End of year can be super stressful for us entrepreneurial moms. There are holiday sales to manage, the bookkeeping to correlate and bonuses to hand out along with holiday shopping and family visits to plan. The beginning of the year is no easier. We’ve got to get our numbers together for the CPA and get the kids ready to return to school after their holiday break. Where do we find time to soak in a bubble bath much less build a business plan for the coming year?
But plan we must! If it’s not something you currently do, I strongly encourage you to embrace it and make time for it. Setting aside time at the end of the year, to plan out what I want to do and more importantly what growth I want to achieve in the coming year has been crucial to my own success. In this blog post, I want to share some of what I’ve learned and what I’ve found helpful with you.
Why I became A Big Fan of Business Planning.
There are a few different factors that come into play here.
The first is efficiency. When you go in with a clear plan, you can focus on what’s most important. Instead of spending time trying to figure out what you should be working on, what pieces of the puzzle are missing from your product funnel, or what you need to do to break through to the next income level, you know exactly what needs to come next.
With a clear goal in mind and a plan for the year, it becomes easy to walk backwards to create effective and efficient daily to-do lists. To-do lists are the key to being productive. Work on what needs to get done each day based on deadlines you’ve determined for each task and you can succeed at reaching your goals.
Next, setting a big goal for yourself helps you think outside the box. If you don’t believe me, try it. Decide on a big income goal for the coming year. Divide it by 12 and let that be your financial goal for the first month. You can always increase it for future months. Write it down. Keep it in front of you. Then get to work and start to notice what happens next. You start to think of things that didn’t occur to you before. You come up with creative ways to get more traffic. You decide to run a fun promo that adds dollars to your bank account. The same happens when an important deadline comes up unexpectedly. Think back on that time in college when finals rolled around, or the last time your in-laws told you they would stop by later in the day. You got very creative about studying and cleaning respectively.
How Business Planning Can Work With The Subconscious And Why We Want It To.
So far we’ve been focused on what we are actively doing to make progress by making a plan, setting goals and following through. There’s another dimension to all this and that’s what’s going on in our subconscious mind.
When we make plans for our business, we’re making plans for our life.
We’re saying, THIS is what we plan to do so we can feel THIS.
What and how we feel/react to situations comes from our subconscious mind. This may seem odd but your subconscious mind is a powerful force to be reckoned with. It makes up around 95% of your brain power. It’s what tells you in a split second what to be afraid of, when to feel insecure, what you like and don’t like. We should use that power to benefit our plans, right?
While we are busy plowing through our to-do list, cooking dinner for the family, and even sleeping, our subconscious mind should be working towards those goals as well. When your subconscious mind and your conscious mind are working together to visualize what you want or what your goal is, your chances of success increase.
So how do you get the subconscious mind on track with your plans for the coming year? Meditation and visualization, routinely.
Meditation is a practice that involves training your mind to focus, and it’s becoming quite popular these days. You’ve probably read articles about it, heard about celebrities who swear by it or even know people in your everyday circles who sing its praises. It’s used for a variety of reasons. Some feel it helps them to feel calmer when life is particularly hectic. Others just want to reduce their overall stress or to improve their sleep and feel meditation could help. You may have heard that meditating can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. All of these things are true. Ten minutes of breathing meditation can relieve you of the noise, allowing you to reach your subconscious.
Visualizing how succeeding with your business plans will come about and make you feel, signals to your subconscious mind what it is you want. So visualizing routinely will consistently reinforce the messages to your subconscious mind of what outcome you’re expecting to experience. You can’t control exactly what comes out of the process, but you can lead it in the right direction by sending it the right messages.
Your conscious mind commands and your subconscious mind obeys.
Your subconscious mind is an unquestioning servant that works day and night to make your behaviors fit a pattern consistent with your emotionalized thoughts, hopes, and desires. Your subconscious mind grows either flowers or weeds in the garden of your life, whichever you plant by the mental equivalents you create. -Brian Tracy
In short, planning, setting goals and instilling them into your subconscious is important because it helps you grow faster. That means you end up with more money for yourself and your loved ones while spending less time slaving away at your desk.
After years of ignoring the pleas of friends, family, and clients to start an online business so you can help the masses (really, people are fine with paying good money for your help!), you’ve finally decided to extend your practice to the world wide web. You’re going to offer your services, and/or products online.
But here is the question: which platform is best for an online newbie like you?
If Etsy is the first thing that comes to mind, you’re certainly not alone — Etsy is very popular and there are a lot of merchants selling handmade products and/or their services on the Etsy marketplace.
However, there can be some major disadvantages to the site, and these are significant enough to convince entrepreneurs to choose to sell via their own eCommerce websites.
I started with my own eCommerce website, but I’m not a newbie at selling online.
For the sake of expanding my selling opportunities, I worked on building an Etsy shop too. I have some first-hand experience to share with you and then my advice as a professional who has been marketing products and services online for over 10 years.
So, let’s quickly take a look at which is best for your services: Etsy or your own eCommerce website? Here are some of the pros and cons for both.
The pros of Etsy
The costs to get started are minimal if you have minimal products/services to sell.
It is easy to set up an Etsy shop: no web hosting or domain fees, no design costs. It is literally free to set up shop except for two things:
Etsy takes a commission on items you sell.
