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11 Great Ways in 2023

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11 Great Ways in 2023

Are you educated in machine learning technologies and want to know the best way to make money?

Or maybe you want to learn more about ML because you see its potential as an entrepreneur.

Then you’ll love this post.

We’re looking at 11 ways to make money with machine learning.

But this list isn’t a bunch of arbitrary ideas like “become a machine learning engineer”.

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That’s not helpful.

Instead, you’ll get tangible examples you can use to get involved in the machine learning industry.

Let’s dive in.

What’s the Difference Between Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence?

Machine Learning (ML) is a subset of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and both play a big role in today’s digital economy.

Even though they’re related to each other, they differ in many ways.

To put it simply, AI is like a computerized brain that can do similar things that humans can do.

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Like make decisions, solve problems, follow a set of rules, and understanding human language.

ML, on the other hand, learns patterns and makes predictions based on the data it’s given. This enables computers to learn and improve from data without being explicitly programmed.

How to Make Money with Machine Learning

According to Fortune Business Insights, the machine learning industry is expected to grow from $21.17 billion in 2022 to $209.91 billion by 2029.

This opens up new opportunities and a promising future for businesses and professionals who embrace its capabilities.

Here are 11 ways to capitalize on machine learning in your business or career.

1. Teach Machine Learning on YouTube and Monetize the Channel

YouTube is home to tons of creative people who share their skills in every topic imaginable.

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And machine learning is no different.

Look at Siraj Raval for instance. His channel now sits at 745,000 subscribers and receives up to 50,000 views per day.

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The channel is centered around machine learning, artificial Intelligence, science, and mathematics.

Some of Siraj’s popular videos include:

  • I Built a Trading Bot with ChatGPT
  • Learn Machine Learning in 3 Months
  • How to Make a Prediction – Intro to Deep Learning #1

If you have an interest in machine learning or already know more than the average person, then a YouTube channel could be your preferred monetization method.

Start by finding other channels like Siraj’s and make a list of all their top-performing videos.

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Upload similar videos but with your own twist. Post consistently until your channel reaches the monetization threshold (4,000 hours of watch time and 1000 subscribers).

Then you can apply for the YouTube Partner Program and make money with ads.

2. Develop an ML-Powered Mobile App

11 Great Ways in 2023

Machine learning has become a standard in today’s most popular mobile apps, from social networking and dating algorithms to health and fitness recommendations.

Social media and dating apps will use machine learning to analyze user profiles for personalized ads or suggest potential dates.

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Other apps may use chatbots and AI assistants to gather data to provide better experiences.

If you like the idea of developing a mobile app powered by machine learning, here are a couple of suggestions:

A personalized fitness trainer could create tailored workout plans based on the user’s diet, activity, and mood.

The built-in algorithm would offer real-time feedback by tracking the user’s progress.

Another idea that ties in nicely with this one is a smart meal planner. The app could analyze the user’s contents of their fridge and recommend healthy meals based on their preferences.

This type of app could learn eating habits and offer healthier alternatives to get the user on track to reach their goals.

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3. Self Publish a Book on Machine Learning

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This machine learning book on Amazon has thousands of 5-star reviews and is now in its third edition.

And there are dozens of other ML books available.

If you have extensive knowledge of machine learning, why not self-publish a book on Amazon? This article breaks down 23 steps to success with self-publishing, but here’s a quick rundown.

First, do some research on the current books available on Amazon. You’ll need to know of a specific topic within machine learning you want to focus on.

Think of niching down a bit and choose a topic that would be valuable to the market.

What you don’t want is to create something too generic or regurgitate what’s already available.

Next, create a compelling book title that will wow potential buyers. Make it stand out so much they can’t say no.

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The third step is to outline your book. Check other books’ table of contents and other popular articles online. You can even check Udemy courses to see what they include.

Then, you can start writing. This will take some time, but stick with it and try to write every day. Check Amazon reviews to see what readers like and don’t like in other books.

The final steps are to get a proofreader to edit your book and get it published through Amazon KDP.

You can read our post on how to self-publish on Amazon KDP for more details.

4. Start a Machine Learning Blog and Monetize with Ads

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A lot of people think that blogging is dying out, but with the right blog content strategy, it can be extremely lucrative.

They’re also great for beginner entrepreneurs because you only need a domain name and web hosting.

However, you’ll need to know your stuff about machine learning if you want to create content on the subject.

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Or at least be interested in it and teach people as you learn.

It could also be a great venture to pair with a YouTube channel.

You can either write an article and then turn it into a YouTube video or create a YouTube video and transcribe it into a blog post.

That way you’re killing two birds with one stone.

How will you monetize?

Initially, you could offer consulting or services in the field of machine learning.

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Then, you could earn money from display ads.

