Niall Doherty's Blog, page 103
July 14, 2023
Results from Selling AI Art for 30 Days
MagicDesignsPrintsEtsy Store $27 revenue in first 30 daysPublished July 14, 2023 by Niall Doherty
I’ve featured Mark on Business in this newsletter before: $3K/Month Selling Digital Backdrops for Photographers
He experiments with different ways to make money online and documents his results.
A recent video he put out…
I Tried Selling AI Art For 30 Days (Realistic Results)
… He basically generated a bunch of artwork with AI and put the digital prints up for sale on this Etsy store.
Spoiler alert…
I made $27 in 30 days which, if you deduct all the fees, I’m actually at a $15 loss.
That’s a bummer, but also very common.
I feature mostly business success stories in this newsletter, but always remember that those are the exceptions.
Most efforts at making money online end in failure 
And that’s okay.
Failure doesn’t have to stop you.
Keep in mind these words from Winston Churchill…
Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.
Try, fail, try again.
Eventually you’ll find something that works 
First time seeing our Online Money Maker profiles? Click here for a quick intro.
The goal of our Online Money Maker profiles is to show you all the different ways people make money online. We strive to ensure that each profile is realistic – no hype, no scams – so you can see what it really takes to build each type of business.
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Learn more about income claims and estimates on this website
Our goal at eBiz Facts is to give you accurate information about online business so you can gain clearer insights, make better decisions, and achieve your own success.
With that in mind, we strive to ensure the accuracy and transparency of the income claims and estimates that you see on this website.
Here’s how:
We treat all income claims we find online with skepticism.We don’t report incomes that seem especially controversial or unrealistic.We cite our sources and/or share our calculations so you can see where the numbers come from.If there are uncertainties about an income claim or estimate, we tell you what those are.If you see an income claim or estimate that seems off, please tell us so we can fix it.
Is this kind of business right for you?Check out our framework to see the 19 types and 6 levels of online business, and discover which is best for you.
Other ways to make money onlineThere are many other ways to make money online, to work from home or anywhere in the world.
Full list of ways to make money onlineMore profiles of online money makers👇 Subscribe to eBiz Insider 👇Every Tuesday and Friday we email 31,721 people like you with top tips, insights and opportunities to build your online business. No hype, no scams, no fake gurus. Sign up below to get the next one.
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She Earned $1 Million Selling Squarespace Templates
Erica HartwickTemplate Designer $1 million revenue from selling templatesPublished July 14, 2023 by Niall Doherty
Erica Hartwick was a freelance web designer before she started creating and selling her own website templates about six years ago.
In a recent interview (video + text), Erica reveals that she’s gone on to earn over $1 million dollars from selling 5000+ templates 
…
Check out Erica’s templates here.
She specializes in Squarespace templates. Squarespace is a popular website platform with more than 4 million users.
Erica made the transition from freelancing to selling templates in about a year…
It was a good few months of pretty solid work.
But her template business isn’t as passive as you might think…
I still work full-time basically, it’s just a business model that feels way less stressful and people aren’t relying on you and you can work in your own time and it’s passive to an extent, but you’ve still got to put the work in.
She has a team helping her out now, and they spend a lot of time on…
MarketingCustomer serviceUpdating templates
Erica launched the business with 6 templates to a very small audience: about 500 followers on Instagram and 200 email subscribers.
Over time, SEO has become her most reliable marketing channel…
90% of our traffic still comes from Google.
Her site ranks in the top 3 for keywords like…
squarespace sales page templateblogging on squarespacesquarespace faviconads on squarespacesquarespace redirectsquarespace coming soon pageSo her main marketing strategy is to create helpful content that Squarespace users will be looking for, and try to get that content ranking 
The majority of our sales definitely come through our own website and that’s because of all of the traffic we get from the searchable content we create.
She also puts out a lot of content on YouTube – the world’s second-biggest search engine – and has racked up about 1 million views on her 200+ videos over the years.
Another place Erica sells her templates is Creative Marketplace.
Her templates are priced a little higher there, and it seems there’s a good reason for that…
I know it’s a bit sneaky, but a lot of people will find our products on Creative Market, then go to our website and buy our templates from there.
Erica points to a common mistake freelancers make when they try to sell templates 
[they think] that the same marketing methods they were using for their one-to-one web design services will work for their template store, which sadly they don’t.
So you need more of a “how many people’s eyes can you get on your templates” sort of marketing rather than a relationship-building, referral-building type marketing that you might have been doing before with custom web design.
One interesting thing I noticed while researching this story: many of the top keywords Erica ranks for are fairly low difficulty, usually less than 4/10.
And those are keywords related to an established platform with 4 million users.
It would be even easier to rank for terms related to smaller website builders.