Transaction Fees
When you make a sale through Etsy.com, you will be charged a transaction fee of 5% of the price you display for each listing plus the amount you charge for shipping and gift wrapping. …
2. There is a $0.20 fee for creating or renewing a listing on Etsy.
Listings renew every 4 months if there is still a number of products or services to sell within that listing.
You will be charged a listing fee whether or not the listed item sells. (see Etsy Fees)
To illustrate how quantity and listing fees work, let’s say you sell bowls in your Etsy shop:
What if I list only one bowl?
You’ll be charged $0.20 USD when listing your bowl. Listings expire after 4 months. Later, if you choose renew your listing, you’ll be charged a $0.20 USD renewal fee.
What if I list a quantity of four bowls?
You’ll be charged $0.20 USD for the listing. If none of the four bowls sells and your listing expires, it will cost you $0.20 USD to renew the listing.
What if I list a quantity of three bowls and I only sell one before the listing expires?
You’ll be charged $0.20 USD for the listing. When the item sells, the listing will automatically renew because you’ve still got two left. You’ll be charged an additional $0.20 USD auto-renewal fee so that the listing remains for sale in your shop.
What if I list a quantity of ten bowls, and I sell all ten?
When you first list the bowls, you’ll be charged $0.20 USD for the listing. When all the bowls in the listing sell, you’ll be charged an additional $1.80 USD ($0.20 USD for each additional quantity that was sold).
If you renew the listing with the same quantity of 10, you’ll be charged another $0.20 USD. — Etsy Help Doc
Quick to set up
Setting up a product listing on Etsy is fast. You can simply create your account and start selling your products/services within the hour. It takes the same amount of time to set up a product listing on your own eCommerce website, but your website has requirements other than just listing products.
Screenshot by author
Possibly greater exposure
Etsy shops are set up based on the belief that they get great exposure as clients browse the platform. While this may be true, there are “cons” to this — which we have covered later in this post.
Customers trust Etsy
As a popular and established website, Etsy has policies to protect its customers, thus earning their trust.
Reliable
Those selling on Etsy do not have to worry about bugs or technical issues on the website. Sure, this can happen but this is rare and dealt with quickly by Etsy’s in-house tech team.
Community
Etsy has a community of like-minded practitioners. There are local groups that organize get-togethers, there are forums to chat and seek advice and discuss things.
That being said, let’s look at the cons of Etsy.
The cons of Etsy
There are selling fees
You already know that using a payment processor involves incurring a fee since it is offered by a business provider bearing the cost of that service.
But as mentioned earlier, Etsy also takes a percentage of every payment you receive plus requires a listing fee. This makes it difficult to price competitively since you have to cover your expenses and make a profit.
There is tough competition
Etsy had over 2.5 million sellers at the end of 2019 and this number is only growing. So, it can be quite hard for a practitioner to be found via search. In fact, Etsy is like a search engine where millions are competing to rank.
Because of the intense competition, search engine marketing on Etsy can be quite a time-consuming effort, often more than doing the search engine marketing for your own eCommerce website.
Just setting up a store on Etsy does not mean that those seeking your services will find you easily.
Not much brand awareness
While Etsy does allow you to customize your store, the design options are very limited and this can make it hard to create brand awareness.
Add the tough competition, and you are lost among others in the same business as you. This makes it difficult to establish your presence.
Moreover, most of the audience on Etsy is there to just browse around and are unlikely to recall your brand.
There is no ownership and therefore, high risk
When you don’t own something, you are naturally at risk as you don’t have full control over your business. What if Etsy decided to revamp its policies or raise its fees? You simply have to take it without question.
You don’t own your customer data as Etsy owns it. Once you make a sale, you cannot approach that customer for more sales.
However, on your own website, you control your activities, your policies, your clients, and best of all — you can market to your audience and convert them into loyal returning customers.
Etsy supports the customer rather than you
Things do go wrong sometimes but on Etsy, let’s say there is a problem with a transaction. When that happens, Etsy is on the customer’s side and will offer them a refund even if you would not.
This is simply because Etsy has ownership of the customer’s data and no matter what the details of the issue, they want to resolve it quickly, even if it is the customer’s fault.
Maybe the customer put in the wrong delivery address and the item sent by you is not delivered to the right destination. Etsy will go ahead and refund the customer, no questions asked.
However, when you do business from your own website, you can clearly state the terms and conditions of your services, indicating that there are no refunds for inaccurate checkout information. You have the right to charge your customer extra shipping costs in such a situation.
Etsy places a Payment account reserve for new sellers.
screenshot by author
If you have a reserve on your account, for each subsequent sale you receive, a set percentage of the sale amount will not be available for deposit for up to 45 days from the sale date. This reserve will be removed from your account in 90 days, unless there are additional policy infractions with your account. Learn more here.
Negative feedback from customers
Feedback is always welcome from customers, but this can escalate in a negative way on platforms like Etsy. Since customers have the freedom to post an “honest” review, some can be quite nasty and unreasonable.
For example, if they don’t receive an instant response to their messages to the seller, they leave a one-star rating even if the services/products were excellent.
It does not matter if the seller is located halfway across the world with a twelve-hour time difference. This, even if the service is delivered according to the terms promised.
This sort of thing does not happen when you have your own website because you’re able to evaluate the review before publishing it on your site. This will allow you to email the customer and resolve the issue, possibly resulting in a more positive review.
