Software Stack Editor

What is a UGC Creator & Should You Become One in 2024

Software Stack Editor · June 19, 2023 ·

Our view at Stack - Teachable’s is an online training platform and it's key features include an intuitive course builder, rich multimedia lectures, and powerful sales and marketing tools. It offers flexible pricing options, advanced analytics, and student management capabilities. Additionally, it provides great customer support and mobile accessibility

In the creator world, buzzwords and acronyms abound. And while not every one is relevant to you, UGC might be one to pay attention to. First off, what does UGC stand for? Simply put, UGC is an acronym for user-generated content and has been a tried-and-true marketing tactic for brands for years. Brands rely on this user-supplied content as a way to garner social proof, promote their product or service, and market themselves.

However, gathering authentic UGC—and lots of it—can be difficult, especially if you’re a newer brand. This is where UGC creators come in. UGC creators help brands to develop an entire library of user-generated content that doesn’t feel pushy or promotional and resonates well with each brand’s target audience.

In this post, you’ll learn more about what exactly a UGC creator is, what a UGC creator does, and how you can become one to bring in even more income.

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What is UGC?

UGC or user-generated content (otherwise known as consumer-generated content) is original and authentic content created by customers about a brand or a product at no cost to the brand. It can be a short-form video like a TikTok or Instagram Reel, an Instagram post, a review, or a testimonial.

Originally, UGC was organic content that didn’t cost a brand anything. It was out of the brand’s hands what people say about their product and how they showcase it. However once brands noticed how successful their customer creative efforts were, brands started to use paid UGC, meaning they pay professional UGC creators to create UGC for their products.

What is a UGC creator?

A UGC creator is a content creator who focuses specifically on creating user-generated content for brands. While this is paid content and not organic UGC, it still follows the same formula that makes organic UGC work so well.

User-generated content is so popular because it appeals to the social proof side of marketing psychology. Social proof is a phenomenon that dictates that consumers tend to copy the actions of others in order to emulate their experiences. For example, if someone sees a TikTok video of a woman with great skin sharing a skincare product she loves, they’re going to be much more likely to purchase that product than if they saw an ad directly from the brand talking about the product features and benefits.

This is where UGC creators come in. They are paid to create that content—the type that entices regular everyday consumers to make a purchase because they see other regular everyday consumers use it and enjoy it.

UGC creators vs. content creators

A content creator is a professional who creates content for brands for a living. They might create things like blog content, graphics, videos, ebooks, online courses, and more. You can learn more about what a content creator is and how it differs from an influencer in this blog post.

Content creators differ from UGC creators as UGC creators tend to make this type of content on the side. They’re regular social media users rather than professional creators.

UGC content creators vs. influencers

Influencers focus on building up their audiences. They also work with brands for paid promotional content, but they’re typically sharing the content on their own social media sites rather than sending it to the brand for their content platforms.

Influencers must have a large audience for them to appeal to brands. UGC creators don’t need any type of audience—they just need to be able to create good content for the brands to use.

How to become a UGC content creator

If UGC content creation sounds like something that might be right up your alley, let’s walk through a few steps you can take to become a UGC creator all on your own.

1. Choose your niche

This tip is the same across the board, no matter what type of content creation business you find yourself getting into. Niching down helps you attract more of the businesses that you actually want to work with. Plus, then you have a portfolio filled with content that looks like what they’d probably be looking for. Choose a niche that you actually enjoy and are passionate about. For example, you might focus more on makeup or skincare products. You might want to work with home and gardening brands. Or you could choose to create content for cooking companies.

It’s not necessary to completely box yourself in—feel free to take any kind of work that you think seems interesting. But you don’t want to accept projects just for the sake of it to realize you have zero inspiration down the road.

2. Get your filming setup together

UGC content can consist of a number of things—case studies, graphics, photos, and videos—but one of the most common types that brands hire creators for is video content.

This means that once you’ve decided what types of businesses you’d like to work with, it’s time to get your filming setup together. You’ll need the right tools to record and edit your footage as well as a nice, bright area you can use to film.

You can simply use your smartphone to record your video footage, but other tools you might want to acquire include:

Ring light or other lighting additions to supplement more light for your videos
Lavalier mic to catch your voice and other sounds (like ASMR) while you record
Backdrops to help provide different looks and feels for each video
Props to use throughout your video content
Editing software (or you can use the TikTok app) to finalize your video content

3. Create your starter portfolio

Once you’ve got your filming setup ready to go, it’s time to create sample content to build up a portfolio. A lot of UGC creators will grab products they already have and use those to create examples of the types of UGC content they could create for other brands.

Put together several videos—ideally using products within the niche you’re hoping to work in—and add them to your portfolio. You can create your portfolio using a tool like Canva and then easily share it with prospective brands.

4. Network with brands you want to work with

The next step is to begin outreach. Create a list of brands you’d be interested in working with and locate their social media handles, websites, and any other potential contact information.

Before you start your outreach, create an email address and social media handles specific to your new UGC creation business. Use these new profiles to follow all of the brands on your list. You can also start to network with other creators in the community.

Then, start interacting with all of the brands you’d like to work with as well as any marketers or founders you can find for each one. Formulate your pitch and share it with them either on the social media platform you’ve been using or via email.

When you first start, finding work might be a slow process, but don’t be discouraged. Keep pitching, and eventually, you’ll start seeing some deals come in.

Pros and cons of producing user-generated content

Like with any other creative endeavor, there are pros and cons to creating user-generated content.

Pro: Easy to produce

User-generated content is fairly easy to create. Even if you don’t have any video creation experience or fancy filming equipment, you can learn how to create UGC with your phone alone and a little bit of practice. You don’t need a studio or professional background–you can easily film your content in the comfort of your home or any other spot (coffee shop, beach, friend’s house, etc).

Because of its casual nature, UGC also doesn’t have to be highly produced, so the editing should be minimal and mimic regular content from people you see on social media platforms.

Con: It might take trial and error to figure out what works

While it’s pretty easy to get started with UGC, and it requires minimal skills and effort to produce, it can take time to learn the best tactics for creating engaging content. When you create UGC, you want to show the brand that you know how to hook the viewer and showcase the best side of the product you’re creating content about.

That might require some trial and error and studying the best UGC examples to get it right. You might want to invest in a UGC course from other content creators to help you understand the specifics and strategies better, or simply try and test out different tactics yourself and learn from your experience.

Pro: Great earning potential

Probably one of the biggest pros of being a UGC creator is the great earning potential. While as a beginner, you might start off charging only $50 per piece of content, you can easily increase your rates with experience. The sky is the limit when it comes to how much money you can make doing UGC for brands, and it makes it a very lucrative creative endeavor.

Con: You need to always be on top of trends

It’s no secret that success on social media platforms like TikTok greatly depends on understanding trends. Those trends change more rapidly than ever, which means that to create engaging, trending content people want to see, you’ll have to be quick at recognizing trends and jumping on them at the right moment to maximize the gains.

While it might not be a con for some, it might be a huge disadvantage for others. So, before you jump into being a UGC creator, that’s something worth thinking about and considering how to navigate to get the best results for your clients.

Top UGC platforms for creators

There are also a number of platforms that UGC creators can join to help them find work. Social media in itself can be powerful, but here are a few platforms to pay attention to.

1. Join Brands

Join Brands has a creator platform that interested creators can join. Rates start at $60 per video and $15 per photo—plus free product to use when creating the content. Easily sign up to be a creator with Join Brands and start getting work with big brands in your preferred niche.

2. Billo

Billo is an app for video UGC creators to find clients and get paid. There are two tiers: Beginner Creator and PRO Creator. Beginners can have a basic film setup and is the perfect starting place while PRO creators are required to have a full film setup and professional knowledge of product video creation. This app is for US-based creators only.

3. Insense

Insense is another app made to connect creators and brands. The cost for brands starts at $50 per video, so the payout per video is somewhere in that ballpark for creators. It’s easy to apply and start finding brands to work with. Some creators working with this platform have made thousands of dollars creating UGC.

4. Brands Meet Creators

Brands Meet Creators is essentially like a job board to easily connect brands and creators. Creators can sign up to receive emails of opportunities or check out the board of available creator jobs. You can apply to jobs that interest you and brands get to sift through the applications to choose the best fit.

5. Upwork

Upwork is a creator marketplace for all sorts of creative jobs—writing, video editing, graphic design, virtual assisting, and so much more. But the platform also has plenty of UGC creator jobs to check out as well. Look through the gigs to see if any interest you and start applying.

6. Target Creator Program

Target Creator Program is an affiliate program where creators earn commission on sales they attract by creating content. The commission rates are up to 8%, and anyone is free to apply (however, not everyone will be accepted).

7. Trend

Trend is a platform that connects brands who need UGC content with creators who want to get paid for creating UGC content for brands. They have an iOS app where you can browse gigs (they add them daily), apply, and submit content. One advantage of Trend is that they provide their creators with free products and monetary payment on successful brand deals.

8. Tribe

Tribe is another great platform to find UGC gigs in one place. You need 3,000 followers to start making money. You pitch brands your creative ideas for Instagram and TikTok campaigns, which allows you to really tap into your creativity and show off your skills.

9. Influee

Influee is a global agency that connects brands and UGC creators. They have an app where you can browse and apply for gigs with brands, which is super easy and convenient.

10. UGC Shop

UGC Shop is a smaller global agency and online platform that works with brands and UGC creators. Anyone can apply, and you don’t have to live in the United States to be eligible to start working with brands, receive free products, and get paid.

11. The Right Fit

The Right Fit is a platform where you can create your creator profile, browse available brand partnerships, and then apply for jobs that fit your experience and personal brand. You can manage all the applications, collabs, and content directly on their app, which is quick and convenient.

UGC Success Cases

To give you a better idea of what being a UGC creator is like, let’s look at a few successful UGC creators.

Emma Lorrae

Emma is a full time UGC content creator and strategist. She has worked with a variety of brands to help them create engaging UGC. On her website, she has portfolio that showcases the high quality videos she created, and brands she collaborated with, which include Girl Code, Waterdrop and more. She makes around $7-8k/month from UGC partnerships.

Hannah Jefferson

Hannah is a full time UGC content creator and mentor from the UK. She creates beautiful aesthetic videos for her own platfrom and for brands. She mainful focuses on hair and beauty, wellness, jerwelry and fashion industries and has worked with brands like Motel, Wild, ghd London and more.

Ashlee Sulens

Ashlee is a full-time UGC content creator from Australia. She creates content about hair, beauty, wellness, food, and lifestyle and has worked with brands like Wild, Esmi, Afterpay, and more. Her rates start at $150 AUD for a video, but she offers a variety of different packages for brands to choose from.

FAQs

Now, let’s answer some of the most frequently asked questions people have.

Do UGC creators make money?

Yes! UGC creators can make a good part-time or even full-time income. How much UGC creators will make can vary greatly due to their niche, following, and results. If you can demonstrate to the brand that you can create content that generates engagement, you can charge much more than other creators in your niche who have the same following.

One UGC creator on TikTok shares that in 2023, she made between $7-8k each month from UGC content alone. Another UGC creator on TikTok shared that, on average, she makes around $15k per month by creating UGC content for brands. As you can see, the sky is the limit here.

How much should I charge as a UGC creator?

Your rates will depend on your experience and the size of your portfolio. Minimum rates might start out at $50 for a single piece of content and can go up to $500 or more. One UGC creator and educator on TikTok shares that if you’re a beginner, your rates should be $150 for a video and $20-$30 for a photo. She also suggests offering bulk discounts to encourage brands to book content packages with you.

How do I get UGC for my online course?

The easiest way to get UGC for your online course is to tap into your past and current student network. Chances are that some of them are creating content, or would be interested in creating content. So, reach out to them and ask if they’d be interested in a collaboration.

You can incentivize your students to create UGC around your course by running giveaways, offering dicounts for their UGC they share online, or running contest with prizes. Make it fun and engaging, so that your students are more willing to participate.

Is user-generated content legal?

Yes. But, before using UGC, you always have to get explicit permission from the creator to use their content. This is very important for each piece of content every time you want to post a UGC. The same applies if you create UGC and the brand wants to use it–they should always request your permission.

What are the best UGC examples?

Some brands do UGC better than others. ASOS uses hashtag #AsSeenOnMe on Instagram to encourage their customers to share their OOTD (outfit of the day) on their socials wearing ASOS clothing. In 2014, on their website, they launched an As Seen On Me section where they feature outfits they choose from people who used the hashtag on Instagram.

Another brand that utilized UGC very well is Aerie. When, in 2014, they launched their campaign against retouching models’ pictures, they invited their audience to share their own pictures showing off wearing Aerie clothing with all of their imperfections using hashtag #arieREAL.

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Mastering Work Transitions: A Comprehensive Guide to Effective Handovers

Software Stack Editor · June 15, 2023 ·

Our view at Stack - TechSmith provides market leading content creation software. Standout features include enhanced recording and screen capture capabilities, a replacability feature for efficient editing workflow, and a more organized library with media bins. It also offers 4K webcam recording, media replacement options, and media sorting for streamlined video creation

But fear not! With our seven-step guide, we’ll arm you with everything you need to facilitate smoother and more efficient handovers so that you can truly enjoy your time off, knowing that your projects and responsibilities are in good hands.

