Niall Doherty's Blog, page 188

Ground Zero Case Studies

This is one of many ways to get clients for your freelance business. See the full list here.

In the video below, Derek Halpern explains why clients don’t value your work, and how that results in them trying to underpay you.

“The problem isn’t that your customer is stupid. The problem is that you didn’t accurately explain your process. You didn’t tell them what you do. You didn’t show them how you do it.”

Instead of having a simple portfolio page showing samples of your work, Derek recommends creating “ground zero case studies.”

“A ground zero case study is an example of your great work, except you’re going to put context around it. This context tries to bring to life your process and the client’s experience, for new clients.”

For example, if you’re a photographer, instead of showing a bunch of pretty pictures with no context, you create a case study of one particular photo (or collection of photos) you shot and edited for a client.

In the case study, you explain what went into creating that photo.

For example, you could flesh out the following points:

Met with the client
Brainstormed ideas
Created a storyboard
Planned and scheduled the shoot
Provided wardrobe recommendations
Provided and transported all equipment
Shot photos at 3 locations
Edited photos and sent 5 for review
Helped choose the best photo
Did the final edits
Met with client for final review and feedback

“Once people see the behind-the-scenes, once they see that this whole shoot took three weeks to prepare for, they’re not going to try to offer you $200 anymore. They’re going to know that this is a different level of service.”

“This is all an opportunity for you to showcase your value to your customer in a great way.”

This is one of many ways to get clients for your freelance business. See the full list here.

Laptop Decals

This is one of many ways to get clients for your freelance business. See the full list here.

If you like working from cafes or coworking spaces, turn all those strangers passing by into potential clients by letting them know what kind of service you provide.

How?

With a simple sticker/decal attached to your laptop.

For example:

Freelancer at Work has dozens of decals like the above, promoting a variety of different services.

More examples:

Copywriter At Work
Marketing Consultant At Work
Social Media Manager At Work
SEO Expert At Work
Video Editor At Work

Stick one of those on your laptop, go work at a public space, and generate leads for your business effortlessly.

Here’s how one freelancer described the impact of having a decal on his laptop:

“I spend most of my time in coffee shops or coworking offices doing my work. Since I’ve had my decal on my laptop I probably get 2 or 3 people a day asking me for my business card or inquiring about my services, it’s like having a free advert for everyone to see!” — Patrick Brady, developer

Check out Freelancer at Work and see if they have a decal to passively promote your business.

This is one of many ways to get clients for your freelance business. See the full list here.

eBiz Weekly #15

Once per week, we email 3,400+ legendary subscribers with some good stuff related to online business. We also post the content of each email here on the website.

Sign up to get the next edition of eBiz Weekly delivered to your inboxView the archive

Hey there,

How are you getting on? Any plans for the weekend?

I’m leaving Gran Canaria today, hopping on a plane back to Ireland for a couple of weeks. Looking forward to some downtime and catching up with family.

Anyway, here are a few bits and pieces related to online business I think you’ll like…

$20.56/Hour On Respondent.io

We put a survey site called Respondent to the test and found you can earn a decent amount per hour, but only if you use it sparingly.

See our full review here.

Framed Tweets = Big Business

Imagine someone pitching you this idea:

We’re gonna let people pick their favorite tweet, print it out, put a fancy frame around it, and sell it to them for $50 a pop!

Sounds ridiculous, right?

And yet this guy is earning $25,000 a month doing just that.

Coding Challenge

Want to learn to code? How about challenging yourself to code for 1 hour a day for 100 days?

Here’s a community for that.

Brand You

Maybe it’s just me, but I hate wearing clothes with loud branding. Makes me feel like an uncompensated promoter of big corporations.

Actually, it’s worse than that: people pay top dollar for clothes that effectively turn them into human billboards.

“HEY LOOK, I’M WEARING NIKE! SEE MY BIG SWOOSH?”

Took me a while to realize that the same applies to electronics: I give Apple free advertising every time I use my laptop in a public place, what with their fruity logo glowing from the back of my screen.

So yesterday I ordered some eBiz Facts stickers that I can use to cover up that logo. Instead of promoting Apple every time I use my laptop, I’ll be promoting my own thing.

Related to that, here’s a cool little ecommerce store I came across that sells “laptop decals for freelancers.”

For example:

Copywriter At Work
Marketing Consultant At Work
Social Media Manager At Work

Worth getting one of those to stick on your laptop if you often work from cafes and coworking spaces. Passive networking.

The Screenless Internet

This New York Times article was written by voice, and the writer (speaker?) argues that…

“Soon it might be possible to conduct a large slice of digital life, including work, without being glued to a screen.”

50 Non-Tech Founders

Think you’re not tech enough to build an online business?

This list of 50 non-tech founders in tech will change your mind.

You’ll recognize many of the companies in that list, such as Airbnb, YouTube, LinkedIn and Amazon.

Compound Wisdom

From David Heinemeier Hansson:

I keep seeing this false hope powering one of the most common questions I get in interviews: What’s THE ONE THING that you’d tell your younger yourself/other entrepreneurs/new programmers?!

[…]

The boring truth is that the big leaps are all the result of an interwoven tapestry of practices, each contributing a strand of progress or insight. If you pull just one, all you have is that thin, disconnected strand. It’s only together the colors come alive.

[…]

As long as you’re stuck on a quest for that one super-power practice or North Star principle, you’re not going to make space in your brain for the fact that no individual secret is going to make the difference. Only compound wisdom will.

Croissant Coworking

If you’re in a new town and need a place to work, this site will show you a list of all the nearby coworking spaces.

4 Tendencies Quiz

Have you heard of the 4 Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin?

It’s a handy framework you can use to understand yourself and other people better, and helps you figure out what motivation strategies and productivity hacks are likely to work best for you.

Take the free 5-minute quiz here to learn what your dominant tendency is and how best to use it.

…

That’ll do it for this week.

Let me know if I can help with anything.

—

Niall Doherty

eBiz Facts

By the way...

Travel Hacker’s Toolkit
Check out the top resources I recommend for the traveling online business builder. Cheap flights, a jet lag app, free VPN software, and more.

Great Value Courses
My go-to websites when looking to learn or enhance a skill are Skillshare and Udemy. Both have thousands of courses on many different topics, rated and reviewed so you can easily tell what’s best. Udemy is pay-per-course, whereas Skillshare is a subscription model (my preference).

Start Earning Online
Check out our free crash course to help you build an online business, consists of 11 videos and accompanying articles.

Freedom Business Builder
FBB is a private community of online business builders. Our 300+ members range from people just starting their first online businesses, to experienced online entrepreneurs earning thousands of dollars each month. More info here.

