Plus, most of these tools fail to to take into account the fact that when you’re just starting out, your operating budget is small. At least it should be: remember to consider your overhead costs!

If I’m a new business owner, I need to focus on three things when I’m considering adding a tool to my arsenal:

#1 – Cost

This one is obvious. If my business income is $3,000 a month, I’m not going to invest in a $500/month tool. Unless…

#2 -Potential Return on Investment (ROI)

If I’m fairly certain I can get a positive return on investment (ROI) from my $500, AKA I’ll make at least $501 in additional income every month from using this new tool, then it becomes a stronger contender. However…

#3 – Scaleability

Ideally a tool like this would be scaleable. I want something that works at my level and within my budget, if my business is earning $3,000 a month or $30,000 a month. I don’t want to have to upgrade to a new tool just because my business is growing. I’ll likely have enough growing pains to deal with as it is, without adding in “learning to use a new system”.

With these considerations in mind, I’ve put together a list of 6 tools for launching your business on a budget.

#1 – Dreamhost

First things first: you need a reliable webhost for your business site. It doesn’t matter how great your product, service, or website is if your potential customers can’t access it online easily. That’s why the majority of the “budget” in this post is used for hosting.

I’ve written previously on how to choose the best budget host, and why I personally use and recommend Dreamhost to all my clients. But, in a nutshell, Dreamhost:

• Doesn’t have: high pressure sales, gimmick e-mails, or variable term pricing
• Does have: User friendly backend, proactive updates, and length-of-term based discounts

How is it scaleable?

The vast majority of folks just getting started are suited to Shared Hosting, which is only $9.95 a month when you sign up for 1 year or $7.95 a month when you sign up for 3 years. When your business begins to grow, you can upgrade any time to a Virtual Private Server (VPS) package, which is notably faster and only a few dollars more per month, or a Dedicated Server, which is a critical investment for top tier sites.

PS: interesting in taking even more off? Use my link to save $50. ?

#2 – WordPress

WordPress! You’ve probably heard of it. It runs like 30% of the websites on the planet Earth, and with good reason. WordPress is known as “blogging” platform, but it’s just another Content Management System (CMS). Basically, WordPress makes it easy for people of all levels of technical ability to operate and update a website. These days your need for tech savvy is about as low as it’s ever been. You can even get drag and drop “themes” to easily turn your site into an attractive, effective place for people to learn more about you and your business.

Not sure where to get started? I recommend checking out the Jupiter theme.

How is it scaleable?

When you use WordPress, you’re in good company. Individuals and companies at all levels of industry use WordPress. There’s no limit to the things you can do with it.

#3 – MailChimp

If you know anything about e-mail marketing, you’ve probably heard of MailChimp. 5 years ago you didn’t have to do much to stand out in the e-mail marketing provider world, but MailChimp has always been ahead of the game. These days they offer some of the most robust features around, while remaining affordable and accessible (drag and drop newsletter building, anyone?)

How is it scaleable?

As with the vast majority of e-mail marketing software, you pay based on volume of subscribers. MailChimp is 100% free up to the first 2,000 subscribers. Scaling upward, 25,000 subscribers will cost you $150/month, or about 0.006 cents per subscriber. If you’re very ambitious and tech savvy, you can add MailChimp Pro features for $199/month, which allows you to do fancy things like eCommerce tracking and A/B testing. All paid packages including unlimited e-mails sent, so the sky is the limit.

#4 – Ninja Popups

Speaking of e-mail marketing… If you give a moose an e-mail capture tool, he’ll probably want some popups to go with it. Some folks might tell you that Sumo (formerly SumoMe) is the way to go, but unless you’re already doing a lot of volume in e-mail subscriptions, I recommend Ninja Popups. Here’s why:

• It has an easy to use, drag and drop popup builder
• It works with tons of different apps
• It’s a one time fee of $25

How is it scaleable?

Compare Ninja Popups to Sumo‘s scaling plans based on traffic, and you’ll quickly see why Ninja Popups has the advantage. There’s no concerns about your site’s traffic outpacing its profitability and because Ninja Popups is based entirely on your server and not in the cloud, you’re less likely to see an uncontrollable load time lag.

#5 – Acuity Scheduling

Pro-tip: whether you’re just starting out or well on your way to sustainable growth, you should be using an app to schedule calls. And Acuity scheduling = awesome scheduling. Here’s why:

• It works directly with your calendar
• It allows clients to choose their own time slots
• You set your availability
• You can use it to sell paid appointments

By the way: not so sure about doing sales calls? Check out my post about taking a fresh approach to sales.

How is it scaleable?

Acuity Scheduling is ridiculously affordable at every level. Emerging Entrepreneur ($10/month) is sufficient for basically every solo artist. If you end up with a larger sales team or a multi-location business down the road? Not a problem. The Powerhouse Player package, which includes up to 36 calendar integrations (!) is only $34/month. Other scheduling apps just can’t really compete with that.

#6 – SEO PowerSuite

Yes, this tip is about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Don’t let your eyes cross just yet. SEO PowerSuite is a set of tools that actually make it really easy to optimize your site for search engine traffic. All you need to do is download two of their tools:

Website Auditor – this is the most important one. It’s basically like an organic search report card for your website. Download this tool, use it to analyze your site, and then use their recommendations to repair any issues.

Rank Tracker – this one is for next steps. If you’re interested in getting a bit more serious about search engine optimization for your site (which I definitely recommend you do), you can use this tool for just about everything else. Figure out how your site ranks for certain keywords and find new keywords to target based on how many people are searching for them.

How is it scaleable?

You can do almost everything with the free version of SEO PowerSuite (as noted above), but you can’t: save your projects or intuitively extract the data. This is especially annoying if you’re using it to do keyword research or tracking a lot of keywords. But, the regular price for the “professional” version (which does let you save and export, as well as automate tracking) is only $299.

