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10 Early Blogging Mistakes You Should Avoid From Day One
There were so many early blogging mistakes that I made when I started my blog a few years ago, and that’s the reason why I decided to talk about it in this post.
While some people believe that it’s time to pivot from blogging, I genuinely think that blogging still has some potential compared to other digital platforms like social media or vlogs. For a start, as an audience I would rather read a blog to get some information than use TikTok or Youtube for an answer. And I know I’m not the only one who does that.
If you are considering blogging to be your next venture and in need of advice on how to do it right, you may want to avoid some of these blogging mistakes that I made at the early stage of my blog!
10 Blogging Mistakes to Avoid When Starting a New Blog
From not knowing the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org to spending too much time promoting my blog instead of working on my content for SEO purpose, I honestly made a lot of mistakes when I started my blog.
However, I took them as some lessons learned so that I can genuinely share what I’ve learned with everyone who’s trying to get on the same path in the blogging industry.
So, here’s the blogging 101 you need to know before publishing your blog on the World Wide Web!
#1 Choosing the first blogging platform available without knowing the pros and cons of using it for your blog
It may sound so simple, but trust me… Choosing the right blogging platform is a make-or-break decision for your blogging journey. It’s 2020s, and there’s a handful of blogging platforms that you can choose from in the market, so finding the best blogging platform to start your blog can be a little tricky.
When I started The BeauTraveler in 2017, I chose the wrong blogging platform because I had no idea the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. I know almost every blogger recommends WordPress as a blogging platform, but I didn’t know there were two types of WordPress that I should’ve known!
The first mistake that I made was building my blog on WordPress.com. I upgraded it to the Personal Plan so that I could use my domain, without knowing that it wasn’t the self-hosted WordPress that everyone recommends for blogging.
I learned the difference the hard way when I bought a premium theme on Envato Elements, only to find out that I couldn’t use the theme as it could only be used on self-hosted WordPress on WordPress.org.
It took me months to accept the fact that this mistake cost me time and money, as I had already spent a one-year Personal Plan on WordPress.com. I wanted to migrate it right away, but I was hesitant as it had only been around 4 months since I upgraded and bought my domain on WordPress.com.
I remember I upgraded my WordPress.com account in February, and it was only in September that I decided to swallow my defeat and migrate my website to self-hosted WordPress on Dewaweb for many reasons.
I got a lot of recommendations about web hosting providers like Bluehost or Hostinger, but it was too expensive for my budget at the time so I had to search for a local Indonesian alternative that I knew would be more affordable. That’s how I ended up with Dewaweb, and I’ve never really looked back ever since.
There are a lot of factors to consider when deciding which blogging platform is the best for you. Apart from budget, you also need to factor in the customization, as well as your technical skills, if you want to build your own website from scratch.
I know a lot of bloggers who choose platforms like Squarespace or Web.com as they find them easier to design with pretty-looking templates to enhance their branding.
While I have to admit that the website templates on Web.com and Squarespace make it easier to design your own website from scratch, I know those platforms aren’t suitable for me in terms of pricing.
So far, I have to follow what most bloggers say about self-hosted WordPress.org being the best platform for blogging. I think if you have time to follow the learning curves (that can be quite steep at times!), WordPress definitely has everything you need to build and grow your blog from scratch!
Quick tip: If you want to start a blog with minimum expense, alternatively you can also use a free blogging platform like Blogspot to get you started.
However, I would also recommend getting a custom domain right away so you can start building your domain authority from the very start, as well as growing your blog as a brand. You can consider getting a cheap domain through platforms like Namecheap or Domain.com and connecting it to your Blogspot account.
#2 Use the default permalink structure without considering any other viable options
The permalink structure is often overlooked, but you’ll definitely thank me later to find out how important it is to set up the right permalink from the start.
If you’re not sure what permalink is, it is basically the format for the URL for your content. For instance, if you take a look at the URL of my blog post here, you can see that I use thebeautraveler.com/post-name as my permalink structure.
Well, that wasn’t the case when I started my blog in 2017. I didn’t even know that the permalink structure would matter so much, so I just used the default format with the publishing date in the format.
It took me maybe a year or two after I started blogging when I found out that the permalink format, especially the one that included the publishing date or year in the URL, could make your post seem outdated on search engines even if you created evergreen content!
Most people go on search engines to find the most updated information about something, and the year of the published date on your permalink could make it seem like your post is no longer relevant.
