The "T.E.C.H. Simple" Online Business Revealed:
First step...
Be sure you watch this video to learn the strategy that took me from being a broke customer support rep with $-50,000 in student loan debt.
To earning more in an average day than I used to make per month when I was stuck working for the man.
This video reveals the best online business that requires no inventory, no office space, no employees...
You don't even have to be the name or face of the brand.
Watch it at 2x speed if needed, but get 'caught up' on the business model, the common pitfalls and my philosophy for success that has helped thousands of students to launch and grow online businesses from their laptops.
Remember...
As you go through the rest of this 'start here' post and the following trainings...
Notice how everything fits into this simple framework you're learning in the above video.
Once you've completed the first video, continue reading below.
Step 2: The 1-Page Business Plan Template
It's important to write out your plan. Something magic happens when the pen hits the paper.
Plus, there's that study from Harvard Yale in the 50's that tracked students for 10 years and found students with written goals were earning 10x more than students without goals.
Here's my hypothesis from helping over 53,382 students start blogs in the last decade:
Those who write out their plan are 10x more likely to succeed.
So, I created this free business plan template you can get here.
In addition to the downloadable .pdf template, you'll see the explainer video on that page, too.
Keep in mind...
It's important for you to brainstorm different ideas at this phase.
Give yourself freedom to write out your 1 page business plan for any idea that may be close.
Write out one per day for the next week if you have to, testing different ideas to see which one feels right to you.
Here's the key:
Don't over think this and make it into some "I have to write out the perfect plan that I'll stick with foooorrreeevvverrr"
Instead, grab a piece of scratch paper, a piece of printer paper or a notepad and just go through the 1-page business plan process with the best idea you have.
If you don't have an idea, start with weight loss or strength/fitness for folks like you.
This is an exercise to help train your brain like an entrepreneur.
Here's My Ultimate Goal:
To help you build an online business that gives you total time & location freedom.
Yep, internet stranger...
That's the goal.
So, the question from here is: "How do we get you there?"
Well, it's a combination of learning and action-taking on your end.
Not binge-watching.
Binge-doing!
"Doing what?" you wonder...
Helping people get what they are looking for.
There's a quote from Zig Ziglar's old-school seminar that sums it up best:
"You can have anything you want in this world if you help enough other people get what they want."
I'm living proof this is true.
My wife and I co-founded a niche site in the spirituality/meditation space in 2009 and we've been full-time living life on our terms since 2014.
Here's how the game works.
Billions of people are searching for absolutely everything, all day, every day.
A trillion dollars per year is spent online.
And there are several ways for you to tap into that flow whether you have your own products or not.
For my wife's business we create and sell digital products (pdfs, mp3s, video courses, zoom workshops, kindle books, memberships, etc).
Info-products.
We love this business model because the fulfillment is 100% automated once it's all built.
So you can get a nearly infinite return on your investment of time and money when your online cashflow engine starts cranking out 2, 5, 12+ customers per day on autopilot.
Build it once… Get leads and customers for years.
My longest-running cashflow engine like this we built in 2014 and it still brings in multiple customers per day on autopilot.
Some call this business the ‘info-marketing’ business.
Ultimately, it’s the modern version of the direct mail business. Without all of the expenses of envelopes, printing, postage, etc. since we use email vs. snail mail.
Done right, the info- highly automated income once we build a traffic and conversion system around a product the market likes.
But, getting to that point takes a lot of testing.
Which is why binge-doing is the best approach.
Lots of 'minimum viable tests' to help you quickly identify hot offers and hot markets.
Don't worry if any of those words above intimidate you.
It's a bunch of simple systems that work together that are easy to learn. From 12 to 70+ I've helped students of all ages and skill level get in the game.
Here's the big picture:
I find it useful to think of the whole “making money online” game through the lens of these 3 independent systems.
You need a system to grow an audience and/or drive traffic.
One approach with traffic is to focus on advertising on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Google, X, Pinterest, etc.
The other approach is to earn your traffic by partnering with a platform or two and publishing content that triggers their algorithm to drive traffic to you.
Both approaches work.
Both approaches have their benefits and challenges.
The advertising approach can scale bigger, faster, which is why it’s my main focus.
And, keep in mind: You can start testing with ads for as little as $5-$25/day
Most people drop that much on coffee, wine, 420, lunch or ‘treats’ throughout the day.
Plus…
If you get good at running ads, creating ad copy, or writing/designing the landing pages…
You can make good money (even partnership deals) helping others as a freelancer or agency.
Next up is your email list and follow up system.
Growing an email list is the key to securing reliable income for the long term, so you need an email system.
Your email list is how you protect yourself from the algo changes on Google, YouTube or Facebook.
In business terms, your email list is your distribution system.
It’s how you move units.
Email is great because you can automate weeks or months of your follow up to help you present several offers to each lead, over time.
Always focused on helping them get what they want, obviously…
But when the time comes to recommend ‘the next step’ for them, that’s when you link to the offer.
