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Mastering the Art of Online Sales: A Step-by-Step Guide to Selling Digital Products and Services
This will be a comprehensive overview on everything you need to know to sell digital or real products online. (Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. I get a commission if you choose to make any purchase)

Not everyone is aware of this fact but most content creators do not necessarily earn a living from ads, creator reward funds or bonus programs or even from brand deals.

A good portion of the most successful online entrepreneurs, including those who consider themselves to be creators, make most of their money from selling products online.

These products can be physical or digital, and they can be offered by the creator themselves, or promoted as an affiliate of someone else’s product or service for a commission on each sale.

If you are interested in selling online, here are the steps you will need to undergo.

A. BEFORE YOU CREATE YOUR PRODUCT TO SELL
1. Market Research
First, you need to create a product that people want to buy. This could be an ebook on a popular topic, a course that teaches a valuable skill, or software that solves a common problem.

But first thing you need to determine if there is a need or interest in your product and service. You can do that by conducting research on competitiors, check out online marketplaces like Etsy, ClickBank and Udemy to see who is offering products similar to what you want to offer and you can usually see their sales. This insight will give you a good understanding on whether or not your product will sell.

Do not make the mistake I made as to spend months creating intensive programs, recording video, pulling together curriculum and then getting little to no sales. Don’t waste time making a product YOU like without first determining if there is an actual market for it.

2. Price Research

Part of your research should include collecting insights on how to price your product. Avoid advice to start at a high price point. Unless you already have an established authority or brand in the industry or you have done the legwork and have deciphered that the value of the knowledge in your products, courses or materials is very high and that there is few competitiors out there offereing similar product. If demand outnumbers products then you can make a play there too with a high ticket.

Without conducting this research first, you may price yourself out of the market or you may price your product so low that it is be perceived to not have value. Also, you don’t want to short change yourself by pricing too low. There is a fine balance. There is such a thing as Product Pricing coaches out there who help their digital creator, coaching and business clients figure out how to price their products.

3. Establish Authority or Credibility

You will also need to lay some groundwork in establishing your authority or credibility in the space you are in. You can do this through an active social media account or online presence where you add regular and consistent value through posts. If you have managed to grow a significant following during this process that’s clutch! Why? Because you would have already established and active and engaged audience that would be more amenable to purchasing your offer.

You can also establish authority by creating a YouTube channel, podcast or blog. The more you post or share on the topic, and your content gets discovered in search or by word-of-mouth, the better your odds of selling.

You can also use your email list to share value and promote your expertise and knowledge.

If you have the ability to do guest post, or show up on other people’s platforms such as a podcast, Clubhouse club or television show, do it!

Getting the endorsement from an established authority in your brand is a fast hack to crediblity.

B. DECIDE WHAT TO SELL

Once you’ve laid the ground work, the next step is to decide what to sell. I’ll share these in order of least time intensive to more rigorous to create.

1. Digital Products.

Digital products can include something simple as a template, workbook, ebooks, and more. They are a great way to generate income because they are relatively easy to create and can be sold to a large audience.

You can use online services like Canva which has over 10,000 templates and is free. I highly recommend you consider purchasing the pro level because for the cost of a daily latte for a month, you get custom branded colors, access to over 1M high quality vectors, lifestyle photos and the ability to add a team, in case you work with VAs (virtual assistants) or interns.

START CANVA FREE

2. Courses and Coaching

Instead of selling your knowledge in a digital format, you can offer on-demand courses, consulting and coaching services. There are a lot of different platforms out there that you can use to sell your course. Kajabi, Thinkific and Teachable are among the most popular.

I sell my courses via Teachable and love that it collects a nominal fee, is reasaonbly priced, manages your affiliates, allows you to drip content, bundle products, create upsells and more! It has great templates and look professional. You can also sell your coaching services using Teachable.

Try TEACHABLE!

If you don’t already have a website, you should create one because it’s still the most valuable asset you’ll have for your business and builds credibility.

I created a blog post and YouTube video that walks you through setting up a website in one hour yourself here.

C. SELECT A PLATFORM

Outside of courses, once you have created your stand alone product, you need to find a way to sell it.