That being said, the best blogging practice to choose the right permalink for your blog is to get rid of publishing time from the URL. That’s why I eventually switched from thebeautraveler.com/YYYY/MM/DD/post-name to thebeautraveler.com/post-name format.
If you just got started with your blog, then it’s the right time to change the best permalink format for your content now!
If you change your permalink later when you already have a lot of posts published and ranked on search engines, you will have to deal with the redirection process which will require some technical aspects to make it right. But if you do it right from the beginning, you can save yourself from the stress if you’re not a very tech-savvy blogger!
Not sure if you have the right permalink set up on your website? If you use WordPress as I do, you can go to your WordPress dashboard and check the “Settings” option in the menu, where you can see “Permalinks” in the sub-sections. Once you click it, it will show the permalink format you are using for the website right now.
#3 Add a clickbait-style title to “attract” more traffic to your blog
You see, I’m an Indonesian millennial who got so used to being fed with clickbait-style news by digital media here. My biggest blogging mistake is to use the same strategy as those media!
When I started blogging a few years ago, I thought the longer the title, the better… Boy, was I wrong!
Not only is a long title not good for SEO, but using a clickbait-style title for your blog is no longer relevant these days. Most people who search for information on Google or other search engines are leaning toward posts with more straightforward titles these days.
The way I see it, a clickbait-style title still works in social media like Instagram Reels or TikTok, but it’s definitely an obsolete strategy if you aim for a blog post to rank on search engines!
#4 Upload high-quality pics for supporting images on your blog post
So you take great pictures to be included as supporting images on your blog posts, and you want to present the best quality of your pictures. Your first thought would be to upload the HD version of the images to ensure the quality of those pictures.
Ekkk, wrong. If anything, uploading the high-definition images will only slow down your site. It’s not good for SEO, and it will also take lots of bandwidth on your website since a high-quality picture usually has a larger size as well!
So, instead of using HD pictures for your supporting images, always upload the compressed image with a smaller size so it won’t take up too much space on your website.
Not only will it optimize your website content in general, but it will also give a better user experience as your audience won’t have to wait too long to get your images loaded when reading your blog posts.
I have to admit that I still have a lot of large-sized images in my early blog posts when I started this blog, but I’ve learned my lessons.
Nowadays, before uploading pictures for my blog posts, I always make sure that the photos that I use for supporting images won’t be larger than 1000px. Plus, I only use JPG format for the images instead of using the larger format like PNG.
In addition, I also use the TinyPNG plugin on WordPress. While it’s free for up to 500 photos per month, I occasionally exceed the limit per month as I tried to optimize a lot of existing images on my website as well. I signed up for their Pro plan, and on average I paid around $5 USD per month for these extra optimizations.
If you don’t want to use the plugin, you can also compress your images manually online on TinyPNG.com.
#5 Try to master all social media channels in the hope of getting a larger audience
I started my blog when the influencer industry was at its peak in the midst of the 2010s, so naturally, I spent a lot of time on social media to see if I could make it in the industry. Which I didn’t. LOL.
When it comes to social media, I suppose it’s more like each to their own thing because I know a lot of people who actually make it in the industry, which brings thousands of traffic to their blogs.
I don’t think social media affects my traffic so much, and even if it does… It certainly doesn’t work better than SEO for me.
At some point, I decided that social media wasn’t really working for me so I focused more on creating content on my blog than posting things on Facebook or Instagram.
The only social media channels that are worth my time when it comes to gaining traction for my blog are either Pinterest or Flipboard, and I’m not even sure whether these platforms can be considered social media.
#6 Treat your blog as a hobby instead of a business
Treating my blog as a hobby at the beginning was one of the biggest blogging mistakes that I made when I first started. I didn’t know anything about SEO, and I definitely wrote a lot of things that were kinda cringe if I had to read it today.
Even if your blog is new, I’d recommend treating your blog as a business right away. In this case, you should think through your branding strategy, and you can implement it through your writing voice. It will be hard to achieve if you treat your blog as a hobby like I did.
Because of these mistakes, right now I have to do a lot of extra work to update all my blog posts in the first few years of blogging to ensure that the content matches my current branding voice and format.
When you treat your blog as a business from the beginning, it can be avoided since you already have your branding guidelines to follow instead of just writing whatever you feel like writing at that time.
While you may not have earned any income from your blog when you first started, it’s also great to start streamlining your blog as a business so you can choose the best payment platform when you accept some sponsorships or paid collaborations.