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Accurately Track Meetings and Maximize Profits with Google Calendar

Software Stack Editor · June 13, 2023 ·

Our view at Stack - Freshbooks simplifies accounting for solo business owners, freelancers, and small companies. Intuitive, easy-to-use, and affordable. Manage payments, expenses, invoices, and accept payments seamlessly.

Google Calendar helps you track, log, and bill for client meetings automatically.

Time tracking and billing clients for meetings is good for business. But it’s also a dreaded chore. Recording the number of minutes on a spreadsheet, adding them to an invoice, and sending them to your client can feel like more trouble than it’s worth.

To help, FreshBooks created a new Google Calendar integration that allows you to connect your calendar to FreshBooks and import events as time-tracking entries.

What Is the Google Calendar Integration for FreshBooks?

The Google Calendar integration has one job: To sync your meetings as time-tracking entries so you can bill properly for each meeting.

Why Should I Use Google Calendar?

In two simple words: Save time. Integrating FreshBooks and Google allows you to import and sync information, such as duration, date, and client. You can then invoice your clients for time spent during meetings using the FreshBooks invoices import tool.

Here’s what it looks like:

Google Calendar

How Do I Get Started with Google Calendar?

Setting up Google Calendar to work with FreshBooks is easy.

Connect Google Calendar
Select ‘Allow’ to allow Google Calendar and FreshBooks to share the information needed to sync time entries and events
Make note of the permission boxes required and select “Continue to Google Permissions”
In the Google pop-up that appears, select the required permissions and click “Allow’
Press “Sync Calendar Events”
Select the FreshBooks Business and Google Calendar you would like to sync to
Press Next
Select the date range you would like to import
Check the entries you would like to import or press select all
Press Sync Entries

So, Do I Have to Manually Sync Entries in the App?

Yes, you do need to manually sync your entries. All you have to do is click the “Sync” button and voila! This makes it easier to ensure you’re only syncing the entries that you want to be billed.

Why Are My Time Entries Showing Up as Non-Billable After Being Synced to FreshBooks?

To ensure that FreshBooks correctly identifies your time as billable, make sure that the name of the Google Calendar event you use to track your time matches the name of the service in FreshBooks. This helps FreshBooks apply the appropriate billing settings.

The reason you need to match the name of the Google Calendar event to the name of the service in FreshBooks is that FreshBooks uses the settings for the service or project to determine if your time entry is billable or not.

If You Need Help, FreshBooks Is Here

If you have any questions on how to use the Google Calendar app or have feedback on how it can be improved, feel free to .

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How To Use a Content Strategy: Free Content Strategy Template (2023)

Software Stack Editor · June 13, 2023 ·

Our view at Stack - Shopify has just about everything you need if you're looking to sell online. It excels with unlimited products, user-friendly setup, and 24/7 support. It offers 6,000+ app integrations, abandoned cart recovery, and shipping discounts up to 88%. Plus, it allows selling both online and in-person, scaling as your business grows.

One of the best ways to build trust and connection with customers is through your content strategy.

“Content is a free tool that allows you to get brand awareness and traffic,” says Anaita Sakar, cofounder of Hero Packaging. “Especially when you’re starting out as a bootstrapped business, it is critical that you are just pumping out content, whether it’s educational or product-based. Because when you are creating more content, it builds up your credibility and therefore the search engines will actually point to your website.”

A carefully planned content strategy allows you to demonstrate your brand’s unique point of view and appealing products—which ultimately helps bring in more (and better) customers.

What is content strategy?

A content strategy is the practice of planning marketing content—which can include blog posts, emails, posts on social media platforms, videos, and podcasts—that speaks to your audience and serves your business goals.

A successful content strategy is the framework that helps you plan what kind of information you publish—and to whom. If your content isn’t backed by strategy, it can become busywork; a solid strategy should deliver return on investment (ROI).

How to develop a content strategy

Choose your template
Define your goals
Research your target audience
Audit your existing content
Assess the competition
Decide what types of content you’ll create
Create engaging content
Build an editorial calendar
Measure content effectiveness

1. Choose your template

You don’t necessarily need a content strategy template to create your own content marketing strategy, but a good template will make the process easier. The free content strategy template linked in this article includes everything you need to get started.

2. Define your goals

Select concrete goals for your content strategy, and choose the KPIs you will use to measure success. Think about what kind of content would help you reach these objectives.

Examples of content marketing goals include:

Increasing brand awareness by tripling your social media following within six months

Increasing customer acquisition by growing your conversion rate from 2% to 4% in six months

Increasing brand authority by growing organic traffic (visits from unpaid search results) to your landing pages by 20% in a year

3. Research your target audience

Study your target demographic’s interests and preferred content channels so you can create content that will appeal to them on platforms they use. Two ways to find your audience include:

1. Market research. Use market research tools on consumer behavior and trends, as well as conduct your own primary research through surveys, customer interviews, and reading customer feedback. This legwork can help you understand your target audience, their buying preferences, preferred social media channels, and the way they consume content.

2. Using web analytics. Web analytics will tell you not only who’s visiting your site, but also how much time they spend there, which pages they visit, and how they find your site.

As you move through this process, consider creating a buyer persona to help you understand how to create content that will resonate with your audience. Give your persona a name, occupation, age, hobbies, geographic location, income, and aspirations, and list the types of content they consume. Use your buyer persona as a guide to shape your content marketing efforts.

4. Audit your existing content

If you have already created content, audit your existing assets. Ask yourself:

Is my current content still relevant?

Will my planned content be a significant departure from my existing content?

This may be the time to phase out some of the old stuff. Use social media analytics tools and Google Analytics to see what content is most popular and what falls flat. Consider ending production of content that doesn’t resonate with your audience or that diverges from your goals.

5. Assess the competition

Do a competitive analysis so you can compare and measure the success of similar companies’ content strategies. Create a list of your direct and indirect competitors, then visit competitor sites and go through their customer experience—identifying content you like and dislike. Subscribe to their newsletters, read their blog posts, follow them on social media. Check out what types of content they post—and how often.

If you like their content approach, consider what you could do better or differently. Use SEO tools to see which keywords drive traffic to competitors’ sites. This can help you determine which keywords are worth building content around to help your audience find you.

6. Decide what types of content you’ll create

Understanding how your target audience engages with content will help guide your content decisions. Refer to the sales funnel, which is the process by which prospective customers become aware of your brand, consider your products, and eventually make a purchase.

Producing different types of content aligned with each stage of the funnel can help your target audience arrive at the sale. Here’s what that might look like:

Awareness

At this stage, you’re introducing your brand. Create educational content in the form of articles, blog posts, ebooks, explainer videos, newsletters, and social media posts. You’re not pitching a product—you’re only trying to pique your audience’s curiosity.

Charlotte Palermino, cofounder of skin care company Dieux, credits brand storytelling with Dieux’s success on social media. “For Dieux, it’s always about telling stories and getting really geeked out on different parts of the story of how we got to where we are,” Charlotte says on Shopify Masters. “I mean, one of our most viral videos right now is just talking about packaging. It’s like a five-minute video about plastic and aluminum and it’s doing really well, and that’s because it’s about storytelling.”

Consideration

Here, you’re nurturing the relationship with your audience, shifting into a combination of product marketing and helpful information that educates them about areas where you can claim a competitive advantage. This might look like how-to articles that feature your product, product reviews, and case studies.

For example, Fellow, which makes electric kettles and other coffee-making tools, has a collection of brewing how-tos on its website. You don’t need to own any of Fellow’s products to find the guides useful, but these educational materials feature plenty of product images. If someone is considering buying a new coffee grinder or kettle, the guides nudge them toward Fellow’s versions of those products.

Purchase

Your audience has done its research and is ready to buy. This is where you can focus on why your product or service is better than the others using buyers’ guides, product videos, and user-generated content.

Post-purchase

In the post-purchase phase, your customer may have questions about how to use your product. Answering these questions with high-quality content can encourage customer loyalty.

For example, bike and outdoor gear company Retrospec’s guide center serves as both an FAQ page and educational blog. “If they are purchasing the product directly online, they probably have questions on how to make sure they fine-tune the bike specifically to how they want to ride it,” Retrospec founder Ely Khakshouri says on Shopify Masters.

The guides include information on how to set up your new bike, plus specific articles about charging electric bikes, repairing flat tires, performing a tune-up, and more. “We’re using the guide center as a resource to educate our customers and make sure the post-purchase experience is one that’s pleasant,” Ely says.

7. Create engaging content

In the early stages of your business, you may create your own content. For example, Charlotte Palermino of Dieux leveraged her prior experience at Snapchat to create short-form video content.

As you scale up, you might have a dedicated team member tasked with creating content, or hire a freelancer or content agency to execute it. If you’re planning to publish a series of articles, shoot video, or run a full social media campaign, you might want to add creators that specialize in social media or writing.

8. Build an editorial calendar

Create a content calendar to ensure your content has a regular cadence and is cohesive across channels. Creating a system to publish content on a regular, predictable schedule reinforces to your audience that you’re a trusted source for information.

9. Measure content effectiveness

Evaluate how well your content is performing with your audience by using tools like Google Analytics, email marketing software, social media analytics tools, and other analytics tools to track KPIs like click-through rate, website traffic, social media reach and engagement, mobile traffic leads and conversion rates, and search rankings. Depending on your results, you may make tweaks or change your strategy over time.

Questions your content strategy should answer

What do you want the content to do for the business?
Who is the content for?
What will your content do for your customers?
What channels will you use?
How will the content reflect your brand?

There is no single way to create a content strategy, since it’s dependent on your target audience. Still, you can ask the following five questions to help create the framework for your content strategy:

1. What do you want the content to do for the business?

Content can serve a number of purposes for a business, and it’s important to get clear on your objectives. Ask yourself: What are the business goals associated with our content efforts? What key performance indicators (KPIs) will we use to assess success? Common goals and metrics include:

Increase brand awareness, measured in impressions, traffic, and brand recognition surveys

Drive engagement, measured in email open rates, clicks, and time on page

2. Who is the content for?

Identifying your ideal customer will help you understand how to communicate with them and what value your content can bring them. Ask yourself:

What are my target audience groups?

What needs or challenges do they have that I could fulfill with good content?

What content formats are most likely to connect with them?

Where do they consume content?

Answering these questions will help inform the next few aspects of the framework.

3. What will your content do for your customers?

Once you understand your audience and their needs, desires, and pain points, you can set out to solve those with content. Be clear about how your content will deliver value. For instance, if you sell fishing flies to novice fishing enthusiasts, your content might be informative—like a series of articles on choosing bait, casting techniques, and types of reels.

4. What channels will you use?

Content is most effective when it reaches audiences where they are—meaning they can discover it on channels where they already consume content. For business-to-business (B2B) companies, that might be on LinkedIn; for a Gen Z skin care brand, it might be on TikTok. Or, you might try to reach your audience when they’re searching on Google with paid search ads or a blog post designed for search engine optimization (SEO).

5. How will the content reflect your brand?

Does your content have a point of view? A distinct brand voice enables a company to reach its target audience and build connections and community. Consistent messaging in your brand voice will help you speak to your target demographic in language that resonates.

Content Strategy FAQ

How often should you update your content strategy?

You should update your content strategy when it no longer serves your goals. Monitor the results of your content marketing efforts and whether it delivers on your KPIs, and update your strategy if it’s not doing what you need.

What is the role of audience analysis in content strategy?

Understanding your audience will help you know what kind of content they interact with and what platforms they engage with regularly, as well as what their pain points are, and how you can help solve them.

How is content strategy different from content tactics?

Content strategy focuses on achieving big-picture goals, while content tactics are the practical methods you use to achieve those goals. Your content strategy is the larger framework that determines what kind of content you create, your target audience, and your goals.

What are the most common mistakes to avoid when creating a content strategy?

The most common mistakes include erratic publishing schedules and not measuring your content’s performance. If you’re not publishing the right type of content for your target audience when they want it, you risk sacrificing customer loyalty.

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What Makes a Good Tutorial Video?

Software Stack Editor · June 9, 2023 ·

By knowing exactly what a tutorial video is, you’ll have a stronger foundation to build on and be in a better position to fully grasp the key components of creating a fantastic tutorial video.

The post What Makes a Good Tutorial Video? appeared first on The TechSmith Blog.

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How to Get More Comfortable on Camera

Software Stack Editor · June 7, 2023 ·

So whether you’re an introvert by nature, feel self-conscious on camera, or simply don’t know where to start, this article will provide you with tips and tricks to help you feel at ease and confident when you’re in the spotlight.

The post How to Get More Comfortable on Camera appeared first on The TechSmith Blog.

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How to Make a Product Demo Video that converts (+Free Template)

Software Stack Editor · June 6, 2023 ·

In this article, we’ll provide you with the necessary resources and skills to create a top-notch product demo video that will help you showcase the unique features and benefits of your product.

