ReportWire

Tag: Side Hustle

  • How to Turn Your Side Hustle Into a Full-Time Business | Entrepreneur

    How to Turn Your Side Hustle Into a Full-Time Business | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    “You are fired.” No one wants to hear those words, especially if your feeling of self-worth is tightly linked to your job. I was working in broadcasting for about a decade when I got fired. The television station eliminated my department and tried to make me quit to avoid paying unemployment. I would not, so they fired me. It was the best thing that ever happened.

    I always thought I would someday own a business. While working full-time, I freelanced as a video producer for many years. Today, you might call it a side hustle. I made good money and got comfortable with the extra cash. When I lost my full-time job, I looked at the options. Go back to work for someone else? Freelance? Side hustle? Open a business doing what I love?

    Related: 8 Easy Side Hustles in 2023

    The options

    I knew I did not want to work for someone else. Like millions of others, I wanted more control over my life and work. When you freelance, you can control what work you take and what you turn down. However, it can also be lonely. You do not have a consistent team to rely on. You are a one-person operation doing everything.

    For some, the side hustle is another option born out of a necessity to earn extra cash. For others, it is a hobby or creative venture that feeds their soul. Generally, a side hustle is not a full-time endeavor, at least not immediately. I decided to stop freelancing or doing the side hustle and go for it. Thirty-five years later, my business is still thriving. I learned how to turn my passion into a credible and pretty cool business. If you decide to do the same, here are three things to consider.

    Related: 5 Ways to Grow Your Side Hustle Into a Full-Time Income

    1. Can you go the distance?

    There are many examples of companies that grew quickly, took advantage of a trend to become household names and then failed to go the distance. Blockbuster. Kodak. Blackberry. Sears. We can learn from these case studies. No one has a crystal ball, so ask yourself some tough questions.

    Is your business idea something people want or need today? Will they still want it five years from now, ten years from now? Will you be able to introduce new or complimentary products and services? Or are you a “one-hit wonder?” To survive, you must be able to change course and adapt when the market changes.

    In my case, the need for media production by businesses has increased dramatically. What we create and how we create it has changed, but we have been able to adapt. It takes a huge effort to launch a business. Don’t waste your effort creating a formal business if you cannot go far.

    As a side note, some businesses are created to take advantage of a hot product or service. This short life-cycle business — think of pop-up stores — has a different objective.

    Related: I Built My Multimillion-Dollar Side-Hustle While Working a Full-Time Job and So Can You

    2. Can you build a team?

    When I first started my business, it was the epitome of “lean.” A team of two. That is not unusual, but if you want to make an impact, you eventually need people. And not just any people. The right people.

    As a business leader, you must create the kind of place that reflects your vision — where the work gets done and people thrive. Culture is a huge buzzword. I like to keep it simple. I want people who value the same things that I do. Integrity. Honesty. Hard work. Fun. Creativity. Caring for each other, our customers and the work. You cannot build a team if you cannot articulate your vision. You cannot build a team if you are not action-oriented — do what you say you will do.

    Building an external team of experts is also critical for turning a side hustle into a business. You need legal help, accountants and human resources. Business regulations are complicated and constantly changing. There is no way a smaller enterprise can do it alone. I have seen many try only to end up in court due to honest mistakes.

    You might have a great product or service, but it takes a team effort to make a business successful.

    Related: The 5 Pillars of Building a Culture of Success in a Startup

    3. Can you get the cash?

    Finding the money to launch your business can be daunting. It is ironic. You may not have the track record when you most need the money. When you do not need it, everyone wants to lend it to you. With freelancing or a side hustle, you can keep costs down. Work out of your home. Keep inventory low. As you start to buy equipment, hire people and market, the costs pile up quickly.

    Would-be business owners often use credit cards to get started. They borrow from family and friends or use funding campaigns. When a family member wanted to buy a business and could not get a loan, my business loaned the money. I got it back, plus interest. However, that is not typical. The National Small Business Association (NSBA) recently reported that over one-third of small businesses (37%) cannot get adequate financing. That is the highest it has been since 2008.

    There are options. Remember that team of external advisors? Now is a good time to leverage their help. Advisors have relationships and can make introductions. Credit unions are an option, and there are alternative lending sources. You can go online, but be careful of predatory lenders and outrageous fees. The bottom line is that you need cash to launch and keep you going.

    Should you turn your side hustle into a business? That depends. There is freedom in doing your own thing and making great money. However, it is also rewarding to build a business. Be sure before you take the leap.

    [ad_2]

    Cynthia Kay

    Source link

  • 4 Side Hustles for Professionals Facing a Layoff | Entrepreneur

    4 Side Hustles for Professionals Facing a Layoff | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    The job market, particularly in the tech sector, is volatile at the moment (to put it mildly), with many professionals worried about how they will make ends meet after being let go from high-paying positions and losing benefits. Worse yet, there’s increasing uncertainty about the availability of new positions, in part because hiring processes have slowed down due to longer interview structures.

    But what if these professionals were able to start a business as a side hustle — to monetize what they already know from their old (or day) jobs? Many have doubtless long wanted to become entrepreneurs, and so this unpredictable time may also be the perfect one to creatively apply acquired education, experience and expertise.

    These options for doing just that can help professionals make extra income while enhancing their personal brands.

    [ad_2]

    Kanika Tolver

    Source link

  • Why Every Business Leader Should Write a Book | Entrepreneur

    Why Every Business Leader Should Write a Book | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    From memoirs like Phil Knight’s Shoe Dog to leadership guides like Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In, books have long been a powerful medium for executives to share their stories and wisdom. But in today’s noisy digital age, does authorship still matter for modern business leaders?

    The answer is a resounding yes. Here’s why every leader should make writing and publishing a book a priority.

    Related: 7 Books Every CEO Should Read

    Establish your thought leadership

    Publishing a business book has become a rite of passage for today’s foremost executives across every industry. It’s one of the most effective ways to demonstrate intellectual authority and cement your status as a thought leader.

    Writing a book lets you articulate your unique perspectives, business philosophies and life lessons. A book is a tangible artifact of your ideas that delivers lasting value to readers long after publication. Whether it’s leading a startup or a Fortune 500 firm, authoring a book provides an unparalleled way to define your leadership brand.

    Share your story

    Books allow leaders to share their origin stories and behind-the-scenes glimpses into pivotal moments. Vulnerable and personal stories connect with readers on a human level. Mixing anecdotes with practical lessons also makes teaching moments more resonant. A book provides the space to tell your journey – from early career struggles to the risks that fueled your success. Every leader has impactful life experiences worth capturing in print, which a book makes possible.

    Related: Harness the Power of Storytelling to Transform Your Business for the Better

    Spread your vision

    Business books give leaders a unique format to cast a vision and rally people behind it. Certain ideas require more nuance than a tweet, blog post or speech can provide. A book allows you to comprehensively articulate your philosophy and prescriptions around leadership, culture, innovation or any topic. Whether predicting future trends or detailing growth strategies, a book gives leaders the bandwidth to inspire action around their ideas. Put simply, books make messages stick.

    Attract top talent

    Your book can be a powerful recruitment tool to engage and hire world-class talent. It provides insight into your leadership style and company values. For candidates considering roles at your firm, reading your book is like getting a crash course straight from the CEO.

    They can discern whether your culture and philosophy resonate before stepping into the office. A book signals that you are invested in developing people. Top performers will find the care and forethought behind your book attractive.

    Related: How to Attract and Retain Top Talent

    Build your brand

    Authoring a book is a brand-building exercise that boosts your professional visibility and name recognition. A book gives you a product to promote across all your marketing channels. The content also fuels speaking engagements, podcast interviews and social media. Every touchpoint where someone engages your book spreads brand awareness. Over time, your book can make you synonymous with key ideas. Whether trying to attract investors, partners or media, a book strengthens your brand considerably.

    Leave a legacy

    Once a business leader departs, their tangible impact can fade quickly. A book, however, creates a lasting legacy that continues influencing people for generations. It serves as a formal record of your fundamental principles and achievements.

    Whether instructing others or reminiscing, your book remains a reference. Great entrepreneurs like Rockefeller and Disney still impact people through their biographies today. A book provides future leaders with enduring life lessons.