This is a one time fee, but you do have to keep getting the “search algorithm updates”. They don’t make this incredibly intuitive. The first 6 months of updates are free after you purchase the package. After that you can buy them at a progressive discount based on the number of months you pay for at once. If you’re only interested in one or two of the SEO PowerSuite tools (the most useful are RankTracker and Website Auditor, as I mentioned), it’s cheaper, but 12 months of updates for all 4 products is only about $10 a month in total.

On the fence? I highly recommend keeping your eyes peeled for their annual Black Friday sale where you can get a really ridiculous percentage off standard pricing.

Another simple SEO solution

Another affordable option if you just want to keep a close eye on how your site is performing is AntRanks. You tell it your website URL, what keywords to track, and it checks them daily automatically.

There you have it: 6 tools to launch your business on a budget for less than $200 a year. Each one guaranteed to grow with you.

Anything missing? Questions? Let me know in the comments or send me an e-mail at kelly (at) kirin3 (dot) tech.

BONUS: The perfect tool for selling online

If you want to sell physical or digital products online, you’re going to need a tool that does three things:

• Shopping cart/checkout process (for customers)
• Order management (for you)
• Payment processing (for $$$)

As always, there’s a ton of options out there. Some can only do one or two of those things. And a lot of them are fairly pricey. SamCart has been a good option for years for people who were already established (for $199/month they don’t take a percentage of your sales). But recently they launched a “basic” version. Hooray for scalability!

Here’s what’s great about SamCart:

• Zero tech skills required – just fill in one of the tried and true SamCart sales page templates
• One click upsells and automated funnels – no need to build complex sales funnels
• Allows you to sell digital, physical, or subscription products and integrates with tons of apps

SamCart Launch gives you just about everything the professional version has for just $49 a month (and a small percentage of your sales). That’s effectively 90% off the regular price. For now you can get a 14 day free trial if you click here as a “launch special”. (I’ll edit this post to remove this link when it no longer works). 

Not convinced? Check out a few of their case studies from Stu McLaren and Will Hamilton. I’ve written previously on SamCart and Google Analytics if you’re interested in learning more about tracking and app integration, as well.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to save a few bucks on website hosting. Like with many things, there’s almost no upward limit to the amount of money you can pay for a site host. A lot of the more expensive options like WP Engine and Pagely offer premium, “managed WordPress hosting”. This basically means their service is geared entirely towards WordPress based websites, and they charge anywhere from $100 to $2500 a month to bring your site to your users (hopefully) as quickly and reliably as possible.

If you’re just starting out, looking to minimize upfront costs, or simply don’t require the heavy duty memory and traffic offerings that come with these premium providers, a budget host is the way to go. But picking the right one is easier said than done.

I’ve been working with clients who use a wide range of budget and premium hosts for years, and I’ve seen some truly terrible customer service and even worse product quality. With all the struggles and tedium involved in moving to a new web host, I put together this guide to help you pick the right one the first time.

Before I get started, I want to tell you my favourite budget hosting provider: Dreamhost. You can use all nine of these recommendations to pick the best budget hosting provider for you, but I’ll let you know after each one why I think Dreamhost knocks the competition out of the water.

How to pick the best budget hosting

#1 – No high pressure sales

Have you ever called in to your Internet provider with a problem, and within 5 minutes it’s turned into a sales call? Or maybe you went to the mechanic to get your oil changed and they want to put in a new fuel line while they’re at it? These high pressure sales situations are one of the worst parts of interacting with a business, in my opinion. The conversations rarely add value for the customer and they leave everyone feeling flustered and frustrated.

Unfortunately, some budget hosts are as bad as wandering into a used car lot when it comes to upsells.

And the buck doesn’t just stop with the web host’s own services. The vast majority of budget hosts, from Host Gator to Hostmonster to Bluehost to GoDaddy all referral relationships with a variety of services including Google Adwords, Comodo, and the security provider SiteLock. I cannot tell you how many clients have been roped into conversations about upgrading their site security with this product. There’s no concern on the part of the provider if theses are products you actually need–they’re only there for the sell.

How does Dreamhost compare?

I’ve been on innumerable support related calls, e-mails, and chat exchanges with Dreamhost over the years, and I’ve never been “sold” to. Support staff are friendly, knowledgable, and never try to get you to pay the sticker price.

#2 – No gimmick e-mails

This is my #2 because I think it’s an awful way to do business. I regularly field e-mails from less tech savvy clients because they’ve received a token promotional message from their web host telling them there’s a “problem” that needs to be solved. Maybe your site is “too slow” or you need a “security upgrade”. But the reality is, these aren’t actual messages from a concerned hosting provider. They’re just sales e-mails, trying to frighten you and take advantage of your trust just get you to purchase some add-on service at $$$/month.

How does Dreamhost compare?

You only receive e-mails when something actually needs your attention, like an expiry date is approaching or an automatic upgrade has taken place. The periodic promotional messages I’ve received have never come across as a “threat” to a client’s site or security.

#3 – Room to grow

When you first start an online business or blog, you don’t have a great idea of where things are headed. 2 years from now you could be getting 2,000 visitors a month or 2 million. One of the best features a host can offer is the ability to scale upward. Shared hosting, the lowest tier provided, let’s you share space on a server with lots of other folks. It’s affordable and usually more than sufficient for a casual user. But start ramping up the traffic and you’ll see things slow down. From there you can upgrade to a virtual private server (VPS), a dedicated server, or even all the way up to cloud-based hosting as your business and your audience grow. But not every budget hosting provider has these extended services, so be sure to investigate what packages they offer further up the ladder and how much the cost increases.

How does Dreamhost compare?

