If you spend any amount of time on Twitter or keep up with technology news, you probably feel like Artificial Intelligence (AI) is coming for us like a giant tsunami wave — for better or for worse.

But what do normal, everyday Americans think?

It’s easy to get caught up in social media echo chambers and lose sight of what the true public sentiment is on a topic, let alone awareness. 

To get a clearer understanding of public attitudes and trust towards AI and tools like ChatGPT, DollarSprout recently conducted a survey of 1,177 American adults that revealed some interesting (and surprising) findings.

How We Constructed the Survey

Since every question on the survey was in some way related to AI or ChatGPT, respondents had to be screened in order to get meaningful data.

Only respondents who answered “yes” to having heard of ChatGPT and knew what it was were prompted to complete the rest of the survey:

This simple screening question already reveals something interesting: more than half of Americans have no idea what ChatGPT is, let alone how to use it or how impactful it may (or may not) be.

The rest of the results from this survey are only from people who have heard of ChatGPT.

ChatGPT Adoption and Usage

The survey revealed that 28% of respondents have used ChatGPT for something productive, while 43% have just tried it out for fun. Interestingly, 28% of respondents have not used ChatGPT at all. While many people have started actively using AI tools, there is still a significant portion of the population who have not yet adopted the technology or found use cases that would be beneficial to them yet.

Societal Impact and Potential Danger of AI

When asked about AI’s long-term impact on society, 49% of respondents think AI will have a net positive impact, while 40% say it will have a net negative impact. A smaller portion, 11%, believe AI will have no impact or a negligible one. These mixed opinions highlight the ongoing debate surrounding AI’s role in shaping the future.

The survey results show that public opinion is divided when it comes to the question of whether AI is a danger to society. 32% believe it is, while 33% say it’s not a danger, and 35% remain uncertain, responding with “maybe.” This split suggests that many individuals are still forming their opinions on AI’s potential dangers.

White Collar Jobs and AI

With the near entirety of written human knowledge being fed into machine learning algorithms, many are concerned about what that might mean for basically anyone that works in a non-manual labor job. 

But when it comes to trusting AI in healthcare, only 20% of respondents said they would trust an AI doctor to diagnose a medical issue and come up with a treatment plan for them. On the other hand, 40% outright rejected the idea, while another 40% said they wouldn’t trust AI now but might consider it in the future. It’s important to note that AI has already been shown to pass the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam.

While there is clearly some resistance to AI’s involvement in healthcare, the fact that this is even a possibility is significant. As time goes on and more advances are made, it’s reasonable to assume that public trust in AI will slowly start to build within the healthcare industry.

AI in the Workplace

Even if we aren’t ready to have AI treat us for medical conditions just yet, there is no arguing that tools like ChatGPT are capable of writing emails, performing data analysis, and plenty of other mundane office tasks.

And that begs the question, how should this be used by companies in their day-to-day operations?

Results show that people are generally pro-AI when it comes to workplace usage, but most lean towards an open-disclosure policy. 61% of respondents said that if they were CEO of a company, they would allow employees to use AI but only if the employees disclosed when it was being used. In contrast, 22% said they would allow AI use without disclosure, and 15% of respondents said they would not allow employees to use AI at all. 

From an employee perspective, we asked the following:

The survey found that 59% of respondents would use AI tools to help them get their work done faster if they knew they wouldn’t get caught, while 41% said they would not. 

Government Intervention and Regulation

With how rapidly AI is advancing, many are wondering if there will come a need for government regulation. 

44% of respondents think that government regulation and/or intervention are needed right now. Meanwhile, 48% said “maybe, but not at this point in time,” and 8% said no regulation or intervention is needed or will ever be needed. People familiar with AI are obviously cautious about AI development and believe that oversight may be necessary at some point.

AI and Entrepreneurship

Even if AI may threaten entire industries in the future, there are still opportunities today to use tools like ChatGPT, among others, to start a new business or side hustle. 

Finally, the survey explored the intersection of AI and entrepreneurship. 37% of respondents have considered starting a new business or side hustle with the help of AI tools like ChatGPT, while 63% have not considered this possibility.

The post We Asked Over 1,000 Everyday People About AI. Here’s What They Said. appeared first on DollarSprout.

These apps – all of which are free to use – can save you money on groceries, travel, clothes, and so much more.

I’ve endlessly experimented with cash-back apps since 2015, back when DollarSprout was first launched. I don’t even know how many apps I’ve tried, but there are definitely a small handful that stand above the rest. These are the apps that I continue to use to this day.

In fact, we’ve done so much research on these neat little tools that, earlier this year, we decided to build our own cash back browser extension. We took everything that we liked about what the competition was doing, threw out everything we didn’t care for, and came up with DollarSprout Rewards.

So, as you read through this roundup, yes, you’re going to see our own app at the top of the list. We are proud of what we have built. But the rest of the apps mentioned are also top quality – you can’t go wrong with using any of them. In some way or another, they have all inspired our own app.

Best-In-Class Cash Back Apps 

• DollarSprout Rewards: Best overall cash back app
• Capital One Rewards: Best cash back app for online shopping
• Rakuten: Best cash back app user experience
• Ibotta: Best cash back app for grocery shopping
• Upside: Best cash back app for gas discounts
• Fetch: Best cash back app for scanning receipts
• Honey: Best cash back app for Amazon

1. DollarSprout Rewards

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Free Price

$0 Sign-Up Bonus

DollarSprout Rating 4.5/5 Stars

Best for: Best overall cash back app
Learn more: DollarSprout Rewards FAQs

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Pros

• Free, fully automatic cashback.
• Low payout threshold.
• Payouts are in cash.
• Large network of merchants (15,000+).
• International users welcome.
• Shareable referral links to increase earnings.

Cons

• No mobile application.
• No price drop notifications.
• Referral program is not yet live.

DollarSprout Rewards is a desktop-only cash back browser extension that is available on Chrome and Safari.

After installing the extension, you’ll notice a small alert appears in the upper right hand side of your browser whenever you visit an eligible merchant’s website:

Simply click the “Activate” button, and continue shopping as you normally would. Accrued earnings will post to your Earnings Dashboard shortly after purchase.

What I like about it:

• I personally do most of my shopping on my computer (not my phone), so a rewards app that works on my laptop makes it much more likely I’ll use it.
• Rewards accrue as cash, not points, making it much easier to track earnings.
• Payouts are direct cash to PayPal once monthly ($5 minimum).
• I like the subtleness of the savings alerts, especially in Google search results. It doesn’t feel obtrusive but still lets me know when a deal is available.
• Large network of retailers (over 15,000 and counting).
• Infrequent marketing emails and no intrusive notifications. User experience and utility come first.
• Automatically searches the web for working digital coupon codes and applies them at checkout.
• Shareable links that allow you to earn rewards with friends and family.
  • Example: You recommend a food processor to a friend using the link to the product listing that the DollarSprout Rewards extension provides. If they purchase using your link, you will earn additional cash back.

What I would improve:

• No cash back at Amazon. That said, I have yet to come across any app that offers cash back at Amazon. Amazon knows they have a strong grip on their customers, so there’s no need to incentivize or discount sales. 
• No price-tracking features. I don’t personally use this feature much with other apps, but I know some people do like that option.
• No referral program. 
• No mobile app, yet (coming soon).

2. Capital One Shopping

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Free Price

$0 Sign-Up Bonus

DollarSprout Rating 4.5/5 Stars

Best for: Best cash back app for online shopping
Learn more: Capital One Shopping Review 2022

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Pros

• Ease of use.
• Low payout threshold.
• Industry-leading cash back rates.
• Price drop features.

Cons

• Payouts are to gift cards only.
• No international users (US only).
• Heavily dependent on user tracking (not as privacy-focused).

Capital One Shopping is a coupon app and browser extension. The company was founded in 2014 as Wikibuy and was renamed after being acquired by Capital One in 2018.

When you install the browser extension and shop online, Capital One Shopping will alert you if there are any available coupons, or if it finds a better price somewhere else. You just have to click the button on the Capital One Shopping pop-up to claim the deal.

What I like about it:

• Easy to install and use.
• Sometimes the cash back deals are so good that I am fairly certain Capital One is taking a loss on them. My impression is that this is a way for the credit card arm of the company to build brand recognition via their shopping extension. They know they will likely recoup the losses on the credit card side of their business.
• Watchlist feature alerts you of price drops.
• Low payout threshold ($5 for most gift cards).

What I would improve:

• Not as many gift card options as some other sites.
• It tracks your online shopping history, which doesn’t bother me that much but I know some people are put off by that.
• Payouts are only done via gift cards.
• Only available to users in the United States.

3. Rakuten

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Free Price

$30 Sign-Up Bonus Spend $30, Get $30

DollarSprout Rating 4.5/5 Stars

Best for: Best cash back app user experience
Learn more: Rakuten Review 2022

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Pros

• Simple, easy-to-use interface.
• Access to large merchants that other apps don’t offer.
• Robust welcome bonus.
• Frequently boosted cash back rates at popular merchants.

Cons

• Payouts are only received quarterly.
• Frequent marketing-related contact can be tiresome.

Rakuten — formerly known as Ebates – gives rebates and cash back on purchases made in store or online. It is available as a mobile app or browser extension, and they offer an online shopping portal to see all deals in one place.

In general, the app works the same way as the preceding tools on this list. Consumers can additionally use the website or app to search for deals or see featured merchants. Rakuten’s browser extension automatically searches for and applies promo codes and cash-back offers when you shop online.

What I like about it:

• There are a few merchants that I can only seem to (consistently) find on Rakuten, like Nike and Target.
• The website is clean and easy to navigate. I can see a large selection of deals in one place.
• Rakuten will regularly run deals where they offer up to 10% cash back from select merchants, instead of their normal 1-2%.
• You earn a $30 welcome bonus if you spend $30 within 90 days. It’s basically free money if you were going to make a purchase anyways.

What I would improve:

• Out of all the apps and extensions I have signed up for, Rakuten seems to send the most marketing emails. You can unsubscribe from the emails and still keep your account active, though.
• Cash back is only paid out quarterly, which can be quite a long wait. For most people this won’t be an issue since it takes some time to accumulate the $5 minimum balance required.

4. Ibotta

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Free Price

$10 Sign-Up Bonus Spend $30, Get $10

DollarSprout Rating 4.5/5 Stars

Best for: Best cash back app for grocery shopping
Learn more: Ibotta Review 2022

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Pros

• Strong grocery focus.
• Rewards are displayed by cash value, not % cash back (easy to understand).
• Diverse incentive program with cash bonuses and free items.

Cons

• Less participating merchants than other apps.
• Redeeming offers requires considerable manual input.
• Scanning through irrelevant offers is time-consuming.

Originally marketed as the best cash back app for groceries and helping users save money on food, Ibotta has expanded its cash back offerings to several large retail chains including Lowe’s, Petco, Walmart, Target and more.

The app now offers a card-linked option, that detects purchases at participating merchants and then credits your account with earned rewards. They too offer a browser-based cash back extension that helps users earn rewards across thousands of additional participating retailers. If a shopper chooses to pay in cash, all hope is not lost – Ibotta allows users to manually upload their receipts after a store visit so long as they selected advertised offers prior to visiting the merchant.