One to keep an eye on is Framer.com 
I’m seeing them all over Twitter and YouTube lately.
Now is probably a great time for a designer to establish themselves as a Framer template expert 
First time seeing our Online Money Maker profiles? Click here for a quick intro.
The goal of our Online Money Maker profiles is to show you all the different ways people make money online. We strive to ensure that each profile is realistic – no hype, no scams – so you can see what it really takes to build each type of business.
If you'd like to hear when we publish new profiles, subscribe to our free newsletter below. Each edition is packed with tips, insights and opportunities to build your online business. We send it out every Tuesday and Friday to 31,721 legendary subscribers.
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Learn more about income claims and estimates on this website
Our goal at eBiz Facts is to give you accurate information about online business so you can gain clearer insights, make better decisions, and achieve your own success.
With that in mind, we strive to ensure the accuracy and transparency of the income claims and estimates that you see on this website.
Here’s how:
We treat all income claims we find online with skepticism.We don’t report incomes that seem especially controversial or unrealistic.We cite our sources and/or share our calculations so you can see where the numbers come from.If there are uncertainties about an income claim or estimate, we tell you what those are.If you see an income claim or estimate that seems off, please tell us so we can fix it.
Is this kind of business right for you?Check out our framework to see the 19 types and 6 levels of online business, and discover which is best for you.
Other ways to make money onlineThere are many other ways to make money online, to work from home or anywhere in the world.
Full list of ways to make money onlineMore profiles of online money makers👇 Subscribe to eBiz Insider 👇Every Tuesday and Friday we email 31,721 people like you with top tips, insights and opportunities to build your online business. No hype, no scams, no fake gurus. Sign up below to get the next one.
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His $45K/Month Online Job Board Empire
Dan RohnJob Boards Guy $45,000+ estimated monthly revenuePublished July 14, 2023 by Niall Doherty
Back in the 90’s Dan Rohn was a copy editor and business reporter for The Washington Post 
Then he worked in the AOL Newsroom for a year.
In 1998 Dan struck out on his own and launched JournalismJobs.com, a job board for, well, journalism jobs.
25 years later, that job board is still going strong 
Pricing starts at $100 to post a job and ~250 jobs have been posted in the last 30 days.
So it’s likely pulling in $20,000+ per month from job postings alone 
They also have display ads on the site, but hard to say how much they’re earning from those. Similarweb estimates the site gets only 85k visits per month, while a 2022 write-up says “the site claims to have 2.5 to 3 million views per month.”
If that latter number is accurate, they may be making more from display ads than from job posts.
But Journalism Jobs may not even be Dan’s most successful job board.
He has several others
They’re all monetized the same way, with similar pricing packages.
AccountingJobs has ~25 job posts in the last 30 days, so that’s likely earning $2000+ per month.
None of the others look to be doing well…
…except for TeachingJobs.com, which boasts ~300 jobs posted in the last 30 days.
So we can put that one down for another $20,000+ per month.
All told, I expect Dan’s job board empire is earning him at least $45,000 per month 
(Unclear if he has a bunch of employees or if it’s mainly just him running things.)
Obviously Dan benefitted by getting into this game super early.
But I suspect there are still plenty of opportunities to create successful job boards in different niches.
Try this: make a list of the industries and locations you’re familiar with – Dan was familiar with the journalism industry, remember – then Google around for jobs and job boards in those niches.
Eg…
Farming job boardNursing jobsAustralia summer jobsVirtual assistant job boardIf you’re fluent in another language, try searching for job boards in that language 
Keep an eye out for niches that are lacking job boards, or those where the top-ranking job boards look terrible.
Then do some keyword research and see if there’s much demand for the niches that catch your eye 
Related: Ugly Jobs Website Earning $100K/Month With Display Ads
First time seeing our Online Money Maker profiles? Click here for a quick intro.
The goal of our Online Money Maker profiles is to show you all the different ways people make money online. We strive to ensure that each profile is realistic – no hype, no scams – so you can see what it really takes to build each type of business.
If you'd like to hear when we publish new profiles, subscribe to our free newsletter below. Each edition is packed with tips, insights and opportunities to build your online business. We send it out every Tuesday and Friday to 31,721 legendary subscribers.
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Check out our privacy policy to see how we protect and manage your data.
See our latest profiles of Online Money Makers
Learn more about income claims and estimates on this website
Our goal at eBiz Facts is to give you accurate information about online business so you can gain clearer insights, make better decisions, and achieve your own success.
With that in mind, we strive to ensure the accuracy and transparency of the income claims and estimates that you see on this website.
Here’s how:
We treat all income claims we find online with skepticism.We don’t report incomes that seem especially controversial or unrealistic.We cite our sources and/or share our calculations so you can see where the numbers come from.If there are uncertainties about an income claim or estimate, we tell you what those are.If you see an income claim or estimate that seems off, please tell us so we can fix it.
