The gym and I weren’t (and still aren’t) friends. I’d walk in, look at the equipment, and immediately become overwhelmed by all the possibilities and how incapable I was at most of it. But when I tried CrossFit, that all changed.

Having an experienced coach and trainer design my workouts, tell me how to do them, and hold me accountable for showing up caused me to fall in love with going to the gym.

Personal trainers play an invaluable role in the health and fitness of people who, like me, don’t naturally enjoy working out. If you’re passionate about helping people transform their relationship with the gym, then maybe it’s time to consider how to become a personal trainer.

What Does a Personal Trainer Do?

Personal trainers teach people how to exercise in ways that are effective and safe for them. They might also give information and resources on nutrition, weight control, and healthy lifestyle improvements. This is the perfect profession for people who want the option of working full time or as a side gig.

It’s not enough to get a certificate and show someone how to lift a weight or perform a stretch. If you want to become a good personal trainer, you’ll need to be passionate about helping people, a characteristic performance coach Danny James says will determine your success.

“We like to get so good at the training piece that I think we often forget the ‘personal’ part. We are in the ‘people’ business and you have to care about helping people succeed,” James said. “Create an experience for people, and they’ll keep coming back, and bring their friends along, too.”

How Much Do Personal Trainers Make?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2019 the median pay for personal trainers was $40,390 per year or $19.42 per hour. The bottom 10% of fitness trainers earn around $21,000 while the top 10% earn over $75,000.

Most are employed at gyms but personal trainers can also work at private fitness centers, provide in-home services, or train completely online. The top personal trainers on Instagram can even make tens of thousands of dollars for a single sponsored post on the platform.

Even if you’re not looking to train full time, personal training can be a lucrative side hustle idea you can easily work around a full-time work schedule.

You can also make passive income by going online. Chantal Steele, NASM CPT, makes almost $1,000 a month from her fitness blog, Ironwild Fitness, through ad revenue and selling digital products.

How to Become a Personal Trainer

Becoming a personal trainer is a simple process but can seem intimidating at first. There are dozens of certificates, specialties, and professional paths to choose from. But you can cut through the noise, pick the path that’s right for you, and discover how to become a personal trainer online in just four steps.

1. Decide what you want to do.

As a personal trainer, you don’t have to limit yourself to teaching group fitness classes at your local gym, unless that’s what you want to do. You can train people in person, online, in your home, in your clients’ homes, or anywhere you can get your equipment.

Do some research on the services trainers are doing in your area and abroad to differentiate yourself and find a way to train that you enjoy.

Related: 28 Legit Online Jobs That Are Easy, Flexible and Profitable

2. Decide who you want to work with.

While your first thought may be, “I’ll work with anyone who pays me,” you’ll find that mindset will quickly lead you down a path to burnout.

Specializing in one type of training or client will help you hone your skills in that area, keep your marketing targeted, and allow you to charge more than a trainer who dabbles in a bit of everything. James makes over $7,000 per month working almost exclusively with athletes, primarily in track and field.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Don’t limit yourself when choosing your niche. There are successful trainers in every lifestyle and industry from police officers and cosplay enthusiasts to people dealing with chronic illness. Identify what is unique about you and how you can use that to serve others.

3. Take your exam and get certified.

It’s not complicated to find out how to become a certified personal trainer. Once you decide what you want to do and who you want to work with, you can choose the certification that’s best for you. Most certifications require you to be at least 18 years old, CPR certified, and pass an exam.

The cost for these exams can range from $99 to $800. The two most popular certifications from the American Council on Exercise and the National Academy of Sports Medicine are $600 and $800 respectively. Both are general certifications, so if you want to do something more specialized, you might be better off skipping these. Instead, get one more appropriate for your industry or look for additional specialty certifications.

4. Market your services.

Once you have your services and certification nailed down, you’re ready to market to your niche. There are many ways to market your small business, but you don’t need to do them all. Choose one or two that are best for you and master those before branching out.

Some popular marketing strategies for personal trainers include content marketing through a blog, podcast, or YouTube channel. Social media channels like Instagram and TikTok are great places to demonstrate workouts and nutrition plans. And trainers who want to start with local clients can try Google and Facebook ads targeted at people living within a certain radius.

Related: How to Make Money Managing Facebook Ads for Local Businesses

Ways to Scale Your Personal Training Side Gig

If you’re looking for a way to earn money beyond individual workouts, there are plenty of ways to scale a personal training business and use your expertise to make passive income.

1. Create fitness and nutrition plans.

In addition to in-person and online training, you can sell general or personalized workout and nutrition plans that people can follow along with on their own.

“Some people are more comfortable in the gym by themselves and just want some direction. For those people, being able to bang out a template for them to follow each month has been an easy add-on to my business,” James said. “It drums up some additional revenue each month for very little effort.”

Selling fitness plans meant when the pandemic hit, James was able to pivot his business easily by offering more custom-built fitness templates.

2. Create a digital fitness course.

Maybe you have a fitness plan that’s worked for your target client niche or a business model other personal trainers could follow and see success in their niche. You can create a digital course around your expertise and make passive income from it.

All you need is an online teaching platform like Teachable or Thinkific and your iPhone to record demonstrations.

3. Create an on-demand workout membership.

If teaching individual workouts is what you love, you can record them and package them in an on-demand workout membership. You’ll have an advantage because popular workout subscriptions like Peloton or Daily Burn lack the camaraderie a small membership community can offer.

By differentiating yourself from large-scale workout apps, you can attract members who are willing to pay a premium price for more personalized features.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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4. Become an affiliate for fitness and health-related products.

If there’s a health or fitness-related product you use and recommend, research if you can become an affiliate for it. Many companies have some type of affiliate or referral program that pays you for referring business to them.

The best way to become an affiliate is to reach out to companies directly. If they don’t have a direct program, you can sign up for Amazon’s affiliate program if they sell the product or check affiliate banks like CJ.com or FlexOffers.

5. Dropship exercise equipment and apparel.

You can take your love of health and fitness products a step further by dropshipping them. Dropshipping is a method of retail fulfillment where the seller doesn’t have to handle the product directly. A customer makes a purchase, then a notification is sent from the seller to the third-party warehouse and the product is shipped directly from the warehouse to the buyer.

If you recommend specific products to your clients, you may be able to dropship those items through an Amazon or Shopify store. You pay more upfront for the product, but you can make significantly more when they sell.

6. White label a health or fitness product.

Have an idea for a product that doesn’t exist? You may be able to white label a product. A white label goods supplier manufactures and stores products that a seller can put their own design or label on and sell as their own.

You can white label workout clothes, exercise equipment, functional fitness products, supplements, and more. This is great for a trainer who’s familiar with working with manufacturers and has a following interested in specialized products from them.

7. Get sponsored.

If you’re doing content or social media marketing, you can find sponsors for your blog posts, podcast episodes, YouTube videos, and Instagram posts. Search for sponsored hashtags and disclaimers to see what companies are sponsoring content in the fitness niche and reach out to them for a deal.

If you have a small following, you can increase sponsor packages by bundling two or more pieces of content together and creating a package deal.

Related: 19 Digital Product Ideas for Generating Passive Income

Personal Training Is a Great Business Opportunity

To grow your fitness business, you can’t stop at learning how to become a personal trainer; you have to learn how to be a business owner as well. As a business owner, when you limit yourself to one-on-one or freelance work, you limit your earning potential.

Taking your personal training business from in person to online opens your income possibilities and in the end, with that extra income, you can do more of the training that made you want to be a personal trainer in the first place.

The post How to Become a Personal Trainer (and Maximize Your Earnings) appeared first on DollarSprout.

We earn more undergraduate and graduate degrees than our male peers, start an average of 1,821 businesses every day, and own 36% of all businesses in the U.S.

Yet our companies are smaller, employ fewer people, and we still earn only 80 cents to every dollar a man makes.

While we’ve made great strides in some areas, we still lack the social networks, experience, and confidence needed to close the entrepreneurial gap.

So how do we get over the hump and make business ideas for women more competitive?

By starting our own businesses, with whatever resources we have.

20 Low-Cost Small Business Ideas for Women

Very few things can compare to the feeling of pride that comes with earning income from a product you created or a service you personally fulfilled. But extensive research shows that women tend to raise less financial capital from outside investors and rely more heavily on their own savings for start-up costs.

Fortunately, there are many low-cost small business ideas for women that can help you take the leap into entrepreneurship without straining an already tight budget.

Online business ideas

All you need to earn money online is a computer and a desk. These resources and courses will help you build and scale a business that’ll give you the freedom and fulfillment you’ve been looking for.

1. Freelance writing

Every year, companies make quality content a higher priority, so the opportunities and jobs for freelance writers become easier to find and more lucrative.

Freelance writing takes more than grammar skills and AP formatting. You have to know where to find jobs, what to charge, and how to become more proficient to scale your work.

If you are serious about getting into freelance writing either part-time or as a career, it might be helpful to take a course on Udemy to learn the ropes from someone who has done it before. 

2. Proofreading

Court reporters, self-publishers, and marketers all need proofreaders to ensure their work is understandable and free from errors. If you have an eye for detail and are meticulously thorough, proofreading could be a great business for you to start.

Like freelance writing, it takes more than knowledge to build a business around your skills. To gain access to mentorship and opportunities within proofreading, Proofread Anywhere has several courses that will help you hone your skills and grow your business.

The first is General Proofreading: Theory and Practice. You’ll learn the detailed mechanics of proofreading and how to market your services to find clients. The second is Transcript Proofreading. This course focuses on how to proofread court reporter transcripts and build a business in that niche.

These courses, taught by long-time proofreader Caitlin Pyle, will give you the tools you need to start and grow a proofreading business.

Free Workshop: How to Turn Your Passion for Words into a Thriving Business

3. Virtual assistant

Virtual assisting, or being a VA, is a simple business for ladies who are reliable, organized, and good problem solvers. VAs do a range of tasks for business owners from social media and calendar management to personal tasks like booking hotels and restaurant reservations. The tasks themselves aren’t difficult and can be a great way to take the leap into self-employment.

The Fully Booked VA course, taught by Gina Horkey, will teach you what people are looking for in a virtual assistant and how to run a successful VA business. Lessons include onboarding clients, legally protecting yourself and your business, and creating systems for efficiency that will allow you to scale.

Horkey consistently made $4,000 per month in her first year as a VA and has gone on to train thousands of interested woman exactly how to do the same. 

4. Graphic design

Some of the best business ideas for women include working as a graphic designer making websites, designing logos, and developing innovative products. Trying your hand at a variety of design techniques in different industries could give you the confidence you need to start your own design agency.

Design or creative agencies do all aspects of branding in-house, including campaign direction, design, public relations, and content creation. This is a great way to build a business that’s scalable and can create jobs for others.

 5. Tutoring

Teachers looking to be their own bosses can thrive with a tutoring business. Start by using an established service to hone your skills. For high school and college tutoring, Chegg offers 24/7 tutoring in a variety of subjects. If you’re more comfortable with younger ages, VIPKid is a tutoring service for Chinese students learning English.