What I like about it:

• Advertised rewards are displayed in cash values instead of percentage cash back. This helps me easily understand how much I can expect to save.
• Still maintains a strong grocery focus (many cash back apps are weak in this area).
• Popular retailers receive premium visibility within the app making it easier to find the stores I most frequently shop at.
• Payouts are via free gift cards or to cash.
• Ibotta offers frequent incentive-based bonuses in the form of free cash and/or free items at popular retailers. For example, they currently have an offer where a user can earn a free Butterball Turkey (~$20 value) by loading and completing 16 offers.
• Ibotta offers a $10 welcome bonus if a user spends $30 and they also have a referral bonus incentive where you’ll earn $10 for each friend or family member that you refer.*

*Referred friend or family member must make an eligible purchase and upload their receipt.

What I would improve:

• The knock against Ibotta has always been that their offers need to be manually loaded. This makes the entire process labor intensive and is a huge turn off for me personally. (Users have to search a merchant, select offers for particular products, if they exist, and then proceed to shop).
• Only 300 or so merchants offer card-linked offers, the rest require manual loading of offers, and manual scanning of receipts.
• Users face psychological biases that push them to buy additional products they may otherwise not need because they see savings offers that are only semi-relevant to them, if at all (not great for those that think they’re predisposed to shopping addiction).
• Cash back is only offered for specific products, not as a savings percentage across your entire order. If there are no cash back deals for items you need, you won’t save any money.

Related: 12 Apps Like Ibotta to Earn Cash Back at Grocery Stores

5. Upside

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Free Price

25¢/gal Sign-Up Bonus Promo code AFF25

DollarSprout Rating 4.0/5 Stars

Best for: Best cash back app for gas
Learn more: Upside FAQs

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Pros

• Interactive map makes it easy to find participating gas stations.
• Up to 50¢/gal cash back on gas!
• No minimum payout threshold.
• Permanent passive income by referring friends.

Cons

• App lacks automation (less user-friendly).
• Must link card, activate an offer, and then fill at participating stations.
• Cash back offer doesn’t always mean the lowest overall price.

Upside is a cash back app for gas that offers discounts on more than just fuel. It has three main categories for cash back: gas, groceries, and restaurants. The app functions similar to other cash back apps and offers rates of up to 25 cents off per gallon at participating stations.

What I like about it:

• I can see a map of nearby gas stations to see which ones are offering the best cash back deals.
• Cash back is paid out via PayPal or check and requires no minimum balance.
• Generous referral program that’s composed of one-time bonuses and recurring fill-up bonuses. You can earn a passive 1(¢)/gallon discount on your future fill-ups each time a referred friend fills up their tank.

What I would improve:

• The cash back is not automatic; you must “Check in” or add a photo of your receipt to the app. It’s not a big hassle, though.
• Keep in mind that the highest cash back offers might not actually be the best deals. For instance, if Gas Station A offers $3.50/gal with 25 cents cash back, but Gas Station B is $3.20/gal with no cash back, Gas Station B is still the best deal.

Related: 5 Legit Ways to Get Free Gas Cards

6. Fetch Rewards

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Free Price

DollarSprout Rating 4.0/5 Stars

Best for: Best cash back app for scanning receipts
Learn more: Fetch Rewards Review 2023

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Pros

• Earn rewards at ALL stores (minimum 25 points).
• Submit physical or digital receipts.
• No manual loading of offers.

Cons

• eReceipt scanner may miss digital receipts.
• Users earn redeemable points instead of cash rewards.
• Rewards are brand vs. store specific (won’t earn rewards across an entire purchase).

Fetch Rewards, also known as Fetch, is a cash back receipt app that allows you to earn points when you purchase from thousands of products at over 300 brand partner stores. To redeem points, simply scan your receipt through the app or connect your email address to scan eReceipts.

Brands partner with Fetch because, in addition to incentivizing consumers to purchase their products, Fetch provides brands with analytics to help them better understand consumer shopping habits.

What I like about it:

• Fetch awards points for receipts from any store or restaurant, even if it’s not from one of their partner brands.
• Works with both physical receipts and email receipts.
• Earn a modest number of points for receipt upload, even if no eligible offers were redeemed.
• You don’t need to pick your offers in advance in order to earn points.

What I would improve:

• The offers are usually tied to specific brands as opposed to a store-wide offer.
• The eReceipts feature doesn’t always work perfectly.
• I personally prefer to earn pure cash back rather than points. It’s easier for me to track my progress that way.

Related: 17 Passive Income Apps for Easy Extra Money 

7. Honey

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Free Price

$0 Sign-Up Bonus

DollarSprout Rating 4.0/5 Stars

Best for: Best cash back app for Amazon
Learn more: Honey Review 2022

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Pros

• Price comparison tools help you find the lowest price on Amazon.
• Droplist is convenient for non-time-sensitive purchases.
• Automatic coupon application at checkout helps find good deals.

Cons

• Frequently no working codes are available.
• Users commonly cite customer service concerns.
• Can’t use with common adblockers.
• Low, but growing number of actual cash back offers.

Honey is a free browser extension that automatically finds online discount codes. After installing the extension, Honey will provide you with discount codes every time you shop online. You don’t have to search manually.

Before checking out, the Honey browser extension will alert you if there are any deals available. If there are, they’ll be applied to your purchase. There’s also a feature called Droplist that allows you to track prices on certain items and receive an alert when the price drops.

What I like about it:

• Price comparison features allow you to find the cheapest price for an item on Amazon across different sellers.
• Price drop alert notifications allow me to save on purchases that I’m in no hurry to make.
• Price history tools allows me to see if there is seasonality for certain products (some items are cheaper in the Summer vs. Winter, etc.).
• The tool is owned by PayPal, so there’s notch protection against scams and frequent product updates.

What I would improve:

• Extension seems to frequently come up empty when searching for working coupon codes (user reviews across the web cite this as a common problem).
• Ad blockers seem to cause performance and tracking issues (I have to disable Adblock Plus in Chrome to use the extension).
• More cash back offers would be a huge plus. They’ve recently added PayPal Rewards into the mix, which offers actual cash back rewards in addition to the coupon-finding portion of the application.

Related: 20 Money-Making Apps for Earning on the Go

Honorable Mentions

Here are some names that you will be seen mentioned a lot in various “Best of” lists across the web. While they weren’t quite strong enough to make the top of our list, these are still apps worth considering.

8. Shopkick

Shopkick is among the best rewards apps because it lets you earn money by performing tasks, rather than just spending money. Many of these tasks are easy to do. You earn points or “kicks” with easy tasks like walking into stores, scanning barcodes for specific products, shopping with a linked card, and shopping online. Once you’ve earned enough points, you can cash out for gift cards.

Download: Android, iOS

9. Dosh

Dosh gives you up to 10% cash back when you shop at their participating merchants using a linked debit or credit card. Most other cash back apps require you to scan a receipt and choose a deal, but with Dosh, all you need to do is sign up and shop. Only available in the United States and a $25 minimum balance is needed to cash out.

Download: Android, iOS
Learn More: Dosh Review 2023

10. Drop

Drop is a free app that rewards you for your everyday spending. After linking a credit or debit card to the app, you’ll earn points whenever you shop with one of Drop’s partner brands. You can earn more rewards for referring friends, integrating other apps, completing Linked or Mobile offers, and more.

Download: Android, iOS
Learn More: Drop Review 2023

11. RebatesMe

The newer-to-the-scene app is undercutting many of its peers by offering robust daily cash-back offers along with select “double cash-back” offers on many of its 4,000 popular retailer partners. Their Cash Back Protection Program is a neat feature, where, if you make a purchase through RebatesMe and don’t get credited (an industry-wide issue because of the complexity of tracking), they’ll credit you for purchases up to $1,000.

Download: Chrome (desktop)

12. TopCashBack

TopCashBack operates on a somewhat unique business model compared to other apps on our list. According to their website, they pass on 100% of their commissions to users, which means very competitive cash back rates. Instead of keeping a cut of those commissions for themselves, TopCashBack charges retailers for advertising space on their website. Payouts are made via ACH, PayPal, or gift cards.

Download: Android, iOS

14. Receipt Hog

Similar to the other receipt-scanning cash back apps on this list, Receipt Hog offers points for scanning pictures of your receipts and uploading them within two weeks of purchase. You can also earn points by taking surveys or playing mini-games. Recent reviews on TrustPilot have been less than ideal, but overall the company has a long history of favorable ratings.

Download: Android, iOS

15. Checkout 51

Checkout 51 is a free rebate app that lets you earn money back on your grocery shopping by scanning your receipts. Unlike similar apps, you don’t have to claim offers at a specific store; you can shop wherever you want and still be rewarded for it. The offers are updated every week. Be sure to upload your receipts quickly (before the offer expires); if you forget, you could lose out on rebates.

Download: Android, iOS

Top Rewards Apps Compared

	DollarSprout Rewards	Capital One Shopping	Rakuten	Ibotta	Upside	Fetch Rewards	Honey
Best for	Best overall	Price comparison	Online shopping portal	Groceries	Gas purchases	Receipt scanning	Price tracking
Type	Browser extension	Browser extension + mobile app	Browser extension + mobile app	Browser extension + mobile app	Mobile app	Mobile app	Browser extension + mobile app
Rewards	Cash	Gift card	Cash	Cash or gift card	Cash or gift card	Gift card	Cash or gift card
Merchants	15,000+	30,000+	3,500+	300+	50,000+	500+	30,000+
Countries	Worldwide	US	US, CA, and some international	US	US	US	US, CA, AU, UK + more
Min. Payout	$5	$5	$5.01	$20	None	$3	$10
	Sign up	Sign up	Sign up	Sign up	Sign up	Sign up	Sign up

How Cash Back Apps Work

You might be wondering, how does the cash back business model work? It’s pretty simple (and brilliant, when you think about it):

If someone knows they are getting a deal, they are more likely to complete a purchase. In fact, a recent study by RetailMeNot showed that two-thirds of consumers have “made a purchase they weren’t originally planning to make solely based on finding a coupon or discount.”

Cash back apps and extensions are what we call “affiliate marketers”, which is just a fancy way of saying that they earn a commission for every sale they generate for a retailer. For example, New Balance might pay a 5% commission on any sales that come from an affiliate (like a cash back app). So how can an app incentivize you to make a purchase? They can offer you 2.5% cash back.

(5% total commission paid by retailer) – (2.5% paid to customer) = 2.5% profit for the app.

With cash back apps, everyone wins. The retailer gets a sale that they may not have otherwise got, the customer gets cash back, and the app gets a cut for facilitating the deal between buyer and seller.

Types of Cash Back Apps

The phrase “cash back apps” is often used as a catch-all to describe several different types of cash back apps and rewards platforms. As such, it may be confusing for some when an internet search for “cash back apps” doesn’t always return strictly mobile and/or smartphone applications.