Facebook and Twitter
If you enjoyed the above, come follow eBiz Facts on the socials. We share this kind of content daily on Facebook and Twitter.

Respondent Review

Respondent – Key Points

Respondent.io is a website where you can get paid to participate in online research studies.

Free to join, 5% fulfillment fee on earnings.

High-paying studies, more interesting work than most survey sites.

Difficult to qualify for a paid study, buggy interface.

Not a big or reliable source of income, but worth your time if used wisely.

Overall Rating3.5/5







Join Respondent For Free














Table Of ContentsBackground Info3 Pros of Respondent4 Cons of Respondent4 More Things You Should KnowDo We Recommend Respondent?Who Should JoinWho Shouldn’t4 Tips For Getting The Most Out Of Respondent




Respondent – Background Information

Respondent.io is a website that helps companies like Allstate and eBay perform market research studies. It does this by connecting such companies with verified “respondents” – that’s you – who apply to participate in the studies.

Respondents are paid for each study they complete, sometimes as much as $300. (Don’t get your hopes up – this is rare!)

The majority of the studies are performed online or via phone (i.e. remote), while some require you to meet with a researcher (i.e. in-person).

Above: the Respondent interface for logged in users.

This Respondent review will help you decide if it’s worth your time signing up to the site and applying for some studies.

This review is a joint effort between Niall Doherty (founder of eBiz Facts) and several of our readers.

Our process:

Niall signed up for Respondent and personally applied to participate in 23 remote studies.We referred 31 readers of eBiz Facts to Respondent by sharing our referral link via our email newsletter and social media.We followed up with as many of those readers as possible, asked about their experience using Respondent, and gathered data.We crunched the numbers to determine how much time we had collectively spent applying for and participating in studies on Respondent. We also calculated our total earnings.We searched online for other reviews of Respondent to see if there were any key points we missed.We wrote a first draft of this review.We sent the draft to our Freedom Business Builder community and asked for feedback.We made our final edits and published the review.

Note: We may earn a commission if you join Respondent via a referral link in this review. Read our full disclosure here.

Pros of Respondent1. High-Paying Surveys

Respondent is often referred to as a “survey site,” and lumped in with the likes of Survey Junkie, Swagbucks, and PaidViewpoint.

But those traditional survey sites usually pay mere pennies for each survey.

Respondent stands apart by offering premium rates to participants.

Some examples:

2. More interesting work than most survey sites

While it can be difficult to qualify for a study on Respondent (see below), the strict selection process means that you’re likely to end up participating in studies that are a good fit for your interests and/or expertise.

Instead of answering the same boring, run-of-the-mill questions over and over again on PaidViewpoint, for example, Respondent studies usually require you to put some serious thought into your responses.

For example, here is a screenshot from one of the paid studies we participated in:

3. Available Internationally

Also in contrast to many other survey sites, Respondent seems to have plenty of opportunities available for people living outside the United States.

For example, one eBiz Facts reader living in Australia was able to apply for 4 surveys soon after creating his account. He was invited to participate in two of them and earned more than $100.

Cons of Respondent1. You’re unlikely to be selected for most surveys

This is the big issue.

While a 60-minute, $200 study sounds great, the chances that you’ll get selected for it are pretty slim.

This is true even if Respondent says that you’re “100% qualified” for the study after you’ve applied.

For example, here are 3 studies we applied for:

All of those studies were still open and accepting applicants 2 weeks later, yet we had not been invited to participate in any of them, despite being 95-100% qualified.

Crunching our own numbers and those reported by our readers (14 people total), we got the following results:

66 studies applied for in 5 hours4 invites to participate in a paid study

In other words, it took an average of 16.5 applications to win each invite.

Our tracking revealed that it takes an average of 4.6 minutes to apply for a study, which means you’ll need to invest approximately 75 minutes per invite.

Overall, our small test group of 14 people spent 6.7 hours applying for and participating in studies, and was paid a total of $137.75 after fees.

That works out to $20.56/hour, which isn’t bad, especially when compared to other survey sites.

However, when you break down the hourly rate per person in our group, the results aren’t quite so encouraging. Because out of those 14 people, there was only one who could claim to have received a good return on the time he invested.

As reported via email:

I filled out two surveys and got called for two things so far. One was a tiny 5 min app demo ($10) and the other was with Quickbooks in San Francisco. ~45 minutes and they’ve sent the U$100 so easy money.

Perhaps because I am based in Melbourne Australia and there are only a few available surveys for this region and less people know about it here there is less competition for me?

Don’t have any other surveys in the works though. When I log in I don’t have any to apply to at the moment. Again being in Melbourne/Australia I reckon I only see those that people want me to see. I’ve completed two others that I am yet to hear back on (been 2 days).

So yeah, one of our group earned $104.50 (after fees) in just over an hour of total time invested.

The remaining 13 people in the group earned only $33.25 total in about 5.5 hours.

2. Buggy Interface

We encountered several annoying “bugs” while using the Respondent website.

For example:

Some qualification surveys would get stuck halfway through. The “next” button simply wouldn’t work and the application would have to be abandoned.After clicking through on a survey, we were sometimes greeted with a message saying, “Unfortunately this study is not available for people in your geographic region. Thanks for your interest!” Why even show the listing for that study in the first place if it’s not available??Frequently the same study would show up multiple times in the listings for no obvious reason.Above: the same study listed four times in a row on RespondentOne study we qualified for required us to answer a series of questions on Survey Monkey, which we did. There were no instructions to do so, but we had to message the researcher privately to ensure we were credited with completing the study. It seems Respondent doesn’t have a system in place to track this automatically.Above: messaging the researcher to ensure we got credit for participating in a study.3. Slow Customer Support

After connecting a LinkedIn account, we nonetheless received the following error when trying to apply for certain studies on Respondent:

“You must connect Linkedin to participate in business related research studies.”

We contacted Respondent’s support team about this issue, and they got back to us…

Unfortunately, we had to wait 7 full days to get that response :-/

4. Some scam surveys have been reported

This is not so much an issue with Respondent as it is with any marketplace platform: inevitably, you find bad-faith actors trying to take advantage of others.

Here is a report of an attempted Respondent scam via Reddit: 1

I signed up for a Respondent.io account to try to make a bit of extra side money. It seemed pretty easy, sign up, answer questions, get paid.

I first became suspicious when most of the “surveys” I was receiving were about online banking, and they wanted me to log in to my online banking while sharing my screen. Yea right, like I was going to fall for that. So you want me to give away a) what bank I’m with b) my account number c) the length of my password? Well, you can **** right off if you think that’s going to happen.

