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It’s sometimes thought that financial success comes down to luck. A person launches a business and hits it big coming out of the starting gate. Maybe that does happen – occasionally – but it’s not typical. One of the best ways to prove the point is by following up with someone several years after starting a business and finding success. That’s what I’ve done, and guess what I found?
More success, much more!
Back in 2019, I covered the incredible story of Kelan and Brittany Kline in How This 28-Year-Old Couple Quit Their Jobs And Make $100,000 A Year Working From Home. But after catching up with them recently, I knew it was time for an update. The Kline’s no longer make $100,000 a year working from home. They left that threshold in the dust and are now closing in on $100,000 per month – most of it through passive income streams.
How have they managed to continue their incredible success?
In my first report on the Kline’s, Kelan and Brittany – each 28 at the time – and their blog, The Savvy Couple, was up and running for just three years. At that time, they had built the blog into a $100,000-plus income source.
What made this story truly remarkable was that neither had any previous experience running an online business, let alone one generating a six-figure income. Brittany had previously been a teacher, while Kelan had held a series of unrelated jobs including law enforcement. In addition, they live in a small community in upstate New York – hardly a location you might expect to launch a successful online business from.
The blog started out as a way for Kelan and Brittany to show others how to better manage their finances, based on their own experience in providing for their new family on a limited income. With $40,000 in student loan debts, their initial hope was that the blog would eventually produce at least $500 per month in additional income.
But as time went on, the popularity of the blog and the income it generated increased steadily. As it did, and the couple saw the income potential it presented, the Kline’s were eventually able to quit their respective jobs and turned The Savvy Couple into their primary occupations.
Having an online,work-from-home business brought tons of benefits. Free from the constraints of traditional, 9-to-5 jobs, the Kline’s enjoyed control of their schedules, more time with each other and their young daughter, Kallie, a truly creative occupation, and the prospect of unlimited income.
It isn’t hard to see how that combination wasn’t the end of their story. The blog, and its income, have continued to grow since.
Kelan and Brittany’s family has expanded to four since 2019, with daughters Kallie, four, and Kennedy, two. Their business success has enabled them to split their business and parenting time. Kelan works mornings and then takes over the parenting role when Kallie comes home from preschool in the afternoon, enabling Brittany to work.
Kelan and Brittany Kline & Family
By their own reckoning, they’re living their dream lives. They wake up when they want, have breakfast with the girls, and set up their daily schedules. They have been intentional about setting up their lives to have as much freedom as possible. That includes taking plenty of days off and going on three or four vacations each year.
“This is definitely a different way for our kids to grow up than how both of us grew up with our parents going to work in the traditional 9-5 every day,” Brittany observes. “We’re working hard on teaching them you can create your own life of freedom with hard work, discipline, and dedication. Even though we work from home or online, we still have responsibilities and deadlines that need to be met.”
Kelan and Brittany Kline in one of their frequent trips to the beach
The Kline’s have implemented four specific strategies to keep their business growing steadily over the past four years.
If you’re a solo entrepreneur, you’ll eventually bump up against the limit of time. After all, there are only so many hours in the day and the number and extent of responsibilities involved in running a small business are practically unlimited. As so many other small business owners have learned, the way to overcome this limitation is by hiring talented individuals to perform an increasing number of necessary tasks.
This has been one of the biggest revelations for the Kline’s, and a critical component of their ability to expand. They managed to add staff, while staying within budget, by employing part-time contractors.
That started, first and foremost, by hiring a virtual assistant (VA). That person functions as a jack of all trades, handling customer service and content writing, among other functions. The Kline’s also work with an editor, as well as a monetization expert who largely handles revenue-generating affiliate arrangements for the site. Tying it all together is an operations manager overseeing the big picture.
Employing these four specialists has freed Kelan and Brittany to only have to work 10-20 hours per week and to concentrate on expanding their business. That has enabled the couple to improve existing product lines, as well as add new ones. They can more easily maintain that focus knowing the day-to-day details of running the business are handled by their part-time staff.
