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45 Ways To Make Money Working At Home

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Work from Home

Whether you are a college student, a teenager, a stay-at-home mom, or a busy father, doing some extra work can help you earn more money. In fact, you may even make a full-time income from the comforts of your home. Luckily, there are more and more online jobs that you can enter quickly, and experts believe that this trend will continue well into the future.

So, if you are looking for a new career or a part-time job which lets you earn a profit from home, we have made a list of the 45 ways to make money working at home.

1. Take Part In Surveys

Taking online surveys

A lot of companies rely more on online surveys than interviewing one-by-one. This is a more affordable strategy that is less time consuming and simpler in profiling customers. With this in mind, more and more websites are offering cash and rewards just for answering product tests and service surveys. Many users have revealed that they receive approximately $200 per month along with some free products, gift vouchers, and prize drawings.

Remember, if a survey site asked you to pay a membership fee, these are probably scams. Do not trust them. Here are some of the legitimate websites you can visit:

2. Be An Airbnb Host

Listing Your Home on Airbnb

Do you have a vacation house that you rarely use? Or an extra room where you live? Why not maximize it and rent it out on Airbnb. According to statistics, you can pay up to 80 percent of your monthly rents just by listing these rooms or houses on the said website. You can even rent out a whole apartment where the rates are significantly higher. Believe it or not, the annual profits from doing so range from $15,000 to $30,000 for a two-bedroom apartment.

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Visit Airbnb Now

3. Sell On Amazon

Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer. Because of its broad reach, there are a lot of people who buy and sell items on the platform. Professionals recommend that you sell stuff that you are most passionate about so that you can add some authenticity to it. For example, if you are more inclined to the world of fashion, then it’s better to promote items like clothes, makeup, and jewelry. This way, you’ll find satisfaction and enjoyment in this endeavor.

If you want to know the nitty-gritty of selling on Amazon, you may enroll in this FREE 7-day course by Jessica Larrew of The Selling Family.

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4. Search The Web

Make money with Google

Believe it or not, you can also earn money from a task that you do every day – searching the web. Qmee.com came up with an innovative idea by rewarding users when you surf in Yahoo, Google, or Bing. All you have to do is install an add-on to your browser, and you are good to go.

This organization sustains its operations through paid ads. So don’t be surprised when you see a few sponsored search results alongside the normal ones.

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So, how does it work? Each result has a corresponding cash reward. If you click on it, you will be able to collect your prize. If you feel like cashing out your earnings, you can do it anytime since there is no minimum amount to do so. Just make sure to wire it to the correct Paypal account.

Install Qmee Now

5. Watch Videos

YouTube videos

A lot of people watch videos in their free time. But, what if we tell that you can get paid for doing this as well? All you have to do is watch movie previews, celebrity videos, news, and other more.

There are websites that pay you to watch these offerings for a certain number of minutes, and like them rate them at the end. You may earn around $200 per month. You can earn even more if you want to spend your day doing this. Take note that some organizations give you a signing bonus of $5.

6. Be A Music Reviewer

Lady with a headset

Are you a fan of music? A website called Slicethepie is considered one of the largest paid music review sites in the world. It pays its users to listen to different kinds of music and write a detailed review about it. It does not work like a usual writer where you are given a base rate per word. Your earnings will depend on the quality of your review – the more constructive and more detailed it is, the higher the pay.

Remember, however, that the minimum cashout is $10. Once you have reviewed enough songs, your earnings will automatically be sent to your Paypal account.

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Create Your Music Review Now

7. Be An Online Tutor

Nowadays, becoming an online tutor does not require you to be with your students physically. All you need to have is a stable internet connection, a reliable laptop, a microphone, and a headset. These are the minimum requirements that online tutorial companies ask from their applicants.

Some websites help both high school and college students with subject and course-specific questions. Others even assist these students with their daily homework. Whatever your role will be, it will still require you with an excellent educational background and professional experience.

Overall, tutors earn around $15 to $25 per hour.

8. Review Apps And Websites

If you are a fan of apps and criticizing websites, then you can use this to earn extra cash. UserTesting.com is a platform that individuals use to review different types of sites. Each test and review will take approximately 20 minutes and you’ll earn an average of $10.

You probably won’t be required to review a site every day. Check your inbox once in a while to see if UserTesting.com has sent you a link to site or app for you to judge.

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Sign Up Here

9. Stay Healthy

A lot of sites out there provide opportunities for their users to stay healthy. AchieveMint, a health app, rewards you with points for doing good deeds such as tracking your food, walking, jogging, and taking health surveys. For every 10,000 points you earn, you will be able to convert this to $10. You may redeem this in exchange for cash or Amazon Gift Cards.