Is this kind of business right for you?Check out our framework to see the 19 types and 6 levels of online business, and discover which is best for you.
Other ways to make money onlineThere are many other ways to make money online, to work from home or anywhere in the world.
Full list of ways to make money onlineMore profiles of online money makers👇 Subscribe to eBiz Insider 👇Every Tuesday and Friday we email 31,721 people like you with top tips, insights and opportunities to build your online business. No hype, no scams, no fake gurus. Sign up below to get the next one.
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July 10, 2023
The Only Place Where You Get The Good Stuff First
From a book called The Leader Who Had No Title by Robin Sharma…
So many people go to work with the mind-set that when they get a bigger title and when they are granted more responsibility, then they will perform at mastery and go the extra mile in everything they do.
But a restaurant is the only place I know of where you get the good stuff first and then you pay the price.
In work—and in life in general—you need to pay the price of success before you get all the rewards due to you.
That reminds me of a quote from Charlie Munger…
Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Day by day, and at the end of the day – if you live long enough – like most people, you will get out of life what you deserve.
Let’s get to work.
$100K/Month TikTok Video Downloader Website
SnapTikWebsite & App $100,000+ estimated monthly revenuePublished July 10, 2023 by Niall Doherty
SnapTik.app is a simple website that lets you download TikTok videos without the watermark.
According to SimilarWeb, the site gets about 60 million visits per month
(They also have an Android app with 1M+ downloads)
The homepage of the website is available in ~20 different languages, and there’s little to it beyond that.
It’s monetized with Google Adsense display ads
Using the official Adsense calculator, 60 million monthly page views in the Arts & Entertainment category works out to an estimated annual revenue of…
$4.2 million in Asia and Pacific Countries$4.0 million in North America$2.6 million in Europe, Middle East and Africa$1.6 million in South America(Who else is surprised that North America isn’t the most lucrative market on the above list?)
SimilarWeb tells me that the majority of the site’s traffic comes from Asia, especially Indonesia 
I think it’s safe to assume that it’s earning at least $100,000 per month from those display ads, or about $1.2 million a year
And I don’t think this is a case of first-mover advantage.
TikTok has been around since 2017 and already had 700 million users by May 2020, which is when the SnapTik.app domain was registered.
So I doubt they were the first TikTok video downloader out there.
I’m guessing they got traction by doing a few things…
Keeping their site super-simple and easy to useHaving an app on Google PlayBuilding backlinks for SEOEasier to do the last one after doing the first two.
They’ve got links from posts on high-authority sites like…
Hootsuite: 4 Easy Ways to Remove the TikTok WatermarkPCMag: How to Download TikTok Videos (Without a Watermark)Sprout Social: How to stitch on TikTok and 7 tips for making them greatThose links may have happened organically, or someone at SnapTik could have been actively reaching out to sites and asking for a link 
However they got them, those links are likely the #1 reason SnapTik now ranks high on Google for terms like…
tiktok downloaderdownload tiktok videoremove tiktok watermarkFirst time seeing our Online Money Maker profiles? Click here for a quick intro.
The goal of our Online Money Maker profiles is to show you all the different ways people make money online. We strive to ensure that each profile is realistic – no hype, no scams – so you can see what it really takes to build each type of business.
If you'd like to hear when we publish new profiles, subscribe to our free newsletter below. Each edition is packed with tips, insights and opportunities to build your online business. We send it out every Tuesday and Friday to 31,628 legendary subscribers.
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See our latest profiles of Online Money Makers
Learn more about income claims and estimates on this website
Our goal at eBiz Facts is to give you accurate information about online business so you can gain clearer insights, make better decisions, and achieve your own success.
With that in mind, we strive to ensure the accuracy and transparency of the income claims and estimates that you see on this website.
Here’s how:
We treat all income claims we find online with skepticism.We don’t report incomes that seem especially controversial or unrealistic.We cite our sources and/or share our calculations so you can see where the numbers come from.If there are uncertainties about an income claim or estimate, we tell you what those are.If you see an income claim or estimate that seems off, please tell us so we can fix it.
Is this kind of business right for you?Check out our framework to see the 19 types and 6 levels of online business, and discover which is best for you.
Other ways to make money onlineThere are many other ways to make money online, to work from home or anywhere in the world.
Full list of ways to make money onlineMore profiles of online money makers👇 Subscribe to eBiz Insider 👇Every Tuesday and Friday we email 31,628 people like you with top tips, insights and opportunities to build your online business. No hype, no scams, no fake gurus. Sign up below to get the next one.
