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Published:
April 22, 2013

Micro-Entrepreneurship For Dummies

Overview

Tired of the 9-to-5 grind and want a way to earn or to supplement your income? Easy.

The media has named the growing trend toward micro-entrepreneurship "the Rise of the Creative Class," "the Gig Life," or "the freelance economy." All of those refer to the nearly 4 million workers who were self-employed this past year, and millions of others who currently supplement their income with freelance work. While the trend has been spotted before, there's one stark difference between micro-entrepreneurs today and the "Free Agent Nation" citizens of the late '90s: technology. Micro-Entrepreneurship For Dummies shows you how to navigate this confusing technological landscape in order to make a contributable profit.

Micro-Entrepreneurship For

Dummies aids you in making the best use of micro-entrepreneurial platforms, with helpful advice that includes information on signing up for and selling products on websites such as Airbnb, Craigslist, Taskrabbit, Uber, and Etsy.

  • Micro-enterprise, using online platforms to sell products or services,??is a proven way to earn extra money and supplement household income
  • In today's struggling economy, the importance of self-run businesses and small enterprise is growing as more people take lower-paying jobs and need a little extra spending money
  • Shows you how to sign up for and sell products online

Micro-Entrepreneurship For Dummies appeals to anyone looking to earn or supplement their income from home.

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About The Author

Paul Mladjenovic is the owner of Prosperity Network and www.Super MoneyLinks.com. He is also the author of Stock Investing For Dummies, 2nd Edition.

Sample Chapters

micro-entrepreneurship for dummies

CHEAT SHEET

As a micro-entrepreneur, you’re searching for tips and tricks to maximize profits and minimize losses for your micro-business. No matter what you offer to your customers, whether it's a service or product, you want to be the source your customers look to when meeting their needs and wants. The following information can help you be a more successful micro-entrepreneur, no matter whether the economy is struggling or chugging along.