The post How to Make a Product Demo Video that converts (+Free Template) appeared first on The TechSmith Blog.

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The Complete Guide to Lecture Capture

Software Stack Editor · June 5, 2023 ·

In this guide, we’ll explore the many benefits of lecture captures, how they work, and how to create effective videos that engage and educate your audience.

The post The Complete Guide to Lecture Capture appeared first on The TechSmith Blog.

If Techsmith is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

How to add subtitles and captions to a video?

Software Stack Editor · June 5, 2023 ·

Having captions is crucial to a great video. Whether you’re making tutorial videos or even your very own green screen marketing videos, it’s time to make captioning a key part of your video workflow.

The post How to add subtitles and captions to a video? appeared first on The TechSmith Blog.

If Techsmith is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

The Beginner’s Guide to Customer Education

Software Stack Editor · June 2, 2023 ·

In this Beginner’s Guide to Customer Education, we’ll explore the importance of customer education and how it can help you enhance the customer experience, build brand loyalty, and drive business growth.

The post The Beginner’s Guide to Customer Education appeared first on The TechSmith Blog.

If Techsmith is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

The Ultimate Guide to Easily Make Instructional Videos

Software Stack Editor · May 19, 2023 ·

Learn exactly what to do to make your own how-to, tutorial, and instructional videos.

The post The Ultimate Guide to Easily Make Instructional Videos appeared first on The TechSmith Blog.

If Techsmith is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Harness the collective creativity of community to work happy

Software Stack Editor · May 15, 2023 ·

Our view at Stack - our team love using Miro as an online workspace for innovation, enabling distributed teams to dream, design, and build together. With a full set of collaboration capabilities, it simplifies cross-functional teamwork, meetings, and workshops. Create concepts, map user stories, and conduct roadmap planning in real-time.

Creativity and speed are crucial ingredients for innovation; teams must balance high quality work with velocity. However, even with the best intentions and planning, people sometimes experience mental blocks and struggle to execute — resulting in frustration and stalled innovation.

One of the best strategies for getting “unstuck” is tapping into the creativity of your community, whether they be your immediate teammates and manager or a network of collaborators from other businesses and industries who share your expertise or interests.

This is certainly true of the Miro Community, composed of 1,000-plus Creators who connect over messaging apps, on social channels, in the Miroverse, and face-to-face at events like the recent Into the Miroverse. Read on to learn how some of the Community’s most active members empower each other to make new things; maximize their efficacy and efficiency; and infuse fun, inspiration, and happiness into their work.

Jumping into Miroverse has been an immersive experience — I’m surrounded by innovative creators from around the world.”

Indra Kusuma, Business Mentor and Educator at Apple Developer Academy

Make new things while having fun

Said Saddouk, ”Faciltainer” and Miro Community Group Leader, had an idea to up-level — and have a bit of fun with — his favorite Miro feature. He wanted to infuse the otherwise straightforward, square sticky note with a bit of personality.

Said came across the artistic Miro templates of Lucie Agolini, Visual Experience Designer at WRKSHP CNVS, and shared his idea with her. Together, Lucie and Said transformed his early prototype into a usable template, adding arms, legs, and faces to bring sticky notes to life. They dubbed their creation “enotejis.”

The enotejis template is a testament to the power of collaboration and community in turning an idea into reality.”

Said Saddouk, Facilitainer

Unsurprisingly, Said infused a lot of fun into his Into the Miroverse session, “Miro Games 101: Practice Your Creativity.”

Enotejis v1.1: Enoteji-Fy Your Sticky Notes template

Jonathan White Hiro Studio and fellow Miro Community Group Leader Rachel Davis share Said’s “passion for facilitation, having fun in workshops, and, of course, Miro,” so Jon and Rachel launched a monthly recurring event for Miro Board Improv during which they apply comedic improv techniques and solicit audience input to build activities, icebreakers, and other never-before-seen creations in Miro.

Of Miro Board Improv, Jonathan said, “It’s a constant source of inspiration.” Jonathan and his Hiro Studio teammate Hilary Jenkins continued to inspire play and template-building in their Into the Miroverse session, “Level Up Your Miro Game Using Visual Storytelling.”

Maximize efficacy and efficiency

Creativity isn’t limited to making something new; people also express their creativity when they solve problems — like finding ways to operate more effectively in today’s always-on, fast-paced workplaces.

For example, Marie Louise de Beyssac draws inspiration from Miroverse to kick off her consultations with small- and medium-sized businesses. She said:

Marie Louise de Beyssac, consultant at InfinitoArco.com

Workshop Tactics Cards template

In “AI as a Tool for Creativity in Miro” — her Into the Miroverse session with Martin Gleitsmann, business strategist and innovation enthusiast at not yet normal — de Beyssac highlighted another way to jump start solution development: AI.

Likewise, Nina Pozderec, who pulls triple duty at Switch to Eleven studio, said: “In my line of work — I’m a psychologist, and I’m a self-management expert, and an agile expert — I have to be very quick. That means that I don’t always have an hour or two to design my own board.”

So, Nina leans on Miroverse templates to operate more efficiently, whether she’s building a strategy, leading a retrospective, or meeting with a client. She leverages the creativity of her fellow Miro community members to ensure that she can focus fully on facilitating her consultancy’s workshops and growing her business without wasting time on logistics.

Work happy

When she has a moment to spare, Nina and her business partner at Switch to Eleven, Jaka Kladnik, also design their own templates — several of which focus on optimizing team dynamics, including “Self-management Team Workshop” “Team Psychological Safety,” and “Team Alignment Circle” (below). At Into the Miroverse, Nina teamed up with Indra to expand on this theme in a session titled: “Thriving Teams Through Templates.”

Read more: Why psychological safety is key to fostering creativity in teams

Team Alignment Circle template

How to best connect and collaborate is a topic that’s top-of-mind for many of today’s workers even as — or, perhaps, especially because — teams today are increasingly distributed across different work environments. As Miro’s “The Ways We Work” survey showed, strong workplace relationships can be powerful drivers of engagement and happiness at work. In fact, among the 800+ respondents who said that they’re unlikely to leave their current company in the next year, their top reason for staying is feeling connected to their team. One remote respondent added, “The people I work with are the key to making a good place to work.”

Those who work for themselves or are part of a small company can derive these same benefits of tight-knit teams by tapping into communities of people with shared interests and unique perspectives:

I’m connected with a lot of facilitators through Miroverse and through the Miro Community, and I just think it’s amazing how I find inspiration from other people.”

Nina Pozderec, Switch to Eleven

On May 31st, over 1,000 Community members joined Hilary and Jonathan, Indra and Nina, Marie and Martin, Said, and 11 other Miroverse Creators and Miro team members to source creative inspiration, supercharge their problem solving, and forge new connections at Into the Miroverse. Thank you for joining us!

[embedded content]

Into the Miroverse is an annual event featuring Miroverse Creators and the Miro team in fun-filled discussions and interactive workshops, exploring ways to innovate through creativity, collaboration, and joy.

If Miro is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Small Business, Big Stress: How to Support Your Mental Health as a Small Business Owner

Software Stack Editor · May 10, 2023 ·

Owning a business can bring you freedom, flexibility, and higher income potential. But it can also be stressful and challenging. Those stressors and challenges can take a toll on your mental health. According to , 65% of small business owners have struggled with anxiety, while 52% have dealt with depression.

COVID certainly didn’t help. According to a 2020 , more than 50% of small business owners experienced symptoms of poor mental health for the first time in their careers in response to the pandemic. And a whopping 85% of those entrepreneurs reported their day-to-day work suffered as a result.

If you want to be healthy, happy, productive, and successful, taking care of your mental health as a business owner is an absolute must. But how, exactly, do you do that?

Table of Contents

Major Mental Health Challenges for Small Business Owners

Before we jump into how to navigate stress and take care of your mental health, let’s touch on what is stressing out business owners to begin with.

So, what do small business owners struggle with the most?

All Things Financial

Hands down, finances are the biggest stressor for small business owners. According to our report, 44% of small business owners say they experience financial stress and fear about the future of their business.

“The ebbs and flows of owning a small business can be anxiety-provoking, especially if cash flow fluctuates dramatically each month,” says Nicole Arzt, a licensed marriage and family therapist and writer at .

And while the fear of not making enough money can affect stress levels, other financial challenges—like overhead, chasing down client payments, and trying to manage taxes—can be equally impactful on your mental health.

Loneliness

Loneliness is extremely detrimental to your health, both mental and physical. In fact, that loneliness can have the same impact on your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

And unfortunately, business ownership can be a lonely experience. “Being a small business owner can be isolating,” says Maryam Elbalghiti, a licensed clinical social worker, therapist, and owner of .

That isolation can be hard. According to our report, 29% of small business owners say working alone most of the time has a negative effect on their mental health.

Managing Clients

Just because small business owners don’t have a boss doesn’t mean they don’t have anyone to answer to.

“When you have no boss, your customers, in a sense, all become different bosses,” says Arzt.

And dealing with clients and their demands every day (particularly challenging clients) can cause prolonged stress, ultimately leading to mental health problems.

Crushing Responsibility

When you’re the boss, everything falls on your shoulders.

“Unlike having an employer, small business owners are [often] the admin, payroll, HR, marketing, and sales [for their business],” says .

The weight can feel even greater for small business owners with employees. “If the business has employees, that increases the stress on the owner,” says Pilloto. “Not only do they have to worry about their own livelihood and well-being, they worry about the well-being of their employees, too.”

All of that pressure can take a toll, causing worry, anxiety, panic attacks, and more.

Imposter Syndrome

Many entrepreneurs struggle with imposter syndrome—feeling like they’re not qualified to run their company. Not only can this lead to anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions, but it can also lead to unhealthy coping mechanisms. For example, according to the FreshBooks report, 27% of entrepreneurs say they feel like they can never show vulnerability or weakness.

Too Much to Do (In Too Little Time)

Ever wish you could clone yourself or stop time? You wouldn’t be alone. Our report revealed that 28% of owners are concerned about having too much work to do in too little time.

This perpetual time crunch can lead to overwork, burnout, and anxiety. (“So many small business owners feel like they can’t ever stop working,” says Pilloto.)

9 Small Business Mental Health Strategies

If the challenges above are familiar and you feel depressed, overwhelmed, or stressed, it may be time to employ some actionable tips to help you take care of your mental health as you run your business.

1. Establish Personal-Professional Boundaries

“The ability to set your own schedule is a blessing and a curse,” says Elbalghiti. “Many business owners find themselves working around the clock.”

When there’s no separation between your work and personal life, it can feel like you’re always working. And what’s more stressful than feeling like you’re working 24/7?

Setting clear boundaries around work is an absolute must to keep stress at bay, avoid burnout, and support your mental health.

This means:

Setting start and end times for work each day (and sticking to them as much as possible)
Keeping work contained to a specific space (rather than working in your bedroom, on your couch, or in other living spaces)

“It’s crucial to set hours for your work as well as designate certain spaces—like your home office [or on-site at your business]— for work to keep your business from bleeding into other parts of your life,” says Elbalghiti.

2. Learn to Say No

Saying “yes” to everything—working with a client you find difficult, taking on a new project you don’t have the capacity to handle, or agreeing to lower your rate—can lead to increased stress and put your mental health at risk. To protect your mental health, you have to learn how to say no.

Saying no comes more naturally to some business owners than others. If you struggle with saying no and/or setting boundaries, give yourself the chance to practice. Start by saying no to small things in your professional and personal life. As you become more comfortable flexing your “no” muscles, start flexing them in larger, more impactful situations—like turning down a client or project you don’t really want to work with.

3. Don’t Be Afraid to Delegate

Speaking of saying no, sometimes, if you want to support your mental health as a business owner, you must also say no to yourself.

More specifically, you have to say no to doing everything yourself.

“Many small business owners assume they need to do everything themselves,” says Arzt. “[But] it’s unlikely that you can do every task efficiently—and the more time you spend on tasks that don’t ultimately nourish or grow your business, the more drained and resentful you risk becoming.”

Instead, “learn to delegate,” says Artz.

Figure out what tasks in your business can be managed by someone else (for example, administrative or customer service tasks), and then get those tasks off your plate, either by passing along the responsibility to an employee or business partner or outsourcing it to a freelancer.

Delegating tasks that you (a) don’t want to do, (b) aren’t good at, or (c) don’t have time for can alleviate a huge amount of stress in your business.

4. Stay Productive

There’s an old saying: “An idle mind is the devil’s playground.” In other words, if you don’t have enough to do and accomplish, your brain could fill the space with stress, anxiety, or other mental health issues.

So, if you want to take care of your mental health, make sure you’re staying productive and continually working towards the goals you’re excited about.

Now, make sure not to go overboard and overwhelm yourself. That will have the opposite effect. Instead, find the sweet spot between not having enough to do and having too much to do—or, in Goldilocks terms, a “just right” amount of work, tasks, and goals.