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Business Idea: Beehiiv Newsletter Design as a Service
Alx zoo tweets…
Something the newsletter world needs:
Beehiiv newsletter designs as a service
This will be a thing soon if its not already, and I will pay for it
Beehiiv is a fast-growing newsletter service that recently raised $12.5 million in funding
One cool thing about their platform is that no coding is required to create or modify a newsletter theme. It’s all done via a simple GUI.
Check out these two tutorials on YouTube…
Best I can tell, Beehiiv doesn’t have an import function for newsletter themes, so there’s not yet an opportunity to create a site like SlidesCarnival where people can download themes.
But you could create a website that showcases examples of Beehiiv themes – like this page, but better – and sell a design service from there 
Your CTA could be along these lines…
Like this theme? I’ll create it for you in Beehiiv within 48 hours. Reserve now.
The bigger lesson here though is to keep an eye out for fast-growing software.
Whenever a lot of people start using a product like Beehiiv, it usually opens up a bunch of opportunities to offer services to those people.
Services you could offer to Beehiiv customers
G2 has a list of fast-growing software companies that might be worth keeping an eye on
4 Projects Earning Him a Combined $12,000/Month
James McKinvenSerial Entrepreneur $12,000 monthly revenuePublished July 10, 2023 by Niall Doherty
James McKinven writes in a recent interview…
I’m James from Canterbury in the UK (just an hour outside London on the train). I’ve been a full-time solo entrepreneur for the past 2 years with most of my income currently from producing podcasts for clients (around $10k per month). I also have two podcasts, Indie Bites and This Indie Life, which collectively do around 10,000 downloads per month adding a further $1.5k to my monthly revenue.
The final thing I spend my time on is my leather wallet business, Whitstable Craft Co, which usually makes around $500-$1,000 per month. So a few different revenue sources, no MRR in the traditional sense, but my total monthly is around $12k currently.
James launched his first podcast back in 2019…
When I started my podcast, I began to also offer podcast production services.
The Marketing Mashup podcast kicked off a nice flywheel, actually, because I was able to meet new people in marketing who would come on for an interview and I could pitch them my podcast editing services.
I reckon that approach to finding clients could be emulated in many different industries.
If podcasting isn’t your thing, you could try video interviews on YouTube or keep it super-simple with written interviews.
Regarding the wallet business, James writes…
I’ve never been good with my hands and spent my entire working life staring at a screen for 8 hours a day (often more). I wanted to find something outside of screens that I could do as hobby. I found a DIY leathercraft kit online and was instantly hooked.
From there I started making more and more wallets until they were good enough that I could sell them to friends and family. I was interested in learning about ecommerce, so spun up a Shopify website and got to work.
Sounds like he got the word out via a single tweet, which resulted in ~$2000 of sales in one day
But James also notes that juggling multiple businesses has its drawbacks…
I can’t ignore the fact that the majority of people that have seen success have doubled down on something […] I think if you really want to grow your thing, you’re not going to be able to do it with your fingers in too many pies.
First time seeing our Online Money Maker profiles? Click here for a quick intro.
The goal of our Online Money Maker profiles is to show you all the different ways people make money online. We strive to ensure that each profile is realistic – no hype, no scams – so you can see what it really takes to build each type of business.
If you'd like to hear when we publish new profiles, subscribe to our free newsletter below. Each edition is packed with tips, insights and opportunities to build your online business. We send it out every Tuesday and Friday to 31,628 legendary subscribers.
Sign up to get the next edition of eBiz Insider delivered to your inboxHP
We'll first send a confirmation email to make sure it’s you 🔒
Check out our privacy policy to see how we protect and manage your data.
See our latest profiles of Online Money Makers
Learn more about income claims and estimates on this website
Our goal at eBiz Facts is to give you accurate information about online business so you can gain clearer insights, make better decisions, and achieve your own success.
With that in mind, we strive to ensure the accuracy and transparency of the income claims and estimates that you see on this website.
Here’s how:
We treat all income claims we find online with skepticism.We don’t report incomes that seem especially controversial or unrealistic.We cite our sources and/or share our calculations so you can see where the numbers come from.If there are uncertainties about an income claim or estimate, we tell you what those are.If you see an income claim or estimate that seems off, please tell us so we can fix it.
Is this kind of business right for you?Check out our framework to see the 19 types and 6 levels of online business, and discover which is best for you.
Other ways to make money onlineThere are many other ways to make money online, to work from home or anywhere in the world.
Full list of ways to make money onlineMore profiles of online money makers👇 Subscribe to eBiz Insider 👇Every Tuesday and Friday we email 31,628 people like you with top tips, insights and opportunities to build your online business. No hype, no scams, no fake gurus. Sign up below to get the next one.