While this may not actually look like a big disadvantage with Etsy, it can still be discouraging as prospective clients do go by your ratings and you could easily lose a potentially good client simply because someone was unfair.
Now let’s look at the other option: running your own eCommerce website
Sure, Etsy is good for the advantages listed above, but if there is one challenge with Etsy, it is the huge competition one has to deal with. Your customers can easily access both your services as well as your competitors’.
Also, not much can be said about brand awareness on Etsy.
With Etsy, you can’t really establish yourself as a brand and expect people to remember and follow you, and share your services with everyone they know.
The reason is there is too much distraction, what with your competitor’s listings. On top of that, the design options for your shop front are quite limited.
Etsy controls your client’s purchase journey. As a result, should someone ask your client where they availed your services, they’ll just say Etsy instead of referring to you specifically by your name or brand.
When you set up your own eCommerce website, besides the unlimited design options and space to present yourself, you can establish your unique brand and personality exactly the way you want.
You also control your shop policies and incur no extra fees on payments received except the standard fee charged by the payment processors.
Your own website also gives you the freedom to promote your services via a blog, an events page, and sign-up forms for your clients.
You can build an email list to keep in touch with customers, alerting them to new products/services. In fact, your website is your home on the world wide web that you can completely customize for your business.
Here are the main advantages of setting up your own website.
Greater control over design and digital marketing
As we mentioned earlier, your website is yours to control. This includes the layout, branding, design, and marketing. You can add any feature that will help you attract more loyal customers. You can tweak the design, add a button, run a promotion, change your policies, and more. You never have to worry about someone else calling the shots.
Fewer distractions for your customer
When your customer lands on your website, you can rest assured that they won’t be distracted by competitor ads. You will have their full attention when they are on your website.
You are seen as a professional
With a beautifully designed website, your customers take you more seriously. Unlike Etsy where you can only upload a few photos and add content, your website can reflect your branding with your personal URL and design and bring you more referrals.
Your prospective customers will also find you online more easily with a well-optimized site.
There are some perceived disadvantages.
A website takes time and money to set up
Setting up your own website means more time and costs compared to setting up on Etsy. Also, managing it all on your own, unless you are an expert, can take months along with a steep learning curve to get it right.
It makes sense to hire an experienced website designer to handle it quickly and professionally. Costs typically include setup fees, ongoing hosting costs, and domain registration charges.
Once you are up and running you save money in the long run as you no longer have to incur recurring fees every time a customer uses your services.
You have to manage and maintain your website
When you have your own website, you have to take care of maintenance and ensure that your website runs smoothly. You can choose to hire a reliable website maintenance expert to manage updates, database maintenance, and fix any technical bugs. If you host your website with SiteGround, your designer can configure these tasks to run automatically for you.
You have to look after your own marketing
Unlike Etsy where you may be featured among popular stores as soon as you set up shop, you will need to come up with an effective marketing plan to promote your services as soon as you set up your website. This includes social media marketing, blog marketing, and other ways to get the word out there. A digital marketing strategist can guide you on where and how to start.
Competition
Yes, competition. Even though you have your customer’s attention when they are on your web page, you will face competition from other websites, including Etsy. At the same time, you also have plenty of opportunities.
By creating a search engine marketing plan based on the right keywords for your services and your target audience, you can compete on the web more successfully than on Etsy.
When we combine your knowledge of your customers’ needs, your services, and your website, with a bit of search engine marketing research, a solid plan, and a bit of training so you can do it yourself, competing on the web will be more beneficial to your business than trying to compete on Etsy.
Something to bear in mind
In the process of deciding between setting up your own website vs Etsy, there is a common misconception that website marketing is much harder compared to Etsy where it is easy to be found.
The truth is, Etsy is not easier. You can easily be lost in the massive competition. Also, Etsy’s search engine marketing is tough to master. Attracting people to your website takes just about the same effort as bringing them to your Etsy store; in fact, it is harder with Etsy which is crowded with similar listings. You can pay for Etsy advertising but I find the fee structure overwhelming.
At the end of the day, whether you set up your own website or use an Etsy store, the main goal should be to build your brand through marketing to gain repeat business.
I am not disputing the fact that Etsy is a good platform to attract customers and make sales. But if you plan to grow your business into a sustainable brand that your audience will recognize, Etsy is just not enough.
Quite a few merchants maintain both an Etsy store as well as their own website. I tried it in an attempt to expand my selling channels for wuvala.com, and decided the fees were not worth it.
If you’ve had experience with selling on Etsy, please share in the comments. I’d love to know.
There were a lot of financial promises made at the onset of the COVID19 pandemic, including stimulus packages, support for small businesses, pandemic relief, food programs, temporary rent relief, and so much more. I hadn’t seen any of this promised financial assistance until this week, when Facebook approved my small business grant of $2500. I probably won’t see it for another few weeks, but I’m grateful to know help is coming. Many people all over the world can’t say the same.
Working and living in NYC was not easy during the months of April, May, and June. So many people suffered physically, mentally, emotionally, and especially financially. One of our two major streams of income vanished into thin air. My husband and I own a HVAC company. We provide air conditioning, heating, and ventilation services to NYC restaurants. They were completely shut down. Clients who owed us money requested extensions and we granted them because of the pandemic. We realized that we were all struggling together.
