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Did you lose your job during the pandemic? Or are you fed up with working in an office or for a company? Many people have dreams of working online but no idea how to turn them into reality.

Fortunately, choosing the right business model can make that dream more achievable. We have a few ideas and strategies you can use to start a profitable business no matter your experience.

But what is a business model and which is best? Keep reading to find out!

Choose a Niche

The most successful business model for you will center around something you like or are good at. You should focus on a specific industry or customer, and this is your niche.

By narrowing the focus of your business model, you can see more success early on. Consider what you like doing or talking about. Perhaps you like cameras and photography, so you start a business around that.

Or maybe you did really well on standardized tests, so you create a business that helps people take tests. Whatever it is, consider what you like, but make sure there's also a need for it.

Research the Market

Next, you should do some market research to figure out what problems people have within your niche. Then, you can determine how to fill that need. If you're a photographer, you could see if people need photoshoots.

But maybe you realize that people need more help in selecting and using cameras. So you can switch your business idea to a business model with more potential.

If you're good at standardized tests, you could see if people prefer tutoring or workbooks to use on their own time. Both can make for great business models, but they can serve slightly different needs.

Find Your Competition

As you research the market, you'll probably come across some people with similar businesses to your idea. That's okay, and it can be even more validation for your idea.

But don't just skip over your competition. Take a look at what products or services they offer and see how customers react to them. Maybe there's something you can do a bit differently to stand out.

You don't need a totally unique business model, but you also shouldn't avoid copying your competition. Perhaps your competition focuses on helping beginners, so you target more advanced photographers or students.

Operate Online

The most successful types of business models don't take forever to see a profit. If you want to start making money soon, you should consider starting an online business.

You can start quite a few different online businesses with little or no money. With an online business, you don't need to worry about finding or paying for a storefront. You don't need to hire a bunch of employees.

If you can keep your startup costs low, you can find business success more quickly. You can also determine if your idea is profitable, and you can choose a different business model if yours isn't making money.

Start With Profit

If you want to start making money from the start, you should consider a simple way to bring in revenue. Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to make money when you first start your business.

You don't have to create a product or service. Instead, you can sell someone else's product or service and make a small commission on each sale that comes through you.

Affiliate marketing doesn't need to take a ton of time. You can share links to products in your niche on your website through a blog and on social media.

Then, you can use the rest of your time to build out other revenue streams as part of your entire business model.

Use Two Revenue Streams

While you can make a lot from affiliate marketing, you should also create a second revenue stream. You can create digital products, like eBooks, online courses, and other digital downloads.

If you want to offer a service, you can also do that through your website. You can use email and video conferencing apps to communicate with clients.

Consider if you're willing to schedule part of your day for clients or if you'd prefer more flexibility. Online courses can be a great alternative to coaching, and you can make more money without having to work more.

Having at least two revenue streams can give you more security. If your affiliate income dips one month, you can make up for it with more product sales or vice versa.

Productize Your Services

If the best business model for you involves services, create packages based on your offer. Instead of having to create a custom package for every client you get, you can direct leads to your services page.

Your clients can choose from your options, streamlining the sales process for you. That way, you can book clients more quickly.

You can also offer services as products, such as coaching or teaching as an online course. If you're good at graphic design, you can sell templates instead of custom services.

Selling products will give you more control over your business model. You can only work so much in a day, so selling products can get rid of the income ceiling that comes with offering a service.

Build a Marketing and Sales Plan

No matter what business model you plan to start, you need to create a marketing and sales plan. Social media is one of the best places to market your business.

You can interact with people in your target audience to build relationships and a following. Facebook and Instagram are two popular options, but TikTok is quickly gaining traction.

You can use your social media profiles to direct people to your sales pages. If you write the sales copy well, it can help sell your products or affiliate products for you, saving you precious time while making you more money.

The Best Business Model to Choose

You can choose from many different types of business models out there. But if you want an easy way to make money without overworking yourself, make affiliate marketing part of your business model.

Then, you can combine affiliate marketing with creating and selling your own digital products. Both revenue streams are easy to scale and have no limits on how much you can make.

Are you ready to start a profitable online business model? Watch this video to learn more about our top way to make money online.

Zeb Summers started off the year as an IT Manager, but after 15 years of hard work was laid off when Covid hit. Instead of deciding to go back to corporate America, he took the leap to turn his affiliate marketing side hustle into a full-time career. He wanted to do something that gave him full control of his time. As a 45 year old father of 2, he was looking to get some time back to spend with his family.

