace of your show.
The only basic concept is that the audio must be clear. You are asking listeners to give up their time to hear your show. Poor audio quality creates an unsatisfactory user experience, which typically does not lead to repeat customers.
If there is a question between experimental content and audio quality, choose audio quality all the time.
Should You Start a Podcast?
Once you consider the format that might work for you, you will have to decide if podcasting is going to be your online business.
You can go all in with a podcast..if you:
- Like to talk
- Have a good subject area or topic, or a flair for audio creativity
- Are not afraid to promote your program
- Have the ability to edit and produce digital audio, or pay someone to do the work for you
- Are prepared to be consistently and reliably posting shows
How to Start a Podcast
The technical aspects of starting a podcast creates trepidation for potential podcasters.
The basic approach is:
- Name your show
- Record an audio program, edit as necessary
- Create a show graphic for the cover art
- Upload to a podcast hosting service
The process can be 100% free, which is one reason there are so many podcasts that only post an episode or two. Assuming you have a digital device like a smartphone, and access to the Internet. You can record your audio, download your file, and host your podcast on a free service.
But if you definitely want to build a business out of your podcast, in most cases there will be upfront expenses for a quality external microphone and a dedicated podcast hosting service. If you decide to have a website for your show, your costs increase.
The investment in an external microphone is typically worth the cost. As stated earlier, audio quality is the hallmark of good podcasting, and having a dedicated microphone gives your show a professional characterization that you will want to continue.
No Frills Podcasting
The no-frills, all free road to podcasting would work like this:
- Record your show on your smartphone or laptop using the built-in microphone
- Edit your show using free software like Audacity, or don’t edit at all
- Create a show graphic using a free tool like Canva
- Create an account on a free hosting service like Anchor, and upload your files
In no time, you will be live and broadcasting to the world. As you grow your audience, you can add the other features that would transform your podcast into a business.
Podcast Hosting
A podcast hosting service stores your recorded file and creates an RSS feed that can be distributed widely to ensure you reach your targeted audience.
Today, podcast hosting providers offer free and paid services.
Free Podcast Hosting
Increased competition has opened up opportunities for podcasters as more free services are offered by hosting providers who cover programming needs. In fact, some of the free services are beginning to offer more features than the paid ones!
But typically, there will be a catch – usually related to using the service’s branding and advertising – which constrain your money making options and intentions.
Paid Podcast Hosting
Paid hosting will include features like reporting where you can track your audience growth, and tools for social media or your own website.
Costs typically depend on factors like podcast length. For example, Buzzsprout’s rates are free for up to two hours a month, paid rate starts at $12 a month for up to three hours.
If you plan to do a daily half-hour podcast, you should look for the most affordable rate.
Recording and Distributing Your Podcast
Recording
Once you know where you will be hosting your content, you can create it. Podcast content is created everywhere – from car commutes to Hollywood studios. But if you’re just starting out, your preference is likely to be a quiet corner of your home where no external noises will be picked up by the microphone.
But even intended silence is not assured, as dogs bark, kids laugh, and the delivery trucks drop packages at your door.
You will have to find the best time to record, maybe after trying several times, before you know what will work best for you.
Ad-libbing versus Reading
Some podcasters swear by the natural, free-flowing conversational style that ad-libbing brings to a recorded show. They keep just a few points in mind, and then say what they want to say off the top of their heads.
Others find ad-libbing too unstructured and risky. They prefer to remember everything they want to say by writing it down first, and reading from a prepared document.
If you are doing a commentary show, you may want to have notes to help you remember your best points, and ad-lib only at naturally sounding spots in your dialogue.
For interviews, you have almost the same split between those who read from prepared questions, and those who allow the conversation to flow. Since either option can make for great audio, you just have to decide how comfortable you are with the outcome.
Editing
Uhhh….Ummm…click…long pause…doorbell…Ahhh…long pause…’oh, can you take that out?…’
Editing the podcast can turn a 30 minute project into three hours, it smothers the joy of the production, and can be one of the reasons many podcasters drop off the platform after only a few episodes.
Some podcasters recommend leaving in all the ‘natural’ sounds, but have you ever heard a successful podcast that is not also a clear and smooth broadcast? If your guest takes long pauses that split the flow of the show, that’s where you start editing. If the sounds are just natural conversational speak, you can leave it in.
Either way, even if you are not personally editing the core show content, you may need to add an intro or outro to your show, or if you want to get paid…advertising, which still takes time and requires some production.
Editing can be outsourced, but you must carefully select your editor and provide clear instructions. You will still need to listen to the show to make sure it sounds the way you intended.
If the first editor you select does not work out, keep trying until you find a good one.
If you have no funds to hire an editor, you will have to do the work yourself using free software like Audacity. The app has a lot of features, but you only to need to learn the basics that will help you create a good show. So go ahead and set aside the extra time to get the editing work done.
But remember, editing is not the fun part of podcasting. Be aware that this may the beginning and end of your efforts if you are not realistic about the time and effort it takes to produce a good-sounding show.
Adding Music and Effects
Music is a wonderful addition to a podcast show, especially a consistent intro that becomes your theme. On the Ready Entrepreneur podcast, you can hear the ‘news room’ sound that signals the show is information and discussion oriented.
To add music to your show, you can search for websites that offer free, cleared music.
Clearances
If you plan to use copyrighted music, and make money off your podcast, you must obtain a clearance from the copyright owner. Unilaterally, using someone else’s content to make money is not legal, and not cool.