What’s unique about this program is that you can connect it to your current fitness apps such as RunKeeper, MyFitnessPal, Fitbit, and Healthkit. This approach enables you to integrate your activities from your original apps to AchieveMint.

Download AchieveMint Now

10. Be A Customer Service Representative

Online tutor to earn money as a teenager

Several companies outsource their customer-service operations to third-party companies. Their reason for this is to cut their operational costs since they won’t have to rent a space where these people can do their job. These agents are home-based workers that take calls and orders for the outsourcing company.

The typical rate of this job ranges around $9 to $11 per hour. Some companies give their customer service representatives the same benefits as their regular employees. However, other employers consider these people as independent contractors, so they don’t provide the said benefits.

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Some examples of companies which hire virtual call agents are as follows:

11. Write And Publish An ebook

There are a lot of writers who store their compositions on a notebook or laptop. However, you can take advantage of this skill by selling these through the Amazon Kindle Store. You can list your book for $1.50 to $8.00 and get 70 percent of the sale.

Remember, everything is going digital nowadays. A lot of people around the world already have the Kindle app on their devices, so your target market is enormous. At the same time, most customers trust the services of Amazon – you don’t have to worry about getting scammed by your publisher.

Here are some tips on how to make your eBook stand out:

  • Write non-fiction. Make sure that you write something that you are an expert in, bundle information that you have researched, and present it in an easy-to-read format.
  • Create a creative cover design that will entice your audience to buy it.
  • Ask for reviews from your buyers, so it shows up higher on the search results.

Visit The Amazon Kindle Store Now

12. Become A Freelance Writer

Freelance writer

With the rise of the digital age, more and more people are relying on transferring information through the online platform. Usually, these clients look for freelance writers that can sustain the content of their websites and blogs. When in this arena, you will get to experience to write and edit about anything under the sun – from psychology to business to technology. Your pay for each article ranges from $10 to $20 per 500-word piece.

Take note that your salary will also increase depending on your skill, experience, and tenure. So, make sure to compile all of your compositions so you can show it as proof to your potential employer.

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13. Become An Online Juror

Do you know that there is a thing such as an online juror? Several companies, such as eJury.com, look for online jurors to sit on mock juries virtually. Their role is to provide the jury consultants and attorneys their feedback and opinion on their plans on the cases they are currently handling. You can compare this with focus groups.

Remember, the cases are real. They just need to present their arguments to a mock jury so they can have an idea of how things might go when in court. You can earn around $5 to $60 per case. Just a little reminder: make sure to read the disclaimers and details on the contract. Be cautious since you are dealing with legal scenarios.

Be An Online Juror Now

14. Teach English

More and more individuals abroad are now seeking for an English tutor. One of them is VIPKID. VIPKID is an English tutor company which gives the privilege to work from home, work on your own schedule, and still make approximately $20 per hour. All you have to do is apply, study their modules, and have the patience to teach your non-English speaking clients.

Listed below are some of the requirements you need to fulfill before getting accepted in VIPKID:

  • Teaching experience is required
  • Must have an undergraduate degree
  • Stable internet and fast computer
  • Should be patient and fun

Apply in VIPKID now

15. Engage In Affiliate Marketing

If you have a website or a blog that already has high online traffic, then you can maximize this by engaging in affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing refers to the promotion of all sorts of products, services, and companies online. Once your visitors click on your affiliate link and buys products or seeks their services, you will receive a commission.

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Make sure that you put your affiliate links on the right spots. For example, if your blog is about business, do not insert a promotion related to the skincare. This is a common problem that most bloggers face. Whenever they do so, the tendency is that their audience will only get annoyed with all of these links – especially if they’re unrelated. You will lose your authenticity, and they will see you as a monetizing blogger only. Believe it or not, you might lose their trust in this kind of system.

Visit this article to learn how to conduct affiliate marketing on Twitter.

16. Be A Virtual Assistant

Earn money as a virtual assistant

Work for someone from the comfort of your home. In the course of business nowadays, the assistants of business tycoons don’t need to be beside them physically to serve them. These services are now transforming into virtual assistants (VA). VAs cover everything – from making travel plans, checking emails, handling internet research, and submitting reports.

The boss and the virtual assistant should only make sure that they use the best collaboration tools out there. This will make their work seamless.

If you want to be a virtual assistant, you may visit Upwork or Zirtual now!