    Related: How to Leave Your Legacy, Help Others and Raise Your Authority

    The benefits for your business

    Beyond individual gains, a book also directly benefits your business in several ways:

    1. Credibility and PR. A book is a powerful credibility booster that generates buzz and media coverage for your company. Journalists rely on readers to inform their reporting. A book gives you a pre-researched resource to share with reporters. It’s also great fodder for landing speaking gigs and PR opportunities. Any publicity the book drives ultimately shines a positive light on your business.
    2. Lead generation. Your book can fuel a robust lead generation strategy. Using sections of the book or lessons within it as gated content offers in exchange for contact info is proven to attract qualified prospects. Books make ideal gifts to existing clients and high-value targets. They establish you as an authority worth paying attention to. Promoting your book is also a pillar for capturing speaking leads or advisory roles.
    3. Recruiting perk. A book can be a nice added perk to entice candidates during recruiting. Providing copies to finalists or new hires is a meaningful gesture. Your book enables them to hit the ground running by quickly getting up to speed on your leadership style and business principles. C-suite candidates, particularly, see your book as a strong indicator of your dedication to mentorship and developing future leaders.
    4. Culture ambassador. For organizations with thousands of employees across disparate locations, a book allows you to reinforce vision and values consistently. Your book encapsulates the culture you want to be embodied at scale. When distributed widely internally, it is an invaluable reference that keeps everyone rowing in one direction. New hires receive a clear artifact of the company’s ideals and history from day one.

    The book process

    Writing a book may seem daunting, but modern publishing options have made the process more accessible than ever:

    • Work with an experienced ghostwriter – They handle the writing based on your vision and interviews.
    • Use pre-orders to fund production – Cover upfront costs by pre-selling copies.
    • Start with a goal of 250 pages
    • Schedule 4 months to complete the manuscript
    • Hire a professional designer – Have a budget of around $1,000 for an eye-catching cover.
    • Self-publish and retain rights – Platforms like Amazon make this simple.
    • Launch with PR and events – Land media hits and plan release parties.

    The benefits demonstrate why authorship should be on every leader’s radar. But ultimately, a book allows you to impact people seeking wisdom on thriving in business and life. And there is no greater legacy.

    [ad_2]

    Vikrant Shaurya

    Source link

  • 10 Proven Passive Income Ideas for 2023 | Entrepreneur

    10 Proven Passive Income Ideas for 2023 | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    There are many ways to generate passive income and change your financial future. Whether you want to earn just an extra $1000 per month on the side or go into something full-time and replace your current salary, different passive income ideas require different work and time.

    Upfront work is required, so don’t expect to get rich overnight, but with a plan in place and the right kind of motivation, you can see success much sooner than you think.

    1. Start an Online Business

    Starting an online business is the best way to generate revenue on autopilot.

    Why?

    1. You don’t need a ton of cash upfront.
    2. You have a lot of room to make mistakes, and
    3. It’s one of the most fulfilling life adventures you could ever be on.

    I started my first online business in 2008 after being laid off from an architecture job I loved. My website helped architects pass a difficult exam, and people paid me for study material I created to help them prepare.

    How much money did this business make?

    In one year, I generated over $200,000, more than double what I earned as an architect.

    2. Affiliate Marketing

    Affiliate marketing allows you to generate passive income simply by recommending existing products to other people. If you’ve ever recommended something to a friend, you know how to do affiliate marketing already.

    Affiliate marketing has been my most significant single source of revenue, bringing in over $4 million since 2009.

    So, how does affiliate marketing work, exactly?

    With affiliate marketing, you recommend other people or company’s products and services to your following. You can talk about it on YouTube, a website, in an email, or even just with your social following. And, when someone purchases from your recommendation, you’ll receive a commission from the sale.

    One of the most popular and accessible ways to get started is through the Amazon Affiliate Program. People already know and trust shopping from Amazon, and you’ll have a massive range of products to select from.

    Just be sure only to choose products that you can stand behind, and that will serve your audience well, and be sure to always be upfront that a link you promote is an affiliate link.

    To be successful with this, you’ll need to put time into building an audience who trusts that you’ll always steer them in the right direction and then follow through on that.

    Related: 12 Myths and Misconceptions of Affiliate Marketing

    3. Start a YouTube Channel

    Starting a YouTube channel is an excellent option for making passive income online; it’s free to get started, and if you create videos that people want to watch, you can generate revenue from ads, sponsorships, and even promoting your products.

    Recently, I started a new YouTube channel all about Pokemon cards called Deep Pocket Monster. In two years, this new channel has grown to over 500,000 subscribers, and it generates revenue from ads, sponsorships, and even affiliate marketing by promoting card shops and binders on my videos.

    4. Open a Paid Membership Business

    Like signing up for a gym membership, people join online memberships and pay recurring fees for the sense of community and value it brings them. In fact, we have a couple ourselves:

    • Our SPI All-Access Pass is a community of up-and-coming entrepreneurs who get access to all of our courses, workshops, community events, and even guides to help them through the material.
    • SPI PRO is our higher-level community of established business owners who want to network, connect, and share ideas with growth in mind. We require an application to get into this paid community.

    Both of our communities require a recurring payment (quarterly or annual), but people are happy to continue to pay that because they’re getting more value in return.

    With a membership business, you may need a platform to host your community. Circle is our top choice because it’s easy to use and familiar to users who join. This is our affiliate link for Circle in case you’d like to check it out and give it a run!

    5. Make Print-on-Demand Designs

    If you have a keen eye for design and current trends and know how to use design software, selling print-on-demand designs could be a great option to create passive income.

    With print-on-demand, you don’t have to buy any inventory ahead of time, so it’s a low-risk business model.

    You’ll work with a print provider, like Printful or Teespring, to sell merch (t-shirts, mugs, bags, etc.) customized with your designs and sold per order.

    When someone buys one of your designs, the print provider fulfills, prints, and ships the order on your behalf.

    The trickiest part is making unique, high-quality designs that inspire your people to purchase them.

    6. Offer Software as a Service (SaaS) Business

    Another potentially lucrative option for passive income is to create an app or software that you can offer as a subscription service—also called software as a service (SaaS).

    To do something like this requires coding knowledge or the funds to hire someone who knows how to code, but there are many resources available to find people who can do that kind of work for you, like Upwork.

    Remember that this is one of the more time-consuming options; it will take a good chunk of time to plan and get things up and running.

    Also, you will have to create and offer a truly valuable solution—and market your solution effectively—to make passive income with this, which isn’t exactly easy.

    This is a challenging route., but it can be rewarding.

    Related: How to Successfully Launch a Product in Under 90 Days

    7. Create an Online Course

    Everyone has a skill they can teach, so why not monetize yours AND help others by creating an online course?

    Making an online course isn’t too difficult either, but it will take a lot of time and effort to ensure it’s useful. We host our online courses on both Teachable and Circle, and it’s an amazing way to package information into a place where people can experience a transformation or solve a problem.

    Once you’ve created the content and have everything set up, it can be an incredibly profitable source of passive income.

    There are several platforms, like Udemy or Skillshare, that you can choose from to host your course and facilitate getting your course paid viewers.

    However, I always recommend using your website to give you greater control and true ownership.

    8. Create No-Code Apps

    Did you know you can reap the benefits of creating an app without knowing how to code? Apart from hiring an expensive developer, that is.

    Yep, you can control the process and create an app through development platforms like Zapier, Appy Pie, or Bubble.

    There are a lot of apps out there, so to be successful with this, you’ll need to search and identify a need and fill that need with your app.

    If you set your objectives ahead of time and know exactly which problem you’re trying to solve—and who you’re solving it for—you’ll already be a step ahead of the competition.

    With this, you can earn high passive income through downloads, subscriptions, ads, etc.—depending on how you model it.

    9. Publish an eBook

    Selling eBooks online is a very accessible method of making passive income.

    The idea of creating a whole digital “book” might still sound intimidating to you, but I promise it’s actually simple to do.

    Your book’s content can be informative or entertaining, and it can be as short and simple as a 5-page PDF.

    You don’t have to be a pro writer or even an expert on your eBook’s topic. Just be sure to provide high-quality, well-designed content that resonates with your audience.

    You can even hire a freelance ghostwriter and graphic designer to help you out.

    All you have to do is self-publish it to Amazon or Apple Books and promote it to your audience.

    Writing an eBook gives you a vehicle to benefit your existing audience with helpful information, further strengthening your relationship with them.

    It’s also a great tool to augment your audience to new levels and boost traffic to your website, podcast, and other channels—growing your brand.

    10. Write a Book

    Writing a physical book is a great way to generate passive income, not just from the book’s potential sales, but how it may promote other services and products you have to offer.

    I’ve written and published three books myself, and although it’s a tough route, it’s super rewarding, and the residual income, if you continue to market the book (or it takes off on its own)can be plentiful.

    My self-published book, Will It Fly, has generated a total of $459,341.00 (between 2016 and 2019)

    If you’d like to join a community of people just like you who are building their businesses right now, please check out our All-Access Pass. We’ll guide you across our entire course library to ensure you give yourself the best chance to earn an additional income.

    You got this!

    [ad_2]

    Pat Flynn

    Source link

  • How to Use Buy with Prime to Benefit Your Brand and Customers | Entrepreneur

    How to Use Buy with Prime to Benefit Your Brand and Customers | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Amazon Prime has become associated with a level of consistency and dependability. It’s a brand over 200 million subscribers trust globally. Ecommerce sellers can tap into that subscriber base by adding Amazon’s Buy with Prime service into their websites’ checkout process.