#7 Neglect the chance of networking to grow with other bloggers
As someone who tends to be more comfortable doing things on my own, I never thought networking was necessary when I started my blog. However, you have no idea how beneficial networking with other bloggers is to climb the ladder in the industry!
Facebook groups for bloggers are my go-to for networking and making connections with other bloggers. From collaborating through round-up posts to guest posting, so far I haven’t found any platform that works better than Facebook groups to network with people from the blogging industry.
In addition to collaborations, you can also get the opportunity for knowledge-sharing about the industry. Even if you’re a novice to blogging!
When I started my blog, I gained most of my understanding of SEO from a lot of Facebook groups for bloggers that I’ve joined. I also network with other WordPress users in Indonesia to understand the prospect of running an English blog despite it not being my first language.
With respect, all the insights I got from the community aren’t always right. But it’s when I gained the understanding that blogging is actually a personal journey. It’s the kind of thing you do where you shouldn’t compare your journey to the others.
Blogging is something that you should try and test yourself to see if the result works for you. No matter how many blogging coaches say A works better, sometimes you just need to see how B works out and see if the result can be better than A for your platform.
My advice is it’s okay to seek advice from others, but don’t eat the whole up since maybe you need a slightly different strategy to succeed. Be open to suggestions, but stay curious. Plus, it won’t hurt to pour your creativity here and there to see how it works out!
#8 Ignore the best practice for blog formatting strategy on your blog posts
This sounds so simple, but it was also overlooked when I was a beginner. Do not neglect subheadings when formatting your blog posts!
My logic when I was new to blogging was that since I could easily make the font bold, I could always use the bold font to enhance the hierarchy of my blog post.
But guess what? Apparently, formatting also matters for SEO too and the hierarchy of a blog post only counts when you use the correct subheadings in the article.
So, yeah… While you’re probably smarter than I was when I first started, this is a little reminder in case you have the same logic that I did so that you don’t have to repeat my bad blog examples!
#9 Procrastinate the chance of earning money through affiliate marketing
A few years ago, when I wrote about my income sources from blogging, I mentioned that affiliate marketing didn’t work for me. Boy, was I wrong!
Affiliate marketing could work, but there are a lot of factors that you should consider when choosing affiliate programs to ensure that they will bring value to both your content and income.
When I started The BeauTraveler a long time ago, I applied for Amazon affiliates and of course, I didn’t make it because (1) most of my audiences at the time were close friends who are mostly based in Southeast Asia where Amazon isn’t really popular, and (2) I simply didn’t have enough audience to actually convert anything there.
It was only this year when I realized that affiliate marketing could actually work for me. But even that, I still refuse to apply to standalone affiliate marketing programs.
Why? Because at around 7,000 sessions and 10,000 pageviews per months, my audience is still considered low to convert to reach the payout threshold for most direct affiliate programs. And that’s why I chose to work with affiliate networks like TravelPayouts or Impact instead.
There are pros and cons of joining affiliate networks compared to doing it directly. But if you’re a new blogger trying to build content and affiliates, joining affiliate networks may work better since you can join various programs under one bucket. That way, it’s easier to reach the payout threshold than doing it directly with numerous brands for the sake of higher commission.
Another alternative is Skimlinks. Although they cut around 25% of your earnings, Skimlinks is probably the easiest platform to join if you want to get into affiliate marketing. They literally have thousands of merchant partners around the world, and you can convert all the links into an affiliate link without having to apply for each brand.
The only affiliate program that I’ve joined directly is SafetyWing, and it works tremendously well for me since they have regular bonuses and contests to earn around $100 USD per campaign without any pressure to convert your affiliate to eligible sales.
#10 Spend too much money on fancy blogging tools
I know a blogging coach who emphasized that in order for your blog to succeed, you should invest in some paid tools.
While I know she meant well and I admit that over time, you definitely will need to invest in something in order for you to grow, you don’t need to spend too much money on fancy blogging tools from the beginning!
For instance, tools like Ahrefs or Semrush are too overpriced if you barely make anything from your blog. Even more so if you have zero skills in analytics to make them worth the price.
Instead, I’d recommend free tools from Google to get you started. Master Google Analytics and Google Search Console to learn how to analyze graphics for your blog, and you can also use the keyword planner tool on Google Ads to see the search volume of your content plan.