I decided I wasn’t going to complete any of these “surveys”. Not two weeks after this, I received a call from my actual bank (not a scam call, I can recognize those) saying that someone had attempted to open a bank account using my information (name, date of birth, etc.) all information that was required from Respondent during the sign-up process.

A member of Freedom Business Builder reported similar:

I just cancelled my survey. They wanted me to log in to my online banking, show them how it works, record the screen and send it to them. The only security the company offered was to block out my personal details on the video after they receive it.

I only had 1 hour before the survey was to start and didn’t feel comfortable.

With those stories in mind, here’s a simple rule to help avoid scams and stay safe on Respondent:

Never share your bank account details or other sensitive private information (e.g. your social security number) in any Respondent study.




4 More Things You Should Know About Respondent“Anyone aged 18 or older can join, we are always looking for Industry Professionals, parents, and students. We have projects that are available to US Residents as well as International. All you need to join is a PayPal account, and either Facebook or LinkedIn to connect your profile to.” 2You have to apply for each study and wait to get accepted. Expect to spend 4-5 minutes on average applying for a study. During this time you’ll be answering simple multiple choice questions, which the researchers use to determine your suitability for the study.Once you’ve successfully completed a study, you get paid a few days later via PayPal, minus a 5% fulfillment fee. For example, we completed a $15 study and received payment six days later.

Respondent also has a referral program. If someone signs up to the site with your link and completes a paid study, you will receive $20. You can find your personal referral link by clicking “My Referrals” in the menu once logged into your account.




Do We Recommend Respondent?

Yes, so long as you have the right expectations…

Respondent won’t make you rich, and you should not expect it to provide a reliable or consistent income.

But if you use it wisely you can earn some decent pocket money.

As noted, one person in our group earned $104.50 after spending little more than an hour on the site, while one commenter on Reddit reports that he earned $5,000 on Respondent in 2018 alone. 3

If you’d like to emulate their success, see below for our best tips.

Join Respondent For Free







Who Should Join RespondentIndustry professionals, parents, or students aged 18 or over who can spare 15-90 minutes once or twice a month to earn some pocket money.











Join Respondent For Free







Who Should NOT Join Respondent?Anyone looking to earn a full-time living or a consistent, reliable income filling out surveys.





4 Tips For Getting The Most Out Of Respondent

Here’s what we recommend to make the most out of every minute you spend on Respondent.

Sign up, complete your profile, and keep an eye out for any emails from Respondent. They’ll alert you to any studies you’re likely to be a good match for.Don’t waste your time applying for a study unless you’re confident you’ll be a 100% match. (Even then, you may not be selected.)Whenever you see a study you are a good match for, apply fast. Some studies may only require a handful of participants, so they can quickly become “over-subscribed.”Consider applying for in-person studies as well as remote. As per Reddit… 4

In the past month I have taken 5 surveys and gotten a response from 2! I have completed them and will receive $560 in the next week or so.

I have seen some people that have taken a lot of surveys and not gotten any responses. My advice would be to focus on in-person projects. If you happen to live in big city, two to four get posted each month. Target those, and you will have a better chance, since the eligibility pool is smaller.

Do You Like The Sound Of Respondent?

If so, click here to sign up or learn more about it.

If not, we’re currently researching and testing several other survey sites, such as Survey Junkie, Swagbucks, and PaidViewpoint.

If you’d like to know when we publish in-depth reviews of those, join our mailing list and we’ll keep you updated via our weekly newsletter.

P.S. Have you tried Respondent before? Please consider leaving a review below  – good or bad – doesn’t matter so long as it’s helpful to our visitors. Thanks for your support!

Top 50 Non-Technical Founders in Technology

Note: This article was first published on a now-defunct website called ProtoHack in 2015. It’s a shame not to have it online, as it’s great inspiration for anyone who feels they’re not sufficiently technical to build an Internet-based business. Therefore, we keep it alive here, with occasional updates as needed. Full author credit goes to Blake McCammon.

Regardless of a recent Gallup Poll suggesting that American entrepreneurship is dead, I believe quite the opposite. Yes, we rank 12th in the world for entrepreneurship, and more businesses are closing than opening, but that doesn’t mean the spirit of entrepreneurship is dead by any means. At the end of 2013 entrepreneurship increased by 14% in the United States, and that number doesn’t look like it’s going down anytime soon.

At our core we’re looking for those non-technical folks who have a passion or want to solve a challenge/problem but don’t know where to start because they’re not technical, they can’t code, and/or they don’t have any idea where to start even. We’ve searched the Internet for entrepreneurs who, no matter where they started or their experience, had a dream and vision for a company, but like our audience, are all non-technical founders of tech products.

The purpose of this list is two-fold. We want to show those who attend ProtoHack that no matter your job title, whether you’re the VP of Finance at a major bank, or you’re a student; if you have a dream, determination, and passion you too can start a business and build a tech product without having any knowledge of code. The second part of the list is to highlight non-technical founders who have dug themselves in for the long haul and came out on top doing excellent work and building amazing tech products.

Since there are hundreds of non-technical entrepreneurs in tech we’ve decided to limit the list to those who have raised at least a million dollars whether through private funding, seed, series A, etc. or those companies how have successfully taken their company public. This list is in no particular order.