Dreamhost offers the full range of hosting packages, from shared, to managed WordPress, to Virtual Private Servers (VPS), to dedicated servers, to cloud based hosting. You can check out more details on each package here.

#4 – No taking your content “hostage”

Hosting providers like Squarespace, Weebly, and Wix, just to name a few, have a value added service. They provide a tool that let’s you drag and drop to create a site–no coding knowledge or design acumen required. You pay a premium for it as well, with the most basic packages on site builders costing two to three times as much as a budget hosting service. But the worst part is, once you build your site with one of these providers, you’re stuck with them. Forever.

Website builder templates cannot be transferred to another platform with a few clicks like XML or PHP based sites (like Joomla or WordPress). If you find you need new features that your website builder doesn’t provide, you’ll have to hire someone (or figure out for yourself) how to completely rebuild your site on a different platform. Don’t think it’s likely to happen to you? I see dozens of postings on UpWork every day where folks are looking for assistance, so don’t be too quick to assume.

How does Dreamhost compare?

While Dreamhost does offer its own competing website builder “Remixer“, I’d still recommend sticking with a platform that gives you more opportunity for your business to grow and change as you need. Fortunately WordPress has become a lot more friendly to the needs of the drag and drop user.

#5 – No “wait and see” pricing

Some budget hosting packages have great prices, but watch out where those asterisks go…
These great prices only stick around for your first “term” with your hosting provider, usually a year. After that first term they renew at the standard rate, which a lot of these budget hosting services make it very difficult to find. And, because your terms are fixed, each time renewal rolls around, they can start charging you even more. Much like cable companies and cell phone providers, there’s zero incentive for loyalty. These budget hosting providers bank on you being too busy or confused by the process to move your site to somewhere else.

How does Dreamhost compare?

Dreamhost has transparent pricing for all their products with discounts based on term length. So loyal customers actually save money. You can get a 20% off discount on Shared Hosting when you sign up for three years ($7.95 a month) or pay just $10.95 a month with no term agreement. (Also, you’ve got 97 days to change your mind even if you do go for one of the term agreement packages.)

#6 – Staying up to date, proactively

A few years back a new client started getting strange PHP related errors on their WordPress site. I contacted their host for assistance several times, requesting to know what the current version of PHP was and if we could update to the most recent stable version as soon as possible. Long story short, I was told repeatedly that the client’s site was automatically upgraded. I discovered when going into database and investigating myself that this wasn’t true, and that the client was running a very old version of PHP that was no longer supported–thus causing the errors. I assumed this was a fluke, but I’ve encountered this problem with several other budget hosting providers.

Running an old version of PHP is a recipe for disaster from a technical and security standpoint. A lot of budget hosts are behemoth in size, and sometimes corners get cut. It’s critical that you find a host that prioritizes stability and proactive maintenance.

How does Dreamhost compare?

The Dreamhost technical team regularly shares status updates on upgrades (not just when there’s an outage) and regularly works extended hours to fix non-critical features. They even run a “status” Twitter account and live updates page that posts regularly about noted issues and maintenance windows.

#7 – Affordable additions

As your business grows and changes and you experiment with new things, you’re going to need additional features from time to time. A new domain name here, a security certificate there. A lot of budget sites redistribute the cost of providing cheaper hosting services into higher prices for these additional needs. And, similarly with term pricing for hosting packages, a lot of them offer a discount for the first year or two you register a domain name, while the term gets more and more expensive each time you renew.

How does Dreamhost compare?

Dreamhost offers extremely competitive rates for full security certificates ($15 a year, compared to $60 a year for budget host Hostmonster) and even provides free basic SSL through “Let’s Encrypt“. Domain names are $13.95 a year for a standard domain (although you can certainly find domains for less, at least for an initial term).

#8 – A user-friendly backend

The average budget host has a backend that is a navigational nightmare. They mix actual tools you need to operate and monitor the status of your website with advertisements and paid upgrades.

37% of these icons are for additional paid services or advertisements for outside providers.

How does Dreamhost compare?

When compared to the classic budget host cPanel, Dreamhost’s backend is a breath of fresh air.

Everything you need to run your site is right in the left hand navigation. You can still access tools like “one click installs” for things like WordPress, Joomla, ZenCart and more.

The best budget host: Dreamhost and beyond

So, there you have it. How to find and select the best budget hosting provider. You can use these 8 criteria to help you find the perfect host for your site, whatever that may be. I currently use Dreamhost’s Virtual Private Server (VPS) services after making the switch from Hostmonster several years ago and I’ve been extremely pleased with the result.

Didn’t find the information you’re looking for?

Let me know and I’ll try to sort it out in the comments!

Sales was (and still is) easily the hardest part of freelancing for me. I’m not a natural born salesperson. The last thing I want to do is try to convince someone they want something when I know that they don’t. And that’s exactly how I saw sales.

But one day I had a simple but profound shift in perspective that forever changed my approach to “making the sale”.If you knew me as an undergraduate, you could scarcely imagine that in 2009 I would be walking the streets of Seattle as a canvasser. I enjoyed working outside and meeting the eclectic collection of people the Emerald City had to offer, but I was miserable at soliciting donations.

I was laid off at the end of my 2 week trial period for failing to meet my the modest sign up quota, and I swore I’d never work in high pressure sales again.

Fast forward to today, and I find myself willingingly hopping on sales calls once or twice a week! If you’re in the freelance world you might think of these meetings with potential clients as job interviews or proposal presentations, but at the end of the day what we’re all doing is selling.

We just happen to be selling ourselves.