If you have the budget to get started with blogging professionally, you can consider spending it on a keyword research tool to help you build optimized content for your blog.
For a low-budget tool, you can sign up for Keywords Everywhere or Keyword Cupid to get started. For a mid-range option, Keysearch is pretty popular among the travel bloggers’ community. If you have an extra budget, you can also check KeywordTool.io which enables you to search keywords for SEO across channels from Google, Bing, to Pinterest and even TikTok!
Alternatively, you can also invest in the cheaper version of Ahrefs/Semrush with Ubersuggest. Ubersuggest’s lifetime access price is on par with the monthly subscription of the other tools, although I have to admit that I feel like the data on Ubersuggest is kinda wonky. I use Ubersuggest personally, so I think they really need a lot of improvement when it comes to data and user experience.
FAQs about Starting a New Blog
Now that you know some common mistakes in blogging for new bloggers, I will also add some of the most frequently asked questions about starting a new blog so you can gain more insights to decide whether blogging is for you.
So, here we go!
What makes a blog fail?
To tell you the truth, blogging is not for everyone because it requires consistency. It isn’t an easy way to make money, and it could take months or years to the point you can make a living out of it.
I think blogging works for me because writing is something that I will still do for free. When I started my blog, I practically only spent my money on the domain and hosting provider with Dewaweb, which was only around $30 USD per year at the time.
As I started my blog not too long before I quit my full-time job, I practically had enough time to write more content in my free time. It took me around 7-8 months until I started generating regular income from my blog, which makes it profitable even in the first year.
Nonetheless, my situation makes it easy for me to stay consistent about working on my blog, creating fresh content, and optimizing it when necessary. It can’t be the case if you have a lot going on, which can hinder your consistency in working on your blog.
It’s one thing to have writer’s block, but it’s another thing when you have other responsibilities to deal with.
I think if you decide to start a blog and don’t want your blog to fail, you need to at least dedicate your time to creating content at least once every two weeks. Otherwise, your blog will slowly become a liability instead of an asset, which may result in failure.
What is the ideal blog length?
I know I tend to write a little bit longer than it should, but a good blog post is the one that actually solves the audience’s problem.
While technically nothing is set in stone when it comes to an ideal blog length, 1500-2000 words are a sweet spot to ensure that you give adequate information within your post while it’s also not too long now that most audiences have a shorter attention span.
Is blogging still relevant?
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I still prefer searching for information through blogs since I just can’t stand video content these days. I believe I’m not the only one, so blogging is still relevant for the audience just like me, who prefer reading to watching videos.
The only issue is with search engines that might change algorithms from time to time, which can make blogging triple harder than it was years ago.
Conclusion
If you decide to start a blog now, it’s important not to overlook all the basic things that may matter in the blogging industry. Something as simple as knowing the best platform for your blog to the knowledge of how to optimize your blog post for search engines like Google or Bing.
When you know all the basics and you can be consistent in the process, your blog can gain traction without spending too much money on fancy tools at the early stage of your blogging journey.
So, are you ready to start your blog anytime soon? Or are you a blogger who wants to share some blogging mistakes that you made at the early stage of your blogging journey? Share in the comment below, and cheerio! 😉
Marya The BeauTraveler
I am the founder and main editor at The BeauTraveler. I spent 4 years working in the aviation industry but ironically got to travel more right after quitting the industry in 2015. Born and raised in Indonesia, I started working remotely in 2017, and while I stay at home most of the time, I also regularly spend 2-3 months living a semi-digital nomad life elsewhere every year.
Disclaimer:
This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my link.
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5 Work Ethic Lessons Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Elite Athletes
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Anyone who has found success as an athlete will tell you that sport teaches lessons that go far beyond the playing field. If you’re looking to succeed in the competitive business environment, there may be no better models than champion athletes. What is it that allows these individuals to achieve greatness? What makes someone a winner? There’s not a single answer. Rather, it’s a combination of things. We’re sharing five of them here. If you follow these lessons, you’ll be poised for a championship in the business world.
Related: 4 Productivity Tips from Extreme Athletes That Will Make Your Business Stronger
Show supreme confidence
Champions have a robust belief in themselves and their ability to succeed. Importantly, this does not mean they expect the journey to be easy. Most things worth having require tremendous effort. Champion athletes devote “blood, sweat and tears” in pursuit of excellence, and they’re willing to make the sacrifice because they know it will pay off. Self-doubters abandon the journey when it gets too hard or when they encounter a few obstacles. Champions persevere because they believe in themselves to the core. This stout self-confidence becomes self-fulfilling. When you fully believe you’ll win if you keep on grinding, you’ll out-grind your less confident competitors. Supreme confidence leads to supreme effort, and supreme effort leads to success.