The Kline’s have been careful to stay within their chosen market niche. For The Savvy Couple website, that includes topics like money management, budgeting, saving money, and investing. But the primary emphasis remains on ways to make more money, specifically through starting profitable side hustles. In an age of inflation, it’s easy to understand why generating additional income is such a popular topic.
“We’ve been writing content in the Making Money Online niche for almost three years,” Kelan reports. “We’ve also focused heavily on search engine optimization (SEO) and solving user intent within that niche. In the process, we’ve consistently attempted to rank for very competitive keywords that are lucrative and support our affiliate marketing channel. This has helped to scale our passive income.”
At the same time, Brittany has been working specifically on developing digital planners, organizers, and printables for their other brand, The Savvy Mama.
Those products include a bundle of planners and organizers that help moms organize, simplify, and generally better control the chaos in their lives. There’s now even a Savvy Mamas Membership Brittany created to help moms stay accountable, which has helped expand their business even further.
“Branching out into something of my own has been terrifying but very exciting,” Brittany reports. “As a mom myself, I know how mothers often face numerous challenges and struggles, as they juggle multiple responsibilities and roles. If I can help alleviate just a little bit of stress and help a mom feel more accomplished in her day, then I believe I‘ve made a positive impact and contributed to her well-being and overall happiness.”
Along the same line, the Kline’s developed another related site, The Savvy Kitchen. The site provides recipes, meal planning, cooking tips, and other resources to help homemakers save money while preparing healthier meals at home.
The Kline’s have also developed The Savvy Couple YouTube channel, which currently has 90 videos and more than 10,000 subscribers. Not only does the channel help generate additional revenue, but it also builds the brand name and provides visitors with additional resources.
The emphasis on outsourcing multiple responsibilities to staffers is providing the time for the Kline’s to get better control of their time and the income they generate with it. Unlike when they first started the blog, Kelan and Brittany now pay close attention to the hours they spend in the business, and where that time is concentrated.
“A rule of thumb that we use is to track our hours and how much we’re making on an hourly basis,” says Kelan. “That’s currently over $1,000 per hour for me. So I focus on activities within the business that are $1,000 per hour tasks. I’ve learned that everything I outsource is going to free up my time to focus on growing the business.”
When we think of artificial intelligence (AI), it’s almost natural to see it used primarily by large organizations. But Kelan and Brittany are an example of a small business employing AI to help grow their business.
“We came across AI tools back in 2020 while we were searching for ways to improve our content creation systems and processes,” Kelan reports. “We started using Jasper AI and Surfer to create article outlines, write the first draft, come up with titles, unique ideas and perspectives, expand on topics, and more. Our entire team now uses ChatGPT in the content creation process, including YouTube scripts, email marketing, customer service, social media, and more. Two new AI tools we are starting to use are Koala and Surfer AI.”
In fact, AI has become integrated within the business across the board in almost every system and process they have. Kelan reports that the tools continue to get steadily better allowing them to create more content and better serve their audience.
Like virtually every other industry, blogging is an ever-evolving enterprise. And like any business with many success stories, the blogging field has become crowded and competitive in just a few short years.
AI has been one example of a major change in the industry, but there are plenty of others. For example, Kelan and Brittany have been intentional about avoiding the kinds of Google penalties that can torpedo a blog’s revenue. They’ve also increased their focus on creating high quality content.
“I think blogging has become significantly more difficult in the last few years,” reveals Kelan. “I think it would be very hard to get into the game now, especially in a very competitive niche. Google is now looking at ‘EAT’ – which is experience, authority, and trust – and you need to incorporate that into all content on your site.”
“If you’re reviewing products or presenting side hustles,” Kelan continues, “you need hands-on experience with the product, including testing it against others. In that way, you’re providing first-person reviews and experiences. We spend hours upon hours evaluating dozens of side hustles and ways to try various ways to make money online and documenting the process as we do. It’s no longer as simple as opening up WordPress, typing an article, and hoping people see it.”
The Road to Success Isn’t Always a Straight Line – What Hasn’t Worked
Starting a business of any size is a process of fits and starts. That’s as true of blogging as it is of any other business. Even though some efforts are producing positive results, others are heading in the other direction. Kelan and Brittany are now well acquainted with that reality.
