Interviewing for a job is one of my least favorite things in the world. My two best friends, including Andrew, love though. One thing that helped me get over the anxiety was learning how to prepare for a job interview.
Typically, preparing for anything will help you get over your nerves a lot more quickly. I found this to also be true when preparing for a job interview. Preparing will give you more confidence entering the room.
Today we will go over how to prepare for a job interview. Hopefully, this will lead you to hear the words you want to, “You are hired!”
1. Learn as Much as You Can About the Company
Okay, you just got off the phone with the hiring manager for a position you are very excited about. They have asked you to come in for an interview and you two have agreed on a date. What next?
It is time to pull out your computer to research more about the company. It is okay to sign up for newsletters, follow the various company social media accounts, and read through external news about the company.
Your goal is to find things you relate with from the company. Your relations can be with the company’s core values, the leadership team, collaborations the company has, or even as casual as company gatherings.
Lastly, it is good to know who the competitors are within the industry. This can give the impression you are well versed in the profession.
Being very prepared will display a passion for the profession as well as how excited you are for the opportunity.
2. Research the Interviewers
This one is a little creepy but the people interviewing you are doing the same thing back at you. Especially with your LinkedIn profile.
When the hiring manager calls to set up the initial meeting, do not be afraid to ask about who will be interviewing you. With this new information, it is time to stalk these people a little. Check out their LinkedIn profile. Do they have a bio on the company website?
Try looking for information that you can relate to, to talk about during the interview. Are they fellow alumni of your college? Using LinkedIn’s alumni networks, do you have any mutual friends with one of the interviewers? Having something in common or knowing someone might just be the edge you need to get the job. Knowing the same person as the interviewer who can make a recommendation is a HUGE win.
3. Dress Professionally
This is simple. Please dress appropriately for the job interview. Do not show up in gym shorts and a tank. I did not even do that for my interview with Dick’s Sporting Goods where athletic gear was the dress code.
Having a professional look will give the interviewers the impression that you are serious about the job. If you walk into the room wearing casual, you will give the opposite impression you want to give.
Picking out the proper dress level can be like walking a tight rope though. Overdressing for an interview might also have a negative impact on the interviewers. A common rule is to dress a level or two above the normal dress attire of the workplace. You will hopefully be able to figure out what level of dress you need to be based on the research you do into the company.
When in doubt, just ask the hiring manager.
4. Clean up Your Social Media
We live in a digital world where we as a society provide WAY too much information about ourselves on. Your resume and cover letter are your first impression. In most cases now, your social media is now your second impression as most hiring managers will look through your LinkedIn and other social media profiles.
Make sure you clean up these profiles and timelines to display an image you want to show.
Really, you should be doing this before you start applying for jobs.
5. Be Respectful
This one, to me, seems like common sense but sadly it is not. As someone who also has been a hiring manager, I have seen some very disrespectful interviewees.
Be sure to be respectful and polite with everyone you encounter from the receptionist to the CEO. If you are rude or condescending, you better believe your actions will be reported to the hiring manager. Who would want to introduce someone like that to the culture of the office?
Another note to remember, be kind when talking about existing business processes or infrastructures. Never be condescending about them. If asked how you would improve something, be kind about the way you would go about it. During one interview I hosted, we had someone that was very condescending about some systems architecture. His approach was very negative and off-putting. This was not the type of energy we wanted to introduce into the office.
Also, his critique might have been valid at a large company but not for one our size. So it showed a lack of knowledge compared to other candidates.
6. Turn Off Your Cell Phone
This is “How to Prepare for a Job Interview” 101. Turn off your phone for the interview. Even on vibrate, the notifications that come in during the interview can easily throw you off while trying to answer a question.
Don’t worry, everything can wait an hour or two until you are done with the interview. Fidgeting with your phone during the interview will most likely get you disqualified instantly.
If you need something to do while you wait to be called into the meeting room, reread your resume. Maybe you can practice your responses some more. If they are not too busy, you can talk with the receptionist at the front to learn more about the company. Or read a magazine.