Like a champion athlete, a winning entrepreneur stays committed when things are tough. Tomorrow’s industry leaders are those who will continue to refine their current pitches and marketing strategies as many times as it takes to reach a breakthrough. They will not be deterred by rejection but rather will learn from it, make adjustments, and come back stronger. This willingness to learn and improve, in fact, is another defining feature of champions.
Always look to improve
Champion athletes, while supremely confident, also possess enough humility to know they always have room to learn and grow. When they take a loss, they review the game film to identify the mistakes they’ve made and see where they need to adjust for the next time. Even when they win, they look at what they could have done better. They also seek input from others. When a coach points out a flaw in their technique, they’re receptive to the feedback and incorporate it into their training. They also look to teammates and even to opponents to learn what others are doing well.
As an entrepreneur, if you lose out on a deal or find a competitor holding a larger share of your targeted market, then look at what they are doing to succeed. Be open to learning and humble enough to seek help from others. Champions are usually their own harshest critics, and their high standards drive them to keep improving. So even when you have some successes, continue looking to level up.
Focus on what you can control
Champions do everything they can to control the variables involved in their sport. Knowing that they can’t fully control the outcome, they go all-in on what they can control, including attitude, effort, and preparation. Entrepreneurs ought to do the same by analyzing their markets, rehearsing presentations multiple times, and scouting both their competition and their potential customers. If you’re meeting with a client, study them ahead of time so you can anticipate the questions they may ask and have impressive answers prepared. Be obsessive about your preparation.
A corollary to this lesson is focusing your post-hoc explanations on what you can – or could have – controlled. After a tough loss, champions do not blame the referee. Instead, they look at what they could have done differently so the referee’s calls would not have mattered. As an entrepreneur, be cautious of attributing bad results to luck or of claiming things weren’t fair. When you do so, you lose motivation to make adjustments for next time. Instead, follow a champion’s lead and know there’s always something you could have done better.
Improvise when needed
Even as champions focus on what they can control, they also recognize that they can’t control everything. Rarely does something go exactly as planned, and the best performers adapt and improvise. Something can always go wrong, and rather than panicking when it does, winners stay confident and make the needed adjustments. Thus, even as you work to control what you can embrace the uncertainty of your sport – or your business, as the case may be.
Related: 5 Lessons Entrepreneurs Can Learn from Pro Sports Teams
Be flexible
You may have noticed that the lessons described above hold some contradictions. Champions have supreme confidence yet also believe they need to get better. They also focus on what they can control while accepting they can’t control everything. Thus, another key to success is adapting your mindset based on the situation at hand. Champions have the mental flexibility to do so seamlessly. Rather than looking for a recipe to follow every time, they embrace the fluidity required to succeed consistently.
This willingness to adapt – to possess an unfixed mindset – is the main premise of the book Extreme Balance: Paradoxical Principles That Make You a Champion, published by Entrepreneur Press. This volume, which I have co-authored with champion athlete and coach Ben Askren and successful business leader Joe De Sena, describes how various champions balance contradictory principles to succeed in their respective sports. It includes chapters such as “Thinking You’re Good Enough and Thinking You’re Never Good Enough,” and “Preparing for Everything and Expecting the Unexpected.” These sections expand upon the lessons described here – and many others – in greater depth. If you want to be a champion entrepreneur, it’s a great resource to help get you there.
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This 20-Year-Old’s Summer Side Hustle Earned $150,000
This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features 20-year-old college student Jacob Shaidle, founder of Ontario-based barbecue cleaning business Shaidle Cleaning. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Courtesy of Shaidle Cleaning. Jacob Shaidle.
What was your day job or primary occupation when you started your side hustle?
I was a 15-year-old high school student when I started my side hustle, Shaidle Cleaning. I always liked physical labor, so this was a natural fit. Before I started my business, at the age of 14, I worked full-time summers at a tree farm, but when my parents told me I had to pay my way through university, I wanted to make more than minimum wage to ensure I could pay tuition. I was shocked when I found out how expensive school really was! Today, I am a full-time university student during the school year and a full-time business owner during the summer. I plan on pursuing Shaidle Cleaning full-time after I graduate.