Before I shifted my perspective on sales, I went into these conversations with a variety of different thoughts filling my mind:

• • I have to close this deal
  • If I don’t close this deal I’m a failure
  • I don’t want to pressure the client
  • I don’t want to work with a client who’s skeptical of my abilities
  • I really don’t want to have this conversation

It was like I was giving myself an anti-pep talk before every call. I walked away from these conversations feeling frazzled and drained. I knew there had to be a better way.

Flaunting your “value added”

Around that time, I read a really great book called Worth Every Penny by Erin Verbeck and Sarah Petty. The subtitle pretty much hits the subject right on the head: Build a Business That Thrills Your Customers and Still Charge What You’re Worth.

I picked up a copy mainly because I was researching the best way to set your freelance rates, but I came away with a lot more awesome knowledge.

I finally made the critical missing connection that helped take me from reluctant to resilient during sales calls.

One of the more significant themes in Worth Every Penny is “added value”–basically the extra stuff you bring to the table. In essence, Verbeck and Petty show you how to employ the principles of boutique business in any industry. And no, they don’t mean boutique as in a little shop on main street full of tchotchkes!

Fast, cheap, and good

I’m diverging a little bit, but this is important stuff. In the last 50 years, discount providers have surged into almost every corner of the market. It’s almost impossible to compete on price when large scale outfits have the benefit of supply chains and bulk discounts.

But, when it comes to service, things quickly start to fall apart for discounters. It’s the downfall of the classic three point model: fast, cheap, and good. You can only pick two!

I can’t do fast, cheap, AND good. And, in reality, I have no interest in working for cheap rates or cheap clients (or as Petty and Verbeck call them “price-sensitive”).

If 30% to 40% of the market doesn’t care about the quality of the product, so long as it’s cheap, I’m destined to fail if I go after them. I simply can’t compete in a global market,

So while other providers are scrambling for the “big head”, I’m targeting the “long tail”.

Sure, the client pool is smaller and the pressure to close is higher. But at the end of the day it all serves the purpose of fulfilling an aspect of my ideal client profile: I don’t want to work for someone who doesn’t believe in my abilities.

So, as a service provider, what’s my avenue to a boutique offering?

Everyone is different, but for me it came down to my desire to educate. (Which is a nice way of saying I’m a lifelong know-it-all or wanna-know-it-all.)

When clients come to me with questions, like, “What’s the best way to do this?” I want to be able to sit back and fire off the 3 best options without breaking a sweat. If I don’t have an answer, I’m off to find out.

Why is that?

Because I want my clients to succeed.

Because my client’s success is directly tied to my own.

Because running every aspect of your business in the best possible way is the foundation for success.

Sharing knowledge with my clients is my favourite part of my job, and it’s something I can start doing as soon as they pick up the phone for our first sales call. Take it from Kevin Dewalt and 10,000 others–the best entrepreneurs ask for help. And that’s exactly what I’m here to offer.

Breathing easier before a sales call

Things finally clicked into place for me when I stopped approaching sales calls as a burden and started approaching sales calls as an opportunity to:

• Get to know a fellow entrepreneur
• Have an interesting conversation
• AND share knowledge (AKA my favourite service I provide my clients)

If I walk away from a sales call not feeling thrilled, then I thank the person for their time and we go our separate ways. If I really enjoyed them and they (hopefully) appreciated my somewhat know-it-all attitude, then I know I’ve found a great fit.

When the average person heads to work every morning, they come into an office paid for by their employer and sit down at a workstation furnished by their employer. Their pay is calculated and their paycheque arrives on schedule, with no extra effort on their part. They likely have access to things like an employer negotiated health insurance package, a retirement account, and even small things like free bagels in the break room. None of these are available to you as a freelance contractor.

While there are many advantages to choosing freelance, it’s important to remember that you’re essentially a business owner–even if you don’t think of yourself that way. And when a business sets prices, they have to keep their overhead in mind. Otherwise profit is not only elusive, it’s just a big, blurry unknown.
 

Here are some example items based on some of my expense averages:

Example expenses:

#1 – An average monthly business expense rate of $595 in the last 6 months

#2 – A monthly home office claim of $125 per month(1)

#3A – Invoice fee processing average of 15% per dollar earned on UpWork(2)

#3B – Invoice fee processing of 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction on Wave

#4 – If you’re based in the US/a US citizen: 15.3% minimum freelance tax (paying both employee and employer share of social security and medicare taxes), not including any state taxes.(3)

These calculations do not include costs that are more difficult to assess such as: health insurance/expenses (which vary wildly), lack of fringe benefits, and various opportunity costs.

Expense application example:

At the end of the day, every $20 I earn immediately has a deducted value of $3 on UpWork or 88 cents on Wave. The remaining $17 or $19.12 has my expenses deducted (30% to 40% on average, so let’s say 35%). That leaves $11.90 or $12.43. From that, a final minimum tax of 15.3% is deducted, leaving $10.08 or $10.53 as my effective “take home pay”–a loss of between 50.4% and 52.6%. Meanwhile, your employer, by choosing to go with a freelancer, is saving themselves the cost of:

• Your workspace and equipment (and associated amortization)
• Your payroll processing fees
• Your payroll taxes

This list is not comprehensive–it does not mention the more “difficult” to determine savings for employers such as miscellaneous fringe benefits.
 

How to track your expenses

Tracking with a spreadsheet

I’ll make this one easy for you: Here’s a handy dandy Google Sheet you can use to track your income and expenses. It’s plugged in with a variety of sample data to give you an idea of what to track and how to track it (also so the formulas can work without generating an error). If you’re exceptionally data minded, you could possibly use a tool like Zapier or IFTTT to auto-populate it with information. I personally find it easier to track via web apps and then plug the info in manually on a quarterly basis.