Send an email to the copyright owner explaining who you are, why you want to use the music, and how you plan to use the music. You might be surprised by the response. Many copyright owners are happy to share their creation, especially since podcasts are offered for free, and an up and coming podcaster who intends a limited use of the product, is not typically a threat to their ownership.
Video Podcasts
YouTube has become one of the top platforms for ‘listening’ to podcasts. And many podcasters make a video version of their show.
If you are doing interviews, and use Zoom or another video communication platform to record, you automatically have another asset when you create the podcast. You can edit the video and put it on your YouTube channel.
Creating a video podcast enhances your web presence, provides more search engine results, gives you an opening to another audience, and provides your guests with another asset to share with their audience.
The video podcast is extra work, but it is also a great option for extending your podcast brand.
Transcripts
Re-purposing podcast material is one of the reasons the medium is a great asset for podcasters. If you write out your show, you have automatically created the transcript that you can also post when you upload the episode and make it available to listeners.
In general, best practice is to include a transcript of your show for the hearing-impaired. While there is limited enforcement of this practice, if you have the material, you should post it. If you wrote out your show but ad-libbed, you can put a disclaimer at the top of the transcript that says it may not be an exact word-for-work transcription of the show.
The transcript can also be used to create subtitles if you decide to post a video version.
When you are first getting started with your show, focus on delivering great content. But as you are comfortable with production…and certain you will continue, look at the other services offered by your hosting provider and consider adding features to your show.
Admin and Legal Stuff
DISCLAIMER: This section is provided for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. For all legal issues related to your podcast, you should seek the advice of a legal professional.
When you create a podcast, accessibility is not the only administrative issue that you may encounter.
If you are doing guest interviews, many guests will assume it is audio only. But if you plan to post the video, make sure you advise your guests, that show will include a video version – and get a signed clearance.
Your podcast episodes are assets and you want to be able to use them across platforms as you see fit. While there has yet to be a major case of someone suing over a podcast interview, it’s better to get clearance ahead of time that the guest knows you own the show, and may use the audio, video and guest likeness (photos) for distribution and promotion.
You can obtain this clearance before the interview by including it as a statement on your guest interview form that the potential guest has to check before submitting their request.
You should also be careful about using copyrighted images, quotes, graphics, videos or other content. You want your podcast to stand-alone as your own material, so make sure all the content you include is owned by you, or has an open creative-use license.
Podcast Directories
Once you have completed recording and editing your show, you will post it to your hosting provider.
Most hosts will automatically distribute your show to a number, but not all, of the podcast directories. The podcast directories are the lists of all the podcasts available to listen to on a specific platform.
While the biggest names like Apple, Amazon and Spotify are exactly where you want to be, you will also want to make sure your podcast is listed on every available source.
Being in every directory increases your search presence, and enhances your ability to be found by random listeners. When you search for your podcast online, you want to ‘own’ the first page of search results.
Check your host provider’s list of automatic feeds against the list of all possible directories to confirm that your podcast can be found ‘wherever you listen to podcasts.’
Promoting Your Show
While you can be discovered through a listener directory search, the only successful way to promote your show is word of mouth.
No podcast directory is perfect in its search and information capabilities. And no service is offered that breaks down all the podcast information to help you find the exact type of show you are looking for.
So if you have a podcast, you have to promote, promote and promote again.
The podcast launch is typically the first move new podcasters make to get their show in front of people. You promote directly to your list, friends, organizations, and anywhere you have an audience to let them know that your show is available.
But after the launch, you have to keep growth going by spreading the word through social media, your work or business, speaking, and guest podcasting.
For every episode, create show posts that highlight the content and can be promoted across social media platforms. If you have guests, distribute the posts to them and encourage them to promote on their own social feeds.
If you are speaking about a particular product or person on your show, give them a shoutout on social media also, by tagging, and letting them know they were featured.
And keep talking about your podcast. Mention your show wherever you have a chance. Re-use the content, across platforms, and re-use the promotion materials to re-feature a good or popular episode once or twice a year.
How Podcasts Make Money
The more you can promote your show, get the word out, drive listeners to you, and raise your ranking and popularity, the more opportunities you will have to make money.
There are multiple ways to make money with a podcast, but the four most direct are to promote your own or affiliate products, get paid advertising, get a sponsor or sell a membership to exclusive content.
Promote Products
Your podcast is your platform, and you can choose to promote your own or affiliate products as part of your show.
When deciding to promote, find products that align with the content of your show and integrate them into the discussion or commentary that you are already doing. The transition can be smooth, as you state that you have an affiliate link in the description of the show, or you can do a hard break, and ‘insert’ your own type of advertising.
If you are promoting your own products, especially books and courses, you should be able to clearly connect your content to the content of your podcast (unless they are completely different topics). This actually enhances your authority, and gives your audience more insight into the value you deliver.
You can create your own ads, add music and effects and make it sound like a professional advertisement. But be careful about being too ‘salesy’ or promoting products out of context. You want to provide valuable information to your audience, this includes information about products or services they can use.
But you do not want your show to be just an advertising vehicle, so choose wisely.
State the links in your ad or comment, and put them in the episode description. If your listener is interested they may just click and buy the product.
Paid Advertising
You can also have third party advertisers place ads in your show. For the most part, you have to have minimum audience numbers to attract national brands. But if you are talking about a specific subject, which may be interesting to specialized or local businesses, you can solicit advertising directly from them.
Advertisers are looking to target unique and niche audiences. If you demonstrate how you can deliver ‘ears’ you may be able to attract advertising even if you have a small podcast.