Zeb loves affiliate marketing and has grown a passion for it, which is why he decided to do it full time. By full time I’m not talking 8 hours of labor each day. Full time as in 3 hours of work each day, and the rest of the day to spend with his family and do whatever he wants.

We recently had him on our morning show, Wake Up Legendary to talk about his strategy for success. So what is Zeb’s strategy for success?

Planning A Month At A Time To Focus On Money Producing Activities

When Zeb first started his full time affiliate marketing career, he felt he wasn’t producing the results that he should be. He began focusing all his time on money producing activities. He plans out his schedule a month at a time, and makes weekly and daily schedules for himself.

He schedules everything he wants to do in his 3 hour work window in his planner. He does this by focusing on certain things each day. For example, one day may be a planning day for his Tik Tok videos, and the next may be a day where he creates his Tik Tok videos.

One key to this process Zeb feels, is getting a good night’s sleep. The human brain cannot function to its fullest potential without a good amount of sleep. Whenever Zeb feels like he has an idea for the next day, he always makes sure to write it down. By writing it down, it helps him to sleep better because he doesn’t have to think about it while he’s trying to sleep.

Zeb creates 3-12 Tik Toks to post throughout each day along with creating Youtube videos. He plans out each video and it’s headline. Planning is a huge factor in keeping his work day to only 3 hours.

Create Goals For Yourself To Accomplish And Create To-Do Lists To Keep Track of Them

Zeb takes his goals for the month and the week and divides them down into weekly, then daily goals. He creates an amount he wants to make for the month. He then decides how many emails he has to send, how many Tik Toks he has to create, and how many sales he has to make to get the commission.

Once he has created his monthly goals, he takes them down to weekly goals. Every week he knows he has to send out a certain number of emails each day, a certain number of Tik Tok’s, and a certain number of customers to follow up with each day.

But he doesn’t stop there…

Zeb says that once he breaks down his goals into daily goals, the magic starts to happen. Zeb says he has to tune into his daily goals and be self disciplined and present.

“It’s not about taking action, it’s about taking daily action,” Zeb said.

He starts off each day writing emails to his email lists. Sometimes he spends up to an hour writing emails and interacting with his email list. He creates a goal number of emails to write and sticks to that goal.

He wants to humanize himself to his customers and stay present because that’s something that is very important in affiliate marketing. The more authenticity you show, the more your customers can relate to you and build trust with you.

He also creates a goal amount of Tik Tok videos and Youtube videos to create. Once he’s planned out and created those videos, he spends his 3 hour work day creating those videos to be readily available to post throughout the day.

[Image description] Zeb’s Tik Tok @zebsummers

One great tool for this that Zeb uses, is Trello. Trello is a planning website that allows you to create to-do lists and organize different lists to check tasks off of. Trello also shows you a percentage of how much you have completed each day and can refresh so that you have a clear list of tasks to plan for each day you’re working.

Zeb typically uses a pen and paper for his planning. For more tech savvy people, Trello has a mobile app. Another useful tool is the notepad or calendar on your phone or computer.

Becoming The Creator And Tracking Your Progress

Zeb always says that at the beginning you can’t focus on the money. He says to focus on creating the foundation and creating content. Once you create the content, the money will come. At first, it’s hard to figure out where to start. He says that when starting out create goals for yourself and get out of your comfort zone.

He says to take 60 to 90 days and track the progress that you are making. Focus on your goal and track the progress of your videos and work. If you aren’t meeting your goal, take a few steps back and figure out what exactly you need to do to meet that goal.

The money might not flow in at first so it’s important to make a realistic goal for yourself that you can track. Once you’ve reached your goal you can assess what you did that month to reach that goal and continue to repeat and tweak that process.

In the beginning when you’re creating your baseline, it’s important to consistently do content creation in a channel or two, such as Youtube, Facebook, Tik Tok, or your email list. Once you’ve succeeded in making content, you can track what is working and do more of it.

When Things Don’t Go As Planned, Keep Moving Forward

When a day doesn’t go as planned, Zeb says to always keep moving forward. “You’re going to be on top of the mountain and you’re going to be in the pit of despair,” Zeb said. It’s important to move forward and try your best to not let the little things bother you.

You don’t have to get analytical to keep track of your progress. Just simply writing things down and keeping track of them is enough when starting out to monitor what’s working and what isn’t. Don’t give up even if it feels like you’re not being successful. Behind an unsuccessful day could be a thousand dollar day, but you won’t know unless you stick it out.

Would you like to find a profitable business you can do from home so you can bring in much more substantial income? If so, I recommend you watch this free video which will walk you through our #1 recommended way to earn money online from home.

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