“If you begin to think about the future and everything you need to do to be successful, you will become overwhelmed and begin to feel panic,” says , a licensed professional counselor with a mental health services provider designation. “Instead, change your mindset to only focus on one day at a time by setting manageable goals.”

Not sure where to focus your energy? Consider the 80/20 rule, a framework that says that 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts—and figure out where to put 20% of your efforts to deliver the 80% of results you’re looking for.

You might also find it helpful to maintain a schedule. For many business owners, the predictability of having a consistent schedule can make it easier to stay on task, achieve their goals, and stay productive.

5. Take Time Off

If it’s working too much that’s stressing you out, the best thing you can do for yourself and to improve mental health? Take time off.

Mental health days—whether you take time off to spend with family and friends, go on vacation, or catch up on sleep—can be just what you need to reset, recharge, and come back to work feeling your best. (Taking time off is also essential to avoid burnout.)

“Your business is important—but it is not your identity,” says Gateley. “Take a step back to make time for family, friends, hobbies, or resting. The less fused you are with your business, the less you will be putting at risk.”

6. Try Mental Health Tools

If the stress of owning a business is negatively impacting your mental health, there are mental health tools that can help.

If you’re experiencing anxiety, you might consider trying a meditation or breathwork app. (“Mindfulness practices, such as meditation and deep breathing, are proven techniques to reduce stress and improve focus,” says clinical specialist and therapist .)

If you’re struggling with loneliness, you might consider a therapy app. These apps can connect you to mental health professionals that can help you come up with strategies for fostering community.

7. Take a Break to Move

Increasingly, supports the mind-body connection. The feel-good endorphins you release during physical activity can be incredibly supportive of your mental health, so you feel happier, more energetic, and better equipped to tackle the rest of your to-do list.

So, if you find yourself feeling stressed throughout the day, take a break and move your body!

As mentioned, mental health can be adversely affected by the loneliness of running your own business.
That’s why finding a community and building support networks is so crucial. “Social support is vital for small business owners, as running a business can be isolating,” says Maggio. “Networking with other entrepreneurs and seeking guidance from family, friends, and colleagues can provide a much-needed support system.”

If you’re dealing with loneliness or isolation, start fostering more connections in your day. Reach out to a friend and ask to meet for coffee. Call a family member to catch up. Attend networking events to meet other local business owners. It might feel uncomfortable at first, but making a conscious effort to drive more connection is key to fighting loneliness and building community as a small business owner.

9. Lead With Positivity

If you manage a team, it’s not just your own mental health struggles you have to think about; you also want to provide mental health support to your employees. Ensure your team can access the mental health resources they need to feel their best.

That might include providing information about local mental health support groups or contact information for local clinicians and therapists. Or it might mean building mental well-being into your workplace through benefits and other supports.

One simple and effective way to support your team members is to change how you speak about mental health by eliminating stigmatizing language, listening with empathy to employees dealing with mental health issues, and offering mental health days.

On an even broader scale, you could support mental health initiatives as a whole by donating to organizations.

Figure out how you want your business to make a difference—both for your team and for improving mental health in general—and then invest your time and resources into making that difference.

If Freshbooks is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

How Unsplash can help your forms look less like forms

Software Stack Editor · May 5, 2023 ·

Our view at Stack - Typeform is our go-to software if we need to ask a set of structured questions of a group of customers, prospects or leads. In summary, Typeform combines aesthetics, functionality, and flexibility. User-friendly form builder with interactive design, versatile question types, real-time data collection, 500+ integrations, and diverse templates. Ideal for engaging surveys and lead generation.

Unsplash has practically become a verb here at Typeform. Whether it’s for mockups, inspiration, or some presentation slides, nine times out of ten we Unsplash it.

We love the photos on there so much that we built an Unsplash image search feature for Typeform—so you can instantly add some personality to your forms.

Why Unsplash and not some other stock photo library? Here’s what the designer sitting next to me said:

“Unsplash feels like I’ve got incredibly talented photographers by my side. My projects never look tacky or amateur like they would with regular stock images.”

Claudia Aran, Visual Designer at Typeform

So if you don’t have a designer sitting next to you, Unsplash is the next best thing. Here’s three ways their photos help transform typeforms.

Say hello

Forms don’t have to start asking straight away; in fact, they perform better when they don’t. They’re often the first point of interaction between you and your audience—so try using a Welcome Screen with an Unsplash pic to ease people into your questions.

You could greet people with a human touch:

Or give people a taste of what’s to come:

And if you’re asking people to sign up for something, let them see what they’re in for:

With Unsplash images, you’ll avoid that awkward stock-pic feeling of ‘haven’t I seen that office guy before?’

“The photos aren’t boring stock images. They have character and style, they feel professional, and there’s a massive range to choose from.”

Tyze Whorton, Product Owner

Take your pic

People like multiple choice questions for one simple reason: it’s easier than writing an answer. No one likes having to write stuff. And that’s coming from someone whose job is to write stuff.

But what if the options are hard to describe with just a few words? “The one with the forest and the street.” “The one with the bear and the forest.” “The other one with the bear and the forest.”

Sometimes it’s easier to show instead of tell—like Unsplash did in this typeform asking its audience which photos should make the Unsplash book:

You can use picture choice questions to make options clearer, or just break up the usual monotony of a form.

“We love Typeform! For this year’s Unsplash Community Award, we’re using a typeform to collect beautiful stories from outstanding community members.”

Tanya Santos, Head of Community at Unsplash

Text and boxes get old after a while. Drop some Unsplash pictures in the middle of your form and people are more likely to make it to the end.

Provide some background

Want to know a little secret? A lot of typeforms look like this:

And sometimes that’s enough. Like when you just need to get some names and emails from around the office. Or you want your family’s take on the ‘crunchy vs. smooth’ debate.

But if you want to impress your audience and look good for potential customers, an Unsplash picture background is always an option:

Use this tip with care, as you don’t want a busy picture making an important question hard to read. But get it right, and your form will barely resemble a form any more:

Are you a designer who’s looking for clients? You’ll instantly stand out from all the form conformists with this tactic. For some background pic inspiration, head over to Typeform’s Unsplash collection curated by one of our Visual Designers.

Thank you Unsplash

Some 2,500 Unsplash pictures are chosen through Typeform’s image search every day. No strings attached, no credit needed, no questions asked.

They can make your forms look miles better without needing any talent of your own. In other words, they do us all a huge favor. Copywriter Steve Howe sums it up:

“Without you, I’d look as boring as the dullest, stock image-stuffed Powerpoint you can imagine.”

Steve Howe, Copywriter at Typeform

If Typeform is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

How to Make Great Training Videos

Software Stack Editor · April 30, 2023 ·

Learn how you can easily create effective and engaging training videos — even if you’ve never made a video before.

The post How to Make Great Training Videos appeared first on The TechSmith Blog.

If Techsmith is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

How to Improve Virtual PI Planning Sessions

Software Stack Editor · April 28, 2023 ·

Whether you call it program increment (PI) planning, quarterly planning for product teams, or even big room planning, the reality is the same: These sessions are complex undertakings, even more so in our current hybrid reality.

Every 8-12 weeks, dozens, hundreds, or — in some cases — thousands of product team members meet to align on a shared vision, pinpoint cross-team dependencies, discuss features, and, ultimately, plan their product roadmap.

PI or big room planning is designed to capitalize on the product teams’ collective brainpower and enthusiasm. But here’s the thing: In the modern working world, this planning is no longer happening in…well, one big room. Many organizations have had to adapt this formerly face-to-face ritual to accommodate distributed teams.

3 major pitfalls of distributed PI or big room planning

When product teams adapted these planning sessions for distributed ways of working at the outset of the pandemic, they became more accessible, convenient, and cost-effective. But the remote format introduced a few new hurdles, too.

1. Too much wasted time on duplicate, manual work

Ensuring that a quarterly planning session is as effective as possible requires a great deal of preparation, as well as organization post-meeting.

Beforehand, facilitators need to gather key information to understand each team’s capacity and estimate the story size, for example. In most cases, this requires tracking down product managers, product owners, and developers to get important details.

And even once they have all the necessary information in hand, there’s a lot of manual and tedious work involved in importing roadmaps from multiple sources and cleaning them up so that everybody’s working from a single source of truth for the product vision.

And the hard work isn’t over after the planning session either. Facilitators are then left to manually replicate the session’s decisions in their systems of record, like Jira or Azure DevOps. “We wasted 100 hours on manually checking [that] columns [and] rows were accurately reflected in Jira after the session,” explains Marc Luett, Director of Business Agility at Werner Enterprises, whom we interviewed.

All of this back-and-forth clicking, copying, and pasting not only wastes time and energy but also makes teams far more prone to human error.

2. Dependencies are harder to visualize

Projects are like rows of dominoes, and it’s crucial for teams to understand the relationships between all of the different epics, stories, features, tasks, and more. That’s why dependency mapping is one of the most crucial pieces of PI or big room planning — it uncovers those relationships and encourages teams to break down the silos between them.

And yet, it’s “time-consuming and frustrating for users to identify the dependency or use it to discuss with other teams,” Luett continues. Virtual connectors have replaced in-room strings, but dependency mapping has remained as messy in today’s distributed sessions as it was offline.

3. Lack of energy leads to a lack of engagement

PI or big room planning sessions are known for their big energy, but product teams are quickly learning that it’s difficult to capture that same collaborative and dynamic spirit in a virtual session.

“I miss the energy and fun of being in the same room,” Isaac, an Agile Coach told us in an interview. While he used to be an active participant in in-person planning, he prefers to observe and participate only when required now that these sessions are hybrid or fully remote.

The value of PI or big room planning comes from the energy and focus that its participants invest in it. You can’t risk having people back out because the sessions feel more like an obligation than an opportunity.

3 tips for putting the passion and productivity back in PI or big room planning

Anybody who’s ever attended a virtual happy hour will readily admit that it’s tough to replicate the same enthusiasm you feel when you’re together in the same room with other people. But remote work isn’t going anywhere. In fact, Miro’s “The Ways We Work” survey found that 32% of knowledge workers say their ideal work environment is remote and 56% say they prefer a hybrid environment; just 12% want to be fully in-office.

The truth is that distributed product planning sessions won’t be exactly the same as the in-person ones you used to host, but here are three tips for ensuring they’re just as effective.

1. Sync experiences across your tech stack

When it comes to virtual PI or big room planning, it’s almost impossible to overstate the importance of using the right tools. The right technology significantly reduces manual work, improves visibility and transparency, and enables more efficient communication and collaboration.

For example, with Miro’s Program Board, you can easily (seriously, it’s only two steps) import all of the epics, stories, and tasks you need from Jira. No more painful copying and pasting.

And rather than having to do a bunch of grunt work after the session, it is synced to your system of record and hence, updates it live. Edits made in Miro are synced immediately to Jira and any edits made in Jira are visible right away in Miro. No more duplicate records, missed entries, and crossed wires.

Teams can spend less time pulling in data and more time on what matters most: strategizing.

2. Clearly visualize connections between tasks

Identifying dependencies doesn’t need to result in a complex maze of arrows and lines. With Miro’s Dependencies app, you can map dependencies between Jira cards either directly on your Program board or anywhere on a Miro board during your real-time planning session. Those dependencies are instantly synced in Jira, so you don’t run the risk of forgetting to transfer them.

Don’t want to see those lines on your board? They only show up when the Dependencies app is open, so you don’t need to see those visual cues if you don’t need them.

Not only do these dependency lines boost cross-functional visibility — they also amp up teams’ productivity and supercharge time to market by ensuring stakeholders understand who is blocked by (or blocking) a build.

Learn more about Miro

3. Boost the fun and collaboration

Using a virtual format for these sessions shouldn’t come at the expense of a little fun. Miro offers several features to ensure that your distributed planning is just as energetic as your in-person sessions.

Participants can use reactions to express how they feel using one of six emojis. For even more creativity and broader expressions, they can also use a huge assortment of stickers and emojis directly on the board.

Keep in mind that people might need some quiet time for reflection, too. Use private mode during brainstorming or confidence voting to ensure participants have adequate time and space to think. While private mode is on, any thoughts and edits written on a sticky note are hidden and are revealed to the entire team only once private mode has ended.

The magic of big room planning (without the big room)

Quarterly product planning requires a great deal of collaboration and coordination, particularly if you have to adapt your previously in-person sessions.

Distributed planning sessions don’t have to mean more work and less enthusiasm, though. Put the above tips to work and you’ll benefit from product teams’ collective brainpower — even if you all aren’t in one big room.

Miro is an online workspace where Product teams come together to innovate and collaborate

Learn more

If Miro is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Creativity professor Juan Muñoz published his newsletter for 162 weeks in a row. Here’s how his experiments paid off.

Software Stack Editor · April 26, 2023 ·

Our view at Stack - Podia shines with its all-in-one platform for digital commerce, offering zero transaction fees, email marketing, affiliate marketing, and live chat support. It’s known for unlimited courses and products, embeddable checkouts, and a community feature to engage users. It now has blog functionality also.