    All the customer has to do is log in to their Amazon Prime account and all their payment and shipping information are available. Amazon says that Buy with Prime’s ease of use, free shipping and familiar checkout experience have increased shopper conversion by 25% on average. If you’re a brand, that’s conversion on your website.

    When a customer buys your brand’s product on Amazon, they’re Amazon’s customer. It’s hard to get around that — especially when tapping into Amazon marketing capabilities like Amazon DSP — you’re targeting Amazon customers on Amazon. Anyone using Buy with Prime is still your customer. By the time a customer gets to that checkout option, they will have interacted with your brand’s marketing funnel and website, but they get the convenience of Prime to boost their experience.

    Related: Amazon Just Updated A Service That Will Make Shopping Even Easier for Prime Lovers

    Buy with Prime merchants can also showcase reviews from Amazon. If your brand has a positive following on Amazon, it’s easy to tap into that consumer trust. Online shoppers depend on reviews when making their decision, and seeing reviews from both Amazon and your website helps to clinch that conversion.

    This is most useful for brands with an established Amazon presence, especially because of fulfillment. For Buy with Prime to work, you must have inventory in Amazon fulfillment centers. When Buy with Prime was first rolled out in 2022, it was only available to Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) businesses by invitation only. Now any third-party merchant can use it — as long as they “pay for what they use, and all fees, except for those incurred for storage, are charged only after merchants make a sale,” Amazon notes in a FAQ section on the Buy with Prime page.

    For those prices, Amazon will deliver on delivery. Amazon has been bolstering its delivery process using artificial intelligence and “regionalization,” keeping inventory in areas closer to customers. Online shoppers prefer value over speed when it comes to delivery. In a survey, shipping cost was found to be 2.85 times more important than shipping speed. If they are already Prime subscribers, not having to pay for additional shipping along with fast delivery reads as the ultimate value—value that becomes associated with your brand.

    Overall, Buy with Prime integration is relatively easy, with minimal code to be added to your brand’s website, even if you use ecommerce platforms like Shopify. Sellers can choose which items are Buy with Prime compatible and their pricing. You can create bundles with higher price points, even varying from your prices on Amazon. Your website must have Amazon Pay integrated for Buy with Prime to work, though.

    Related: How Amazon Got Americans to Spend $12.7 Billion in 2 Days Without Lifting a Finger

    Buy with Prime does come with some endorsed integrations. No code is necessary for integration if sellers use a BigCommerce website. BigCommerce sellers can automatically sync their catalog across platforms and monitor orders and returns. If you’re a Klaviyo user, Buy with Prime also comes with integration for syncing purchase data to reach customers with targeted messaging. Klaviyo will allow you to reengage shoppers, encouraging Prime members to return and complete checkout using Buy with Prime on your site.

    Your brand gets access to the shopper information, including name, email address, shipping address and phone number. Amazon will also get that customer data about Prime, but they won’t get any data concerning your non-Prime orders on your site.

    Related: Amazon Slashes Dozens of In-House Brands. Did Your Favorite Line Get Cut?

    At my company, ChannelOp, I love to see brands excel using Amazon’s tools to boost their brand. Amazon’s greatest strength comes from having a diversity of sellers in its marketplace. However, there are sometimes disparities between how inventory moves on Amazon and its websites. We’ve found that when certain products sell well on a brand’s website and not on Amazon, Buy with Prime can move that Amazon inventory. It’s just another tool in your brand’s toolbelt.

    I do look forward to improvements from Amazon on these tools. One feature I hope to see is a Buy with Prime basket. Currently, it’s a single-unit checkout process, limiting online shoppers to single transactions. The margin will increase if three products can sit in a checkout basket instead of just one.

    I hope to see more brands tap into online shoppers’ trust in Amazon Prime. Whether you’re already a Fulfillment By Amazon business or a third party, Buy with Prime adds value to your customer’s journey.

    [ad_2]

    Tyler Metcalf

    Source link

  • How a Cheese Board Side Hustle Grossed $1 Million in Three Years | Entrepreneur

    How a Cheese Board Side Hustle Grossed $1 Million in Three Years | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Who would have ever thought that cheese boards could earn you $1 million?

    But that’s exactly what happened to Monisha Mirsa, who grew her side hustle charcuterie board business, BoardsbyMo, to $1 million in revenue in just three years. Mirsa now runs the business full-time with a team of 7 employees.

    She recently appeared on my podcast The Side Hustle Show, part of the Entrepreneur Podcast Network, to tell her extraordinary story.

    Photo courtesy of BoardsbyMo

    Filling a need during the pandemic

    When the quarantine orders were put in place in Boston during the beginning of the pandemic, Mirsa started going a little “stir crazy” at home working for a software company.

    She had a lot of friends and family who were essential employees and healthcare workers. Seeing her friends working so hard gave her the idea to prepare some snack platters or home-cooked meals for them. Mirsa started dropping these off at hospitals around Boston for free.

    But some of the staff she gave platters to asking if they could buy some. That “planted a little seed,” Mirsa said. She didn’t see this becoming a full-time job though, as she assumed she’d be going back to work in the near future.

    A month later a friend reached out and asked if Mirsa would make a cheeseboard for her mom for Mother’s Day. She insisted on paying and also insisted that Mirsa start an Instagram account and think about turning this into a business. On May 5th, 2020, Mirs started her Instagram account, and on May 10th, she had her first order.

    “It was never supposed to happen, I just kept thinking this is cool,” Monisha said.

    Related: This Couple’s Side Hustle Lets Them Stay for Free in High-End Homes Around the World, Making $20k a Month.

    Using Instagram

    After Mirsa started her Instagram account, she posted what she called, “almost like a fake promotion”, which read:

    $40 date night board gets delivered to your doorstep, mix of cheese, charcuterie, fruit, nuts, jams, 2 days only, DM me to reserve yours now!

    She admits she had no idea what she was doing. Two hours later she had more than 20 DMs from complete strangers asking for one of these boards to be delivered.

    Mirsa said she was being found because she was tagging Boston food bloggers and using hashtags that promoted her boards. In that first year, she grew her account to around 20,000 followers.

    Building a Website

    Mirsa wanted her own platform where people could place orders and learn more about her business, so she built her site, BoardsByMo.com, on the eCommerce platform Shopify and integrated HubSpot so her orders flowed through.

    Starting workshops

    Mirsa also offered virtual charcuterie board-building workshops as corporate team-building exercises on Zoom. Given the inbound interest, Mirsa began teaching other aspiring charcuterie entrepreneurs how to start their own businesses.

    Related: How I Turned My Love for Travel Into a $50k a Month Business

    Quitting her 9 to 5 job

    After consistently hitting her monthly revenue goals for 6 straight months, Mirsa gained the confidence to leave her stable 9-to-5 job and devote herself entirely to her passion.

    You can hear my interview with her about that decision and what happened next here.

    Since making the jump and committing to BoardsbyMo, she has seen her Instagram following grow to around 120,000+ followers, 6 times what it was when she was working her office job.

    While quitting was nerve-wracking for Mirsa, she set a target revenue that made her comfortable stepping away from the reliability of a steady paycheck.

    “It was definitely one of the scariest things I think I’ve ever done,” she said. But by focusing on her revenue goals and passion for charcuterie, she took the plunge into full-time entrepreneurship.

    Tapping into B2B opportunities

    Mirsa has since expanded her marketing to platforms like LinkedIn. With corporate catering now being a huge part of her business, she uses LinkedIn to target prospects planning large conferences, meetings, and events.

    She tries to keep it organic—posting about successes but also being open about challenges.

    Leveraging Email marketing strategies

    Mirsa’s email newsletters highlight upcoming events like public workshops, special deals, and new product launches.

    She considers email marketing critical. “I have a fear that one day all these social media platforms are just going to go away,” she said. Email allows her to stay in touch with her audience.

    To drive newsletter signups, Monisha positions BoardsbyMo as a thought leader in charcuterie—offering tips, tricks, and expertise. This provides more value beyond just promoting products.

    “It just shows people here’s another local business that you can support and that you can frequent and purchase from later on,“ she said.

    The co-marketing workshops are free exposure events for both businesses involved. Mirsa and her partner coordinate marketing emails to promote the workshop and bring in new audiences.

    Diversifying revenue streams

    In terms of revenue streams, catering corporate events is now Mirsa’s biggest moneymaker.

    “It’s easier to book when people are spending company budgets rather than their own money,” she said.

    Workshops are another major stream, including public collaborative workshops and private team-building events.

    Drawing on her software sales background, Mirsa created a small business strategy workshop that quickly gained popularity, even being used by Harvard Business School. She fills a gap by helping creative founders sell their passion projects.