NEW YORK - APRIL 22, 2020: The ‘Fearless Girl’ statue by Kristen Visbal in front of the New York Stock Exchange wearing a surgical face mask during the COVID-19 pandemic By Jennifer M. Mason
Six weeks in, I became nervous. We are a family of six and there was no temporary rent relief or help with monthly household expenses available to us. Three of our children were distance learning from home and groceries were hard to come by initially. When the supermarket shelves were stocked again, nothing was on sale. Our grocery costs that usually amounted to roughly $250/week had gone up to $400/week when shopping at local supermarkets. Food prices remain ridiculously high. We also had to pay out of pocket for virtual doctor appointments because we couldn’t get in contact with our insurance company. I’m still paying for health insurance.
Now that the worst is behind us (temporarily, at the very least), I count my blessings. This pandemic is huge. It’s something I’ve never seen in my lifetime. Thankfully, I had a safety net that was established 12 years ago and because of it, we didn’t financially struggle during this unprecedented time.
Can I share with you how I created it? It’s something important for you to consider.
In 2008, the economy was in a downturn and my employers were in constant meetings about the continual drop in sales. I started a side hustle because I had a baby on the way and needed a backup plan. I utilized my experience in graphics, design, and marketing to offer website designs to friends and their business associates. We all chased our entrepreneurial dreams without any startup money. All we had was our skills, experience, and talent. I remembered very little about HTML from college, so Barnes & Noble was my best friend. I did extensive research and learned so much about CSS, online marketing, and WordPress blogs.
In 2009, with another baby on the way and my employer downsizing, I started a blog to put what I was learning about online marketing into practice. I became an avid social media user, a SEO superstar, and I networked with people online to learn what they needed. I discovered all the ways bloggers could make money and I tried these tactics myself. I succeeded very quickly because of my past work experience.
By 2010, the US economy had been in dire straits for almost three years. My husband and I were both laid off. My side hustle kept us fed and provided diapers and baby formula for our babies. It kept the lights and internet on. It didn’t quite pay the rent and we were always behind, but we had a great landlady who worked with us. With my husband’s skills as an HVAC technician, we didn’t expect him to be out of work for long, so we both decided that I should work the side hustle as a full-time business so I could also care for our small children and be there for our tweens while I helped him build his HVAC business. I started offering design and marketing services to other bloggers and then eventually to entrepreneurs and small businesses.
It’s 10 years later and the economy is in the dumps again due to the COVID19 pandemic. As I mentioned earlier, because his clients are in the service industry, my husband couldn’t work. I could and I continue to do so. Work has not slowed down for me at all.
Who knew in 2008 when I feared for my job, starting this little side business would save us in 2020? I did look for other work all those years ago, but trying to find employment in a slow economy while pregnant meant my options were limited. I stayed with my corporate job as long as I could before being laid off because I was afraid to let go of the paycheck. The moment I decided to not return to the workforce and to turn my side hustle into my actual businesses, I secured our future and created a safety net for this current pandemic.
The world is changing and the future is uncertain, but we know what we know. We know what we’re good at. We know what we enjoy doing. We can use this knowledge, our experience, and our talents, to generate additional income and start a business. If you’ve ever considered starting your own business or creating a side hustle to have another income stream, don’t let fear hold you back. Get a side hustle plan in place and work the plan. To get you started here are some free resources:
We hear the words freelance writer, copywriter, ghostwriter thrown around a lot. But who’s a ghostwriter? A ghostwriter writes copy—can be anything from books, blog posts, articles, speeches, newsletters, web copy, etc. but is not credited for the work. When you work as a ghostwriter, someone else puts their name on your work. The client who outsources the work to you owns the copyright for the work you did for them and has the right to edit it.
Now, the question is, why would one hire a professional ghostwriter? Here are some of the most common reasons for hiring a ghostwriter:
The client’s business is expanding so fast that there is no time to write their own content.
The client has a wealth of ideas and stories, but does not write well.
Ghostwriting is not a new concept—it has been around for time immemorial.
I have worked as a ghostwriter for years on various client projects and my assignments involved the following:
Editing a rough manuscript, adding content where required and “fleshing” it up, finetuning it to create the final product.
Transcribing from rough notes to a final document or presentation. I once transcribed three notebooks from French to English and then had to create a report out of it.
Writing a series of blog posts for a single client for their business.
Maintaining a business blog by writing posts in the client’s voice and style.
Working on a nonfiction/fiction ebook based on an outline and table of contents provided by the client.
Researching and writing white papers based on a brief provided.
And much more. Ghostwriting can be anything from polishing a document, editing, to writing from scratch. Since there’s no byline for the author, freelance ghostwriting can be quite a lucrative business idea if you want to work from home. I can certainly endorse that the work is very interesting.
Many publishing houses hire ghostwriters for some of their book series as well as for their authors. These come with their own set of rules and specifications.
What skills do you need to get started as a ghostwriter?
Depending on the kind of writing you intend to do, you need to develop the specific skills needed. If you want ghostwrite fiction, you need the skills based on the brief and outline provided to you. If you would rather blog for a client, then you need to have the expertise to research and write in such a way that the client meets their goal. Take a look at the types of writing out there—and decide what you would like to focus on. Then practice.