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€20,000/Month 1-Woman Template Business
Jimena Catalina GayoFounder of SlidesCarnival €20,000 average monthly revenuePublished July 10, 2023 by Niall Doherty
They Got Acquired reports
In June 2014, graphic designer Jimena Catalina Gayo offered to help her brother with his final college project. An hour later, she’d created “a more than decent template” in Google Slides […]
“I was surprised at how little effort it took, and naturally felt pretty pleased with myself,” she wrote. “Which led me to the following thought: Could I offer free templates and make money?”
The answer was yes: Jimena went on to launch SlidesCarnival, which offers “Free PowerPoint templates & Google Slides themes for your presentations”
Jimena apparently “designed the WordPress site in under a day”
You can see an early version of it here.
Based in Spain, Gayo initially shared SlidesCarnival with her friends, who shared it with their networks and on their blogs. She also invested about 50 euros in LinkedIn ads. It gained even more attention when it was hunted on Product Hunt, a site that features new tech products.
After that, SlidesCarnival began ranking on Google, and it grew organically through the years. It often ranked No. 1 for popular keywords like “free PowerPoint templates,” “presentation templates” and “Google Slides templates.”
Jimena’s monetization strategy was to give away all the templates for free and monetize with Google Adsense
That worked out well…
In its later years, SlidesCarnival logged 2 million monthly website visits and 12 million monthly pageviews. For Gayo, this translated to 20,000 euros/month, or a little over $20,000/month — which works out to about $240,000 in annual revenue.
(€20,000/month = approx $22,000 USD)
Then, in March 2023, Jimena announced that she’d sold SlidesCarnival to Canva for an undisclosed sum 
Apparently that sum was enough for her to retire…
This tweet also serves to announce that I’m retiring. Working has had its moments but I’m getting off here. I will continue designing from time to time but as a hobby, without clients or deadlines.
Jimena wrote in 2017, back when the site was earning €5,500 per month…
The truth is, I didn’t devote much time to the launching SlidesCarnival and it could have as easily ended up with the rest of my side projects: in the cemetery of ideas that never materialized.
Quite honestly, I didn’t have much faith that this one would work any better than my many other projects that never saw the light of day.
One takeaway from this: you never know which projects will take off, so it’s good to dabble and try new things.
Just try to not go too far and end up constantly distracted by shiny objects 
Another takeaway is that templates can make you a lot of money.
A bunch more template success stories I’ve featured in this newsletter…
$100,000+ Selling Notion Templates$5,000+ Selling No-Code Templates$1 Million Selling Notion Templates in a Single Year$18K/Month Selling Templates, Plugins & Courses in the Spanish Market$10K/Month Pitch Deck Templates$2.5K/Month Selling Resume Templates$601,530 PowerPoint TemplateDo you already have experience using or making a particular kind of template?
Or have you been looking for a specific template but can’t find one good enough?
Perhaps there’s a business there 
First time seeing our Online Money Maker profiles? Click here for a quick intro.
The goal of our Online Money Maker profiles is to show you all the different ways people make money online. We strive to ensure that each profile is realistic – no hype, no scams – so you can see what it really takes to build each type of business.
If you'd like to hear when we publish new profiles, subscribe to our free newsletter below. Each edition is packed with tips, insights and opportunities to build your online business. We send it out every Tuesday and Friday to 31,628 legendary subscribers.
Sign up to get the next edition of eBiz Insider delivered to your inboxHP
We'll first send a confirmation email to make sure it’s you 🔒
Check out our privacy policy to see how we protect and manage your data.
See our latest profiles of Online Money Makers
Learn more about income claims and estimates on this website
Our goal at eBiz Facts is to give you accurate information about online business so you can gain clearer insights, make better decisions, and achieve your own success.
With that in mind, we strive to ensure the accuracy and transparency of the income claims and estimates that you see on this website.
Here’s how:
We treat all income claims we find online with skepticism.We don’t report incomes that seem especially controversial or unrealistic.We cite our sources and/or share our calculations so you can see where the numbers come from.If there are uncertainties about an income claim or estimate, we tell you what those are.If you see an income claim or estimate that seems off, please tell us so we can fix it.
Is this kind of business right for you?Check out our framework to see the 19 types and 6 levels of online business, and discover which is best for you.
Other ways to make money onlineThere are many other ways to make money online, to work from home or anywhere in the world.
Full list of ways to make money onlineMore profiles of online money makers👇 Subscribe to eBiz Insider 👇Every Tuesday and Friday we email 31,628 people like you with top tips, insights and opportunities to build your online business. No hype, no scams, no fake gurus. Sign up below to get the next one.
HP
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Home Business Academy Review
This is the ultimate Home Business Academy review.
HBA is an affiliate marketing program created by Paul Hutchings and Mike Hobbs. We have spent many hours examining the course materials to see if it’s legit.
(Have you taken this course? Add your rating!)