While the couple has found success in building web traffic through a combination of SEO and social media and creating revenue streams from display ads and sponsorships, they found some sources work better than others.
For example, sponsorships were an early revenue generator. This is a process of endorsing third-party products and services on the blog. The Kline’s have learned to be much more selective in the products they sponsor on their sites. “We’re now very strategic with the brands we work with and turn down 90% of the offers we get,” offers Kelan. “We never work with a brand unless we personally have used them in the past or are allowed to test them out beforehand. This way we ensure our audience is getting the best-recommended products and services on the market to help them increase their income, manage their money, and reach financial freedom.”
They’ve also run into some rough sledding with some of the products they’ve created and offered. “We basically tried a bunch of different courses at higher prices,” reports Kelan. “We’re talking $100, $200 and $500 per course that we’ve launched to our audience. Many have failed. But that is how you learn and improve. I don’t believe in failure. The only way you can fail is if you don’t learn and improve from your mistakes.”
The chart below presents a clear picture of the income progression of The Savvy Couple since it started earning revenue in 2017. As you can see, income has risen in each year, except 2020 – which as we all know was the year of the Covid-19 Pandemic and subsequent economic shutdown.
But notice that in July, 2019, when I wrote How This 28-Year-Old Couple Quit Their Jobs And Make $100,000 A Year Working From Home, the Kline’s income actually finished the year at over $250,000. It then resumed its growth pattern in 2021, then topped $500,000 in 2022.
Based on the current pace, the Klines expect their three brands under Savvy Media Marketing to earn nearly $1.2 million in 2023, or an average of $100,000 per month.
The Savvy Couple revenues from 2017 to 2023
The pie chart below breaks down the various sources of revenue for the site, as well as the percentage each generates. Revenue from affiliate programs and digital products sales together represent nearly two-thirds of total revenue.
The Savvy Couple revenue sources 2023
Up to this point, Kelan and Brittany’s plan has been to build The Savvy Coupe into a seven-figure business. Now that that’s becoming a reality, the new goal is to reach financial freedom by age 35. That gives them just a few short years to make it happen. But given the success they’ve enjoyed over the past six years, they’re an odds-on bet to reach their goal.
That doesn’t mean the Kline’s plan to ultimately retire from The Savvy Couple. Quite the contrary. The plan is to continue to build web traffic and revenue to all three websites. In the process, they’re working to increase passive income. That’s revenue generated by the blogs with little or no additional effort on their parts.
But as they do, and their income from blogging rolls in, they’re putting more money into the stock market. That’s another part of their ultimate goal of reaching financial freedom at age 35, at least partially from the passive income generated by those investments.
That will enable them to spend even more quality time with family and on personal pursuits. At the same time, they’re developing the blogs to help serve and impact as many people as possible with the mission of creating more time and money to build a life of freedom for the many regular visitors to their websites.
Despite the increasing challenges in the blogging space, the Kline’s still believe the niche has potential for new entrants. After all, when they launched their blog in 2016 the field was already crowded. Despite that obstacle, they still hit pay dirt.
“Pick your niche, refine it as you move forward, and become an expert and an authority in the field,” advises Kelan. “Focus on SEO from the very beginning, stay connected with your audience, consistently provide new and useful content, and diversify your income sources, and you can still become a successful blogger.”
No, blogging is not as easy as it used to be. But it’s still one of the most popular ways to make money online – even a lot of it – and to achieve financial freedom in the process. The Kline’s are a living example of that.
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Follow these 10 steps to start a successful business as a beginner.
Starting a business may sound complicated, but if you follow a systematic plan with actionable and practical steps, you can be successful, even as a beginner.
Turning your small business ideas into reality takes time, extensive research, detailed planning, and constant improvement. This article lists an effective 10-step guideline for starting one from scratch.
First, develop one or several small business ideas you want to pursue. If you haven’t settled on an idea yet, you can research to explore various options or choose one that aligns with your passion or interests.
At this point, don’t focus exclusively on the practicality of your idea, and allow yourself to be creative. The question of whether your idea has the potential to be a successful business will be answered in the next step.