17. Be An Online Guide Or Expert

There are websites where people look for advice from people who are experts in specific fields or individuals passionate about some topics. For example, some will ask the technicalities of choosing a car, how to make a killer carrot cake, or where to bring your appliances for repair.

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At JustAnswer.com, the users pay for their questions to be answered by trusted professionals such as lawyers, doctors, and veterinarians. Take note, however, that you won’t receive the full payment as a guide. The company will only give you a percentage of the fee. Nevertheless, not bad for just sitting in front of your computer, right?

Be A Guide Now

18. Proofread Literary Works

Do you always cringe at writing errors? Or do you ever find yourself correcting grammar? If you want to put this practice into good use, then you can enter the proofreading world. All you have to do is search for online companies that upload work from other people, read it, and edit it as much as you can.

Remember, it’s not just the grammar that you should look into. You should also notice the cohesiveness of ideas and sentence composition to be able to submit the best output.

19. Recycle Mobile Phones

mobile phone

With more models coming out every year, it is not surprising that people change phones regularly. Believe it or not, you can earn good money from this. What you can do is to place several mobile baskets around your neighborhood where other people can drop their old mobile phones and some of their unused devices.

Some of the best mobile phone recycling companies you can sell your collection to are the following:

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20. Rate Pizzas

Pizza is a big thing wherever you go. Therefore, a lot of companies pay their users for rating local pizza shops. This way, it will be easier for their website visitors to know which pizza place to order.

As a rater, you have to give a score depending on the quality of their pizza, customer service, and delivery time. Once you reach a certain number of reviews, you will get a free pizza on your doorstep, alongside an extra $5 bonus.

Interested? Register now at Trendsource!

21. Guard Your Neighbor’s Deliveries

Do you consider your neighbors as a family already? Do they trust you enough that they will give you the green light to help them while they are at work? If your answer is yes to both questions, then you can consider signing up for eNeighbr.

The site gives you the power to accept and hold deliveries for your neighbors on times that they are not at home. This way, these shipments won’t get stolen. Every package is insured up to $300, and each eNeighbr account is verified, so they’re assured that these belongings are in safe hands.

Sign Up At eNeighbor Now!

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22. Be A Bookkeeper

passive income tax rates

It is a common misconception that becoming a bookkeeper requires an Accounting degree and experience. However, that’s not the case. Take note that a bookkeeper is entirely different from an accountant.

Accountants are in charge of preparing tax returns and auditing financial statements. Aside from these, they also assist individuals and businesses with the following:

  • Organizing financial records
  • Examining financial statements
  • Complying with state and federal laws
  • Evaluating financial records
  • Suggesting ways to cut down expenses

On the other hand, bookkeepers take charge of the daily financial health of the business. Their responsibilities include the following:

  • Paying bills
  • Collecting invoices and payments
  • Updating financial records
  • Checking the accuracy of records
  • Posting financial records in computer programs
  • Receiving accounts receivable

To keep it short, a bookkeeper is responsible for the money going and out of the company daily.

If you want to enter this endeavor, you may take this 3-part bookkeeping training for free.

23. Enter The Clickworker Business

Think of Clickworker.com as an ‘internet crowd-sourcing’ business. This website mainly advertises scalable tasks that need to be completed as soon as possible. For many people, making money through this online business is the easiest way to receive fast cash from their couch.

There are different tasks laid out in Clickworker. The most common activities, however, are web research, form filling, and data entry. What’s good about this is that the job is pretty flexible – you have the freedom to choose when or for which company you work for. For every task you complete, you will be rewarded and paid in cash via Paypal.

24. Sign Up As A Cooking Host

A lot of people prefer eating home-cooked food instead of fast food. However, there are still others who cannot cook delicious meals on their own. With this in mind, sites like MealSharing, Cookening, and EatWith came up with the idea of serving home-cooked meals through the help of a cooking host.

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As a cooking host, your role is to cook and serve meals inside your home for guests who booked for you. You have the option to cook what you want and how many people you can accommodate inside. Take note that no cash is exchanged physically since all the payment passes through the site. Your salary as a cooking host ranges from $50 to $100 per meal.

Be A Cooking Host Now

25. Become A Transcriptionist

transcription work

Transcription work is slowly growing nowadays, especially that we have to put a record for everything. The primary role of a transcriptionist is to convert the audio file into a text format. Depending on the industry they are giving their service to, they can be called legal, medical, or general transcriptionists.

26. Look For Gigs On Fiverr

Fiverr is one of the largest marketplaces when it comes to people selling small services called gigs. There are no limitations to what kinds of services you can post. You may offer the clients social media posting, writing, translating, teaching, creating music, becoming a voice-over actor, or even playing pranks!