Which brings us to the monetization/mearchandising system.
This is what you sell and how you sell it.
Now, for my brand… I’m mainly focused on promoting affiliate offers because there are several ‘must have’ products on the journey you’re on.
So, full disclosure…
When you see links on my site, in my emails (click here to get on my email list) assume they are affiliate links because that’s my monetization strategy.
Instead of charging you $1997, I give you the ‘how to’ info for free and I promote the software, tools, books and trainings that will help you grow your business online…
And I earn a commission.
It’s a great business model for the vendor because they get a great customer. It’s great for you because you dont have to waste hours researching all the options when you get my tested and approved tools… And it’s how I ‘earn’ from my content I create.
Or you can create and sell your own products.
Personally, I prefer low ticket products because they’re the easiest to create, sell and automate.
Again, I’m all about automated income.
Whether you sell your own products or promote other people’s products as an affiliate, both approaches work.
In the end, most folks end up doing both because it’s just as easy to promote an affiliate offer via email as it is to promote your own products via email.
In short, the business model is really: Grow your list, mail your list.
You’ll mail them useful content you find or create.
And you’ll mail them offers you find or create.
The truth remains: The money is in the list!
But the question remains.
Who are you going to serve and how will you help them?
Your Audience
Focus your efforts on helping people who are searching for help/products and going 'all in' on being the most helpful person in their corner of the web-o-sphere.
From knitters and quilters to marathon athletes and fitness geeks... Fisher-folk and golfers to psychics and financial advisors.
They're all audiences filled with people who are actively searching for ways to improve.
And there are 1,000,001+ audiences in our world.
Most people think of this as the 'choose your niche' phase.
My free "how to choose a niche" training videos are Free on YouTube, here.
Over 121,867 people have gone through that training!
Earlier this year, I did create an updated niche training video that teaches how to find a profitable niche in 1 hour, guaranteed.
Because most people take way too long on this step!
It's $9.
And, if you go through the process and don't find a niche you love...
I'm happy to give you your $9 back.
Either way...
Stay focused on the people. "Who am I committed to helping?" and "What am I committed to helping them with?"
Now...
There are generally two reasons why people stall when it comes to choosing their niche.
Both are just expressions of the fear of failure...
Here's what the ego says:
Either...
"I'm not an expert at anything"
(If you feel this way, go watch this video now!)
Or
If you have imposter syndrome keeping you from unlocking your inner creator...
Do whatever you have to and get into motion, FAST!
That's the real key.
You see, with one hour of study every day for 1 year, you could become an expert in just about any subject matter.
If you're worried about 'too much competition or if you feel like the mega-influencers are already doing what you ant to do, it's ok.
This video explains the market saturation myth which reveals how you can achieve success in any niche starting today.
Again, the key is getting into motion.
Most get stuck in an infinite loop of studying, overthinking everything, studying more, overthinking stuff again and then reading some greedy guru emails or watching a webinar when they feel disheartened.
The fear of failure is so strong most never start.
If you want to learn the secret to eliminating the fear of failure, watch this video.
Do whatever you have to do in order to get into motion!
But, once you get into motion, you start building the most important asset of all.
Skills.
Making money online is a skill.
Jump in, start and build skills with your 'best guess' niche for now...
This is the 'paying your dues' phase where publishing feels awkward and confusing.
Everything gets easier as you get more experience.
YouTube, Blogging, Social...
Everything gets easier as you get more experience!
I had 13 failed business attempts (many were extremely half-assed) before really figuring out this niche creator game.
I reveal them all in the 'Fire, Ready, Aim' video here.
But I built skills and got my first hands-on learning from those 13 projects.
- WordPress skills
- SEO skills
- Keyword Research skills
- Graphics skills
- Writing skills
- Chat GPT skills
- Video skills
- Etc.
When you mix your hands-on experience with the free tutorials on my YouTube channel and here on the blog (that you'll get walked through in order, next)...
You'll find that the tools are really quite easy to use.
Sticking with it for the long run turns out to be the true 'secret to success'
The trick is sticking with 1 blog, 1 audience and 1 strategy long enough to achieve escape velocity in your business.
Then, once you've got 1 site spitting off automated cashflow, you can stack on another later and build a portfolio. Or, you can double down on that one site through advertising and creating your own products to scale a digital brand into a 7-figure or 8-figure business.
The key is to systematize the entire process so you know exactly where you need to focus, at all times.
I've broken it down to the 3 systems you must build to create dependable automated income online:
- The Audience Growth System
- The Trust Building System
- The Monetization System
Introducing The ATM Systems
Next up, watch this video to learn how the ATM systems work together to automate your cash flow:
System #1 - Your Audience Growth System:
Now...
As you focus on the first system which is your audience growth system you have a decision to make.
- Are you going to use your time and energy to grow your audience?
Or
- Are you going to use money through paid advertising to grow your audience?