When did you start your side hustle, and where did you find the inspiration for it?
I started Shaidle Cleaning in the summer of 2021. My mom asked me to clean our barbecue at home and suggested that I go knocking down the street after I did such a good job. My parents mentioned cleaning neighbors’ grills to make more money than what I made at the tree farm. I never would have thought to start a business cleaning grills if they didn’t suggest it!
What were some of the first steps you took to get your side hustle off the ground?
I needed the proper cleaning supplies to get Shaidle Cleaning off the ground. Luckily, I already had a pressure washer at home from my Dad, and I spent $400 on other equipment (100% of my savings at the time). That first summer in business, I put everything into two grocery bags and walked about a half-mile radius from my house to clean grills — I didn’t have my driver’s license or a car, so walking was my only option. By the second summer, I made enough money to buy my own car, which allowed me to expand my service area and double my revenue.
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced while building your side hustle, and how did you navigate them?
My three biggest challenges with the business have been ensuring amazing quality even after hiring people, maintaining a great online presence and managing such a high volume of clients. To ensure quality of service, I found that good, well-planned training was very important. Even more important, though, was hiring hardworking, passionate people — people who had similar goals and mindsets as me and could work toward a shared goal. Having an amazing team has been the driving factor in our business’s success.
Maintaining a great online presence is really challenging as a small business competing against all these “sharks” with more clients and money to outspend us on ads. With the help of my friend Aran Giffen, we have been able to establish a great online presence, selling people on the story and our youth, passion and drive rather than the actual service we provide. We want to make it clear that we are all students with the goal of helping other students, and that is how we present ourselves.
Lastly, going from managing 100 clients a summer to more than 700 has been a huge jump. As the owner, I want to have personal conversations with each client, get them excited about the service and make sure they have the best experience every time. Unfortunately, there just isn’t enough time in the day for me to do that. Instead, I have utilized the great personalities of my own workers to message, follow up and ensure the happiness of customers. We have also made client management easier with Jobber, which automatically stores all of our clients’ information, sends automated messages and keeps everything organized for me as the owner.
How long did it take you to see consistent monthly revenue? How much did the side hustle earn?
Since this is a seasonal business, I work hard each summer to ensure I increase my revenue from the previous season. In my first two months of operation in 2021, I made $5,000. The following summer, when I had my car, I doubled my revenue to $10,000. These were two-month summers in grades 11 and 12. In my first university summer, I hit my first $10,000 month and finished the summer with around $30,000.
This summer, which was my fourth summer in business, we did $100,000 in revenue in 75 days, ending the summer with roughly $150,000 in top-line revenue. As a one-man operation, it wasn’t too challenging to see consistent revenue in the summers. This is because I would typically knock on doors for one or two days to fill up my schedule for the week. This past year, we had seven technicians and 20 people in total, so it was much more challenging to stay consistent with the revenue. We had to learn quickly how to train employees, manage our sales team and deal with hundreds more customers. My best friend, Aran Giffen, has been a huge help in ensuring revenue stays consistent by managing our website, reach-out and online ads.
What does growth look like now?
I’ve been able to expand my one-man side hustle into a thriving business that has allowed me to hire dozens of high school and university students, helping them pay for their own education. With a growing, passionate and hard-working team, we aim to eventually break seven figures in revenue. Automation is a large part of being able to scale a business. We recently automated our customer communications by partnering with Jobber last summer, which has helped us tremendously. This partnership has allowed us to expand our customer base to hit 1,000 grill cleanings and six figures in revenue this year. Before Jobber, I spent a lot of my time scheduling cleanings and manually sending reminder messages to customers about their appointments — it ate up most of my day. Jobber completely takes that over by allowing customers to book their appointments online, automating reminder messages and sending invoices at the end of our service, which has freed up my time to focus on growing the business. We wouldn’t have been able to hit six figures in revenue or hire employees without this partnership.
What do you enjoy most about this side hustle?
By far, the most rewarding part of owning Shaidle Cleaning has been enabling my employees to afford their tuition and university costs. I am so proud of my team and happy with what we have accomplished so far, and I sincerely only want what is best for them. We are building a company around hardworking, dedicated and passionate students, and I value their work and effort more than anything else. My business is so much more than just cleaning grills — we’re creating a tight-knit community of students and helping them build and grow as people.
What’s your advice for others hoping to start successful side hustles of their own?