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When you’re starting a micro-entrepreneur enterprise, inexperience can be a stumbling block. Here are ten pitfalls that beginners often make and ways to avoid them. Understand yourself as an entrepreneur Some individuals start a business and then stop doing it — and then repeat the process. They may end up blaming “bad luck” or some other factor.
The way you communicate with prospects and clients via email can make or break your micro-entrepreneurial business. You need strong email communication to gain your prospects’ trust and their business; make a careless comment or send a poorly written email, and you can lose them Keep these points in mind when communicating with any prospects or clients.
Creating a list of people interested in what your micro-entrepreneurial business has to offer and then growing the subscriber list is essential for a successful ezine. Building your ezine subscriber list means more money (potentially) for your business. Offer something free with your email newsletter Take a look at how other ezine publishers market their ezine.
Even as a micro-entrepreneur, you may need some cash in a hurry. There are dozens of different ways to make money as a micro-entrepreneur, but to help you keep focused, here are ten proven ways to make money quickly and without hassle. eBay for micro-entrepreneurs Let’s start with the obvious. ebay is still a selling powerhouse and the first place to turn when you want to get rid of stuff and get cash for it.
Selecting the right keywords is the most important step in setting up a PPC campaign for your micro-entrepreneurial business. With the right keywords, you can attract better prospects to your website or sales page with your PPC ads. Start by creating a list of keywords that are relevant to your target audience.
Most businesses wouldn’t think twice about whether to have a website or not, but as a micro-entrepreneur, you may be wondering a website is worth the trouble, given the small size of your micro-entrepreneurial business. Creating a business website is no longer the hassle it once was, however, and having a web presence pays so many dividends, that you may already have no doubts that you want to create one.
As a micro-entrepreneurial business, you can earn extra revenue through affiliate marketing. Clickbank is an ideal place for any beginning affiliate marketer, since its affiliate marketing site one of the largest and most successful. If you’re a Clickbank affiliate wannabe, being a part of this network isn’t hard.
As a micro-entrepreneurial business, you can earn extra revenue through affiliate marketing. Commission Junction is a major affiliate program for advertisers and publishers of websites and blogs. If you (the micro-entrepreneur and publisher) participate, then you can put links to participating merchants on your website and blog.
Through affiliate programs, your micro-entrepreneurial business can earn extra revenue. There are many products and services that you can market as a business affiliate, and thousands of merchants and affiliate programs to sift through. With affiliation, nothing happens without a strong commitment of time and effort by you, so you should get started.
As a micro-entrepreneurial business, you can earn extra revenue through affiliate marketing. Becoming an affiliate for Amazon is an easy way to allow your business customers to order products from Amazon.com and for you to receive a referral fee. You can be an Amazon affiliate without needing a functional website or blog, but it certainly helps.
Cold calls (telephone sales) for your micro-entrepreneurial business is more than a phone call to a stranger. Cold calls, when done successfully, can open up new business and avenues of revenue for your micro-entrepreneurial business. Cold calling is also canvassing and prospecting, and it may entail face-to-face selling, too.
Hiring outsourced workers for your micro-entrepreneurial business is easy if you choose carefully and are aware of potential problems. For micro-entrepreneurs just getting started with outsourcing, agencies and websites that specialize in outsourced workers can be a blessing. To discover all sorts of technical assistance, start your search for outsourced workers by checking out these websites: Elance: This site is the most active site for businesses and freelancers.
Your micro-entrepreneurial business is a product, and it can be sold like anything else. If you’ve developed a large customer base for your micro-entrepreneurial business, you can get a lot of money for it because investors prefer to buy successful companies, and successful companies have loyal customers. When the time comes to sell your micro-entrepreneurial business, follow this seven step plan.
An ezine (email newsletter) is a form of communication where you email your micro-entrepreneurial business subscribers a periodic publication on a particular topic. An ezine can be an important component of the marketing strategy for your micro-entrepreneurial business, and to grow your subscriber list, you must promote your ezine and your brand.
After you build an audience for your micro-entrepreneurial business email magazine (ezine), you can choose to add advertising. You’ve built a lengthy list of ezine readers interesting in your niche market, and if you want, you can profit from that by selling advertising in your ezine. It shouldn’t surprise you that others will pay to gain access to your list.
The AIDA formula is the foundation of effective sales copy writing. By apply the principles of AIDA to your sales copy, you can more effectively communicate to your clients and prospects and convince them to make that purchase. Although the AIDA formula was originally used in print venues, such as magazine advertising and direct mail pieces, today it’s also used on web pages and in sales emails.