There are various methods to conduct market research, including surveys, interviews, and online research. Regardless of your chosen strategy, it’s important to be as thorough as possible.
Know the current trends in your prospect niche, analyze your potential business competitors, and assess whether there’s enough demand for your products or services. Once the data you’ve gathered indicates a market space for your business idea, proceed to the next phase.
Whether you want to self-finance or seek potential investors, you must create a comprehensive business plan. This document serves as a detailed guideline for your business, covering aspects such as your products and services, marketing strategies, financial plans, and more.
With a detailed business plan, you’ll be prepared for difficulties or problems you may encounter when starting your project. Moreover, you will have a clearer understanding of the essence and purpose of your business idea.
Your business plan should have already determined the required financing. That said, it’s time to figure out how you’ll secure the necessary funds for your business.
There are three major ways to obtain funding for your business: self-funding, seeking investors, or acquiring loans. So, decide which ones are most suitable for your business.
Regardless of how your business is funded, set up a separate bank account to avoid mixing up your personal money with your business capital.
Your business structure impacts various aspects of your enterprise. These include your day-to-day operations, how much tax you pay, and the risks to your personal assets.
Select the business structure best suited for the type and scale of your enterprise. You can choose from Limited Liability Company (LLC), Limited Liability Partnership (LLP), Corporation, and Sole Proprietorship.
The registration process for your business varies depending on which structure you choose and the state in which you want to operate.
If you decide to establish your business as a sole proprietorship, there’s no need to register it formally. Your business profits will be considered as your personal income, so you can start immediately without filing separate paperwork. However, if you wish to operate under a brand name instead of your own, you may need to register a Doing Business As (DBA) name.
Suppose you establish your business as an LLC, LLP, or corporation. In that case, you must register it as a separate legal entity, with taxes and income separate from your own.
To do so, visit your state’s business agency, and complete the necessary registration steps. These typically involve paying a filing fee, choosing a registered agent to manage your business’ legal documents, and obtaining your business’s tax identification number and bank accounts.
Decide whether your business requires products and services from vendors that will help you streamline your operations. Some common business functions you may want to outsource to service-providing vendors are finance management, customer service support, and shipping and logistics.
Given that the data you’ll share with vendors may be sensitive, it’s important to engage exclusively with trusted entities in your industry.
In this tech-centered era, establishing an online presence for your business is non-negotiable. This is one of the easiest ways to promote your business to customers and showcase your brand to potential future investors.
The most common methods to establish an online presence for your business are creating a social media page and developing a customized website. As mentioned before, you can outsource this process to vendors if you’re not too experienced in this field.
It’s time to be proactive about showing your products and services to your target audience. You can do this through various offline and online marketing and advertising strategies.
To promote your brand offline, you can sponsor local events, hand out banners and posters, or offer free branded merchandise to the public. Online marketing also offers various options, including paid advertisements, establishing affiliate programs, and engaging in organic social media marketing, where you post regular content and build a community around your brand.
Launching a business marks the initial phase of your entrepreneurial journey. Be prepared to improve and change how your business operates over time, as this is almost always inevitable.
Join communities, collaborate with other brands in your niche or industry, and accept constructive criticisms from customers and experienced entrepreneurs. Your business doesn’t have to be perfect to succeed, but it should always be adapting and improving.
Even if you plan to establish a sole-proprietorship business, don’t pressure yourself to do everything independently. Know your strengths and weaknesses in starting a business and ask for help when needed on aspects you’re unsure of or inexperienced in doing.
You can ask family, friends, and colleagues for general advice and seek out professionals who can help propel your business to the next level.
While I previously mentioned the importance of crafting a detailed business plan, it may not always be necessary, particularly for small-scale businesses in their initial stages.
Sometimes, an informal plan consisting of just a page or two will be more than enough to provide insight into the profitability of your business idea. From here, you can always expand the business plan as you start operating your company and get more accurate, real-time data.
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Adapt or die: 3 things businesses must do to avoid becoming irrelevant in the AI revolution
Describing artificial intelligence as a disruptive technology is a colossal understatement. We are entering an AI boom, with AI-ification happening across industries globally. The big players are all getting involved, many have played their hand and the others are still working away behind the scenes. Dropbox just laid off 500 people to focus on AI, Apple is reportedly about to launch something. It’s all kicking off.