Find great people to surround yourself with. I used to think it would be so great to reach my big dreams on my own — more rewarding, efficient and impressive. But I was totally wrong. One of my favorite parts of my job is meeting new people who can help and enable me in different ways. It is much more rewarding to gather a group of people around a singular goal and lead them all to success than it is to do it alone. It is way quicker to build off the amazing knowledge of others to propel yourself forward in business, and it is more impressive to stick with the plan with the people around you than to hike up the mountain alone, leaving people behind.
With this message, there are four very important people I would like to mention who have helped me do amazing things in business. Aran Giffen, Brendan Quinlan and my parents. Aran joined along for the ride in year three and has been one of Shaidle Cleaning’s biggest assets. Brendan has acted as my mentor for just over a year now and has given me more knowledge, skills and advice than anyone else in business. Along with my mom and dad — who have always been by my side encouraging me no matter what and have had the pleasure of watching this grow since the very first BBQ — I am eternally grateful for these people and only wish to continue growing with them.
This article is part of our ongoing Young Entrepreneur® series highlighting the stories, challenges and triumphs of being a young business owner.
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He Overcame Dyslexia and Built a $1 Million Language Learning App
Entrepreneur Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm partnered with Entrepreneur Media that is dedicated to backing passionate and innovative founders as early as day one. In this series, we are profiling the amazing entrepreneurs that Entrepreneur Ventures is working with to share their insights on building and growing a thriving business.
Michael Peled is the co-founder and CEO of Singit, an immersive English education platform that teaches the language through music. “People pick songs that they like, then select words in the lyrics for instant translation, and expand their vocabulary faster and easier,” Peled explained on a call with Entrepreneur.
SingIt is currently being used by 500,000 students across 12 countries and has recently surpassed $1 million in annual recurring revenue. “With our new consumer channels, especially focusing on the Latino population in the U.S., and over 5,000 paying customers, we’re poised to disrupt the market,” Peled says. Read on to learn more about the innovative teaching tool, and the driving force behind the 23-year-old tech founder’s passion for learning.
Please give us the company elevator pitch.
SingIt is transforming English language education by integrating AI-driven technology with a library of over 5 million songs. We deliver personalized learning experiences, tailored to each learner’s needs, turning the most addictive apps into powerful tools for mastering language.
What gave you the idea?
My father learned English in the ’70s from John Lennon and Bob Dylan songs. This sparked my realization that music could be an incredible tool for language learning, particularly for people like myself with dyslexia. I had to work eight times harder in school to achieve the same results as my peers. This determination, combined with having entrepreneurial parents who always believed in me, propelled me forward. I firmly believe that having just one person who pushes and supports you can make all the difference.
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How did you get started?
I developed SingIt as my final project in a gifted kids program at the Weizmann Institute. It grew into an app now used by 500,000 students globally, and it’s been approved by Ministries of Education worldwide.
What kind of training did you have before developing Singit?
By the age of 17, I was mining Ethereum on my school’s lab computers, but that’s not where my business success stems from. My passion for technology and curiosity about how money is made started when I was 9. Though I’m not materialistic and consider myself quite frugal, I was always drawn to entrepreneurship. By 16, I was earning over $100K a year photographing events while others partied. Growing up in a family of investment bankers also opened doors to key relationships, including a mentor who introduced me to underwriting.
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Ultimately, my success came from being relentlessly curious, always seizing opportunities, and having a strong desire to learn from others. Since then, my focus has been on creating lasting impact, not just financial gains. SingIt’s mission is to democratize education and make learning accessible for everyone.
What do you hope to accomplish with SingIt?
I want SingIt to become a cornerstone of education, enabling millions of children to learn English in a fun, engaging, and accessible way. My goal is for English to become a second language globally. In many countries, fluency in English can increase one’s salary by up to four times and open new opportunities, especially in poorer regions, connecting them to the global economy.
What is your best advice for entrepreneurs who are pitching investors?
Persistence is key. Be relentless in pursuing your vision and ensure that your product solves a real problem. For instance, when securing music licenses for SingIt, I didn’t stop until I won over the biggest players in the industry.
Do you have a personal mantra that helps keep you motivated?
Be prepared to outwork everyone in the room, including your toughest competitors. True success demands relentless effort, grit, and unwavering perseverance. Every obstacle is an opportunity to rise above. Remember: “If you will it, it’s not a dream.” Lead with passion, push your limits, and show the world what’s possible when you refuse to give up.
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