What if school got learning wrong? Here’s how university creativity professor Juan Muñoz is making more impact as a creator by first becoming a better student.

On the first day of class, creativity and innovation professor Juan Muñoz told his students they could turn in their homework any way they wanted.

“It can be written down, it can be in your own handwriting, it can be typed on the computer, it can be a video, it can be a podcast–you can do whatever you want to do. If you want to send a messenger dove with your homework, that’s fine. You don’t have to be confined by a piece of paper or Google Doc,” he instructed.

But even with this freedom, his university students still turned in identical PDFs with the same formatting every single time.

“I was so frustrated,” Juan remembers. “I thought this was the simplest task in the world. How are they going to learn creativity if they can’t even get this done?”

As the pattern continued, Juan wondered if there was a bigger issue at play.

“Students have been programmed for ten, fifteen years in school. They’ve been taught that, whether you’re great or not great, you’ll get a worse grade if you deviate from whatever template that teacher gave you. There’s an intrinsic fear of deviating from the standard path.”

Juan could see that this internalized programming was hurting creativity, and he wanted to change things.

Juan loved teaching, but he felt constricted by university rules. In his free time, he read TechCrunch and other entrepreneurial publications, which gave him the idea to start a business.

At the time, there wasn’t an active entrepreneurship ecosystem in Juan’s home country of Costa Rica, so Juan decided to help get the ball rolling.

“I have a civil engineering degree, and I knew people would think, ‘What does this guy know about business?’ So the first thing I did was I wrote all of my ideas down in a blog and spread them around. I launched my creator career by sharing my ideas online and sharing the things I can do.”

Today, Juan teaches creativity, goal-setting, entrepreneurship, and business through his online learning platform,
Épico Academia
. He offers online courses, a library of free workshops, and a paid weekly email newsletter to help people live more creative and epic lives.

Here’s how experimenting, taking unexpected paths, and continually learning helped Juan build a thriving online business and unlock a holistic approach to entrepreneurship that’s fulfilling and fun.

How to provide content in a way that doesn’t feel like school

With his experience creating courses as a university professor, making content wasn’t a challenge for Juan. He just had to figure out the most impactful way to deliver that content.

“The biggest friction is getting people to consume the content we make,” Juan shares.

“People will buy a course and only a handful will go through it. It feels like school. Even if nobody’s making me do it and I’m really interested, my brain goes back to school mode. There’s a teacher, there are modules, there are classes.”

So Juan started experimenting with other ways he could get his content to his audience.

“What if I try an
email-based course where you receive a cool email every week for a year
? Or TikTok-type content, just 30-second videos. Can I create a course with tons of 30-second videos? I don’t know, maybe. I’ll try it out and see if it works.”

Having the right technology in your corner can make experimenting with different delivery methods and content formats easier. Before, Juan used
Gumroad
to sell his products, but he felt limited because the platform was mainly for PDFs and files.

When he switched to
Podia
, Juan gained access to a wide variety of product types so he could test out different formats and make his lessons more exciting.

“I love how Podia allows me to do basically whatever content I want in whatever order I want. I can make a course that’s just 100, 30-second videos and have people go through them.”

Podia is an all-in-one platform that makes it easy to
sell online courses
,
digital downloads
,
community
,
coaching
, and
webinars
about the topics you love. You can also manage your
email marketing
,
affiliates
, and
website
from one streamlined dashboard. If you have a lot of ideas, Podia can make them happen.
Register for free today.

Speaking of experimenting, when Juan tried something different that went against the norm, he ended up creating one of his favorite assets:
The Monday newsletter
.

In the early days of his online business, Juan noticed a trend.

“Every Sunday night and Monday morning, people would post memes about how much they hate Mondays,” Juan says. “I thought, there’s always going to be a Monday. You can’t escape it. So why are you still hung up on this?”

“I started realizing these are the same people that come to me and say, ‘I don’t like my life, I don’t like my job, I want to get better,’ and there was a pattern. I love marketing and branding, and I thought this would be an interesting brand idea because it’s easy to hate Monday. There’s already a club for that, and it’s a big club. But how do you do the opposite?”

Juan started a newsletter all about how much he loved Mondays where he shared one tip, concept, or idea that would help his readers make the most out of their day.

“It attracted a lot of people because people were unhappy with something in their life and I was talking about ways to make their life better. It made people question, ‘Why do I hate Monday?’”

Juan published his Monday newsletter for 162 straight weeks and the
consistency compounded his follower count and impact
. He took a break when his daughter was born, then brought the newsletter back when he had more time during lockdowns.

Today, this experiment-turned-newsletter continues to grow through word-of-mouth referrals, and Juan still loves writing it every week.

To become a better creator, learn as much information as you can about the topics you’re interested in

Not every idea comes together as seamlessly as the Monday newsletter, and Juan found that the best way to get clarity on product and content ideas was to become a student again.

“I’m always mind blown about the fact that we get to live in a world where we can learn from anyone and anyone can learn from us. It’s amazing. If I’m into marbles, I can find someone that’s so much more into marbles that they’ll teach me new things. They can be in Singapore, I might not even know their name, but I can learn from their content.”

To become a successful creator today, learn as much as you can about the topics you love.

“I urge people to consume whatever they’re curious about,” Juan recommends. “Often you can even find free content on social media. And when you consume content, you realize, this is not that deep. This guy is talking about marbles. You don’t have to have a Ph.D. in a subject.”

“There used to be experts,” Juan explains. “There were people that knew everything about one subject because there was only a limited amount of information available. There wasn’t infinite information like we have today, and that information was sequestered somewhere. So there was someone who knew everything about it, and they were the expert. But that’s not the case anymore.”

“There are a lot of people that know a lot, and there are a lot of people that know a little, but there’s always someone that knows less than you. So you can make content for them and still have a big impact.”

Simply put, the more you get out there and learn, the more knowledge you’ll have to share with people around you. If you’re feeling stuck on what or how to teach, try switching roles and becoming a student again to reignite your inspiration.

What if you created things just for the sake of creating them?

One of the most profound lessons Juan learned in his entrepreneurial journey is that there are many different routes people can take to share their passions.

Juan says, “We have these preconceived notions about how things should work. We look online and see how other creators are running their businesses and think that’s exactly how we should run ours too. Instead, get inspired by what others are doing and pick and choose things that work for you. If you go to Podia’s website,
there are dozens of creator profiles
. Read these profiles and you’ll see that there are so many different ways you can do this.”

Creating also shouldn’t be all about reaching a particular outcome, financial milestone, or follower count. Instead, find a balance between Telic and Atelic goals.

“Telic goals are things that have a very fixed outcome that you can measure. Atelic goals are good to do for the sake of doing them. I think people should approach creating with both types of goals in mind,” Juan shares.

“Sure, it would be great to get a million dollars a year out of your course, but if that doesn’t happen, just having
created the course
is good in and of itself. There’s growth aside from the money.
Building an audience
is the same way. If you only focus on the number of subscribers and followers, it’ll be frustrating. But if you focus on creating excellent content every day, just doing that is beneficial to you and to that audience,” Juan reminds.

“If you’re actually helping other people out, then it doesn’t matter if it’s one person or a million.”

Plus, there’s value in your work simply existing in the world.

“If you send out a tweet,
Instagram post
, or video and nobody sees it, it’s still there. Someone can find it eventually. Also, getting likes on a post and helping people through your post are two very different things. I enjoy a lot of things that I don’t double-tap. Just because nobody double-tapped your post or retweeted your tweet doesn’t mean it wasn’t beneficial.”

“Creating is a visceral thing. It’s emotion, it’s vulnerable, it’s very honest,” Juan relates. “It’s a picture of who you are and what you think, and putting that out there and having no one engage with it is horrible.”

“But even if nobody buys it, it’s still valuable. You still learned a lot. You can use that knowledge in consulting or your next job or anywhere. Nobody can take that away from you. That’s soul bound.”

To stay in touch with what really matters, Juan explains how important it is to remember where you came from and celebrate everything you’ve achieved so far.

“I recommend that creators keep journals and think about what you’re doing now through the eyes of yourself five years ago, or ten years ago, or twenty years ago. Ask yourself what you would think about your work now. Because past you would probably think it’s great.”

Finally, Juan reminds creators that the most important thing is getting your work out there. It isn’t about getting record-breaking sales, likes, or clients.

“I think it’s arrogant to assume people won’t want your product. It’s arrogant because you’re making a decision for someone else. Let them make the decision. If they want it, they’ll buy it. If they don’t, they won’t. You just have to make it available to them. Be more mind-blown by the world, learn as much as you can, and make things–other people will make their own decisions.”

“Create your thing and put it out there, Juan says. “You never know what will happen next.”

If Podia is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Personal finance educator Dana Miranda’s first audience wasn’t a fit. But when she made this shift, she started to grow.

Software Stack Editor · April 24, 2023 ·

When Dana Miranda shifted her target audience to provide training and resources for educators and non-profits, she found more alignment and fulfillment in her business.

In the two years Dana Miranda worked as a personal finance journalist, she noticed a trend. “Most of the personal finance content out there, most of the advice and education, is from a singular point of view, which is usually white, male, heteronormative, and from a middle-class background.”

“I come from a working-class background,” Dana shares. “I’m a queer woman. And I kept seeing that there was a lack of representation and understanding of the nuances of these different kinds of experiences that people have with money.”

Instead of reproducing the same information that everyone else was sharing, Dana decided to change the narrative.

Today, Dana Miranda is a personal finance educator and the founder of
Healthy Rich
, a platform for inclusive, budget-free financial education. Here’s how Dana built her online business and ensured that her work reached as many people as possible, even if that meant going a nontraditional route.

Have a new business idea you want to try? Join Podia for free and build your website, sell a digital download, offer coaching, and grow an online community. We can’t wait to see what you create!

Just because a monetization strategy is popular doesn’t mean it’s right for your business

Healthy Rich began as a side hobby that Dana ran while working as a freelance writer.

“I started Healthy Rich as a project to tell different personal finance stories. It was just a blog and there was no money coming in. I wasn’t quite sure what monetization would look like, but I knew that eventually, I wanted to grow it into a business.”

“I didn’t want to monetize through advertising and affiliates,” Dana explains. “That’s really common in the personal finance space, and I didn’t like what I had seen on sites that I’d worked for. To make sure we were providing value for the end user, I wanted to take ads out of the equation.”

With ads and affiliates off the table,
selling digital products
was the best revenue option for Healthy Rich. Dana spent months creating personal finance classes for her target audience–individuals in need of financial advice and support–but when launch day arrived, she learned a difficult lesson.

Dana loved the course content she had created. She also enjoyed talking to her students, hearing feedback, and answering questions. But something felt off about selling to her followers.

“I hated the entire launch. I hated the whole sales process of convincing people that they have some pain point and I have the solution–none of it felt right for me,” Dana remembers.

Selling products to individual audience members was not the way forward, which was a big problem. Even though this was Healthy Rich’s monetization plan, she wanted her followers to have access to the information for free. She needed to bring in money but didn’t want that money to come from the pockets of the people she was trying to help.

When creating products for your target market feels wrong, try shifting your audience

To get more perspectives, Dana had conversations with educators and community organizers. From those talks, she realized that there was a huge need for
personal finance curriculum
–and she could be the person to provide it.

“The need for personal finance education is growing,” Dana explains.

“There are a lot of states passing mandates that you have to have a personal finance class to graduate high school, but most of those are unfunded and there’s not a specific educational track for someone to become a personal finance teacher. Educators coming into the space are often just told to teach a personal finance class and don’t feel prepared for it.”

The same issue existed among non-profit workers and those who serve vulnerable populations.

“People who work in a non-profit organization may be helping people in another area of their lives, but it’s all inextricably connected to money. They’re fielding questions about people’s finances that they don’t feel confident answering. I want to help people understand this subject so they can deliver that information with confidence.”

Dana realized that she could bypass selling products to end consumers and instead serve educators and trainers with a much wider audience. Her message could reach more people, her business could earn money, and she could feel good about her impact.

“I like to give content to the people who need it for free as much as possible. Serving community organizations and schools is a way for me to make this education available to the people who need it because individuals are participating in those programs and classes for free,” she shares.

“This opened up a new audience for my business because I was able to empower facilitators and instructors. I can work with both audiences without directly selling classes to each individual person.”

When Dana started to build out her new program for educators, it clicked.

“My first course launch was a good experiment. I’m glad that I learned what I did, but I’m also glad that I learned quickly and moved on to the next chapter.”

Dana needed a place to house all her new offers, and she found
Podia
while researching different online creator platforms.

“I use Podia for my membership,
which is technically a community
, and I’m setting it up as a library of resources for educators. We’re using the community space as a library and also as a community forum for people, just like a brick-and-mortar library would have,” Dana explains.

“I am using the
coaching feature
because I’ll be scheduling consulting calls and virtual training with people. And I plan to do
webinars
with members, so I’m kind of using the gamut.”

In the future, Dana also plans to
build an online course through Podia
. She hopes to make a self-study training option, and having everything in one place makes it easy to grow.