    She offers charcuterie board workshops and classes through her business. The workshops are available as online courses on Teachable.

    The main course is her sales and marketing strategy workshop, which costs $400 individually or $900 as part of a bundle with other courses. It includes pre-recorded videos and a downloadable workbook.

    The secret to her success

    Asked why her charcuterie business has stood out amongst the many similar cheese plate influencers that popped up in recent years, Mirsa believes the aesthetically pleasing nature of charcuterie boards gives her an automatic advantage on visual platforms like Instagram.

    But she says she started adding more behind-the-scenes, day-in-the-life type of content, showing the “not sexy” parts of running her business. She’ll bring followers into the kitchen, cutting huge wheels of cheese for hours, with salami in her hair.

    This depicts “a more organic and realistic depiction of what it’s like to be a small business owner,” she said.

    [ad_2]

    Nick Loper

    Source link

  • 22-Year-Old’s Former Side Hustle Draws Several Income Streams | Entrepreneur

    22-Year-Old’s Former Side Hustle Draws Several Income Streams | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Ethan “Haze” Hayes, 22, started making beats in the summer of 2019, right before his freshman year at Bryant University.

    Hayes had a musical background — he’d played the piano from a young age — and picked up the hobby for fun after watching people create their own beats on YouTube.

    But Hayes’ newfound past-time would become a lucrative side hustle, then a full-blown music career, while he was still a college student.

    [ad_2]

    Amanda Breen

    Source link

  • A Nurse Turned $500 in Savings Into $100 Million in Sales | Entrepreneur

    A Nurse Turned $500 in Savings Into $100 Million in Sales | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    In 2013, Courtney Adeleye was working as a registered nurse and searching for a product suitable for treating natural hair.

    “There were not many brands that used natural ingredients and specialized in healthy hair growth at the same time,” Adeleye recalls. “So, I started mixing my own products at home and infused them with vitamins, nutrients and healthy ingredients.”

    Adeleye documented her homemade hair care routine on YouTube, and it wasn’t long before she gained a large following of people who wanted to know her secret — and purchase products from her directly. So, with just $500 to her name, Adeleye developed a few deep conditioning treatments and sold them to her fans.

    Those initial offerings would grow into The Mane Choice, Adeleye’s hair care solution for healthy locks, featuring formulas free from mineral oil, petrolatum, parabens, sulfates and formaldehyde.

    Adeleye says she sold $10 million worth of products from her home during her first three years in business, and within another two, she’d partnered with more than 60,000 retailers across the U.S. — achieving $100 million in sales and an IPO by 2019.

    Last year, Adeleye launched Olbali, a health-focused direct-selling company, to house her private brands, including The Mane Choice, Cool Coffee Clique, Foolproof Body and more.

    Related: How Private Equity Investors Gave This 17-Year-Old Beauty Brand a $100 Million Makeover

    Entrepreneur connected with Adeleye during National Black Business Month to hear more about how she overcomes the limiting perceptions Black-owned businesses often face and the 10 secrets that helped her see so much success.

    “I have been asked if my products are for Black women only despite having extensive diverse marketing.”

    Adeleye says she didn’t become a nurse because she wanted some people to live healthier lives — she became one because she wanted everyone to live healthier lives. The same is true of why she founded a beauty and wellness business.

    Her company’s products aren’t just for Black consumers, but for everyone who can benefit from them, Adeleye says.

    Courtesy of Olbali

    Still, all too often, Black founders are unfairly pigeonholed, and the Black-owned label can actually work against their businesses, according to Adeleye.

    “I create healthy products for people to help them live healthier lives,” she explains. “However, I have been asked if my products are for Black women only despite having extensive diverse marketing.”

    Research from McKinsey & Company highlights how pervasive the issue is.

    Like all businesses, beauty brands must stay connected with their core shoppers and pursue growth opportunities — yet “there’s also a persistent myth in the beauty industry that Black-brand products can only be sold to Black consumers,” per the report.

    Related: 6 Ways You Can Support Black Businesses Long-Term | Entrepreneur

    Adeleye says she “must be more intentional” when it comes to displaying diversity across her brands, ensuring her business can realize its full growth potential “on a mass level.” “My goal has always been to be diverse and inclusive,” she says. “So, being intentional is something that comes natural to me.”

    “You have to believe in yourself before anyone else will.”

    Adeleye says following 10 key guidelines helped her achieve her many milestones to date — spanning product innovation, marketing tips, social media strategy and more.

    Here’s what she suggests for entrepreneurs who are ready to level up their businesses:

    1. Be authentic.

    2. Don’t meet your customer expectations…exceed your customer expectations.

    3. If you don’t think you have a great product, you need to try again before releasing it.

    4. Informal content can be more powerful than formal content.

    5. Be a walking billboard for your brand.

    6. Engage with your customers on all platforms.

    7. Show up consistently on social media.

    8. Bring your brand to life (off social media) by doing grassroots events and activations.

    9. Invest more in your customers and micro-influencers versus macro-influencers.

    10. Fix the brand before you start to spend money on marketing. Great branding can exceed great marketing.

    Adeleye’s learned a lot over the course of her entrepreneurial journey, but perhaps her best piece of advice? “You have to believe in yourself before anyone else will.”

    “If you don’t believe your business is just as good or even better than the next business, it never will be,” Adeleye says. “There is no such thing as an oversaturated industry. I say, ‘An industry cannot be oversaturated if I am not currently producing in it.’”

    [ad_2]

    Amanda Breen

    Source link

  • Our Side Hustle Lets Us Stay for Free in Homes Around the World | Entrepreneur

    Our Side Hustle Lets Us Stay for Free in Homes Around the World | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Like many young couples, Austin Andrews and Jori Kerr wanted to travel but couldn’t afford the sky-high expenses. Then Jodi stumbled upon a blog post touting the benefits of pet sitting.

    “I discovered we could stay in amazing homes around the world for free, caring for great animals,” Kerr recalls.

    They paid an annual fee (around $130/year) to join a service called Trusted House Sitters and waited for a response. After a few months, the couple from Bend, Oregon, got an invitation to go down to Grenada in the Caribbean for 14 days to care for a few pets.

    The trip was magical, with endless sunsets, long walks on the beach, and free lodging.

    “That set our path. After that, we just knew that was what we wanted to do,” says Andrews.

    Two years later, the couple has made their love of travel and caring for animals a full-time job. Their company Nomads and Pawpads is a content marketing business that chronicles their adventures pet sitting in 11 countries in 5 different contents. In addition to staying in luxurious homes around the world for free, they earn up to $22,000 a month.

    Nomads and Pawpads

    Related: These Dog Walkers Are Making $100,000 a Year

    Starting as a side hustle

    Before launching Nomads and Pawpads, Andrews and Kerr were content just traveling the world taking care of pets as a side hustle.

    Kerr worked at a brewery in customer service, and Andrews was a landscaper. They traveled during the winter when Andrews wasn’t working, and Kerr could work remotely.

    Although their rent was free, they weren’t getting paid to pet sit. Visa restrictions do not allow international house sitters to get paid for their work. House sitting is a free exchange. They occasionally received money to pet sit around the U.S., but international travel excited them. They needed to figure out a way to make it work.

    The solution: Write about their travels using affiliate marketing and social media collaborations to monetize. The couple uses their website, Instagram, and TikTok to market their pet-sitting lifestyle, offering advice, resources, and paid links to house exchange platforms such as Trusted House Sitters.

    Other popular pet-sitting sites include:

    HousesittersAmerica.com

    Rover.com

    MindMyHouse.com

    As content marketing revenue increased, they could quit their other jobs and take on full-time pet sitting. They now spend about 6 to 9 months out of the year abroad.

    Some of their most memorable experiences include trips to the beaches of South Portugal and stays in Singapore and Hanoi.

    Most of the requests are easy—walk and feed the dog and/or cat, change the litter, give them fresh water, and light grooming. They’re also asked to take out the garbage and collect the mail, simple requests that leave them plenty of free time to explore their location.

    But sometimes, pet owners require something a little out of the ordinary. Recently, they were asked to walk a cat in a stroller. They also had to feed a bearded dragon named Athena.

    “That was definitely one of our most exotic pets,” says Andrews. “But she was super easy.”

    Related: Do You Love Animals? Here Are 5 Ways You Can Turn Your Passion into Real Money

    Is pet sitting right for you?

    Pet sitting may sound like a fun and affordable way to see the world, but it’s not for everyone. Andrews and Kerr believe there are a few traits you need to possess to make it work.

    You have to be an animal lover. Both Andrew and Kerr are big animal fans. Kerr grew up on a game bird farm with dreams of being a veterinarian. “But I couldn’t really handle the sad part of that,” she says. “Pet sitting is perfect because I still get to be around animals, and, you know, there are some stressful moments for sure.