What basic equipment do you need?
Here’s what you need to start working from home:
A computer or a laptop with a stable internet connection
Editing software like MS Office
Typing skills
Space to work peacefully and without distractions – can be your home or even a coffee shop
A smartphone
Discipline
I’ve just listed what I started with. You’ll figure out the extras you need depending on the kind of work you do. Fortunately, most software programs you need or their alternatives are available for download online.
Build your profiles on social media. I recommend LinkedIn where you can post a strong resume listing your skills.
What you need to be wary of
Starting your freelance work as a ghostwriter can be so exciting that it can be easy to lose track of time. There are days when you end up working way past your working hours. Once in a while this is okay when there is an emergency deadline. But if you make it a habit you face the risk of burnout. All that screen time, brain strain and sitting can become stressful. Make sure you have a comfortable desk and take breaks. Eat on time, get exercise. Make time to do what you enjoy.
Which niches to consider?
The most popular writing niches today are blogging for businesses and bloggers. Yes, many bloggers make a full-time income through their blogs and as they focus on growing their blogs, they need ghostwriters. Look around at the topics that interest you the most and look for work in that area. Browse blogs and business websites to pitch your writing. Now is a good time to do the research and create a portfolio and services package with details of what you can offer along with pricing.
How Do You Get Paid?
Gone are the days when the check is in the mail! The easiest way to get paid is online, the most popular being via PayPal. Some clients use Stripe and wire transfer. If you don’t have a PayPal account, create one right away. Ensure that the payment terms are clear before you accept work.
I know we’ve just touched the tip of the ghostwriting iceberg, but I can tell you that ghostwriting can be a steady freelance business since businesses are always looking at quality content writers. Also, self-publishing is something many authors are opting for today. When you connect with prospective clients, even if they only have ideas or outlines, you can use your skills to make their dream—and yours—a reality. Don’t forget to let your friends and contacts know you are in business!
Working as a freelance writer is a great option if you want to work from home. Flexible schedule, taking on what you can handle, being in control of your income, balancing work and life—all this is possible.
Choosing to work as a freelance writer can be lucrative if you have what it takes. I started putting out my intention to do freelance writing work in 2003, and started working with a content marketing agency soon after, once I cleared a writing test. I worked with them for more than a decade before I built my own client base.
Of course, as with any type of work, there are several pros and cons. If you plan to launch into a freelance writing career, here’s what you should know to be successful:
· What it takes
· How to get started
· Pitfalls to avoid
What does it take to be a freelance writer?
When I began my freelance writing career, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I didn’t need a writing degree. What I did need was an excellent command over the language, the ability to understand the client’s brief and write in a conversational tone to appeal to the audience that would be reading my work.
The question foremost on your mind is probably this: How much money can you make? This depends on your clients and the type of writing you decide to do. I enjoyed writing articles, long form content, and ebooks specifically but was open to any kind of content and topic. This enabled me to take on a variety of work and kept me busy enough.
How do you decide how much to charge for your writing? There are many resources available online. Depending on the client’s project, your pricing can be per hour or per word. Or you could charge a package cost for the entire project assigned to you. Most projects require research, so you will need to factor that in, along with the time you expect to invest in the work. That said, you could end up making anything from $20 to $1000 a page based on your client’s niche and the deliverables expected by them.
It goes without saying that you must set yourself a schedule based on how much time you can set aside for the writing and for pitching to clients. I prefer to work alone, but I know freelance writers who outsource the writing by hiring writers and editors when they start receiving more work than they can handle alone. It is completely up to you.
How to Get Started
Once you decide you want to get started as a freelance writer, the first thing you want to do is take stock of your skills. If you want to begin as a basic content writer and know how to research, and write a 500 to1500-word article about the topic required, that can be your starting point.
But for more specialized copy that goes into sales pages, landing pages, press releases, and advertisements, you would need to learn those skills and develop experience. The good news is that specialized copywriting means higher pricing, even though finding clients can be more challenging, at least initially. But as you build your reputation, your referrals will grow and so will your income.
I remember my first assignment which required me to write ten articles. One of the instructions, besides the usual grammar, punctuation, and language was this: the article must be easy for a seventh-grader to read and understand. Oh, easy, I thought. It took me practice before I could get into that flow!
I’ve found that it is more common for website owners to look for content writers to deliver 30 articles every month consistently. Specialized content such as landing pages or sales pages is rarer.
My suggestion would be to begin with one type of writing for a client. As you gain experience, add more services to your portfolio. This will help find your footing in the market and prevent overwhelm. Once you figure out what you enjoy writing best, do set up a web page or a website to advertise your skills and your services. Show them samples of your work. Build your presence on social media platforms. One that really worked for me was LinkedIn.
Pitfalls to avoid
As I mentioned earlier, every profession has its dos and don’ts. Here are some things to be wary about:
· Avoid clients who are not the right fit for you. It can be easy to accept work that you really don’t enjoy doing but take up anyway because of the pay.
· Avoid clients who try to cut down your rates and underpay you. They will promise consistent work just to negotiate. Be firm.
· Avoid clients who don’t respect you and your time. The worst kind.
· Make sure your terms of service are clear to the client, especially when it comes to paying you.