When choosing a platform to sell digital products, there are a few things you should consider:
- The platform’s fees: Some platforms charge fees for selling digital products, while others do not.
- The platform’s features: Some platforms offer more features than others, such as the ability to create a sales page or track your sales.
- The platform’s user base: Some platforms have a larger user base than others, which can help you reach more customers.
There are many different platforms that you can use to sell digital products. Some of the most popular platforms include:
- Shopify: Shopify is a popular eCommerce platform that allows you to create an online store and sell digital products.
- Etsy: Etsy is a marketplace for handmade and vintage goods, but it also allows you to sell digital products.
- Amazon: Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer, and it also allows you to sell digital products through its Amazon Marketplace.
- ClickBank: ClickBank is a marketplace for digital products that allows you to sell products without having to create your own website.
- Gumroad: Gumroad is a platform that allows you to sell digital products directly from your website.
You can also sell your products directly from your own website.

But when you just are starting out, I recommend you use the simplest platform.

For me, that has been Etsy and Gumroad. Both have a simple easy to use interface and they do all the work for your. Collect the fee, calculate taxes, provide special codes, coupons and more.

CREATE AN ETSY ACCOUNT HERE | START WITH GUMROAD

They usually charge a small transaction fee for each sale but it’s worth it because of the headache they save you from having to do all of that yourself.

D. CREATE A SALES PAGE

When you are selling digital products, it is important to create a good sales page. A sales page are usally a web page that is designed to sell a product or service.

Your sales page should explain what your product is, why people should buy it, and how they can buy it. You should also include a strong call to action, such as “Buy Now” or “Sign Up.”

It is usually a standalone page that is not part of a website’s main navigation.

Sales pages typically include the following elements:
- A headline that grabs attention and introduces the product or service
- A description of the product or service, including its features and benefits
- Testimonials from satisfied customers
- A call to action that encourages visitors to make a purchase
There are lots of platforms out there that will help you create a good sales funnel with drag and drop functionality, ClickFunnels, Kajabi and a good old fave of mine LeadPages. Any of these or others will do.

E. SELL OTHERS PRODUCTS OR SERVICES AND EARN A COMMISSION

If you do not have your own product or service, no worries. There are thousands of brands, companies, coaches out there that will be happy for you to help them sell.

Affiliate marketing is a form of performance-based marketing in which a company rewards one or more affiliates for each sale generated by the affiliates’ marketing efforts. The affiliates are usually websites, bloggers, or social media influencers who promote the company’s products or services.

There are several ways the parties come together.

Some companies use affiliate networks, which are platforms that connect affiliates with companies that want to promote their products or services. Other companies use direct affiliate programs, which are programs that allow companies to work directly with affiliates.

I’ve created a listing of platforms where businesses enroll to get access to publishers, creators and influencers who are eager to help the brands and companies promote their products.

GET MY LIST OF POPULAR AFFILIATE PROGRAMS TO SIGN UP FOR

F. MARKET AND PROMOTE YOUR PRODUCT

After you have created your product listing, you need to market your product. There are many different ways to market digital products, such as:
- Social media: You can use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to promote your product.
- Email marketing: You can use email marketing to send promotional emails to your subscribers.
- Search engine optimization (SEO): You can use SEO to improve your product’s ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs).
- Paid advertising: You can use paid advertising platforms like Google AdWords or Facebook Ads to promote your product.
To keep up with all of this, I highly recommend you get a good workflow system to help you keep track of your to-do list, your ideas, and each stage in the process from creation to marketing and promotion.

There are various platforms that creators use such as Asana, ClickUp and more. I prefer Notion and actually sell a course where I take you behind the scenes of my own Notion set up for those who learn better by examples.

ENROLL IN MY WORKFLOW COURSE

Selling digital products can be a great way to make money online.

By following these tips, you can create a successful digital product business.

Hope that was helpful!

Until next time,

Jay Jay Ghatt
How to Start YouTube Channel with 0 Subscribers in 2023

A lot of people start their YouTube journey on a whim or without learning how to grow on the platform.

They make mistakes and see slow growth consequently they put a lot of effort into their channel only to see little results, few subs, and low viewership on their videos then give up.

If I was starting with zero subscribers on YouTube, these are the afew things that I would do first.

Identify and research your Niche

When I started I wasn’t quite sure what my niche was and I know I skipped this step. I jumped into YouTube and started doing Pinterest Marketing because that’s what I wanted to do.

I failed to research who else was doing that type of content on YouTube and what they were doing that worked. I did not find out what videos had been produced in my content niche, and whether those videos had gotten a lot of views irrespective of the followers or subscribers.