    You have to be flexible and creative. Travel schedules change, so you need to be willing to adapt. You also have to be creative about your going pay your way. Remember, international pet-sitting jobs only cover your housing costs. So you’ll need to figure out how to pay for the rest of the trip. One bonus about Europe, says Andrews. “It’s much cheaper once you get there. It’s like $60 to fly from Rome to Paris.”

    You have to be a good communicator. Make sure you’re in good communication with the pet owners. Leaving your home and pets in the hands of strangers can be stressful. “You wanna make sure everyone’s comfortable and on the same page,” says Andrews.

    Nomads and Pawpads

    [ad_2]

    Jonathan Small

    Source link

  • The gig economy grows at a time of ever-evolving apps | Long Island Business News

    The gig economy grows at a time of ever-evolving apps | Long Island Business News

    [ad_1]

    Some see a mountain of chores. Others see revenue and hiring opportunities. It all depends on your perspective. And in an ever-evolving technological world, apps are allowing businesses to reach more people than ever before possible.

    Take laundry.

    On Long Island and elsewhere, people can now tap the Poplin app, request a pick-up and expect their shirts and such delivered the next day, freshly washed and expertly folded.

    MORT FERTEL: The company’s goal is to “change the way humanity relates to laundry.” Courtesy of Poplin

    “There’s been no innovation in this space since the washer and dryer 100 years ago,” CEO Mort Fertel said about laundry, from the company’s Salt Lake City headquarters.

    People are “still burdened by this chore,” Fertel pointed out. Poplin, he said, alleviates that burden.

    Poplin – and other enterprises that help busy households with such responsibilities as pet care, grocery shopping and more – is vital to the gig economy, where people earn extra income as independent contractors.

    An estimated 58 million Americans say they are independent workers, according to a 2022 survey by McKinsey & Company, the global management consulting company. As independent contractors, they have flexibility and autonomy, though the path does not include health insurance and other benefits.

    Still, there is plenty of opportunity to pick up earnings, especially at a time of ever-evolving technology. “Ridesharing and digital food delivery platforms have grown exponentially in recent years and match increasingly large pools of workers with potential customers,” according to McKinsey.

    For gig workers, opportunities abound in a time when consumers order restaurant meals through delivery service apps from GrubHub and Seamless, and order their grocery items from Instacart.

    Poplin, which Fertel said has raised $10 million from venture capitalists and angel investors, has about 200 gig-workers on Long Island and 115,000 nationwide, serving 48 states and more than 500 cities. The company’s trained and vetted “laundry pros” can pick up and throw a load of laundry into the machine while they are watching the kids or working another job from home, or perhaps on evenings and weekends. The top gig-workers earn as much as $5,000 a month, with some even hitting six-figures a year, the company claims. One worker in Suffolk County told LIBN that she was earning $1,000 a month while she worked another job at home, helping her to afford repairs for her recently purchased house.

    Pet care providers from Port Washington-based Leslie’s Leashes, which was founded in 2013, can earn $450 and up, said owner Leslie Stern. There are a number of variables that come into play when earning income. Factors include how many pets a client has and if a pet needs care early in the morning or late at night. Also contributing is the type of service needed, including dog walking, puppy playtime, boarding and overnight pet sitting, pet visits and pet transportation to a groomer, vet or airport.

    LESLIE STERN: We’re a boutique pet-sitting service. Photo by Linda Nutter

    The company’s app, Stern said, is “invaluable” in running the business, whose clients are based in Port Washington, Manhasset, Great Neck and other communities along the north shore of Nassau County. During the firm’s “growth trajectory, I realized quickly that I needed it for organization,” she said.

    The company is now on its second app, “Time for Pet.” The app is not only a vital platform for scheduling, invoicing, accounts receivable, but also is a “key communication tool that is very user friendly,” Stern said.

    Through the app, clients share concerns they might have about their pet on a particular day – for example, “Riley seemed off this morning” – and the provider can offer any updates about how their pet is faring. Clients get those updates with accurate timestamps and, through GPS, can track a pet’s walk.

    This level of detail “is a comfort to the pet owner,” Stern said.

    That kind of touch is also visible at Poplin. The laundry is delivered in clear plastic bags with a pink ribbon tied at the top with a handwritten thank-you card to each client. “It’s an interesting combination of professionalism and personalization,” Fertel said.

     

    Walking in their shoes

    With businesses that aim to make clients’ lives easier, it helps to have walked in their shoes. That’s how Poplin got its start in 2017.

    “My wife was home with our five kids and was buried in laundry,” Fertel said. Seeing her pain, their son Nachson Fertel, who was following the growth of Uber at the time, offered to build an app to create a business that would provide a solution. Nine months later, the company was launched, with father and son as cofounders.

    Stern said she knows all too well how clients may feel about a provider coming into the home. Prior to launching her company, she had hired someone to feed her cats. “I came home to find the guy sleeping in my chair, when he was only supposed to be in my apartment for 20 minutes,” Stern said. Now, in an age of Ring doorbells and home cameras, Stern reminds the providers she’s carefully trained to “assume you are on camera all the time.”

    Trust plays a big role in providing household services.

    At Poplin, all of the laundry pros are vetted with background and identity checks, Fertel said. Background checks play an important role, too, at Leslie’s Leashes.

    Moving forward, Fertel sees opportunity for “scaling up,” he said. That includes expanding market share with not only residential households but also another client base that includes laundry-generating businesses, including chiropractors and property managers.

    Looking to mass adoption, Fertel said the company’s goal is to “change the way humanity relates to laundry.” Whereas people connect the Whirlpool brand to laundry, Fertel said, in “three to five years, they are going to say Poplin.”

    Meanwhile at Leslie’s Leashes, Stern is keeping her focus in the communities she currently serves.

    “We’re a boutique pet-sitting service,” she said. “Once you get bigger, the quality of care can go downhill. I’d rather be small. It is a very personalized business.”

    o

    [ad_2]

    Adina Genn

    Source link

  • Can This Uber Eats and DoorDash Competitor Thrive? | Entrepreneur

    Can This Uber Eats and DoorDash Competitor Thrive? | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    On the season nine finale of “Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch,” find out what happens when entrepreneurs with big ideas meet investors with big money.

    [ad_2]

    Entrepreneur Staff

    Source link

  • How I Turned My Love for Travel Into a $50K a Month Business | Entrepreneur

    How I Turned My Love for Travel Into a $50K a Month Business | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    What if your passion project could become a full-time income source in a few years?

    That’s what Shelley Marmor did when she started her travel blog as a side hustle. The former corporate worker and travel magazine editor turned her Travel Mexico Solo and Travel Blogging 101 websites into a thriving online business.

    Today, Shelley’s ventures generate over $50k monthly in revenue. She talks about it on a recent episode of The Side Hustle Show.

    Related: A Taylor Swift-Inspired Side Hustle Is Making People Tens of Thousands: ‘Paid More Than My Full-Time Job’

    Origin story

    During the spring of 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Shelley was at a career crossroads. She’d been working 15 years in corporate America and felt “chewed up and spit out” by her job.

    Around this time, she’d been traveling solo in Mexico. She joined Facebook groups for travel bloggers, noticing that some were still earning good money with affiliate marketing during the pandemic—getting paid commissions by Airbnb when readers booked long pandemic getaway stays. She registered the domain in March 2020 and launched the site a month later.

    Early learnings

    Initially, Shelley wrote posts about her travels in Mexico. But she soon realized, “Nobody cares about me traveling around Mexico. They care about how I can help them travel around Mexico.”

    On advice from other successful bloggers, Shelly invested in blogging courses to learn SEO and decided to focus just on Mexico.

    She realized: “I can’t compete with 15-year-old sites like Nomadic Matt’s. But in a niche, I can cut to the front of the line and find unicorn keywords with high search volume but low competition.”

    Shelley focused on questions and keywords travelers search for when planning Mexico trips, such as where to stay, what to do, is it safe, and packing tips. She didn’t earn money in 2020 but started seeing profits in 2021.

    Affiliate marketing

    Shelley didn’t rely on ad revenue as her primary source of income. She focused on affiliate marketing commissions.

    She now has three sites on Mediavine and Raptive (former Adthrive). These are two premium ad networks for sites that offer industry-leading RPMs (revenue per thousand impressions).

    By leveraging multiple ad networks, Shelley benefits from competition between the platforms and diversification. If one network’s RPMs decrease or they lose major advertisers, she had a backup flow of ad revenue.

    Shelley uses Affilimate, an affiliate management plugin for WordPress.

    “I started making money before I had much traffic. The income came first, then traffic grew over time,” she says.

    In fact, she never had a viral “traffic explosion” moment. Instead, it was many small wins that compounded.