Here’s a summary of the different types of cash back apps we frequently see on the market:

• Mobile Cash Back Apps: This category is home to many popular Android and iOS-based mobile cash back applications. They are most often direct cash or points-based programs where users pre-load offers and/or make a purchase directly from a merchant through the app itself.
  Mobile conversion tracking is notoriously difficult for advertisers, so these apps tend to involve more manual user input.
• Card-Linked Cash Back Apps: These are a subset of mobile cash back apps that require users to add a debit or credit card in order to validate purchases made through the app. They boost the accuracy with which mobile cash back apps correctly record and credit users with purchases made but require that a merchant participates in the program. (Most card-linked apps only have a few dozen to a few hundred participating retailers because of the barrier to entry).
• Receipt Scanning Apps: As the name implies, these apps require users to snap a picture of their receipt and upload it after their shopping trip. These apps also tend to require significant manual input because they often compel users to pre-select offers before shopping, which the app then validates against the manually-uploaded receipt. They are semi-prone to misreporting, and there is often a small delay associated with reward validation.
• Cash Back Browser Extensions: These are the most automated form of cash back available. Like rewards credit cards, cash back is typically spread across an entire order at a participating merchant, and not just on single products. They require minimal setup and generally run unnoticed on your desktop browser, most frequently available for Chrome.

Some cash back companies will offer several or all of the types of cash back apps listed above, with fully integrated user accounts across multiple devices. This allows users to download a mobile application for use on their phone, but also use a desktop browser extension, all under the blanket of a single user account.

Features of the Best Cash Back Apps

When it all comes down to it, the best cash back apps are generally the ones that put the most money back in your pocket – but that’s not the only factor at play.

Here are the features we feel the best cash back apps readily offer:

• Robust cash back rates. There’s a significant difference between 1 and 3% cash back. A lot of platforms offer cash back, but the devil is in the details.
• Great merchant diversity. A cash back app isn’t of much utility if it only has a few participating merchants you’ve never heard of. It’s similarly unimpressive if a cash back app boasts 300,000 retailers but none of them are the ten or so places you regularly visit.
• Low payout thresholds. Some cash back platforms have rather high payout thresholds that de facto force users to spend hundreds of dollars just to meet the $25 or $30 payout threshold needed to unlock reasonable earnings. Dormant or inactive accounts that are slow to reach and/or never meet the threshold may have earnings invalidated.
• Good privacy protection. Not all platforms are created equally, and some may sell your lead information to sister or third-party networks, leading to unwelcome contact overwhelm.

Typical Cash Back App Fees

All of the most popular cash back platforms offer their app or service free of charge.

There are no hidden fees or paid subscriptions necessary, and any accrued earnings are yours to keep, so long as you meet the minimum specified payout threshold.

How to Maximize Your Rewards

Here are a few tips to get the most out of these cash-back apps:

• Use multiple apps. Since each app provides different offers, using a combination of them will ensure that you’re getting back the most money possible. Here’s an example of a good “stack” to use without getting overwhelmed:

1. 1. 1. Browser extension for online shopping: DollarSprout Rewards
      2. Grocery store cash back: Ibotta
      3. Gas cash back: Upside

• Take advantage of referral programs and bonuses. Whenever you can, encourage your friends and family to join some of these rebate programs. They’ll save money, and you’ll get extra points or cash added to your account.

• Combine rebates with coupons. If you’re a savvy shopper, you’re probably already using coupons. Combining those discounts with app rebates puts even more money back in your wallet. Frequently, users will employ double-dipping “hacks” by linking rewards and cash back credit cards to their cash back app profiles.

• Shop using the apps’ portals. When you make purchases through the portal links, you’ll get access to bigger discounts and rebates. Just make sure you’re only buying items you truly need.

Pay attention to the rules. Most apps and offers have limits, deadlines, and other program rules. Follow them so you can claim every offer possible. You don’t want to miss out on cash back because you forgot to scan a receipt in a timely fashion.

FAQs

Methodology

DollarSprout’s editorial team has annually reviewed the leading cash back platforms on the open market since 2015. Our analysis includes observing and monitoring popular and emerging platforms’ ease of use, cash back rates, redemption processes, security, and more. Additionally, we take into consideration [international] availability, breadth of merchant offerings, user reviews, app store ratings, customer service concerns, and company history. Products awarded best-in-class designations consistently provide safe and secure user environments with legitimate cash back offerings, at no cost to the user.

Related: 50+ Legit Ways to Make Money Online

The post 15 Best Cash Back Apps to Earn Rewards in 2023 appeared first on DollarSprout.

With the latest inflation numbers coming out, things are not looking great. According to the latest data put out by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of living is 8.2% higher than it was at this time last year and isn’t yet showing signs of decreasing. There is no shortage of opinions among Americans on who is to blame or what the best course of action is from here. 

To better understand how inflation is affecting people, DollarSprout conducted a survey among a wide sample of Americans from all walks of life. Here are the results.

Irony Between Cause and Solution

While it’s reasonable to think that many different factors contribute to inflation, when we asked what people thought the biggest cause was, the leading answer was “government spending.”

What is most surprising, though, was the response we saw when we asked about a possible solution: stimulus checks. In recent months, several states have announced that they are issuing stimulus checks to citizens. 

Despite government spending being cited as the leading cause for inflation, 3 out of 4 respondents supported the idea of stimulus checks as a government response to inflation. 

How Are People Adapting to Increased Prices?

When inflation concerns started to creep up late last year and early this year, many consumers were slow to make changes. The Fed infamously claimed that the inflation was “transitory”, meaning it would quickly pass. The reality has now started to sink in that inflation is here to stay for the time being, and it’s now having a much more noticeable impact on consumers. 

The inflation issue is more significant than just the cost of eggs and bread going up by a few cents. In fact, over 50% of survey respondents reported postponing a major purchase because of the current inflationary environment.

Many Aren’t Using All the Tools at Their Disposal

With food, gas, and housing all becoming more expensive and wages not growing fast enough to compensate, people are running out of options. However, the data shows that many people are still underutilizing all the possible tools at their disposal to combat inflation.

And for how common cash back credit cards are, it’s surprising to see that 65% of people didn’t know that they can double dip on rewards by using a cash back credit card and a cash back mobile app or browser extension on the same purchase. For instance, if a Chase card offers 1.5% cash back and a cash back Chrome extension (like DollarSprout Rewards) offers another 2% cash back at a particular retailer, a buyer would get a combined 3.5% cash back on a single purchase. 

With inflation sitting at just over 8% at the time of this report, double dipping on cash back is perhaps the most significant way to fight back on increasing costs. Getting 4% cash back on something that costs 8% more than it did last year goes a long way. 

Another common blindspot among consumers is actively looking for coupon codes. We most often think of coupon codes when we see an influencer share their code on Instagram or a retailer send out a coupon code in an email, but just because you didn’t see a coupon code marketed to you doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. Over 1 in 10 online shoppers never proactively search for discount codes, and only a little less than half always look. The rest only “sometimes” check for discounts. 

Some cash back extensions like Honey, Capital One Shopping, and DollarSprout Rewards will automatically find any available coupon codes without a user having to go out of their way to search.

Peoples’ Finances are Trending in the Wrong Direction

To get a more accurate picture on how people are feeling about their overall finances (not just as it relates to inflation), we asked people if they felt like their situation was better or worse than it was 12 months ago. 

The results were not exactly inspiring, but also not surprising. The same held true for our question on retirement saving, where 25% say they are saving less now and 24% say they are not saving for retirement at all. 

The post 2022 Inflation and Consumer Insights Survey Reveals Concerning Findings appeared first on DollarSprout.

But as Johnston Community College points out, over 90% of entrepreneurs lack any formal business education. Of course, there’s more to starting a business than just book-smarts, but you will need a plan if you want your business to thrive. Below, you’ll find a step-by-step guide for starting your own business.

Step 1: Coming Up with Your Idea

Many business owners simply take their existing hobby and turn it into a side hustle, then build it into a full-fledged career. Others find themselves starting from scratch.

In Simon Sinek’s bestselling book Start with Why he emphasizes the need for business owners to understand the motivations behind their business. “People don’t buy what you do,” he writes. “They buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.”

Finding your “why” might take some brainstorming. Need help getting started? Grab a sheet of paper or a whiteboard. Draw a line down the middle. In one column, focus on the needs of the world around you. Focus on questions like:

• What needs do I see in the world today?
• Are there any recent problems that need to be addressed?
• What businesses are currently trending — and why?

On the other side of your brainstorming sheet, write down things about yourself, such as:

• What am I passionate about?
• What unique knowledge base or skill set do I possess?
• How do I want to impact my community or world?

Write down as many ideas as you can. Ask for input from your social circle. Remember: there are no bad ideas, so don’t prejudge any response at this point.

Once you’ve filled both columns, draw connections between the “need” side and your “skill” side. What problem would you like to focus on? How are you uniquely equipped to meet that need? 

For instance, your community might be lacking in a certain type of construction contractor or a particular type of restaurant. If you can fill these needs, you have the potential for creating a successful business.

Step 2: Validate Your Idea

Finding your business idea is one of the most important steps in starting a business (here’s a list of business ideas if you need some inspiration). But before you run out and print your business cards, it’s important to validate your idea. Basically, you need to know if your business idea will work.

Understandably, you may not exactly have an extensive budget for market research. You can start by performing some simple research, like:

• Reading about the market or industry in online trade journals
• Researching customer demographics through the Small Business Administration
• Learning more about existing businesses in your industry
• Talking to prospective customers (or even your family) about your business plan
• Testing out your product or service with a small group of customers

Ideally, you’ll discover that your idea is not only feasible but that it meets the specific needs of your target audience.

Sometimes you’ll discover that even though you have a good idea, you’re facing stiff competition from other businesses. If so, you’ll need to refine your business idea still further. What makes your future business unique?

Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get a lot of buy-in from your prospective customer base. Return to step 1, and use input from others to zero in on a specific need that your business can fill.

Related: 20 Best Business Ideas for New Female Entrepreneurs

Step 3: Create a Business Plan

Next, you’ll want to write out your business plan. Don’t skip this step. A well-written business plan will help you stay focused on your specific business goals. 

You can also use it to communicate data about your business to external audiences. If you’re communicating to potential investors or simply trying to secure a small business loan, you’ll likely be asked to present your business plan.

A traditional business plan will include the following:

• An executive summary highlighting key points from the rest of the document
• A description of your business, including your mission statement
• A description of your products or services
• Market analysis that shows your company has a viable market
• A marketing plan explaining how you intend to reach your target audience
• Your funding needs to show how much you’ll need to launch your business
• Financial projections, including milestones for earnings potential and growth
• An appendix containing additional market and industry data

You can also utilize what’s known as the “lean startup option,” which will contain the following elements:

• Your company’s value proposition
• A list of your services
• Primary activities
• Primary resources
• Business channels
• Target customers and customer segments
• Financial needs and cost structure
• Revenue streams and financial projections

If you need some inspiration, head over to the Small Business Association website, where you can learn more details and download some sample business plans.

It also might help to look at business plans for specific industries, such as:

• Restaurants
• Construction
• Web design
• Real estate
• Banking and finance
• Landscaping

You’ll likely refine your business plan over time, but putting your ideas down on paper provides a useful starting point that you can work from for the future.