Eventually, you would be able to sell online courses and market them to your blogs traffic and email list.

A blog is an excellent way to make money, but you’ve gotta be in it for the long haul.

To get started with this method, read our post on how to start a blog.

Or if you’d like to follow along with a video course, be sure to check out The Affiliate Lab by Matt Diggity.

5. Create a Web App

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Web applications are a great way to make money online. If you’ve got the programming skills, this can be a lucrative business model.

Better still if you incorporate machine learning into the mix.

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Plenty of sites use machine learning at their core to learn user behavior and provide personalized suggestions.

Think of Netflix and Spotify.

The algorithms built into these applications analyze users’ consumption, then recommend other related content.

You might not create the next Spotify or Netflix. But it’s very possible to develop something on a smaller scale.

For example, you could create an app where users add their favorite musicians, songs, and albums and get a list of similar music.

The same idea would work for movies.

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Even a WordPress plugin like Link Whisper would fall into this category.

Link Whisper uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) to suggest better internal links between web pages.

With machine learning, the possibilities are endless.

6. Create a Chatbot

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Chatbots have blown up in the last few years, and now that ChatGPT is here, it’s easier than ever to create your own.

In January this year, Shawn Hill created a simple chatbot and sold it within 48 hours to Originality.ai for $10,000 (and a bologna sandwich). Here’s the full story:

Other chatbots are used for customer service, sales, marketing, or collecting leads.

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Whatever chatbot you create, you could drive traffic to it and monetize with display ads. Package it up as a WordPress plugin and sell it on CodeCanyon.

Here are some ideas to get you thinking.

  1. Personal fitness coach chatbot: You answer questions about your fitness goals, and the chatbot recommends a workout and diet plan.
  2. Travel planner chatbot: This chatbot could plan your entire trip, from where to go, which airport to travel from, where you’ll stay, what you need to pack, and where to buy everything and book the flights.
  3. Foreign language teacher chatbot: Helps you learn a new language by getting you to pair words with images and guides you to more advanced levels as you progress.

7. Start a Machine Learning Podcast

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Launching a podcast on all things machine learning could be an excellent way to make money.

You could have guests on the show who work in the field of AI and ML and see where the conversation takes you.

Wildly successful podcast host Lex Fridman often talks about AI and its implications for humanity. His YouTube channel alone has amassed close to 3 million subscribers and over 422 million views.

Once the podcast starts to pick up traction, you’ll be able to get paid through sponsorships.

Some of the sponsors of Lex Fridman’s podcast include home security, VPNs, MOOC platforms, and even project management tools.

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If you want to learn more on this topic, be sure to read our podcasting for business article.

8. Apply for Machine Learning Jobs on Upwork

The average hourly rate for ML jobs is between $25-$50 on Upwork.

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And there are currently 1,430 machine-learning jobs available.

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Take a look at this job, for example:

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This company is looking for a Natural Language Processing (NLP) Specialist for an AI-driven writing tool, similar to Quillbot.

If you have the skills and qualifications, then a job like this will be perfect for making money with machine learning.

You’ll get hands-on experience and be able to showcase the jobs you’ve worked on in your Upwork profile.

The best way to build up your reputation on Upwork is to start with smaller jobs and charge lower rates.

You’ll get positive feedback and reviews, which will also increase your visibility on the platform.

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You can gradually increase your prices as you build a reliable name for yourself.

9. Create and Sell a Machine Learning Course

Selling a course is another great way to make money with machine learning.

And if you’re already teaching machine learning through a blog or on YouTube, then why stop there?

A quick look at Udemy reveals that people are already successful in selling courses in the ML space.

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But how can you make your course stand out from others that are already available?

The first step would be to do some research. You’ll need to know what problems people face when trying to learn about ML and how you might be able to help them.

Instead of creating a course that covers everything, you could teach people how to develop specific projects.

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Maybe start getting involved on social media and share free content to build an audience.

Once you know what your course will cover, create a list of all the lessons and start recording them through slides and screencasting software.

You can then sell your course on Udemy or your own website. Market your course through blogs, YouTube, or social media.

10. Join a Startup or Start Your Own

Joining a startup can be a great way to make money in the machine learning industry.

Or, if you prefer the entrepreneur route, you could start your own startup.

Either way, you’ll gain a lot of experience and increase your chances of more income in the future.

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To start your own startup, you could choose any one of the ideas in this list and turn them into a thriving ML business.

But to join a startup that’s already established, you can follow these simple guidelines:

  1. Build your portfolio to showcase your work and level of expertise
  2. Network with other professionals at conferences and workshops. You can also connect with people on LinkedIn to find potential job opportunities
  3. Research startups you’re interested in that align with your skills
  4. Spruce up your resume to highlight your experience and expertise

11. Become a Freelance Writer for AI Blogs

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Writing about machine learning for ML companies or AI blogs can be a super quick way to make money in this field.