7. Arrive Early
I grew up in a rural part of the Midwest in the United States. Here if you are not at your destination 15-minutes early, you are late. Anytime you have an interview you should obey the rules of my small-town Iowa roots.
Arriving late or even in a rush will show the interviewer that you do not care about the job. Who is going to hire and pay someone who appears to not care?
It’s okay to arrive at your destination super early. Better safe than sorry. Just hang out in the car till 15-minutes before your scheduled interview time. Take this time to get your fix in with your phone.
If you are one of those people that always shows up 15-30 minutes late than you better plan to leave 30-45 minutes earlier than normal.
8. Display You Are Serious About The Position
We have already mentioned this several times above so you should have started to understand that it is important to display you are serious about the position. This starts with arriving early and showing respect to anyone you interact with at the company you are interviewing with.
Next, you need to show that you are serious about the profession. Be ready with examples of awards, successes, and how you championed projects in the past. Having these examples ready will display your passion and willingness to grow for the job.
It’s okay to still bring some printed resumes (yes, even in this digital world just be sure to use quality paper) and a portfolio to the interview. Most people lose track of time and forget to print things out beforehand. You being ready will give you the opportunity to show how prepared you are for the interview and how serious you are.
9. Finally, Visualize Your Success!
Visualizing your success is a key piece on how to prepare for a job interview. This is the time to take a deep breath and visualize yourself introducing yourself to the hiring manager as well as other interviewers. Practice how you will introduce yourself and answer some test questions. What will be your questions for them?
It is okay to grab a friend or partner to practice some questions with. The more prepared you are, the better you will be. The more confident you will be!
Once done, put everything down and go relax. Make sure to get eight hours of sleep the night before.
Concluding How to Prepare for a Job Interview
As I mentioned at the beginning, I HATE interviews. My anxiety levels hit the ceiling the moment I set up an interview with a company I am very excited about. That is why I wanted to write this article because I know I am not alone. Hopefully, you find these tips helpful and calming. I know my nerves have even calmed down a bit.
Being well prepared will help you succeed in any interview. Even if you don’t get the job, every interview opportunity is great practice for the next one. After every interview, be sure to write down some notes about the successes as well as the failures. You need to learn from the mistakes made so you can better yourself for the next interview.
Good luck to those with an interview coming up soon!
Wallet Squirrel is a personal finance blog by best friends Andrew & Adam on how money works, building side-hustles, and the benefits of cleverly investing the profits. Featured on MSN Money, AOL Finance, and more!
There is no bad time to become a blogger. Simply the sooner you start, the larger a blog can grow. In this article, we’re going to show you how to start a money-making blog in under 5 minutes.
Wallet Squirrel is a personal finance blog by best friends Andrew & Adam on how money works, building side-hustles, and the benefits of cleverly investing the profits. Featured on MSN Money, AOL Finance, and more!
We live in a world where productivity while working at home is essential in today’s world. COVID-19 forced companies to send employees home to work remotely. In 2021, 1 in 4 Americans worked remotely (CNBC).
As some companies recall their workforce back to the office, many opt to make the remote working move permanent. For me, this is the case. My company’s VP was mostly against remote working until the pandemic happened. Since then, he has changed his mind as he could see all of the positives that have come from it.
One of the biggest surprises he had was productivity while working at home. In this article, I want to go through things I did to increase productivity while working at home.
1. Create a Distraction-Free Environment
One of the most important items to increase productivity while working at home is a distraction-free environment. There are so many more distractions while working from home.
Some distractions include:
Large house chores
Easy access to the TV
Lack of peer accountability
Pets and kids
It is crucial to set up boundaries with all of these distractions. Try to complete larger chores the night before work. It is okay to do small chores throughout the day as a quick break between projects.
Try unplugging the TV, so it is harder to turn it on.
Set up breaks that include your pets or kids, letting them know you are unavailable at other times. I have set up a two-sided green/red sign on my office door. Green tells my kids and wife I can be bothered. Red signals that I am unavailable.