Once you’re comfortable tutoring part time, you can grow and expand to your own full-time tutoring business by finding your own students and hiring other tutors that specialize in topics you’re not proficient in.

Related: The Best Places to Find Online Tutoring Jobs

6. Reselling high-end fashion

Buying secondhand clothes and reselling them on Poshmark, Mercari, or eBay can be a lucrative job for stay-at-home moms or anyone with a passion for fashion. High-end luxury brands are best for building a business around because of their high resale value. If you live in or near an affluent neighborhood, you can find high-end clothing in local thrift stores.

Then expand your business by offering free closet cleanout services and offering to purchase pieces clients no longer want. You can also sell items for clients and take a portion of the sale.

Related: The Best Apps for Selling Things Locally and Online

Traditional business ideas for women

These business ideas for women may sound traditional, but there are plenty of ways female entrepreneurs can innovate and set themselves apart to build a thriving business.

7. Wedding planner

About 29% of couples hire a professional wedding planner to help pull off their special day. Whether it’s full-service planning or day-of coordinating, there are a number of business ideas for women in the wedding planning industry.

Couples splurge on details that make their wedding personalized and meaningful. If you can niche down and become the go-to expert in a particular category such as destination weddings, Jewish weddings, or luxury weddings, then you’ll be able to market yourself to prospective clients more easily.

8. Catering

As a small caterer, you may not have the equipment to feed a 100-person wedding. But you can easily serve bridal showers, baby showers, and small holiday parties, providing a personalized menu and an experience they couldn’t get from a large company.

And catering doesn’t just include food. You can start a traveling bar offering custom cocktails for weddings and parties. Be sure to check your county and state health departments and abide by all food and beverage permitting and licensing laws.

9. Selling crafts

Are you exceptionally talented at crocheting, painting, or throwing pottery? You can sell your crafts and create a decent business. While selling goods on Etsy or your local craft fair may earn you some profit, commissioned work can be more lucrative.

Creating custom art for interior design firms, sewing stuffed animals for baby showers, and designing high-end jewelry for clients are some of the ways you can make your passion a viable business.

10. In-home daycare

In 33 states, the cost of infant daycare is more expensive than college. There’s a need for more licensed in-home daycares to keep those costs lower for struggling families.

While in-home daycare can be more affordable than traditional options, daycare business owners keep their profits instead of paying a franchise fee or being paid as an employee.

This type of business isn’t as flexible as others, but it’s great for moms that have a child at home already. Check your state’s licensing requirements to find out what licenses you need and how to maintain them.

11. Dog grooming and boarding

Americans love their pets. Collectively, pet owners in the U.S. spend over $6 billion annually on grooming, boarding, training, walking, and other pet services. If you love furry babies more than human ones, a mobile dog grooming business, pet boarding, or pet exercise service could be a great business to start.

Start by signing up for Rover and seeing what breeds and activities you like. Then you can advertise your business on social media by targeting people in your area who like dogs.

12. Laundry service

If you put it off long enough, doing laundry can be an all-day event. Many busy parents and professionals don’t have the time to do all the family’s laundry. As a mobile laundry service, you pick up, wash, fold, and drop off clothing for clients. Depending on the garments and number of items, you could earn $30 to $50 per load of laundry.

This is one of the best business ideas for housewives. Many laundromats offer this service. To set yourself apart and build a client base, start by signing up with a service like Laundry Care that takes care of some of the marketing for you.

Start-up supplies cost $95 and include laundry bags, processing bags, garment covers, business cards, brochures, and anything else you use to market your services. The company then adds you to their directory of service providers and starts marketing your business for you.

13. Sewing and alterations

A sewing and alterations business is one of the best business ideas for women at home who are proficient in sewing and knowledgeable about fabrics. Start by specializing in a specific type of alterations and become the go-to seamstress for those jobs. You can start small by hemming pants and work your way up to items like wedding dresses.

Make relationships with vintage clothing store owners in your area so they can refer customers to you. You can also offer beginner sewing classes to earn more and get the word out about your services.

14. Photography

Photography can be a competitive industry to get into. But if you diversify your offerings and develop a unique style, you can attract customers that want something different. Another option is to specialize in a specific niche, like only offering newborn shoots or specializing in weddings.

There are several ways to get paid to take pictures. You can do family and event portraits or headshots for businesses. You can also sell your photography as art or stock photos on the web.

If you want to do weddings, reach out to popular wedding photographers in your area and request to be their second shooter. Eventually, the relationships and trust built through assisting them will turn into referrals.

15. Interior design/decorating

The competition for luxury home decorating and commercial space designing can be fierce. But there are a variety of ways you can build an interiors business from scratch.

Some examples are a minimalist design package with decluttering service or wedding designer with a reception liaison add-on. By getting creative with what you design, how you do it, and where you’ll work, you can build a successful business.

You can even design spaces from home. If you know where to find the best prices on home decor, you can help homeowners design their spaces on a budget with just a picture of the space, a few dimensions, and style preferences.

Home-based business ideas for women

Online business and traditional business ideas for women aren’t the only ways to make money. Women entrepreneurs can make money at home in plenty of unique ways.

16. Teach music lessons

Musicians don’t have to be starving artists, and you don’t have to pass out demo tapes to build a music business. Instead, you can teach music lessons anywhere in the world.

Traditionally, music lessons had to be taught in person and one on one. Musicians can now utilize YouTube and online course platforms such as Thinkific and Teachable to build an audience, teach basics, and charge for advanced virtual lessons. This can expand your client base and make it more affordable to start.

17. Personal trainer

If you love running, playing sports, or working out, you can use your passion or hobby to make money.

Your extra room or garage can become a boot camp for busy moms or personal training space for clients. You can even rent it out to other personal trainers who don’t have enough space to see clients.

By being open at times other gyms may be closed or operating in a community that may be far from the gym, you can build a health and wellness business without leaving your home.

18. Marketing and public relations

Small business owners find social media intimidating. If you have a background in marketing or you’re comfortable with social media, you can build and scale a great business in this space.

The demand for these services is so great you don’t have to stop at offering marketing and public relations services, you can start your own marketing agency from your kitchen table.

Marketing mogul Tai Lopez recommends to start by marketing yourself on social media. By building your own brand and social media following, clients can see what you can do for them. Then scale by hiring people to do the heavy lifting for you.

19. Bookkeeping & accounting

Some business ideas for women who are great with numbers are digital bookkeeping and accounting. Bookkeepers are responsible for keeping track of a business’s transactions, expenses, and income. They also produce reports for business owners to show them their financial trajectory.

You can find free online bookkeeping lessons, but it helps to become certified by a professional bookkeeper organization. Specializing in a specific industry will also help you grow your business and  reduce the time it takes to learn the finances involved with multiple industries.

20. App development

If you’re a tech lover, creating an app is a great alternative to starting a website. The app market is exploding and you can build a profitable app if you have an idea. And if you don’t, you can start a firm developing apps for other companies.

If you’re unsure where to start or don’t love writing code, you can still build a business around an app or suite of apps. Work on the things you can and hire out the rest. Take advantage of Upwork to find affordable designers and coders for your project.

Remember to Deduct Business Expenses

When you start a business, your business-related expenses are deductible on your taxes. If you make $10,000 and have $2,000 in tax-deductible business expenses, you only pay taxes on $8,000 of your income.

There are dozens of fully deductible expenses and even more that are partially deductible. Keep track of these 10 popular deductions when starting your business.

Home office: If you do work-from-home jobs, you can deduct a portion of your home’s utility bills, mortgage interest, property taxes, and home insurance from your taxes.

Advertising: Any promotional materials, website hosting, email marketing costs, Facebook ads, and more are 100% tax-deductible.

Office supplies and tools: Cleaning supplies, stamps, pens, and any tools you use in your business are deductible.

Salaries and wages: If you bring on a VA or hire out some tasks, you can deduct those expenses from your taxes. You can also deduct payroll taxes when you hire employees.

Meals: Save your receipts because if you purchase a meal or coffee while working, you can generally deduct 50% of the expense.

Business use of your car: Anytime you use your car for business purposes, you can deduct the cost of the trip. There are two ways your car expenses are deducted: mileage driven and actual expenses such as gas, oil, repairs, etc.

Depreciation: When you buy something for your business, like a laptop, the depreciation of it is tax-deductible. Typically you have to spread out this depreciation over a few years, but there are several ways to take the entire deduction in one year such as the de minimis safe harbor election.

Education: Any courses or continuing education related to your business are 100% tax-deductible.

Telephone & Internet: If you’re using your phone or home internet to do business, you can deduct a portion of your bill.

Child Care: Business owners can claim the Child and Dependent Care Credit for children in daycare, which is 20% to 35% of the expense.

Starting Your Own Business Is Hard, But It’s Worth It

Starting any business often requires unpaid startup work and late hours. But being your own boss and choosing the work you do is worth the sacrifice. There are more than just 20 business ideas for women. Take what you’re good at, certified in, or passionate about and explore ways you can build a business around those.

When you start your business with a growth mindset, you have the opportunity to do more than offer services. You can build a company that serves you and invests in your community, so think big and keep pushing.

The post 20 Best Business Ideas for Women Entrepreneurs appeared first on DollarSprout.

So I decided to self-publish a book.

But I didn’t just compile old blog posts into a book to sell on my website. I took the time to learn the ins and out of writing an eBook and selling it online, and I tried to be as strategic as possible.

I used ideas from writers who self-published before me and innovated some of my own marketing strategies. Some worked while others flopped.

But in the three years since I self-published my eBook, I’ve earned over $40,000 in passive income.

Selling eBooks isn’t easy money and it’s not for everyone. But if you already make money as a freelance writer or are looking for other ways to make money blogging, then publishing an eBook is a great way to expand your business.

Who Should Write and Sell eBooks?

Writing an eBook is a great way to make money blogging or try a new way to earn some side income.

You don’t need to be a professional writer, have perfect grammar, or have any publishing experience to make money selling eBooks, but there are a few criteria to consider:

1. You’re a subject matter expert. For nonfiction eBooks, you don’t have to be a writing expert, but you do need to be an expert in whatever topic you’re writing about. Fiction writers should be extremely knowledgeable about their genre.
2. You have a lot to say. When you self-publish, you can make your books as long or short as you want. That said, people are not going to be happy if your book is the length of a blog post. If you plan to sell your book, it should be at least 20,000 words for nonfiction. Fiction eBooks should be around 40,000 to 50,000 words.
3. You can maintain focus. Alternatively, if your book has 30,000 words that take you on multiple disconnected tangents, you haven’t helped or entertained your readers. You need to be able to maintain a clear and helpful focus to create a book that creates an impact. And for fiction books, you’ll need to make sure you have a solid plot that readers can easily follow.
4. You have a small amount of cash to invest in the project. Self-publishing is inexpensive but in most cases, it’s not free. You’ll want to budget at least a few hundred dollars for the project even if you plan to give away your book for free.

If this sounds reasonable, then your business may be ready to benefit from a self-published eBook.