If you’re eager to learn…
If it can help you make money onlineThe pros and consIf the whole thing is legit or a scamHow much it costs (including upsells)Are students getting results?Then definitely keep reading.
Home Business Academy – Key PointsAbout
Affiliate marketing training, community, and coaching program by Paul Hutchings and Milke Hobbs.
💰 Price
Starts at $25/month (more info, join now)
😍 Pros
High energy community, experienced instructors, ongoing group coaching, good training, additional tools included.
😩 Cons
Only a 3-day money-back guarantee, questionable marketing tactics, most students don’t profit, a little MLMy for my liking.
Verdict
Worthwhile community, coaching, and course for affiliate marketing enthusiasts.
Overall Rating2.7/5 2.7Learn more.'>1
Visit Home Business Academy
About our 31-factor editorial review processJump to…The Best Affiliate Marketing Course?How does Home Business Academy help you make money?Who is it for?Paul Hutchings & Mike Hobbs ReputationAre students getting results?Price (and discount) infoRefund policyCourse structurePraiseCriticismOther things you should knowShould you join Home Business Academy?AlternativesLeave your reviewAsk a questionAbout the Author
Hey, I’m Niall Doherty.
I quit my last 9-to-5 job back in 2010.
Since then, I’ve earned my living online in various ways. Over the last 3 years (through 2022) I’ve earned $536,000 from my laptop, mostly via affiliate marketing.
I’m on a mission to accurately rate and review all the best affiliate marketing courses. My team and I have spent 500+ hours investigating these courses and getting feedback from real students.
All that to say: we know a thing or two about affiliate marketing and making money online.
The Best Affiliate Marketing Course?We’re on a mission to find the best affiliate marketing course based on our extensive research and real student feedback.
The Home Business Academy is a decent course but not the best we’ve seen…
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1.The Authority Site System (review)4.8/5 2.The Affiliate Lab (review)4.8/5 3.Scale Your Travel Blog (review)4.7/5
See all reviews of affiliate marketing courses »
How does Home Business Academy help you make money?
The Home Business Academy aims to help you make money online with affiliate marketing.
It also teaches you how to promote their program and landing page builder.
Affiliate marketing involves promoting someone’s product or service and earning a commission from the owner when you generate a sale for them.
There’s no need to create an offer, set up a sales funnel, write marketing emails, deliver a product, or provide customer support.
As an affiliate marketer, your prime responsibility is driving traffic to generate sales.
More specifics from the HBA sales page…
Like other MLM-style courses like Legendary Marketer, HBA focuses a considerable portion of its training on promoting HBA itself.
Technically, Home Business Academy is not an MLM company. Only a single-tier affiliate program exists, and the information taught can apply to other affiliate products.
But it always gives me pause when an affiliate marketing course focuses on teaching you how to promote itself.
One reason is it can result in a bunch of people who don’t earn much in affiliate marketing showing others how to make money by promoting the very product they’re not making money with 
It’s a somewhat circular concept where the person who benefits most is the course creator.
In essence, these courses often charge you to teach you how to make them more money. And maybe they’ll provide solid enough training to help you do it.
On the one hand, they have more skin in the game and are incentivized to help you sell their product.
On the other hand, it’s often a product-centric approach rather than focusing on helping you grow as an affiliate marketer.
Here’s how HBA addresses this concern…
And in Home Business Academy’s case, 80% of revenue goes to affiliates.
The official word from the sales page…
We Have “Done For You” Products, Websites, Emails, Traffic Training & Resources AND Provide Live Daily Personal Help, Customer Service & Product Delivery… and We Still Pay YOU 80% of The Commissions!
Basically, they teach you how to promote any offer, but some could easily see the focus on promoting itself as MLMy.
Learn more about affiliate marketingWho is Home Business Academy for?HBA seems to be for internet marketers willing to act on the information they learn to achieve a long-term income. It also might be of interest to people who want a cheaper alternative to ClickFunnels.
Prospective customers may have purchased courses in the past but were disappointed by a lack of community and mentorship to help guide them.
According to the sale page, the program claims it can work for you “even if you’re brand new or have never made a dime online,” so HBA appears to be newbie friendly.
70+ ways how to make money online (including easy options)Do Paul Hutchings & Mike Hobbs have a good reputation?Yes and no.
Mike and Paul have been involved with multiple MLMs in the past.
According to their site, Paul was “the #1 recruiter and producer in his nutritional network marketing company,” which isn’t necessarily a good thing in my eyes.
It shows his effectiveness as a marketer, but network marketing (multi-level marketing), has a ridiculously low success rate for most recruits…
Source: AARP.orgNote that although this study is relatively new, AARP’s credibility is questionable…
Source: BBB.orgThe FTC paints quite a different picture of MLM success rates…
According to this 2011 study by Dr. Jon M. Taylor, you’re more likely to make money gambling in Vegas than with recruitment-driven MLMs.