Most importantly, make sure your workspace is set up in an area cut off from the rest of the house. Sometimes this is not possible, though. Try finding a corner of your home that is out of the way from these distractions.
2. Have a Dedicated Workspace
As mentioned above, distractions can decrease your productivity while working at home. Having a dedicated workspace in the corner of your home away from heavily trafficked areas is very important. This dedicated space is important because it helps get your mindset to work. For example, if you are working from the couch one day, the dining room table the next day, then the porch table another day, your brain will have trouble being fully engaged.
Of course, there are exceptions that we will talk about in tip #19.
3. Take Frequent Breaks
I like to take a quick five to ten-minute break from everything every 60-90 minutes. I try to give my brain and eyes a break from the computer during this time. These short breaks allow me to return rested to focus on the project.
4. Be Sure to Move
Sitting all day is horrible for our bodies. One thing to do on your breaks is to get up and move. I make sure I do some movement for some breaks, such as pushups, jumping jacks, high knees, or jump rope. You could do all of these movements in five minutes easily. The goal is to get your heart rate up and get your blood flowing again. This movement stimulates your brain and helps wake you up.
5. Eat Healthily
My wife and I eat reasonably healthy throughout the week. Since starting this routine, I have noticed that my energy levels are high. I love it!
Try eating more fruit and vegetables instead of munching on chips, cookies, and candy bars throughout the day. I have found that these keep my cravings more satisfied because I can eat more without feeling too guilty.
6. Create a Morning Routine
One thing that has helped me is my daily routine. This routine helps set the expectations for the day.
I start the day off at 4:45 am with a 45-minute workout. I then get the kids ready for the day, followed by a shower. Once my family is out of the door, I make breakfast and work on Wallet Squirrel for an hour. Then, at 7:30 am, I am at my dedicated workspace to start my 9-5 job. This last step leads me to my next tip to increase productivity while working at home.
7. Write Down Your Tasks For the Day
At 7:30 am, I always start my workday with emails and figure out what I will tackle during the day. I try not to overfill my day because random interruptions or fires need to be taken care of. This task list helps me stay focused on what needs to be done for the day. If I did not have this list, my mind would wander all over the place, and nothing would get done.
8. Find an Accountability Partner
Accountability partners at work are a great thing to have. I recommend leaning on a teammate or maybe your boss to help you stay accountable on your daily or weekly goals. This partner can help you stay focused or help you improve if you do not make your goals.
You can also return the favor to your teammate.
9. Experiment to Find What is Right for You
What works for me might not work for you. It is essential to keep your options open to determine what works best for you. For instance, most people only have one dedicated workspace. I have two dedicated spaces that I bounce back and forth between. This movement helps me stay focused.
Don’t be afraid to experiment if something is not working out for you.
10. Make Sure You Get Out of the House
I have to be purposeful to make sure I get out of the house. I didn’t leave the house for three weeks when I started working remotely. I didn’t realize how hard this was on me until I went to pick up groceries for the first time. My brain loved the exposure outside.
Now I make sure I drive somewhere at least once a week. I also take a two-mile walk around the park by our house every day. These trips help clear my mind.
11. Use the Flexibility to Your Advantage
I have noticed that I am happier because of the flexibility that working from home allows. This happiness has converted into an increase in productivity while working at home. I can easily step away at appropriate times to take care of an appointment or get a quick chore done. But, of course, I need to make up the time, but this flexibility saves me from taking PTO. I can then use the PTO when it matters.
Of course, not every employer is flexible like mine is, so I highly recommend taking advantage of this new workspace benefit.
12. Standing Can Help Regain Focus
I have been using a standing desk long before the pandemic came around. When I start losing focus or sleepiness begins to settle in, simply standing up can fix that. If you can, I highly recommend investing in a standing desk. They are very beneficial beyond regaining focus or helping wake you up. They also have health benefits such as helping stretch those muscle groups that get shortened while sitting.