RELATED CONTENT: Grow Your YouTube With These Tools

Researching also gives you insight into data that tells you which content is trending or if it is searchable. It shows if there are people looking for your content and if YouTube recognizes it or if the video is top quality. That is a sign that the content is viable to pursue.

So before you start, identify your niche and have a plan. Research other accounts in your niche and see what is working for them. Tempting as it is, do not skip this step.

When researching, try and do the following:-

Install the VidIQ extension.

Being a YouTuber is a pretty lonely thing and most people don’t have help or a department to figure out analytics, do keyword research, or assign content topics. Instead, you will rely on different tools. One of them is VidIQ.

On the free level of VidIQ, you will get the back end of every single channel on YouTube.

When you download the browser extension, VidIQ will pull the data from the video and have it listed for you. It will have done the biggest part of the research for you. You can see how many times is shared and how many views it got what SEO score and these are this is useful things you need to know.

Go through the comments of your videos and others in your niche.

It is important to go through the comment section of existing popular channels. Here you will see what questions people asked and if they were not answered go ahead and answer them. This gives you an opportunity to get a new set of audiences in your niche to potentially see your channel.

You can also go further ahead and also do a video on what people are asking about even if the video was from three years ago. You could update your competitor’s video and title it the 2023 version. And because that video was popular before, you will have a high likelihood of getting that so that’s what you learn from yet.

Channel Banners and Thumbnails

If you don’t necessarily have a banner, you can research different successful Youtubers in your Niche and emulate their banners. See what they have done with their aesthetic look. Then try and emulate it versus trying to go and reinvent the will. Why start from scratch if you have a blueprint that works?

Consistent Quality Content Creation.

The second thing I think you would want to do is create quality content consistently.

QUALITY CONTENT + CONSISTENCY = A GROWING COMMUNITY. I think this formula will help you grow a community of audience members that care about the content and they will keep coming back to interact with your page.

When it comes to consistency, I would look at what rate you would be producing videos. Everybody’s schedule is different some have a support team and some do it as full-time work.

Another thing to consider would be your audience. We interviewed someone who said that when he started he did four to five posts a week. When he asked on his community tab about it, his audience said once or twice was enough and he had to pull back.

The factor that would determine your Candance is your YouTube analytics. If you take a look at your YouTube analytics and it looks like you can go a couple of weeks without posting, that’s fine. However, there are those who realize if they post once a week their viewership goes down or they get lost in the algorithms, or people in their niche who are doing more are taking the audience away because they’re not consistent.

RELATED: How to Get more Views on YouTube in 2022 as a Small YouTuber | Crack the Browse Algorithm

If you are realistic you will be more consistent. People who aren’t realistic try to go all out and that’s how you fall off the wagon and get burned out.

Another thing you need to decide is if you want to niche down. Again, I’m not saying you have to niche down, you will hear different conflicting pieces of advice from YouTubers and people here in Clubhouse or people you know who follow YouTubers who will say you have to niche down other people like that.

Remember to plan!

When you have a content plan you’re more likely to stick to it. There are lots of free content calendars around. I have used Hootsuite, Buffer, Asana, and even the calendar tool in Canva. I’ve settled on Monday.com but you can experiment.
How To Boost Your Content With Good Lighting as a Creator, Influencer, or Content Creator

When you scroll through videos on Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat, you might find yourself skipping over videos of people shot in poor lighting.

According to video production company Sheffield Dav, “Lighting is one of the most critical aspects of creating a video because it allows you to set the mood for the video”.

Poor lighting can make a somber situation seem too light. It can make a comedic situation seem more serious than intended.

Pinpointing lighting directly on specific objects or people helps persuade the viewers to direct their eyes to the intended spot. This ensures that important aspects of the video are not missed.

“Lighting can also be used to add color and texture to otherwise bland environments and scenes. The proper use of lighting can even change the way people and objects appear in the scene; they can look innocent, evil, frightening, happy, beautiful, or even ugly.

“Directional lighting is used to control many different aspects of the video. For instance, lights that are too bright or are aimed directly at the camera can be distracting. This may cause the viewer to miss critical moments in the video. If the lighting becomes too distracting, they may even stop watching the video.

As a creator, influencer, or content creator, lighting plays an important role in the success of your video content Good lighting sets the tone for your video and helps increase engagement with your audience.