Related: How to Become a Freelance Writer

How to Write and Design eBooks

The first part of making money from eBooks is to create one, but you need to figure out what type of eBook you’re creating. There are two types: eBooks that you give away for free or ones that people buy upfront.

The ones that you give away for free are generally a bonus you offer to entice someone to sign up for your email list so you can sell them a higher-priced product or service later.

This doesn’t have to be a thousand-dollar product. Dana Shultz of Minimalist Baker does this, offering a free eBook featuring 20 of her most popular recipes. It allows new readers to immediately see what they can expect from her website and prime them to buy her full-length cookbook.

The eBooks that people buy upfront are typically held to a higher standard. The reader is likely very interested in the topic or a prolific reader, and you’re going to need to put a lot more work into this kind of book.

It’s up to you to decide which type of book you want to write based on what your end goals are. If your goal is marketing a high-priced course or service, then offering a free book is a great way to get your target audience on your email list. If you’re looking to make a profit from eBooks, then your strategy will be to create high-quality books that keep readers coming back.

There are paid courses like Michelle Jackson’s Make Money with eBooks that take you through the process of identifying your topic, writing and editing your book, and developing a marketing strategy, but you can also start with these steps.

1. Set a budget.

Decide how much you want — or can afford — to invest in your eBook. You can spend anywhere from a few hundred dollars up to tens of thousands of dollars to write, publish, and launch your eBook, so figure out what you can spend and still stay profitable.

When you decide your budget there are two expenses that you should prioritize over others: editing and cover design. Once you have those covered, the rest of your budget can be spent on other things.

Every good book needs a good editor, but you might also need a proofreader. If you’re on a tight budget, you can try to find an editor that will do both. You’ll need to budget from $200 to $1,000 or more for a 50,000-word manuscript.

Even if you’ve written an original and creative book with perfect copy, you’ll also need a high-quality book cover. Since people do judge a book by its cover, a rudimentary or unattractive cover may lead readers to assume the content is of poor quality as well. Try to budget anywhere from $100 to $400 or more to pay a graphic designer to create your book cover.

If you have money left in your budget, you can spend it on things like ads, formatting, and other book-related expenses.

2. Research and select a topic.

Everyone wants to start here, but it should come second. Since a book is an investment of time and money, you need to know your budget and do your research before picking your topic.

If you’re a fiction writer, research the genre you plan to write to find out what readers are buying, the tropes they enjoy, and read reviews of similar books. This will help you figure out how you can meet or exceed reader expectations or create something that seems lacking in that genre.

If you plan to write nonfiction, you should also do a comparison of their topic to some best-sellers. But it’s equally important to consider what you want to sell beyond the book. This will help position you as an expert when selling that product or service.

3. Write the book.

Create an outline and write a rough draft that makes a comprehensive resource or engaging story. It sounds simple, but this is where most people who think about writing a book become overwhelmed. It’s intimidating to think about writing an entire book, and many writers get stuck at this step.

It doesn’t need to be that way, though. Rough drafts are considered rough for a reason. Write the book the best you can according to your outline, but don’t overthink it. You’ll have plenty of time to fix the book once it gets to your editor.

Related: The 6 Best Freelance Writing Courses (According to Expert Freelance Writers)

4. Fact check, self-edit, and hire an editor.

Now is the time where your book goes from good to great. Prior to sending it to your professional editor, make sure you do some self-editing and fact-checking before putting the manuscript in someone else’s hands.

Your editor will then go through your book to make corrections and point out places for improvement. After it’s been edited, make sure you read through it to verify that it reads the way you want, everything is correct, and for fiction books, the plot is consistent and has no holes.

5. Format the book.

There are several formats your book will need to be in for various platforms. In general, a PDF is the bare minimum; this format is fine for free eBooks and eBooks sold on your website. If you want readers to have access to it on an eReader, you’ll need a Mobi version for Kindle and an ePub version for all other devices.

You can hire out the formatting of your book or, if you plan to write many books, invest in formatting software like Scrivener or Vellum.

6. Design a cover.

When your book is free you can get away with designing your own cover with a free online cover maker or using a free web-based design program like Canva. But if you want people to buy your book, you’ll most likely want to hire a graphic designer to create an attractive cover.

If you don’t have the budget for a graphic designer, don’t worry. You can get an affordable cover at 100 Covers or Fiverr or pay a little more for more options at 99Designs.

7. Find beta readers.

Beta readers are people in your target audience who read your book and provide feedback before the book is available for sale so you can make some final edits or adjustments. These readers will also leave reviews on the book, which can help with pre-sale numbers and profits.

If you have an audience from your blog or social media platforms, it should be easy to attract beta readers with the offer of a free book. If you’re starting from scratch and don’t have an audience or platform, you can offer to give beta readers a gift card or some other reward after they submit feedback and a review.

Related: 11 Ways to Get Paid to Read Books In Your Spare Time

How to Sell eBooks Online

Now comes the fun part — selling your eBook. There are several steps you’ll need to walk through to make sure your book is seen and purchased by readers.

8. Choose a selling platform.

The best place to sell eBooks online depends on your goals. Most writers will either choose to sell their books on Amazon or on their own websites. If you’re a fiction writer or just starting out, getting eyes on your books is more important than making 100% of the revenue. Given that, enrolling your book in Amazon’s KDP Select program is probably your best option.

When you choose to enroll your book in KDP Select, you agree to make the digital format of that book available exclusively through Amazon. KDP Select will get your book in front of thousands of readers subscribed to Kindle Unlimited and give you access to additional monetization and promotional tools.

However, if you’re a nonfiction writer or you’ve already built a large audience, you may earn more by learning how to sell eBooks on your own website. You can also use an e-commerce extension like Shopify or Easy Digital Downloads.

9. Price your book.

You don’t have to charge a lot for your book to make a nice supplemental income. If you charge $2.99 for a book on Amazon, the minimum amount you need to charge to receive 70% of royalties, you’ll make $2.10 per book. If you sell five books a day, you’ll make $315 per month. If you write a sequel or follow-up to that book that also sells five a day, that’s $630 per month.

After a few years of writing, you could easily have 15 books. If they’re all cleanly written with great covers, you can expect to earn almost $5,000 a month on book sales.

Alternatively, you could reach the same goal if you sold your book on your website for $11, paying only a $0.50 cent transaction fee and selling one per day.

10. Market your book.

Whenever you run a deal on your book, you can pay to have it listed in a daily deals newsletter like the ones sent by BookBub or Bargain Booksy. You can also get the word out about your book by being a guest writer on blogs, reaching out to book bloggers, creating a book campaign on Instagram, or being interviewed on relevant podcasts.

Ads on Facebook or Amazon are also great ways to market your book; just make sure to keep the audience as targeted as possible.

11. Partner with affiliates.

You can get more new eyes on your book by incentivizing other authors and content creators to share your book with their audience. You can offer them a portion of your sales or give them a fixed number of books to give away to their audiences.

The selling platform you choose should have an option to create affiliate links to make it easy to track who earned what. Amazon has this option as do e-commerce platforms like SendOwl.

12. Offer a freebie for leads.

Whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, you want to get your readers on your email list to ensure they’re the first to know when you release a new book or product. A great way to do this is to offer a relevant free offer like a short webinar or a bonus chapter in exchange for the reader’s email address.

You can use an email marketing service like ConvertKit or MailChimp to create landing pages and to store and send downloads when people sign up.

Marketing Your eBook Is an Ongoing Process

Your work continues long after you write, edit, and publish your eBook. If your goal is to make money selling eBooks, you’ll need to continue marketing your book long term. Keep running ads, signing up affiliates, giving interviews, and taking other actions that spread the word about your book.

And while marketing never ends, it’s much less expensive to sell a book to a current fan than find a new one. Expand your business and keep readers coming back by writing more books, creating products, and giving readers who like your work more options to purchase from you.

Writing an eBook was the best move I’ve ever taken for my business, but only because I followed every step intentionally. It takes a lot of time and effort to do it that way, but the rewards are worth it.

The post 11 Steps to Make Money Selling eBooks Online appeared first on DollarSprout.

Some give cash back while others offer gift cards and discounts at your favorite stores and on your favorite products. But they all have one thing in common: saving you money on everyday purchases.

However, not all money saved is worth the time and effort put in. Luckily, Fetch Rewards requires little of both. It’s one of the easiest-to-use cash-back apps available and perfect for shoppers who are loyal to brands over stores. If you like the idea of earning free gift cards without much effort, then the Fetch app might be a good fit for you.

What Is Fetch Rewards?

$2 Bonus

Free Price No cost to download and use

DollarSprout Rating No option to link cards

Fetch Rewards gives users cash back on grocery purchases. You don't have to select your deals ahead of time. Just shop as usual and scan your receipt after. Fetch Rewards will let you know if anything you bought is eligible for cash back. Exchange your points for free gift cards to hundreds of retailers.

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Pros

• Free to download and use
• No need to select deals ahead of time
• Earn points for referring friends and family
• Quick turnaround when redeeming points
• Scan eReceipts through your email
• Helpful and quick customer support

Cons

• No option to link store loyalty cards
• Gift cards are the only reward option (no cash)
• Rewards expire if you don’t scan a receipt for 90 days
• eReceipt scanning is sometimes glitchy

Fetch Rewards, also referred to as just Fetch, is a cash-back rewards 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.

But don’t worry. Fetch never shares your personal information with anyone.

Fetch Rewards Review: How Does This App Work?

Fetch is similar to other rewards and receipt-scanning apps, but it has some unique features that set the app apart.

1. Sign up for a free account with a Fetch Rewards code.

To get started, you’ll need to sign up for a free account. If you’ve been referred by a current user, make sure to use their referral code so you can get a welcome bonus and they can secure a 2,000-point bonus as well.

You can use Fetch Rewards code FETCH2K at sign up to get $2 in bonus points.

Personal take: Sign up is easy and takes just a few minutes. The 2,000 bonus points showed up in my account balance after I scanned my first receipt.

2. Get familiar with Fetch Rewards brand partners.

Fetch offers points for every receipt scanned, but you’ll get more points when you make purchases from brand partners like Huggies, Tostitos, and St. Ives.

Once you download the app, familiarize yourself with the Fetch Rewards brands that earn you extra points. You don’t need to download any coupons or activate any rebates to get the extra points; you simply need to remember that these brands offer them.

Personal take: With a one-year-old, the brand I redeem the most is Huggies and they tend to have the best rewards. I frequently get 6,000 points on a single pack of diapers and recently there was a 12,000-point bonus.

3. Grocery shop as normal.

Since there’s no extra work to earn points, like selecting offers in advance or clipping coupons, you can shop like you normally would and the points are added to your account as soon as you scan your receipt.

Fetch partners with over 300 brands to offer extra points every time you shop. Some brands will tell you which products and how many points, but others aren’t specific. If a point value isn’t listed, you can usually expect to receive 10 to 25 points for buying any product from that brand, and special offers from brand partners might earn you up to 5,000 bonus points.

There might even be times you’re surprised with extra points when you scan a receipt. That occasionally happens to me if I unknowingly buy a partner product.