Starting a blog or ezine to market your micro-entrepreneurial business is a great idea, but consider the consequences first. Blogs and ezines are ongoing business marketing efforts, so you should think about the time and effort you’ll need to make in order to make either successful, before you plunge in. A blog is a site that acts like an online journal with the writer’s comments, views, and other content and an ezine is an online newsletter.
PPC or pay per click is an advertising model where you, the advertiser, pay only when your Internet ad is clicked, and prospects jump to your micro-entrepreneurial website or sales page. Before creating your ad, you should determine exactly what you want to promote: a product, service, or brand. You want to be as specific as you can about what you’re offering because the deeper you target your niche, the less money you will spend on your ad and the more targeted your customers will be — all in all, a win-win approach!
To write a press release about your micro-entrepreneurial business, there are some necessary elements and a particular style you should follow. Drafting a press release for your micro-entrepreneurial business is easier than you might think, once you learn how. Use third person in press releases You have to write in the reporter’s third-person style even though you’re writing about your own company or your own activities.
As a micro-entrepreneur, you can make some good money, just a few bucks at a time, through micro-tasking. Micro-tasks are small jobs you complete for a small amount of money. One of the most popular micro-tasking websites is Fiverr. This site is popular, and if you go to the site, you may be surprised to see what people will do just for five bucks.
With affiliate programs, your micro-entrepreneurial business gets paid a commission when you market someone else’s product or service and they buy it. Through affiliate programs, you can earn extra revenue for your business. After becoming an affiliate, you simply send emails to your friends and colleagues, promoting the product or service and providing a link where they can purchase it if needed.
Just because you own a micro-entrepreneurial business doesn’t mean you need to do everything yourself. Still, sometimes outsourcing your work to strangers doesn’t make sense. Before you decide to give your work to someone else, take a closer look at the disadvantages of using outsourced workers. When you’re dealing with humanity, you’ll have issues.
Just because you own a micro-entrepreneurial business doesn’t mean you need to do everything yourself. Sometimes it makes sense to outsource the work you don’t have time to do, or don’t like to do. Take a closer look at the advantages of using outsourced workers. Hiring and retaining employees can be a daunting task for the micro-entrepreneur.
Identifying the target market for your micro-entrepreneurial business allows you to focus your marketing efforts. After you figure out who your target market is however, you need to learn where to find your target market so you can pitch your advertising to them. To do so, ask yourself these questions: Is my target market easily found with a search engine?
One opportunity for you as a micro-entrepreneur is to buy items at a low price and sell them at a profit. To build an inventory of items for your micro-entrepreneurial business, focus on paying the smallest amount. Before you buy anything, you want to find out if the product you want to buy and sell is in a desirable niche and selling well before you invest.
If all you need for your micro-entrepreneurial business is the occasional task or a small job done, then maybe you don’t need full-blown outsourcing assistance. You may just need someone to complete a micro-task for you. A micro-task is any small or minor task that someone is willing to do for a relatively small sum.
If your micro-entrepreneurial business needs are mundane or administrative, then look into the world of virtual assistants. Virtual assistants are outsourced workers that provide administrative services (such as data entry¸ bookkeeping, and so on) off-site. In other words, they work from home but serve you via telephone and Internet access.
If your micro-entrepreneurial business has a service to offer, there are various ways in which you can find and meet prospective clients. The great thing about looking for potential clients for your services is that they’re usually also looking for you. Of course, for every paying client that is looking for help, there are dozens or hundreds of other folks looking for the same assignment.
The target market for your micro-entrepreneurial business is the people whom you specifically choose to communicate to about what you have to offer. To start figuring out who your target market is, first look at what you have to offer, and ask what need or want your product or service will fill. You can approach a target market from two different angles: You create a product/service first and then you seek a target market, or you find a target market first and then find suitable a suitable product or service to offer to it.
Being visible and present online is essential today for any micro-entrepreneur. Although a paid website is the best way to have an Internet presence, you may choose not to spend the (minimal) money to set up a website or to manage a website (perhaps because of the product or service you offer). If so, you can still have an Internet presence with the following: Start a blog.
No matter whether you’re just starting your own micro-business or you’ve been working for several years, you want everything to run smoothly and cost effectively. As a micro-entrepreneur, your focus is to meet your target market’s needs while staying ahead of your competition. These free resources can help you.
Writing for your micro-entrepreneurial business becomes truly profitable when you combine content, creative marketing, and a download structure for making your writing easily obtainable. This four step residual income plan is simple enough that any competent writer can do it (just remember that you’re a micro-entrepreneur).