You could start publishing ML content on Medium or your own WordPress blog.

This will build up your portfolio for companies to see your ML knowledge level and writing style.

Also, follow popular AI companies that have blogs and read their content. Get a feel for the type of articles they are publishing.

Then, to find freelancing jobs, you have a few options.

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First, look on the Pro Blogger Jobs board to see if there’s anything available. These tend to be more permanent and ongoing jobs.

For more temporary work, you can sign up to Upwork and bid on writing jobs you’re interested in, build up your portfolio, and increase your fees.

Another great site to find writing jobs is Facebook. There are plenty of groups you can join to see if any ML positions are available.

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FAQs

Here are some answers to frequently asked questions regarding making money with machine learning!

Is Machine Learning High Paying?

Yes. A machine learning engineer’s average salary is $153,151, with a minimum of $87K and up to $278K.

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How Hard are Machine Learning Jobs?

Machine learning is no walk in the park. You have to be dedicated and committed to learning and evolving as the technology progresses.

That said, those who find this topic interesting will likely find it easier than most people, as it requires a certain type of person.

How do I Start an AI Business?

First, find a problem that can be solved with AI and machine learning. Then start building an audience to see if your idea can be validated.

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You can bootstrap the idea yourself or secure venture capital if you have experience with this.

Then start building something simple or an MVP (Minimum Viable Product). Launch it to your audience, test it, get feedback, and make improvements.

Conclusion

There you have it. Now you know how to make money with machine learning, which will you go for?

If you’re a beginner, you might want to try something like freelance writing or starting your own blog.

For intermediate-level learners, why not teach machine learning concepts on YouTube or even create a course.

And for the advanced players, you could develop your own product or join a startup.

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AFFILIATE MARKETING

Common Affiliate Marketing Scams and How to Avoid Them

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Common Affiliate Marketing Scams and How to Avoid Them

At WPBeginner, we have been on both sides of affiliate marketing as affiliate marketers and as businesses running affiliate programs.

With over a decade of expertise, we have encountered all types of affiliate marketing scams and frauds.

While most folks in the affiliate business are honest, hardworking people, there are always people trying to make a quick buck at the expense of others.

Here, we’ll discuss some of the top affiliate marketing scams and how to avoid them. We’ll talk about it from both perspectives as a business owner and as an affiliate marketer.

Common affiliate marketing scams explained for beginners

How Do Affiliate Marketing Scams Affect Businesses?

Affiliate marketing scams try to steal from businesses by pretending to be affiliate marketers. Similarly, they may also defraud unsuspecting affiliate marketers by pretending to be a legitimate business.

Thousands of people make money online with affiliate marketing. It is a lucrative industry worth over $17 billion (Source).

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Due to the low barrier of entry, good payouts, and higher returns on invested time and resources, it attracts many businesses and marketers.

Affiliate marketing industryAffiliate marketing industry

However, this success also attracts many bad actors who want to profit by scamming and defrauding affiliate marketers and businesses running affiliate programs.

For these reasons, affiliate marketers and businesses may struggle to distinguish between legitimate opportunities and scams:

  • Financial loss – Affiliate marketing scams may use deceptive practices to hijack ads, change payment terms, or block payments, causing financial loss to marketers.
  • Reputational Damage – Some scammers create fake websites, advertisements, and landing pages pretending to be from a legitimate business. This causes harm to the business’s reputation.
  • Legal Damages – Some affiliate marketing scams may promote illegal products or fraudulent activities. This can lead to legal consequences and damage the affiliate’s personal and professional standing.
  • Increased Skepticism – Due to encountering scams, affiliate marketers may become more skeptical and hesitant to join new programs or promote certain products. This can limit their opportunities for legitimate partnerships and revenue generation. Similarly, businesses may find it difficult to trust affiliate marketers if they have been deceived by fraudulent actors in the industry.

However, this can be mitigated by carefully researching an affiliate program’s terms and conditions. Before signing up, you can also look for the common shady tactics scammers use.

Here are some of the most common affiliate marketing scams you should avoid.

Common Affiliate Marketing Scams Targeting Affiliate Marketers

Scammers often target affiliate marketers to promote illegal or dubious products with little to no payout in return.

Here are some of the most common scams targeted at affiliate marketers.

1. Get Rich Quick Schemes

Get rich quick scamsGet rich quick scams

Get-rich-quick schemes are perhaps the industry’s most common and longest-running affiliate marketing scam.

They promise affiliate marketers a much higher commission for promoting their products with dubious promises and big claims about earning potential.

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These scams can be harder to identify. Many niches in the affiliate industry offer higher incentives, and it is not uncommon to make big claims even by legitimate businesses.