    Keyword research

    For keyword research, Shelly uses KeySearch. For new sites, she suggests filtering for competition levels below 30.

    If monetizing with affiliates, Shelly will optimize for buyer keywords even if it only has ten searches per month. She ranks quickly for high-ticket tours that pay $500 commissions.

    Shelley has written 180 posts, focusing on topic clusters such as “things to do in Cozumel with kids / at night / when it rains.”

    Shelly says you have to “crawl before you walk.” Ranking #1 for any keyword builds momentum faster than waiting for significant keywords. Traffic and income grow through small, compounding wins.

    Related: 8 Things I Wish I’d Known Before Starting Affiliate Marketing

    Growing her team

    After about a year and a half, Shelly hired writers to help create content. She now has a team of 4 writers, an editor, and a blog manager.

    Shelly focuses on writing content herself for Travel Blogging 101, where she shares firsthand experiences and reviews products she uses.
    Travel Mexico Solo is now three years old. It has about 180 published articles and gets 300K monthly pageviews.

    Shelly estimates that’s about 1 article per week on average over three years. She advises starting with what you can sustainably write yourself without burning out. Do just one quality post every two weeks if that’s your limit because the articles compound over time.

    By creating content tailored to specific audiences, you can recommend affiliate hotels that perfectly match their needs. “The riches are in the niches,” Shelly says.

    Here are the top affiliate opportunities in the travel space:

    1. Travel tours
    2. Hotels/accommodations
    3. Travel Insurance
    4. Physical products
    5. Car rentals

    Link-building strategies

    Early on, Shelly did many guest posts to build backlinks, even though many avoid it because it seems like extra work for little payoff. Backlinks signal authority and trust to search engines like Google. The more reputable sites linking back to you, the higher you’ll rank. Writing guest posts got her backlinks from established sites, essentially “voting” for her site.

    Email marketing

    For email marketing, Shelly has about 8,000 subscribers total across her sites. Her travel blogging list of 1,500 subscribers is more monetized than her Mexico travel list so far.

    Shelly has multiple opt-in offers tied to specific guides and content topics. A generic opt-in hasn’t generated as much success for a vast region like Mexico. Opt-ins designed for specific niches deliver better conversion rates.

    Shelley has seen tremendous success through her weekly email campaigns. She structures her emails with a 50/50 split – delivering free, helpful tips to readers as well as promoting relevant products.

    This balanced approach keeps her community engaged while also driving revenue (She recently generated $3,500 in sales from a single product launch to her list).

    The travel niche tends to be “one and done” visitors from Google. But email subscribers engage ongoingly regardless of algorithm changes.

    • Google rolls out hundreds of updates per year. If your website gets caught in one, your organic search traffic could vanish even if you did everything right. You may never know exactly why.
    • Facebook adjusted its algorithm years back. Facebook pages went from reaching all followers to only reaching a fraction without paying.
    • Pinterest updated its algorithm, and bloggers lost massive amounts of traffic literally from one day to the next. These weren’t spammers or low-quality sites; Pinterest simply deprioritized their content.

    While social and search algorithms are out of your control, Shelley emphasized email marketing as the most direct audience connection.

    Collecting emails from website visitors allows ongoing communication regardless of future algorithm changes.

    [ad_2]

    Nick Loper

    Source link

  • 7 Tips to Build a Successful Art Business | Entrepreneur

    7 Tips to Build a Successful Art Business | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    What is an artist? Ask an art purist, and they’ll tell you that art exists for its sake and for expression alone. Therefore, an artist exists to create art. This outdated definition feeds into that romantic idea of a “starving artist.” Someone who lives for their art, so much so that they’re willing to go hungry and penniless rather than “sell out” by making money for their work.

    It’s 2023, though, and we need to update our definition of an artist. Artistic ability does not know gender, age or sexuality. And it doesn’t require you to give up your money, energy or goals to express it.

    An artist is someone who values themselves and their work — and doesn’t shy away from building a successful livelihood around it. You can be an artist, but you can also be an entrepreneur. Or art-preneur.

    Related: How to Build a Business as a Working Artist

    What is an art-preneur?

    As an “art-preneur,” you’re not just an artist, you’re a brand. You’re not just a painter or sculptor or filmmaker; you’re a CEO. A marketer. A strategist. Of course, it also means you’re a bookkeeper, salesperson and your own administrative assistant.

    When blending art and business together, you become not only the sole creator of your product but also the CEO of your business. You are in charge of how your art business performs.

    You make the decisions, you call the shots. And to be honest, you’re going to make mistakes on the CEO side of things. But that’s all part of the fun. It’s how you learn and improve as an art-preneur. But how can you, as an artist, embrace your entrepreneurial side so you can make a living from your art?

    Here are 7 ways:

    1. Learn how to market yourself

    Paint one collection, and put it up for sale. If the collection doesn’t sell (or doesn’t sell as well as you hoped), what should you do? The first step is finding a new way to market yourself, your art brand and your collection.

    There are many different ways to market products and services out there, so I’ll share a tip with you: Find a marketing style that feels right to you.

    You’re an artist, so you have a creative mind already. Use it. You don’t have to use traditional marketing tactics or learn all the marketing jargon to do it successfully. Do what feels right to you. That might include teaching in-person workshops, hosting a Q&A on social media, dropping exclusive prints or working on commission for a limited time.

    Try different strategies if you’re not sure how you’d prefer to market yourself. See what performs well and what feels authentic to you. The main thing to remember is to get your art and brand in front of people who want to buy.

    2. Fill in your calendar

    Hope is not a strategy. This is a tough love moment, but you need a solid business plan from the get-go — something more tangible than hope.

    The best way to get past the pipe dream stage and into something actionable? Use a calendar. Digital calendar, pretty planner, old-school calendar you can nail to the wall: It’s up to you. Choose a goal, such as “sell X number of paintings,” and pick a deadline for your goal.

    Then work backward and fill in your calendar. Fill in events like:

    • Collection drops

    • Art shows

    • Commission works

    • Courses or workshops

    • Any upcoming projects

    • Any upcoming events

    With these events, how can you use them to reach your goal? Maybe you push commissions during your downtime. Or you hype up new collection drops earlier than you originally planned.

    When you have your goal planted in your calendar and your events filled in, your strategy for reaching said goal will start to take shape.

    3. Be present on social media

    Social media gives you a direct connection to art lovers and your ideal collectors. That’s why it’s so important to keep your social media updated and to stay present.

    Announce new collection launches and upcoming events. Promote last chances to buy products, or tease a new piece that’s dropping soon. Share anything and everything related to your business. Give your followers all the information they need to buy your art.

    Related: How to Build and Maintain a Successful Art Career

    4. Create an art brand

    Art-preneurship is not just about focusing on your art. It’s about creating an art brand for your art business. To develop a brand that stands out just as much as your art, ask yourself:

    • What’s your “why?” Why do you make your art?

    • What sets you (as an artist) and your art (as your product) apart from others?

    • Who is your market? How can you best reach them?

    Whether you’re showing up on Instagram or hosting your art in a gallery, remember that people are buying you as much as they’re buying your pieces. When you know your why, what and who, you’ll be able to show up in ways that are authentic and unique. At the end of the day, that helps your art get more reach (and more sales).

    5. Look to your community

    Your audience is more than subscribers or followers — it’s all the people you have in your community and your network. Your relationships with people online and offline can help you find success as an art-preneur and increase your reach to new places.

    Make a list of all the different groups you belong to, like art communities, churches or worship groups, business networks or masterminds, neighborhood groups and so on.

    How can you leverage your connections in these communities in a way that feels mutually beneficial? Are there people you’re close to in your life who can spread the word about your art? People in your life can offer you valuable support that you can’t buy, but you’re richer for having.

    6. Get comfortable with numbers

    As artists, it might seem like we’re just not wired to manage the financial side of things. You might even hate doing it. But as an art-preneur, learning how to manage your finances is part of the job title.

    Start small, and start with the basics. Keep track of what you’re spending and what you’re making. Know how your art is selling. From these basic numbers, you can get a sense of the health of your business and predict how it will do in the future.

    Related: 5 Non-Negotiables When Building a Successful Art Business

    7. Take risks

    As an artist, you’re already used to taking risks. Every time you put paint to the canvas or clay to the wheel, you’re taking a risk. As an art-preneur, the risk might seem even more substantial, but the alternative is staying where you are, feeling like you can’t make a living from your art.

    It boils down to deciding which risk you’re willing to take: The risk of trying something new — or not trying anything at all.

    [ad_2]

    Jodie King

    Source link

  • Two Rockstars Make Successful Skincare Brand | Entrepreneur

    Two Rockstars Make Successful Skincare Brand | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Entrepreneur+ will be hosting a special Q&A with the brilliant minds behind the brand, Mother Science.

