September 25, 2020 Do you want more traffic to your blog or website? If you’re like most of us, the answer is obviously yes. But a blog or website isn’t a “build it and they will come” situation. The internet is too huge. You have to find your people and connect with them. But how? This challenge is a good start. Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll earn a commission, at no additional cost to you. Read my full disclosure here. What is 100 Perfect People? 100 Perfect People is a 10-day, 10-minutes-a-day challenge run by Rachel Mill ..read more

July 9, 2020 It’s a common question: Can I start a blog for free? The information online isn’t always clear so let me be completely straightforward. Yes, you can start a blog for free. However, if you want to make money blogging, it is not recommended. Why? There are several reasons, along with a simple solution. Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll earn a commission, at no additional cost to you. Read my full disclosure here. Type in “start a blog for free” into Google and you’ll get something like this: Looks so simple, right ..read more

May 5, 2020 The Depositphotos deal comes around about twice a year and is highly anticipated by content creators. Why? Because we can get stock photos to use in our graphics (like the ones at the top of my posts) at a steep discount. Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll earn a commission, at no additional cost to you. Read my full disclosure here. Stock photos and graphics typically cost at least $1 each, like on Canva. Some cost much more, like on Getty Images. During the Depositphotos deal, they cost 49 cents or less. This deal ..read more

Every once in a while I get asked, So Amy, I’m not exactly sure what your online business is, or what it does. How exactly do you make money? Let me answer that. Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll earn a commission, at no additional cost to you. Read my full disclosure here. Short answer: affiliate marketing and digital products. Longer answer: Affiliate marketing. I share tips, tools and tutorials on my blog and in the Useletter®. As I do, I occasionally mention products or services I use or recommend. If someone ..read more

January 31, 2020 Expensive courses, memberships, coaching, tools, services or mastermind groups are great and might give you a jumpstart, but they are not necessary at the beginning. Starting lean gives you freedom to settle into the business model that works for you. It also removes the stress of having to make it work so you don’t lose money. Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll earn a commission, at no additional cost to you. Read my full disclosure here. Table of Contents But don’t I have to “spend money to make ..read more

January 24, 2020 If your goal is to make good money online, as passively as possible (i.e. a full-time income working part-time hours), this is worth a look. Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll earn a commission, at no additional cost to you. Read my full disclosure here. Summary Project 24 is my favorite all-in-one, start-to-finish premium resource aligned with the minimalist online business model. I’m a paying Project 24 member. I’ve consumed many of the courses inside the members-only library, including all 60 ste ..read more

With the number of online courses available, it’s hard to know which ones are worth buying. How do you decide which course(s) to buy? Here are some questions to ask before you spend your money. 1. Have you hit a wall? Have you tried everything you know to do in this area but you’re stuck? If so, a course might be a good next step.  Otherwise, exhaust all the free info you can find first. Consider a course later. 2. Is it in your time budget? Before you buy, look at your calendar. Do you have space in your schedule to work on the course? Be realistic.  My rule of thumb is ..read more

We’ve talked about choosing a niche, but a lot of people don’t choose the right niche. When someone tells me they aren’t growing or they can’t get traffic, it’s often because they try to appeal to too many people and therefore don’t stand out. So, no one pays attention to them. One solution is to niche down. To niche down means to narrow your topic. Avoid broad niches like baking, cars, mom life, homeschooling, helping people “build a life they love” or anything else with millions and millions of people in its audience. These niches are already dominated by others. They wil ..read more

One of the best strategies for making money online is content marketing. That is, produce helpful content (information) to potential customers, so you’re a resource not an advertiser. But what will your content be about? This is where your niche comes in. A niche is a focused topic or area of interest. Examples of niches are photography, gardening, physics, accounting, DIY, etc. There are thousands of niches. DO: Pick a niche. DON’T: Talk about anything and everything. Without a focused topic you will struggle to gain traction online. As Aesop says, “Please all, and you will pleas ..read more