That said, working as a freelance writer can be fulfilling work. It is wonderful to work from home, setting your own hours and enjoying what you do. And remember, it will take time, consistent effort and patience to establish yourself and achieve the goals you’ve set for yourself.
If you have experience working in a specific industry or with an online business-related platform, you can quickly turn those skills into working remotely as a virtual assistant.
If you look at the world of work, you soon realize that people who specialize make more money than those who don’t. This works in all aspects of our society. If you’re a primary care doctor, you make a lot less money on average than if you specialized in something such as oncology, or even podiatry. This is also very true for virtual assistants.
Marketing yourself as a VA who specializes in a specific industry or skill is always going to help you make more money in less time than if you generalize. You’ll also want to create a package of services instead of offering yourself hourly because it’ll help you control your time better plus help you avoid scope creep.
For each of the ideas below, think about the things that potential clients need completed that they don’t have time to do, and then create a package for the things you are skilled at doing.
Some industry specialties for virtual assistants to consider:
A virtual assistant often performs secretarial work for business owners at a distance using technology. A VA can really work for almost any type of business owner if the tasks they do can be done virtually.
Real Estate VA (REVA) – Real estate agents need someone to help them list properties, promote them on social media, and other office-type work such as checking email, writing letters, and so forth. While you don’t need special licensing to become a real estate VA, you might want to consider getting your real estate license in order to be more competitive or investing in a REVA certification.
Legal or Paralegal VA – If you have legal secretary or paralegal experience, transitioning to a virtual assistant will not be hard. Most of the work you do here doesn’t need to be in the office or in a location, although you may need access to specific databases and other information via your clients to do this job properly.
Research VA – Many people, including scientists, doctors, lawyers, teachers, and others, need people to conduct research for them. If you are good at research, understand how to find scholarly works to back up ideas, this can really be a fun opportunity for you. You’d do it from your computer and just need a good internet connection.
Coach and Speaker VA – Many coaches and speakers need an assistant to help find speaking gigs, answer customer service emails, create their marketing materials, and keep them organized and ready for their clients and speaking gigs. Sometimes you might even get to travel if you work with speakers, if that’s something you want to do. It’s not required as you can do it fully, 100 percent, virtually.
Author Assistant VA – Many authors who work with publishing houses or on their own need help with all the things authors have to do today, from editing to marketing. If you have experience in publishing, you can help organize your authors with packages from websites, to social media, and more.
Local Small Business VA – Many small businesses in your area have plenty of administrative things that need to be done, but often they either don’t do them, or they burn the candle at both ends because they don’t realize they can hire a VA part-time to help them. You can work for daycare centers, restaurants, beauty shops, and more.
Some platforms that are popular right now:
As you think about the platforms and systems that are popular right now, and what you’re good at doing, and who you want to do it for, you should be able to narrow down some very specific services for your customers based on the platform and your experience with it.
WordPress VA – You can set up WordPress for your clients and help them add blog posts and other content to their website regularly. You don’t have to build the entire site, but instead, the web designer creates it, and you just update it with the content provided by your clients. You’ll make sure it looks pretty, all the links work, and that the SEO is working.
Mailchimp VA – It doesn’t have to be Mailchimp. Of course, it can be any email marketing autoresponder platform. If you know how to use it very well and can help customers get more out of their use of it, then that’s what you should market to them. Most people don’t know how to use any software fully, but if you do, you can really knock it out of the park by helping your clients get the most out of it.
Instagram VA – Many popular Instagram stars get busy after they become popular. It makes it hard for them to have time to publish their images, edit them, and promote their work. You can help them with that and help them build an audience from the ground up too. If you know how to do that, market your services to the people you most want to work with.
YouTube VA – Many people want to start YouTube channels, or they already have them, you can work with newbies, or you can work with only platforms with 500K subscribers, it’s up to you regarding who you want to work with and the services you put together for them based on their needs as a YouTube Star.
Facebook Marketing VA – Do you know something about how to run ads on Facebook to help your clients make more money and sales? If so, you can become a Facebook Marketing VA. Many people who help companies run ads charge a percentage of sales, a percentage of ad spend budget, or a flat rate for each campaign.
Pinterest VA – Many businesses like to set up shoppable pins on Pinterest but don’t know how to do it or don’t have time. You do. You can help your clients set up the best pins and get more engagement on their pins.
Kindle Publishing VA – Being a self-published author isn’t as hard today as it used to be, but if you know something about publishing on Amazon Kindle, you can help guide your customers through the process. You don’t have to be an editor or anything, you just need to know people that can help your clients, and you’re golden.
Marketing Funnel VA – Everyone who has a business needs an online marketing funnel today. It’s a high-level skill set that any business owner needs. All you need to do is set up a package for creating a marketing funnel for your customers, and you can make six figures plus.
Project Manager VA – Every business owner who manages contractors and employees needs help doing it. No CEO does everything alone. They always have a smart and organized assistant that does all that for them. That can be you. If you’re good at setting up processes and steps to achieve goals using project management software and working with individuals, you can do this.
You get the idea. It’s a good idea to specialize so that you can command higher rates. Plus, when you specialize in what you do, you set the tasks that you will do for them, as well as the rates, so you automatically know what you’ll be doing for them each day throughout the year instead of waiting for them to tell you what to do.
Remember to create an entire package instead of just charging hourly for the services. Packages ensure that you have time for more than one customer and that you produce consistent results.