In order to get free publicity for your micro-entrepreneurial business, what you’re announcing in your press release has to be newsworthy. Newsworthy means that the item has sufficient interest or importance to merit having a particular media source report on it. If you aren’t doing anything newsworthy, then you can do something to create publicity.
As soon as the website or blog for your micro-entrepreneurial business is up and running, you should get it listed on the major search engines. SEO (search engine optimization) can also improve awareness of your micro-entrepreneurial business by making it easier for potential customers to search for and find your business website, blog, Facebook page, and so on.
If your micro-entrepreneurial business is a business model that can be copied and sold, consider franchising or creating dealerships. You can grow your micro-entrepreneurial business and make more money going this route in many ways. Franchise a micro-entrepreneurial business A franchise (or franchise dealership) is a type of license that someone (the franchiser) gives someone access to a business’s proprietary processes, knowledge, and trademarks so the franchisee can sell products and services under the business name.
SEO (search engine optimization) can improve awareness of your micro-entrepreneurial business by making it easier for potential customers to search for and find your business website, blog, Facebook page, and so on. To optimize your website using SEO, you need to understand how SEO works. After you set up your website or blog, you want to make sure people can find you when they’re searching for a service or product that’s in line with what you offer.
At some point, your micro-entrepreneurial business may need financing to help pay for things, such as expansion. Maybe you’re a micro-entrepreneur with a home-based business that needs financing to warehouse your growing inventory. To grow your business, you will likely need financing at some point. Debt financing and the micro-entrepreneur Debt financing refers to loans and other types of financing where money is loaned to you and your company that requires repayment.
Hiring an employee isn’t a light decision, so if you decide to add permanent people for your micro-entrepreneurial business, tread carefully. Outsourcing is a temporary and limited solution for some workload issues, but when your business grows and you need regular, daily assistance, you can consider hiring people.
Blogs require regular upkeep to capture and hold an audience. If you’ve created a blog for your micro-entrepreneurial business, you need to promote it and build its audience. After going to the trouble to display your knowledge on your blog and the value of what you have to offer, you’ll want to let the world know about it.
Whether your micro-entrepreneurial business is operating under your name, a sole proprietorship (DBA), or LLC, you report your business activities (income, expenses, and the net gain/loss) on Schedule C, which you then attach to your personal Form 1040 for that tax year. (Taxpayers who need to file a Schedule C must use the long Form 1040.
How your micro-entrepreneurial business is structured affects your taxes, liability, and other legal and business issues. Each micro-entrepreneurial business type has different benefits and responsibilities, and tax laws can affect the net income and expenses. Discuss this topic thoroughly with a tax professional who is familiar with business entities and explore the pros and cons of each type of business set-up.
Social media is a great place to promote your micro-entrepreneurial business, but you must be careful to market your business the right way. If you approach business marketing on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media sites appropriately, you’ll build your customer base and awareness for your brand, and network with other entrepreneurs in your business niche.
One of the most attractive deductions for micro-entrepreneurs is the home office deduction. Basically the home-office deduction allows micro-entrepreneurs to deduct a portion of their home (whether they rent or own a house or condo) if they regularly and exclusively use it for their home business. The home-office deduction is easily worth thousands of dollars, so take a close look at it to see whether you qualify.
Your primary goal with a blog is to market your micro-entrepreneurial business and sell its products or service. With a business blog, there are two marketing strategies you can use to make money: direct-selling or indirect-selling. You can basically directly make money with your blog, or indirectly use it as a stepping stone to other venues that can make you money.
The information you publish and sell to your micro-entrepreneurial business clients doesn’t have to be the written word; you can tap into audio publishing with just a digital recorder and content people want. The digital audio files you create to sell can be in several formats, but the most common are MP3, WAV, and WMA.
You can publish content in video form, and sell it to your micro-entrepreneurial business clients. Video publishing is easy to do, given today’s technology. Video marketing requires persistence, but it’s affordable through resources such as YouTube, social media, email, ezines, blogs, and online forums. Ins and outs of video publishing A video has three main components that you need to figure out: Content: The content is your topic or specialty.
A virtual assistant is a freelance helper with business and administrative skills. As a micro-entrepreneur, you can offer your skills as a virtual assistant and earn revenue without the normal startup costs of most businesses. Learn the types of jobs you can do as a micro-entrepreneurial virtual assistant and how to locate those jobs.
In order to be a successful writer and micro-entrepreneur, selecting the type of writing you will do is important. Writing is a diverse field, so in order to have a prosperous micro-entrepreneurial business, you don’t need to be a jack-of-all-trades writer. For instance, trying to write a mystery novel, a business how-to book, and a technical manual for manufacturers wouldn’t be a smart business decision.