Step 4: Build an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) or Service Offering

Once you’ve created your business plan, your next priority should be creating a “minimum viable product,” or MVP.

Think of your MVP as a prototype, simply designed to evaluate how well your final product or service satisfies the need you identified in the preceding steps.

Obviously, this will look different depending on the nature of your business. Your main priority should be bringing something to market fast. Ask yourself, “what minimum features do my product or service need to offer my target market?” Ignore the details for now — you can always fine-tune your initial design later.

Once you’ve designed your MVP, it’s time to launch. Again, it doesn’t have to be “pretty,” just functional. Learn from your customers’ experience:

• Did your product or service meet your customers’ needs?
• How might you improve the user interface or client experience?
• Are there design flaws that need to be addressed?
• How does your MVP measure up against competing products or services?

If you’re feeling shaky about this step, you might want to check out a few resources, including:

• A web agency that offers a detailed guide for developing an MVP
• An online calculator to determine the costs of your MVP
• An article from a software developer cataloging MVPs from top companies

Developing an MVP is an exciting step, as it allows you to see your company begin to take shape. Plus, it provides another opportunity to learn and refine your business before your official launch.

Step 5: Legal Steps

In order to operate your business, you’ll need to comply with existing business regulations. Many of these requirements vary by state, so you’ll have to do some research to determine your exact needs.

Find Your State’s Requirements

The Small Business Administration website provides resources to help you determine your legal requirements by state. Some of these requirements will also depend on how your business is legally structured. The purpose of these requirements is to comply with industry and safety regulations and ensure you pay taxes correctly.

Common requirements include:

• Articles of incorporation or operating agreements
• Financial statements
• Payroll taxes, workers’ compensation insurance, etc.
• Licenses and permits (for specific industries)

If you operate a business in certain industries, such as alcohol or firearms, you’ll need to comply with requirements regarding licenses and permits. You can find more information on the SBA website, which organizes these requirements by industry and state.

Apply for an EIN/Federal Tax ID

An Employer Identification Number, or EIN, is a 9-digit number used to identify your business for tax reporting. It’s also known as your federal tax identification number and functions as a kind of Social Security number for your business. You can get one through the IRS website for free.

Don’t delay. An EIN is a common requirement when applying for small business loans, and you’ll need one if you decide to hire employees.

Step 6: Financial and Accounting Steps

You now have a series of decisions to make about how to manage your company’s finances. It might seem daunting at first, but tackling these steps from the start will make everything much smoother for you down the road.

Choose Your Tax Entity

First, you’ll need to decide what business structure fits your company’s needs. The five most common types of business structures include:

• Sole proprietorships
• Partnerships
• Limited liability companies (LLCs)
• Corporations
• S corporations

If these terms sound like a foreign language, head over to this helpful article from Indeed.com. The structure you choose will influence your day-to-day operations and mitigate the amount of risk you take on when starting your own business.

Separate Your Business and Personal Finances

It’s not uncommon for business owners to sink their own cash into their company, especially when first starting out. But mixing your business and personal assets can create confusion during tax season and can jeopardize your personal assets if your business fails or gets slapped with a lawsuit.

This overlap is why you need to open a business bank account immediately. There are plenty of comparisons sites out there like Nerdwallet or Bankrate that can help you narrow down your options when it comes to choosing a bank for your business account.

For instance, some financial institutions offer unique tools for eCommerce companies, while others offer tools that can help retailers.

Additionally, while it’s possible to use an online bank, some business owners may prefer the convenience of a local, brick-and-mortar bank, especially when they need to make frequent deposits.

Choose Your Accounting System

How do you plan on managing your books? You basically have three options:

• Handling your books yourself with accounting software
• Hiring an accountant or bookkeeper
• Outsourcing your bookkeeping to a third-party accounting firm

Each choice has its strengths and weaknesses. While handling your own books makes sense when your company is in its infancy, you might find these administrative needs distract you from focusing on growing your business. Third-party firms can sometimes be a cheaper alternative to hiring an actual bookkeeper or CPA.

Related: Beginner’s Guide to Accounting and Reporting Blog Income

Consider Finding Financing

To fund your business, you might consider a small business loan or a business line of credit (LOC). A line of credit is often helpful for ongoing needs, while a loan can be helpful for startup costs and purchasing inventory and equipment. 

Your bank may already have some options available and can likely help you navigate the requirements of an SBA loan program.

Step 7: Get Insured, if Necessary

Do you really need business insurance? If you have employees, your state may require you to carry business insurance. Also, if you’re renting retail space, it’s not uncommon for landlords to require you to carry insurance. 

Likewise, some equipment manufacturers may prefer selling to companies that have an insurance policy. Plus, business insurance protects your assets in the event of a natural disaster, vandalism, or a lawsuit.

There are six common types of business insurance:

• General liability
• Product liability
• Professional liability
• Commercial property insurance
• Home-based business insurance
• Business owner’s policy

For more detail, the SBA website provides an overview of the advantages of each type of policy. The main question is whether your business involves enough risk to warrant a policy. It’s best to buy a policy when:

• You’re hiring employees
• You have a retail space visited by customers
• You work in a high-risk industry (e.g., construction)
• You rely on equipment, inventory, or resources that are costly to replace

Like any type of insurance, you may discover that it’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

Step 8: Explore HR Needs

Depending on your business, you might choose to hire an extra set of hands or even a whole staff. The SBA provides some excellent resources on hiring employees, as does the employment site Indeed.com.

If you are just starting out as a one-person operation, you probably won’t need to worry about the items here yet, but it’s good to have them on your radar for when your business starts to grow and you need to bring on more help.

Here are just some of the things to consider when handling your human resources (HR) needs:

Benefits Offerings and Administration

Unless your staff is solely part-time, you’ll need to provide some type of benefits package. At a minimum, this includes health insurance, though many companies also offer retirement benefits and other financial incentives to attract and maintain top talent.

Legal Notices

Labor laws are constantly evolving. One of the ways employers must stay in compliance is by displaying legal notices in their workplace. 

You can find more information about these notices and posters on the Department of Labor website. As the company owner, you’ll be responsible for staying abreast of changes in regulatory and compliance issues that impact your employees.

Tax Withholding

The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) requires that employers withhold the following taxes from their employees’ gross pay:

• 6.2% Social Security tax
• 1.45% Medicare tax (the “regular” Medicare tax)
• 0.9% Medicare surtax when the employee earns over $200,000

FICA also requires you to pay the employee’s portion of the following:

• 6.2% Social Security tax
• 1.45% Medicare tax

Failing to comply with these requirements can result in legal complications and penalties.

SOPs and SOGs

Employers will also be responsible for generating standard operating procedures (SOPs) and standard operating guidelines (SOGs) pertaining to employee conduct, job requirements, and workplace safety.

Options for HR

Like your accounting needs, you have three basic options for handling HR:

• Handling HR yourself
• Hiring an HR manager
• Outsourcing to an HR firm

As your business grows, it often becomes difficult to stay on top of changing regulations, which might lead you to consider farming your needs to a third-party or hiring your own HR manager.

Step 9: Finding Your First Customers

That old Kevin Costner movie got it wrong: just because you build it, it doesn’t mean your customers will come. While some industries can benefit from direct mailers to local residents, you’ll likely need to establish a strong web presence to effectively market your business. Focus on the following:

A User-Friendly Website

Start by building a modern, user-friendly website. Make sure that it looks good on a desktop computer as well as handheld devices. 

You’ll want your site to contain basic information about your business, such as its location and the services/products you provide. E-commerce businesses will use their site to drive sales, while others might include contact forms to connect with potential clients.

Social Media Presence

Creating a profile or page on Facebook, Instagram, or other social channels can help you connect to a wider range of people. 

If you have a specific post that you want to garner more attention, like a grand opening announcement, you can spend money and turn that post into an ad. As your business grows, you may delegate these responsibilities to an employee who can manage your social media accounts.

Email Marketing

Finally, develop an email list of regular customers. You can send them additional information, coupons, and other special offers to increase their loyalty and promote your business. 

Related: 21 Inexpensive or Free Ways to Market Your Small Business

Bottom Line: Find Your Passions

If this sounds like a lot of work, it’s because it is. But few things are more rewarding than investing in an idea you’re truly passionate about. Your business venture, therefore, offers you something more than a paycheck. It gives you the opportunity to leave your mark on the world around you. 

The post How to Start a Business in 9 Simple Steps appeared first on DollarSprout.

And now I see two other trends starting to emerge:

1. People whose jobs became remote in 2020 and 2021 have tasted freedom, but now they want to take it a step further and ditch having a boss. Location freedom is only part of the puzzle. Freedom over time is the other. Starting an online business is a way to have both.
2. People with in-person jobs see how much happier their remote-working friends are now, and they want a piece of that. They are dying to find a way out of the get up, drive to work, work, drive home grind.

In either case, people are desperate for ideas. And now we as a society know that having a successful online business isn’t just a pipe dream anymore — millions of regular people are finding ways to make it happen.

Main Categories of Online Businesses

• Content business: The lifeblood of any content creator’s business is their audience. With an engaged audience that is big enough, there are many ways to capture value from the content you create for them.
• Service-based online business: This is all about working with clients one-on-one, completing projects, and using word-of-mouth as a main growth tool.
• E-commerce: Selling products online, usually via a virtual storefront.
• Software as a Service (SaaS) & other tech: Creating tools and products that people pay to use. Usually requires some background in tech development.

Content Business Ideas

1. Launch a blog

Startup costs: Less than $100

Maybe you have a passion for cooking, fashion, or personal finance. Or maybe you just have tons of great ideas that you know will help others. Starting a blog allows you to share your passion with the world and make money in the process.

How blogs can make money:

• Display ads (also called banner ads)
• Affiliate marketing; selling someone else’s product for a commission
• Sponsorships
• Selling an online course or ebook

Examples:

• DollarSprout.com – Side hustles and entrepreneurship
• ApartmentTherapy.com – Interior Design
• ThoughtfulParent.com – Parenting
• Kotaku.com – Gaming

What you need to get started:

• Domain name and hosting (we recommend HostGator)
• A topic area you like and can devote yourself to
• Strong writing skills

It may sound daunting, but the learning curve isn’t as steep as you might imagine. Take it from these five millennials who started their blogs in the last 12 months and are all making over $1,000 per month. Their advice is pretty straightforward: do some pre-planning, be authentic, and don’t be afraid to fail. 

It’s not rocket science, and with a little persistence, you could be less than a year away from a significant online income. 

Related: How We Made $347,675 Blogging in 2 Months

2. Start a YouTube channel

Startup costs: $0 

You don’t need to be the next Logan Paul in order to find success as a YouTuber. Nowadays, you can find a YouTube channel on just about any topic, no matter how obscure. If you like the idea of creating content for a specific audience but hate the thought of writing, starting your own YouTube channel could be the ticket.