You can also get points on prescriptions when you use your SingleCare Digital Savings code. You can find your unique code within the Fetch Rewards app. Simply present your SingleCare Digital code to your pharmacist when you fill a prescription at a participating pharmacy and you’ll earn bonus points.

You can learn more about SingleCare in the Fetch Rewards FAQ.

Personal take: I’m not particularly name-brand loyal, so I don’t seek out brand partners. However, it’s nice to get the occasional bonus points. I also love that, unlike other cash-back apps I’ve used before, there’s no need to search through deals, commit to a purchase, or complete a task before you go shopping. 

Related: 14 Smart Ways to Save Money at the Grocery Store

4. Scan your receipts for points.

After you shop, scan your receipt to add points to your account. You’ll earn a minimum of five points per receipt at any retailer. Most receipts from major grocery stores and retailers will earn you a base of 25 points.

It’s important to scan receipts not just to get points, but to keep them. You must scan a receipt or enter an eReceipt at least every 90 days or your points will expire, including points received for referrals.

And, if you’re doing a lot of shopping, remember you can only scan a maximum of 14 receipts per week.

Personal take: Although Fetch’s receipt-scanning system is easy, it isn’t flawless. For example, I have a Walmart Grocery eReceipt that I’ve been trying to upload but for some reason, Fetch’s system can’t find it and another eReceipt was incorrectly marked as a duplicate. On the other hand, I’ve also received bonus points for products I didn’t buy.

Whenever something’s not right, contact the customer support team through the Contact Us button in the app’s Help Center or email support@fetchrewards.com. They’ve always been quick to respond and fix any issue I’ve had.

5. Invite your friends to try it.

If you enjoy using Fetch, you can earn even more by referring friends. Each referral is worth 2,000 to 4,000 points. And every friend you refer will get 2,000 points once they scan their first receipt.

You can see when Fetch is offering higher referral bonuses on the homepage of the app and keep track of your referral history and unique referral link in My Account under the Refer a Friend section.

Personal Take: I’ve referred two friends when the referral bonus was 4,000 points. The extra points are nice, but it’s not as reliable as getting the Special Offers bonuses.

Related: 17 Cash-Back Apps and Browser Extensions You Need to Have

6. Cash out your earnings.

Fetch Rewards has one of the lowest thresholds for cashout of any rewards app I’ve used.

You can redeem 100 points for a sweepstakes entry, and once you reach 3,000 you can cash out points for donations to partner charities. Once you reach 5,000 points, or $5 in total earnings, you can begin to redeem your points for most gift cards.

You will need more points if you want to redeem for a MasterCard or Visa gift card, or you can redeem points for magazine subscriptions at a lower rate.

Personal take: So far I’ve been able to redeem my points for a $10 Amazon gift card, and I have enough points to get a $5 gift card. If you take advantage of special offers, it doesn’t take long to accumulate enough points to cash out. It’s a lot faster than most other savings apps.

Fetch Rewards Alternatives

Fetch can be used in combination with other apps and coupons, leading to bigger savings. But if scanning receipts feels like too much work or you’d rather receive cash instead of gift cards, there are some alternatives to Fetch Rewards.

Ibotta

Fetch Rewards and Ibotta are fairly similar. The points value system for both Fetch and Ibotta is comparable and both accept receipts from almost any retailer or restaurant.

The big difference is Ibotta requires you to select certain products in advance to earn rebates. With Fetch, you can shop like you normally do and any partner product you purchase is automatically eligible for extra points.

Ibotta also has rebates for “Any Brand” items that Fetch doesn’t. You can get rebates on many generic brand products whenever they’re available for rebates in the app. And unlike Fetch, Ibotta automatically scans eReceipts. I’ve experienced fewer glitches in that department with Ibotta.

Ibotta also allows you to earn actual cash instead of redeeming for gift cards, which can be much more useful to some users. However, Ibotta’s minimum cash out is $20 whereas Fetch’s is $5 for most gift cards.

Dosh

Dosh is another alternative to Fetch, partnering with over 100,000 stores to offer cash back on your shopping. And you won’t just earn cash back on certain items; you can earn it simply for shopping in a particular store.

While there’s a lot of variety, you may not find your favorite grocery store on Dosh. For instance, in my area, Dosh only offers cash back on Sam’s Club, Costco, and BJ’s memberships. But it does offer cash back at many local restaurants without the need to scan receipts.

To earn cash back, simply link your credit or debit cards to Dosh and anytime you use them at a partner retailer, you’ll automatically get cash back. It’s a simpler process, but Dosh has a cash-out minimum of $25, higher than Fetch and Ibotta.

The post Fetch Rewards Review 2023: Pros, Cons, and How It Works appeared first on DollarSprout.

I’ve tried many small business marketing ideas and learned from countless mistakes. And what I’ve found is that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to have a successful marketing strategy.

There are many free and inexpensive ways to market your small business. The key is trying a variety to see what works best for you.

Ways to Market Your Small Business Online

When you think of digital marketing, you might immediately think of running paid ads on Google or Facebook. But when you shift your mindset about online advertising, you’ll find there are countless ways to sell your services online that don’t cost nearly as much as paid ads.

As Digital Marketer puts it, online marketing is simply a Customer Value Journey that aims to strategically build relationships with new prospects and convert them into loyal, repeat customers. That means that digital marketing is simply finding ways to genuinely connect with and help people online.

Fortunately, there are some pretty effective ways to do that.

1. Publish helpful content on your website and learn SEO.

One of the best ways to help people is by answering their questions, and nowhere do people ask more questions than on Google.

Think about what you sell and consider what questions your ideal customer would have when seeking your product. You can start a blog and write articles to solve these problems while gaining the respect and trust of the reader.

As with any free marketing tool, there are tons of people trying to execute this strategy. So you’ll need to learn some Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies to stand out amongst the search results.

SEO isn’t as scary as it sounds. It’s simply looking at the question you’re answering, getting inside the head of who’s asking it, and including as much helpful information as possible to answer the question.

2. Use social media strategically.

The key to building trust on social media is to offer authentic content and show up consistently. If your content is only promotional or if you only post when you’re having a sale, not only will potential customers not trust or follow you, the platform algorithm may hide your content. This can prevent you from reaching even your current followers.

Instead, choose one social media platform to invest your time in and post content that’s educational, aspirational, or entertaining in addition to the content that’s promotional. It’s important to know where your potential customers spend their time as well.

For instance, Instagram and Facebook are currently the most trafficked platforms in the U.S. and Instagram has more users under 30 while Facebook users have higher average incomes._[1]

Some small business marketing ideas for social media include posting product comparisons to show how your product is unique, inspirational quotes that your ideal customer might like, or sharing a meme that makes light of the problem your product is trying to solve. You can also use direct messages to connect with your followers like Mary Gui, Founder and CEO of Sock Candy.

“When I get a new follower on the @sockcandyofficial IG account, I send them a DM thanking them for following Sock Candy and offer a Welcome discount code on their first order. This has worked quite well for me and led to multiple conversions,” Gui said.

You can be as creative as you want with your social media content. Remember that the more creative you are, the more engaged your audience will become. And that can lead to higher profits for you.

3. Start a YouTube channel.

Ninety-four percent of American users 18 to 44 years old access YouTube at least once a month, making it a great place to connect with potential customers._[2] YouTube is owned by Google, so you can take many of the SEO principles you use for written content and apply them to your videos.

If your ideal customer has questions that are more easily answered through demonstration or another visual, YouTube is the best platform to do that. You can even reuse YouTube videos on your favorite social media platform and embed them in blog posts.

Don’t stop at posting your video. Be sure to include links in the video description or notes to your products or services. You can also link to your other YouTube videos to continue building your relationship with viewers. And once you build a following on the platform, you can make money on YouTube through ads and sponsorships.

4. Publish an eBook.

Self-publishing a book on Amazon is a great way to establish authority in your field and get in front of people who are ready to make a purchase to help solve their problem.

Writing and publishing a professional-looking eBook is extremely affordable with minimum costs. Be sure to use the book as a way to teach the solution to the problem and wait until the end to mention your business as a way to achieve the solution more efficiently.

5. Answer questions on forums or in groups.

The best low-cost marketing ideas for small business owners are those that allow them to connect directly with potential customers. Answering questions on forums and in Facebook groups does just that.

When answering a question in a forum or group, always aim to be helpful first and serve your business as a solution second. If you have an online course and encounter a question you teach the answer to, don’t answer it with a link to your course. Answer questions as you would in your course. Then, after you’ve engaged with the person who asked the question, offer that you have a course that covers this more in-depth.

This helps build trust and credibility within the group, and as a result, makes people more likely to buy your products.

6. Collect email addresses so you can stay in touch.

An email list is the backbone of many successful online businesses. While every other platform controls your access to its users, you always have your email list and can take it anywhere you go, even if you change your business name or set up a new website.

One of the easiest ways to collect email addresses is to give away a free digital product like a cheat sheet, PDF guide, template, etc. You can use your blog, social media account, eBook, or a simple landing page to offer your digital product and send it to their email address using a service like Constant Contact or ConvertKit.

Once you collect their email address, stay in touch at least every other week with valuable and relevant resources to build trust.

7. Build a community.

Facebook groups are a great place to build a community of people with similar interests or problems they need solved. Creating your own group can bring potential customers to you and position you as an expert in whatever the group is about.

Jacob Bouvier runs a boudoir photography studio. His Facebook group has brought in more clients than any other channel. He says it’s because they get to know him as a person before ever deciding to become a client.

“Nine-tenths of what I post in there relates to my mission of body acceptance, self-love, and being your authentic self, but doesn’t directly relate to my photography. About 1/10 of the content has to do with my photography,” Bouvier said.

It’ll take time to build a group but you can speed the process up by posting relevant questions and opportunities for engagement every day thanks to Facebook’s post scheduling feature and responding to every member. This will help to make them feel like they’re part of the community and that you genuinely care about them.

8. Teach a free online class or workshop.

One of the most popular and effective small business marketing strategies for online businesses is to teach a free online class or workshop. Brainstorm a problem your ideal client is struggling with that you can help them solve in an hour or less. It can be as simple as turning a blog post or video into slides and presenting it and then answering questions at the end.

You can easily do this for free by going live on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube. If you want something more private, Zoom lets you host classes of up to 100 people for 45 minutes at a time at no cost.

9. Host an online challenge.

Challenges are a great way to take your offline business online. A personal trainer can host a fitness challenge, a cleaning service can host a 7-day declutter challenge, or a pet groomer can host a “sit, stay” challenge for people with hyperactive dogs. Anything that will take a potential customer from awareness of a problem to aware that they need help to solve it.

Host your challenge via Facebook group or email. You can have it last anywhere from 5 to 30 days and use hashtags on social media to spread the word. Provide valuable training throughout the challenge and at the end, present your service or offer as a solution for people who need more help or want the solution to the next step.

10. Publish a digital magazine.

A monthly or quarterly digital magazine could be a great way to market your business without much effort.