“Podia gives me the flexibility to create what I want. I love it that way.”

Your ideas aren’t limited, and your technology shouldn’t be either.

To find potential clients, connect on LinkedIn through shared work

To find her first clients in her new target demographic, Dana turned to
social media
. On
LinkedIn
, Dana found that connecting with people about their current projects and achievements was an easy way to start a conversation.

“People like to talk about the work they’re doing. Follow the organizations that you would want to work with and see what they’re up to,” Dana notes.

“It’s been really helpful for me to know the niche that I want to work with, which is educators and nonprofit organizations. I live in Wisconsin, so I’m starting locally with organizations in the community. I can reach out as a fellow community member and say, ‘I care about the work that you’re doing in my community. Let’s talk about how we could work together.’”

By reenvisioning her target audience and the products they need, Dana transformed Healthy Rich into so much more than a blog about personal finance advice. Today, it’s an opportunity to completely change societal conversations around money.

“The way that we talk about money is a problem, and I want to do it differently. I want to provide resources that educators need and also make sure that it’s being taught with a more inclusive and nuanced lens, instead of just the same old budgeting and debt paydown stuff that I was seeing.”

By shifting her target audience from individual people to educators and non-profit workers, Dana stayed true to her values and found a better way to share her knowledge with those who needed it most.

Blaze new trails and avoid comparing your journey to others

Dana reminds creators that “there’s no perfect path for what this career looks like. You have to just experiment and figure out what works for you.”

Part of finding your own path means not comparing yourself to other creators. Instead, Dana recommends looking to the past to see how much you’ve grown.

“Everyone is always at one stage wanting to be at the next stage. What’s really helpful for me is to think about myself five or ten years ago,” she says.

“When I started freelancing, I wanted to be a writer. I started taking on some freelance gigs and blogging, and for my first few years, I was earning very low pay. Whenever I feel frustrated with where I am in my business, I look back at me then and remember what I’ve achieved.”

“I was able to get a full-time job as a staff writer,” she shares. “In the last couple of years, I made six figures freelancing. Now I’m pivoting into a new phase where, instead of my revenue primarily coming from freelance writing, I want it to come from
my business
.

“It’s frustrating figuring out how to make it work, but if you told me twelve years ago that this is the position I would be in, I would not believe that it could happen. I’d be really astonished.”

At the end of the day, taking the leap to follow your creativity is a huge win, and you’ve probably come farther than you realize.

“I think that pursuing this kind of dream is a huge thing to celebrate no matter which stage you’re in.”

We couldn’t agree more. If you’re ready to begin your own creator journey like Dana, Podia can provide the tools to help you get there.
Get your free Podia account
today and have fun blazing new trails.

If Podia is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Customer intelligence playbook: How forms help Gated fuel customer centricity

Software Stack Editor · April 15, 2023 ·

In a world where everyone is overstressed, overscheduled, and over-caffeinated, managing our inboxes and to-do lists seems impossible.

Few know that struggle—and the roar of always needing to do more—better than a one-person startup marketing team like Melissa Moody, Founder and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Gated.

But as she explains, that’s the problem the company’s email management platform has set out to solve:

“How do we as humans get a little bit of control back over our attention? Not just in how we’re marketed to—but how we’re connecting with everything out there—in this digitally noisy world?”

One day, former GTM executive Andy Mowat sought out to solve the problem of overcrowded inboxes for good. Now he’s the Founder and CEO of an email productivity company adored by thousands of leading professionals.

Gated auto-replies let senders know they need to donate to charity before users see their message.

The platform makes senders pause and reconsider whether their message is worth sending, while also supporting worthy causes. In fact, Gated users can choose to support any 501 (c)3 that they love most. Plus, Gated gives users peace of mind knowing that their inbox only contains messages from people they know and those that value their attention.

But what do Gated users really think about their email experience? To understand customer sentiment, Gated turns to typeforms. In this playbook, we’ll cover how Gated captures feedback with forms, maximizes form engagement, and turns form responses into customer-centric marketing.

The value of forms: Gated’s “first-party testimonial capture engine”

Lean startups like Gated need simple, straightforward tools for every aspect of the business. User feedback—which powers product improvements and helps Melissa market Gated—offers a treasure trove of value, and typeforms are a powerful way to collect that information.

Gated has three key audiences—users, senders, and nonprofits—each of which interacts with the platform differently. For an efficient data-gathering process, the team can send each group a thoughtful form, aligned to their needs.

Using forms as a main method of contacting users empowers Andy’s hands-on approach to founder-led marketing. He can thank them for donations, review user feedback, and stay plugged into the business.

“We started using Typeform to capture user testimonials. We’ve exponentially increased our responses with over 180 in just three months.” — Andy Mowat, Gated Founder and CEO

In addition to helping the Gated team understand the product’s impact, Melissa says that forms have helped build a “first-party testimonial capture engine.”

When a user expresses an interest in sharing their Gated experience, Melissa leans on forms to capture their testimonial directly.

Over time, the platform has built up a bank of reviews with third-party sites like G2. But Gated’s marketing started (and continues) by relying on the words of its customers to power social content, blog stories, and more.

When customers provide a Gated testimonial, Melissa uses their feedback to create a customized landing page that features their success with the platform.

When (and how) Gated implements typeforms

Gated has a small, scrappy team (<5 people) that serves three disparate audiences, which poses quite the marketing challenge. The team relies on a divide-and-conquer approach to work efficiently and ensure a designated point of contact (and a personal touch) with Gated’s audience.

Interacting with three distinct customer personas

Gated regularly interacts with three unique customer groups—each with its own specific needs, insights, and goals:

Users: Includes product market fit, email-related concerns, needs, and pain points
Senders: Includes overall reactions to the platform, their experience with it, and general feedback
Nonprofits: Includes understanding their biggest challenges, openness to Gated, and additional engagement

Understanding three separate user groups could be Melissa’s full-time job all on its own. Forms simplify these interactions and let her focus on the essential data from each audience.

“Instead of having a customer success team that can talk to every sender and every nonprofit, we basically have a Typeform flow that we bring them through.” — Melissa Moody, Gated Founder and CMO

Finding moments of delight

The team looks for “moments of delight” throughout each user and sender journey. When a customer encounters one of these “moments of delight”, Gated introduces them to a relevant typeform.

For example, when a Gated user gets their first donation, or a Gated referral uses their referral link, the team sends users a form to ask about that experience. When a sender donates, Andy starts a conversation with them via a unique form.

The workflow for nonprofits looks a bit different. A dedicated nonprofit landing page offers more information about the platform and lets them know how Gated can help them raise more funds and amplify their impact.

From there, they can click to learn more, which takes them to a typeform that gathers basic information about the organization and offers marketing materials to further their engagement with Gated.

Balancing manual and automated workflows

Rather than being fully automated, many trigger points involve some manual support from a Gated team member. For instance, when someone shares kind words about Gated and tags them on social, Melissa sends a message to the individual with a relevant typeform and an invitation to become a Gated testimonial.

By using forms as a data-gathering tool, Melissa is able to create repeatable workflows. That way, she can scale and repurpose content based on authentic feedback; an efficient way to get the most bang for her marketing buck.

Maximizing responses, engagement, and in-depth insights

Along with having a rock-solid strategy for building and sending forms, Melissa also optimizes Gated’s forms to receive the most—and highest-quality—responses possible.

Here are three best practices Gated uses to maximize form engagement.

1. Bring your brand forward

Gated doesn’t have dedicated sales or customer success teams to ask customers what they love or dislike.

But forms let Melissa ask customers and senders those kinds of questions through a branded, personalized experience.

Gated customizes each typeform with their colors, logo, and brand voice.

With Typeform, she incorporates Gated’s colors and logo into each form, and she builds form messaging and questions around their unique brand voice.

“You can use Typeform to create something that sounds like you…Typeform makes it easy—silly easy—to have something that feels like Gated.” — Melissa Moody, Gated Founder and CMO

Forms should offer customers an experience that feels like any other touchpoint with your brand.

Gated tip: Customize the voice, look, and feel of the form to make respondents feel like they’re in direct contact with your team.

2. Keep your forms short and sweet

With the customer experience in mind, Melissa works to keep Gated’s forms as short as possible.

Her aim is to streamline the customer experience, keeping it tight. That way, when they’ve finished a typeform, the user feels like they’ve completed a lot without doing a lot of work.

Oftentimes users need to take different routes to finish a form—especially because Gated has such distinct audiences. This is where Typeform logic features come into play. Melissa leads respondents down a different pathway based on how they answer key questions.

For users completing a testimonial, the typeform sends them down a different path depending on whether they want to use their LinkedIn headshot or upload a photo directly.

The goal is to make the form experience as low-effort as possible.

Gated tip: Make the form enjoyable for the user. This will create a natural flow leading to more completions. If they feel accomplished and not overwhelmed, even better.

3. Craft your questions carefully

To maximize the quality of data, Gated leaves many of their form questions open-ended. These questions give Melissa the full picture and allow her to maximize the marketing impact of responses.

But she also relies on survey best practices, like starting each form with a question that isn’t open-ended—yes/no questions, rated on a scale from one to 10, or multiple-choice.

Starting your forms with a softball question gets respondents to engage, which in turn nudges them to continue filling out the form.

When using a typeform to prep Finding Focus podcast guests, Melissa eases the user in with a rating question.

Gated tip: When building a survey, strike a balance between your research needs and the user’s needs. Don’t be afraid to ask thoughtful questions that spark meaningful responses, but you shouldn’t leave the user wondering what to do. Focus on creating forms that are a win for everyone.

How Gated uses form responses for customer-centric marketing

When a Gated form is completed, the responses feed straight into Airtable. Depending on the audience type and responses, answers are tagged with labels and action items for simple, straightforward follow-up.

Here are a few ways the team uses the gems customers share:

Testimonials

When a user or sender shares their experience with Gated—including a start-to-finish story with value-packed quotes—Melissa notes that they’re a great candidate for a testimonial. Then, she works their answers into customer stories for the Gated website and uses them as a sales tool.

She turns shorter sound bites and powerful quotes into social media touchpoints, using Canva to spin up shareable testimonial graphics

Melissa also asks users for a G2 review when their responses indicate they might be willing to share their experience on the review site.

Additional marketing content

Some responses open the door to a deeper conversation—in those cases, Melissa follows up for a longer interview to create a guest post for the Gated blog.

Outside the written word, Gated produces the Finding Focus podcast and hosts webinars and Ask Me Anything (A.M.A) sessions. Melissa identifies guests for each of these content types through forms.

Forms often help Melissa find the next guest for the Finding Focus podcast.

Personal connection

For Andy, testimonials received via forms are great touchpoints for additional outreach to improve the customer experience. Andy connects with satisfied users and senders via LinkedIn and shares a templated response thanking them for sharing their experience.

Expansion opportunities

Positive form responses also signal expansion opportunities for Evan’s customer success efforts.

He’s noticed a common pattern for Gated growth within companies. Five users quickly turn into 15. Happy users are a great chance for outreach to ask about other team member referrals.

At other times, key roles—like a CEO or executive user—might be ‌ideal contacts for pitching company-wide use of Gated.

Customer testimonials: An early-stage SaaS marketer’s hidden advantage

Gated offers its users a breath of fresh air amid the constant swirl of a noisy world by helping them stay focused on the messages that matter most to them and their businesses. In the same way, forms help Melissa find her focus by simplifying the process of collecting customer testimonials.

With the help of stories from users and senders, Melissa powers Gated’s people-focused marketing strategies and repurposes real-world stories in multiple ways. Gated customers become an extension of her one-person marketing team, saving her time and strengthening every part of the business.

With the help of customer testimonials—and the support of a user-friendly form experience—no early-stage SaaS marketer has to miss out on the chance to supercharge and simplify their marketing efforts.

Your to-do list may still be long, but leveraging customer stories in your marketing—and the email magic of Gated—just might help you find a moment of peace.

If Typeform is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

34 Low-Cost Business Ideas With High Profit

Software Stack Editor · April 13, 2023 ·

In recent years, more people have started their own businesses. In fact, a report from the Commerce Institute shows that there were about five million new businesses started in 2022. If you’re looking for low-cost business ideas with high-profit potential, you’re in the right place. We’ve compiled a list of 34 opportunities with low startup costs.

Lucrative low-cost businesses to start in 2024

There are many low-cost business ideas that you can start online. We’ve compiled a list of the most profitable options with information on how to begin, startup costs, and earning potential.

1. Sell digital products and downloads

Many Teachable creators earn money by selling digital products and downloads. And if you have something to teach others, you can sell a digital product.

For example, Darnell Brown is a business coach. He’s been using Teachable for years to create digital downloads to help his clients start and grow their businesses.

Tips to get started:

Create digital products like ebooks, podcasts, and how-to guides to sell online.
Use a platform like Teachable to create and sell digital downloads.
After your digital product is ready, promote it on social media, email, and other marketing channels.
Over time, create new products to increase your customer base and make passive income.