Start by reaching out directly to advertisers you think may be interested. Tell them about your show theme, topic, audience size and frequency. Remember once you commit to delivering a show for an advertiser, you have to deliver the show. So make sure you are comfortable with podcasting as your platform before actively reaching out for ads.
When you have paid ads, you are typically paid upfront, you don’t have to wait for someone to click on the ad. This helps give you some stability and support for your podcast.
Sponsorships
You appeal to sponsors the same way you would reach out to paid advertisers, by telling them how aligning with you would be good for business.
A sponsorship can be for an entire episode, or for the show. Sponsors can request that you read promotional material, or refer to the sponsor in comments, or for a portion of the show.
If you have a video podcasts, sponsors can ask for their product to be displayed behind or beside you, or even on you, if it’s a clothing.
If you have a specialized topic, you may be able to obtain a sponsor to cover your editing, transcribing, hosting and other costs. The only way to find out is to ask.
Memberships
You can also ask your audience.
In recent years, more podcasters are reaching out to their audience to sponsor and financially support the show through paid memberships. The podcasters offer exclusive members only content in exchange for a fixed or open fee.
As a podcaster this will mean providing additional content like the video, snippets, learning guides, exclusive outtakes from interviews, or other material that extends the podcast brand, while building a home for the audience community.
While there can be a lot of extra work in establishing a membership site, it can also be an outstanding opportunity to grow your entire business.
Your podcast community can also become the community that buys your books, courses, products, and services. You can start with membership in a podcast and turn it into membership in your world. And the more you grow your listeners, the more opportunities you have to make money online with a podcast.
What Makes Podcasts Successful?
While the most successful podcasts begin with great content, there are plenty of shows that are able to deliver that initial element. What separates them from the shows that have millions of listeners? A few key factors…
Consistency
When listeners see a show has hundreds, now thousands of episodes, they are more willing to make an investment in the podcaster, because the podcaster has made an investment in them. Consistently posting a show, and building day-to-day or week-to-week gives the listener a sense of security…and FOMO…
If a listener sees the show constantly putting up new episodes, they begin to wonder what they are missing and are more inclined to check and click on the latest information they want.
Specificity
Listeners are searching for people who are speaking about the subjects they care about, and being relevant and interesting in the process. If you can find a topic with a core audience that is currently under-served but available, you will have your successful podcast.
Uniqueness
With three million podcasts, there should be three million unique voices, but far too often podcasters try to copy the work of those that they hear.
The most successful podcasters create a unique voice, one people identify with that person. From the types of questions that are asked, to the shock-value of their commentary, to the revelation style of their facts…these types of speakers have transformed audio programming, and taken the audience along with them.
As you set out to be a podcaster, think about your unique voice, your singular message and your particular style. Be an emergent leader in the space, and promote to those who have been waiting to hear from you.
Podcasting is an extraordinary opportunity for you if you have a message that you want to deliver. There is a spot waiting for you, and you can use podcasting to make money online.
On the Ready Entrepreneur Podcast, I offer information and advice on getting started with an online business, and interviews with outstanding entrepreneurs about their journey, find the show wherever you listen to podcasts:
You can also hear Case Lane interviews on dozens of awesome shows focused on:
Entrepreneurship: https://www.readyentrepreneur.com/podcast-guest-appearances/
Guest Podcasting: https://www.readyentrepreneur.com/podcast-guest-appearances-speaking-about-guest-podcasting/
Awesome Product Offers
If you want to start guest podcasting to promote your product or business, click here to get an extraordinary offer on my Expert’s Guide to Finding Podcasts for An Interview:
If you would like to get the Podcast Directory List of where to post your podcast, click here: https://podcastgueststar.com/podcast-directories-list/
DISCLOSURE: links to Buzzsprout are affiliate links that earn for eligible purchases at no additional cost to you.
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How You Really Make Money Online with Blogging
by Case Lane
This post is part of the Real Stories Behind Making Money Online Series
In the beginning, it was the Internet curious’s first introduction to creating online – starting a blog. Today, it remains the most dominate creative platform – more than 600 million blogs – more than ten times the number of YouTube channels and podcast shows combined.
That fact should make one point obvious…blogs are, arguably, the easiest online platform for launching your online business.
But how many of those 600 million blogs are making money for the blogger?
Blogs operate in a crowded marketplace where you have to be prepared to promote and market your message. So if you’re shy about telling people about your thoughts or creativity, blogging may not be for you.
Blogging as Your Online Business
While starting an online business is an extraordinary opportunity for you to establish a foundation for your own professional satisfaction, financial security, and lifestyle freedom, to get started you have to select an online platform that fits your interests, skills and budget.
Blogging remains an incredible force for delivering a message, creating a community, and earning advertising revenue. But does the platform have all the elements you want and need for an online business venture?
If your online platform of choice is to create a blog, you need to be aware of the joys and limitations of the effort.
In this article, I explain the real story behind blogging to make money online.
Blogging is for Writers
Blogs are websites, almost always supported by advertising, that writers fill with content aimed at their target audience.
At its core, blogging is the written word. For creators, blogging means consistently writing articles online around a specific theme or subject. The word blog comes from ‘web log…weblog’ a phrase used to describe the act of journaling or recording (logging) information online.
To create a blog to start an online business, you must create written content…or have it created for you.
Blogging is for writers, and blogs are for readers. People who want to get their information in written words.
Types of Blogs for Making Money Online
With 600 million options, breaking blogs down into specific categories may be an overreach, but in general there are three popular types of blogs – information, commentary and product-specific.