This muscle shortening could be one reason why you have hip and lower back pain.
Music can change your mood. I am listening to music as I write this post. For me, it helps me stay focused and energized while working. I like to switch between music and podcasts, depending on what I am working on. Spotify is an excellent service to help you out!
I have noticed that I can focus better on new music that I do not know and mix up genres almost every day.
14. Dress Like You Are Going to the office
Dressing like you are going into the office can help put your brain engaged in work mood. Simple queues like this can help you get ready to work like you are in the office. You do not have to dress formally to get this effect but wearing something more formal than your PJ’s, or athletic gear will help out.
I have also started wearing shoes in the house, another one of those small queues.
15. Set Up a Solid Work Schedule
As mentioned before, I like to start my workday early. I am a morning person, so the earlier I can start, the better I can be. I have noticed that my productivity goes down as the afternoon gets later. Currently, I work from 7:30 am till 4:00 pm with a 45-minute lunch. This schedule is a happy balance between my needs and my customer’s needs. I am not there too early, so I can be there for them in the afternoon if they need anything.
16. Practice Hyper Focus
Hyper Focus is a fantastic book about focusing on your projects. One of the principles within the book was to turn off everything for a work session. I look at this session being 60-90 minutes. During this time, you rid yourself of ALL distractions to stay focused on the project at hand.
The theory is that you will get more done by going into hyper focus for one task at a time. I have found this to be true.
17. Engage With Co-Workers
While you might not be in the office anymore, it is still important to engage with your co-workers. For example, we have a Zoom chatroom just for that ‘watercooler’ talk. We also do a monthly meeting just for reconnecting and playing some virtual games.
These engagements help boast spirits, which can increase productivity while working from home. Well, unless you do not enjoy your co-workers. In that case, I’m sorry.
18. It’s Okay to Move Around the House Sometimes
While we talked about having a dedicated workspace in your home, it is okay to move around the house sometimes. I will move around a couple of times a week for an hour or two. The change in scenery helps me regain some focus when I am struggling. It helps break up any ruts that I might get into.
My favorite place to go is out on our back patio when the right temperature allows.
Not happy with your job or looking to earn some extra money? Over the years, Andrew and I have put together a massive list of ways to make money. I highly recommend you check out this list to see if anything catches your eye!
Wallet Squirrel is a personal finance blog by best friends Andrew & Adam on how money works, building side-hustles, and the benefits of cleverly investing the profits. Featured on MSN Money, AOL Finance, and more!
If you have ever wanted to be your own boss, then you’re in the right place. There are plenty of things to consider before branching out and starting your own business, no matter what that business is.
Before we get to the list, let’s talk about some pros and cons of being your own boss.
Pros of Being Your Own Boss
Your Wage Cap is Yours to Control
With every 9-5 job comes a limit of how much money you can make. Sure, you can discuss a raise every few years, but ultimately, your boss is in control.
When you work for yourself, you determine the amount of money that you can make.
You Can Choose Your Hours
Most people who work a scheduled shift will tell you that life would be easier if they could control their hours.
As your own boss, you have the freedom to do that. You can control what days you take off and what hours you work throughout the week. You won’t have to miss those important family gatherings or doctor’s appointments because you can plan around them.
You’re Responsible for Your Own Business Decisions
Being your own boss means that you get to make important decisions about your business by yourself. The only boss you have to answer to is you! You get to design your business the way you want without worrying about upper management’s opinions.
You Don’t Have to Worry About Getting Fired
There are many reasons people lose their jobs, especially in an at-will state. There doesn’t even really need to be a good reason. Being your own boss means that you can’t be fired or let go.
Starting late today? No problem! Don’t feel like putting on a suit today? No big deal.
Being your own boss allows you the freedom to make your own decisions without fearing the consequence of losing your job.
Cons of Being Your Own Boss
No Monetary Guarantee
This con is hard for many to accept. The reality of being a business owner is that money is not guaranteed, and generally speaking, running a business is expensive.