Most popular ways YouTubers make money:

• Ads (before, during, and/or after video)
• Sponsorships
• Affiliate marketing

Examples:

• The Lawn Care Nut (462k subscribers)
• Oscar Ramos (Cryptocurrency, 15.5k subscribers)
• Boho Beautiful Yoga (2.26M subscribers)

What you need to get started:

• Your smartphone camera

3. Sell online knowledge courses 

Between Google and YouTube, you can learn pretty much anything online. The firehose of information we all have at our fingertips is amazing but also overwhelming. That’s where course creators come in.

Instead of someone piecing together fragmented information from dozens of sources and trying to teach themselves a topic, it’s often easier (and smarter) to just buy a single course from a trusted instructor. It cuts down on time wasted and makes learning much more efficient.

As a course creator, you have the opportunity to build a course once and sell it hundreds or even thousands of times. There is no income limit.

You can make a course on anything. Examples of popular courses:

• Get Your Ex Back ($57.99) by Lee Wilson
• Watercolor Painting ($197) by Nicki Traikos
• Pest Control Training for Professionals ($324) by Pest Posse

In order to sell your course, you’ll need an audience. Most popular methods:

• Grow an audience via free content on social media
• Grow an audience via search engine traffic
• Running ads on sites like Facebook, Instagram, Google, etc.

4. Become an influencer

Influencers sometimes get a bad rap, but there’s no denying that tens of thousands of people are earning a full-time income. Turning a social media following into a reliable source of income is easier said than done, but it’s a viable business model. Like most other online businesses, the more specialized and narrow your area of focus is, the better. 

No matter how strange and obscure the topic is, there is almost certainly an influencer in that space that is crushing it. 

• @ImagineItDone, cleaning and organization influencer on TikTok
• @ClubProGuy, golf satire account on Instagram
• @EdLatimore, sobriety and addiction influencer on Twitter

5. Flip digital real estate 

You’ve probably heard of flipping houses, where people buy a house that has potential but needs some work. They do the repairs or upgrades and then sell the house for a profit. Think of blog flipping as the digital version of real estate flipping.

This online business is best suited for someone that already has some blogging experience. If you have never operated a successful blog before, it’s a better idea to just start from scratch and get some experience under your belt. That will help you spot investment opportunities later on when you want to buy a blog with the intent of flipping it shortly thereafter for a profit. 

Some popular marketplaces for buying and selling blogs:

• Flippa, lots of listings, usually on the smaller side (<$50,000)
• Empire Flippers, typically for more established sites
• MotionInvest

Case studies:

• How I Made $16,800 Flipping a Blog with No Traffic (HerPaperRoute.com)
• Flipping an Affiliate Website for $136,000 in 16 months (EmpireFlippers.com)

6. Create an online newsletter 

Paid newsletters have been surging in popularity over the past couple of years as readers are putting more value on trusted sources of information. Chris Best, the guy who started Substack — a platform for hosting paid newsletters — noticed a problem unfolding in online media: publishers who operate under an advertising revenue business model are being driven to take extreme measures to garner attention (and clicks).

The result is often clickbait stories, lame listicles, and generally underwhelming – or deliberately polarizing, content. Substack offers an alternative business model for writers. In their own words, they are “building a future where writers can flourish by being paid directly by readers.”

There are over 500,000 paying subscribers on Substack, and it is reported that the top ten authors on the platform make over $20M per year combined. Clearly there is something here. There is a demand for non-ad-based media models. If you love to write, this is an opportunity worth checking out.

Resources for getting started:

• How to Create a Substack Newsletter
• a16z Podcast: Tips from Writers on Launching a Newsletter on Substack

Service-Based Online Businesses

7. Freelance writer

Busy online business owners need help with creating content. Instead of spending hours writing a blog post themselves, smart businesses will pay freelance writers to create that content for them. Learning how to become a freelance writer and land gigs like these is a great way to get income coming in ASAP.

Starting a freelance writing business online involves choosing a niche (or two), becoming an expert in that topic, and creating an online portfolio for future clients to see. Freelancers have to prove their worth before landing reliable and high-paying clients. One way to jump-start your freelance writing career without any clients is by establishing your own blog.

Once your online business website is complete with a well-rounded portfolio and you’re confident writing in your niche, you’re ready for your first writing client. It may take months of working for free or little money, but once you have trustworthy testimonials under your belt, landing new writing clients gets easier.

Resources for getting started:

• 5 Best Freelance Writing Courses (According to Experts)
• 12 Ways to Make More as a Freelance Writer

8. Facebook ads agency for local businesses

Think of the local businesses in your area like coffee shops, gyms, bookstores, law firms, etc. Chances are, most of them would love to get more clients or customers but don’t know how.

That’s where you can come in. You can work with them on Facebook ad campaigns to help increase their business.

Many local businesses know they need to advertise on Facebook but don’t know how and don’t have the time to learn. If you can learn how to effectively run Facebook ads, small business owners would gladly pay for your expertise.

You don’t need a fancy website or any professional marketing experience to do this.  You can run your Facebook ads business in as few as 2 to 3 hours a week. The barrier to entry is low; you only need to have a Facebook profile, email address, and PayPal account.

Bobby Hoyt, an avid digital marketer and blogger, started offering a Facebook ads management service to local businesses in his area and eventually turned that operation into a sizable income for himself. He and Mike Yanda launched their own FB Side Hustle Course that teaches others how to do the same.

9. Graphic design

No matter how amazing a product or service is that a business is selling, without great design around the brand, it will never reach its full potential. Business owners know this, but for most of them, design is not a strength. If you have an eye for design and can turn someone else’s vision into a reality, you’ve got a very lucrative skill. 

Resources for getting started:

• How to Become a Graphic Designer
• How to Get Graphic Design Clients
• Best Free and Paid Software Tools for Graphic Designers

10. Virtual assistant

One of the most popular home business ideas right now is becoming a virtual assistant. A virtual assistant supports business owners in a variety of ways. As a virtual assistant, you get to choose which services you offer based on your unique skillset and what you enjoy doing.

If you have a good eye and a knack for grammar, you may become a proofreader. If you know your way around social media, you could offer social media management for your favorite platforms. You could also support business owners with email management, writing blog posts, customer service, and much more. There are dozens of possibilities. It’s easy to get started as a virtual assistant, but if you want to fast-track your business, Gina Horkey’s Fully Booked VA course can help.

Virtual assistant success stories:

• How Betsy Skinner Makes $3,000 Per Month as a Virtual Assistant
• How Megan Baker Got Booked Out 6 Months After Launching her VA Biz

11. Online business coach

Hopefully, this goes without saying, but if you haven’t already built a successful online business yourself, you probably shouldn’t be coaching people on how to do it.

That being said, there are a lot of online business owners who pivoted at some point in their journey from “doing” to “teaching”. For example, if you are an expert at running Shopify stores, you might pivot into working one-on-one with new store owners that are just getting started.

As long as you know your stuff and you have a genuine interest in teaching others, anything is possible. 

Examples of practitioners-turned-coaches:

• Marie Wold – Fitness coach that is now teaching new coaches
• Claus Lauter – Shopify expert coaching others on how to use Shopify

12. Online health coach

Personal trainers and health coaches aren’t confined to just gyms anymore. Instagram and other social media platforms have given rise to a boon of online health coaches.

These are people who still work with clients one-on-one, but will likely never meet them in person (and yes, there is a serious demand for this). If you are qualified and enjoy writing workouts for people and helping them make better food choices, this is a great business idea worth diving into.

Examples of online health and fitness coaches: 

• @Paige_T1D_Fitness, an online health coach for diabetics (she is also my wife)
• @SueGainz

13. SEO consultant

For any business, whether they are 100% online or they are a brick and mortar business, they need to be able to be found online.

For example, let’s say someone owns a landscaping company in Virginia Beach. Whenever someone searches on Google for “lawn care in Virginia Beach” or “landscaping contractor near me”, the companies that are listed at the top of the search results are the ones that are most likely to land clients. SEO (search engine optimization) professionals are experts at getting websites listed near the top of search results for their targeted keywords — it doesn’t just happen by accident. 

SEO is a grind, and many business owners would be happy to outsource it to someone they trust. The work can be tedious, but if you can land a few clients a month for ongoing SEO work, you can have a stable business up and running fairly quickly. As with any other consulting business, your long-term success comes down to what kind of results you can achieve for your clients. 

These are the things you will need to know to get started:

• The Ultimate Guide to On-Page SEO
• The Definitive Guide to Off-Page SEO
• The Definitive Guide to Local SEO
• How to Start Your Own SEO Agency

E-commerce Business Ideas

14. Dropshipping

Dropshipping is the same as selling goods or products at a store but instead, you have an online storefront and manage no inventory. You simply create the product, which can be anything from mugs and T-shirts to coloring books, and offer it for sale on a platform like Amazon, BigCommerce, or Shopify.

When a customer purchases your item, rather than you having to ship or mail it to them from your home, a wholesaler will send it to them instead.

Although you’re not managing inventory, you still need to put in the effort to drive customers to your store. It’s not the simplest task, particularly if you’re opening a store in a competitive niche, but it’s possible. Paid advertising and finding products that actually sell well are going to be essential to your success with dropshipping.

If you’re willing to spend the time to learn about paid marketing and can manage to find physical or digital products to sell with great margins, you can make good money with this online business.

Dropshipping success stories:

• How I Scaled My Dropshipping Business from $0 to $1,000 per Day 
• How I Built a Dropshipping Store That Made $6,667 in Under 8 Weeks

Popular dropshipping niches:

• Clothing
• Jewelry
• Health and beauty
• Office products
• Car accessories
• Phone accessories

15. Stock photography

If you enjoy photography, you might try selling online stock photos. Stock photos are used by companies for ads and websites.

Shutterstock and Adobe Stock are two of the most popular stock image sites. Both sites allow anyone to submit their photos and you get paid each time your photo is downloaded.

To really make money selling stock photos, make sure you’re posting the kinds of photos people actually need. Companies are usually looking for fairly generic images – pictures of nature scenes, food, people at work, or doing everyday tasks like cooking or watching TV. Pictures like this sell well and can make you good money.

16. Subscription box service

Subscription-based businesses have blown up in popularity recently. From a business standpoint, having sustainable, recurring revenue each month is extremely attractive. Consistent revenue makes forecasting and planning much easier, but the real allure of having repeat customers on autopilot is that the lifetime customer value is typically much higher than with other business models. 

Examples of successful niche subscription box businesses:

• Short Par 4; golf apparel
• Winc; wine
• Barkbox; dog toys and treats

Resources for getting started:

• How to Start a Subscription Box Business in 8 Steps
• Shopify Guide to Starting a Subscription Company

17. Sell digital art as NFTs

If you aren’t familiar with NFTs (non-fungible-tokens), you aren’t alone. Here’s an explainer. In short, NFTs are unique digital assets that exist on a blockchain. Sounds boring, but right now there is a lot of hype around selling digital art with the technology.

Just like any other art, beauty (and value) is in the eye of the beholder. If you are an artist and want to experiment with the wild world of crypto and NFTs, there’s no shortage of speculative investing happening right now in that space — it could be your chance to cash in. 