These scams differ because they often sell questionable products with little to no value. These programs have their terms and conditions set up so that they end up paying nothing to the affiliate marketers.

How to Identify This Scam:

These businesses often make big promises of incredibly high earning potential. They are often selling dubious products with little to no value. Their affiliate program is not transparent, and terms and conditions are often vague or have hidden clauses to avoid any payment.

2. Fake Products

Another common scam targeting affiliate marketers is fake products. These scammers would sell a cheap (and often illegally obtained) copy of a legitimate product by a recognized brand.

However, often, they don’t even deliver the cheap copy and just steal money from the customers.

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Another variation of this scam involves digital products. After customers have paid up, there is no product to download or access, and the company’s customer support is non-existent.

On the other end of things, these scammers will also simply refuse to issue any payment to the affiliate marketers, meaning they get money for nothing.

How to Identify This Scam:

Fake products are often shown by copying an existing brand or business. Their pricing would be lower than the actual products to lure customers into believing they are getting a cheaper deal. Do your research about the product, search for real reviews, or dig into background information of the business.

3. Pyramid Schemes and Multi-level Marketing Programs

Pyramid schemes or they’re modern name, multi-level marketing (MLM) are scams dating back to pre-internet days. It is still effectively used to target innocent people.

They target affiliate marketers by asking them to recruit investors into often imaginary, fake, or shoddy products. Marketers are promised a commission on each new sign-up that their recruits or people they bring in make.

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Eventually, it becomes impossible to find new recruits, and the whole scheme fails. These scammers then go ahead and launch the scheme with different names.

Even if there is a real product being sold, a MLM company floods the market with affiliates, meaning no one makes any meaningful money and saturates the market.

How to Identify This Scam:

These scams often ask you to promote a fake business or product like a get-rich-quick scheme, dietary supplements, or cheaply made fake products. You will be promised higher payouts when people you bring in recruit more people. You may also be asked to deposit a joining fee, which they may label as an investment.

4. Pay to Join Affiliate Programs

Another common scam is to ask for you to pay a fee to join an affiliate program. These pay-to-join programs will claim that they run an exclusive affiliate partnership program, and in order to ensure that only serious marketers join their program, they need you to make a small payment.

Such programs will pretend to sell high-value items and promise to offer unrealistically high commissions.

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All genuine affiliate programs are free to join. It is possible that some affiliate programs may require you to demonstrate product knowledge or industry expertise, but they would never ask you to pay them in order to promote their products.

How to Identify This Scam:

The most obvious sign of this scam is that they will ask you to make a payment. Some may even want you to pay with Bitcoin so the transaction can’t be reversed or traced back. If you are asked to make any payment just to join an affiliate program, then it is most likely a scam.

5. Fake Gurus and Influencers

Social media influencerSocial media influencer

Another popular scam is when you are asked to promote a fake guru or social media influencer. These fake influencers or self-claimed gurus often pretend to be experts in something and typically sell courses and 1-on-1 training sessions.

You may be asked to bring in unsuspecting customers and will be promised a lucrative commission when they sign up for the course, follow the influencer on social media, or join an email list.

These scammers would then sell customers useless courses with little to no value. They would refuse to pay affiliate marketers by not recognizing any leads or conversions they bring.

On the other hand, there are legitimate experts in various industries selling online courses and mentorship programs. This makes it harder for affiliate marketers to distinguish between legitimate businesses and scammers.

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How to Identify This Scam:

These scammers usually have no track record of their supposed expertise. Their testimonials would sound phony and unverifiable. They would use pushy tactics to make sales, and most of their followers on social media profiles would be bot accounts.

6. Phishing Scams

Phishing scamsPhishing scams

Another way scammers target affiliate marketers is by using phishing tactics to steal sensitive information.

They create fake websites or emails that appear to be from legitimate affiliate programs, tricking affiliates into providing login credentials or personal information.

Besides fake websites and emails, scammers may also target affiliate marketers on social media websites and messaging apps. They may use brand images of popular affiliate platforms to deceive victims into believing that they are talking to an official account.

How to Identify This Scam:

Ensure that you are visiting a legitimate website. If you are unsure, then close your browser window and try to reach the actual website manually. Any email account asking you to visit a website should be sifted through. Don’t provide any login information to any fake website.

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Common Affiliate Marketing Scams Targeting Businesses

If you are a business running an affiliate program to generate more sales, then you may be targeted by scammers in a number of ways.

Here are some of those common scams to look out for:

1. Fraudulent Transactions

Transaction fraudTransaction fraud

Scammers may target a business by generating fake sales using stolen credit cards, dummy payment accounts, and other fraudulent techniques.

Once a sale is generated, they are qualified for commission. However, your business may pay a refund or chargeback on the fake transaction.