Tracking with web apps

If you go looking, you will discover there are approximately a million pseudo-accounting web apps vying for your business. The industry heavyweight, Intuit, owns a lot of them. Of all the Intuit products, I like Mint the best. Mostly because it allows you track so many different products, including your basic credit cards and bank accounts, to investment portfolios from retirement accounts and IRA services offered by Wealthsimple or Wealthfront to the automated micro-investment app Acorns. You can do things like observe your net worth over time (if you’re a charts nerd) or do some in depth budgeting.

Of course, Mint doesn’t do anything like payment processing or invoicing. This is another sector that has endless options, but if you’re looking for something that does a little bit of both expense tracking and invoicing and payment processing, I highly recommend Wave.

Here’s what I like about Wave:

• Easily customized invoices and estimates
• Easily managed client records
• Clients can store payment info
• Clients can pay directly by credit card (fee processing of 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction)
• You can bill in any currency

There’s a lot more options in Wave that I don’t take advantage of, such as expense tracking (you can sync your bank accounts) and recurring invoices (for folks who provide flat rate services). The very best part about Wave is that all the features I’ve mentioned so far are free. You can get even more stuff, like payroll, bill pay, and other higher level accounting and support with the paid version.

After all that, how do you set your rates?

The answer is: it depends on how much profit you want to make and how much your skills and time are worth to you and to the market. Your profitability is generally a matter of preference, so let’s move on to determining your skill/time value.

Figuring out what your skills are worth can be complicated. Tasks that fall to freelancers generally fall into two categories: work that people don’t like to do and work that people don’t understand how to do. I recommend doing some research. Check out freelancer marketplaces like UpWork and freelancer and see what similarly skilled folks are charging for their services. Make sure to take into account the other freelancer’s location and currency conversion when deciding whether their situation is comparable to your own.

When it comes to quoting, whether hourly rates or fixed price, determine a high goal and a basement price. Ideally you would only accept your basement price on an exceptionally large or valuable deal. Obviously some pricing consideration can be given when it comes to a client who’s willing to commit (in writing) to a large scale project. If you do fixed price work, determine a minimum viable project value and don’t submit proposals for less than that.

(As an aside: A general rule of thumb would never be to work on contingency or for a stake in a “growing company”. If a company can’t put together enough starter funds to pay you, then it’s almost certainly not one worth working for.)

How do I know I’m doing things right?

At the end of the day, ideally being a freelancer should give you a sense of control over your own destiny. After all, freedom is one of the biggest benefits of this work style (even if it is just another word for nothin’ left to lose). If you feel stressed, overworked, and underpaid while freelancing, it’s time to re-evaluate what you’re doing. You’ll almost never be in a position in the traditional working world to set your own wages, so feel free to experiment. See what works. Setting your prices high might mean less work, but it might also mean you attract less “price-sensitive” clients, who can be an enormous stress with little payoff.

Remember: it takes time for a business to become profitable and there will be a lot of missteps when you first begin. The best thing you can do is keep good records, set realistic goals, track your progress, and remember to take breaks and celebrate your successes. Good luck!

Did you know that 77% of employers search the names of potential hires? Find out how to maximize those search results!

What is personal SEO anyway?

SEO stands for search engine optimization–basically controlling the stuff that shows up when a person searches for something.

Personal SEO specifically is making sure that people who search for your name find you. And not some guy who got arrested last weekend for public indecency on Granville. (Or maybe that was you?…) OK, even if it was, read on for some tips on reputation management!

Difficulty level: John Smith

Some folks have it easier than others. If you have a unique name like, Soleil Moon Frye for example, personal SEO will be simple for you! But this is both a blessing and a curse: because with great personal SEO, comes great responsibility. Rest assured that if Soleil Moon Frye writes a blog or is quoted on the Huffington Post saying she hates pugs, and the following month is up for a gig with the Pug Lovers of North America, they will be none too pleased when they see her search results.

On the other side of the personal SEO coin are the folks with an extremely common name, like John Smith. What’s a pug-loving John Smith to do to get his name out there? As with any SEO venture, specificity and associated keywords are the solution!

John R. Smith, Esq. in Vancouver, BC

Perhaps John Smiths are a dime a dozen, but you’re not just any John Smith. You graduated from UBC Law and now you’re hunting for a job in Vancouver and you’re gonna make it after all! These are your keys to success. You want to:

#1 – Modify your professional name

Add your middle initial or a suffix. Anything that’s valid and decreases confusion with other folks who share your name. Be sure to choose something and be consistent.

#2 – Choose a title or field of association

What kind of work are you applying for? What’s the industry term for your, well, industry? You want to start associating that term with your name. For example, “John R. Smith lawyer”.

#3 – Choose a location

Make sure to associate yourself with the location you are in/hoping to work in. For example, if you’re based in the BC lower mainland, go ahead and use Vancouver since it’s the most commonly cited city in the area (even if you technically live in Burnaby).

All of these options are best established using a professional profile building tool like LinkedIn, Twitter, or something industry specific like GitHub for software devs.

So you made a huge mistake

Let’s be honest: we all make mistakes. We reach the age of majority at 18 and suddenly we’re considered adults, but our brains haven’t even finished developing. Maybe you shared a lewd photo on your public Facebook account or got caught plotting to burn down the banana stand.

Either way, you need to practice some reputation management. Basically, you want to take control of the message. Most people don’t look past the first page of search results, so your goal is to push the bad stuff down to the second page. You can do this in a variety of ways:

Create a website or blog

This is by far the best option. First, consider purchasing your name as a domain URL (or an available variation of it, anyway). From there, the content creation matters somewhat less, as long as you’re certain to include an “about” page that is titled with the name you use professionally. Create links to it throughout your website and other social media accounts with your name to shore up the association.