Startup costs: With Teachable, creating and selling your digital products is easy and affordable. And you can join at no cost, then select from various pricing plans to fit your needs. Whether you’re selling courses, coaching, or digital downloads the no-code platform means you can start now.

How much money can you make: Earning potential for selling digital downloads depends on your products, audience, and topic. Some creators make up to six figures annually.

Take our quiz

Find out which digital product you should create first.

2. Offer copywriting services

Copywriting is one of the best low-cost business ideas with high potential profit because it’s versatile.

Most companies need copywriters to craft landing pages, social media posts, advertising copy, blogs, video scripts, and more. And they also prefer working with freelance writers because they can save on overhead costs.

Tips to get started:

Learn grammar and search engine optimization (SEO) best practices.
Build writing skills like paying attention to detail and creative thinking.
Decide what content you’ll write. Examples include marketing material, websites, emails, and ads.
Put together a website and portfolio of your copywriting so you can share it with potential clients.
Help clients meet their goals by researching their brand, audience, and marketing trends.

Startup costs: If you have experience copywriting for brands, you can start at no cost. But, if you’re building skills, then a copywriting course usually costs about $300. Creating a portfolio website will cost about $0 to $65 per month.

How much money can you make: Many freelance copywriters charge per word, hour, or project. So your earning potential also depends on the type of content you write.

When it comes to blogs, highly experienced writers charge $100 or more an hour, or anywhere from .25 to $1 per word. If you write 10,000 words per month, you can earn $2,500 to $10,000 monthly.

3. Become a virtual assistant

Because online businesses are booming, the demand for virtual assistants is higher than ever.

Tips to get started:

Consider taking a course to learn virtual assistant skills. Then, create a website to display your services, which usually include:

Managing emails
Handling social media and blogging
Scheduling appointments
Making phone calls

Startup costs: Similar to copywriting, startup costs are low for virtual assistants. You’ll likely spend anywhere from a few hundred to a thousand dollars on courses to learn the necessary skill set and create a website to market your services.

How much money can you make: Your income as a virtual assistant can vary depending on your services and experiences. Many virtual assistants charge up to $100 per hour.

4. Host workshops

Like with many other low-cost business ideas with high-profit potential, if you have the knowledge to share, you can host workshops. Workshops might be in-person or online and last anywhere from an hour to a few days.

Tips to get started:

Workshop hosts must be comfortable speaking to and engaging an audience.
Decide what kind of workshop you’ll host: online or in-person, seminars, or boot camps. Seminars are shorter and best if you plan to organize and host with little or no help. Meanwhile, boot camps are multi-day workshops and usually include various hosts and speakers.
Organize and host a workshop where you’ll teach others how to do something. For example, you might arrange a creative writing workshop if you’re a writer.

Startup costs:

There are various costs to consider when hosting a workshop.

Location or online platform cost – A small space runs anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a thousand, depending on how long you use it. You can also host your workshop online using Teachable, which integrates Zoom. The free version covers a 30-minute workshop and a small class size.
Audio and visual equipment – Microphones run between $30 and $100, while cameras start at about $500.
Printed materials – Print shops usually charge a few cents per page.
Refreshments – Depending on the length of your workshop, you may provide snacks and drinks.

How much money can you make: If you only host one workshop per month and charge 30 people $250 per workshop, you can make $90,000 per year.

5. Sell online courses

Online courses are an excellent way to share your knowledge with others from the comfort of your home. With platforms like Teachable, it’s easier than ever to get started with an online course business and generate significant profit. Courses are even one of the top five sources of income for bloggers today.

Tips to get started:

Outline what you want to teach. Teachable creators have sold online courses teaching others about various topics, including fitness, houseplant care, and 3D design.
Create a course curriculum and record videos of your lessons.
Prepare your course using Teachable. You can upload your content, design your course with ready-made templates, set up pricing, and manage your course after it’s published.
Scale your business by creating multiple courses over time.

Startup costs: Teachable makes creating and selling courses simple and affordable. Various plans range from $0 to $375 per month.

How much money can you make: It’s possible to earn upwards of $200,000 per year selling online courses. Thousands of Teachable creators earn a comfortable income from online courses. For example, Julia McCoy earned $150,000 from one online course.

6. Design and sell low-content books

You can create low-content books in little time and easily sell them online. Low-content books don’t require much writing on your part. They usually have pages that the person buying fills in, similar to workbooks.

Examples of low-content books include:

Planners
Journals
Log books
Coloring books

Tips to get started:

Choose a niche–a focus for your book. For example, a plant expert might create a gardening journal. Amazon’s search feature offers suggestions based on popular searches, so you can start there.
Create your low-content book(s) with templates or DIY on Canva. Then, use a platform like Teachable to upload and sell your digital content. You can also use Amazon to sell hard copies.
Increase your income by creating more low-content books over time.

Startup costs: You can create content on Canva and join Teachable at no cost. It’s free to sell on Amazon, but you pay for printing and shipping after you sell a book.

How much money you can make: Low-content books usually sell for $4 to $15. If you sell 300 low-content books per month, you can make up to $4,500. That said, 60% of that usually goes to Amazon for printing and shipping.

7. Start a clothes-flipping business

If you enjoy shopping and are looking for a low-cost business idea, try clothes flipping.

Tips to get started:

Buy used clothing items and accessories like jewelry and shoes for a low price at thrift stores, flea markets, yard sales, and online.
Wash and spruce up your items before reselling them at a higher price.
Sell your items on sites like Poshmark and eBay. You can also create an online shop using a website platform like Shopify, but it’s best to already have an audience to direct to your site.

Startup costs: You can begin clothes flipping at no cost by starting with items you already have. And once you start earning money, you can buy new-to-you items to grow your inventory and increase sales.

How much money can you make: Your earning potential depends on where you find and sell your items and how much time you put into it. The casual thrifters make around $300 per month on average.

More devoted thrifters earn as much as $70,000 to $100,000 dollars per year. This couple earned $12,000 to $15,000 monthly as full-time clothes flippers and sellers.

8. Help students as an online tutor

Do you enjoy teaching and have a subject you’re passionate about? If so, you might want to start an online tutoring business that costs little to nothing to start.

Tips to get started:

First, determine what topic you’ll teach. Choose something you’re an expert in. For example, a musician might teach music.
Pick a platform to teach on. There are some tutoring marketplaces, but they’ll take a large percentage of your earnings. Another option is using Teachable and Zoom.
Create lessons. Some tutoring marketplaces have lesson guidelines, so review the details before committing to one.

Startup costs: If you already have a computer, you should only need noise-canceling headphones and a microphone to get started. This means you can start with less than $100.

How much money can you make: Online tutors can earn $35-$150 per hour. If you tutor for one hour each week, you’ll earn $1,400 to $6,000 monthly.

9. Become a personal trainer

If you’re passionate about fitness and looking for low-cost business ideas with high profit potential, consider becoming a personal trainer.

Tips to get started:

Choose a specialty such as strength training, weight loss, or senior fitness.
Create exercise plans based on your focus.
Start finding clients by sharing your personal training services with your local gym and your network.

Startup costs: This is one of the easiest and most affordable businesses to start because the only investment you’ll need is a personal training certification for less than $100.

How much money can you make: On average, private personal trainers earn up to $70,000 annually. But, running a personal training business can be more lucrative. If you start doing 10 personal training sessions a week at $150 each, you’ll make $1,500 monthly.

10. Illustrate books

Becoming a freelance illustrator is one of the best jobs for artists and costs little to start. While many illustrators attend art school, this is optional.

Tips to get started:

Consider what you like to draw. Many illustrators focus on children’s books, but you can also be a product, editorial, or comic book illustrator.
Once you know more about what kind of illustrations you want to do, you’ll need to gather the necessary art supplies.
Create a website to host your services and portfolio.

Startup costs: Art supplies and tools like Adobe Illustrator will cost anywhere from $200 to $500. A website costs less than $100 monthly.

How much money can you make: Beginner illustrators typically charge $25 to $100 per hour. However, most experienced illustrators charge per project. Ultimately, you should price your services based on how complex each project is and how much time and effort it takes to complete.

You can also package several illustrations into a bundle price. Some illustrators charge anywhere from $500 to $5,000, so don’t be afraid to negotiate higher prices.

11. Offer social media management

Do you enjoy social media, connecting with others, and getting creative? As influencing and social media marketing are rising, so is the demand for social media managers. A recent report shows the market will grow from $17.5 billion in 2022 to $51.8 billion in 2027.

Tips to get started:

Learn about SEO, copywriting, and social media trends.
Consider what services you’ll offer. Social media management services may include creating strategies and content, publishing posts, and managing engagement.
Create a portfolio with sample posts and a media kit. Then, reach out to brands and pitch your services.

Startup costs: Social media managers need a website to share their services and portfolio, which usually costs $0 to $65 monthly.

How much money can you make: Social media managers charge $25 to $250 per hour, depending on experience and services. Like many other online businesses, you can increase your earnings by generating passive income through digital products. Specifically, you might create social media templates that brands can buy.

12. Edit photos

Photo editing is as important as ever, with a high need for visuals to promote businesses, services, and products. While a photography business requires startup money for cameras, lighting, and other equipment, photo editing doesn’t.

Tips to get started:

Create a website with a portfolio to show work samples.
Work with clients to edit and retouch their existing photos.
Help brands review and select images.

Startup costs: A website costs less than $100 monthly, and the popular Adobe Lightroom for editing starts at $9.99 monthly.

How much money can you make: Photo editors can make $40 to more than $100 per hour. On the low end, you can earn $1,600 monthly. On the high end, $4,000 monthly.

13. Help with event planning

Event planning is an excellent low-cost business idea with high profit potential for those with organizational, multi-tasking, and planning skills.

Tips to get started:

Set goals for your business and research successful event planning companies. Then use this to create a business plan.
Learn about event planning services–organizing meetings, choosing venues, working with vendors, planning event logistics, and coordinating payments.

Startup costs: Event planning startup costs usually only include a website ($0 to $65 monthly). But, you might also hire a professional photographer or videographer to record content from events for your marketing.

How much money can you make: Earning potential depends on what kind of events you plan and where. Private event planners charge between $50 and $150 hourly. You can also earn a commission from event vendors.

14. Develop websites

Website developers create and maintain websites to help companies meet their goals, and they’re in high demand.

Tips to get started:

Take an online course to learn how to become a website developer.
Create a website to showcase services and testimonials.
Most website developers work as freelancers and find clients on freelance platforms. You can also pitch companies via email or LinkedIn.

Startup costs: Web design courses usually cost $100 to $1,000, while a website costs less than $100 monthly.

How much money can you make: The average cost to build a website for a small business ranges from $5,000 to $20,000. However, more complex web development projects cost more.

In your first few years of running a web development business, you can earn $80,000 to $250,000 or more.

15. Plan vacations

If you like traveling and are good at planning, why not earn money by becoming a travel planner?

Tips to get started:

Find clients by sharing your services with people you know and through word of mouth.
Help clients plan their next vacation by putting together an itinerary.
Research and book flights, accommodations, and activities.

Startup costs: Around $0 to 65 monthly for website costs.

How much money can you make: Although travel planners that work for an agency don’t earn a high salary, you have more opportunities running your own business.

If you charge $30 to $100 hourly and work at least 10 hours a week, you’ll earn $1,200 to $4,000 monthly. You can also increase your earning potential by creating passive income with a blog, travel guides, and more.

16. Become a blogger

Learning how to start a blog and make money is how many creators begin their business journey.

Tips to get started:

Choose a niche–a focus for your blog. The most profitable blog niches are food, personal finance, lifestyle or parenting, and travel.
Make your blog profitable with ads, online courses, affiliate marketing, and more.
Consistently publish blog posts about topics your audience wants to read about.

Startup costs: To start a blog, you need a website. This costs $0 to $65 monthly.

How much money can you make: With so many ways to monetize a blog, a blogger’s earning potential is high. For example, Lauren McManus and her business partner have two blogs and make six figures per month.

Bloggers in the most profitable niches earn between $5,000 to $9,000 monthly.

17. Help others by coaching

If you enjoy helping others, consider becoming a life coach. The life coaching industry brought in $1.5 billion in 2022, with an expected annual growth rate of 4.85%.

Tips to get started:

Choose what type of coaching you want to do. Options include relationship, career, nutrition, and finance coaching.
Consider getting a life coaching certificate.
Create a website to display your services and start finding clients.

Startup costs: Coaching programs start at about $1,000.

How much money you can make: Freelance life coaches usually charge $75 to $250 per hour.

18. Sell graphic designs

Graphic design is one of the top low-cost business ideas for creatives. There’s ample opportunity for graphic designers because every industry has design needs.

Tips to get started:

Combine your art skills with technology to create graphic designs.
Build a portfolio of your graphic design projects.
Pitch your services to people who might need a graphic designer. You can also use freelance platforms to find clients.

Startup costs: You can make designs using software like Adobe Creative Cloud, which is about $60 per month.