Interesting NFT resources and inspiration:

• 10 Most Expensive NFTs Ever Sold (be ready to question your own life choices after seeing these)
• Teen Artists are Making Millions on NFTs. How Are They Doing It?
• How to Make and Sell NFTs

18. Create email newsletter templates

Every online entrepreneur needs a way to reach their audience. Many use regular email newsletters to keep customers or readers engaged. You can make good money designing and selling email or other media templates for business owners to use.

You need some knowledge of web design and some digital marketing skills. But once you create a few pre-designed templates, you can sell them to business and blog owners. Your designs can be compatible with a variety of newsletter services, or you can specialize in templates for just one provider.

Inspiration: 

• Best Selling Email Templates and Email Designs
• 50+ Modern Responsive Email Templates

SaaS and Tech Business Ideas

Business ideas in this area typically require a lot more technical knowledge than the other ideas in this article. While the barrier to entry is higher, the potential returns can be very worthwhile.

19. Buy an existing SaaS business

MicroAcquire is a marketplace that connects buyers and sellers of small online businesses. Starting a business from zero is a tough battle, which is why many people prefer to buy something that already has a little bit of a head start.

If the product is mostly built (or already built), a new owner can easily come in and work on growing the marketing efforts or add new features. This happens all the time in the SaaS (software-as-a-service) space — someone will create a neat tool but they don’t have the knowledge or energy to bring it to a large audience, so they sell the business to an investor who sees the potential. 

20. Design and sell website themes

Maybe you’re less business-savvy and more of a tech expert. With a little knowledge of web design, you can start an online business selling website themes. If you know how to code and have experience designing websites, it’s easy to come up with a few premade website themes you can sell to blog and business owners.

You can also branch out and make more money building custom websites. Businesses looking to establish an online presence need a professional-looking website and are willing to pay for one. Almost everyone these days needs a website, so you’re sure to have a steady stream of clients.

If your strengths land more on the side of graphic design than coding, you can start an online business as a graphic designer. From logos and Pinterest images to brochures and other marketing tools, businesses need someone to create visually appealing graphics. You can get started selling your services and designs on sites like Fiverr or 99designs.

How to get started:

• The Business of Selling WordPress Themes
• How and Where to Sell WordPress Themes and Plugins

How to Start Your Online Business

Once you have a general idea of what kind of business you want to start, it’s time to get to work. It’s easy to get overwhelmed in the beginning, though, and feel like you are being pulled in a million different directions. Here’s a general roadmap to keep you on track in the early days of launching your online business, along with curated resources for each step.

Step 1: Validate your idea

You may think your idea is amazing, but how will the market respond to what you put out there? This is such an important question to answer before you start putting in hundreds of hours of work. Make sure you are creating something that the people will want!

• 10 Ways to Rapidly Validate Your Startup Idea
• 5 Steps to Validate Your Business Idea in the Real World

Step 2: Develop your product or service

With the feedback from Step 1 in mind, it’s time to start creating. Depending on which idea you settled on, this step is going to look a little bit different for everyone. 

• Creating a Product Prototype
• How to Package, Price, and Promote Your Freelance Business

Step 3: Set up your LLC and business banking

New entrepreneurs always seem to put this one off, but the earlier you can separate business finances from personal finances, the better. Beyond getting all the administrative stuff set up, this is also the time to lay out a financial plan for the business: how much money will you invest?  What sales goals do you have?

• How to Start an LLC in 7 Steps
• Accounting 101: How to Set Up and Manage Your Accounting

Step 4: Get your website and tech set up

Regardless of what type of online business you are creating, you are going to need a great website. If you aren’t tech-savvy, that’s okay — there are lots of clean and modern design themes that you can buy for relatively cheap. Your website should reflect everything that your brand stands for. 

• How to Start a Content Site with HostGator
• How to Start a Dropshipping Site with Shopify

Step 5: Market

There are a million and one ways to market your startup in the early days, so we can’t cover them all here. And the good news is, you only need to find one way that works for you in the beginning.

• 10 Digital Marketing Skills You Won’t Effectively Learn in School
• Marketing Plan for Your Product Launch: 10 Strategies

The Internet is Overflowing with Ways to Make Money

Whether you want to sell your crafts on Etsy, use your technical skills to create website themes, or write social media posts, there are plenty of online business ideas to try.

The best online business for you will depend on your background, interests, and expertise. If you’ve spent the past decade working in marketing, you might consider social media management or becoming a brand strategist. If you’ve worked as an administrative assistant, you might want to branch out and start a virtual assistant business.

Use what you’ve learned in your career to build your new business.

On the other hand, maybe you have a hobby you want to pursue as a full- or part-time job. Maybe you love food, travel, or fashion. These kinds of interests make great content for a blog or YouTube channel.

Of course, it’s important to consider more than just what you know and like. You’ll also have to think about what can make you enough money to supplement or quit your day job. If you try to build a business in a niche that’s too small or specific, you might find that you can’t make any money.

Keep in mind that starting your online business is a lengthy process. You won’t start out making thousands of dollars each month. But if you put in the work to build a quality and reliable business and market yourself appropriately, you can make money online running your own business from home.

The post 20 Online Business Ideas With Little or No Startup Cost appeared first on DollarSprout.

Every year DollarSprout conducts an annual Side Hustle Survey to get a pulse on side hustlers across the country. In 2020, the big story was how the economic halt from COVID-19 forced many workers to find alternative means of income.

In 2021, as the economy has more or less reopened and the pandemic has begun to taper, labor shortages have affected nearly every industry. Restaurants are struggling to get back to being fully staffed, nearly one in five healthcare workers have left their jobs, and countless other industries are facing similar difficulties.

While there are many theories as to why this is happening, the data clearly shows that side hustles are becoming increasingly common in helping people bridge the income gap.

Side Hustling has Become More than Just a Hobby

Last year, just over 1 in 4 side hustlers (27%) were using that income to cover necessary monthly bills and expenses. In 2021, that number has gone up to 41%. People are more dependent on using a side hustle to make ends meet.

The increased dependence we are seeing on side hustles also comes with a significant increase in commitment. Our results show that the average time spent on side hustles has trended upward in 2021.

The percentage of people spending over 15 hours per week on their side hustle(s) more than doubled in 2021, from 12% to 27%:

Earnings are also up dramatically, with nearly 14% of side hustlers earning over $1,500 per month:

Despite more people using side hustles to make income for necessary expenses, enjoyment and flexibility still reign supreme when it comes to what is most important for choosing a side hustle:

In fact, the highest earning side hustlers in 2021 are the ones who have tried 5 or more different types of gigs, showing that it pays to test the field in order to find out what works best:

Another trend of the high performers in our research study shows that side hustlers who have their own website for promoting themselves far out earn those that do not:

For those that use social media to promote their products or services, here’s how the different platforms stack up:

Social media isn’t the only online marketing tool available to new entrepreneurs. Here are ten other digital marketing skills that aren’t taught in school.

With people becoming more invested in earning money on the side this year, it should come as no surprise that side hustlers are overwhelmingly bullish on the trend heading into 2022:

The Downsides of Side Hustling

Although the gig economy is booming, there are certainly challenges facing this portion of the population.

Less time spent with friends and family isn’t the only sacrifice people are making. 9 out of 10 people reported at least some level of sacrifice in pursuit of their side hustle endeavors, with most of them reporting multiple sacrifices:

The post Shifting Side Hustle Statistics Reveal New Trends About How We Earn appeared first on DollarSprout.

She has a great salary, great benefits, the opportunity to help people — everything you could ever want in a job.

But even though it all looked great on paper, behind the scenes, things were starting to unravel.

Over the past year, she’s been dealing with some extreme burnout (she’s not the only one). It turns out that working in medicine on a short-staffed team during a never-ending pandemic is a grind. And not the kind of grind where you might think “maybe if I work somewhere else, things will be better.” Paige was having that burnout where you question why you even got into this career.

It’s not a great spot to be in. I’ve felt it before and maybe you have, too.

At the peak of her job misery earlier this year, she was desperate to find a way out. Her and I spent many nights after she would get home from work bouncing ideas around about what she should do next.

Lots of options were on the table:

• Find a new clinic to work at, but stay within the same specialty
• Try a totally different specialty, like urgent care
• Become a personal trainer (massive pay cut but better work life balance)
• Become a dietician (pay cut but better work life balance)
• Start her own online health coaching business
• Become a medical device sales rep

Through our many late night conversations, I started to notice a pattern. And the things I noticed with Paige are the same things I’ve noticed with many others who feel trapped in their job with no way out — especially people who are considering entrepreneurship.

We Almost Always Overestimate Risk

Not to spoil the story, but Paige ends up deciding to start her own online health coaching business (you can follow her Instagram here). If you would have asked her two years ago if she could see herself starting a business today, she would have literally LOL’d. Yet here she is. 

For her, making the decision to drop a well-respected medical career and pursue an online business was no small feat. That’s probably the case for anyone in her shoes considering a similar move. There was lots of second guessing and there will surely be more to come. 

In my opinion, most of the second guessing that happened stemmed from three flaws in thinking. And I think most people naturally have the same misconceptions about risk, particularly when it comes to a major career change or diving into entrepreneurship. 

Observation #1: People tend to associate new ventures with risk, but risk exists everywhere

Of the six most viable options Paige had for a fresh start, it was easy to poke holes in each one. It took almost no effort to justify how each one of them could end up being a bad idea.

• Risk of changing clinics
  • What if this burnout isn’t particular to my clinic?
• Risk of changing specialties
  • What if this burnout isn’t particular to my field?
    • Research shows it’s happening everywhere
• Risks of becoming a personal trainer or dietician
  • What if the work isn’t as fulfilling or intellectually stimulating?
  • What if I can’t make as much as I do now?
• Risks of starting an online health coaching business
  • What if I can’t build an audience?
  • What if I can’t get clients?
  • What if it all fails and I have to go back to get a real job?
• Risk of become a medical device sales rep
  • What if I’m not good at sales?
  • What if working on a commission basis is too unpredictable?

Obviously, there is a lot that can go wrong with any of these options. You can’t blame her for being apprehensive about change when it’s framed like this.

But we need to look at the bigger picture here.

We’re assuming her current job is risk free. But is that true?

• What if she get laid off?
• What if she get fired?
• What if the stress contributes to her to making a medical error and jeopardizes someone’s health?
• What if the stress slowly starts shaving years off her life? That’s a thing.

A stable 9-to-5 is stable… until it isn’t.

Any of the above can happen on any given day. And if you’re reading this, the same applies to you (just swap “medical error” for whatever the cardinal sin is in your career). It can all be taken away like that.

Risk is everywhere, no matter what. But once you recognize that it’s always there, it’s easier to stop living in fear of what could or might happen. It frees you to go after what you want despite the risks.

Risk is inherent in our lives — no one’s baseline is zero.

Observation #2: It’s easy to forget the near certainty of staying unhappy in a job you hate

For all of the perceived risks associated with making a bold move and trying something new – regardless of which option she chose – there were many things that were 100% guaranteed to happen if she stayed at her current job.