Mike has also reportedly been involved with MLMs in the past, one of which turned out to be a Ponzi scheme and broke multiple securities laws.
Source: Texas.govHere’s a screenshot showing Mike promoting the company…
However, this was ~10 years ago, and Mike could genuinely have been convinced that the company was legit (like many other people).
Just because he had particular success doesn’t mean he was more aware of the company’s unlawfulness than anyone else.
That’s the bad stuff.
Where Mike and Paul excel is in bringing together people with shared business goals and positive attitudes.
I’ve seen dozens of testimonials about the value customers feel they’ve gotten by being part of HBA’s “Freedom Crusaders” community…
Mike and Paul also choose to donate a portion of sales to “Feed My Starving Children,” a non-profit that provides nutritious meals to children in need.
The HBA community claims to be responsible for over 240,000 meal donations.
So while Mike and Paul have been involved in questionable business ventures in the past, Home Business Academy seems to have made a positive impact on a good deal of people.
That’s despite some questionable marketing tactics, like…
Sales video starting by saying, “this isn’t a sales video”Saying things like “Unlimited wealth online for the rest of your life”Here’s a video from Mike Hobbs’ YouTube channel so you can get a feel for his style…
Here’s one from Paul Hitchings’ YouTube…
Are Home Business Academy students getting results?Mike and Paul claim to have paid out commissions to the tune of over $3.5 million…
They also have an FTC disclaimer to set earnings expectations…
To summarize, the average HBA affiliate earns just under $330 over 12 months, not including expenses. This includes people who have yet to make any sales.
The cost of HBA for 12 months is $300. So when considering potential additional costs, most HBA affiliates just about break even.
Not terribly exciting for a course that claims it can help you build an insanely profitable online business …
But to their credit…
Most companies don’t share disclaimers like this, so how these numbers compare to other courses is unclear.The average student gets to use the HBA funnel builder for free. While they’re not generating a profit from their HBA subscription, their commissions pay for access to a tool they can use for other online business opportunities.Browsing through the FB group, I found a fair amount of students getting results…
I also found some recent screenshots of individual sales…
Unsurprisingly, the only proof I found was from people promoting HBA. My MLM alarm bells would’ve been quieter if students posted wins about other affiliate programs.
How much does Home Business Academy cost?HBA costs $25 per month.
This includes training, community, live group coaching, and funnel builder access.
There’s an optional $125/month upsell for access to the “Premium Traffic and Conversions Vault,” which you can try for 14 days for free. This includes extra training and group coaching calls…
Additionally, there’s an optional $500 upsell for their money management and financial literacy course. This includes training and access to more group coaching…
Other costs may include…
A domain (~$10/year)An autoresponder (~$20/month)Also, if you plan to promote HBA, it looks like you’ll need to buy any upsell you want to earn a commission on.
Home Business Academy Discount?I’ve searched high and low for a discount or coupon code for Home Business Academy but have yet to find mention of one anywhere. And there’s no place to enter a discount code at checkout.
So it looks like you’ll have to pay the full price if you want access.
Refund PolicyThe Home Business Academy has a 3-day money-back guarantee.
Their official policy…
If you are dissatisfied at any time during the first 3 days (72 hours) after initial time of purchase or monthly re-bill, simply delete any digital files you may have downloaded, including video, audio, and text files you obtained from us, and ask for a refund by sending an email to support@TheHomeBusinessAcademy.com. You will be refunded the most recent charge amount. That’s a firm promise and commitment.
After 3 Days
No refunds will be granted after 3 days (72 hours) from time and date of initial purchase or most recent subscription re bill.
It’s better than nothing, but IMO 3 days isn’t enough time to consume the content, experience the live calls, or properly test the funnel builder.
How is Home Business Academy structured?Here’s what the training looks like once you log in…
Over 38 videos in the funnel builder training walk you through how to use the software.
This is what it looks like inside a lesson…
The Freedom Launchpad covers the actual affiliate marketing training…
Here’s a sneak peek of the premium traffic training as well…
With premium, you also get a massive archive of audio recordings, which appear to have taken place nearly every day since 2011 …
Beyond the core training, you get access to their HBA Funnel Builder tool.
This is what it looks like when you log in…
HBA Funnel Builder has basically all the functionalities of popular tools like ClickFunnels but at a 1/4th of the cost.
It’s a white label-version of a software called Simvoly.
I think white labeling is an ethical model, especially when customers aren’t led to believe the resellers are the actual developers of the product.
For example, there are so many people promoting tools like GoHighLevel that claim to have “developed” an awesome new tool.
HBA doesn’t seem to take that approach; they market it honestly from what I saw.