Your income isn’t going to be steady like your full-time paycheck. You may not see a profit right away and may face times where you can’t cover your expenses or pay yourself.
You’ll Put in A Lot of Work
Again, this isn’t a 9-5 job where you can leave work at work. Being your own boss means that you will be responsible for your business all day, every day.
Any order that comes in or any issue that pops up needs to be dealt with within a reasonable amount of time to ensure customer satisfaction.
Success is Up to You
This can be considered both a pro and a con, but this is a con for my fellow lazy people out there.
Your success is measured by how much time and effort you put into your business. Having that much responsibility can be overwhelming.
Even if you’re doing something you love and are passionate about, it’s not as simple as showing up every day and doing enough work to keep your boss happy.
10 Things to Consider if You Want to be Your Own Boss
Now that we’ve covered some pros and cons, it’s time to get into the details of what you can expect when working for yourself and why it may or may not be suitable for you.
What Are You Going to Do?
One of the hardest decisions for some people is deciding what they are going to do.
If you already have this figured out, then you’re ready to go. If not, that’s okay. But you need to have a plan before you start.
The best type of business for you to start will involve something you are passionate about and interested in. So to be your own boss, the first step is to find what that passion is. Maybe it’s art, writing, or music, or perhaps it’s something completely different.
Whatever you love is what you should frame your business around. That way, you should never have to worry about finding motivation.
What Can You Afford?
We all know and understand that running a business costs money. You’re going to need start-up capital if you want your new venture to be successful.
Supplies, marketing, shipping, and hiring help are going to be out-of-pocket costs as you begin to get your business up and running. So, when you are starting a business, make sure you have the funds available to afford these things.
Working for yourself means that you alone are responsible for financing your business until you get a decent clientele. You need to be financially prepared to pay for things upfront in hopes that you can at least make that money back.
How Much Time Do You Have?
Another important factor to consider is how much time you have to devote to your business, especially initially. If you want to be profitable quickly, you will need to make your business your priority while getting started.
Once you figure out how much time you have and want to devote to your business, it will be easier to determine how successful you can be.
When considering how much time you really have to spend working on your business, factor in family and social obligations, basic household tasks, self-care, and whether or not you’ll keep working another job.
Will You Keep Working?
Are you interested in starting your own side hustle business to make some extra money and learn new skills? Or are you hoping to quit your day job to embrace entrepreneurship fully?
This decision will also tie into financing because your availability will depend on how much money you have to put toward your business.
If you plan to keep working while your business is growing, be aware that you’ll be putting in many extra hours. It may be exhausting to work all day on your business needs and then work a night shift job, but it ensures that you still have a steady income.
If you choose to go for it and work on your business full-time, make sure you have enough money to support yourself and your business. You also need to consider your options if your business doesn’t take off right away because you don’t want to accumulate debt.
What Experience Do You Have?
You may have a fantastic business idea, but how much experience do you have in that field?
For example, opening a catering business might be something you’re interested in, but have you ever catered for an event before? Do you have experience in volume cooking? Or budgeting food costs?
As your own boss, you are responsible for making all of the business decisions. Having some experience in whatever craft you choose can jumpstart your success.
What Do You Know About Running a Business?
On that same note, having some knowledge about running a business can certainly help you along the way, too.
Studying business can help you take care of minor struggles with ease and motivate you to be successful. Whether you learn more about accounting, marketing, or business management, a little bit of education can go a long way when it comes to real-life experience.
If you don’t’ have a lot of experience, learn as much as you can. Take an online course to learn new job skills. Talk to other business owners, contact a small business development center, or find a mentor. They can help you register your business, write a business plan, and secure the proper licenses and permits.
Is There Demand or Competition?
If you have your product or service figured out, then it’s time to research whether or not it’s in high demand and if competitors are already meeting that demand. This can be the difference between earning a profit in your first month versus not seeing a profit for a couple of years.