    [ad_2]

    Entrepreneur Staff

    Source link

  • Slice Is Hiring a ‘Pizza Influencer’ in NYC, Pays Up to $110K | Entrepreneur

    Slice Is Hiring a ‘Pizza Influencer’ in NYC, Pays Up to $110K | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    There’s a lot of talk about “dream jobs,” but this one might just take the pie.

    Slice, an online ordering platform for independent pizzerias, is hiring a “pizza influencer” in New York. (The company is also open to other metro areas, per the job listing.)

    The full-time, salaried position requires someone who “loves pizza” and can create at least three videos a week to help increase followers and reach across social platforms as the “face” of the company.

    Related: Mattel Is Hiring a ‘Chief Uno Player’ to Play Uno Quatro as a Side Hustle and Earn $17,000

    The role pays up to $110,000 and includes a weekly pizza stipend, benefits, and 401K matching. Here are more of the specifics:

    • Film, edit, and star in three or more social media-optimized videos a week on TikTok and Instagram designed to expand the Slice brand
    • Ideate and test dozens of different video formats
    • Interview and partner with Slice’s current pizza shop owners, helping to bring energy out of shop owners who might not have much experience on camera
    • Come with recommendations on what content we need to create more/less of

    Applicants should have three or more years of experience creating video content (shooting, editing, and production) and a “lifetime of pizza-eating experience,” per the listing.

    Slice’s marketing VP, Matthew Kobach, told Insider that the ideal candidate doesn’t have to have a big social following, just great ideas on making “pizza synonymous with Slice.”

    The gig is full-time, but the “pizza influencer” might be able to freelance and work with other brands on a case-by-case basis, Kobach added to Insider.

    [ad_2]

    Entrepreneur Staff

    Source link

  • Can Mushrooms Save the World? Tune into This Episode of ‘Elevator Pitch’ to Find Out. | Entrepreneur

    Can Mushrooms Save the World? Tune into This Episode of ‘Elevator Pitch’ to Find Out. | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    As an entrepreneur, if you ever encounter the wonderful problem of having multiple investors showing interest in your startup, but you can only choose one, what would you do? That’s the dilemma a pair of co-founders face on this fast-paced episode of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch. While the financial investment is at the core of what they’re after, the founders wind up evaluating the investors based on the mentoring opportunities that they bring to the table.

    Is your vision to get your product into big box stores? Or do you want to be an e-commerce powerhouse? Are you expanding internationally? Capitalizing on an increasingly popular podcast? Just as our founders on this episode eventually decide, sometimes it’s best to pick an investor who has the contacts and experience that compliment your vision.

    Related: Is It a One-Hit Wonder or Can This Mom’s Business Scale?

    Also on this episode of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch, our investors get critical about one contestant’s pitch and gauge the business acumen of the founder of a new agri-tech startup.

    Episode 7 Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch board of investors:

    • Marc Randolph, co-founder and first CEO of Netflix, master of scaling
    • Kim Perell, CEO of 100.co, serial entrepreneur and investor
    • Jonathan Hung, angel investor and Managing Partner of Entrepreneur Venture Fund

    Episode 7 Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch contestants:

    Season 9 of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch is presented by Amazon Business with support from State Farm. New episodes stream Wednesdays on entrepreneur.com. Follow Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

    [ad_2]

    Entrepreneur Staff

    Source link

  • Mattel Is Hiring a ‘Chief Uno Player,’ $17K Side Hustle | Entrepreneur

    Mattel Is Hiring a ‘Chief Uno Player,’ $17K Side Hustle | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    If you love TikTok and playing games, then don’t skip this side hustle: Mattel is looking for a “Chief Uno Officer” to play its new game, Uno Quatro.

    The company is using TikTok to promote the family game (a “classic four-in-a-row challenge with a twist”) by having the “Chief Uno Officer” engage with strangers on the street at Pier 17 in the Seaport neighborhood of Manhattan — and basically play Uno for half the day.

    The gig is four hours a day, four days a week, and lasts four consecutive weeks. (See a pattern?) It pays $4444.44 a week (totaling about $17,776). Applicants can apply on TikTok.

    @uno

    ?do you have what it takes to be our CHIEF UNO PLAYER?? are you passionate about throwing down the Draw 4 and playing the Reverse Card IRL? stitch this video, introduce yourself and answer these four questions: what’s your best memory playing UNO? what’s your best Reverse Card moment? why shouldn’t we SKIP you as the Chief UNO player? what’s your fave version of UNO? submit your video by August 10th at 11:59 PM PST and check out the link in our bio for more information.

    ♬ Summer – Croquet Club

    Here are some of the specifics from the job listing:

    • Must be able to work in NYC four days a week, four hours a day (2-6 pm ET)
    • The weeks are Sept. 13-16, Sept. 20-23, Sept. 27-30, and Oct. 4-7 but the company notes dates and times are subject to change.
    • Create and star in livestreams and other social content playing the UNO Quatro game.
    • Be willing to ask and teach strangers to play the game.
    • Exclusivity with the UNO brand during the activation period.
    • Must be 18+, US citizen/permanent resident, US-based. Other rules apply.

    [ad_2]

    Entrepreneur Staff

    Source link

  • A.I. is making some common side hustles more lucrative—these can pay up to $100 per hour

    A.I. is making some common side hustles more lucrative—these can pay up to $100 per hour

    [ad_1]

    Artificial intelligence still has a long way to go before completely taking over most human jobs. But it can already make some side hustles easier and more lucrative, primarily by saving people time.

    “Automation, I think, is the key to reducing your workload,” Sean Audet, a food photographer who uses generative AI tools like ChatGPT to write emails and business plans, told CNBC Make It earlier this month. “When a client first reaches out to me, I need to be able to quickly deliver a bunch of information about services and costs … in a nice, succinct and personalized way.”

    Time is particularly valuable for side hustles, where your bandwidth is limited by definition. Some gigs that can benefit from current AI platforms are highly lucrative, too — paying up to $100 per hour.

    Notably, few — if any — of today’s AI tools are “set it and forget it” style programs. Chatbots tend to output robotic-sounding language, and can “hallucinate” sentences that are simply wrong. Image generators still struggle to nail small details within larger pictures.

    Those errors can occur from even simple prompts. In March, researchers from Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley asked ChatGPT 3.5 and 4 — OpenAI’s free chatbot and an updated version available to paying subscribers, respectively — to identify prime numbers. In June, they did it again.

    The results varied wildly, from 2.4% accuracy (ChatGPT 4, in June) to 97.6% accuracy (ChatGPT 4, in March), the study reported.

    Still, editing an AI’s language can be faster than writing multiple paragraphs from scratch, Audet said. Here are three common side hustles where you can already save time — and make money — by using AI.

    Travel agents

    Nicole Cueto, a New York-based public relations consultant, makes money on the side by helping people plan their vacations — booking flights, making reservations and planning excursions. She also has a profile on travel agent platform Fora, where she earns commissions when clients book hotels and experiences through her recommendations.

    In January, when Cueto started her side hustle, she spent five to seven hours planning one day of vacation. Using ChatGPT as a refined, filtered version of Google cuts her “research time in half,” she says.

    Cueto has visited 43 countries and all seven continents, she says. Late last year, she realized she could monetize her passion for travel.

    Nicole Cueto

    “I’ve been to Paris a thousand times, but if I have a client that wants to discover the depths of the city from an old school perspective, I don’t really know how to do that [from personal experience],” she says. “So, I’ll type in, ‘Give me a budget-conscious guide to Paris that incorporates historical neighborhoods where politicians lived in the 1880s.’”

    Following ChatGPT’s proposed itinerary without further research would be risky, but Cueto says she doesn’t mind doing the fact-checking. It’s still more efficient than other search engines, she adds — and saving time means taking on more clients and making more money.

    Today, Cueto makes an average of $670 per month from her side hustle, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. She works 10 to 20 hours per week on it, making her rates roughly $42 per hour, she says.

    Content assistants

    Even as AI may replace human jobs, it can create new ones: Some companies have started hiring part-time content assistants, whose job is to generate blog, newsletter and social media posts using chatbots — and then fact-check the results.

    These jobs, which are also referred to as AI content editing, can pay anywhere from $20 to $100 per hour, experts say.

    “You can literally copy and paste in a transcription and say, ‘Turn this [speech] into a 700-word blog article that has five tips,’” Angelique Rewers, founder of small-business consulting firm BoldHaus, told CNBC Make It last month.

    Rewers called AI content assistants “the biggest new side hustle,” adding that assistants should proofread anything they aggregate from ChatGPT to “make sure that it’s not gobbledygook.”

    The barrier to entry is low, Rewers said. ChatGPT is currently free to use, and aspiring side hustlers can learn to effectively generate prompts on YouTube.

    The job is starting to take off on freelance platforms, too, Upwork vice president of talent solutions Margaret Lilani told CNBC Make It last month.