Information Blogs
The most popular blogs offer information, such as How-Tos and guides. They provide step-by-step processes, and insight into products, services and issues. For many readers, these types of blogs are consistently delivering information they want to learn more about or research.
A blogger who provides information is creating a go-to platform for a topic or idea. Once enough interested readers learn about the blog’s existence, it can jump to the top of search rankings for the topic, and become a popular site.
If you are planning to create an information blog, the key is to be a great resource. You do the research your readers want to avoid, and you put the information together in easily digestible articles.
In this case, you do not have to be a great writer. You just have to make sure you are delivering information that a particular audience is seeking.
Because you already know the information readers are searching for, these types of blogs are the fastest and easiest blogs to create. Spend time researching the topic, then re-organize, re-write, and aggregate the data you find into new articles that address the topic for your target audience.
This approach also allows you to outsource the work. If writing is not your strength, or you have no time to do the research, you can use a freelancer site like Fiverr to find someone who can put together the information based on your ideas.
For example, you may find a subject where most of the existing blogs are aimed at college students, and you decide to do one aimed at the parents of college students. It can be similar information, but re-written for the parents consumption, and interests.
Also, if you can write well (or outsource) in a language other than English, there is extraordinary opportunity available to write about popular blog subjects in other global languages.
As the Internet continues to grow and spread around the world, you may find your ability to deliver information in a language used where online usage is on the rise, provides you with an opening where other bloggers cannot compete.
Commentary Blogs
Another successful blog theme is commentary – the original web log. Some famous bloggers are known only for their comments and observations about society and the world. These blogs can have millions of readers who enjoy the writer’s viewpoint, and learn from their perspective.
If you are writing a commentary blog, then you do have to be a good writer because the blog is directly from you, and your ideas have to resonate with the reader. These types of blog literally hang on the word of the blogger. If the writing is bad, the blog is a non-starter.
That said, the definition of ‘bad’ is relevant to the audience you are targeting. If you want to write a slang-filled, emoji-driven commentary blog aimed at high school students, then you may have a niche. But you still have to make the content valuable to that audience. It has to be ‘good’ to them.
Commentary blogs are the most difficult to launch because everyone has an opinion these days. But if you have a way of looking at the world that is unique, and underserved, you may be able to take a commentary blog to an audience that wants to learn more from you.
Product-Specific Blogs
Another type of blog is a mini-website aimed specifically at marketing a product by providing content-rich articles related to the product’s purpose.
The site will have ten to fifteen articles all leading to the same conclusion – the reader should get the product.
These blogs are advertising and affiliate marketing vehicles designed as information blogs, but the content is legitimate (assuming you are not a scammer).
This is a blog where the idea is to deliver information, but it’s not general information, it’s tailored to the product and all issues related to the product.
For example, if you are marketing a new vacuum cleaner, you could have articles about the perils of dust, carpet maintenance, keeping your family healthy, the exercise benefits of doing household chores, and so on.
These types of blogs are one-and-done. You write the core articles, set-up the webpages, and drive traffic to the site.
Once again, you do not need to be a creative writer, you are aggregating topic-specific information for an audience that is looking for the insight. Your articles must be valuable and useful to them, especially if it is new or misunderstood information.
This is also an opportunity to outsource the writing, but you have to be creative about the topics related to the product. You are looking for products that cross over a variety of different issues, and give you sufficient content to create a legitimate site.
Who Should Start a Blog?
Regardless of your type of blog, you want the content to stay consistent and reliable. So the hard truth about blogging is that you have to keep posting relevant content. You have to find enough content to maintain interest for a growing audience. That is a challenge that many aspiring entrepreneurs do not conquer.
If you:
- Like to write
- Come up with good ideas
- Are not afraid to promote your own writing to strangers
- Have a good subject area or topic
- Have money each month to spend on maintaining your website until you can grow your advertising revenue
- Are prepared to be consistently and reliably posting to your website
…then you are likely ready to move forward with starting a blog.
But blogging can be tedious, especially if you are lukewarm about your subject, and since it’s the most crowded online platform, you have to be creative to stand-out and be counted.
How to Start a Blog
As mentioned earlier, blogs are the easiest online business to start, but one that requires maintenance and has up-front costs to do it right.
The basic approach is:
- Get a domain name
- Set-up a webpage
- Start writing and posting content
Domain Name
Free Domain name
If you decide to use free website hosting, you will also likely receive a free ‘hosting’ domain, which typically includes the name of the website provider in your domain name.
This is a domain name you do not own, and one that may be long and cumbersome to use when speaking or posting about your new blog.
But for some, a free domain may be a necessary option for getting started without any upfront costs, but if you have a few dollars ready, and you are serious about your blog, you should start with a custom domain name.
Custom Domain name
The domain name is the name of your website. For many bloggers, it can be their ownname.com, for others it’s the subject they are discussing. You just have to decide.
Domains can cost as little as $3 a month to start. You can buy the domain from a stand-alone site, or purchase it when you set-up your webpage on a hosting site.
Carefully check the renewal terms for your domain name. Sometimes you can get the domain for a low introductory price, but it renews at ten times that rate, a year later.
Although a great domain name is valuable, like all actions in starting an online business, it is better to move forward than to worry about picking the perfect domain.
If you’re not sure, go with your own name or a made-up-name and move on. You have no online business until your site is live, so getting launched should be your focus.
Website
Free or Paid
Before you create your website, you must decide if you want to use free or paid blog hosting services.