Top 50 Non-Technical Founders in TechStephanie Tilenius (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of Vida Health Inc.Vida is a next generation continuous care platform and health marketplace for both consumers and businesses.Funding Received: 5 millionWalker Williams (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of Teespring.Teespring is a commerce platform that empowers anyone to design and sell products that people love.Funding Received: 56.9 millionSheri Atwood (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of SupportPay.Only payment platform for parents sharing child expenses and managing child support.Funding Received: 1.3 millionNirav Tolia (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of Nextdoor.comNextdoor is a private social network that enables members to communicate with neighbors.Funding Received: 100.2 millionNancy MacIntyre (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of Fingerprint.Fingerprint is an edutainment app enabling kids and grown-ups to connect and share information across mobile devices and the web.Funding Received: 20 millionJames Beshara (LinkedIn)Co-Founder and CEO of Tilt.Tilt is a group-funding platform allowing users to start fundraising campaigns for non-profit organizations and activities.Funding Received: 37.1 millionJessica Scorpio (LinkedIn)Co-founder and VP, Marketing of GetAround.Getaround is a mobile application and a peer-to-peer car sharing marketplace that enables car owners to rent out their cars.Funding Received: 43 millionSean Rad (LinkedIn)Co-founder and CEO of Tinder.Tinder is an online dating app that offers its users an opportunity to meet new people for dating, friendship, or networking.Funding Received: UndisclosedKelsey Falter (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of Poptip.Poptip analyzes and synthesizes social conversations in real-time to enable brands to understand people’s opinions.Funding Received: 2.4 millionScott Langmack (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of ConnectUp Corp.ConnectUp makes it easy to reach the people who matter, whether a business associate or a personal friend.Funding Received: 1.2 millionMelody McCloskey (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of StyleSeat.StyleSeat is an online destination that connects beauty and wellness professionals with clients.Funding Received: 14.9 millionMicheal Dell (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of Dell.Dell is a multinational technology company that develops, sells, repairs and supports computers and related products and services.Funding Received: Dell is a private company that has raised well over the 500K necessary.Jamie Wong ()Founder and CEO of Vayable.Vayable is an online marketplace enabling people to discover, buy and sell unique travel experiences, activities and extended trips.Funding Received: 2.1 millionBrian Chesky (LinkedIn)Co-founder and CEO of AirBnB.Airbnb is an online community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book accommodation around the world.Funding Received: 794.8 millionAlexa von Tobel (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of LearnVestLearnVest is a program for your money. Our mission is to make financial planning affordable, accessible, and even delightful.Funding Received: 69 millionPeter Thiel (LinkedIn)Managing Partner at the Founders Fund, previous Co-founder and CEO of Paypal.Funding Received: Paypal went IPO in 2002.Soraya Darabi (LinkedIn)Co-Founder of Zady.Zady is a shopping platform for consumers concerned about the origins of the items they purchase.Funding Received: 1.4 millionKevin Hartz (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of Eventbrite.Eventbrite is a global marketplace for live experiences that lets people to find and create events.Funding Received: 199.5 millionJon Bischke (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of Entelo.Entelo is a software platform that helps companies find eligible candidates via social web.Funding Received: 8.7 millionCarly Gloge (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of Smart Toy.Smart Toy offers an interactive, educational soft toy for children that can be controlled through iOS devices.Funding Received: 2.6 million. Acquired in 2014 by Cartwheel Kids.Jordan Metzner (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of WashioWashio is a wash-and-fold laundry service that offers pick up and delivery services.Funding Received: 16.8 millionAnastasia Leng (LinkedIn)Co-founder and CEO of Hatch.coHatch is an ecommerce site that lets users customize curated goods created by a select community of artists, makers, and designers.Funding Received: 1.7 millionRick Orr (LinkedIn)Founder and Former EVP Product of TabbedOutTabbedOut enables customers to open, view, and pay bar or restaurant tabs from their smartphones.Funding Received: 17.5 millionDawoon Kang (LinkedIn)Co-founder and CEO of Coffee Meets BagelCoffee Meets Bagel is an online dating site that connects individuals with a ‘friend-of-a-friend’ match every day.Funding Received: 10.6 millionBradford Shellhammer (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of BezarBezar is the Marketplace for Design.Funding Received: 2.3 millionDesiree Vargas Wrigley (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of GiveFoward and Pearachute.GiveForward is an online fundraising website offering guidance and a platform to raise money for loved ones in need.Funding Received: 2.5 millionMark Newman (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of HireVueHireVue is a digital interview platform allowing individuals to browse, watch and share interviews.Funding Received: 52 millionCaren Maio (LinkedIn)Co-founder and CEO of NestioNestio is a platform for residential real estate professionals to manage and communicate their information in real-time and from one place.Funding Received: 3.9 millionReid Hoffmann (LinkedIn)Founder and Former CEO of LinkedIn.LinkedIn, a professional networking site, allows its members to create business connections, search for jobs, and find potential clients.Funding Received: LinkedIn went public in 2011.Stina Ehrensvard (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of Yubico.Yubico offers USB and wireless authentication solutionsFunding Received: 3 million, Seed.Cleve Adams ()Founder and CEO of Airpatrol CorpAirPatrol develops tools to deliver software and services to mobile devices based on their location and user context.Funding Received: 3.7 million, acquired in 2014Rashmi Sinha (LinkedIn)Co-founder and CEO of SlideShareSlideShare is an online community that allows users to upload and share PowerPoint presentations, documents, and infographics.Funding Received: 3 million, Acquired by LinkedIn in 2012Evan Sharp (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of PinterestPinterest is a social bookmarking site with a virtual pinboard interface that visually showcases the user’s interests.Funding Received: 762.5 millionErika Trautman (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of Rapt MediaRapt Media, a creative platform for interactive enterprise video, enables companies to convert content viewers to interactive participants.Funding Received: 8.7 millionYancey Strickler (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of KickstarterKickstarter is a crowdfunding platform for creative projects such as movies, music, art, theater, games, comics, design, and photography.Funding Received: 10 millionKathryn Minshew (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of The Daily MuseThe Daily Muse is a job search platform offering multimedia profiles of various companies that are hiring people.Funding Received: 7.3 millionMarc Benioff (LinkedIn)Co-founder and CEO of SalesforceSalesforce is an enterprise cloud-computing company and CRM provider offering business software solutions on a subscription basis.Funding Received: 21 million, went public in 2004.Katia Beauchamp (LinkedIn) & Hayley Barna (LinkedIn)Founder and Co-CEOs of BirchboxBirchbox is a discovery commerce platform offering a personalized method for discovering, learning and shopping for products in the market.Funding Received: 71.9 millionJeff Bezos ()Founder and CEO of AmazonAmazon.com is an international e-commerce website for consumers, sellers, and content creators.Funding Received: 8 million, went public in 1997.Victoria Ransom (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of WildfireAppWildfire, a division of Google, is a provider of enterprise social media marketing software.Funding Received: 14.1 million, Acquired by Google in 2012.David O. Sacks (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of YammerYammer is an enterprise social network that enables employees to collaborate across departments, geographies and business applications.Funding Received: 142 million, acquired by Microsoft in 2012Kellee Khalil (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of Lover.lyLover.ly is a specialized search engine for finding bridal ideas, trends, and other wedding-related information.Funding Received: 5 millionAneel Bhusri (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of WorkdayWorkday provides SaaS-based enterprise solutions for a company’s human resources and financial management activities.Funding Received: 175 million, went public in 2012Lily Liu (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of PublicStuff.PublicStuff is an online community service that allows individuals to notify the right local departments to get things fixed.Funding Received: 6.6 millionAaron Levie (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of BoxBox is an online file sharing and cloud content management service offering unlimited storage, custom branding, and administrative controls.Funding Received: 559 million, went public in 2015Joanna Weidenmiller (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of 1-Page.The one-page company develops software solutions to solve communication problems between enterprises and their employees.Funding Received: 3.3 million, went IPO on the Australian Stock ExchangeAlexis Ohanian ()Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of redditReddit Blog is a web-based blog that displays news based on personal preferences and community likes. It provides news, information, insight, and articles related to a wide range of topics.Funding Received: 50.1 million, Acquired in 2006 by Code Nast.Tracy Young (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of PlanGrid.PlanGrid is a cloud-based app that allows users to store blueprints and construction documents on iPad and iPhone.Funding Received: 1.1 millionChad Hurley (LinkedIn)Founder and CEO of YouTube.YouTube, a video-sharing platform, allows users to upload, view and share videos, including movie and music clips and amateur content.Funding Received: 11.5 million, Acquired by Google for 1.7B in 2006

eBiz Weekly #14

Once per week, we email 3,400+ legendary subscribers with some good stuff related to online business. We also post the content of each email here on the website.