The default price for each service is $5 – that’s where they got their name. If you feel, however, that what you did is not worth the said amount, you can attach extra services for your gigs.

You may also go to Redbubble to see your art and earn extra money. Check out this good article to know the ins and outs of this job.

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Sell Your Services Now

27. Resell Your Gigs

If you feel that your fees at Fiverr are not enough, then there is another way to profit more using the same site. At the same time, this approach requires less work. All you have to do is resell your gigs.

For example, you can look for jobs on sites like Upwork that requires the creation of a logo. Once you have fixed your business with your client, you can then go to Fiverr and seek the services of a logo designer. Here, you will be spending $5, which in return will still give you profit if you charge $50 in your reseller.

28. Work For Amazon

There are microtasks available from Amazon Mechanical Turk – a provider of services that require human interaction. A lot of people crave for this job because it has flexible hours, you can work from home, and you get paid by one of the largest retailers in the world. Some examples of the tasks that they require include the following:

  • Providing reviews on whether a website is suitable for a general audience
  • Correcting spellings in blogs
  • Find the item number of specific products
  • Translate paragraphs from one language to another

29. Sell Your Notes

Do you love taking notes in your classes? Believe it or not, you can get paid by uploading your notes in sites like Stuvia or Nexus Notes. Take note that you will be the one who will determine the price of your records, but the companies will take a cut from your profit for handling the marketing side of the operations. This way, you won’t have to get out of your way just to promote these services.

Remember also that you are allowed to submit handwritten notes. The risk with this, however, is that some customers do not pay for it as compared to when it is in PDF form.

Sell Your Notes Now

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30. Be An Online Travel Agent

Do you have a love for traveling or do you like organizing trips for other people? If so, then you can be an online travel agent. All you have to do is visit travel websites such as Expedia in your free time and check their latest offerings. You can look for customers who do not have the patience to scroll through these sites to view for cheap travel needs. This kind of service can be an alternative to travel agencies.

31. Sell Second-hand Course Books

Another great way to generate profit is to buy student textbooks at the end of the year, and sell them at the start of classes. There will most likely be high demand at this time since first-year students are still keen on studying. You have the option to advertise this on campus or through the Amazon Marketplace.

Sell Second-hand Books Now

32. Sell Lesson Plans

As mentioned above, there are sites for students who want to look for useful school notes. Surprisingly, there are also websites for teachers, especially new teachers, where they can avail of lesson plans for a price. You also have the option to sell some of the teaching resources you use in class. Teachers Pay Teachers is a website you can turn to if you want to pursue this job.

Sell Lesson Plans Now

33. Conduct Mystery Shopping

Being a mystery shopper is easy. Agencies hire mystery shoppers to visit different kinds of stores and restaurants to be able to give feedback on how they are performing. They do this so that these places will act naturally as compared to when they send employees to audit them.

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34. Maintain Fan Pages

Facebook likes

Do you know that it is hard to maintain fan pages? You have to continuously create and post content related to the fan page, and interact with the online visitors at the same time. In fact, being a coordinator takes a lot of time. With this in mind, more and more fan pages are now hiring their own employees to take over their social media activity. All they have to do is to give you a marketing plan, and you will be the one who will execute all of these plans online.

Click here to see how you can make money on Twitter through handling fan pages.

35. Rent House For Filming

Directors and producers for television and movies are always on the lookout for houses where they can film. Their usual routine involves scouting some places, including the outskirts, pooling them, creating a shortlist, and evaluating which will be the best fit for them. As an example, a scene from Coronation Street was filmed in the house of a student where one of the editors of Save the Student used to live.

At the same time, it is an indulging feeling seeing your place on your TV. This is an excellent exposure to other directors and producers, who may also be interested in renting out your house.

List Your House Now

36. At-home Daycare

If you are just at home with your kids, try building an at-home daycare. All you have to do is get customers (start with trusted friends) who will leave their kids at your house while they are away. Your primary goal is to set playdates, feed them, and generally take care of their needs while they are still in your care.

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Take note, however, that you will need a certification from your state before having the green light.

37. Sell Unused Clothes On eBay

clothes hanging in a rack

Whenever a person is getting rid of junk, they become best friends with eBay. Online auctions in these kinds of websites is an easy way to turn these unused clothing items into hard cash. Even if you feel that what you’re offering is out of the trend list, dare to still sell it. You don’t know what is running in the customer’s mind. Your outdated outfit might be the fashion style they want to portray in their everyday.