Businesses are facing an adapt or die dilemma, some for the second time in three years.
What’s happening right now has a similar theme to Covid-19, where businesses were forced to make better use of technology to stay afloat during a few years of lockdowns and restricted travel. To thrive in that crisis, you had to think smart, lest you fell behind or became irrelevant.
Adapting during 2020 came out of necessity. Doing so meant escaping obsolescence. Now it’s not quite the same, or is it? Bill Gates famously called artificial intelligence the next big revolution, and he thinks AI will teach children to read and write within the next 18 months. There’s no doubt that AI is creating new opportunities, but is it removing them for those who don’t act?
Like with those technologies of the past that completely changed the playing field, sceptics will need to quickly change their views. Maybe you think your business or industry won’t be affected. Maybe you think this fad will simply pass by, like affiliate marketing or crypto. Maybe you think AI advancements are nothing but science fiction, and it’ll be another century before any of this really takes hold.
If you’re in the camp of ignorance or denial, you need to revisit your views and understanding of AI. If you’re still unclear on the power of ChatGPT 4, created by OpenAI and just one of the AI tools being used by entrepreneurs who want to get ahead, watch OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman’s TED talk on just what their technology can do.
If you’re struggling to see how artificial intelligence will change your business, you need to think more creatively about how your competitors, new entrants to your field, or even your customers will replace part or all of your services in the future. Here are three things to do ensure you adapt rather than die.
Start from the bottom with a beginner’s mind and find out the state of AI in your industry. What are people using it for, how and why? These people won’t be discussing it on LinkedIn or presenting on stage, they’ll be gathering tips in forums and chatting with friends. They’ll be building prototypes, running experiments and taking new opportunities to become AI entrepreneurs. The AI entrepreneurs who emerge in your industry will be the winners who take all.
As an established business, you hold advantages over new players in the industry, but only for so long. If someone offers a product nearly as good as yours for a fraction of the price, you’re fighting a losing battle. With sufficient research, you’re able to see what some of the smartest minds in the world are thinking about. Use this to figure out how you combat potential competitors and see where you could invest in AI yourself.
To imagine the role of artificial intelligence in your business, go back to basics with how it operates. Answer the simple question: what is your business here to do? What is the true value it delivers for customers? Why does your business even exist? Go deeper and keep going until you’re at the simplest explanation, likely in the format, “I create [outcome] for [audience].”
Now, your job is to figure out how to achieve the same outcome, for the same people, but in the most effective way possible, using every tool available. Armed with your first principles, which will remain largely unchanged through the AI revolution, you can reimagine how you operate and deliver value. Can you deliver the same result but faster or cheaper by integrating AI? Can you deliver a better product or service using the power of AI? Find the value and pass it onto your customers.
Adapt or die: 3 things businesses must do to avoid becoming irrelevant in the AI revolution
One option is to go all in with artificial intelligence, another is to take baby steps. While letting others take the risks and seeing where you land might work, you will still want to get involved on some level. This means that even if you’re not about to launch a bunch of tools and use AI to completely revolutionize your business, you should think about how existing tools can help you create more output. While you don’t have to overhaul everything immediately, you should become familiar with the scope of AI, and experiment with it within your business.
Ignoring this will mean you become an observer and then a user, not a creator and a leader. No one else is going to incorporate AI into your business for you. They’ll simply see you as a potential future client of theirs. If a tiger began to chase you, would you rather already be running away, or standing still, waiting for it to get close? A little experience and understanding gives you huge advantages over those who are burying their heads in the sand, not even trying to understand how it works or how they can use it.
This revolution is not going away. Similar to the essential pivoting that took place during 2020, entrepreneurs cannot ignore what artificial intelligence is going to do to businesses. Do you want to do what everyone else is doing; reading the news and observing the hype, or do you want to make your mark and reap the benefits that the first movers are already seeing? Before you declare it’s not for you and turn a blind eye, do some research, go back to first principles, and look to see where you can integrate the technology.
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