• She would always have a heavy patient load
• She would always have to rush through appointments to stay on schedule
• She would always have to work well beyond 40 hours per week
• She would always have to get permission to take days off
• She would have another 30+ years of this until retirement

These are absolute certainties if she stays. She’s been there for two years; she knows what can get better and what can’t.

In fact, they can’t even be considered “risks.” They are inevitable.

I think when we are faced with making a big career decision, we focus on the risks of what can go wrong with the new thing. We look at what can go wrong if I leave, versus what will continue to suck if I stay.

We warp the situation in our own heads and we don’t even realize we’re doing it. It’s natural to avoid change even if you want change to happen.

Observation #3: The worst case scenario, if it happens, is almost never as bad as we think

Paige ended up choosing to start her own business, which perhaps has some of the worst “what’s the worst that can happen?” scenarios.

So really, what is the worst that can happen? Here’s a possible doomsday scenario:

• She doesn’t get a single client and makes $0
• She burns through most/all of her savings
• She loses 6-12 months of time that she could have been getting paid to work
• She has to go back and get a real job because the bills still need to be paid
• She suffers minor embarrassment from family and friends who were cheering her on

Now, this is the worst of the worst. There are a lot of ways starting a business can play out negatively, but this exact scenario takes the cake in terms of peril.

For arguments sake, let’s say this has a 10% chance of happening. It’s unlikely, but it’s still very much a non-zero risk.

Well, that is exactly what happened to me when Ben and I started DollarSprout. After about 9 months of trying to get things off the ground, I was totally out of money and my credit cards were nearly maxed out. I had to go back and get a job, but the only one I could find at the time came with a 50% pay cut. It was at a psych ward.

It was the worst possible outcome for me at the time. The unthinkable scenario became very real.

And yet, life went on.

We didn’t let the slow progress keep us from chipping away at it, even while I was making $11.36 an hour as a full-time medical assistant at a psychiatric hospital.

And about ten months later, DollarSprout was making enough money to let me quit that job and give entrepreneurship another shot. Four years later (knock on wood), I am still on my own.

The worst of the worst happened, and yes, it was bad. It was beyond stressful. I hated it.

But it also didn’t last forever, and eventually I was still able to make my comeback.

I think a lot of people would fare better than they give themselves credit for in situations like these.

Don’t be afraid of the 10% chance of disaster, because the disaster is almost never as bad as we think it will be. It probably won’t happen in the first place, and if it does, life really does go on. You will be fine.

TL;DR: If you want to do something, do it. Don’t let the fear of taking a risk hold you back because in most cases, staying stuck is the biggest risk of all.

The post 3 Things I’ve Learned About Risk Taking and Entrepreneurship appeared first on DollarSprout.

Should I work for free?

Ask this question in any freelancing group on Facebook or Reddit and you’ll have no shortage of people offering strong opinions. For some reason this question really strikes a nerve in the freelancing community.

The answer to the question though, in my opinion, isn’t so black-and-white.

In some cases, yes, I think it’s a good idea to work for free.

In other cases – perhaps most cases – I don’t think working for free is a smart decision.

But before I dive into the pits of controversy, here are some starting assumptions:

• Your work has value. Unless you are totally incompetent. But in that case, why are you even offering whatever you’re offering?
• There should always be an exchange of value for your work. In most cases it is money paid for services rendered, but there are other forms of value outside of money. I’ll cover those later.
• You are most likely a new freelancer. Someone with a pipeline full of prospects is almost never going to work for free.

The most common (bad) reasons for working for free:

1. You’ve been offered “exposure”

This is a slick move that is often used by companies that are looking for cheap labor. In nearly every case, the promise of exposure doesn’t end up amounting to much. You need paying clients, and the myth of “exposure” rarely leads to paying clients. You can’t pay your mortgage with exposure, you can’t buy food with exposure, you can’t really do anything with exposure.

2. You’re not comfortable charging clients yet

As a new coach, designer, writer, artist, or whatever you are, it’s always nerve racking the first time you ask someone to pay you money for something. Most 9 to 5 employees aren’t used to having these conversations with prospects, which leads a lot of new freelancers to feel like they aren’t “ready” yet.

3. You want to add a high status client to your portfolio

A high status client can afford to pay you for your work. If they say they can’t, something isn’t right there. If one of these prospective clients suggests free work, run for the hills.

4. You are told it may lead to paid work with that client

More often than not, this is a classic bait and switch move that companies like to use to get free labor. If a company is suggesting this, it’s another major red flag. If they want you to work for free, how well do you think they are going to pay you when you finally have the “privilege” of doing paid work? Probably well below industry average since they already know you are willing to work for free!

“It could lead to paid work down the road” is a very wishy-washy of saying “we don’t want to pay for your work, but even if you do a great job, we want to leave ourselves an out to not hire you”. Stay away from this arrangement.

5. The client says there is no budget for the project

If there is no budget for a project now, there is basically zero chance of there magically being a budget for the project in the near future. There is no upside here to doing free work.

Have a tangible plan to capture the value of your work

If you are going to do free work for someone, it’s up to you to make sure there is still a fair exchange of value happening unless the work is for your mother or a charity close to your heart. Without capturing the value of your work, you aren’t actually moving yourself forward or accomplishing anything.

Besides money, there are other ways to get something out of your work:

• Experience
• A testimonial
• A portfolio piece
• A case study showing a transformation
• Asking for referrals
• Talking points for future sales calls or interviews
• Street cred

This is important. Always be thinking about how you can leverage the work you are doing, regardless of whether it’s free or paid.

How can you turn today’s work into opportunities for tomorrow?

The freelancers that routinely look at their work through this lens are the ones that end up being the most successful. Becoming a better freelancer is a lot more than just perfecting your craft; it’s about putting the whole “value puzzle” together.

The post Should You Work for Free? Here Are 5 Common Scenarios Where You’ll Be Tempted appeared first on DollarSprout.

We had about 1,000 ideas written down at any given time. We’d wake up, meet in the living room (back when we shared an apartment), have our coffee, then sit down and start working on whatever idea we felt most inspired about that day.

You might be thinking that doesn’t sound like the best strategy for building a business. And you’d be right.

There were many weeks and months where we looked back and thought, “What did we even accomplish?” We weren’t making (or were barely making) any money, which is kind of the whole point of a business. Without revenue, you really just have a hobby.

We spent so much of our time being busy, working 14+ hours a day. But we weren’t being very productive, and we definitely weren’t focused on the things that matter most in a business — the ones that bring in revenue.

We didn’t know it at the time, but we’re far from the only people who venture into self-employment that have this experience.

The Idea for the Freelancer Playbook

We’ve been in business for over five years now. In that time, we’ve met a lot of other business owners.

Having a community of fellow self-employed entrepreneurs is great for sharing business highs and ideas. But it’s also great for commiserating.

It’s through this commiserating that we realized so many people experienced the same problems we did in our business:

• Always feeling “busy” but not productive
• Not knowing what to focus on or how to prioritize tasks and projects
• Unclear of the path forward and how to actually grow a business

Now, before we go on, I want to be very clear about two things:

1. Ben and I have never really been freelancers.

We started our business as a membership site. Then when that didn’t work out, we transitioned to a media company.

We did have a handful of coaching/consulting clients in the early stages, but freelancing was never really our business model. Why, then, would we decide to create a planner for freelancers?

Well, a few reasons:

• There are already a lot of planners and journals out there for people who aren’t freelancers or solo-preneurs. But there are very few planners that address the unique challenges of a freelance business owner.
• We love the idea of freelancing. There are over 57 million freelancers in the U.S. for a reason._[1] It’s one of the most accessible ways to start an online business because you don’t need much to get off the ground — just the skills you already have and clients who are willing to pay you. Which is why freelancing is one of the number one ways we recommend for building a business or making extra money.
• Freelancers struggle with these issues the most. At least in our experience, speaking with freelancers we’ve worked with and those in our community, freelancers seem to have the most trouble focusing on the right things and building sustainable revenue in their business. And it makes sense. As a blogger or affiliate marketer, the money you make isn’t directly correlated to the hours you spend working. But as a freelancer, you’re often trading time for money, which means the less focused and productive you are, the less you’ll make in your business.

So that’s what led us to decide on freelancers, but what about the idea for a planner? That leads to clarification number two:

2. Neither Ben nor I have ever really been planner people.

I know that’s not a good look for us at first glance, but hear me out.

I’ve always been a pen-and-paper kind of guy. Both of us have.

When we first started this business, we had a living room full of white boards, easels, and stacks of notebooks on our living room table.

Whenever I have a lot on my brain or a new idea to work out, I sit down with my favorite pen, grab a notebook, and let the thoughts flow from my brain, down my arm and onto the paper.

There’s something about physically writing something down — whether it’s an idea or a to-do list — that you just don’t get with digital tools.

But admittedly, I’ve never liked planners. I’ve tried using several of them before, but I didn’t like the structure and rigidity of so many planners. It either felt like there was too much stuff that I didn’t need or want to use, or it just didn’t fit my goals as a business owner.

That’s why when we decided to create the Freelancer Playbook, we knew we wanted to make something practical and streamlined. Something that included everything you need to build a freelance business and nothing you don’t.

Which is why we co-created the Freelancer Playbook with actual freelancers and planner lovers. We got feedback from our own team of freelancers, created a group of over 200 beta testers, and asked the questions no one had asked them before:

• What do you absolutely have to have in a planner?
• What are deal breakers for you in a planner?
• What have been the most helpful exercises in helping you set and achieve goals in your business?
• What do you struggle with the most when it comes to staying organized and being productive in your business?

With all this information in hand, we set out to create the Freelancer Playbook.

Designing the Planner

I am not a graphic designer. 

So, naturally, I decided that I was going to be the one to design the entire planner. The cover, the logo, the daily pages, the works. 

It felt like the best way for me to understand the problems of the freelancers in our community and incorporate all their feedback. Plus, I’m guilty of sometimes making things more difficult for myself than they probably need to be.

I don’t know how to use any of the fancy design programs like Photoshop or InDesign or Illustrator. I’m a PowerPoint guy. So that’s what I used to create all the designs.

Before I started sketching out rough drafts of each page, I made two lists from the responses we’d received so far.

On the first list, I wrote what our freelance community wanted this planner to accomplish. Here’s the Objectives List:

• Help freelancers balance all the areas of their business
• Teach freelancers how to not just work “in” their biz, but “on” their biz
• Help people create (and accomplish) short- and medium-term goals
• Encourage routine introspection
• Stay on top of the day-to-day tasks
• Etc.

On the second list, I wrote down what kinds of “base” pages we would need. Here’s the Pages List:

• Daily planning pages
• Monthly calendar
• Weekly planning page
• Backburner pages
• How to Use section
• Etc.

With both lists side by side, I started connecting the dots and mapping out which Pages were going to be used to accomplish each of the Objectives. In the beginning, some Pages had a bunch of lines (i.e. Objectives) connected to them, whereas others had none. And there were a few Objectives that didn’t yet have a home.

The Sketching Begins

Once I had all of this written down on paper, it was time to start creating. To be honest, I was overwhelmed and had no idea where to start. 

