A Note From Colleen

Hi, friend.

I’m having a bit of a situation with one of my eyes (having it looked at tomorrow). Typing on my laptop is a bit of a mission.

This week’s Gumption Gazette is a repeat of one of my top read posts - on best digital business models for beginners - from February I’ve removed a few sections that are no longer timely.

I hope you enjoy the it. Thanks for your patience and I’ll see you again next week.

Thanks for being here.

Cheers,

Colleen Kochannek, Publisher

*This publication may include affiliate links and links to products I sell. If you click and buy, I may earn revenue and/or commission. 

BUSINESS BASICS

Best Business Model For Beginners

When starting an online business you have TWO primary hills to climb:  

1. Learn HOW to build and manage an online business 

2. Actually BUILD the online business 

It’s also worth noting, right upfront, that no matter which model you choose for your business, you need the same TWO things for success: a product to sell and an audience to buy it (keep this in mind for this discussion).

If you’ve done any research or surfing around the topic of starting an online business you’ve certainly come across many different models:

• Digital products

• Virtual coaching/education

• Memberships and subscriptions

• Affiliate marketing

• Digital services

• Dropshipping

• Print on Demand

• eCommerce (Esty shops and such)

The chicken vs egg scenario that makes it all a bit tricky is we can’t learn HOW to build an online business any other way than actually building one. It can feel overwhelming and risky and scary as hell. What if it doesn’t work? What if I don’t like it? What if I fail? What if? What if? What if?

But, if you choose the right starting point (aka model) it can be easy, peasy and sunshine breezy (mostly). 

What’s the right starting point? A digital product or service - no matter what your ultimate vision for your business is. No matter which model you ultimately want, a digital product or service is your best bet when starting.

What is a digital product or service? A product or service that can be promoted, sold and delivered virtually (aka no physical products or in-person contact).

A few digital product types:

• Downloadable products such as resource lists, mini-guides, cheatsheets

• Downloadable Printables (Trackers, Checklists, Calendars, Worksheets)

• Templates and swipe Files (you create a generic template of an asset and sell it for people to customize and use as their own)

• eCourse

• Virtual coaching or workshops (teach a workshop via Zoom!) 

Digital service:

• Virtual consultations:  virtual dog training, virtual interior design consultation… the sky’s the limit))

An example of a digital product is my Go-Getter’s Guide ($6). A Simple Quick-Start Online Business System For Women Over 50

This simple, downloadable PDF resource walks you through a 6-step system to quickly get your business up and running. It provides an overview of the whole digital business starting process. People can print the document out or access it on their laptop.

Once I had the idea and a basic outline, The Go-Getter’s Guide took me approximately two days (approximately 10 hours total) to create. This includes writing the guide in Google docs, creating a cover in Canva, creating the pdf file, setting up a simple sales funnel in Stan.Store and creating a few promotional assets.

An example of a digital service: In the past I’ve offered virtual 1:1 consultations offered via Zoom. The session is customized to the customer’s specific needs. We can use this 1:1 time to refine a business idea, outline an actual product,; or, set up a tech funnel.   This type of high touch, personalized service (usually priced at a premium) is a great way to quick cash injections for your business.

Simple digital products and services are low risk, low effort, and high impact. By creating and selling a digital product or service you have a tangible asset you can put into play to:  

1. Learn how an online business works with an actual product

2. Learn how to set up and manage a funnel (the tech mechanism to promote, sell, receive payment and deliver for your product)

3. Learn how to create a tangible product

4. Learn how to market and talk about your product

5. Get a product out there and start learning from your customers 

A simple digital product can be created and set up and ready for sale in a weekend.

Business Models I Don’t Recommend For Beginners

Membership programs - An incredibly popular model.  

Members get access to exclusive content, assets and activities in exchange for a monthly fee (like a subscription). Membership programs span genres from business memberships for entrepreneurs to people who follow a specific diet to those who want to learn how to watercolor.

• Allure: The ability to generate recurring monthly revenue. 

• Challenges:

  • The time required to create, launch and build a membership (it took me about 6 months)

  • The technology needed to host and run a membership has a lot of moving parts. There are many softwares suitable for membership programs (Kajabi, Teachable, Kartra and more) complex and come with a pretty steep learning curve.