But, the perfect lighting isn’t as simple as it seems.

Here are our tips on to boost your content with good lighting:

1. Natural light

Artificial lights can be used to get some interesting shots but natural sunlight is always the best option for creating beautiful videos that look professional and well-lit. If you’re shooting outdoors or near a window, use the sunlight to illuminate your scene and create natural shadows and highlights.

2. Invest in good lighting equipment.

Good quality lighting equipment can go a long way in improving the look and feel of your video. Investing in some good quality lighting will help you create videos with more dynamic range, making it easier to capture brighter scenes.

For a simple start, invest in a ring light; and a tiny on-top light for your camera for mobile situations. I got a Vijim box light for just $20 and it works great!

Vijim Mini Box Light

Light up yourself or your subject in a dimly lit room or at night on the go. With this mini, portable on-camera light. Inexpensive, very bright, easy to charge, has multiple settings, and is perfect for a newbie creator. Compatible with selfie sticks or image stabilizers for use with your mobile camera too!

$19

Buy it on Amazon

Buy it on B&H

3. Play around with shadows.

Shadows are an important element of any scene, whether you’re shooting indoors or outdoors. Experiment with different light sources to create interesting shadows that can add atmosphere and depth to your footage.

4. Diffuse direct light.

Direct sunlight can be too harsh for many videos. So try using a diffuser to soften the intensity of the light. This will allow you to get great shots without washing out your subject or creating too much contrast between highlights and shadows.

By following these tips, you’ll be well on your way to creating stunning video content that looks professional and well-lit. With the right lighting, your videos will stand out from the rest and make a real impact on your audience!

Happy shooting!
How to Get Brand Deals, Sponsorships as a Pinterest Creator or Influencer
In this blog, we go through different ways Pinterest creators can find opportunities to monetize their pins and their online social media presence.

For a few years now, brands have been using influencer marketing as one of their strategies and have been seeking out brand influencers on various social media platforms that align with their brand messaging and have offered them brand deals.

Normally the big platforms get influencers that are on YouTube, Instagram, and/or TikTok. However, Pinterest is a platform where you can get brand deals too.

Below are three different ways that you can use Pinterest to broker brand deals for yourself.

1. Social Media Optimization.

First, you will want to make sure that you have claimed your Pinterest account. You can also link your Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok accounts depending on the social media influencer platform you choose.

You can also choose to link the specific social media account as your business account because you are a business person.

By linking them not only will you see some analytics and data, but also you see trend data that you can use as you’re building out your brand and as you’re building out your account on Pinterest.

2. Brand On the App

The second way you can use Pinterest to get brand deals is through the app.

So before you can do that you have to make sure that your Pinterest account is fully optimized.

If you have a brand that you’ve been using across platforms i.e. brand colors, brand aesthetic, brand thoughts, etc, your content has to have the same look and feel across platforms, so if they were to leave Pinterest and discover you on Instagram or on YouTube, they’ll see there’s continuity.

When you go on Pinterest, make sure that your brand matches aesthetically on other platforms. So visually, and then also not just visually, but then also your niche.

3. Repurpose the Best Content from other platforms onto Pinterest

You might have seen your reach and engagement go down in the recent past. That’s because the platform recently changed in 2021.

Pinterest started optimizing and prioritizing idea pins (idea pins or one to 20 slides). It could be a static image or a video, but they usually say they prefer a video first.

So anything you’ve been doing on other platforms as a trader, whether on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, your Podcasts, or blog, take all of that content and bring it to Pinterest because it’s fresh, especially if it is video content.

Pinterest and LinkedIn are what I call content deserts because everyone’s flocking to TikTok, and Instagram where everyone’s competing. I don’t think it’s oversaturated but everyone’s competing for the eyeballs on those two platforms.

Meanwhile, platforms like LinkedIn, for example, are starving for people like you. So when you go in there, you have a better chance of actually blowing up or getting attention because you are essentially, a big fish in a small pond versus Instagram, a small fish in a big pond to borrow that.

How to Get Discovered on Pinterest

As you create idea pins or Pinterest pins you get discovered by brands or people working at the brands.

For those who are starting out, you can use Pinterest to drive people to a platform where you have a higher following by creating static links or video pins.

There are people on social media who click on Pinterest after searching for something on Google and that includes people who work at brands. I have been on Pinterest for 10 years and I speak from experience.