Sign up to get the next edition of eBiz Weekly delivered to your inboxView the archive

Hey there,

How’s your April going so far?

I’m still here in Gran Canaria for another week, but it’s due to be a big travel month for me as I head back to Ireland for a bit, spend a few days in Amsterdam, then head to Bali for the first time.

Hashtag digital nomad and all that.

Anyway, here are a few bits and pieces related to online business I think you’ll like…

Flight Time Really Matters

In a recent appearance on the ID10T podcast, Penn Jillette – you know, the comedic magician dude, half of Penn and Teller – talked about how important it is to simply put in the time working on your craft.

He and Teller have apparently done 12,000 shows together over the decades, “more than the Beatles, the Stones and Bob Dylan all together… by a factor of five.”

Jillette went on to give the analogy of pilots learning to fly:

“When you want to be a pilot, all they care about is flight hours. They don’t ask you, have you flown in many storms? They don’t say, what are your goals for the future? They just say, how many hours have you sat in the cockpit while this plane has been in the air? Flight time really matters.”

With that in mind, are you putting in the “flight time” for building your online business?

You don’t have to work 60 hours a week – that’s crazy and unsustainable – but you should be clocking the time consistently.

If you’re struggling to find the time, here’s an article and video to see you right:

How To Free Up 10 Hours Per Week To Build Your Online Business

Finance Report

As you may know, I’ve been tracking and reporting all my income and expenses for the past 8+ years. You can see my report for March 2019 right here.

$3,457 income, $3,185 expenses.

Might have been my best month yet for affiliate income.

Upwork Series

We’ve collected our best articles about Upwork into a 7-part series:

4 Proven Upwork Cover Letter Templates
How To Avoid Upwork Scams And Find The Best Jobs
What Ivan Did To Beat 50+ Freelancers On Upwork
8 Keys To A Killer Upwork Profile
How To Compete With Cheap Freelancers On Upwork
How Justin Went From $9 to $50/Hour On Upwork In 12 Months
How Susan Earned $1,375 Her First Month On Upwork

New Upwork Fees

Upwork announced a few days ago that they will soon start charging freelancers to submit proposals. It may end up costing you almost $1 for each proposal you send.

Upwork claims they’re making this change to “help professional freelancers like you win more jobs.”

Let us know what you think in the comments.

2 Months Free Skillshare

Yup, two months now instead of one.

Use this link for 60 days free access to thousands of online courses, on topics like marketing, freelancing, productivity, graphic design, entrepreneurship and writing.

$1 Per Word

Here’s a big list of 70+ publications that pay freelance writers $1 per word.

Irish Language Travel Vlogger

How’s that for a niche?

Úna-Minh Kavanagh nails it with her 3-minute video tour of Vietnam as Gaeilge. (Don’t worry, there are English subtitles available.)

CSS Game

For anyone learning to code CSS, this is a really fun way to do it.

See if you can beat my score of only 111 characters on Target #1

Momentos

These are my Momentos, vignettes I write daily and publish twice a month. They’re incredibly self-indulgent and I’m surprised anyone reads them. There’s one for every day since February 27, 2013.

Full archive here

16

Turned 37 today. In a sense, I had me a good 20 years of adolescence. Went off traveling the world, jumping from job to job, project to project. Never really committed to any relationship, always did my own thing, went my own way. That’s a luxury, a privilege. Only the last couple of years have I started thinking more about family, having a place to call home, adult-type stuff.

17

Reckon I used to be more courageous than I am now. At least when it comes to speaking up about things that bother me about other people. Don’t like myself much when I talk ill of someone behind their back but not to their face. That’s just cowardly. Must be some reward in it though. Maybe I don’t want to give them the opportunity to change, maybe I want to avoid potential conflict.

18

Reading a book that mentions that Jim Carrey story. He was a struggling actor when he wrote himself a check for $10 million, dated three years in the future. Three years later, he got paid $10 mil for Dumb and Dumber. And the books says, See! Manifestation law of attraction universal intelligence blah blah blah. But what about the thousands of other struggling actors who wrote themselves big checks and never manifested shit?

19

That book isn’t all woo though. Some good stuff in there. Like how, to achieve huge success, “the real secret is [that] you have to take huge, uncomfy risks.” Agreed. Successful people, more often than not, simply do things others aren’t willing to do. They put in the hours, make the sacrifices, face the fears, take the risks and overcome the challenges that regular people will not.

20

Reaching out to people for case studies today. There’s a lady who creates courses on Udemy about mental health, seems to be doing well. Another lady who has helped a bunch of people find remote jobs. A guy in Chiang Mai who earns more than $1000/month from dividend income. Another guy who earns $800/month passively through a an Amazon merch store.

21

You ever meet someone who seems genuinely curious and interested in what you have to say, and you find yourself talking talking talking, and then you think shit, I’m talking too much, so you ask them something and they give a quick answer and then they ask you another question and eventually you think fuck it, I guess I’ll just keep talking then.

No, just me?

22

Friday is my social day online, have a big list of things to run through. Check for comments/notifications on different platforms, browse for content worth sharing, send out an email to my list, etc. It’s scattered work, and I have a love/hate relationship with it. Trying to keep track of all my efforts so I can figure out what to drop, and what to double down on.

23

Watched a Sam Ovens video today, about online business, more than an hour long, really powerful stuff. As someone said in the comments, “This is not a video to watch, this is a video to study.” Sam promotes his program at the end of it, and I’m sure it’s the real deal, but no way I’m signing up. Too busy implementing all the stuff I’ve learned from Authority Hacker, gotta give that a fair shake first.

24

Anne Sullivan must be one of the greatest teachers who has ever lived, turning a blind, deaf and entirely uneducated 7-year-old child into a college graduate some 120 years ago. I’ve been reading her letters at the back of Helen Keller’s autobiography, where she gives some insight into how she made it happen. In short: shitloads of tough love, patience and determination. 

