So, you’ve been dreaming of starting your own lifestyle business for a while now, but you don’t know where to start.
A lifestyle business (sometimes referred to as a “laptop lifestyle”) is a perfect option for those who are looking for financial and time freedom. Generally, a lifestyle business is one that is run online, and therefore can be operated from anywhere with a good internet connection, so you don’t have to physically be in a certain place. It doesn’t necessarily require much in terms of startup costs and can be anything from a blog that earns money through ads or affiliate links, to an Etsy store you’ve created to sell your handmade goods or artwork.
The best part? You set your own hours and work when it suits you best. Lifestyle businesses are perfect if you want more control over what kind of work/life balance you have, or if you’re looking for a side hustle that doesn’t require too much time commitment (though can still make you some extra cash).
The best part is, because of how passive it can be… a lifestyle business can work for you while you sleep! You don’t even have to physically be at your computer or desk whilst your business ticks over, once it’s set up properly, with relatively minimal work on your part.
What makes a lifestyle business so special?
As a general rule, I’d say that a true lifestyle business is one where it can be administered to in a relatively short time (far fewer hours/days than what you might otherwise spend at the “day-job”, or in the executive boardroom for example). True lifestyle freedom gives us time freedom to do the things we want to do, and the financial freedom to not have to ever worry about money whilst we do the things we want to do!
So, based on the time and material gifts that we seek, we need our businesses to offer a far larger material-reward versus hours-spent-working ratio than that of other traditional businesses. And we need to be able to set our own working schedules to fit around our lives as we choose. Therefore a successful lifestyle business will run a lot on auto-pilot, through leveraging different factors – mainly time.
We can now begin to see that lifestyle business success, is not about showing up to work for 8 hours, 5 days a week, every week of the year. It’s all about how much we can automate, outsource and leverage around our daily lives in order to free up as much time and energy as possible.
What type of lifestyle business can I create?
This is one of the most frequently asked questions people first ask when thinking about building a business of their own. It’s also one of the toughest questions to answer in a few short paragraphs because there are so many different options available!
There are many different categories of online businesses. The online business you choose will depend on what you want your business to be about, and the services or products you intend to provide. Below are a few popular online businesses ideas you could think about starting.
Blogs
What is a blog? A blog can be referred to as some sort of online journal or diary (think travel blogs, cookery blogs, fitness blogs, etc, where the author takes the reader along with them as they journal). A blog is a website that provides information that you write in order to attract, engage, interest and help your readers in your chosen niche or subject matter (it could be about how to build an online business). It’s great for those who love to write and want some sort of online presence that is easy and effective.
How you monetise your blog is by weaving in recommendations for different products and services relating to your chosen niche. You can introduce links to either your own products or products you’re an affiliate for, or have various ads on your site for products and services related to your topic. It’s a great way to interact with people and generate income from your blog.
In order to write interesting blogs, you’ll want to do some research on your topic if you’re not already overly familiar with it, so you know what readers are looking for, as well as writing blogs that are relevant to your reader’s needs. You could even run polls to ask what they’d like to know about the most.
It’s always good to gear your articles towards how you can help your reader so that it’s about them, not you!
eBooks and eCourses
eBooks and eCourses are basically electronic books and courses that can be read on a computer, tablet or mobile device. They are relatively easy and cost-effective to create and can be either offered as a free giveaway or sold, in order to help you gain subscribers.
Create your eBooks and eCourses from a subject matter you already know about, are learning about, or have researched. An effective way to create digital content for your readers is to combine information from some of the previous blog posts you’ve written.
When thinking of eBooks, the content doesn’t have to be just factual, remember. If you’ve got a creative streak that’s waiting to burst out, why not have a go at writing fiction?
Email Marketing
Email marketing (or email advertising) is an email messaging strategy used by businesses to promote their products or services. Most email marketing strategies include email messages sent from a company/business owner to its customers, encouraging them to come back and purchase more merchandise.
Before email marketing can take place, there must first be an email list of subscribers. These subscribers are usually people who have previously expressed interest in the company/business’ services or products. They may be past customers who’ve made purchases, or simply who’ve shown interest in your subject matter.
Subscribers are added to your email list when they give their permission to receive emails from you. This is usually achieved when someone expresses interest in what you’re offering (think free eBook perhaps) and gives their contact details in exchange for your product. Once someone is on your list, then you can communicate with them via emails, tips and topics, and offers. Over time you can build trust for your subscriber. A good and trusting relationship between you and your subscribers can prove rewarding on both sides and is one of the ways that your business can begin to start flourishing on autopilot (think lead capture pages and autoresponders).
In summary
Alongside the time and financial benefits a lifestyle business offers, you might also choose this path for greater self-development and personal fulfilment, often as a result of doing something that you really enjoy.
And if you do it right, you can soon be doing it on your own terms and working less while earning more than your “employed” contemporaries!
All the best,
Lesley
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