Create social media accounts

One of the approximately hundreds of factors that impact your search engine ranking is called your domain authority. This is a number out of 100 that indicates the “confidence” the web has in the legitimacy of your site. Basically, your personal website will probably have a domain authority of 20 or less to start out. And that’s OK, it doesn’t mean it won’t rank! But you definitely want to also use sites like Google+, Twitter, and Facebook who have enormous authority and are willing to share. As always, create profiles using the name you prefer professionally!

Create other professional accounts

Industry specific sites that allow you to create a profile and share your work like GitHub, CodePen, or Dribbble (yes, selfishly these are all in my industry). Not sure where to turn for your particular sector? Reach out to coworkers or classmates and see what they’re using!

Build a brand, not a robot

Even if you are creating your website and online profiles to mitigate a problem, it’s worth it to put some time into establishing who you are using these platforms. Build a personal brand that meshes with who you actually are. Try brainstorming ideas for your brand using a word cloud or other information aggregate (or ask your friends or coworkers). Don’t just tell employers what they want to hear. Milquetoast information falls on deaf ears–people know that isn’t really you. No one actually likes being a “detail-oriented, goal-minded individual”, they like going on hikes or eating chili cheese fries.

There are lines that you can cross when sharing personal info, certainly. Openly, aggressively sharing your religious or political affiliations on professional profiles can lead employers to hesitate. Even if they share your identities, knowing those details in the hiring process becomes a murky liability from a legal standpoint. So keep that in mind when you’re building your online presence.

Put your website to work

Your site should be a “set it and (sort of) forget it” project. Build it well, flesh it out, and let it do its thing. A good website and established online presence is your best promotional tool. Even if you aren’t actively looking for work, becoming known in your industry, area, etc is critical for the future of your career.

Looking for some more no nonsense SEO tips? Check out my latest epub on creating and optimizing your content for great results.

Just starting out? Let somebody else help

For folks who are just beginning their foray into eCommerce, it’s probably best to stick with a pre-established platform. Consider your product first, then select a host who best suits your niche.

For example, if your goods are handmade: Etsy is perfect for you.

If you primarily sell digital publications, check out Gumroad.

Are you an author? Give Kindle Direct Publishing a try.

Selling a simple service? Have a look at Fiverr.

I’ve written about using these platforms to create passive income sources before, but read on for more on the nitty gritty of the benefits and disadvantages that come with your different options.

The perks of the package deal

When you look at your Etsy bill at the end of the month you might say: is this worth it? 20 cents per listing, 3.5% of every sale, and 3% plus .25 cents per “direct” payment adds up. For a $10 item bought via direct checkout (AKA a credit card sans Paypal), that’s $1.10 eating into your profit margin.

So what do you get for your $1.10?

In Etsy’s case, you get three things (primarily):

1. Payment gateway
2. User interface
3. SEO, user base, and organic/paid advertising

A payment gateway is always going to cost you (I talk more about that more below). 3% is a fairly standard rate. Building a UI that’s functional and attractive (which Etsy has, for the most part) is an expensive and complicated process. But the most valuable feature Etsy offers to you, particularly if you’re just starting out as a seller, is SEO (appearance in search results) and reputation building.

Buyers don’t have to worry as much about the sometimes harrowing experience of making a purchase online. Although they know essentially nothing about you or your business, potential customers recognize and trust the Etsy marketplace brand.

Moving up in the world? It might be time to go it alone

The biggest disadvantage of going with a platform is the cost. Every single option listed here takes some percentage or flat rate for hosting your products and allowing you to accept payment.

Hosting your own site and eCommerce system can help you skirt these fees, but there’s a lot of expenses involved here as well. You will need and/or want:

• A reliable site host
• An eCommerce platform
• A security (SSL) certificate
• A payment gateway

If you’re less than comfortable with technology, you may even need to hire someone to do most of this for you. Assuming, however, that you’re willing to make the investment of time and money there are a lot of advantages to doing things for yourself.

For one, integrating into an existing, well trafficked site is a great way to superpower your eCommerce launch. If you run a popular WordPress blog about recipes, for example, selling cookbooks or other goodies is a natural choice.

WooCommerce: free eCommerce for WordPress

Running a blog is a great way to get traffic to your eCommerce site–and it’s natural to think of WordPress as a content management system. Of course, WordPress can do so much more than just help you publish your blog.

WooCommerce by WooThemes is a powerful plugin that allows you to create a simple eCommerce platform, right on your site. The basic version is free and can integrate with Paypal classic for no additional fee (other than Paypal’s fees, of course).

If you’re looking to do more, WooCommerce can integrate other cool features:

• Offer online courses with Sensei

• Offer scheduling options with Bookings

• Offer subscription services with WooSubscriptions

But just as a note: these extra features are going to cost you.

WooCommerce is another in a long series of “freemium” services that, once you decide to upgrade, will ding you left and right with fees for additional extensions or capabilities.

That being said, it’s a powerful service, and you can happily use the basic version for free. (There are also a variety of 3rd party extensions that can save you some cash).

Don’t forget your payment process experience!

So you’ve finally decided whether you will self host or outsource eCommerce. You’ve chosen Etsy because it’s reputable or WooCommerce because it’s free. But you can’t forget to think about what the payment process is like!

Buying things is a process. Consider how you shop online yourself. There’s a lot to consider before even getting an item into your cart, much less progressing to checkout.

If the checkout process is tedious or seems insecure, potential customers will give up quickly.

For example, let’s compare the Etsy checkout process versus the Gumroad checkout process for an identical digital item.

Etsy checkout process

With Etsy, even though the item is digital, you can see I quickly get stuck creating a password to even continue the checkout process.

Gumroad checkout process

For Gumroad, I simply click “I want this” and am instantly transported to a secure payment gateway, lightbox style.

To be fair to the folks at Etsy, this is one of Gumroad’s founding principles. But, they also charge more per transaction–5% versus 3% with Etsy. However, there are no listing fees.