Hiring outsourced workers for your micro-entrepreneurial business is very simple to do, but you need to outsource the right way to prevent problems. Outsourcing your work, if done right, is one way in which you can increase your profitability while also reducing your own personal workload. Establish clear goals, milestones, and requirements for outsourcing Too many projects run over budget or the allotted time or deadline.
Potential customers will either buy from your micro-entrepreneurial business or someone else. Identifying your business competitors helps you focus your marketing efforts and protect your existing client base. As you figure out who your competitors are and what makes them tick, keep in mind these points about them: Take heed of your competitors’ marketing.
Many successful micro-entrepreneurs run home-based businesses. If you are considering what type of micro-entrepreneurial business you can start from home, consider the following the following categories. When making a decision about what home-based business you want to start, remember that when people decide to buy from you, they’re deciding whether to buy from you or your competitor — so keep your personal skills and qualities in mind.
Placing ads on your micro-entrepreneurial site with Google’s AdSense requires monitoring to improve your approach where possible, so you can maximize your website’s advertising income potential. For example, you should monitor the click-through rate (CTR) of AdSense ads and work to improve it if you can. CTR is measured by how many visitors come to your website or blog and actually click on the AdSense ads.
If you delve into the self-publishing world to make money or market your micro-entrepreneurial business without first handling important legal and management issues, you may face some potential problems. Brush up on following legal and management matters before you jump into self-publishing, whether you plan to publish ebooks, audio or video, or articles.
Utilize microtasking jobs to market your blog. For a small cost, you can have someone microtask tweets, emails, or linked postings to boost viewership of your blog. When you go to a microtask site, you can find all sorts of offerings for a relatively small amount of money that can help the marketing efforts of your blog.
To promote your micro-entrepreneurial business, you can publish articles with links to whatever your business offers (product or service). The marketing power your micro-entrepreneurial business can get from even a single article can be amazing. Article marketing should definitely be a part of any business-building strategy.
To micro-entrepreneurs, Facebook offers many opportunities for you and your micro-entrepreneurial business. Market your micro-entrepreneurial business through a business Facebook profile, and keep your personal contacts and activities on your personal profile. To be on Facebook, all you need is a pulse (along with an Internet connection and an email account, of course).
Guest blogging increases brand awareness for you micro-entrepreneurial business and improves traffic to your own business blog or website. Guest blogging involves writing articles or posts for someone’s already established and well-trafficked blog. By piggy-backing on someone else’s success, you can market your micro-entrepreneurial business offerings.
Even lesser-known social media sites can provide a marketing boon to your micro-entrepreneurial business. Promoting your micro-entrepreneurial business through social media is an essential tool for any business toolkit. You may have already begun marketing your business through LinkedIn and Twitter, but there are other social media sites that may also be worth your while, such as Squidoo, Pintrest, and others.
For micro-entrepreneurs, LinkedIn is a prime resource for marketing your micro-entrepreneurial business and connecting with business owners like you. LinkedIn is designed for business professionals (unlike other social media) so it makes sense to use it to promote your micro-entrepreneurial business. Set up your LinkedIn micro-entrepreneurial business profile Signing on to a basic account is free, and the environment at LinkedIn is geared for serious professionals.
Twitter is an important part of any micro-entrepreneurial business marketing plan. You can use Twitter to promote your micro-entrepreneurial business, market special events and sales, and keep current with trends in your business industry. Twitter provides a great way to connect to present and future customers of your micro-entrepreneurial business.
Build awareness of your micro-entrepreneurial business with videos that drive visitors to your blog or website. A video blog allows you to express yourself visually to your micro-entrepreneurial business customer. Whether you’re sharing opinions, information, or a sales message, a video can be a powerful way to communicate to potential and existing customers.
An ezine (email magazine, electronic newsletter or email newsletter) is a form of communication where you email your micro-entrepreneurial business subscribers a periodic publication on a particular topic. An ezine can be an important component of the marketing strategy for your micro-entrepreneurial business.
As a micro-entrepreneur, you may use several blogs that market your business’ product or service offerings in entirely different ways. Utilizing more than one blog, if done right, boosts your brand identification and increases sales. For example, you might do a primary blog that you regularly update with product and sales information on your micro-entrepreneurial business.
As a micro-entrepreneur, you’re searching for tips and tricks to maximize profits and minimize losses for your micro-business. No matter what you offer to your customers, whether it's a service or product, you want to be the source your customers look to when meeting their needs and wants. The following information can help you be a more successful micro-entrepreneur, no matter whether the economy is struggling or chugging along.