You can source articles and pictures from other creators who can help your ideal client but aren’t direct competitors. When you include other creators in your magazine, ask them to promote it on their website or social media. This will allow your services or products to reach a new audience who might be ready for what you have to offer.

11. Record a podcast.

A podcast is one of the quickest ways to build trust with potential customers. People can easily get distracted when reading a blog post or watching a video, but people tend to give longer and more active attention to podcasts._[3]

When you’re with someone every week as they drive to work or clean their house, you can build a relationship with them and become their go-to expert on your niche topic.

Also consider being a guest on podcasts your ideal customer is listening to. These shows will already have a trusting fan base and if the host trusts you enough to bring you onto their show, you’ll have an advantage when trying to build a relationship with their audience.

Ways to Market Your Small Business Locally

Once you have some foundational digital marketing set up, you can get creative with small business marketing ideas. Every business, even fully online ones, should practice some offline and local marketing to capitalize on its unique advantages.

12. Develop a referral program.

If you rely on referrals for your business, then developing a referral program could bring you even more clients or customers. First, you should decide on your goals. For instance, do you want more traffic, longer subscription retention, higher customer value, or something else? Then figure out how much you can afford to reward your referrers.

A few marketing tips for small businesses that want to run a referral program: Non-cash incentives are more cost-effective and boost performance better than cash incentives._[4] Consider offering store credit or premium features to referrers. And make sharing your referral program as easy as possible.

Provide options to instantly share via email, social media, or text with short links and pre-written messages.

13. Attend local networking events.

In-person and virtual networking events are great ways to find new customers and broaden your network of referrers. Head into them with a clear goal of who you want to meet so they can be more strategic and less overwhelming. You can use sites like Meetup, Eventbrite, and Facebook to find groups meeting in your area and online.

You can also try hosting your own networking event. This helps you control the size, industries represented, location, and, as the host, people will be approaching you to connect instead of the other way around.

If you really want your company to make a splash, then do something creative to stand out like Lori Cheek, CEO of the dating app Cheek’d, did at a web summit featuring over 800 startups.

“I decided to stand out by wearing angel wings throughout the conference,” Cheek said. “When I was checking out of my hotel, I looked down at Judy Dench on the cover of the Irish Times and there I was right next to her, me on my laptop with my Angel Wings [and] inside there was another 1/4 page picture mentioning my business.”

If angel wings aren’t your thing, start by putting your brand on something unique like a blazer or create business cards that double as magnets.

14. Survey your clientele.

Inexpensive marketing ideas for small businesses can be hard to find if you don’t know much about your ideal customer. You can avoid wasted time and money on failed marketing strategies while opening your company up for wider marketing reach with a market survey.

Create a survey on a site like SurveyMonkey and get at least 1,000 people in your target demographic to complete it by sharing on social media, email, etc. Not only will you gain valuable insight into their lives and preferences that might help you improve your product or services, but you’ll also have data you can share with news outlets that can get your business’s name out to more people.

15. Create a Google My Business account.

Whether you’re a brick-and-mortar business or an online service provider, if you want more visibility across Google Search and Maps, you’ll want to create a free Google Business Profile.

You can post photos, the best ways to contact you, and special offers or sales that people can easily see in their search. It also gives people a place to review your business. And considering that 91% of consumers 18-34 trust online reviews as much as a referral from a friend, having easy-to-find reviews is extremely important._[5]

Be sure to ask for reviews from customers and respond to both good and bad ones on your profile.

16. Text your customers.

Having an email list is essential, but it may not be the most effective way to reach out to customers. “Every small business owner does email, but only 20% get opened,” said Alfredo Salkeld, marketing manager for SimpleTexting. “On the other hand, 98% of text messages get read.”_[6]

You can text your existing customers on several things, including sales or updates when things are restocked. One of their clients, a fashion boutique, texts customers to alert them about new inventory.

“Their message has a 38% click-through rate. The average email click-through rate for retail stores is under 3%,” Salkeld said.

If you’re going to text your customers, make sure you don’t overdo it. Try to keep your texts exclusive and relevant to promotions, sales, or events.

17. Partner with other professionals.

Find professionals in adjacent industries who could be mutually beneficial to partner with and recommend each other’s businesses when appropriate. For example, realtors often partner with mortgage brokers, wedding photographers with event planners, and accountants with financial advisors.

One of the more underrated ways to grow a small business is through partnerships. If you can form relationships with businesses that operate in a similar space, a referral partnership can really boost your growth.

Filip Duz, owner of Giraffe Window Cleaners has found partnerships to be an easy way to get new clients for his small business. “We partner with cleaning companies in our area. If the cleaning company has clients that need window cleaning, they send them over to us, and they receive a commission,” Duz said. “It’s a win-win for both parties!”

The best partnerships show that small business marketing ideas don’t have to feel sleazy or salesy. They can be a natural way to help clients and customers get the help they need from an already-trusted source.

18. Ask clients to leave you a review.

Reviews and testimonials are a crucial part of any small business marketing plan. Google reviews are most important for local businesses while restaurants should take the extra step to also build up Yelp reviews. Then there are other review platforms that businesses should consider based on their industry including Facebook, Healthgrades, and Angie’s List.

Choose one or two to focus on at first and explicitly ask clients to give you a review there. Wait to ask until you’re done working with the client or you’ve achieved an agreed-upon milestone and make sure the client is happy before asking.

19. Ask for the referral.

You don’t need to set up a referral program to ask for referrals. When you have a happy client, ask if they have anyone in their network who might also benefit from your services.

When asking for referrals, be specific about the type of client or customer you want. If you can be specific, you’re more likely to trigger someone specific in your client’s brain vs. giving them no direction at all. Instead of asking, “Is there anyone else you know I can help?” try asking, “Is there anyone else you know in your industry that I might be able to help?”

20. Clean the street.

Looking for out-of-the-box small business advertising ideas? Consider trying clean graffiti.

Clean graffiti is the process of putting down a stencil and cleaning over it to create art or advertising through the contrast of clean and dirty sections.

You can create a stencil in metal or plastic with your logo or a fun message that relates to your brand. Then you can use either a pressure washer or clean cloth to clean the stencil onto pavement or wall. These ads typically last seven to ten days with normal foot traffic, making them great to advertise an event or limited-time offer._[7]

21. Host a giveaway.

Connect with other businesses or creators to host a giveaway that multiple brands can promote to their audiences. To determine the entry requirements, consider what your current business goals are. If you’re trying to grow a social media platform, ask people to like or follow you. If you’re trying to get more traffic to your website, ask people to click a link to your site.

In addition to asking your audience to share the giveaway, make sure to follow the rules of whatever platform you’re promoting your giveaway on. Violating their terms and conditions is a surefire way to have your giveaway banned from the platform and could cause other problems for you and your business as well.

There’s No One Right Way to Market Your Small Business

Remember that not all marketing strategies work for every person or small business. Just because someone is having success with a marketing strategy doesn’t mean you will or that you even have to try it. The great thing about using affordable small business marketing ideas is that you can experiment with different strategies until you find the ones that work best for you.

The most important thing in marketing is to keep nurturing existing customer relationships and building new ones. Then you can listen to your fans as they tell you where they want you to show up and where to go next in your business.

The post 21 Inexpensive or Free Ways to Market Your Small Business appeared first on DollarSprout.

That’s not an accident.

I see its Facebook ads all the time. It’s like the company knows I love it there so it seeks me out to let me know about its specials and events.

And it does.

Facebook ads allow local businesses to advertise to customers, fans, and neighbors in unique and targeted ways to encourage them to become repeat customers. But not all small businesses take advantage of Facebook ads, making this a great side hustle for you.

Why Managing Facebook Ads is a Good Side Hustle

Since Facebook ads are still a relatively new way to advertise, it’s not that difficult to get paid to post ads on Facebook for local businesses. You don’t need a specialized degree, it’s not a huge time commitment, and you can even use some of the social media skills and knowledge you already have to give your services an edge over the competition.

Josh Eberly of 717 Home Buyers said that he started offering Facebook ads as a service after using it for himself to generate leads.

“I have now been able to offer the same service to other investors who have had great success generating off-market property leads for cheap on Facebook,” he explains. “These leads have been as cheap as $5 on the platform, much lower than a direct mail or lead from Adwords.”

Even without specialized expertise, there are plenty of businesses with the budget to pay you $1,000 to $2,000 per month to manage Facebook ads for them. You just have to know which niches to target and how to find them.

Related: 5 Realistic Ways to Make Money on Facebook

What is Facebook Ad Management?

Facebook ad management means just that — managing Facebook ad campaigns for clients. A Facebook ad manager creates and executes a Facebook ad strategy that attracts new customers, leads, and traffic that they want for their business.

The ad manager listens to a client’s goals and creates graphics, ad copy, target audiences, and tests campaigns to try to meet those objectives at the lowest cost per conversion possible. They might also create images, sales copy, and oversee the advertising budget.

Related: 16 Low-Cost Online Business Ideas You Can Start Today

How to Get Started Managing Facebook Ads for Local Businesses

There are over 30 million small businesses in the US, making up 99.9% of all businesses in America._[1] That means ample opportunity for someone looking to start a side business helping people grow their businesses.

Before you dive headfirst into managing ads or even taking a Facebook ads course, you should understand what goes into creating a Facebook ad management side hustle. There are several components you’ll need to learn and details you’ll have perfect so you get the right clients at the right prices.

1. Learn the basics of running a Facebook ad campaign.

First, you need to be familiar with the Facebook Ads Manager and the terms used in it. However, if you find it too overwhelming or confusing to understand on your own, you should consider taking a Facebook ads course rather than going at it alone.

The FB Side Hustle course created by Bobby Hoyt and Mike Yanda teaches you everything you need to know in nine modules about creating ads, finding clients, and convincing those clients to sign contracts with you for consistent income.

Objective

The objective is the type of ad you’re running. It’s important to pick the right one because the ad is optimized based on your choice. An ad whose objective is “Engagement” will be shown to people who have a history of liking and commenting on posts. while a “Traffic” ad is shown to people more likely to click links.

Knowing the ultimate goal for your ad and selecting your objective based on it will get your client (and you) a bigger return at a lower cost.

Target audience

You’ll need to determine your intended audience, and you have the option of creating different types of audiences. For instance, Custom or Lookalike audiences allow a business to target past customers or people who have similar interests to past customers.

Local businesses typically use demographic or location targeting, and you can also narrow down your audience based on interests, behaviors, and more. Every time you make a change, Facebook will show you your potential reach to help you determine whether your audience is too broad, too narrow, or just right for your objective.

Ad placement

Placement of your ads isn’t limited to Facebook. You can use the ad on Instagram, Messenger, and Facebook’s Audience Network. But not all ads work well on all platforms.

Knowing what works best on each and customizing images and messages for the different platforms can be important to get the return on investment (ROI) your client is looking for.

Budget

You’ll also need to know how ad budgets work and which one is best for your client and their campaign. You can choose a lifetime budget or a daily budget, and you can set your ads to run indefinitely or be scheduled to start and end on certain dates.