Your blog is hosted on a website, which is hosted on a server managed by a website hosting provider.
‘Free’ means you sign-up and begin writing and posting content without paying any upfront fees. The ‘catch’ with free is there may be limitations on whether or not you can advertise on the platform. Since you are starting the blog to make money, this would be a limitation, but not an obstruction to making money.
But, If you are not sure if blogging is right for you, start with free services, and switch to paid when you are certain you want to move forward with the platform.
If you know you want to be a blogger and start with paid hosting, you have more flexibility to do what you want with the blog.
Your Own Website
Once you select your paid provider, they typically provide basic services aimed at getting you set-up. There are many blogging apps, but the most popular is WordPress, and you can quickly set-up a basic WordPress site through your provider.
Since WordPress provides flexible functionality for a website, for example, you can host an eCommerce store with your blogs, some bloggers find WordPress too complex for their plans, and are comfortable with a ‘blogging’ only app.
If you think you might want to do more with your blog – for example on my website for Ready Entrepreneur, along with the blog, I have my podcast embedded, links to online courses, and a store – and I am able to use plugins to extend the capabilities of the site from inserting landing pages from another app under the same domain, to capturing contact information.
As always, if you are unsure, start with the most basic option and be prepared to build from there.
Third Party Website
Blogging platforms, like Medium.com are websites where bloggers can establish their reputation and build an audience. These sites allow anyone to open an account and posts blogs, for free. Although these sites lead to a variety of subjects, they also attract a variety of readers who want to discover new voices, and learn more.
If you want to access the reader audience on these platforms, you can repurpose the blogs you create on your website. This allows you to gain both the traffic on the platform that is casually browsing, and the followers on your site who could one day become your dream customers.
Writing, Posting and Distributing Your Content
Once you have set-up your domain and webpage or site account, it’s time to write and post content.
Refer back to the Types of Blogs section to pick the direction you want to take your content.
If you are looking for topic ideas, listen to your friends, colleagues and neighbors, check social media, Google trends, and news headlines, and remember how you became interested in the subject in the first place. You probably have stories, ideas and anecdotes from your own experiences that could make the content for a blog.
Take a look at the work other bloggers are doing. Do not copy. Instead use other content as inspiration, and as a springboard for developing your own ideas.
You can post blogs on your own schedule as little or as often as you wish. But the more consistently you post, the more reliable you will appear to your readers. If readers enjoy one article, and they see another one the following week, and the week after, they are more likely to remember you, and maybe even recommend your work to others.
Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process, both technical and creative, that you use to help search engines find your blog. When you distribute your blog online, you should always make sure that you are search optimized, to drive organic traffic doing searches.
You will find many SEO apps and plugins online, and implementing SEO practices is not difficult. But being noticed is a challenge, you will have to do your own work to ensure people click on your blog.
Do Your Own Promotion
While search engines can organically find your blog, you will have to do your own distribution and promotion to drive traffic to your site.
Social Media
You can use social media to drive traffic to your blog by posting about the topic you wrote about and including the direct link to your blog in your posts. Add images or videos to attract attention, and ignite curiosity about your content.
For bloggers, all of the big social media sites are helpful, except Instagram, which does not have links in regular content. So if your content is visual, and insta-perfect, this limitation will be a concern, but you have the work-around of using the other platforms.
If your social media followers are mostly friends and family, include a Call-to-Action for them to share the post with their networks.
Track Your Traffic
If you have your own website, you can set-up analytics to track your visitors and the pages they frequent. This data will help you understand your most popular content, and perhaps give you additional content ideas, or more promotions you can do for specific content.
Track consistently to look for trends and opportunities to grow your blog’s popularity. For example, if you notice more traffic is coming from mobile, you can do a more mobile-friendly layout for those users.
How Blogs Make Money Online
The final part of your blog set-up is monetization…making money from the blog.
For the most part, your revenue opportunity comes from placing advertising on your blog pages. You can have Google ads automatically on your pages, affiliate ads that you place yourself, or links to your own digital or physical products that you sell in your own store or on a third party platform.
Essentially, having a blog works like a broadcast television network that creates lots of content, and drives ‘eyeballs’ to the shows that advertisers are paying to be featured on.
Your opportunity in earning for your blog comes from driving as much traffic as possible to your site, and having a percentage of that traffic click on the ads, and in the case of affiliates, making a purchase.
Google Ad Sense
The fastest way to begin making money with a blog is to set up a free account with Google Ad Sense, and let the search engine automatically post ads on your blog pages. Google’s advertising program pays you for clicks through to the sponsored ad pages.
You can control where the ads are placed, and to which pages, and you can ban content you don’t want associated with your work.
Google is set to match your blog content to related ads, but if subject matter is beyond the translation of Google’s A.I., you might find the ads do not match at all.
Once you set-up with Ad Sense, continuing monitoring the placement of ads to make sure they are where you expect to see them.
Affiliate Ads
Affiliate advertising is when you align with a third party to promote their product or service, and earn a flat rate or percentage for purchases made by other people through your links.
With many affiliate programs, you can sign-up for free on sites like Swagbucks, and place their advertising images with your affiliate link directly on your page. As more people sign-up, you earn a ‘bounty’ for bringing in new affiliates.
If you join the Amazon Affiliates program, you can also earn a ‘bounty’ for sign-ups to continuity programs like Amazon Prime.
Or you can promote products, including almost everything on Amazon.com, and earn whenever someone purchases a product through your link. As mentioned in the content section, you can even have an entire blog that is linked to affiliate products.