More sophisticated scammers may even attempt to manipulate your conversion tracking data to credit them for more sales.

How to Identify This Scam:

The easiest way to detect this scam is by monitoring your refund and chargeback requests. However, this could be due to customers being genuinely unsatisfied with their purchase.

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You can look for patterns to detect fraudulent activities causing higher refunds. Compare the refund rates of suspected affiliates with other affiliates to detect suspicious activity.

2. Cookie Stuffing

This is a sophisticated affiliate marketing scam targeting businesses that run an affiliate program.

Here is how it works, the scammers use phishing tactics, malware, and popups to install cookies with their affiliate tracking IDs on unsuspecting users. After that, when users visit the website and make a purchase, these marketers earn a commission.

These cookies are often set never to expire unless a user deletes all cookies in their browser. The user would have never interacted with the affiliates’ content and wouldn’t even be referred by their URL.

How to Identify This Scam:

This sort of scam is harder to identify. However, depending on your affiliate management program, it may automatically detect fraudulent activities. You also need to monitor your conversions in Google Analytics to find suspicious URLs and activities.

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Many affiliate programs only allow marketers to send traffic from a pre-approved list of websites, and any conversions not originating from their approved websites are discredited.

3. Google Ad Keyword Hijacking

Google Ad HijackingGoogle Ad Hijacking

Another problematic affiliate scam that affects businesses is Google Ad Keyword Hijacking.

Basically, the scammers sign up for an affiliate program and run Google ads on brand keywords or keywords where your business may already be advertising.

This increases your cost to bid on those keywords, and you end up paying additional commission to a source of traffic that you could have acquired yourself by running the ads.

An even more problematic situation arises when these scammers first redirect the users to their websites before sending them to yours. This makes it harder for you to detect fraudulent activity for a longer period of time.

How to Identify This Scam:

Monitor your top keywords for PPC ads on Google. The easiest way to do this is by using a search marketing tool like Semrush.

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Another way to identify this scam is to monitor your website traffic and look for unusually high-traffic sources. You can also carefully monitor affiliate activity to look out for unusually high conversions, sudden jumps in referral traffic, and other signs of suspicious activity.

4. Fake Leads

Fake leads can be a problematic affiliate scam for businesses paying affiliate marketers to bring in leads.

Scammers can generate fake leads using sophisticated techniques like stolen user data, unverified leads bought from third-party sources, or simply paying someone to create fake user accounts.

More sophisticated scammers may even send bot traffic from their legitimate-looking websites. These bots then fill in forms with fake user data to submit a lead.

How to Identify This Scam:

One way to thwart fake leads is by requiring customers to double opt-in. Another way to detect quality leads is by reaching out to customers.

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If more leads appear to be non-existent, you can dig deeper and find the affiliate accounts sending those leads.

Look for your affiliate reports to find patterns like a website sending a specific number of leads per day could be a sign of fake leads.

5. Click Frauds

Businesses running pay-per-click affiliate programs are vulnerable to click fraud. Scammers can use a wide variety of techniques to generate fake clicks and traffic.

Some of these techniques use automated bots to click on links. These bots may use IP spoofing and appear as legitimate traffic in your analytics or affiliate marketing reports.

Other scammers may use click farms, where scammers pay pennies to click farms where actual humans click on links as part of their job. These click farms may use hacked computers worldwide to generate those clicks.

How to Identify This Scam:

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Monitoring your Google Analytics reports can help you look for signs of click fraud. You can look for suspicious traffic sources, traffic coming from random places, low conversion rates than the industry average.

Keep track of IP addresses to look for signs of click fraud. Your affiliate management software may also provide tools to detect and prevent click fraud.

6. URL Hijacking

Another common scam targeting businesses is when an affiliate partner registers similar domain names or misspelled URLs.

For instance, if a business’s website is a stargardeningtools.com, the scammers may register stargardiningtools.com or similar domains.

This scam is also called domain squatting. It can be easily tracked by looking at referral domains in Google Analytics. However, some of these affiliates may set up dubious redirects to ensure that the squatted domain doesn’t appear as a referral domain.

How to Identify This Scam:

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You can track most such tactics by regularly monitoring the referral domains in Google Analytics. Also looking for traffic sources that look suspicious can be helpful. Sometimes, these traffic sources may not have any content promoting your products and services.

Avoiding Affiliate Marketing Scams Tips and Tricks

Following are some handy tips that will help you avoid common affiliate marketing scams both as a marketer and as a business.

1. Join Reputable Affiliate Platforms

Join the top affiliate networks and platforms to work with top businesses, best products, and legitimate affiliate marketers.

Platforms like ShareASale, Impact, and Amazon offer a large number of products and businesses to promote. They also help businesses partner up with the best marketers, handle payouts, and prevent fraud.

