So you are ready to get started building an online business and finally start to make some money from whatever location you choose. I’ve been 100% digital since the beginning of 2018 and I’ll tell you, it’s not an overnight process, there is a lot you need to understand, but the end result is having a business that gives you location & time freedom.
Given the time period that we are in and living in the Caribbean, we have new challenges that quite frankly, the baby boomers will not be able to assist the millennials in navigating. There are so many reasons why finding your ideal job is becoming a much harder task than previous times.
Today, you need to start building high demand skills, come to terms with the way things are done in the digital age and start working on some of the key traits of those who are taking full advantage of the internet and making money online.
So if you want to start building a digital business, here are 7 traits of online money makers that you need to start working on.
The 7 Key Traits
- Updating Your Mindset
- Reading Books
- Learning to Outsource
- Building Partnerships
- Building Your Email List
- Membership Sites
- Hosting Webinars
Updating Your Mindset
The key, the foundation, the single most important thing that needs to be corrected, is our mindset towards today’s landscape. We have access to so much information that it becomes overwhelming. As a starting point, I would start looking at mentors that you can follow and gain some real perspective from.
You need some people who are going to send you down the rabbit hole so that you can gain your own perspective and try different things, explore your passions and start seeing what you can now go ahead and build in the digital age.
For me, Gary Vaynerchuck, Daniel Priestley and Jay Jones (Black Entrepreneur Blueprint), have helped me tremendously with rethinking my views on the internet and how best to use it.
Reading Books
Over the last 2 years, I have started to read probably more than I have since I was a kid. I typically read business books and self-help. It started getting addicting for me because of how much of the practical stuff I have been able to implement. It’s easier than ever to publish a book, so more experts with real-world experience are creating books as apart of their brand ecosystem.
It’s a great lead generator for them but they are an amazingly low-cost solution for us to soak up a ton of information and begin experimenting in our own businesses. So whether you start off with my 2 fav’s Crushing It – Gary Vaynerchuck, Key Person of Influence – Daniel Priestley or the widely popular Dotcom Secrets – Russell Brunson, you will be able to get some clear direction without having to subscribe to any high priced course but also cut down on some of the Googling hours to get you started.
If you have skills or some knowledge, you can start looking at self-publishing an e-book. Creating one is as simple as using Canva’s templates to build the book and you can self publish on the Kindle Store, Barnes & Noble, etc and start incorporating books into your overall brand strategy.
Learning To Outsource
As the saying goes, the world is a village, thanks to the digital age. You can literally get anything done from someone who is across the globe and for great prices. Simple things like getting a logo done, building an app or website, if your local market doesn’t have the quality or is out of your budget, start looking at outsourcing the work to other countries.
You do not need to build every aspect of your brand yourself, there are service providers all over the globe. You need to develop the skills necessary on where to look and how to vet people so that you are able to get exactly what you are looking for. When I needed some graphics done, I had found 2 artists through Instagram, 1 lived in Russia and the other lived in India.
I was able to get my artwork done for no more than $120ttd per graphic and that was for my FB cover photos before I hired the talented Devon X Scott to shoot my Droid Island cover video.
Building Partnerships
Following up on outsourcing, building partnerships are going to be KEY moving forward in the digital age. There is a lot you can get done with the right people coming together for a cause.
I got my start partnering with Devon when I had got my first Huawei sponsorship, I hit him up to do the video work for my series. The 2nd time I ever met him in life, was when we did our shoot. The first time I met him was at a Samsung launch event. Ironically, I found Devon because of his tech Youtube channel and thought his work was dope. Recently I have partnered with Cassia Marina to do our Into The Digital Age Workshop, which was a complete success.
Another great example of a local partnership is Jarrod Best-Mitchell and Lyndon Braithwaite, the two share a love for sales and put on Trinidad’s first sales conference which was a big hit.
Partnerships are going to allow you to achieve more, the key is learning how to build with those in alignment with each other’s purposes.
Building Your Email List
Learning how to build and nurture your audience is something you need to keep in the back of your mind, but doing so away from your social media platforms are going to be crucial for any success.
Social media is the ultimate traffic driver. The different platforms allow us to use each of them differently and display different aspects of our business and life. However, we must work on bringing that audience from social media onto the platforms that we control so that we can strengthen those relationships and when you are ready to monetize, you have a pool of hot leads of people who trust you, but also who are ready and waiting for your solutions.
Membership Sites
Membership sites are the holy grail of online business due to the recurring revenue you are able to generate. I say this to everybody in Trinidad who can cook. Due to the expansion of Carnival and the world looking to get a piece of our culture, now is the time to be building a Youtube channel and an online school, teaching people how to cook our food.
That is just 1 example. There are many things you can start building your membership site around. When I had tuned into the Teachable Summit a few months ago, they had said the 2 strangest but highest grossing courses on their platform was “Advanced Blacksmithing” and “Checking Copper In Goats”.
I say this to let you know, if you got skills and want to teach the world your trade, a membership site may be best for you. It is now easier and cheaper than ever to do so. Ill save the basics of getting started for either a blog or an upcoming workshop.
Hosting Webinars
To wrap this up, you gotta get used to going live or hosting webinars to your audience. This allows for real-time 2-way interaction. Whether you just want to have a discussion or teach on a topic, Webinars are apart of the toolkit of those people making some real money online.
Admittedly, this is something I need to do more of. I produce a lot of content but doing webinars is something that I need to start doing. Now that I am getting more into teaching on the digital tools needed to start building your online business, this is something that I will be getting into.
So there you have it, those are 7 key traits that the online money makers have and are doing on a consistent basis. Making money online is easy once you know where to start and how to go about doing it.
It is for damn sure a lot better than trying to find a part-time job that will require your physical presence. Even if you want to keep your 9-5, creating a revenue stream that does not need your physical presence will give you an even greater peace of mind overall.
Start by shifting your mindset and becoming open to the possibilities of what can be done today, the best thing I ever did was start my blog…it changed everything for me.