The nuances around managing Facebook ads can make them seem intimidating, but it also keeps people away from running them professionally. If you take the time to learn the ins and outs of Facebook ads, you have the opportunity to create a reliable side income.

2. Learn how to design an effective ad.

You’ve probably seen hundreds of Facebook ads, but can you remember any that stand out? If you can, there was probably something unique about it. Maybe it had a colorful picture, a rare limited-time offer, or a funny line of text.

You’ll need to learn to craft your own effective ad visuals to get the highest return on your work and your client’s ad budget.

If this is starting to sound a little overwhelming, pause for a minute. You can find much of this information for free on the internet, or you can pay to take a Facebook ads course and get all this information in one place.

Free web-based design sites like Canva or Buffer can help you make high-quality ads with little investment. You might need to purchase photos or vector images, but these programs do have free ones. You can also check out a site like Shutterstock for high-quality stock photos.

Related: How to Become a Graphic Designer in 8 Easy Steps

3. Find local businesses.

There are several ways you can find local businesses that are a good fit for offering your services. Many people start with networking.

“I found many job leads through referrals, on LinkedIn, and in some freelancer and/or social media professional Facebook groups,” said Stephanie Riel, owner of RielDeal Marketing. “I’ve been able to help brands run up to 30 successful campaigns in unique markets across the United States.”

Don’t forget about in-person networking. You might also want to consider asking friends who own local businesses or joining your local chamber of commerce to find clients.

Remember that not all local businesses can afford to pay $1,000 per month to manage ads. But some can. Make sure you’re targeting local businesses that can benefit from Facebook ads and can afford to pay you well long term.

One way you can find these local businesses, show off your skills, and display the effectiveness of Facebook ads is to run Facebook ads targeting specific types of local business owners. This not only shows business owners you know what you’re doing, but it also helps you practice running ad campaigns while you find clients.

4. Get potential clients to sign paying contracts.

You don’t need to be a salesperson to convince businesses of the effectiveness of Facebook ads. They’re affordable, highly-trafficked, and versatile. But you do want to be selective with the businesses you choose to get the most out of this side hustle.

You’ll want to start by selecting a business that can afford to pay you at least $1,000 per month to manage its ads. Not all small businesses can make the investment. Lawyers, realtors, landscapers, and pool installers are some of the businesses that only need to land a few jobs every year to recoup their ad spending and the $12,000 they’re paying you.

To ensure that they don’t make their money and fire you or don’t give up on your services before you’ve had a chance to show some results, sign a contract for at least six months.

Related: 150+ Lucrative Side Hustle Ideas to Make Money in Your Spare Time

5. Track and measure ROI.

Reil emphasized that though this may be a side hustle, Facebook ads still require daily check-ins and optimizations. She explained that she made it part of her daily routine to check in on her lunch break and at the end of the workday.

“It definitely made my days a bit longer, but the hustle paid off in the long term,” she said.

One thing you’ll want to track is conversions, or which ads are attracting paying customers. You’ll also want to see which platforms are performing better. You’ll need to monitor the ad budget, as some ads may start to increase in Cost Per Click after they’ve been running for too long. Others may start out with a higher cost than you anticipated.

As the ads manager, it’s your job to adjust the variables to get the performance your client wants.

Don’t “set and forget” your client’s ads. Remember, when you work hard, you’re not just ensuring you have extra income, you’re helping another small business succeed. This could lead to a repeat customer or encourage the owners to refer your services to others.

6. Raise your rates and scale up.

You may have to take a few clients at lower rates when you’re starting out to build your portfolio and experience, but don’t keep those rates or clients long-term. Raise your rates and client work every month until you get to a rate and workload you’re comfortable with.

“Be willing to work for cheap, but not for free,” said Kaleb Baker, Digital Marketing Strategist at Market Hoot Agency. “If they won’t take a chance on you for a minimum of $100 dollars, stop wasting your time. If they won’t pay $100 they will never pay $1-2k per month, which is where you need to be at per client to make a realistic living.”

Eventually, you may get to a point where you have more clients than time. At that point, you can hire an assistant or another ad manager to scale your business. Many people running Facebook ad agencies and making a full-time income from them started out managing Facebook ads as a side hustle.

Related: 47 Small Scale Business Ideas Perfect for the Beginner Entrepreneur 

Don’t Quit Your Day Job Just Yet

You can make money managing Facebook ads for local businesses without sacrificing your day job or much of your free time. And it can be completely free to get started. Check out marketing blogs and Facebook’s Advertising Help Center for advice and walk-throughs of all the Facebook ad basics.

If you need more or want to skip straight to a Facebook advertising course, then check out The FB Side Hustle Course. It’s specifically designed for people who want to work with Facebook ads as a side hustle or even full time. In fact, many of their students have turned managing Facebook ads into their full-time jobs.

Related: 6 Ways You Can Make Money Advertising for Companies

The post How to Make Money Managing Facebook Ads for Local Small Businesses appeared first on DollarSprout.

You may be excited about the free items, but those companies are excited about something else: free advertising.

And although some people are fine promoting a company for free, many others want to get paid for it. Fortunately, getting paid to advertise doesn’t have to involve hanging promotional signs at your wedding or tattooing a logo on your body. There are multiple ways to advertise products and brands that are legitimate and don’t require anything so extreme.

1. Rent ad space on your blog or website

If you have a blog or website, you can get paid by companies to advertise in several ways.

What it is: If your blog or website reaches the ideal target audience for a company, they’ll pay you to show their product to your visitors. That’s most commonly in the form of display ads throughout articles or the sidebar of the website, but it can also be through sponsored posts or affiliate marketing. Sponsored posts are a one-off payment for an article. With affiliate marketing, you include links to a company’s product or service. You receive payment for each person who clicks your link and makes a purchase.

Charlene McCraney, the founder of the natural hair blog Textured Talk, was contacted by Dove to write a sponsored review of its foaming body wash mousse. “I sign up for platforms that manage influencer campaigns like Real Clever or Fohr,” McCraney said. “Either I’ll get emails of opportunities or log into my dashboard to see which new campaigns I want to apply for.”

How much it pays: When it comes to advertising on your blog, the more traffic you have, the more money you’ll make. However, your blog also needs to target a specific audience if you want more opportunities.

Although her traffic wasn’t that high, McCraney’s blog had a following of women who were interested in beauty products, and it was the perfect fit for Dove. She was paid $500 for a sponsored blog post with one to three photos and one post on her Instagram feed.

How to get started: First, you’ll need to start a blog or website about something you’re passionate and knowledgeable about. Once you’ve built up a small following, you can search for sponsored post opportunities with individual companies. As you build a larger following, you can apply for display ads through an ad network like AdThrive or Mediavine. Learn about other ways you can make money blogging.

2. Rent out ad space on your car

It seems too good to be true but you can get paid to advertise on your car.

What it is: Marketing agencies and other businesses collaborate with car wrapping companies to find people willing to drive around with an ad on their car. Sometimes the business looking to advertise will even provide the car in exchange for a certain number of hours driven each day.

How much it pays: Drivers can make anywhere from $174 to $280 per month for a car topper or partial car wrap and up to $452 for a full wrap.

How to get started: To get started, all you need to do is apply online with a reputable car wrapping company and you’ll get sent offers when they’re available. Then simply select an offer you wouldn’t mind driving around with. There are a lot of scammers preying on people who want to make extra money, so make sure you apply with a credible company. Some legitimate car wrapping companies include Wrapify, Carvertise, and FreeCarMedia.

You’ll need to do a background check and drive a car less than ten years old to be eligible to advertise with most companies.

3. Review sponsored products on YouTube

YouTube is many people’s go-to place when looking for product reviews, and you can make money on YouTube by creating them.

What it is: Whether it’s an ultimate review or side-by-side product comparison, video is a great way to help online buyers see the products they’re considering buying. When you have a channel known for being a reliable source in a particular niche, you can charge for sponsored reviews and get free products. There’s a review channel for everything, so you can get paid to advertise clothing, appliances, games, tech, or whatever you’re passionate about.

How much it pays: According to DigitalMarketing.org, companies pay around $1,000 per 50,000 subscribers._[1] Additionally, once your channel reaches 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours (total aggregate time viewers spent watching your videos), YouTube will give you the option to let them sell advertising space on your videos in exchange for a portion of the revenue. This helps you continue to make money on sponsored videos after your deal is over.

How to get started: First you’ll need to create a YouTube channel. If you don’t have one, it’s easy to get started. You’ll likely be paying for products out of pocket and reviewing them for free for about six months to a year, so be patient and work on building an engaged audience. As your subscribers and watch hours grow, you can start reaching out to brands or using micro-influencer platforms to find opportunities for sponsored videos.

Related: 27 Legitimate Ways to Earn Money Online

4. Become a social media influencer

Having a social media following often means that companies will pay you to take pictures of or make a video using their products.

What it is: If you become a social media influencer, you’ll get paid to advertise on platforms like Instagram or TikTok. Influencers will take a picture or a video talking about the product or feature it in their feed or stories. It can be a product placement, an impartial review, or whatever you and the brand decide is appropriate. If you develop a good relationship with a company, you might even be asked to become a brand ambassador.

Corritta Lewis’ blog It’s a Family Thing is an LGBTQ+ family blog with a focus on traveling full time. When Proctor & Gamble paid her to advertise their Can’t Cancel Pride campaign on Instagram, she didn’t have a big following, but she had the right following. “At the time, our [Instagram had] less than 8,000 followers, but my family fit what they were looking for,” Lewis said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Fulltime Traveling Family (@_itzafamilything_) on Jun 24, 2020 at 2:32pm PDT

How much it pays: The amount you can make from a sponsored social media post depends on the platform, your number of followers, and how much engagement your posts get. The starting rate on Instagram is $100 per 10K followers but if your following is extremely niche or engaged, you can charge more._[2] For instance, even though she had a smaller following, Lewis was paid $200 for her Instagram post.

How to get started: The easiest way to get paid to advertise on social media is to sign up for an influencer platform, which are sites that aggregate influencers and allow companies to reach out to profiles that best fit their campaign. Some popular sites are TRIBE, AspireIQ, TREND, and Tidal.

You can also approach the brands you use and love. Liz Jeneault, VP of marketing at Faveable, has around 17K followers on Instagram and 60K on TikTok where she posts about fitness and fashion. She was most recently contacted by the social fashion app, Kalo, and paid $100 for a 15-second video about the app on TikTok and her Instagram story.

“I actually got started doing paid advertisements on social media by reaching out to a brand I had long been a fan of,” Jeneault said. “I’ve found that the more paid content gigs you do, the more offers you receive. That’s why I feel it helps to not shy away from the small gigs at first.”

5. Create and manage Facebook ads

You can get paid to advertise on Facebook even if you don’t have or want an online presence.

What it is: Facebook ads are an affordable way for small businesses to promote their products to targeted audiences. But most business owners don’t have time to learn the best practices of creating, testing, and optimizing them. Instead, they hire people to create those advertisements, and you can take advantage of this if you know how to use the Facebook ads manager (or are willing to learn).