When I got on Pinterest, brands found me and reached out to me and offered me brand deals. This is because they saw what I was pinning was aligned with their message. They saw that I reached an audience that was similar to their intended audience and customers.

Obviously, one thing you must do is make it easy for brands to reach out to you. You can do this by having email in your bio, you know have someplace for them to reach out quickly.

Whatever niche you just decide to hone in on that you stick to that because that’s also going to help you get more followers. and also to kind of have a sense of, oh, this is what she’s doing on Pinterest. This is what she’s selling. This is what she has to offer on this platform.

Mention the words creator influencer, Blogger, or podcaster this is because now on Pinterest when people search, the results are gonna get actual maybe blog articles, places you can shop, and profiles.

Tag Brands in Idea Pins then Pitch

When you are creating for Pinterest, it is important to have in mind that the beauty of idea pins is that you can tag brands and have affiliate links.

You can have your own affiliate links to products that you own on Reward style, Shopstyle, Amazon Associate, Skimlinks, or any one of these various different affiliate marketing platforms.

For example, if you are doing a video on how you detangle your hair, you can show in the video the paddle brush and comb that you use. Then tag that comb in that video, and have the call to action say buy this brush.

So, when your idea pin blows up all the people who watch the idea are also going to see your tag on the comb the links will go to a link on Pinterest. They buy it and here’s where the influencer branding comes in. You draw in the maker of that brush by tagging them so you can actually tag people and you can tag the product.

RELATED CONTENT: 10 Ways to Repurpose Idea Pins | Social Media & Content Marketing Tips

While you’re making money because you’re tagging your affiliate link to that product, you also tag the brand person who sees that. They will see that, if that idea pin blows up like I’ve had idea pins blow up, you’re getting a lot of engagement it’s going pretty well. The brand knows that you are not just doing well with your idea pin you also promoting them by tagging them.

The natural thing is if they don’t reach out to you, but that idea pin is blowing up for you, t reach out to them!

Send them the link and say, “Hey, I love your product. It’s great. It’s wonderful. I think we have a partnership opportunity and maximum success. You saw how well this can do, and we can start a strategy.”

Whatever it is, structure your brand deals and pitch to them, because you already have what’s called social proof. You can show them that this pin has been shared outside of Pinterest a number of times and they shared it to other places. So you’re telling the brand, here’s my social proof that I am successful, and I can be successful in promoting a brand.

Create Brand Offer

Create your own brand deals. You don’t have to wait for someone to come to you or you don’t have to pitch and hope that someone says yes, you can create your own deals.

Log into sites like Upwork, Fiverr, and other independent marketing or independent contractor platforms where people can go if they need to get someone to edit their website or create some CSS or do something those platforms are there for folks who are creatives, and they’re selling the services.

What you might be asked also by those people who have active Pinterest accounts is:-
- If you have a large following if you have a large reach
- If you have even one pin go viral
That’s enough for you to fashion a media kit that says that I know how to make viral pins, I can pin your product and charge them a certain amount of money. Offer them a KPI, that includes, what you can do for them, how often you’re going to do that, whether or not you know, you know what level of access, you’re giving them to that content that you create, whether you’re gonna be doing it organically, whether you’re going to be creating the content, or whether you’re gonna get users and just repin their thing onto your account.

Influencer Marketing Apps

There are different influencer marketing apps and now that they have recognized Pinterest as a platform, they are trying to cater to influencers, the creators, and the people who make the pins on the Pinterest app. The Pinterest platform is doing more to bridge brand deals.

They are in the process of creating their own sort of brand management that can be the intermediary between Pinterest, creators, and brands.

Sites like Izea and Aspire now allow you to connect your Pinterest account, especially those of you who have a good reach and Pinterest and have a good following inside your brand.

So while you’re also getting Instagram, YouTube, and Tiktok deals, you can also offer a Pinterest deal. If someone comes to you for an Instagram, but not specifically for Pinterest, you can let them know, “Hey, as a bonus, or capital and I can also pin this on my pictures account for X amount of money.”
This is What Creators Who Make Money Online Do Differently
People who do not work in social media, tech, or online content creation and distribution sector, often confuse some of the things we do to promote our work and brand for mindless play.

It has happened to me plenty of times when someone will say to me, “Don’t you ever work?” or “You’re always wasting time on Twitter or Facebook.”