However, these programs cost money and may reduce the profitability of your business.

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Luckily, there are platforms like AffiliateWP. It is the best affiliate tracking and management software that runs on top of WordPress.

AffiliateWP comes with easy affiliate management, advanced fraud detection, easy payouts, and no middleman fees.

Another excellent alternative is EasyAffiliate. Similar to AffiliateWP, it runs on top of WordPress and allows you to manage and run your own affiliate program.

2. Monitor Your Website Traffic

Whether you are an affiliate marketer or an affiliate manager, monitoring your website traffic regularly helps you detect and prevent fraud and scams.

The easiest way to do this is by installing MonsterInsights. It is the best Google Analytics plugin for WordPress and helps you easily track your website traffic.

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MonsterInsightsMonsterInsights

MonsterInsights has features like eCommerce tracking, conversion tracking, outbound link tracking, and more. Plus, it helps you easily see where your traffic is coming from and what those users do while visiting your site.

3. Use Better Link Management Tools

As an affiliate marketer, you will need tools to manage all your affiliate links easily. This helps you insert links easily and increase your earnings, but it will also help you track link performance and detect your clicks.

This is where ThirstyAffiliates comes in. It is the best affiliate link management tool for WordPress and allows you to easily manage and track all your affiliate links.

ThirstyAffiliatesThirstyAffiliates

ThristyAffiliates helps you detect broken affiliate links, track link clicks, set up redirects, and cloak affiliate links.

Another excellent alternative is PrettyLinks. It is a link management tool for WordPress. It allows you to shorten affiliate links, cloak links, manage all your links, and easily insert them in your website.

Pretty Links Pro WebsitePretty Links Pro Website

For more on this topic, see our complete affiliate marketing guide for beginners.

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Affiliate Marketing Scams

The following are some of the most commonly asked questions about affiliate marketing scams by our users.

1. Is affiliate marketing risky?

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Affiliate marketing is just as risky as other type of marketing strategies. Due to the increasing number of fraudulent activities and scams, it may give an impression of being risky. However, most of these affiliate marketing scams can be easily avoided. Affiliate marketing still provides excellent opportunities for publishers to make money online and businesses to promote their products and services.

2. Is affiliate marketing similar to pyramid schemes?

No, affiliate marketing is not similar to pyramid schemes. Unlike pyramid schemes, affiliate programs are free to join, and affiliate marketers are paid to bring in customers. However, some pyramid schemes may present themselves as an affiliate program in order to appear legitimate.

3. Is it possible to avoid affiliate marketing scams altogether?

Yes, it is possible to avoid affiliate marketing scams by joining reputable affiliate platforms and carefully selecting affiliate marketers, products, and businesses that you work with.

We hope this article helps you avoid common affiliate marketing scams. You may also want to explore these low online business ideas or take a look at these additional ways to make money online.

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AFFILIATE MARKETING

How Creators Make Money Is Changing

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In 2021, we reported on a survey that measured creators’ top sources of revenue. At that time, sponsorships with advertisers took the top spot by …

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AFFILIATE MARKETING

The Ultimate Guide to Succeeding Alone in Business in 2024

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The Ultimate Guide to Succeeding Alone in Business in 2024

What is a solopreneur? And how do you become one?

Well, in this post, we’re diving into the world of solopreneurship to help you get started.

You’ll learn:

  • The difference between a solopreneur and an entrepreneur
  • Pros and cons of solopreneurship
  • A step-by-step guide to becoming a solopreneur
  • Plus, solopreneur business ideas you can start today.

Let’s get started.

What is a Solopreneur?

A solopreneur is a person who starts a business by themself, without a partner, and the need for hiring employees.

What is a Solopreneur?

Merriam-Webster defines it as:

One who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise without the help of a partner : a solo entrepreneur.

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They typically bootstrap their business using their own money and manage all aspects of the business needs to make a profit.

This might involve sales, marketing, product development, managing finances, and customer satisfaction.

Solopreneur vs Entrepreneur

Now, you might be asking, “What’s the difference between a solopreneur and an entrepreneur?”

Solopreneur vs EntrepreneurSolopreneur vs Entrepreneur

Here are the key distinctions between the two. Knowing these can also help you choose which one to pursue.

Purpose

A solopreneur and an entrepreneur have slightly different intentions when launching a business. The solopreneur starts a business so they can work for themselves, make extra money, and work on something they’re passionate about.

Solopreneurs often start a side hustle while working a regular job, hoping their business will take over their salary.

The entrepreneur generally starts a business for growth, scalability, and profit. They may also be driven by having an impact on a market.

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Entrepreneurs might start as solopreneurs in the beginning but with an aim to expand. They may also have an exit strategy in mind from the very beginning, whereas solopreneurs rarely start to sell the business.