The 3 key principles for any eCommerce setup

As you’ve read so far, there’s no one size fits all solution when it comes to choosing to self host or outsource eCommerce. But I will close with a few key principles to keep in mind, no matter which option you go for.

#1 – Make yourself and your product look good

#2 – Emphasize security and reputation

#2 – Make checkout and payment as easy as possible

If you stick to these points, you should have a successful eCommerce setup in no time! ]]> https://kirin3.tech/self-host-or-outsource-ecommerce/feed/ 0 https://kirin3.tech/creators-5-low-tech-ways-to-build-passive-income-sources/ https://kirin3.tech/creators-5-low-tech-ways-to-build-passive-income-sources/#comments Mon, 17 Aug 2015 20:03:24 +0000 http://kirindesignstudios.com/?p=193 Heads up, content creators, you don’t have to go to coding bootcamp or work your fingers to the bone to boost your creation-based revenue each month! Read on to learn more about these low barrier methods for building passive income sources.

The real name of the game for passive income sources is “scaleability”.

Sure, doing commissions and taking on freelance projects is a great way to earn, but you’re only human–and you shouldn’t have to work yourself to death to make money doing what you love.

The answer? Digital products.

Digital products are infinitely scaleable!

Etsy

I know what you’re thinking: Etsy, really? I’m already on Etsy, and if I have to take one more trip to the post office–

Stop!

Etsy is more than just handmade goods! Think of the items you create: now take one step backward. What were they before you put on the finishing touches? A pattern, a print file, a pile of found materials?

Offering up a digital version of your original sewing/knitting/crochet pattern, the photo print you were about to make, or a PDF guide on how to create something awesome with the items in your junk drawer is an excellent way to add more volume to your Etsy business without adding more work for yourself–AKA passive income sources!

Learn more about listing digital items on Etsy here.

Gumroad

Speaking of creating PDFs, Gumroad is another great spot for selling digital goodies. When I first started out there, you could really only sell digital books and the like, but now they offer a wide range of services. You can even create subscription services through their interface! My favourite thing about Gumroad is how clean their checkout process is. You don’t have to click through endless pages or unnecessarily enter your billing/shipping address.

You can now even directly embed your products into your page and sell them through the Gumroad interface without needing a SSL (security certificate–the thing that makes your URL bar turn green!) It can look like this:

Buy my product using Gumroad

Or you can embed the entire product page and folks can checkout inline. And all you have to do is click a few buttons and copy and paste the code–low tech, as promised! It’s an awesome tool and I highly recommend it to build passive income sources.

RedBubble

If you create any kind of illustration, design, or photography, you can use RedBubble to put it on all sorts of fun products. The best part? RedBubble does all of the legwork for you. I setup my RedBubble shop on a whim, and now it’s one of my most consistent and totally hands off passive income sources. I’ve sold 43 of these Oh Kale Yeah stickers alone:

There’s a lot of room for experimentation, and it’s totally okay to fail! It’s hard to know what consumers want sometimes, but with interfaces like RedBubble, where all items are made to order, you don’t have to worry about sitting on 100 t-shirts you’ll never sell. RedBubble is constantly adding new products to their lineup of things you can customize with your designs–everything from leggings to pillow cases to laptop sleeves.

Amazon Associates

When it comes to time commitments, this one is the lowest of the low. You already know products you love as a creator: if they’re on Amazon, you can get your share of the profits for recommending them. How it works:

>You share a link of a product you think is awesome

>Someone clicks that link, it takes them to Amazon, and they buy anything

>You get a small percentage of the profit

Yes, you read that correctly: it doesn’t matter if the person who clicked your link doesn’t buy the exact item you shared. There’s one small catch: you do have to remember to get your custom Associates link for the item you want to recommend. Want to make this even simpler?

For those of you with a WordPress based site: A developer called GeoRiot has a WordPress plugin called Amazon Link Engine that simplifies the process for you even further. You copy and paste any old link from Amazon, and GeoRiot automatically customizes it for your Associates account AND serves the correct regional link based on where the user is surfing from. Basically, folks surfing the net in the UK get directed to Amazon’s UK site even if you got your link from the US Amazon site. It doesn’t get much easier than that when it comes to passive income sources!

Skillshare

Skillshare is a subscription based eLearning platform where folks pay a small monthly fee to access a wide variety of classes taught by all kinds of creators. And yes, one of those creators could be you! As their teaching page states, everyone can teach.

If you’ve ever taught a class or workshop before, you’ll know that this one involves quite a bit of work up front. However, once you’ve got your lesson plans in place, teaching a course on Skillshare can be a great low commitment way to generate more income.

The bottom line is: your skills are valuable.

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!

Monetizing can be difficult (as I’m sure you already know) and it often does involve a lot of work. However, something doesn’t have to be hard to be profitable.

Are you making passive income as a creator in other ways? Feel free to share in the comments below!

Duplicate Post

Like all the plugins on this list it performs exactly as the name indicates–it duplicates posts (pages, etc). If you use custom formatting for posts and pages, a plugin like Duplicate Post can be a real timesaver. Additionally, if you regularly repost/rehash/refresh older content on your site, Duplicate Post can do a lot of the grunt work for you. Copy a post exactly or insert it into a new draft.

[su_button url=”https://wordpress.org/plugins/duplicate-post/” target=”blank” style=”flat” background=”#188098″ size=”5″ icon=”icon: cogs”]Grab Duplicate Post here[/su_button]

WP Mobile Detect

This plugin is a deceptively powerful design tool: it creates shortcodes you can use to control how elements display if a user is on mobile or desktop. If you have a cool embedded sign up form for your newsletter that looks excellent on desktop, but struggles to render properly on mobile devices, simply hide it behind the following tag:

[ notdevice ] Your desktop only content here. [/ notdevice ]

When creating a mobile alternative to display, just use this tag:

[ device ] Your device only content here. [ /device ]

It’s that easy!