For example, if you decide your business will be making coasters by hand, then you need to consider how many you’ll be able to sell. Your target market will be small. Your friends and family will not want a constant supply of new coasters, and neither will your customers. You may want to consider trying something in higher demand or expanding from a niche product to help sales and repeat customers.
You also need to look at your competitors. Can you do a better job than they already are? If you can’t beat their prices or level of quality, it will be hard to convince their customers to switch.
How Will You Find Customers?
This is a challenging part of starting any new business, but it’s important to consider where you will find your customers and potential clients.
Will your business operate online, or will you open a physical location?
Will you promote your products and services through your own website, or will you use a platform like eBay or Etsy?
Finding customers can be a challenge, especially if you don’t have many friends or family willing to spread the word about your small business. So, you’ll need to come up with creative ways to build a customer base.
What About Supplies?
Supplies are an essential aspect of your business to consider. In addition to the cost of supplies, you also need to find out what exactly you’ll need and where you can get it. Don’t be afraid to shop around for better prices or discounts for buying in bulk.
When first starting, you’ll need to make sure you are staying on top of your supplies and keeping track of what inventory you have left. Not having enough supplies means that your customer waits longer for their product, which can negatively affect customer satisfaction.
Even if you are offering a service and not a physical product, you will still need some basic supplies to run your business (such as setting up a home office). More importantly, though, is your time. If you cannot supply enough time to meet your customer’s needs, they won’t stick around.
Trust me. If customers aren’t satisfied, then they’ll tell everyone who will listen. So, take care of your customers by ensuring you have the proper supplies (and time) to fulfill orders, and your customers will thank you.
Will You Work Alone?
Being your own boss is great, but you need to decide if you can really operate your business on your own or if you need help.
Take blogging, for example. Yes, you can successfully turn a blog into an online business that you run on your own. But this means you are responsible for: web development, solving technical issues, marketing, branding, copywriting, social media management, customer service, data entry, bookkeeping, content creation, photo editing, graphic design, selling, data analysis, networking, proofreading, negotiating, market research, and more!
Can you really do all of that by yourself? Do you want to?
Not every business will require all of these skills, but I guarantee you that there will come a time where you will need help from someone else – especially the more successful you get. So it’s a good idea to keep this in mind because this will come at a cost.
You may be ready to be your own boss, but are are you prepared to manage employees, too?
Why Do You Want To Be Your Own Boss?
This is a fundamental question, but proper motivation can be what makes or breaks your business. So it’s important to consider why you want to do this in the first place.
Do you actually want to be your own boss, or do you hate your job and want to do something different?
Your motivation only needs to matter to you, but be sure you aren’t making any rash decisions. Otherwise, you may get stuck doing something you don’t want to and run out of money before you know it.
Make sure you are doing it for the right reasons.
In Summary
Starting your own business and being your own boss is your choice to make, but hopefully, these considerations have given you something to think about before you move forward with your plan.
Being your own boss and running your own business is not easy, but it can be gratifying if done carefully and involves your passion. So, consider these tips, but don’t be afraid to branch out and try something new.
Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, has a net worth of over $78.2 billion and is known as one of the greatest investors of all time. So when he speaks, people take note.
Here are some of the top 22 Warren Buffett Quotes the internet can’t get enough of.
Top 22 Warren Buffett Quotes The Internet Can’t Get Enough Of
Here are some of the top Warren Buffet quotes found on every list of Warren Buffet quotes around the internet. These quotes range in wisdom on investing to regular life. I try to live by these quotes on my own investment portfolio.
Warren Buffett Quotes
1. Rule #1: Never lose money. Rule #2: Never forget rule #1
One of my favorite Warren Buffet Quotes. The fastest way to grow your money is to never lose it in the first place. This applies from saving on your groceries to focusing on less risky stocks of well established companies.
2. It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently
Think about the Wells Fargo or Equifax scandals. It takes years to build enough trust for someone to have brand loyalty. Warren Buffet quotes it takes 20 years, but it takes 5 minutes or less to destroy all that goodwill you’ve built. People are quick to revolt if you’ve done anything to betray their trust.