The benefit of buying HBA Funnel Builder directly is that…
You get all their affiliate marketing templates built in for youYou get access to a supportive community also using the toolIf you need a funnel builder anyway, it’s a cheap and high-quality optionAnother part of the program is the private FB group…
Mike seems to be pretty active here…
Lastly, there’s the weekly coaching.
Here’s an example of what you can expect every week…
Plus additional coaching for premium members…
Green Lights 
Some positive points for Home Business Academy…
Active and supportive private community.Low price to get started.Surprisingly comprehensive core training.Paul and Mike play an active roleFunnel builder and bonus training included.Red Flags
A few things to be wary of regarding Home Business Academy…
Lack of significant success stories from students promoting other offers.Only a 3-day money-back guarantee.No search functionality; hard to find specific lessons.Questionable marketing tactics (half-truths, hypey language)Most affiliates don’t turn a profit.Other things you should knowYou’ll find lots of handy downloads within the training, including templates, email series scripts, checklists, assignments, audio recordings, etc.A good way to think about Mike and Paul’s training: they’ve documented the systems they used to market themselves and their offers successfully. When you buy the program, you get access to this documentation.👇 Subscribe to eBiz Insider 👇Every Tuesday and Friday we email 31,628 people like you with top tips, insights and opportunities to build your online business. No hype, no scams, no fake gurus. Sign up below to get the next one.
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Should you join Home Business Academy?
Home Business Academy contains structured training taught by experienced affiliate marketers Mike and Paul. It’s action-packed, offering frequent group coaching calls and a helpful community.
If you’re an aspiring affiliate marketer looking for support, there’s a good chance you’ll find value inside HBA.
It’s a decent investment if you’re willing to put in the work, want to learn from Paul and Mike, and don’t mind the MLM vibes.
And from what I’ve seen, most people who join the program are happy with their purchase.
Just remember that the average HBA affiliate breaks even, so you’ll need to put in an above-average amount of work to profit.
Learn more about affiliate marketingHome Business Academy – Key PointsAbout
Affiliate marketing training, community, and coaching program by Paul Hutchings and Milke Hobbs.
💰 Price
Starts at $25/month (more info, join now)
😍 Pros
High energy community, experienced instructors, ongoing group coaching, good training, additional tools included.
😩 Cons
Only a 3-day money-back guarantee, questionable marketing tactics, most students don’t profit, a little MLMy for my liking.
Verdict
Worthwhile community, coaching, and course for affiliate marketing enthusiasts.
Overall Rating2.7/5 2.7Learn more.'>2
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Home Business Academy Alternatives
Here are the top affiliate marketing programs we’ve reviewed…
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1.The Authority Site System (review)4.8/5 2.The Affiliate Lab (review)4.8/5 3.Scale Your Travel Blog (review)4.7/5 4.Passive Income Geek (review)4.6/5 5.Blog Growth Engine (review)4.5/5 6.Income School's Project 24 (review)4.4/5 7.Niche Site Profits (review)4.4/5 8.Blogging Fast Lane (review)3.9/5 9.Solo Build It (review)3.7/5 10.123 Affiliate Marketing (review)3.4/5
See all reviews of affiliate marketing courses »
Other ways to make money onlineYour Thoughts on Home Business AcademyHave you taken this course yourself?
Add your rating so others can see if it’s worthwhile.Do you have a question about this course?
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Every Tuesday and Friday we email 31,628 people like you with top tips, insights and opportunities to build your online business. No hype, no scams, no fake gurus. Sign up below to get the next one.
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July 6, 2023
Money Wisdom From Shaan Puri
Shaan Puri tweets…
for the past 10 years, I’ve kept a scratchpad of notes called “money wisdom”
anytime I read, heard, or learned something wise about wealth – I wrote it down… here they are:
Worth reading the whole thread 
There’s also a 28-minute podcast version and YouTube video…
Shaan’s an interesting character because he’s had multiple big exits with tech businesses but he’s not all that technical. His main skills appear to be copywriting and marketing.
One part of his thread that resonated with me…
SHIFT 2 –> Far From Money –> Hangout with Money
Pretend you want to get a 6-pack.
You need to start thinking & acting like someone who HAS a 6-pack.
Fit people travel with protein powder & resistance bands in their suitcase. They pick hotels based on the gym.
Think like a fit person –> act like a fit person –> become a fit person
Same for wealth. You must shift your “way of thinking” to match that of the type of person you want to become.
Last weekend I was at a meetup in London 
for online entrepreneurs, many of them far more ambitious / intelligent / successful than me.
Hanging out with such people for a few days helps me identify and adopt some of the mindsets and habits that help them achieve outstanding results.
So if you have a chance to hang out with people a few levels ahead of you in whatever game you’re playing, take it