Starting a business from home is easier than many realize. You may think you need to invest thousands of dollars, but you really don’t. I started my business from home 12 years ago as a side hustle to my regular 9 to 5. I didn’t have a website or an office. I was 6 months pregnant and working a couple of hours per night and on the weekends from a little table in the nursery. Being the most technical among my friends and working in an advertising-related industry, a friend asked me to build a website for his new company. I did take HTML classes some ten years prior so I figured why not? I would learn as I go. He had no budget so there was no deadline. I did some online research, bought some books and TAADAA! the website was up before the baby was born! 😛 A handful of referrals came from building the site but most importantly I gained skills that complemented my education and career experience. Two years (and another child) later I started my own fulltime business from home via a mom blog. Today I own two web-based businesses and co-own a local business. You can use your skills, experience, and talents to start your own business too!
Owning your own business is a great way to take control of your life. You are 100 percent in control of when you work, how you work, and who you work with. Some who own their own business may disagree with that but IT IS absolutely up to you how much of that control you want to give away to clients. You can have 3 day weekends. You can schedule to have an online class in the middle of the day to learn that new skill that can help you earn more money. You are in command of how much you get paid. You choose the rate, not the customer. Also, since you’re just you, you can often end up charging less than a huge corporation and still end up more profitable as your expenses are lower. You are in control of your choices and your destiny.
Owning your own business does not require you to work from home. You can literally work from anywhere. For the purpose of today’s article, we’ll discuss 25 businesses you can start from home.
1. Mobile Hairdresser
I’m listing this one first for two reasons.
1. During the current Covid19 pandemic there is not one hair salon open in my neighborhood here in NYC. Forced me to give myself a dye job. It did not go well.
2. Fifteen years ago when I was a single working mom of a 6 and 8-year-old, (I am happily remarried and have 4 kids now) I had no time to sit in a salon. A local woman would come by my apartment twice per week to blow dry my hair straight. She charged the same as the salon but she came to my home which saved me 3 hours a week. I could check homework or watch TV with my girls while she attended to my hair. Whenever my daughters and I had an event to attend, I’d book a few extra hours that week so they could get something special done with their hair too.
Of Course I kept Pictures
How did she get started? She just introduced herself to harried-looking moms that she met at the supermarket, in the playground, at the laundromat. She kept a list of references and photos of the work she’s done in her flip phone to show people. Eventually, she made 5×7 postcards depicting some of her work and handed those out. A social media account and a listing on Google Maps would have done wonders for her business. Gosh, Google Maps didn’t even exist then!
2. Mobile Make-up Artists and 3. Mobile Pet Groomers
Similar to Mobile Hairdressers. All you need is talent, skills, experience, the applicable tools, and the confidence to start up conversations with strangers. An active social media account and a Google Map listing is a must these days.
4. Blogging
Blogging is a competitive industry but you CAN make money. When I started blogging over a decade ago, all I needed was a website and a computer. Now? All you need is a website and a smartphone! As a blogger, you can earn money from online ads, by being an affiliate, selling merchandise, selling digital downloads and by charging for premium content. It’s true, you do need a lot of traffic, so understanding SEO and social media is crucial. You also need a super-fast website with an SSL certificate (I am an affiliate of WP Engine because they rock for startups who don’t have a webmaster on payroll). Successfully creating an income via blogging is not easy and requires dedication and some investment, but that’s how we get started with any business, right?
5. Caterer 6. Baker 7. Mixologist
Caterers and Bakers are lifesavers. Forget fancy events. Think family reunions and birthday parties. These can be stressful for any host. Having someone show up with pans of chicken and ribs, side dishes and fancy cupcakes and layered cakes is just amazing when you have a full-time job, a full-time family and have to host a party. As for Mixologists, they’re the life of the party! An experienced Mixologist will create drinks to align with the dishes and desserts being served. But how do you get started? I would recommend a Facebook Business Page with lots of photos of your dishes/desserts/drinks and a Google Maps listing. I would have friends and family who’ve had my incredible offerings leave reviews and post photos. I would host a tasting party for people I know where they can try some of my dishes and we can take lots of photos for promotion. Be sure to ask your guests to refer you to friends, neighbors, and co-workers!
8. Copywriter
One of the 2 most impressive writers I’ve ever met is Vidya Sury. She has an MBA in Human Resources and Marketing and a Diploma in Training and Development. She also graduated with a B.Sc. in Zoology, Chemistry, and Botany. WOW, right? She currently, and for as long as I’ve known her, works from home as a Writer, Editor and Business Blogger. Clients find her through her LinkedIn Profile and hire her for copywriting, blogging, and manuscript editing. Want to start a business as a copywriter? Build your LinkedIn profile and an Upwork profile. You can search Upwork for openings and bid on paying projects.
9. Social Media Manager 10. Virtual Assistant 11. Virtual Bookkeeping 12. IT Service 13. Marketing Campaign Manager 14. Software/Platform Specialist
The other most impressive writer I’ve ever met is Angel Austin. She is also a fabulous singer, the owner of a media marketing business and of a mobile concierge business, and a heart-centered activist. Angel has a BA in Public Relations and Mass Communications and currently provides Social Media Management and Consumer Engagement services to a multi-million dollar company, from home. Angel left the corporate grind years ago so she could pursue her dream of a work/life balance where she calls the shots!