It is infinitely harder to build trust than destroy it.
3. Diversification is a protection against ignorance. It makes very little sense for those who know what they’re doing.
Multiple studies show that diversification in the stock market will help protect you against market falls. Or it could be summarized in the old proverb “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”. Unless you have insider information that a stock is going do really well, maintain a diversified portfolio to protect you. No one knows what they’re doing all the time.
4. If you aren’t willing to own a stock for ten years, don’t even think about owning it for ten minutes. Put together a portfolio of companies whose aggregate earnings march upward over the years, and so also will the portfolio’s market value.
Unless you’re a day trader (I will never be), you should only be investing in the stock market with the intention to hold those stocks for a long time. You can do really well as a beginner if you’re buying stocks and not planning on selling till you retire. Those are where you get the best returns. Warren Buffett is infamously known for rarely selling stocks.
5. It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.
When you buy a stock, you should think of it as owning a piece of that company. You should be looking at wonderful companies that have a competitive advantage in the industry. Those are the companies that will do well over the long run. You may find a wonderful price on a mediocre company, but really what are you getting? A mediocre company that will likely be edged out of the market by a better company.
Many of the famous Warren Buffett quotes are about investing in strong companies with a competitive advantage and strong brand loyalty rather than cheap companies where you think you can make a quick buck. Warren Buffett is never into buying a company for a quick buck.
6. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful.
During the 2008 financial crisis when investors were all exiting the market, Warren Buffett invested in a few large companies even though their stock prices were falling. Those deals made Warren Buffett over $10 billion dollars when the market stabilized and it’s continuing to show dividends. When the market goes upside down during world events, politics, market forecasts, those are the times when everyone else is fearful, that Warren Buffet sees an advantage when the markets crash.
Think about it this way, the New York Stock Exchange has been around since 1817, it has always recovered. Chances are, minus a world apocalypse, that the market will always bounce back. Those who capitalize on those downturns are usually rewarded.
7. The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.
One of my favorite Warren Buffett quotes because it has so many applications. You will see many opportunities in your life and you may want to jump on everyone, but it’s ok to be selective and say no. You’ll burn yourself out if you say “yes” to everything. This also applies to going out on a Saturday night with friends drinking. It’s ok to say “no” to save a few dollars or have a night to yourself to finish your article on Warren Buffett quotes. =)
This also applies to going out on a Saturday night with friends drinking. It’s ok to say “no” to save a few dollars or have a night to yourself to finish your article on Warren Buffett quotes. =)
8. Develop and build the habits you admire in others.
Remember all those times that your parents wanted you to hang out with those “good kids”. The habits of the people you surround yourself with rub off you on, consciously or unconsciously. When you find people like Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha, who is one of the greatest investors of all time. You should find out what makes him so successful and learn those traits to improve yourself.
9. Passive investing will make you more money than active trading
Oh my goodness, fees are the WORST! Active trading requires more work and more fees, so more of your money will be paid to your broker. Yet studies have shown over and over that passive investing where you set your money and forget it are far more successful for growing wealth. I don’t plan to ever touch my stocks currently making dividends.
10. There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult.
Great quote, people always imagine things are more difficult than they really are. When I first considered starting investing, I thought there were so many hurdles and financial experts I would have to pay. Yet, when I finally decided I wanted to start investing in the stock market, I just downloaded the Robinhood App and started investing. It took 10 minutes to sign up and buy my first stock when I worried about investing in the stock market for over 5 years. Things are often more simple than you think they are.
11. Tell me who your heroes are and I’ll tell you who you’ll turn out to be.
This is similar to the Warren Buffett quote “Develop and build the habits you admire in others”. If you want to be an entrepreneur, start joining local meetups of entrepreneurs. You learn SO MUCH MORE when you surround yourself with the people you want to be like. You can learn A LOT in a book, but you’ll learn even more by surrounding yourself with people you admire.