[su_button url=”https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-mobile-detect/” target=”blank” style=”flat” background=”#188098″ size=”5″ icon=”icon: cogs”]Grab WP Mobile Detect here[/su_button]

Sticky Widget

Need a widget to follow the user as they scroll up and down your page? Sticky Widget is your answer. To be honest, a vanilla install of this one may not work perfectly with your theme of choice straight away. If the widget appears to “jump” or conflicts with another floating element, it may require a bit of coding to fix. But, if this is a feature you need, it’s the best plugin for the job.

[su_button url=”https://wordpress.org/plugins/q2w3-fixed-widget/” target=”blank” style=”flat” background=”#188098″ size=”5″ icon=”icon: cogs”]Grab Sticky Widget here[/su_button]

WP Missed Schedule

Easily the simplest plugin on this list, but if you ever schedule posts to publish at a later date on your blog you need this one. Unfortunately even as of 2015, there’s an ongoing error that causes scheduled WordPress posts to occasionally be “missed” by the publish action. The result is a post caught in limbo. An out of the box copy of WordPress recognizes this issue–if this happens to a post you scheduled it will display with a “Missed Schedule” notation next to it. However, this does nothing to fix the problem. Install and activate WP Missed Schedule and you’re all set.

[su_button url=”https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-missed-schedule/” target=”blank” style=”flat” background=”#188098″ size=”5″ icon=”icon: cogs”]Grab WP Missed Schedule here[/su_button]

Know of any other simple, but essential WordPress plugins? Let me know in the comments!

If your restaurant’s website isn’t in the first two pages of results when you search your cuisine and your city, I’m sorry to say: you’re doing something wrong.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a complex topic–way too complex to cover completely in a single blog post! That being said, my aim here is to help you learn more about a few common errors that anyone can make and how to correct them.

Common Error #1: Your menu is in PDF format

If you own a restaurant, I’m sure you already know that your menu is your crown jewel! But no one is going to know that you serve only Oceanwise seafood or that your foodtruck has the only vegan hotdogs in the city if they can’t find your page when they use their favourite search engine.

I know you’ve got an awesome, professionally laid out, print quality menu in a PDF–that’s important for building your restaurant’s image. But while PDFs may be composed of text, that text isn’t being “crawled”, which means search engines can’t find it!

Solution: Build an online version of your menu

I know it’s intimidating if you’re not used to working with web publishing software like WordPress. But it’s designed to be user friendly, and there are a variety of tools at your disposal that can help you recreate your menu online in an attractive and accessible way. Here’s a plugin (WordPress add-on) that can help:

Shortcodes Ultimate – Build attractive site elements, zero HTML/CSS required! Make things like custom buttons, eye catching headers, calls to action, and many more. Check out the plugin page to see some demos of what it can do.

Common Error #2: You don’t make your contact info SUPER clear

A user shouldn’t have to click more than once to find this info! In fact, it’s best if they don’t have to click at all. The most important thing to ask yourself here is: what do I want folks to take away from visiting my restaurant’s website?

• Visualize my restaurant and my cuisine

• Know and understand my menu

• Be aware of my location(s) and my hours of operation

The last thing you want is for a user to navigate away from your site or “bounce” before they can get that vital information.

Solution: Include all important info on your home page

Yes, a home page (or “landing page”) can be visually attractive AND include lots of information! Build with your goals in mind. Integrate elements where possible. There’s a few different plugin solution options here:

Soliloquy Lite – a responsive (AKA mobile device friendly!) image slider creator that is very user-friendly and low barrier. You could easily add images of your dishes alongside your important information and embed it in your home page or “landing page” so that visitors will see it straight away.

Sticky Header – a sticky header is one that follows the user as they scroll, so they can never accidentally navigate away from your important information. Easy to setup and customize.

Sticky Widget – this plugin is similar to the Sticky Header above, except it uses the sidebar/widget interface to make an element that follows the user no matter where they navigate. Be sure and only use one or the other for best results.

Common Error #3: Your keywords are too generic

You don’t just serve pasta at your restaurant, right? You serve handmade, fresh pasta. You serve gnocchi, you serve tortellini, you serve ravioli. So why would you use the keyword “pasta”?

People want to come to your restaurant for a variety of reasons: maybe they’ve heard the food is good. Maybe you one of the only purveyors of this cuisine in the city. Maybe you’re just open late and nearby! But the best way to hook someone is with specifics–the same goes for search engines.

Solution: Describe your restaurant as you might to a guest

I’m sure you have a lot to say about the items on your menu and why you founded your restaurant–so don’t suddenly turn tight-lipped when giving your pages titles, URLs/permalinks, and keywords. There are a wealth of generic SEO tools out there that can help you get this job done right, but it’s important to consider a bit of this theory first!

If you haven’t already, make sure you’ve got an SEO plugin installed on your WordPress site:

SEO by Yoast – this is the most popular option, and it has a pretty straightforward interface that “scores” pages with colour coded icons to let you know how optimized they are for your chosen keyword. It will also provide you with details on how to improve your page’s score if it’s low. Also, it’s free!

Premium SEO Pack – looking for a more high powered option? For just a one-time fee of $40, you can grab Premium SEO Pack, which even has a specific function dedicated to optimizing for local search results. That’s in addition to a variety of other features that SEO by Yoast doesn’t offer. The folks who developed Premium SEO Pack have an instructional video at the link, so even if you’re worried your tech abilities aren’t where they need to be to use it, it’s still worth a look.

So, what do you think? Do you have issues/concerns that weren’t covered? Leave them in the comments or drop me a line.