25

Occurred to me today that I’ve developed the complete opposite of an employee mentality. A big appeal of having a job is that there’s less risk, less responsibility. You do the work your employer wants you to do and report back. Freelancing is similar in that sense. But nowadays all I want to do is my own thing, 100%. Give me all the risk, all the responsibility. Let me be self-directed, nobody to report back to.

26

Read a long criticism today of a digital nomad “guru” of sorts, one of the more famous guys in the community. Had heard whispers of such things before, and my own brief interactions with him over the years never left me with a great impression either. Like Tai Lopez though, he does add some legit value. I sometimes wish these guys were 100% villain so I could write them off completely.

27

Imagine you 10-xed your income overnight – how would your lifestyle change? Mine wouldn’t change much. The extra stuff I’d be buying would all relate to convenience rather than material things. I’d have all my groceries bought and meals prepared for me, splurge on airline tickets that let me shortcut the security line, hire expert coaches and instructors to teach me stuff I want to learn, one-on-one.

28

Days like this remind me to appreciate one of the massive benefits of working online and controlling your schedule: I can be there for people when they need me. I remember reading years ago about an online entrepreneur who was able to move halfway across the country when her mother got cancer. No need to request time off, no pay cut. Just pack the laptop and be where you need to be.

29

Ever have a mild case of food poisoning? It’s actually worse than a bad case of food poisoning. Because with the mild case, you sit there with an upset stomach, trying not to move much, telling yourself it will all be fine if you just take it easy, wait it out. But actually, to feel better, what you really need to do is stick two fingers down your throat and force that shit up.

30

The occasional Netflix binge day is nice, but do you ever wonder what people did before tech provided an escape from the world? If you didn’t resort to drugs, the only “escape” available really was a good book. But what about before books? People must have just sat around with their own thoughts, waiting for the time to pass. Maybe they knew themselves better for it.

31

There’s a great soundbite from Neil Gaiman in his interview with Tim Ferriss:

“The biggest problem we run into is going, ‘This is who I am, this is what I’m like, this is how I function’ while failing to notice that you don’t do that anymore.”

In other words, never get so busy being who you are that you lose sight of who you could be.

 

8 Keys To A Killer Upwork Profile

Today you’re going to create a killer Upwork profile.

To do this you must first have an Upwork account. If you don’t already have one, jump on over and create one now. It’s a freelancer account you’re going to need, and there’s no charge for it.

4 Proven Upwork Cover Letter Templates
How To Avoid Upwork Scams And Find The Best Jobs
What Ivan Did To Beat 50+ Freelancers On Upwork
8 Keys To A Killer Upwork Profile
How To Compete With Cheap Freelancers On Upwork
How Justin Went From $9 to $50/Hour On Upwork In 12 Months
How Susan Earned $1,375 Her First Month On Upwork







Table Of ContentsWhy Upwork?1. Write a client-friendly title2. Use a professional-grade photo3. Display testimonials4. Write a client-focused overview5. Emphasize benefits before features6. Make your profile easy to read7. Use appropriate keywords8. End with a strong call to actionGet feedback on your Upwork profile




Why Upwork?

Just in case you’re not clear on why we’re focused on Upwork here, it’s simply because Upwork is by far the biggest freelance marketplace website on offer.

Yes, that means there’s lots of competition, but it also means that there are plenty of jobs. And by following the advice in this article, you’ll have a big advantage over your competitors on there.

But even if you don’t want to use Upwork, you’ll still find this article helpful, as all the strategies we’re going to talk about here can also be utilized on many other freelance marketplace websites.

Build a Successful Freelance Business On Upwork
If you’d like some expert guidance, consider taking a top-rated course on Skillshare, Freelancing On Upwork: How to Build a Successful Freelance Business With Upwork . 2000+ freelancers have enrolled already, and you can take the course for free with a 1 month free trial.










Check it out now












8 Keys To A Killer Upwork Profile

Let’s run through eight specific keys for creating an outstanding profile. There will be plenty of examples throughout.

1. Write A Client-Friendly Title

To make your title client-friendly, follow these rules:

Speak to what the client needs, not what the freelancer doesFocus on a nicheKeep it clear and simple (i.e. don’t try to be clever)

Let’s look at some examples. We’ll take them two at a time.

Two titles from Photography freelancers:

Developer, writer, video, audio and image editor

High-end retouching | Color correction | Photography

The first breaks all the rules (and not in a good way). It’s a list of what the freelancer does, he’s not focused on a niche, and there are too many different and disparate skills listed there.

The second is much more focused and clear, and speaks to what the client might actually need.

Two titles from Blog Writing freelancers:

Small Business Blog Writing & Web Content Specialist

Virtual Assistant/Blog Marketing/Data Entry/Copy-Writing/Photo Editing

I love the first one here. It’s focused on a niche and is very specific about the type of work the client can expect.

The second one is all over the shop. No focus. That freelancer may be able to apply for more jobs (given that they haven’t chosen a niche), but they’ll never be able to charge a high price as they’ll be seen a generalist.

Two titles from Web Development freelancers:

Web developer

Drupal /CMS Developer and Designer, eCommerce expert

The first one sucks. If I was hiring on Upwork, any freelancer who put that little effort into their profile title would be dismissed immediately.

The second title is much better. The freelancer has used specific keywords that will catch the eyes of the right clients. (More on keywords later.)

Two titles from Copywriting freelancers:

Experienced Copywriter and Content Creator

High-Conversion Sales and Marketing Copywriting for Your Business

The first is pretty bland. It doesn’t speak to the client and there’s no niche focus.

The second is excellent. Clients want to increase sales and conversions, and this freelancer has communicated that brilliantly.

2. Use A Professional-Grade Photo

Yes, you absolutely need to have a photo on your Upwork profile, and it should represent you well.

Just as you need to be well-dressed and well-groomed to make your best impression meeting people offline, a nice profile photo will help you make your best impression online.

Some pointers for your profile photo:

It should be a photo of your face, with you looking into the lens.
Nothing abstract or distant. Your photo will appear pretty small on screen to prospective clients so you want to fill all the space on offer with that gorgeous mug of yours.Smile…
But not too much! You should look relaxed and confident, not like a joker.No selfies.
Get a friend to take the photo for you.Wear a nice shirt/jacket/blouse for the photo.
You should look professional, not like someone who plays video games all day.Be well groomed for the photo.
Get your hair looking nice. Men should be clean shaven or have their facial hair neat and tidy.Make sure the photo is well-lit.
There should be no dark shadows on your face. Nor should you be squinting into the sun.

Maybe you already have a photo that fits the bill.

If so, great, use that.

If not, spend some time getting cleaned up and taking a few. Take more than you think you’ll need.

How do you decide which photo is best?