No matter what type of services your micro-entrepreneurial business offers, Elance, like other freelancer sites, can connect you with prospective customers that need your business services. Finding work as a freelancer or micro-entrepreneur can be a challenge, but Elance can help. One of the benefits of using Elance is that payment is assured.
Promote your micro-entrepreneurial business on forums by linking to your website or blog. When you’re ready to participate in a forum and sell your micro-entrepreneurial business, you should begin by asking questions or offering positive feedback and suggestions. Do what it takes to build your reputation within the forum community first, before you attempt to promote your business.
PPC or pay per click is an advertising model where you, the advertiser, pay only when your Internet ad is clicked, and prospects are directed to your micro-entrepreneurial website or sales page. With search engines like Google, you select keywords that indicate when you want your ad to appear, but you only pay each time your ad is clicked.
Every micro-entrepreneurial business should protect itself against potential legal problems and liability issues. No matter how diligent you are as a businessperson, potential legal problems are a reality you have to guard against in today’s world. Also, you can certainly try to produce a good product or provide a good service, but you need to take preventative measures to avoid pitfalls with liability.
An ezine (email magazine, electronic newsletter or email newsletter) is easily published to your micro-entrepreneurial business subscribers using a bulk email service. An email magazine or ezine is a form of communication where you email your micro-entrepreneurial business subscribers a periodic publication on a particular topic.
You can get paid as a freelance writer, and raise revenue for your micro-entrepreneurial business. You can also market your micro-entrepreneurial business, by writing articles with links to whatever your business offers (product or service). Find websites that pay you to write freelance Many sites directly pay for articles that you write and they post.
You can raise money for your company through advertising, by selling ad space on your micro-entrepreneurial website or blog. Google’s AdSense handles the advertising logistics for you, selling ads that you display on your site. Google sends you a line of unique code, and you simply paste this code into your website.
To zero in on the target market for your micro-entrepreneurial business, you should research and discover as much about that target market as you can. To do so, ask yourself some important questions about the potential target market for your micro-entrepreneurial business, such as the following: Is my target market a specific demographic?
One opportunity for micro-entrepreneurs is to buy items at low prices and sell them at a profit. It’s easy for micro-entrepreneurs to find items selling at bargain prices in today’s economy. Before you list your products and sell them however, keep these pointers in mind to help you list items at the highest amount possible for each product: Search for you own stuff as a make-believe buyer.
If you want to sell your arts and crafts as a micro-entrepreneur, you should check out Etsy. Etsy prides itself on being a robust marketplace for handmade goods and the crafter’s best path to global buyers. If you have handmade goods as a micro-entrepreneur, then Etsy is a good place to find your buyers. Credit: ©iStockphoto.
What may have started as a hobby has now blossomed into your own micro-entrepreneurial business. You’re now offering your product or service to customers with the goal of making money. These six options are proven ways to do so. Write an article and sell it. Everyone has information and insights that others would pay for.
A blog is an online journal hosted by a third party. Unlike like a website, a micro-entrepreneurial business can create a blog more easily and with less cost. With a blog, you can establish your brand and credibility, market your product and services, and create a landing spot for prospective customers to find you online.
If you make a net profit in your entrepreneurial business, plan on paying taxes. A profitable home business certainly has tax obligations to be aware of. Here’s an explanation of the tax obligations you can expect to pay as a micro-entrepreneur. Federal income taxes and the micro-entrepreneur When you generate a net profit in your business, it becomes a taxable event, and you have to pay a certain amount of federal tax, depending on the tax rate in which you fall.
For tax purposes, micro-entrepreneurs can deduct “ordinary and necessary” expenses incurred on behalf of their business. An ordinary expense is any expense common to a particular type of business. An ordinary expense for a trucking business, for example, is gasoline or highway tolls. A necessary expense is any expense necessary to operate a particular business.
Everything in your micro business boils down to marketing. As a micro-entrepreneur, your business centers on two basic phases: the set-up phase, which is the easy part (although many beginning micro-entrepreneurs may not realize it when it’s happening), and the marketing phase, which is the truly challenging part.
Instead of employing telephone sales (cold calls) to generate sales for your micro-entrepreneurial business, try video cold calling (video marketing). With video marketing, your prospects either view your video or not. But if they like what they see, they’ll click your link and jump right to your website or blog and that special sales page you’ve designed.
When you decide to be a micro-entrepreneur, such as a home-based or one-person business owner, make sure you pay special attention before taking the big step. If you recklessly choose to start your own business without thinking through all the ins and outs, the results could be devastating. Keep the following suggestions in mind before you make the final decision to start your own micro-business.
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