Because there are affiliate programs for almost every product you can think of, you should be able to find products that align with your blog content.
To keep your blog orderly, you want to have ads that support your product, and do not make your site look just like an advertising vehicle for sponsored products, or worse, a scam.
Links to Your Own Products
If you sell your own physical or digital products, you can use a blog to drive people to your products.
Write blogs that align with your product, then promote your product links directly in the blog or in the sidebars of your website.
This is often done with reviews (which you do not write for your own product, but you can post what others write), the review is linked back to the product.
But the real success in using this process is to write the definitive article about the value of your product, and then drive people through the links to your purchase pages.
Extension Products
Advertising is the direct way that blogs make money, but if you have a successful blog you can repurpose it to make money on other online platforms like podcasts and YouTube.
If your blogging positions you as an authority on a subject, you can also create courses, sell coaching, write books, or do speeches or other activities that are related to your blogging content, but are not directly revenue created from the blog.
All of these opportunities come with time, once you make your blog successful.
But when you are starting out, and you have no traffic to your blog, you will have no money from your blog, that’s the reality.
That’s why you must think carefully about how much you are willing to spend up-front, and how much time you will place in promoting your blog.
If your SEO is working, or your topic is unique and sought after, it’s possible for organic traffic to discover your blog, click on your ads, and you make money. But in general, if you are too shy promote your own work, you will not have a chance to earn from your blog.
What Makes Blogs Successful
A successful blog has great content. But that’s only the beginning.
The most popular blogs are delivering a form of comfort to readers. Whether it’s in the form of information or provocative statements or how-tos, a reader is satisfied after reading a great blog. And they’ll keep coming back for more if they feel the content is consistent and always appealing.
To get your blog into a success position, which means it starts paying you, build on the positive comments and reviews you receive.
Try to discover what appealed most to those readers, and why. You don’t have to start trying to tailor every blog to a raving fan, but it helps if you have an understanding as to why a specific blog post resonated with people.
From the beginning, blogging has been about the writing. While many blogs contain great visuals or videos, it’s the writing that brings people back time and again. If you want your blog to stand out and be noticed, that’s where to start.
But all the other activities must be completed also to make your blog a professional and reliable site for return readers. And you must promote the blog to as many people as possible to get the traffic on your site that will make your business profitable.
Choose blogging as your online business platform if you’ve come this far and believe you have the ingredients to make it work. But, ignore blogging if you plan to only do a superficial job of writing and promoting your site.
The real story behind starting a blog to make money is to make an effort marketing and promoting your blog to drive traffic to your site. Because without the upfront effort in creating your own publicity, you are unlikely to make any money. But with it, you give yourself a chance to stand-out among the 600 million and take your place in the online entrepreneur community.
Check out Case Lane’s blogs:
For aspiring entrepreneurs: https://www.readyentrepreneur.com/blog-posts/
For guest podcasting: https://podcastgueststar.com/
For fast, healthy eating: https://food.readyentrepreneur.com/blog/
For travel: https://travel.readyentrepreneur.com/
For Case Lane books: https://caselane.com/blog/
DISCLOSURE: links to Amazon.com, Bluehost and Case Lane’s books on Amazon.com are affiliate links that earn for eligible purchases at no additional cost to you.
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The Purpose of Entrepreneurship
Throughout economic history, entrepreneurs have been the dedicated risk-takers who transformed whole societies. But as an aspiring entrepreneur, you may wonder what your role could be. Maybe it’s to change at least one life, with the value you have to offer. Or maybe it really is to change the world also.
Below is The Purpose of Entrepreneurship YouTube video, and the video transcript.
Video Transcript
When you think about what makes a great life – what comes to mind?
Is it having a bunch of these…?
Or is it what you can do with this?
People want – health, wealth and happiness (usually meaning relationships or love) –
And if you have an idea that can get them closer to one or all three – you have an opportunity.
You see, if people knew what to do to get what they want, they would just do it, right?
But most people do not know what to do…they want to know, but they do not.
So what do you know that you can tell them?
You may not realize it, but you probably have some kind of expertise or an interest that other people share.
And when you do, if you are willing to put in a little effort, you can go online and build a business around your interest and get it out there to the people who want it most.
Yes, a business. An online business.
You can become an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurship is about solving problems. Finding gaps that need to be filled…and filling them.
It’s about delivering value to those who want or need what you have to offer.
It’s about being a contributor.
It’s about being a producer.
It’s about making a difference.
You might have thought about an idea…that could bring value to others…
You might have thought about becoming an entrepreneur…
And if you have, you might realize that…
The purpose of entrepreneurship is to deliver value through your product or service.
This…?
This has its role, but you don’t get to this without having value to offer in the first place.
Value that other people can use.
Yes, people care about themselves…what’s in it for them…
If you will put in the time that they won’t…
If you will do the research that they won’t…
If you will take the risks that they won’t…
They…become your customers…getting from you the value you can deliver.
That’s what entrepreneurship is all about… and that’s your opportunity.
The next step is yours…
I’m Case Lane, the author of Recast, a book about the first ten actions to take when getting started with an online business.
You recast to play a new role in your own life…this time as an online entrepreneur.
You take practical action to overcome your own doubts and distractions, and do what you have been thinking about doing.