The Creator Economy Is Real

Little do these people know that we are actually sharing content to increase eyeballs on a piece of content that impacts our AdSense revenue and our engagement with audiences elevates our influence and clout.

We can then use that influence when pitching to a literary agent for a book deal or to a brand to partner up with us or make us a brand ambassador.

Brands that tap the influence of creators calculate likes, re-shares, retweets, and comments that users generate from their online interactions with others. The bigger the reach or influence, the better the case for a brand to partner with that person when they are looking for someone to help promote a message, product, or campaign.

Before, brands used to only rely on celebrities to help them market and promote their products, brands, and services.

RELATED POST: Mastering the Art of Online Sales: A Step-by-Step Guide to Selling Digital Products and Services

So no, it’s not all play, after all. On the contrary, successful bloggers, content aggregators, site editors, and social media directors know that their livelihood and payments rely on getting people to land on their pages.

And when visitors land on a site, bloggers and site owners want them to stay long, stick around, browse other content, and visit as many pages as possible.

Each one counts toward cost per million (CPM) impressions. Direct ads, Google AdSense on a blog, YouTube Vlog, or Tumblr site payout based on those impressions delivered.

The average visitor to a site stays on it for less than one second. Sites that are capable of getting users to stick on longer are called “sticky”. You may notice that many sites make their pages stick using tricks like embedding a slide show in an article. So rather than just quickly skim and scroll to get all the content, a user will have to sit there and click the next arrow of a slide to see all 10 of the top 10 hottest lipstick trends of the summer, for example.

Also, a blogger that gets a million hits weekly or daily alone doesn’t get that way by merely cranking out quality content and resting on her laurels. She must go reach visitors and draw them in.

What the Successful Creators Do Differently

Successful sites will:
1. Post on their Facebook Page, Reddit Communities or other online communities and engage fans actively by asking them a question or posting unique images with links back to their sites.
2. Post on their Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and other social and digital platforms, reply to others’ posts, retweet others, engage with those who “@” or engage with the brand, share old posts, and encourage users to sign up for contests.
3. Re-share posts throughout the day to capture when different people are online.
4. Use intriguing and/or provocative headlines to draw people in.
5. Send out periodic Tweets or FB messages asking people to sign up for their newsletters or follow them on other social media sites.
6. Blog on current or trending topics.
7. Curate an online community of loyal readers who return daily.
8. Blog or Write provocative or controversial topics to encourage debate among commenters or regular readers. They will come back to reply over and over again. Onlookers will log back in to see an intriguing online debate or fight too over and over again. All those visits equal hits that equal impressions that equal money.
9. Have posts that include lists, like Top 10 Funny Movies, etc.
10. Use slideshows to force users to have to click multiple times to view the content of those lists
11. Link their Facebook comments back to their blog so comments on Facebook show up on the page. That dialogue helps build a community and get people returning as well.
12. Post links to their content on other platforms like Facebook communities pages, online bulletin board communities, Reddit, etc to maximize the number of people seeing it.
Most Strategic Ways to Monetize Content

They are also maxing out the different ways they can monetize a user’s visit by:
1. Having banner ads
2. Sneaking in affiliate ads in between the texts of a story so a user cannot avoid them as they can traditional banner ads visitors come to expect to be located in sidebars and headers. (see the example above in my Affiliate banner (smile))
3. Putting in-text links to entice a curious reader to click or better yet using buttons with calls to action.
4. Linking to an amazon.com or other affiliate link on an object that is being reviewed or discussed
5. Adding “Shop this Look” with links to a shop-style or shop bop or other affiliate adsense platform for fashion bloggers
6. Getting sponsors to pay for certain articles to appear on their blog or website.
7. Embedding affiliate links in their Facebook updates and comments on everyday subjects.
8. Hosting contests and Competitions to entice people to share the links to the contest page and get their friends to come back to the site to vote for them.
If you check any of the major sites out there that get millions of hits daily. The Cut fashion blog, Techland, you may begin to notice that they all use these tactics to generate revenue from the casual visitor or reader.

So the next time, you see someone who you know who works in social media and may be an independent blogger or website owner spending what seems like all day on social media, don’t assume they are just wasting time.