After a few hours of accomplishing basically nothing, I decided to focus on just one page at a time. I started with the Daily Planning Page. This was the page people would be using the most often, so it seemed like a good place to start. Definitely smarter than designing all the pages at the same time, which is what I was trying to do before. 

Here’s how the sketching process worked:

1. I would draw out a wireframe of how I wanted the page laid out.
2. I would ask freelancers (either on our team or in our beta group) to point out everything they could think of that was wrong with the design.

And let me tell you, there was no shortage of feedback. I needed it, and I’m thankful to our community for being so generous with their time and providing thoughtful insights.

Something I learned: Don’t just ask someone what they think about something you’re making. Ask them to poke as many holes in it as possible… and keep pressing them until you have a nice list of things that can be better. People are nice and want to tell you that they love what you made, but you need to dig deeper. There is no room for emotions here!

One other thing: It can be physically impossible to incorporate everyone’s feedback. Some people want lines in their notebook, some want no lines. One person wants ribbon bookmarks, someone else hates them. At the end of the day, I trusted our feedback group and went with the majority consensus.

Turning Sketches Into Printable Files

I won’t lie, this part was a serious grind for me. Mainly because a) I’m not a graphic designer, and b) I was creating everything in PowerPoint. 

Again, we could’ve hired a designer to create everything in Illustrator, and I’m sure it would’ve saved an enormous amount of time. But I didn’t want to delegate this part of the project. Part of the purpose of co-creating this planner with our community was that I wanted to be involved, to work directly with the people we were serving. And it felt like the best way to do that was to be the one in the design chair, even if it was a new (and somewhat uncomfortable) role for me.

After each page was made in PowerPoint, I would print it out and see how it felt on physical paper. This led to way more adjustments being made than I expected, but I’m so glad I did it. Sometimes what looks good on a screen simply doesn’t translate the same way on a printed page, especially when it’s a page that’s meant to be handwritten on. 

Examples of things I changed after seeing the printed drafts:

• Font sizes
• Space between lines
• Spacing between checkboxes

Most things were minor, but wow they made a huge difference once they were fixed. I’m also realizing as I’m writing this that I might be a little too Type A.

Finding a Manufacturer and Nailing the Specs

We started this process with zero knowledge of how to make a physical product. Ben and I had literally no idea what we were doing.

I figured getting a planner made would be fairly straightforward, but alas, it was not. Before I could even get quotes from manufacturers, I needed to learn all the terminology and decide on the exact specs for the planner.

In this phase, I learned about:

• Paper weights
• Binding types (smyth-sewn, spiral, wire, etc.)
• Cover types (linen, leather, paper, etc.)
• Cover printing (emboss, deboss, foil stamping, et.)
• Standard black vs. Rich black ink
• And much more

I spent hours and hours researching all of this stuff and going back to our group to see what actually mattered to them and what they didn’t really care about. (I was glad to hear that I’m not the only paper snob.) We want the 90-Day Freelancer Playbook to be the clear #1 choice of paper planner on the market for freelancers, so I definitely took my time on this to get it 100% right.

Waiting on the Prototype

As I’m writing this post, our first prototype is still being made. It should be here in less than a week. I’m nervous as can be, but I’m also cautiously optimistic that it’s going to be awesome. We’ve been co-creating this planner with our community for months, and we can’t wait to share it with everyone and finally see it in use.

Once we get the prototype in hand, the tentative plan is to:

1. Go through, page by page, line by line, and find any mistakes.
2. Do a mini photoshoot of the planner for our Kickstarter campaign.
3. Publish the campaign and get the word out to as many people as possible who might be interested (via email list, ads, our blog, social media, etc.).

If all goes according to plan, we’ll launch the Kickstarter campaign in mid-May and (if the campaign succeeds) submit a mass production order for at least 1,000 90-Day Freelancer Playbooks in June!

Getting It Into People’s Hands

I can’t wait to see how freelancers use The Playbook. There really does seem to be a hole in the market for a planner like this one, and I think the right people are going to get a ton of value out of it.

It’s scary to try something so new and different from what we normally do in our business, and it’s also scary to share a behind-the-scenes look at how it’s going before we know if it’ll be a success. That’s part of the thrill of documenting it all online — you get to come on the journey with us.

If you’re interested in the Freelancer Playbook, you can grab a copy on our Kickstarter Campaign page.

The post A Behind the Scenes Look at the 90-Day Freelancer Playbook appeared first on DollarSprout.

DollarSprout turns 5 years old next month. Sometimes I can’t believe we’ve made it this far.

They say that over half of all new businesses don’t live long enough to see their 5th birthday. Most fail long before then.

It hit me this morning that I’ve never shared the story on how DollarSprout got started on this site. I’ve mentioned it in interviews on other blogs and podcasts, but never here with our own readers.

I guess I’ve always thought to myself, “Our readers don’t care about that. Just keep publishing the content you already know they like.”

A big part of entrepreneurship, though, is the struggle. The setbacks. The grind.

And that’s what I want to talk about today.

To celebrate DollarSprout’s 5th birthday, I’m going to take a quick pause from our regularly scheduled programming and talk about how this website — and business — came to be. I also want to share some of the personal struggles I’ve faced along the way in hopes that maybe hearing my story can help others.

For anyone starting a business or thinking about diving in, I hope you can find something in here that helps.

Background: What is DollarSprout?

In the beginning, Ben and I tried to create a paid membership site for stock market tips and analysis. It ended up being a total flop.

Here’s what it looked like during my first week of being self-employed:

As it exists today, DollarSprout is a personal finance site that helps readers maximize their earning potential, whether that’s through finding a side hustle, moving up in their career, building passive income streams, or anything else.

DollarSprout makes money through advertising. We routinely promote apps, products, and services that help our readers get a leg up on their finances.

We get to create content every day to help people with their money, and everyone on the team has the opportunity to earn a decent living. You can’t ask for much more than that.

The Reality Behind Building a Startup

It’s easy to look at the end result and think, “Wow, sure must be nice.”

But the “success” is only one side of the story. This is what the other side has looked like for me:

• I had a 2.53 GPA in college. And it took me 5 years.
• I have ADHD. It’s a blessing and a curse, but mostly a curse.
• I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety for most of my life. 
• My first “real” job after school started at $8/hr.
• I stayed there for two-and-a-half years and I hated every minute of it.
• I lost my entire life savings on our first attempt at DollarSprout.
• I worked in a psychiatric ward for almost a year after that to make ends meet.
• In 2017, I left that job to try full-time entrepreneurship again.
• Even when business is good, the mental health stuff stays with me.

Everyone deals with their own unique set of circumstances and adversity in life, and these were some of mine. 

5 Lessons I’ve Learned Since Starting DollarSprout

I know a lot of people out there that are frustrated with where they are in their career or their life. Here’s what I want them to know.

1. Having a miserable job can be the best thing that ever happens to you.

As a kid, and even in college, I had no desire to become an entrepreneur. I thought I wanted to either be a doctor or an engineer. Both are respectable and well-paying careers, so I thought that’s what I wanted. Starting a business was never something I thought about doing.

That all changed shortly after I got my first job after college.

I got an office job at a financial planning firm, and that experience is what set me on the path towards entrepreneurship. Since it was my first job, I had no way of knowing if it was just this job that was terrible, or if all jobs were this bad. 

Looking back, I now know my experience wasn’t all that unique. A lot of people hate their job. I think I just hated mine more than most.

I think one of the best things to ever happen to me was having that awful experience right out of school. If that job didn’t make me so jaded to the corporate world, DollarSprout would have never happened.

Related: How to Make Your First $1,000 as a New Blogger

2. Don’t be afraid of the worst-case scenario.

Before I left my full-time job in 2015 to start the business, I did my best to weigh the pros and cons. There was a whole range of possible outcomes:

• Outcome 1: Business booms right away, and I make more money than I know what to do with.
• Outcome 2: It takes 3-6 months to start getting traction.
• Outcome 3: It takes longer than 6-12 months to make any money, and I have to go back and get a job. I lose everything.

No one likes to think about Outcome 3. It’s a Doomsday Scenario. 

Outcome 3 is exactly what happened.

I had saved up about a year’s worth of expenses to give this thing a fair shot, and I ran out of money after only 9 months. At the time, our website was bringing in virtually zero revenue. By all accounts, it was a failure.

For some reason that I will still never quite understand — maybe it was pure denial — Ben and I kept grinding on the business even after I went back to working full time (he was also working full time). We were living through the worst-case scenario that every entrepreneur has nightmares about, and it still ended up being okay. 

About 10 months later, the site was making enough money that I could give it another try and leave my job. I was scared as can be, but I did it. Shortly thereafter, Ben left his job too. Neither of us have gone back since.

The literal worst case scenario happened, and it wasn’t as bad as we thought.

Related: 16 Online Business Ideas You Can Start at Little to No Cost

3. It’s hard to beat the person who never gives up.

Plenty of people out there are more talented writers, better designers, better managers, better salespeople, etc., than me and Ben. 

The hardest thing for people to replicate, though, is the determination to just keep grinding. Things take time to come together — usually much longer than you think. 

After burning through my life savings on our first attempt, I don’t think anyone could have blamed us for moving on. That would have been the rational thing to do, especially considering our total lack of progress. 

I’m not the most productive guy in the world (far from it, actually), and I’m honestly not the hardest worker either. But I can stick with something longer than most people, and that has made all the difference. 

Be the person that doesn’t give up.

4. Your 2.53 GPA, lack of business experience, mental health struggles, etc. don’t matter as much as you think. You only have to get it right once.

To me, that is the coolest thing ever.

Mark Cuban once wrote, “It doesn’t matter how many times you strike out. To be a success, you only have to be right once. One single time and you are set for life.”

As an entrepreneur, if you can build something people value, you’ll make it. I am a mess in so many ways, and I still found a way to escape the 9-to-5 world that was killing my soul one day at a time. Like I said, it’s hard to beat the guy that never gives up. 

Chances are you won’t get it right the first time (we sure didn’t), but the exciting thing about entrepreneurship is you only have to be right one time. That wipes away all the past failures. Once Ben and I finally found something that worked for us, we were set. 

Related: $14,000 in Under 3 Months: Here’s How We Grew Our Online Business

5. Be nice to people.

The world needs more of it, especially now.

I think a lot of entrepreneurs get this idea in their head that they need to be a cut-throat competitor with ice flowing through their veins in order to be successful. In reality, the more you help people — even your competitors — the more opportunities will open up for you.

There’s plenty of room for everyone at the table. Be a good person to sit with.

Don’t Underestimate What Can Happen in 5 Years

If you would have told me five years ago that I would be running a business with my best friend and earning a better income than I could have ever made at a normal job, I don’t know if I would have believed you.

At the start of any new endeavor, everything feels so insurmountable. There is so much to learn, so much to do, and so much time you have to put in.

But if you start now and keep at it, you may just look up in 5 years and see that you are living the life you never thought was possible. 

Take risks. Push hard. Make it happen. And most importantly, never give up!

The post DollarSprout Is 5 Years Old. Here’s What I’ve Learned So Far. appeared first on DollarSprout.