Becoming an entrepreneur and starting your own business is about giving yourself a chance to live the life you have always wanted to live…
Do work that creates value and gives you meaning and purpose in your life…
Make yourself busy, involved and committed to doing something…anything that’s about going forward not backward…
Set yourself up for a future you want to live in…not one that will be handed to you
Entrepreneurship is about being free…
It’s not just about this…although you can do a lot with lots of these…
Most importantly, you can do what you want…
For those you most want to do it for.
If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, and it’s time to take the aspiring out…
Take a look at the description for this video to get access to resources you can use right now to get your online business started.
Video Description
Recast Inspiration to Start Your Own Business. This video is called The Only Fair Trade…the value you add for the Benjamins.
FREE // Learn the first 5 Actions to take when getting started with an online business. It’s not what you may be thinking think…but it may be the answer to getting past your procrastination and distractions. Download here: https://www.caselane.net/recast-actions
Maybe like you, I did all the ‘right’ things to end up in all the ‘right’ places only to discover that what I really wanted to do was contribute and add value on my terms. I started out in the online business game chasing all the shiny apples, only to discover that none of them laid out a clear plan for actually getting started with an online business, and working through the details to launch a business.
So I’ve learned the lessons, and now I pass them on to you…
Recast is the path you need to follow FIRST before you take any more confusing steps towards becoming an online entrepreneur.
WHAT TO WATCH NEXT If you have business ideas in your head, but you’re still thinking maybe entrepreneurship is not for you, you must FIND THE CONFIDENCE TO START YOUR BUSINESS, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xstvw…
GET THE RECAST BOOK
Recast is my Practical Guide to Getting Started with Your Online Business. You will learn the foundational actions to take to set yourself up for success, followed by the creative actions that take you towards launching your online business. These are the practical actions no one talks about, but everyone should do BEFORE you start chasing a specific online business ‘magic’ plan. Click here for the book: https://caselane.com/books/recast/
TAKE THE DOMINATE ONLINE BUSINESS COURSE
Already set to get your online business started? Get all the training and information you need to launch your business in the Dominate the Year Start Your Online Business course. This comprehensive program is like no other – it’s total and complete details for you to understand the online business landscape, pick your idea, pick your platform, create your content, find your niche market, launch with confidence…and much, much more. Learn more about the course here: https://www.caselane.net/dominate-course
Get more information…much more about how to move from ‘aspiring’ entrepreneur to online entrepreneur at the Ready Entrepreneur website https://www.readyentrepreneur.com/
CONNECT ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook @readyentrepreneurHQ https://www.facebook.com/readyentrepr…
Facebook @recastmovement https://www.facebook.com/groups/recas…
Instagram @readyentrepreneur https://www.instagram.com/readyentrep…
Pinterest @caselane https://www.pinterest.com/caselaneworld/
YouTube Case Lane channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCovz…
Twitter @caselaneworld https://twitter.com/CaseLaneWorld
Podcast: The Ready Entrepreneur podcast available wherever you listen to podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast…
WHO IS CASE LANE?
Hello, I’m Case Lane. I’m a global entrepreneur, writer, traveler and observer to the future.
But to start out, I followed all the traditional paths and ended up as a lawyer, economist, corporate executive, management consultant and diplomat.
Along the way I lived, worked and studied in ten different countries, learned to speak three languages, and became focused on economic development through business enterprise.
In my travels and living in different countries, I observed how entrepreneurs in all economic circumstances take the resources at hand, and build not only thriving businesses, but rising wealth. In the humblest rural small towns, or in the midst of a chaotic unregulated urban centers, action-takers who want to start a business implement their ideas, change their lives, and the community around them.
I decided to bring those similar tactics to a broader audience by creating Ready Entrepreneur as a comprehensive guide for taking your business from IDEA to OPEN.
And I wrote Recast, specifically to help you get started, when you have no idea how to begin your entrepreneurial journey.
I want to make sure you have practical, doable action you can take right now, to get past the obstacles that have been holding you back from pursuing your dreams.
If you think this sounds right to you, subscribe to my channel, and make sure you get your free copy of the Recast First 5 Actions so that you don’t miss more great information that you can use to get started as an online entrepreneur.
#caselane #readyentrepreneur #recastbook #recastmovement #aspiringentrepreneur #onlinebusiness #startanonlinebusiness #onlinebusinesstips #entrepreneurinspiration #inspirationtostartabusiness #onlineentrepreneur
Your Only Hope…is You
In a world where many believe money is the answer to all your problems, you may soon find out that really…you are the answer.
If you are a thinker who considers opportunity to grow and evolve as a challenge, then you have the chance to transform your life and lives of those around you.
Without people like you, we would not know how to move forward. But you have to learn to believe in yourself and what you can do.
Below is the Your Only Hope YouTube video and the video transcript
Video Transcript
Is this your only hope? If you only had more of these everything would be great…
You could pay all your bills, the mortgage, credit cards…
Set up the kids college funds…
Know that retirement will be relaxed and easy…
If you only had more of these…
When did it all get so difficult, so hard…
Why didn’t anyone tell you…teach you how to be wealthy and successful…
You know some people are just born with money, some people have great teachers and get great information, some people are lucky, some people have wonderful parents, and some people…
Earn it.
Oh yeah…there’s that too…
The fact that you can actually just earn these by delivering some kind of value to others that they will exchange for these.
But what value?
You’ve probably already thought about it. You’ve probably said…
I can do this better? Or
I wish this was better? Or
I’d like to do this? Or
I’d like to have something that does that?
You might have already recognized the gap that exists between the products and services that are available, and the wants and needs that people have.
And if you have seen that gap AND you’ve thought about how you could fill it. You’re probably an aspiring entrepreneur.