How did she get started? Through personal recommendations in her community working with local businesses. Executive assistants, ITs, software/platform specialists, marketing campaign managers, and bookkeeping administrators can also start their own business by offering their services. Reaching out to your network and local businesses is a good way to start. You can also offer your services on upwork.com.
15. Mobile Masseuse 16. Reiki Practitioner 17. Massage Therapist
If you’re trained and certified as a masseuse, a massage therapist, or a reiki practitioner, you can build your own mobile business where you travel to your clients. Groupon is a good platform to offer deals on your services when first starting out. You will definitely need somewhere online to direct people to read reviews and learn about you. That could be a website, a social media business page or a free About.me page.
18. Custom Art Commissions
My very talented artistic daughter, pictured in #1 above, is now a 21-year-old Art Major in college, who started her own business painting on sneakers and clothing. How does she gain business? She wears her personal projects! People stop her on the train and on the street to ask about her boots and jacket. Friends and past clients recommend her too! And of course… Instagram, cause what 21 year old isn’t on Instagram?
No, you don’t need your own laundromat to make this one work. Have a car? Know how to separate whites from colors and fold clothing? I’d pay good money to have someone pick up my laundry, wash it, dry it, fold it and bring it back to me all within a day. Take in several orders a day. No website is needed. Hit the pavement and use social media.
20. Photographer
This is one of my favorites. I’ve come across women with an amazing eye for photography. Some who trained professionally, some who it comes to naturally and grew up with a camera in their hands. AMAZING photographers, i should know, I worked in the imaging industry for 12 years with photographers. Guys who make big bucks from name brands. I know when a shot is breathtaking. When the lighting is right. When the picture is retouched or the real deal. Take that camera, build your portfolio, build a search engine optimized website offering your niche of photography (family photographers are the best way to start) to local customers, and go for it!
Design the Life You Really Want to Live
The truth is working too much is not suitable for your life. If you really want to have a happier and fulfilled life, you need to build balance into it. You need to be able to schedule family time, friend time, work time and YOU time. As a business owner, you are in control of that schedule and can live a more fulfilled and happy life by managing your time to include all parts of your life.
Owning your own business also provides you more security, more options, and generally more money than working hourly jobs. You can stop trading hours for dollars and work with the people you want to work with, in a way that enables you to have more flexibility with your family and your life. There really is unlimited opportunity out there if you’re willing to invest in yourself. You can start small with a side hustle and seriously plan to scale to your own business.
It’s not enough to dream of success. It’s not even enough to set goals. The only way to truly achieve your dreams and build the business you’re meant to build is to sit down and just do it. And that’s where many of us…well, fail is a strong word. But it’s the doing that trips us up more times than not. We overbook our calendars until today’s to-dos become next week’s past dues. We procrastinate on the things that are important while attending to things that are merely “nice to do.” And sometimes we simply take on too much—even when we know better.
The answer? Embrace these five productivity hacks that top coaches use to get more done in less time.
Rituals and Habits:
Simply put, a ritual or habit is a consistent way of doing something. You have a morning ritual (wake up, brush your teeth, work out, shower, and head to your office), evening ritual (check homework, tuck the kids in, watch the evening news, and hit the sack), weekend ritual (sleep late, mow the lawn, catch a movie, visit your mom), and many others. The trouble is, if you’re not careful with your rituals, they can turn into productivity killers. Is checking Facebook or email a part of your morning ritual? Is turning on Skype a part of your at work ritual? Distractions such as these can turn even your best intentions into hours of wasted time. Take a good look at your rituals. What are you doing that you should not be—or that should be moved to another part of your day? Make your rituals more efficient and you’ll automatically get more done.
Calendar Management:
Want to know how much time you really have available for that new project? Try blocking off time in your calendar for all your existing projects. Fill in all your client calls, your business administrative tasks, time for meals and breaks, outside appointments, and everything else you’re committed to. What’s left might just shock you. Make it a habit to block time in your calendar for every commitment, and you’ll never again over-promise or over-commit.
Learn to Let Go:
Here’s a news flash. You do not have to do everything in your business. You can (and should) hand off those low-level tasks to someone else. Hire a VA to create your documents and manage your calendar. Let your tech support person manage your blog and email. Turn over your bookkeeping to an accountant. The time you free up will allow you to work on what’s truly important—and that only you can do.
Work Hard, Play Harder:
You are not a machine. You cannot work all day every day and hope to be at your best all the time. Take a day off. Get some rest, or relax on a long, slow hike. Take a friend out to lunch. Go shopping with your kids. See a movie or a play. Do something—anything—other than work. Not only will you return to the office feeling much more refreshed, but you’ll find yourself more creative and productive than before as well.
Focus:
Multi-tasking is impossible. You cannot efficiently create a new coaching program while you’re simultaneously surfing Facebook, keeping an eye on the kids, and answering the phone every time it rings. Instead, use your calendar to block time off for important tasks, then turn everything else off so you can focus. No phone, no Facebook, no kids or husbands or neighbors or pets demanding “just a minute” of your time. Tune everything out, and you’ll find your work getting done much faster.
Managing your time and turning up your productivity is not something that comes naturally to most people but when you learn to master this skill, you’ll find your business grows right along with you.