If you have more time than money, content marketing is the best way to earn money online without a big investment.
I cover the entire content marketing strategy in depth, here.
The TL;DR is this:
- Choose your main publishing platform - Starting a blog is my #1 recommendation. Growing a YouTube channel is my #2 recommendation. These are the only options because they are the only ones that drive traffic from people searching for answers, tutorials, tips, tricks, etc.
- Figure out what questions, queries and phrases your audience is searching for through keyword research. Specifically, how to find niche keyword phrases with relatively low difficulty scores.
- Outline, write and publish an SEO optimized (SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization) blog post or video that answers the searcher's question. You'll learn how to write an SEO optimized blog post fast, here.
- Challenge yourself to a 90 day content marketing challenge! Can you publish 1 post or 1 video per day for 90 consecutive days? If you can, you'll get through the learning curve faster than ever. Plus, you'll get through the 'sucking at it' phase and you'll feel more confident as a content creator!
If you have more money than time, paid ads are the way.
I still recommend new advertisers start on Facebook. Here's my Free 'How To Advertise On Facebook" video
System #2 - Your Trust Building System
This is your email marketing system and strategy.
Surely you've heard the saying: "The Money Is In The List"
I can confirm this is very true.
Once you've built an email list of audience members who know you, like you and trust you…
Generating cash flow is as easy as sending an email with an offer.
Whether it's an affiliate offer or something you create, it doesn't matter.
In my business, 80% of my income is derived directly from email marketing.
Now, I've got my free email marketing training on YouTube here.
But...
It can be very difficult to start sending out emails if you've never done it before.
There are so many people who have small lists of 230 subscribers are 1417 subscribers that could be making good money if they simply emailed more often.
But what do you send them?
This is where my friend Terry's email marketing templates come in very handy.
Using a "fill in the blank" style you are able to start sending emails that can engage your audience and promote your products while you get comfortable writing on your own.
Email marketing is the million-dollar skill.
System #3 - Monetization
The simplest option here is to run ads with your content.
Google and YouTube both have ad products that allow you to run ads on your content and you'll get a cut of the revenue you generate. Once your site grows and you've got enough traffic (I believe 50,000 visots/mo is the requirement) you can upgrade to MediaVine and often you'll get even more money for the same ad space.
Additionally, you can monetize with affiliate marketing.
Simply find the products that your audience is searching for and find e-commerce sites that sell those products and have affiliate programs.
You get a unique link to add to the review post or in your video description that tracks the traffic you send.
You earn a commission for all sales you generate.
The tech is simple.
I go into more detail in my affiliate marketing crash course (which is free), here.
Generally, you want to have consistent daily traffic visiting your site before reaching out to the different affiliate programs.
It's important to take time to publish great content that actually attracts an audience before you start to engage with the affiliate managers.
You want to be seen as a player who moves traffic...
Not one of the gazillion noobs who hits up the affiliate manager with questions when they don't actually have any traffic yet.
If you get good on video, you can also add UGC Content as an additional stream of income.
The best form of monetization, however, comes when you decide to create your own courses! You earn 100% of the profits from sales of your own products and things like ebooks, video courses or even memberships can be highly automated.
This is the path if you're wanting to grow your audience using paid traffic like Facebook Ads, etc.
I lay out my process for creating courses here.
In addition to creating the course, you gotta sell it too!
And selling is the most important part when it comes to your cash flow...
This is why I created the free sales funnel course and template you can get here.
Time To Build
Well, you made it through the ATM approach to building a business that generates automated income online…
Well done.
you now have a greater understanding about how e-commerce and online business works than 95% of people in our world.
The fact that you are reading this means you have the technology and Internet connection required.
The big question...
Are you willing to commit to an audience to be the most helpful person in their world for the next 3 to 5 years?
For most people, this is too big of a commitment...
Many readers are going to dismiss this free blog posts and they'll go hunting for "an easier way"
LOL.
Those folks will end up wasting their hard earned money on webinars from the greedy gurus promising some sort of shortcut or easy button method to "passive income"
The truth?
There is only one way to make money online that actually works.
If you only watch 1 video on this page, be sure it is this one, here:
I promised you the truth.
And there you have it.
Now, go forth...
Commit to your audience and create useful content for them. If you need help choosing your audience, go here.
If you know your niche and your audience, it's time to build.
The first step is to get your domain name and your self-hosted WordPress blog setup.
Then grow your audience by publishing hundreds of useful blog posts that target keyword phrases your audience is actively searching for. The process for writing SEO content fast is simple.
The real challenge is persevering through the learning curve and the 'sucking at it' phase long enough to have a library of content that the Google or YouTube algorithm fall in love with.
To do this, you need to be a master of the craft... Executing relentlessly with the intention to improve with every piece you publish.
This is a mindset game...
And, to help you win at the mindset game, check out this podcast episode, next:
Miles "The Most Helpful Marketer" Beckler