How much it pays: There are several ways you can charge for your Facebook advertising services. You can charge a flat fee or hourly rate to get ads set up, a monthly retainer to manage ad spend and results, or a percentage of ad spend. The last option works best when you work with companies that have a large budget. You can typically make around $2,000 to $5,000 per month managing Facebook ads for multiple clients.

How to get started: Check out our guide on how to make money managing Facebook Ads for small businesses. Then start looking for clients and building your portfolio.

6. Get paid to advertise on your phone

Rather than placing ads on your stuff so other people can see them, you can let companies advertise to you through your phone’s lock screen. 

What it is: Companies like Slidejoy pay to rent out your lock screen. When your phone is locked, you’ll see advertisements from their partner companies. You can earn points for watching or engaging with the ads.

How much it pays: Slidejoy, like many companies that pay to advertise on your phone, pays in points. Every 1,000 points is worth $1. Once you reach 2,000 points, you can cash out your earnings via PayPal or exchange them for free gift cards.

How to get started: You’ll need to download Slidejoy from your phone’s app store. From there, create an account and the app will begin to show ads on your lock screen. Learn more about ways you can get paid to watch ads.

Many Creative Ways to Get Paid to Advertise

There are plenty of companies that need advertising help. If you’re looking for more ways to get your foot in the door, don’t be afraid to reach out to local companies, favorite mid-sized brands, and companies that produce products you use. Offer to share them on social media, your blog, or wear branded attire to promote them for a fair price.

Whether you want to make money on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or another platform of choice, remember that the more engaged and niche your audience is, the sooner you can start getting paid to advertise products.

The post 6 Easy Ways to Get Paid to Advertise for Companies appeared first on DollarSprout.

One of the most notable is grocery shopping.

In 2019, only 3% to 4% of grocery shopping in the US was done online. According to a recent CNBC study, that number soared to as much as 10% to 15% of total grocery sales in 2020._[1]

That’s great news for side hustlers looking to make a little extra money delivering groceries. Chris Cucchiara, who’s only been shopping for Instacart for about two months, has already made over $4,500. About $3,000 of that was made in only 24 hours worth of driving.

If you’re a shopper who wants to maximize your earnings, Cucchiara provides some Instacart shopper tips to take advantage of.

7 Instacart Tips to Make to Maximize Your Earnings

If you don’t already work for Instacart, you should sign up to become an Instacart shopper first. Once you’re ready to accept your first batch, which is what Instacart calls their orders, you can start looking for how to make the most money with Instacart.

Instacart guarantees a minimum batch payment between $7 and $10 for shopping and fulfillment, based on your location. If you only fulfilled the delivery of an order, your guaranteed minimum payment is $5.

Shoppers who shop and deliver batches are independent contractors, whereas those who don’t do deliveries are considered part-time employees of Instacart or the grocery store they’re shopping at. This distinction makes delivery more lucrative and gives you more ways to optimize your earnings.

1. Go to a location with high demand.

To get higher earnings you’ll need more batches. The best way to make the most money with Instacart is to be in an area with high demand. These zones have less competition and more opportunities to find higher payments per batch.

Instacart has recently updated its Shopper App to help you find these high-demand areas. The app will show if your current zone has limited batch availability, and if there’s another zone nearby with more. Orange and red “busy areas” indicate where more batches are available, and you can move to any busy area you choose.

2. Be selective with the batches you choose.

Cucchiara says the real secret to achieving high earnings is to be selective with the batches you pick. “The key is to wait to take orders until they make you about $30 per hour,” he said. “This is done by getting preferably only one order and not two or three.”

He also says to take into consideration the number of items in the order and the total distance. While Instacart does pay you $0.60 per mile, he says you can make the most money with Instacart by sticking to batches that are closer to the store to cut down on delivery time and open you up to another batch as quickly as possible. He’s found the sweet spot for completing a delivery in an hour is about 25 to 40 items in a batch.

Cucchiara says he sees these optimal batches in the morning, later at night on the weekdays, and around 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends.

Tips play a big part in earning a high hourly rate. “The average percentage of tips I get is around 15 percent of the shop,” he said. “I try to get orders that offer higher than normal tips, so it makes financial sense.”

But don’t be too picky, especially when you’re starting out. One of the ways Instacart prioritizes who they show batches to first is by the number of batches they accept. The app will end your shift if you reject too many shops in a row.

Related: 15 Ways to Make Money Delivering Food, Packages, and More

3. Get peak hour pay boosts.

During “peak” times, Instacart incentivizes shoppers with a pay boost for each batch. Peak boosts can go up to $12, but Cucchiara mostly sees ones around $8 in his area.

Peak time slots are competitive, but the Instacart Shopper App lets you see peak times before selecting your shift. To make sure you get one, set an alarm on your phone to remind you to claim your shift before they’re all gone.

4. Improve your customer rating.

In November 2019, Instacart discontinued the “quality” bonus that gave shoppers a $3 bonus for every 5-star rating. But there’s still incentive to improve your customer rating.

Instacart has said the highest-rated shoppers will be able to view and accept batches first. While this negatively affects new shoppers, you’ll get consistent access to more high-ticket batches once you have several 5-star reviews._[2]

Always think of small ways you can go above and beyond, but Cucchiara says don’t forget to be proactive about avoiding pitfalls that lead to lower reviews.

“Keep a charger on you and a computer in your car, just in case your phone dies or is about to. That way you can plug it in and keep shopping,” he said. “[You] don’t want to run out of juice while you’re in the store.”

5. Be quick.

Cucchiara also emphasized the importance of speed when trying to make the most money with Instacart. He prefers drop-offs near grocery stores to limit driving and be in proximity of your potential next batch.

Selecting low-travel batches is one way to be quick, but there are plenty of time traps you can also avoid to give yourself an edge.

Don’t overthink replacements. The shopper app will suggest possible replacements, so unless you believe their suggestions are totally off-base, pick one and move on. Park in a spot that’s close to the exit and a cart corral so you can get out quickly.

Lastly, learn the layout of the stores. The better you know where items are, the quicker you can find them and get out.

“I doubled my income once I knew the stores better,” Cucchiara said. “Also, ask the people that work there for help. Even if you feel like you’re annoying them. This will help you get the orders done faster and get to know the stores better.”

6. Double check the app.

Cucchiara also says to renew the queue often to reveal new orders. “I scroll down a lot on the app when looking at the order queue,” he said. “Oftentimes if I don’t do that, I will miss orders.”

Making sure you see all the available batches will ensure you don’t miss high-paying orders that come up after the smaller ones.

7. Refer your friends.

If you have friends who want to get paid to shop, Instacart will pay you to refer them.

Once you’ve logged at least 40 hours on the platform, you’ll get a personal Instacart referral code and link to share. When someone signs up using your referral code or link, is approved, and completes 45 batches in 30 days, you’ll get a referral bonus.

The actual bonus varies by your location, but it’s reported to be anywhere from $100 to $1,000.

How to Know if Instacart Is the Side Hustle for You

Grocery delivery can be a great way to make extra income, but it’s not for everyone. Those best suited for Instacart are people who are familiar with their local grocery stores and surrounding neighborhoods, quick on their feet, and can lift around 40 pounds without help.

If you find it’s not for you, there are plenty of other side hustle apps to help you make extra income.

Whatever side hustle you choose, remember that putting a little extra effort and thought into whatever you’re doing is the only way to yield above average earnings in the long run.

Related: Shipt Shopper Review: How Much Money Can I Make as a Shipt Shopper?

The post 7 Best Instacart Tips from a Shopper Earning $3,000 per Month appeared first on DollarSprout.

Then four weeks later, I was laid off.

Instead of going back to an office job, I started freelancing from home. Now every day I look at those four wheels and wonder if there’s anything better it could be doing than taking up space in my driveway.

With Getaround, there might be.

What Is Getaround and How Does It Work?

Getaround is a car-sharing platform where car owners can rent out their underused cars to people in their city.

It operates in 300 cities across seven countries with over five million users sharing and renting everything from trucks and vans to exotic and luxury cars. Renters pay hourly for access to cars and owners get to monetize their unused vehicles.

Entry is keyless and you control when and how often you rent, making this a truly passive way to earn money with your car.

Owners typically charge anywhere from $5 to $10 per hour and the company claims that, on average, people who make money with Getaround earn thousands every year.

Is Getaround Legit?

Getaround is a legitimate company, with a B rating from the Better Business Bureau. The app has a 3.8 of 5 star rating on the Google Play store and 4.8 in the Apple app store. 

However, a review of Getaround’s BBB profile shows numerous complaints from customers. Some vehicle owners say that the company is slow to respond and resolve issues of damaged vehicles. A common complaint among renters is being falsely accused of damaging a vehicle and held at fault for the repairs.

While Getaround is one of several legitimate car-sharing companies, renters should be aware of the potential downfalls and take additional security measures to protect their vehicles where possible.

Getaround Review: How to Make Money Renting Your Car

If renters are only paying an average of $8 per hour, is Getaround profitable as a side hustle? Several owners have said you can make a profit. But first, there are a few steps you need to take before you can make money with Getaround.

Step 1: Review Getaround’s minimum requirements.

In order to share your car on Getaround, it must be a private passenger vehicle with at least four wheels, 2010 or newer, have less than 125,000 miles, and seat no more than 8 passengers. There’s no professional safety inspection, so you’re responsible for ensuring your car meets the required safety standards.

Getaround provides insurance for trips so there are no insurance, license, or driving record requirements for owners other than those required by state law.

Still, some owners choose to make the switch to more rideshare-friendly insurance companies. John Frigo is one of them. He has the option of working from home. Six months ago, Frigo decided to start renting out his car on Getaround.

“My biggest challenge was making sure my auto insurance covered this type of thing,” Frigo said. “I wound up switching to State Farm as I knew from Ubering they were more flexible with outside-of-the-box solutions than my previous insurer.”

While incidents that happen during trips are covered by Getaround and don’t affect your personal insurance, some companies will still drop your coverage.

Step 2: List your car.

Once you’re sure your car meets the minimum listing and safety requirements, you’re ready to list it. Creating your listing is free and there are no premium upgrade options, putting everyone on equal footing with their listing. You won’t have to compete with those who’ve paid for advertising.

You’ll enter your car’s year and mileage, the ZIP Code for where you’ll be sharing your car, and instructions for renters on how to access and operate the vehicle, then hit “Start earning.” A Getaround representative will then contact you to finish your setup.

In the meantime, take photos of your vehicle based on Getaround’s recommended angles. You can upload up to 12 photos, and cars that take advantage of all 12 rent more easily than those that don’t.

Step 3: Install Getaround Connect.

Before you can start renting your car, a Getaround representative will finish your account setup and physically install Getaround Connect in your car.

This electronic device allows owners and renters to lock and unlock the doors of Getaround cars using the Getaround app. After a 90-day free trial, Getaround Connect costs a one-time fee of $99 to install and $20 a month as long as your car is active on Getaround.