  •  Memberships typically require new content on a regular basis. This requires time and effort. 

  • Memberships may include a ‘community feature’, which requires management and content creation (separate from that of the actual membership). 

  • Churn (people canceling their monthly membership) is your biggest challenge. 

  • Launching a new membership can be tricky. You may only have a few members in the beginning. The amount of work vs the revenue is way out of whack. 

Dropshipping 

Dropshipping is an e-commerce model where you market and sell products that are shipped directly to the customer from the manufacturer. You don’t make the product. You hold no inventory. You don’t manage the shipping. 

Allure:  Dropshipping is often marketed as a beginner-friendly, easy-button business. Those who market dropshipping tend to cite things like:

• Minimum investment to get started

• Flexibility and freedom - run your business from anywhere 

• Choice - So many products to choose from so you can sell stuff you love

• Easy to scale: You have no inventory and your business is run from your computer. You won’t need a big team or physical space.

What they often don’t mention:

• Margins are incredibly tight

• Competition is high (trending products get a lot of attention, everyone wants to sell the same thing)

• You don’t make the product so you have zero control over:  

  • Product quality 

  • Shipping errors and delays

  • Supplier mistakes 

  • Quality issues

  • Out of stock issues

• Customer Service  - Will likely be the largest part of what you do. Keep in mind, it’s not your product, but you’re marketing it so you’re the face and contact point for any issues that arise. 

• Complicated:

  • Finding trending products and acting on them fast

  • Beating the competition, when you all want to sell the same thing

  • Research heavy: finding trending products, researching the manufacturers and suppliers, understanding the whole scope of each product.

  • Shipping issues can be complex

  • Legal and taxes will require professional guidance. 

• Effort and audience: You are building an audience and brand around products that are NOT yours. So, should you decide to sell a different product or the manufacturer stops making the product and poof…all that effort (and expense) for nothing.

• Branding - You’re selling the same products and many others. How do you stand out? How do you get visible? It’s a tough, tough road. 

Affiliate marketing. Basically, everything I’ve mentioned for dropshipping is the same for affiliate marketing. You’re building a business around a product that is not yours. The risk is high. Your emotional investment and enthusiasm will not be the same as if you create a product you love and sell that. You spend all your time and effort building an audience and brand for someone else.

Remember what I said earlier: All businesses require the same two things for success: a product to sell and an audience to buy it. So, whether you create your own digital product and sell it or get into dropshipping or affiliate marketing it’s the SAME effort.

If all things are equal, why would you put in this effort for a product that you have zero control over? That doesn’t come from your heart? That you aren’t fully invested in? That you don’t love?

QUICK WINS

Many of us over-50’s are not excited about ‘getting on video’, but video is one of the best mediums when promoting our products on social media. 

Let me help you get comfy in front of the camera.

1. Head to your Facebook profile

2. Start a private Facebook group for yourself. You are the ONLY member (You may need to invite one person to join - Facebook used to make you do this). I call mine Colleen’s Training Studio. Nobody, but you, will see it.

Use your Private Facebook Group to Practice:

• Recording video and uploading  videos 

• Not looking like a deer in headlights

• Emoting enough to look energetic and animated.

• Voice tone and level and speed. 

• Pretending you’re simply talking to a good friend

And, dare I say, practice, Going Live! 

• Get comfortable with hitting the ‘Go Live’ button and waiting for the countdown timer to clock you in.

• Understand where the buttons are. 

• Verify:

  • Is your mic working?

  • Is your light decent?

  • How do you see comments, etc…

Practice makes progress. Record and upload a few videos and just see how you’re doing. I promise you’ll get better.

ASK-ME-ANYTHING

You don’t and no!

Using a personal PayPal account to accept payment for products is unprofessional, against PayPal’s terms and most likely illegal (not 100% sure on this one). 

Would you send payment for a product to a personal account? No.

Payment processors, like PayPal and Stripe, charge processing and per transaction fees. It’s a cost of doing business. They enable you a secure way to accept payment for products. You know these costs up front, so build it into your plan.

Hit REPLY to this email. Send me your questions!

The SUGGESTION BOX

Questions and suggestions for admin or the Ask-Me-Anything section. Simple Hit REPLY to this email or email us at: [email protected]