Class 1: Teens and Online Businesses

Class 1: Teens Discovering An Online Business Niche

I am thrilled that we are making this journey together. First and foremost let me tell you a little bit about myself and then you’ll realize that you and I are not that different. I am a teacher, a program director, a professional musician, and absolutely an entrepreneur.

I have two real passions, I love to teach and I love to be creative. A few years ago, I learned that I could actually earn money by being creative, teaching others what I know, and by selling things that I’ve made. For instance, I’ve written songs. I learned how to record those songs and submit them for sale on iTunes. I also learned to DJ, and besides running my own DJ company for a few years, I wrote 3 DJ ebooks and currently sell them on Amazon. I created a beginner saxophone course and now sell it online on a site called Udemy. I learned how to podcast on iTunes. I learned how to sell on eBay. I learned about ecommerce, and within the last year, my wife and I learned the power of creating a t-shirt design business. I’ve expanded into other super exciting areas which I’ll share with you at another time.

This may all sound complicated and expensive but it’s not. You can actually start building an online business for free and I’m going to show you how. Having some funds is helpful to get your business growing faster, but in many cases you won’t need to invest anything upfront, except for your time. As I said before, you are not much different than me. You too, most likely have a gift, a talent, a skill, or even a hobby which you could literally share with the world and make an income simply by applying the free and (optionally) some of the paid strategies that I use.

We’ve had successes in our businesses, but it is important to remember that it comes with a cost. As I had mentioned before, even our free strategies cost us something….our time. Ever see the Youtube video “gurus” claiming that it’s easy to make money online? It simply isn’t true. There is no easy way to make money. There are no secrets or shortcuts. There is no magic potion or genie in a bottle. Success falls directly on you and your efforts.

Your results will vary, depending on how committed you are to learning, growing, adapting, and applying everything I am going to teach you in this teen digital marketing course. And the absolute requirement to take this course is to fall in love all over again with your passion. Why is this important? Because if you love what you do and earn money doing it, you’ll never “work” a day in your life! You’ll be paid doing what you love to do. Think about that!

We’re going to begin by going over the basics of the digital marketing world and will introduce different platforms from which you can run successful online businesses. I’ll show you how to begin pouring a strong foundation which starts with a business concept and then create valuable content. Only at that point, will you be able to monetize your business. For now, you need to focus on learning and creating content. A great starting point is thinking about how to help others by sharing what you know or how your products would benefit the world (if you make/create things to sell).

My 16 year old son started his own t-shirt/merch design store selling music designs on a merch site called Redbubble. He uploaded over 150 designs and is adding more daily. His consistency is paying off. Since starting his store less than a month ago, site visitors and organic traffic are finding his designs and are now purchasing his products.

He is also currently working on a short acoustic guitar online tutoring course for kids (9-12) who want to learn to play contemporary rock. He is being very specific to his audience, right? A million people teach guitar online. But how many tailor their course to a specific age group? I think most kids would love taking online guitar lessons from a 16 year old. This is an example of how someone young like you can start creating an online presence and eventually an income. Start with an interest, skill, or hobby and then niche it down to a more specific audience or segment within the niche.

Neighborhood Teen Jobs: Starting a Service Business

What if teens physically wanted to cut someone’s lawn, walk a dog, start a face painting business, pet-sit, sell something they make, babysit, cut hair, teach piano, etc. Why would they still start an online business? This is a great question and so many teens who have an in-person service business miss making extra money because they don’t have an online presence.

These are “offline” teen jobs, but it’s more important than ever to get online to help your business grow exponentially. Creating a simple website and registering a domain will be your digital business card and show your potential customers your enthusiasm for what you do. Adding customer reviews on your site would also be great in gaining the trust of others. You can share your knowledge, recommend products, display pictures/videos, post your contact info and prices, and truly share your personality with your potential customers. Later in the course, we are going to teach you how to earn even more money from products you can recommend.

The first step in gaining customers is to tell everyone you know about what you do and share your website domain name. If you provide outstanding service, your customers will recommend you to others and then watch your income grow.

Here are some examples of business domain names:

Jen’s Pet Sitting (www.jenspetsitting.com)

Highfall’s Piano Lessons (www.highfallspianolessons.com)

Danny’s Dog Walking (www.dannysdogwalking.com)

Rachael’s Face Painting (www.rachaelsfacepainting.com)

Soccer Training Trevor (www.soccertrainingtrevor.com)

Tina’s Math Tutoring (www.tinamathtutoring.com)

Of course these are just examples. Follow the course here at www.arbalestacademy.com and we can guide you through the creative name process.

Brainstorming Business Theme Ideas

The first step in this course is identifying your interests or talents. If you don’t really know, no worries. Continue following the course as we go over some other online business models that may get you excited!

Here are just a few niches/topics to consider…...Is yours here?

Faith-based interests

Volunteer work

Community projects/involvement

Sports

Art

Crafting

Gaming

Music

Pet-Sitting

Musician/singer

Traveling

Pets & pet care

Cooking/baking

Collecting

Reading

Dance

Dog-Walking

Soccer

Photography

Videography

Japanimation

Planning/Organization

Make-up/hair artist

Fitness

Yoga

Woodworking

Weightlifting

Weight Loss

Hobbies

Clothing lines

Shoe brands

Martial arts

Paintball

Science

Golf

History

Math

Engineering

Inventing

Chess/board games

Current events

Self help

Politics

Origami

Government

Fishing

Journaling

Public speaking

Learning A Second Language

Tutoring

Babysitting

Football

Jewelry Making

Did I miss yours? What is it?

Complete the “Call To Action” and I’ll see you at the next class.

CALL TO ACTION:

Take out a pen and a piece of paper and write down your following answers to these self directed questions.

1. How would I benefit most from this course?

2. What is my interest, skill, or hobby? (do you have more than 1?)

3. Can I be more specific in my interest/skill? (Break it down further. Be more specific.)

4. Who is my audience?

5. Can I talk a lot about my interest? (Tell me 5 things about your interest - anything)

6. Could I teach this or write about this? (Tell me 5 things that you could teach me - “How - To”)

7. Are there specific tools, items, accessories people need to participate? (Write down a short list of items one might need to do what you do)