Two ideas:

Pick your three favorites, post them on Facebook and ask your friends which one best communicates friendly-yet-professional. Go with the most popular.Sign up for PhotoFeeler. You can vote on other people’s photos and they’ll vote on yours. Run a few tests and you’ll discover which of your photos makes the best impression.




3. Display Testimonials

If you have any testimonials at all, I highly recommend using them in your overview.

Testimonials are actually a great way to begin your overview, because they provide social proof to the client, communicating your expertise without blowing your own trumpet.

Here’s how a successful web developer on Upwork begins his overview:

Note that he doesn’t even give attributions for his testimonials. You can do without them and the testimonials will still prove powerful.

If you don’t already have testimonials, reach out to people you’ve worked with before and ask for them. You can these tips from Derek Halpern and Ramit Sethi to perfect your request:

The perfect testimonialHow to ask for a testimonial

If you’re just getting started in a niche and haven’t had any clients yet, you can still get testimonials from colleagues, bosses and professors you’ve had in the past.

For example, below is a testimonial I received from a past web design client. It doesn’t mention anything about web design, meaning I could use it to find work as a copywriter or an SEO or whatever else:

“Niall works with complete transparency and is a dogged problem solver. I wish everyone I hired had his work ethic. He is simply one of the best people I’ve worked with in ANY industry.”

Another tip: don’t be afraid to edit the testimonials you receive.

The one I just quoted you was actually much longer initially. Here it is as originally sent by the client:

Niall Doherty has all the qualities you’d expect in a top-notch web developer: good at clarifying requirements, reliable, and provides quick turn around. But there are two traits that really make him stand out. The first is his integrity. With other contractors I have found myself bewildered by how they spent their time. Niall, on the other hand, works with complete transparency. If you run an online business and need someone to help you with the financial back-end (as I do), you won’t find anyone on the net more trustworthy. The second is that Niall is a dogged problem solver. My business keeps me busy, so it’s vital I hire people who make my life easier, not harder. When I wanted to switch to Office Auto Pilot, we ran into snags regarding the compatibility of some of the plug-ins I was already using. Niall chased each and every one of them down and laid out a plan for resolving them–all within a couple of weeks. I wish everyone I hired had his work ethic. He is simply one of the best people I’ve worked with in ANY industry.

That’s waaaaaaay too long to post in my Upwork profile. Prospective clients are never going to read the whole thing.

So I trimmed it down.

Of course, you need to be careful not to change the essence of a testimonial when you edit it. Your goal when editing should be to trim and clarify, not to misrepresent the person who wrote the original text.

If in doubt, send the modified testimonial to the person who gave it, telling them you made some edits, and asking if they’re okay with them.

Last tip here, also related to lengthy testimonials: break them up and quote them separately in your overview. This gives the impression that they came from multiple clients.

For example, I can make two testimonials out of that wall of text quoted above:

“Niall works with complete transparency and is a dogged problem solver. I wish everyone I hired had his work ethic. He is simply one of the best people I’ve worked with in ANY industry.”

“Niall has all the qualities you’d expect in a top-notch web developer: good at clarifying requirements, reliable, and provides quick turn around.”

2-3 short testimonials like that work great on your profile.

4. Write A Client-Focused Overview

Here’s an example of an overview that is NOT client-focused:

A quick way to tell if your overview is client-focused or not is to count up how many times you use the words I, ME and MY versus the words YOU and YOUR.

In the above example, Samantha uses I-ME-MY seven times and doesn’t use YOU-YOUR at all.

Do you see the problem there?

As a client, I’d look at a profile like that and say to myself,

“Okay, you sound great Samantha. But what can you do for me?“

Ultimately, everyone wants to know what’s in it for them, and clients checking out your profile on Upwork are no exception.

With that in mind, make sure that your overview clearly communicates what you can do for the client, what problems you can solve for them, how you can save them more time and make them more money.

Those are the things clients care about.

Here’s an example of someone with an excellent, client-focused overview:

This guy uses some variation of the word YOU seven times before he drops an I or a MY in his overview.

That’s the way to do it!

Note that he also uses a strong call to action at the end, which we’ll talk about more in a bit.

(Note: this guy is a copywriter. They usually have the best profiles on Upwork, as you’d expect from people who are in the business of persuasion. You can learn quite a lot by studying how the best-rated copywriters on there market themselves.)

Struggling On Upwork?
Consider taking a top-rated course on Udemy: How to Dominate Freelancing on Upwork . It has hundreds of reviews and an average rating of 4.5 stars.

SALE ALERT! Get up to 95% off Udemy courses until April 4th.












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5. Emphasize Benefits Before Features

If you build websites, you have to be aware that your clients don’t actually want a website.

Well, they do, but only as a means to an end, only as a feature that will bring them some benefit.

What is that end? What is that benefit?

What do they ultimately want?

If we assume that your client is a small business, their website is simply a way for them to do one or all of the following:

Generate more leadsMake more salesSave time

That’s pretty much it.

And the same is true no matter what service you’re offering.

For example, if you’re an SEO writer, understand that your clients want high-quality articles that will bring them qualified traffic, which they can then monetize.

That’s the ultimate benefit they will receive.

One of the key things to communicate in your profile then is that you understand what the client ultimately wants, and that you can help them get it.

The aforementioned copywriter does a great job of communicating this:

“boost your sales”“cement your reputation”“persuades your customers to buy.”

Those are all benefits the client can expect from working with this freelancer.

He goes on to list features:

Listing features is good, too, but benefits should always come first.

6. Make Your Profile Easy To Read

Chances are yours is not going to be the only profile a client looks at while on the hunt for a freelancer.

More likely the client will be looking through at least a dozen others.

That’s a lot of reading.

As such, you want to make your profile easy to read.

Here’s a great example of a profile with lots of information without being overwhelming:

Note all the tricks this freelancer utilizes to make his profile more readable:

Short testimonialsShort paragraphsSub-headingsBullet pointsSome words capitalized for effectGenerous spacing between sections

Apply these same tactics to your profile so it’s easier to read.

(Note: that last profile is quite lengthy. Don’t worry about writing so much for your own overview. 300 words is usually plenty, including testimonials.)

7. Use Appropriate Keywords

Clients on Upwork can search for freelancers based on keywords, usually via this page.

As you’ll see if you try typing a few keywords into that search box, Upwork offers suggestions:

Clients are likely to click on these suggestions, which means those are the keywords they are likely to be searching with.

And if you have those keywords in your title and overview, you’re more likely to show up high in the search results.

You’ll want to weave your keywords into your title and overview naturally. Two or three mentions of each target keyword is plenty. Don’t overdo it.

You can also utilize that “features list” idea we saw earlier to get some keywords into your overview:

8. End With A Strong Call To Action

Place a strong call to action at the end of your overview.