Getaround Connect also tracks the location of your vehicle and includes anti-theft functionality that disables the car’s starter when not in use by the owner or a verified renter. While that’s the goal, the device isn’t perfect.

Just ask Fred Phillips.

Phillips rented out his Ford Transit in San Francisco, CA and because it was only one of a handful of cargo vans available in the area, he was able to make around $1,000 per month after expenses.

But in May 2020, the van, which was parked in a Getaround reserved parking lot, was stolen and unable to be found, despite having Getaround Connect installed.

“When I went to check on the van, the app showed it was sitting in its parking spot, but it was gone. That means the system was somehow bypassed, and the ignition interlock disabled,” Phillips said. “The app still shows it sitting in its parking space.”

Technology can be broken or malfunction at any time, so it’s still your responsibility to put your own additional measures in place to protect your vehicle.

Step 4: Understand your benefits.

Owners have several benefits that make renting their car out on Getaround simple and profitable. The most important is $1 million in insurance coverage during all active trips. This includes comprehensive, collision, and liability coverage.

And in addition to the keyless entry for renters, owners and renters can use the regular key or key fob to start the car or enable Enhanced Security to start the car directly from the Getaround app. They can also use the app to lock the starter at the end of a trip.

Things to Consider Before You List Your Car on Getaround

A recurring complaint among owners is Getaround’s lack of communication and their slow repair time when a renter damages their car.

Fred Phillips experienced this as well. In addition to the theft, a different renter backed his Transit into a pole, doing thousands of dollars in damage to the van. He said it was eventually repaired but it took two months.

Michael Lowe, CEO of Car Passionate, had a similar experience. One of his renters got into a minor accident last year and it took Getaround over six weeks to fix it.

“While the car repairs were covered, I was offered no compensation for the income loss suffered while it was out of action,” Lowe said, even though Getaround states that it offers a loss of use reimbursement for damage incurred by renters.

Lastly, most of the expenses incurred during a rental are the responsibility of the renter or Getaround. Some fall on the owner upfront, including citations or tickets incurred by renters, accident repairs, and cleaning for excessively dirty trips.

These are reimbursed, but make sure you have the money upfront to afford them.

Getaround vs. Turo vs. HyreCar

Getaround isn’t the only car-sharing company out there and it may not be the only one you use to earn extra money. Getaround is more passive and offers unique features compared to other car-sharing platforms like Turo and HyreCar. First, it offers hourly car rentals as well as remote access to the vehicles through the app.

Turo and HyreCar both require renters to pay a daily rate and renters must meet the car owner to pick up the keys.

Unfortunately, Getaround is only available in 300 cities while Turo has cars in over 5,500 cities. HyreCar also caters to Uber, Lyft, and delivery drivers. If you’re renting a car for the sole purpose of working a transportation-based side hustle, you’ll want to start there.

Getaround Review Summary: Proceed with Caution

While Getaround is a great way to earn passive income with your car, it does come with a few problems, particularly if your car is damaged or stolen. If you’re uncertain about renting out your car but still want to put it to use, you have other options.

If you commute to work, you may be able to get paid to advertise on your car. You can also use your free time to make money delivering groceries or takeout. 

Find the side hustle that works for you and your car so you can make money long term.

The post Getaround Review 2023: Pros, Cons, Safety & Is It Worth It? appeared first on DollarSprout.

Odd jobs usually refer to casual or isolated jobs that may be seasonal, manual, or domestic-related. Luckily for you, less competition means you can increase your earning potential and find odd jobs in a variety of places.

Salaried and Hourly Odd Jobs that Pay Well

Whether you’re looking for consistent work or a gig every now and again, you can find odd jobs online and near you that will help you increase your income.

1. Professional hacker

If you can hack into digital networks, then you may be able to get paid to help companies test the strength of their software’s security system. 

White hat hackers legally break into a company’s network to find weaknesses and prevent real hackers from breaking in later. You don’t need a degree, but with one you can make up to $122,000 per year._[1]

2. Stuntperson

A stuntperson or stunt double performs stunts in TV, film, or theater. A stunt double is hired to do stunts for one actor while a stuntperson can do the stunts of many extras on one project. 

Stunt performers represented by SAG-AFTRA make a minimum of $1,005 per day, and should be proficient in sports like gymnastics, martial arts, and sword fighting._[2]

3. Voice over artist

Voice actors don’t just voice characters in cartoons. You can make money using your voice to narrate audiobooks, radio ads, voicemail greetings, business presentations, and more. 

Voice actors can make around $200 for 5 minutes of finished audio._[3]

4. Competition DJ

While many events need a DJ, some require familiarity with the outdoors more than skills behind the turntables. 

When Christine Wang, creator of The Ski Girl, saw a Craigslist ad for an expert skier with professional audio experience, she quickly replied, even though her audio experience wasn’t technically professional, and ended up getting a job as a traveling ski competition DJ.

The job meant driving to a different ski resort each week, setting up a PA system, and DJing music for the competition. She was paid $125 a day plus got free lift tickets and hotel rooms in each resort town. 

“It was only a seasonal position so I had to move on after a single season,” Wang said. “But I got in over 100 ski days that year! And got paid for most of it.”

Related: 18 Best Places to Take Paid Online Surveys

5. Professional cuddler

One of the oddest odd jobs near me is as a professional cuddler on Cuddle Comfort. Cuddlers post their profile on the site, get a message when someone wants to cuddle, and are paid in cash or via PayPal before a session begins. 

While the site offers free cuddlers, professional cuddlers earn over $60 per hour and are promoted as safer and more reliable.

6. Online dating coach

Online dating coaches can do everything from crafting better online dating profiles for their clients to taking better pictures and choosing who they reach out to. 

Coaches can earn anywhere from $40 to $200 per hour, depending on their experience and depth of service._[4]

7. Sperm or egg donor

If you qualify, donating sperm or eggs can be a great way to make extra money. Men can make $35 to $50 per specimen._[5]

The process for egg extraction is longer, involves more risks, and takes more time, but women can make around $8,000._[6] Both have an application process with health and education requirements.

8. Linguistics reader

Linguists study language and its structure. You can help budding linguists, and make some money, by being a reader at a college’s linguistics lab. 

That’s what Petra Odak did, with no formal training in linguistics. 

“I came in a few times, and at $20 for 20 minutes of speaking into a microphone, it was the easiest money I ever made,” Odak said. “Especially since I went in about 20 times.” 

You don’t need to be student, but you do need to be comfortable reading out loud.

Related: 11 Ways to Get Paid to Read Books In Your Spare Time

9. Embalmer

Freelance or part-time embalmers are called to embalm bodies as they come in. An embalmer is responsible for preserving a body and preparing it for its viewing and burial. 

This job isn’t for everyone, and does require a two-year degree, but those who can do it will find a recession-proof odd job where they’ll earn over $20 an hour._[7]

10. Forest fire inspector

If you live near a wooded area, you could make extra money as a forest fire inspector and prevention specialist. 

Inspectors assess outdoor fire hazards in public and residential areas, look for fire code violations, and can even investigate arson. Some in-class and on-the-job training is required, and inspectors earn around $27 per hour.  

Related: One Expert’s Advice on Why Weird Side Hustles Work (and How to Find One)

11. Aquarist

Aquariums are popular in luxury homes, hotels, and buildings, but they require the maintenance of a professional to keep the tank clean and the creatures thriving. 

As an aquarist, you maintain tank cleanliness and temperature, feed the animals, and more. There are no formal education or certification requirements, and you can make around $15 per hour.

12. Bounty hunter

Bounty hunters work with bail bond agents to bring in fugitives for a percentage of the bail money. 

While the term “bounty hunter” might conjure up thoughts of a large man running after dangerous fugitives, the actual job of a bounty hunter, also known as a bail enforcement officer, is more like a private investigator. 

The hours can be long, and the work can take you to sketchy places, but you can make 10% to 25% of each bond or $50,000 to $80,000 a year._[8]

13. Life Modeling

Art schools and classes are always looking for life models to pose for sessions. It’s not a great gig for shy people since you do have to be completely nude.

Fortunately, there are rules in place to ensure the comfort and privacy of the model. And life model Michael Lowe says jobs are easy to come by.

“Competition for vacancies are low, as you might expect,” Lowe said. “And you don’t need to look like a movie star, 99% of life models are your average, regular-looking person.” 

Pay ranges from $20 to $30 per session and while no special skills are required, you should be able to hold a pose for up to 30 minutes at a time._[9]

Other Odd Jobs You Can Pick Up In Your Spare Time

These odd jobs examples might be a little out of the ordinary, but once you try them you’ll realize there’s no side hustle too bizarre to make money.

14. Play games

If you’re looking for odd jobs that pay well without a degree, then look no further than playing games. There are a lot of ways to earn money playing games, but playing games in real-time on Twitch is one of the most lucrative. 

Once you’re eligible to be a Twitch Partner, you’ll get $2.50 per subscriber each month on top of donations and sponsored streams.

15. Mystery shopper

Mystery shoppers go undercover to establishments to make sure they’re following procedures set up by corporate. 

Doing mystery shops can make you some extra money but you’ll mostly get free food, activities, hotel stays, health check-ups, and more. There are many odd jobs websites for mystery shopping, all specializing in different unique industries. 

16. Foley artist

Foley artists recreate sounds for film and TV to enhance audio quality. You don’t have to be a professional sound engineer or have your own production company to make these sounds. 

Jase Rodley picked up foley jobs from a small production company on his college’s campus.

“I would make all the noises for the short films, from walking to bone breaking. I learned a lot,” Rodley said. “If you can find a job like this, even if you are not into filmmaking, it is both fun and rewarding.”

Pay varies by location, what kind of production you’re working on, and if you’re doing a one-off job or are an employee. Top-earning foley artists make around $111,000 per year._[10] There are no strict requirements, but you should have a keen ear for sounds and attention to detail.

17. Watch videos or ads

You can sign up for apps that will pay you to watch videos and ads. Most pay in the form of points that can be redeemed as gift cards.

Those can equal up to $200 per month to watch videos and up to $20 per month watching ads.

18. Mattress flipper 

Ever wonder what happens to the bed-in-a-box mattresses that get returned within the 100-night risk-free trial? They get resold by mattress flippers. 

There’s no fee to get started, and you’ll need a clean place to store the mattresses. Otherwise, it’s an easy odd job for extra cash. Side note: this is how my husband and I bought our mattress, and we love it. 

19. Trash can cleaner

Trash cans are ridden with harmful bacteria that can affect families and consumers. As a trash can cleaner, you’ll visit your client’s cans on trash pickup day and clean them for up to $30 per can._[11]

There are companies you can work for, or you can build your own client base and clean cans when it works for you. All you need to do it on your own are products to clean, sanitize, and deodorize the trash cans.

Sometimes It Pays to Do Odd Jobs

There are plenty of odd and unusual jobs that pay well, but you have to be creative and open-minded. If you’re willing to do things that most people won’t, you can make a decent side income and reach whatever financial goals you have way faster.

The post 19 “Odd” Jobs That Pay Surprisingly Well appeared first on DollarSprout.