They may be making money under your nose and you don’t even know it.
Build your own Creator Portfolio Website in 1 hour

While it’s perfectly okay in 2023 to have a creator-based business hosted on your social media platform, to truly turn your passion into a professional profitable venture, you’re going to need to have your own online home.

Elevating your personal brand also includes ditching the Gmail, Yahoo, and free email domains and getting a personalized one with your name and everything.

In this post, I am going to show you how you can have your own domain and your own website and even have your own social media links page which will host your portfolio, rate cards and it’s going to look great and polished.

Go from amateur to professional

When you first start partnering with other companies, brands, and services, one of the things you’ll have to show them is your portfolio. Many times, creators and influencers combine their media kits or rate cards into one document and send it as a PDF or link to a portfolio created and hosted in Canva or some other platform.

While those methods of sharing your work are totally acceptable, they still will relay to the recipient that you’re a hobbyist. It may come across as if you’re not that invested in your brand or role as a creator.

Certainly, you could use an agency’s platform but then, you don’t know that agency and if you decide to part ways, you would have left your creative portfolio with them as well.

For new and veteran creators, cost may be an issue but in 2023, there are lots of desktop and smartphone apps that will host your portfolio. Some of the apps I have used include Sociatap and Linktree.

However, on those platforms, all of the traffic that goes to your linked pages from your social media accounts is owned by those companies.

Own your Own Piece of the Internet

You control more of your brand by hosting your own portfolio and having a personalized domain that you own.

For example, my name is JayJay Ghatt, and I have jayjayghatt.com. The domain can be used to host your own links like LinkTree. I have two: jayjayghatt.com/links and jayjayghatt.com/social.

You can start by purchasing your own Domain

I have used several hosts over the years. GoDaddy has great customer service but is a little bit more costly, and Hostgator has one of the lowest costs for hosting but has less accessible support.

A great intermediate between the two I have found is DreamHost .

To get your own domain, create an account and click on: https://www.dreamhost.com/hosting/

For $15 a month (2023), you can host a website with your own domain, an email address, and unlimited traffic. You can also get your bandwidth and the free SSL certificate.

You however must remember to install it after purchase.

Importance of SSL Certificates.

If you do not install the SSL Certificates, you will have the HTTP without the ‘S‘. This means anyone who comes to your site will get a block. With the ‘S’, Google will now serve your content, your video, or your website.

Email Addresses with your own Domain

I think it is important to have an email address with your own domain if you want to be taken seriously in business. It also adds a layer of credibility and authority.

For me, instead of having a jayjayghatt@gmail account, I have a create@jayjayghatt.com get or hire@jayjayghatt.com.

Importance of a Website Builder

The Website Builder allows you to migrate your website over to this new Dreamhost account in case you have a WordPress website hosted someplace else.

If you who are starting out, you only need the shared starter account. Dreampress is a little more complicated and if you have less than 100k monthly visitors you don’t need this level of hosting.

Save money by opting for yearly plans

Now there’s going to be a cost-benefit for opting for a yearly plan.

When you switch to the yearly plan, the price goes up, but that’s okay because you’ll get a free domain.

I highly recommend you consider this option. Let’s say if were to sign up for this option, with a free domain included, I’d be paying today $35.40 for a website for four years, that includes my domain.

In my video example above, I added https://gabrielleghatt.com/. With that option, I get domain privacy, which is free which means that people don’t know your personal information as the host.

Domain Privacy

There are people who are like domain poachers. What they do is, wait for popular established domains to expire and then grab them and hijack them. They then shake down the original owner for thousands of dollars to get it back.

Let’s say a year passes and you’re not checking your email or you’re out of town or you’re out of the country and you get an email stating that gabrielleghatt.com, for example, is about to expire. If I don’t respond within a set amount of time, these poachers will come and try to take that domain especially if I’ve already made something of the domain and made it popular.

With domain privacy, DreamHost will give you extra time and will go above and beyond to try to contact you to renew your domain.

How to Install WordPress

If you have the option to pre-install WordPress, select it.

What happens is that it is going to connect your domain automatically to WordPress and install WordPress for you.

That’s amazing! It saves you the stress of messing up especially if you are not a highly technical person.

When you click on the “click to install” option, the hosting will be set up for you ready for customization. Once you install your theme, you will have a nice website. WordPress themes have a whole collection, they’re all free, so you don’t even have to purchase one.

Click here for a step-by-step walkthrough on how to change your website’s design, color palette, background, photos, and more.