Management

Solopreneurs don’t hire employees as they aim to manage all aspects of the business themselves. But, they might hire a freelancer, independent contractor, or virtual assistant for specific daily tasks.

The solopreneur doesn’t usually seek investments either, as their startups are self-funded.

Entrepreneurs will build a team of employees and seek investments so they can expand the business quickly.

Most entrepreneurs don’t want to be working in the business but rather focus on their vision and creative direction.

Focus

The focus of a solopreneur is primarily to create a lifestyle business. They might also want to achieve financial independence and work on things they love.

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Many solopreneurs are simply driven by their interests. For example, an artist might want to spend more time painting, so they research ways to monetize their work.

When their art business makes more money than their job, they can leave and focus on painting full-time. They’ve turned their hobby into a business.

Whereas the entrepreneur might have a passion for growth, innovation, impact, or for business itself. The businesses they start can be varied, and they don’t necessarily have to be passionate about their niche.

Pros and Cons of Solopreneurship

Like any venture, business model, or career choice, there are advantages and disadvantages.

Here’s what you need to know when becoming a solopreneur.

Solopreneurship Pros

  1. The introverts dream. Solopreneurship can be very appealing to introverts or those who like working alone.
  2. Total autonomy. You have complete control over business decisions, projects you work on, and the people you serve.
  3. Flexibility. It provides total freedom regarding the hours you work and your location.
  4. Low startup costs. Many solopreneurs can start with a social media account and free marketing tools like Substack.
  5. Passive income. There’s a lot of potential to earn passive income as a solopreneur. Here are some passive income ideas to look into.

Solopreneurship Cons

  1. Workload. Many roles are required to be a successful solopreneur. These include marketing, sales, accounting, and client satisfaction.
  2. Inconsistent income. Revenue can be slow and inconsistent in the beginning.
  3. Isolation. Running a business alone can get pretty lonely sometimes, even for introverts.
  4. Work-life imbalance. It can be hard to switch between work and play, especially when working from home.
  5. Financial responsibility. Financial management can be quite daunting for some people and may lead to failed startups when not managed well.

How to Become a Solopreneur

Here are 9 steps you can take to make the solopreneur journey a breeze.

1. Evaluate Your Skills

Solopreneurship is all about monetizing a skill or what you know. So, the first step is to know what you’re good at.

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This is harder than it seems because what we’re good at often comes naturally to us. Therefore, we don’t recognize our own talents.

It could be fixing your diet, graphic design, writing a novel, or dealing with stress.

Start by documenting your life and answering these questions:

  • What are you passionate about that you’ll never get bored with?
  • Have you achieved anything significant that came easy to you?
  • What do you spend the most money on?
  • What do your friends come to you for advice about?

Spend some time journalling or brainstorming things that come to you. Just try to keep it simple.

You don’t have to be an expert to be your own boss. Only a desire to help others who are a few steps behind you.

If you’re really stuck, you can choose one of the easiest online businesses to start to get you going.

2. Set Financial Goals

Next up is knowing how much income you want to make.

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Solopreneur financial goalsSolopreneur financial goals

Do you want to make a little extra on the side? Or do you want to replace your salary?

There’s no limit to how much you can make when starting an online business as a solopreneur.

But it’s still important to set business goals. Doing so will help you make better decisions and even choose a business model or product to sell.

You’ll want to establish short-term and long-term financial goals. That way, you’ll stay motivated and maintain focus.

3. Choose a Business Model

Your business model is how you deliver your products or services. Establishing one will give you clarity on the direction you can take.

It will also reveal how you’ll generate income, establish risk, and how you might scale if you want to.

We’ll take a deeper dive at specific business ideas later, but these are the main business models to choose from.

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  1. Service-based. Things like freelance writing or web design services.
  2. Content creator. Teaching through YouTube, blogs, or online courses.
  3. Coaching. Helping people achieve personal or professional goals.
  4. eCommerce. Selling physical or digital products.
  5. Developer. Launching web or mobile apps.

4. Identify Your Ideal Market

So you have an idea of what you’ll be offering and the business model to deliver it.

But now you need to find an audience who needs it. Skip this step, and you could sell something no one needs.

Market research validates what you have to sell and will help you clarify your offer.

It involves understanding the pain points of your target audience and crafting a compelling solution.

Here are some popular ways to perform market research today:

  1. Forums and communities: Join and engage in niche forums or communities like Facebook groups. Use Google to find these forums or the search feature on Facebook.
  2. Social media: Monitor conversations on social media sites like Twitter and Reddit. Search for niche-related tags to find the right people.
  3. Competitor analysis: Research your competitors to see what pain points they focus on. Analyze the copy on their website and social media channels to gather insights into your audience.
  4. Keyword research: Use tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMRush to find out what your niche is searching for. This will help you understand what their needs and goals are.
  5. Start a community: Launch a free Facebook Group or community platform like Skool to get to know your audience on a deeper level.