How much money you can make: Graphic designers can charge up to $200 per hour, but usually set rates by the project. For example, you might charge $500-$1,500 for a logo and upwards of $2,500 to $10,000 for a full brand identity package.

19. Upcycle furniture

Another low-cost business idea for creatives is upcycling furniture. Once a popular side hustle, people now find it a lucrative full-time job.

Tips to get started:

Gather used furniture from yard sales, thrift stores, and flea markets.
Clean and refresh pieces before selling them.
Sell your furniture on platforms like OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace. You can also create a website or social media page to list your items.

Startup costs: You can start at no cost by cleaning up and selling items you already have. When you start making money, buy used items and materials for flipping.

How much money you can make: Furniture flippers often make up to $500 per piece. If you upcycle and sell 10 pieces of furniture per month, you can earn $5,000.

20. Become a fashion consultant

Are you passionate about fashion? If so, you could be a fashion consultant and offer clients style advice.

Tips to get started:

Define your niche. Fashion consultants often style wardrobes, wedding attire, or jewelry.
Connect with potential clients by networking in your community and on social media.

Startup costs: A fashion consultant can start by creating a website for under $100.

How much money you can make: Fashion consultants usually charge an hourly fee of up to $100 or a daily rate of about $1,000.

21. Walk dogs

The dog walking industry has grown in recent years and has an expected growth rate of 11.52% from 2022 to 2030. Dog lovers who enjoy staying active can start their own dog walking business.

Tips to get started:

Perform market research to identify your services and rates. Dog walkers often offer home and dog park visits, short and longer walks, and overnight pet sitting.
Find clients through networking, word of mouth, and dog-walking apps like Rover.

Startup costs: You can start walking dogs for people you know at no cost.

How much money you can make: Dog walkers usually charge up to $50 per hour.

22. Offer data entry services

If you’re tech-savvy and organized, you could offer data entry services and update online records for companies.

Tips to get started:

Learn data entry skills using a platform like Skillshare.
Create a website for your services and testimonials.
Network and use freelancing platforms to find clients.

Startup costs: You can learn data entry skills for free or take a course starting at a few hundred dollars.

How much money you can make: Freelance data entry clerks charge up to $50 per hour.

23. Become an influencer or digital content creator

Influencers or digital content creators are experts on a specific topic and share their content to earn money.

Tips to get started:

Create content in your niche—travel, beauty, wellness, or something else.
Choose a platform to get started. Many influencers use YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram. Over time, you might use multiple platforms.
Decide how you’ll earn money. Sponsorships, paid aids, and selling merch are common ways to earn money as an influencer.
Build a media kit and pitch brands directly to earn sponsorships.

Startup costs: Most influencers don’t pay anything to start.

How much money you can make: Earning potential varies based on different income sources. That said, some influencers report earning a few thousand dollars per post. So, if you share five branded posts per month, you could make $15,000.

24. Edit videos

With many companies relying on video for marketing, video editing jobs are booming. This is the ideal low-cost business idea because it requires little equipment or startup costs.

Tips to get started:

Practice editing videos and create a portfolio.
Decide what kind of videos you want to edit. While ad videos are common, you can also edit documentaries and music videos.
Connect with potential clients and share your work samples and services via your website.

Startup costs: You can create a website with your portfolio and services for less than $100.

How much money you can make: Video editors usually earn $50 to $150 per hour.

25. Become a yoga instructor

The global yoga industry was $105.9 billion in 2022 and expects to hit $177.6 billion by 2028. If becoming a yoga instructor is on your bucket list, now’s a perfect time.

Tips to get started:

Decide what style of yoga you want to teach. Common ones include yin, vinyasa, ashtanga, and children’s yoga.
Attend a yoga teacher training program.
Find a studio to teach at or create your own yoga courses using Teachable, which is how Zabie Yamasaki earns money as a yoga instructor.

Startup costs: Yoga teacher training programs usually cost a few thousand dollars. Most of them offer payment plans.

How much money you can make: Yoga instructors usually charge about $20 per class. If you teach 10 classes to 10 students each, you can earn $2,000 per week.

26. Design print

Another lucrative business idea for creatives is designing print. Print designers use digital software to create visuals for physical items, including

Brochures
Business cards
Labels
Merchandise

Tips to get started:

Create spec pieces and become familiar with Adobe and other print design software.
Add your portfolio and offers to a website.
Pitch your services to people who need a print designer. You can also use freelance platforms to find clients.

Startup costs: Adobe Creative Cloud costs about $100 per month. A website costs $0 to $65 to start.

How much money you can make: Print designer rates are similar to graphic designers. You can earn anywhere from $25 to $150 per hour, but it depends on the project.

27. Perform SEO audits

Search engine optimization (SEO) helps companies increase traffic to their sites and get more potential customers to view their products and services. It can be a lucrative way to make money online, especially if you’re familiar with technical SEO.

Tips to get started:

Consider taking a course to learn how to perform SEO audits.
Create a website to display your packages and testimonials.
Connect with your target audience and pitch your services.

Startup costs: There are no costs to get started. You can find various free SEO courses you can take and get your first clients on platforms like Upwork.

How much money you can make: If you know technical SEO, you can charge $1,500 to $5,000 for a basic SEO audit. You can earn $2,000 to $5,000 monthly.

28. Write songs

Being a songwriter is one of the best low-cost business ideas with high profit potential for musicians.

Tips to get started:

Consider taking a songwriting course.
Practice writing songs. Use this to create your portfolio.
Join the International Songwriters Association and freelance platforms and pitch your songs.

Startup costs: You can take songwriting courses for free and create a portfolio for free.

How much money you can make: As a new songwriter, you can charge up to $500 per song and increase this as you gain experience.

29. Sell stock photography

If you have a camera and take good photos, selling stock photography is an easy, low-cost business opportunity.

Tips to get started:

Join Shutterstock and other stock photo websites.
Create a profile and upload your photos.
Consider starting a blog to scale your business and sell pictures on your website.

Startup costs: You can join stock photo sites for free.

How much money you can make: You can usually earn up to $40 for one image.

30. Offer IT support

With an expected growth of 10.36% by 2027, the IT support industry offers excellent earning potential.

Tips to get started:

Consider taking a course to learn the necessary skills.
Make a website for your business.
Work with clients to troubleshoot technical issues and offer support.

Startup costs: IT support courses usually cost $0 to $1,000. You can start your website for free.

How much money you can make: Freelance IT support providers charge an average of $100 per hour.

31. Provide childcare services

If you’re looking for an in-person job and like working with children, childcare offers excellent opportunities.

Tips to get started:

Identify your services and the number and age of children you’ll work with.
Get CPR and first-aid certified.
Gain experience by offering services to people you know.

Startup costs: You can take a CPR and first-aid class for less than $100.

How much money you can make: Earning potential depends on your experience and where you live. Many freelance childcare providers charge up to $40 per hour.

32. Develop apps

App development is one of the fastest-growing industries, offering ample job opportunities.

Tips to get started:

Learn about coding and programming.
Choose a platform–Android or iOS.
Practice your skills and turn an idea into an app. Use this as a work sample.
Join freelancing platforms to find clients.

Startup costs: If you take a course, it’ll cost up to $100.

How much money you can make: Most app developers charge $5,000 to $10,000 per project.

33. Become a beauty consultant

Beauty consulting is a great low-cost business idea with high profit potential for skin, hair, or nail experts.

Tips to get started:

Do market research to help you choose a focus area and your services.
Work with people you know to gain experience and build a portfolio.
Find clients through word of mouth and freelance platforms.

Startup costs: Supplies to start can cost up to $500. You can create a portfolio at no cost.

How much money you can make: Beauty consultants can earn up to $50 per hour.

34. Offer content editing and proofreading

Because all industries produce written content, there’s always a need for editors and proofreaders.

Tips to get started:

Decide what type of content you want to edit and proofread.
Consider taking a course to learn editing and proofreading skills.
Create a website for your services and portfolio.
Pitch your services to potential clients. You can also use freelance platforms.

Startup costs: There are many free online courses. A website costs $0 to $65 per month.

How much money you can make: You can charge up to $100 per hour.

How to select a low-cost business idea with high profit

With so many low-cost business ideas with high profit potential, there are several ways you can choose the best option:

Consider your current skill set
Determine your goals
Evaluate your budget
Check demand
Identify your niche market and ideal client

Consider your current skill set

If you choose a job you already have the skill set for, you’ll save on startup costs and time. Make a list of your skills and interests to help you pick your business idea.

Determine your goals

To start a business that aligns with your personal and career goals, use these questions to guide you:

What kind of work do you enjoy?
How many hours do you want to work per week or month?
Do you want most of your work to be online or in-person?
How much would you like to earn?
Do you want to work alone or have a collaborative job?

After you answer these questions, consider jobs that allow you to meet these goals.

Evaluate your budget

Startup costs for the businesses on this list vary based on these factors:

Necessary training
Equipment
Website and other software

Determine what your budget is to get started. Here are some high-profit job ideas based on various budgets.

Budget of $100:

Sell digital products and downloads
Start a clothes or furniture flipping business
Design and sell low-content books
Offer social media management
Edit photos
Help with event planning
Plan vacations
Become a blogger or influencer
Become a fashion consultant
Walk dogs
Perform SEO audits
Write songs
Sell stock photography
Provide childcare services
Develop apps
Offer content editing and proofreading

Budget of $500:

Become a virtual assistant
Sell online courses
Help students as an online tutor
Offer copywriting services
Illustrate books
Develop websites
Sell graphic or print design
Offer data entry services
Become a beauty consultant

Budget of $1,000+:

Host workshops
Help others by coaching
Become a yoga instructor
Manage ecommerce stores
Offer IT support

Check demand

Once you narrow down business ideas, check their demand to ensure there’s earning potential.

Use social media and other online communities for market research. You can also do keyword research at no cost using Semrush Keyword Magic Tool to see what industries people are searching for.

Identify your target audience

Consider who you want to work with by thinking about your target audience.

What problem does your ideal client or customer have?
What results do they want?
How can you offer results?
What’s your target audience’s budget?
What product(s) or service(s) can you offer your ideal client or customer?

Start a profitable business without spending a fortune

With so many low-cost business ideas with high profit potential, there are many ways to earn money without a significant investment.

Thousands of Teachable creators have started lucrative businesses for little to nothing. Start today with a free Teachable account.

If Teachable is of interest and you'd like more information, please do make contact or take a look in more detail here.

Credit: Original article published here.

Software Stack Editor

What is UGC?

What is a UGC creator?

UGC creators vs. content creators

UGC content creators vs. influencers

How to become a UGC content creator

1. Choose your niche

2. Get your filming setup together

3. Create your starter portfolio

4. Network with brands you want to work with

Pros and cons of producing user-generated content

Pro: Easy to produce

Con: It might take trial and error to figure out what works

Pro: Great earning potential

Con: You need to always be on top of trends

Top UGC platforms for creators

1. Join Brands

2. Billo

3. Insense

4. Brands Meet Creators

5. Upwork

6. Target Creator Program

7. Trend

8. Tribe

9. Influee

10. UGC Shop

11. The Right Fit

UGC Success Cases

Emma Lorrae

Hannah Jefferson

Ashlee Sulens

FAQs

Do UGC creators make money?

How much should I charge as a UGC creator?

How do I get UGC for my online course?

Is user-generated content legal?

What are the best UGC examples?

What Is the Google Calendar Integration for FreshBooks?

Why Should I Use Google Calendar?

How Do I Get Started with Google Calendar?

So, Do I Have to Manually Sync Entries in the App?

Why Are My Time Entries Showing Up as Non-Billable After Being Synced to FreshBooks?

If You Need Help, FreshBooks Is Here

What is content strategy?

How to develop a content strategy

1. Choose your template

2. Define your goals

3. Research your target audience

4. Audit your existing content

5. Assess the competition

6. Decide what types of content you’ll create

Awareness

Consideration

Purchase

Post-purchase

7. Create engaging content

8. Build an editorial calendar

9. Measure content effectiveness

Questions your content strategy should answer

1. What do you want the content to do for the business?

2. Who is the content for?

3. What will your content do for your customers?

4. What channels will you use?

5. How will the content reflect your brand?

Content Strategy FAQ

How often should you update your content strategy?

What is the role of audience analysis in content strategy?

How is content strategy different from content tactics?

What are the most common mistakes to avoid when creating a content strategy?

Jumping into Miroverse has been an immersive experience — I’m surrounded by innovative creators from around the world.”

Make new things while having fun

The enotejis template is a testament to the power of collaboration and community in turning an idea into reality.”

Maximize efficacy and efficiency

When starting a custom project, I always bring in best practices and trending methodologies and frameworks from the inspiring knowledge base in the Miroverse to create a welcoming experience for users and attendees, whether it’s an agile ceremony, sales meeting, or workshop.”

Work happy

I’m connected with a lot of facilitators through Miroverse and through the Miro Community, and I just think it’s amazing how I find inspiration from other people.”

Major Mental Health Challenges for Small Business Owners

All Things Financial

Loneliness

Managing Clients