If you’re not a fan of the internet, you may opt to go for the traditional approach of selling your clothes in a garage sale.

Sell Clothes Now On eBay

38. Rent Your Clothesline

If you don’t want to sell your clothes to random strangers, there is another way to maximize owning these. What you can do is to rent out these clothes instead of permanently selling them. What most individuals do is that they create a renting Instagram profile, dedicated only to showcase the pieces that they are renting. In there, they will upload the pictures along with the prices for renting.

To help facilitate the work, you can also create a form wherein your customers are required to fill up if they want to avail of your services. This way, all of your transactions get stored in just one place only.

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39. Join Network Marketing

Network marketing has a negative connotation to it. In reality, however, there are companies that have a great and legal approach to Multi-Level Marketing (MLM). This model allows the agents to generate income in two different ways: by selling products and earning commissions from it and by recruiting other individuals who will sell the said products. The second way entails you to cash out your commission from the sales of your recruit.

Take note that this is not an illegal pyramid scheme since this process involves an end goal – convincing a customer to buy a product or service they offer.

40. Sell Antiques And Collectibles

Do you collect various random items when you were younger? Or do you have things that complement your last home, but does not fit your new one anymore? Whatever your reason is, there is a profit when selling your antiques and collectibles. Make sure that you appraise these to professionals since your customers might end up buying it at a lower price. Some examples of collectibles include trading cards, vinyl CDs, and coins.

41. Source Properties For Wealthy Investors

A lot of people know that there is money in property investments. However, because of the high capital that you should shoulder, a majority opted to stay away from this market. The truth is, there is still a significant chance of making a great deal of cash by just directly sourcing properties for wealthy investors who do not have the time to this themselves.

As a property sourcer, you should look for properties that are below market value (BMV). The easiest way to do this is to avoid real estate agents and give out flyers with your contact details to inform them that you are buying houses. Another approach you can take is to attend monthly networking events of property investors and landlords. Make sure to track these down, sign up, and introduce yourself in this world.

Do you want to have a glimpse of how real estate investing works? Check this article out.

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42. Share What Lies In Your Fridge

The goal of the Nielsen Consumer Panel is to know what lies in the refrigerators of the consumers. This way, they will be able to back up their consumer profiling data. All you have to do is to scan the barcodes of the products in your fridge and send it to them. There are also times that they will call you to ask for your opinion on specific products and to answer the survey questionnaire.

Once you have done all of this, you will receive points in the app. You have the option to convert these points into cash or redeem rewards instead.

Scan Your Barcodes Now

43. Return Printer Cartridges

What a lot of people do not know is that there is money in the junk. One of the most uncommon, yet effective, ways to earn money is by selling your empty printer cartridges to office supply stores such as Staples and Office Depot. Printer owners do not practice this since they’re not familiar that these cartridges are recyclable. Manufacturers use this as a container for their printer ink. Don’t worry since recycled cartridges do not negatively affect your printers.

44. Build A Baking Business

Having a bake sale to earn money as a teenager

Do you know that selling baked goodies can be a tremendous source of income? There is a significant demand for these treats all year long – from birthdays to parties to the kids’ show and tell. The list is endless. If you do not want to sit on the office desk for so long, you can try building your own baking business. You can run your catering business from your kitchen.

Some tips in running this:

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  1. Ensure that you will abide by the food safety laws of your state.
  2. Ask your friends for referrals. They might know people who do not have time to create homemade food, that they might ask for your services in their parties and other family events.
  3. Publicize your business online. Make sure to create an eye-catching name for your business to provide some recall to your customers. Do not forget to post publicity materials that will make their mouth water.

45. Sell Calligraphy Items

If you are the artsy type and you’re fond of calligraphy, then you should try maximizing this talent. You can do hand lettering to come up with wedding cards, invitations, stickers, and other stationery items. To gain profit, you have the option to sell them online, through a website or social media page, or you can set up a one-day event where you can feature your work. Etsy Calligraphy is one of the most popular marketplaces for calligraphy.

Sell Your Calligraphy Items Now

You may also check our article on how you can make money on the comforts of your home without paying anything.

Final Words

The limit of making money while at the comfort of your home is limitless. Technology has opened tons of opportunities that don’t require you to get stuck in the traffic while going to work. With just a few taps on your smartphone or a few clicks on your computer, you can connect to tons of employers that are looking for remote workers. You can also reach more potential customers thanks to social media.

Find a side hustle that you are most interested in and start earning money even in your pajamas.

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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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If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.



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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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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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