Niching down will always help you find a more passionate audience, so try not to go too broad. You can also read our posts on the best niche markets to get some ideas.

5. Create a Business Plan

According to a study published in Small Business Economics, people who create a business plan are 152% more likely to launch their business .

Develop a business planDevelop a business plan

Another study revealed that companies that plan grow 30% faster than those that don’t plan.

The downfall when planning is that many solopreneurs can get caught up in all the details. However, it doesn’t have to take weeks or months or need to be perfect.

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What’s important is getting the fundamentals down on paper.

This notion template is a great place to start, or this Udemy course for a more comprehensive and guided approach.

6. Launch Your Brand

Now, you’ll want to define the identity of your brand. This includes the name, logo, and messaging to attract the right people to your business.

The easiest route is to use your name and start your business as a personal brand.

But if you intend on scaling your business or selling it as an entrepreneur, you might want to start a professional brand instead.

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Either way, start by brainstorming ideas and checking for domain availability and social media handles.

You might want to register your business legally at this point, too.

If you have design skills, a simple logo might be sufficient enough. You can also hire a designer on Upwork to design your logo and brand identity professionally.

Lastly, you’ll need to tailor your brand messaging to resonate with your audience. A great book on this subject is Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller.

7. Establish an Online Presence

The next step to solopreneur success is forming a coherent online presence. These will be the places where you market yourself, publish content, and deliver your offerings.

Here are a few things you’ll need to set up:

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  1. A website: You can build a simple site using WordPress or Shopify if you sell products.
  2. Social media channels: Sign up and claim your social media handles on the main sites. These include Facebook, X, Instagram, Pinterest, Medium, and YouTube.
  3. Email list: Use ConvertKit or a newsletter service like Substack to start building an email list. The earlier you start this, the better.
  4. Blog: If you like writing, you can also start to publish articles that attract organic visitors through search engines.

You don’t have to be active on all these channels at once. Just set them up so no one else takes your username, then choose a channel your audience uses most.

As a solopreneur, it’s possible to grow your business by sticking to one channel.

8. Develop a Digital Marketing Strategy

Marketing is how you’ll raise awareness of the problems your niche experiences and how you can help solve them.

Solopreneur marketing strategySolopreneur marketing strategy

To do this effectively, you need a strategy.

You’ll want to decide which platform to spend most of your time on. As a solopreneur, there’s only you, so trying to juggle multiple channels will spread you thin.

The strategy is to publish content at each level of the funnel.

Using the AIDA formula is a good place to start:

A: Grab the audience’s Attention with well-crafted headlines
I: Create Interest by communicating pain points. This will help grow followers or subscribers.
D: Create Desire by emphasizing the desired state for potential customers.
A: Provide a call to Action to drive conversions and sales.

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You can check out the 1-Page Marketing Plan for this. It will help you define a comprehensive marketing strategy on a single page.

9. Never Stop Learning

Lastly, you’ll make your journey so much easier when you become a continuous learner and adopt a success mindset.

You can read the best audiobooks for business, take Udemy courses, or even join an online community.

Some great books for solopreneurs include The Lean Startup, Company of One, and Alex Hormozi’s books.

Solopreneur Business Ideas

There are tons of different types of businesses you can start as a solopreneur.

Choosing one will depend on your skills, passions, available resources, and market needs.

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Here’s a quick look at some one-person business ideas to give you some inspiration:

  • App developer: Creating mobile or web apps like habit trackers or even games.
  • Blogger: Publishing content on Medium, Quora, Twitter, or a WordPress blog.
  • Paid newsletter subscription: Sharing your insights and knowledge through a platform like Substack or Beehiiv.
  • Copywriter: Offering copywriting as a freelancer on Upwork on your website.
  • Digital products: Sell your knowledge in the form of digital products on Gumroad or Systeme.
  • eCommerce: Sell physical products through Amazon FBA, Etsy, or a Shopify store.
  • YouTuber: Share your knowledge and monetize with YouTube affiliate marketing and ads.
  • Start a community: Create a Skool community and charge a monthly subscription.

Solopreneur in Conclusion

Becoming a solopreneur has many advantages when starting a business. Unlike entrepreneurship, you get to work alone, choose your hours, and only work on things you love.

Don’t expect things to go perfectly, though. Achieving success in any business venture takes time and dedication.

If you want to connect with others on their solopreneur journey, consider joining the Niche Pursuits Community. You’ll get access to weekly calls from successful bloggers, YouTubers, and 7- and 8-figure digital business owners.



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