    “We’ve seen a high demand for this category of work,” Lilani said. Employers “are looking to build up the supply of freelancers who can support this demand.”

    Artists

    In some cases, when AI saves you time, it’s more useful to reinvest it in your future profits.

    Audet, a trained fine dining chef, realized he had a knack for photography while substitute teaching a “Pastry Arts” class at Red River College in Winnipeg, Canada. He turned his side hustle into a full-time gig in 2020, and says he now regularly uses AI to craft emails and build business templates.

    Trained fine dining chef Sean Audet was teaching in Winnipeg, Canada, when he was introduced to food photography. Now, it’s his full-time job.

    Sean Audet

    In the short term, he’s spent as much time practicing his AI prompts as he would’ve spent writing the emails and templates himself, he says: “It’s almost like having an assistant that you have to be really, really, really specific with.”

    That means Audet isn’t making more money due to AI yet. In the long term, those skills should pay off more lucratively, especially as the technology improves, he says.

    Audet has also dabbled with generative AI on photos, through programs like Midjourney. The technology allows him to swap out backgrounds, fix small imperfections or change the color of objects — but not to a degree that he’s ready to use it on professional projects.

    “You’ll sometimes get surprisingly good results … but if the technology can do like 90% of the job, that’s not good enough when you’re working with clients paying a lot of money,” Audet says. “So the impact of it on my business is still relatively low.”

    DON’T MISS: Want to be smarter and more successful with your money, work & life? Sign up for our new newsletter!

    Take your business to the next level: Register for CNBC’s free Small Business Playbook virtual event on August 2 at 1 p.m. ET to learn from premier experts and entrepreneurs how you can beat inflation, hire top talent and get access to capital.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • How This Coach Helps His Clients Become 7-Figure Earners | Entrepreneur

    How This Coach Helps His Clients Become 7-Figure Earners | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Have you ever struggled to express how you help people and why they should buy from you? If so, you’re going to enjoy listening to the next episode of the Launch Your Business podcast featuring Seth Czerepak.

    Seth is the head marketing coach at Mawer Capital, a mastermind for new entrepreneurs serious about growth or experienced six and seven-figure business owners wanting to go to the next level — faster.

    He’s described as the world’s premier expert on sales funnel copywriting and my head coach at Mawer Capital. I meet with him every Monday to review my sales emails, website copy and the creative work I develop on behalf of my clients. He’s not just good with words though, you can easily see a measurable impact from his work. The number of leads generated from my 1:1 coaching page tripled after Seth made several changes.

    He’s incredible, but our calls almost always get sidetracked by me asking questions about how he discovered one technique or another. It’s hard to describe how his brain works or how impressed I am with the output. So, I decided to bring him on my podcast so you can hear from him yourself.

    You can check out a few of my top takeaways below.

    Expanding your market is the key way to grow

    Seth compares expanding your business to a plant growing in a pot. After a certain amount of growth, the roots are expanding and you need to move to an entirely different, bigger container to allow the plant to keep growing.

    “You have to get outside of your warm network,” Seth said. “Being able to convert complete strangers (a cold audience), using paid ads to your customers is the way that you break out of that “small pot” of marketing only to the people in your warm network and having access to almost a limitless sea of prospects.

    And that, in my opinion, is the only way that you can grow to seven figures unless you just become a viral sensation overnight, which is a lot of time a game of luck.”

    How to make your message relevant

    When you’re reaching out to a cold audience, it’s critical to grab their attention with relevant information. “Your message has to be relevant to the conversation going on in their head every day, surrounding the problem that you’re going to help them solve,” Seth said. “So if you were to follow your prospect throughout their entire day like you’re filming a documentary, think about the times during their day when they run into the problem that you’re going to help them solve. And what does that experience look like? What are they saying to themselves? What’s [their] internal dialogue like?”

    Seth used the example of selling cream for plantar fasciitis (pain in the heel). You don’t start your ad with, “Do you have plantar fasciitis?” You start with, “What is that pinching pain in your heel? It started small, but now it’s so bad you can’t walk.” Because you’ve started with their situation — not jargon — you can move forward with introducing your solution.

    Don’t bury the lead

    “The most common mistake I see people make is a lot of the time: Their best headline is usually about three-quarters of the way down the page,” Seth said. “There’s too much throat clearing, too much preparation before they actually get to the point.

    And a lot of times you can chop off the top of a sales page, find the buried lead, move that up to the headlining and increase your conversions right away.”

    Another common error is not understanding your audience. You need to be so inside their head, that you’ll know whether you should be selling to their pain or pleasure points. The sooner you can address that internal dialogue and sell what’s most relevant to them, the better.

    Next steps

    Seth has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs become six-figure earners and dozens more break the seven-figure-a-year mark.

    His signature copywriting framework, “The Antifragile Sales System,” has been endorsed by direct response marketing legend, Dan S. Kennedy, and is the topic of his upcoming book, “The Antifragile Sales System,” which will be coming out in January 2024.

    Connect with Seth on social media to get more of his content and updates about upcoming books, podcasts, and products. And if you’d like to work with him 1:1, just like I do, consider joining the Mawer Capital mastermind group.

    [ad_2]

    Terry Rice

    Source link

  • Don’t Listen to This Myth About Side Hustles | Entrepreneur

    Don’t Listen to This Myth About Side Hustles | Entrepreneur

    [ad_1]

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    In this breakneck-paced world, one in which multiple income sources are increasingly embraced, side ventures unrelated to one’s primary line of work have been the prevailing models. However, this trend has also led to a long line of entrepreneurial scams, as people try their hand at side hustles for which “no experience is required.”

    A recent and detailed-below personal experience, I hope, can be fuel for a new paradigm, one that has the potential to redefine the way both entrepreneurs and those seeking employment approach their professional journeys, and particularly how they start new businesses.

    NanoGlobals began as a humble endeavor in 2020. Locked inside, and with an abundance of time on my hands, like many, I chose to pursue a side business. While I was enormously grateful to have maintained my primary source of income, a moment like 2020 offered a chance to reflect, including on facing the crises of tomorrow with stability and confidence. Rather than follow the usual path of a part-time enterprise unrelated to my primary expertise (dropshipping was the flavor of the month at the time), I quickly recognized that such a side venture did not have to be disconnected from the core skills of outsourcing and remote work I’d built over the previous decade. Instead, it could be a powerful extension, amplifying my unique value proposition.

    Related: 10 Trending Side Hustles on TikTok. Are They Right For You?

    Fast-forward to 2023, and NanoGlobals has grown to over 60,000 visitors a month — a steady-revenue, strongly branded and authoritative B2B asset that has been cited in media outlets from Business Insider to The Yale Law Journal.

    Upon leaving my previous job, one question was weighing on my mind: whether or not to take this new venture on full-time, and I wound up pursuing it that way for a time. As is often the case, though, a job opportunity came up: a chance to join Formula.Monks, the tech pillar of Media.Monks — the digital-first operating brand of London-based S4Capital.

    It sounded great on paper: a new brand in my domain of professional tech services — one with the resources of a global conglomerate. But a nagging question persisted as I engaged in the hiring process: What would happen to NanoGlobals? Unexpectedly, those thoughts were dispelled during hiring conversations that wound up focusing on the value my side venture could bring to Formula.Monks, as well as my inherent skill set. I realized something other companies, job seekers and entrepreneurs might be well advised to take note of: I wasn’t being hired despite my side venture, but because of it.

    Related: She Quit Her ‘Toxic’ Job to Pursue a Freelancing Side Hustle. Now She Leads Her Team With Compassion, Makes 6 Figures and Even Bought a House.

    I’ve come to understand that embracing a side venture that aligns with one’s professional aspirations can usher in new realms of employability — that entrepreneurs no longer have to choose between pursuing passions and securing a dream job. This paradigm shift can help them redefine what success for their ventures looks like: It doesn’t have to be an IPO, it could be an acquihire. It’s possible to seamlessly merge the two, creating a harmonious symphony of skills that at once captivates employers and distinguishes applicants from their peers — demonstrating versatility, adaptability and entrepreneurial spirit.

    This approach can be a particularly powerful asset for individuals striving to excel in the ever-evolving digital landscape, in which simply having functional expertise is increasingly not enough. With AI disrupting several white-collar professions, the key to success is navigating and thriving in the worlds of both building and selling. If you produce a successful side hustle, it proves to future employers that you can do both.

    Related: 4 AI Trends That Have Helped the Creator Economy (and How to Take Advantage)

    So, my advice is simple: Don’t be afraid to intertwine a side venture with your primary line of work. Embrace the power of synergy, and your employability will soar. In an era defined by disruption and innovation, it’s time for entrepreneurs to rewrite the rules and unlock their full potential.

    [ad_2]

    Patrick Ward

    Source link