We saw this in one of the earlier examples:

You might think there’s no need to do this, that it’s obvious what a client needs to do next if they want to hire you, but your goal here is to make it as easy and as thoughtless as possible for them to go ahead and contact you.

Don’t assume they’ll know the next step to take. Spell it out for them.

Quick Review

Here again are our eight keys to a killer Upwork profile:

Write a client-friendly titleUse a professional-grade photoDisplay testimonialsWrite a client-focused overviewEmphasize benefits before featuresMake your profile easy to readUse appropriate keywordsEnd with a strong call to action
















Get more Upwork success tips

This article is part of a 7-part series:

4 Proven Upwork Cover Letter Templates
How To Avoid Upwork Scams And Find The Best Jobs
What Ivan Did To Beat 50+ Freelancers On Upwork
8 Keys To A Killer Upwork Profile
How To Compete With Cheap Freelancers On Upwork
How Justin Went From $9 to $50/Hour On Upwork In 12 Months
How Susan Earned $1,375 Her First Month On Upwork





Want feedback on your Upwork profile?

If so, post a link to your profile in the comments below.

We’ll take a look and reply as soon as we can.

Advanced Upwork Proposals
If you’d like to further improve your Upwork proposals, check out this highly-rated course on Udemy: How To 10X Client Responses Fast . It has hundreds of reviews, a 4.8 star rating, and was created especially for freelancers brand new to Upwork.

SALE ALERT! Get up to 95% off Udemy courses until April 4th.












Check it out now

eBiz Weekly #13

Once per week, we email 3,400+ legendary subscribers with some good stuff related to online business. We also post the content of each email here on the website.

Sign up to get the next edition of eBiz Weekly delivered to your inboxView the archive

Hey there,

I’m a day late with the weekly email on account of a stomach bug, but all better now.

Below are a few bits and pieces related to online business I think you’ll like…

9 Inconvenient Truths About The Online Business Market

“This is not a video to watch, this is a video to study.”

So says a commenter on this Sam Ovens video, and I have to agree. It’s high-level stuff. Here are my notes in a Google Doc if you’d like to look through them. Comments are open.

A controversial $3 billion industry you probably didn’t know exists

It’s selling citizenship, and countries such as Malta, Cyprus, Montenegro and a bunch of Caribbean island-states are key players. As per The Economist:

“5,000 people a year acquire a citizenship this way, investing some $3bn.”

New Travel Resources

Two recent additions to the travel resources page on eBiz Facts:

An article by top travel blogger Wandering Earl outlining an effective approach for renting an expensive apartment for less than the asking price. (I’ve tried this myself; it works.)
The free VPN I was using wasn’t cutting it for some tasks, so I tried out Private Internet Access. So far, so good. It’s cheap, effective, and gives you access to 3000+ servers in 30+ countries.

Imposter Syndrome

I’ve been reading Helen Keller’s autobiography, and have been most interested by the notes of her teacher, Anne Sullivan, at the back of the book.

In case you don’t know the story, Helen Keller was a deaf, blind and completely uneducated six-year-old, until her parents hired Anne Sullivan to teach her. This was back in the 1880’s, so there was little precedent to educating such a child.

But within three months, much to everyone’s surprise, Sullivan had taken Keller’s vocabulary from 0 to 300 words and set her on the path to becoming the first ever deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.

And yet, despite her early success, Sullivan was full of self-doubt.

In the same letter in which she reported that Helen had already learned 300 words, she wrote:

If only I were better fitted for the great task! I feel every day more and more inadequate. My mind is full of ideas; but I cannot get them into working shape. You see, my mind is undisciplined, full of skips and jumps, and here and there a lot of things huddled together in dark corners. How I long to put it in order! Oh, if only there were some one to help me! I need a teacher quite as much as Helen.

I don’t know about you, but I find it reassuring to hear that super-successful people also suffer from “imposter syndrome.”

As reported in our Start Earning Online series, other famous names who have reported feeling like an imposter at times include Neil Armstrong, Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lopez, Denzel Washington, and Tom Hanks.

Learn How To Code

Geek.com are running a ridiculous “pay what you want” deal on 156 hours of coding instruction.

Design Tools

“Open source collection of 400 design tools – from wireframing and prototyping to animation, accessibility, AR, design systems and sound design. Collected by the community and updated daily.”

$1,000 to binge-watch 20 Marvel movies

One of the stranger ways we’ve seen to earn remotely. In the run-up to the new Avengers film, a website wants to pay someone $1000 to watch all 20 Marvel movies back-to-back and tweet about it.

It would take you over 40 hours to do. […] the candidate would have three days in which to complete the task.

Ethical Wealth Creation

This tweet storm from Naval Ravikant is gold. My favorite part:

“Understand that ethical wealth creation is possible. If you secretly despise wealth, it will elude you.”

Time + Practice

It’s easy get discouraged when looking at the polished work of other creators and entrepreneurs out there. Take YouTuber Marques Brownlee for example. At only 25 years old he has 8.2 million subscribers, gets to interview the likes of Elon Musk and Bill Gates, and is surely making a very nice living from his work.

The thing is though, he first started making videos 10 years ago. Check out his first review video from 2009 here. It’s pretty terrible. And a great reminder that it takes time and practice to get to the top.

All that to say: keep working, keep improving. You’ll get there.

—

Niall Doherty

eBiz Facts

By the way...

Travel Hacker’s Toolkit
Check out the top resources I recommend for the traveling online business builder. Cheap flights, a jet lag app, free VPN software, and more.

Great Value Courses
My go-to websites when looking to learn or enhance a skill are Skillshare and Udemy. Both have thousands of courses on many different topics, rated and reviewed so you can easily tell what’s best. Udemy is pay-per-course, whereas Skillshare is a subscription model (my preference).

Start Earning Online
Check out our free crash course to help you build an online business, consists of 11 videos and accompanying articles.

Freedom Business Builder
FBB is a private community of online business builders. Our 300+ members range from people just starting their first online businesses, to experienced online entrepreneurs earning thousands of dollars each month. More info here.

Facebook and Twitter
If you enjoyed the above, come follow eBiz Facts on the socials. We share this kind of content daily on Facebook and Twitter.

eBiz Weekly #12

Once per week, we email 3,400+ legendary subscribers with some good stuff related to online business. We also post the content of each email here on the website.

Sign up to get the next edition of eBiz Weekly delivered to your inboxView the archive

Hey there,

How the hell are ya? All going well with your online biz?

Hit reply and let me know if you’ve had any big wins lately, or if there’s anything I can help with. I don’t have all the answers, but I’m pretty good at finding stuff out