And if you’re an aspiring entrepreneur…it’s probably time to remove the ‘aspiring’ from your lexicon…
Because if you are the type of person who recognizes gaps, and sees problems AND you have solutions, you have ideas, you actually think about making a difference…
Then you need to act on what you see.
Entrepreneurship is for those who want to contribute, to do more with life than just complain…
And if that’s you, it’s time to start moving forward.
It’s starts with an idea…and it has to continue with action…then you can be that person who sees the other side.
Your only hope is not just more of these.
Your only hope is yourself…
You…how you think and what you do.
No one is going to rescue you…
No one is going to make it easy…
No one else will pay the bills…
No one else will give the people you love the best life possible…
No one else will give you the life you have always dreamed of.
Only you.
You have to put your trust in you and your ability, and make your move.
I’m Case Lane, the author of Recast, a book about the first ten actions to take when getting started with an online business.
You recast to play a new role in your own life…this time as an online entrepreneur.
You take practical action to overcome your own doubts and distractions, and do what you have been thinking about doing, which is to start your own business.
Becoming an entrepreneur and starting your own business is about giving yourself a chance to live the life you have always wanted to live…
Do work that creates value and gives you meaning and purpose in your life…not anger and complaint.
Make yourself busy, involved and committed to doing something…anything…that’s about moving forward not backward…
Set yourself up for a future you want to live in…not one that will be handed to you
Entrepreneurship is about being free…
It’s not just about this…although you can do a lot with this…
You can do what you want…
For those you most want to do it for.
If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, it’s time to take away the aspiring…
Take a look at the description for this video to get access to resources you can use right now to get your online business started.
Video Description
Recast Inspiration to Start Your Own Business. This video is called Your Only Hope…is You.
FREE // Learn the first 5 Actions to take when getting started with an online business. It’s not what you may be thinking think…but it may be the answer to getting past your procrastination and distractions. Download here: https://www.caselane.net/recast-actions
Maybe like you, I did all the ‘right’ things to end up in all the ‘right’ places only to discover that what I really wanted to do was contribute and add value on my terms. I started out in the online business game chasing all the shiny apples, only to discover that none of them laid out a clear plan for actually getting started with an online business, and working through the details to launch a business.
So I’ve learned the lessons, and now I pass them on to you…
Recast is the path you need to follow FIRST before you take any more confusing steps towards becoming an online entrepreneur.
WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
If you have business ideas in your head, but you’re still thinking maybe entrepreneurship is not for you, you must FIND THE CONFIDENCE TO START YOUR BUSINESS, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xstvw…
GET THE RECAST BOOK
Recast is my Practical Guide to Getting Started with Your Online Business. You will learn the foundational actions to take to set yourself up for success, followed by the creative actions that take you towards launching your online business. These are the practical actions no one talks about, but everyone should do BEFORE you start chasing a specific online business ‘magic’ plan. Click here for the book: https://caselane.com/books/recast/
TAKE THE DOMINATE ONLINE BUSINESS COURSE
Already set to get your online business started? Get all the training and information you need to launch your business in the Dominate the Year Start Your Online Business course. This comprehensive program is like no other – it’s total and complete details for you to understand the online business landscape, pick your idea, pick your platform, create your content, find your niche market, launch with confidence…and much, much more. Learn more about the course here: https://www.caselane.net/dominate-course
Get more information…much more about how to move from ‘aspiring’ entrepreneur to online entrepreneur at the Ready Entrepreneur website https://www.readyentrepreneur.com/
CONNECT ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook @readyentrepreneurHQ https://www.facebook.com/readyentrepr…
Facebook @recastmovement https://www.facebook.com/groups/recas…
Instagram @readyentrepreneur https://www.instagram.com/readyentrep…
Pinterest @caselane https://www.pinterest.com/caselaneworld/
YouTube Case Lane channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCovz…
Twitter @caselaneworld https://twitter.com/CaseLaneWorld
Podcast: The Ready Entrepreneur podcast available wherever you listen to podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast…
WHO IS CASE LANE?
Hello, I’m Case Lane. I’m a global entrepreneur, writer, traveler and observer to the future.
But to start out, I followed all the traditional paths and ended up as a lawyer, economist, corporate executive, management consultant and diplomat.
Along the way I lived, worked and studied in ten different countries, learned to speak three languages, and became focused on economic development through business enterprise.
In my travels and living in different countries, I observed how entrepreneurs in all economic circumstances take the resources at hand, and build not only thriving businesses, but rising wealth. In the humblest rural small towns, or in the midst of a chaotic unregulated urban centers, action-takers who want to start a business implement their ideas, change their lives, and the community around them.
I decided to bring those similar tactics to a broader audience by creating Ready Entrepreneur as a comprehensive guide for taking your business from IDEA to OPEN.
And I wrote Recast, specifically to help you get started, when you have no idea how to begin your entrepreneurial journey.
I want to make sure you have practical, doable action you can take right now, to get past the obstacles that have been holding you back from pursuing your dreams.
If you think this sounds right to you, subscribe to my channel, and make sure you get your free copy of the Recast First 5 Actions so that you don’t miss more great information that you can use to get started as an online entrepreneur.
#caselane #readyentrepreneur #recastbook #recastmovement #aspiringentrepreneur #onlinebusiness #startanonlinebusiness #onlinebusinesstips #entrepreneurinspiration #inspirationtostartabusiness #onlineentrepreneur
Learn the First 10 Actions to Take When Starting an Online Business
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