12. We have long felt that the only value of stock forecasters is to make fortune-tellers look good.
No one can predict the stock market, no one. Not even Warren Buffett. Anyone who says they know exactly how the market works is trying to sell you something. You can lump stock forecasters being as accurate as the carnival fortune-tellers. You know the ones with 3 teeth, crystal ball and you’re going to die in 2083.
13. When we own portions of outstanding businesses with outstanding managements, our favorite holding period is forever.
If you invest in an outstanding company, even if the stock price goes up, why would you ever sell it? No matter when you sell it, outstanding companies will continually do better and better. Don’t sell until you absolutely have to, otherwise, you’ll just be losing money in the long run. Many of Warren Buffett Quotes are like this, they are all very Anti-Day Trader.
14. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist. Investing is not a game where the guy with the 160 IQ beats the guy with 130 IQ.
If you follow the basic principals of Warren Buffett and buy outstanding companies with strong competitive advantages like Apple (AAPL). You don’t have to be a genius. Just buy and hold forever, you literally don’t have to do anything until you sell.
Many Warren Buffett quotes are similar to this because he stresses that anyone can invest in the stock market. The simplest way is just to invest in index funds that follow the market. Set it and forget it. The market sees an average increase of 7% per year and that’s WAY better than a savings account.
15. I try to buy stock in businesses that are so wonderful that an idiot can run them. Because sooner or later, one will.
Look for companies to invest in that are so strong that they can weather any storm because soon enough they will have to. Think about Apple (AAPL), as long as they keep pushing out iPhones it doesn’t matter who runs the company, they’ll continue to do well. People were worried when Steve Jobs passed because they didn’t know the future of the company, but Tim Cook stepped in and maintained the same Apple legacy. As long as Tim Cook sticks to the secret Apple recipe, they’ll be in good shape.
16. Buy into a company because you want to own it, not because you want the stock to go up.
If you see a company that you think is going to do well or heard will do well, don’t buy it unless you’re willing to hold it for awhile. If something goes wrong and the stock dives, you’re stuck with a company you don’t believe in and will likely sell at a lower price to get rid of it, ruining the reason you bought it in the first place.
17. Wall Street is the only place that people ride to work in a Rolls Royce to get advice from those who take the subway.
This is just a funny Warren Buffet quote.
18. Charlie and I have not learned how to solve difficult business problems. What we have learned is to avoid them.
I’m sure Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger have learned how to solve difficult business problems, but the best way to navigate murky waters is to avoid them all together. The more problems your business can avoid, the better shape you’ll be. You can avoid a lot of problems from being proactive instead of reactive.
19. Long ago, Ben Graham taught me that “Price is what you pay; value is what you get.”
Ben Graham, Warren Buffett’s mentor had this popular quote. I always think about it simply. Price is what you buy a stock for and Value is what you sell that same stock for.
20. It’s better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you’ll drift in that direction.
If you can’t tell, Warren Buffett believes in surrounding yourself with the right people. He credits much of his success from surrounding himself with smart, good people.
21. If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians.
When you analyze a stock based on its historical performance, it’s called technical analysis. Yet past performance does not necessarily mean future performance. Just because you know what the stock has done in the past doesn’t mean it’s going to follow that same trend.
22. You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.
It’s ok to mess up, focus on learning from those mistakes for the next time. It just sounds cooler when Warren Buffett quotes it. Or you can take this as no matter how many mistakes you’ve made in the past, you always have a chance to do more good. It’s one of those life quotes that can go many ways.
Wallet Squirrel is a personal finance blog by best friends Andrew & Adam on how money works, building side-hustles, and the benefits of cleverly investing the profits. Featured on MSN Money, AOL Finance, and more!
I’ve always had a hard time finding a good list of Amazon Affiliate Website Examples, so here is my personal list of inspiration that I’ve built up over the years. I’ve been itching to create a new website lately as an awesome way to make money, but before I start I thought I would review my list of successful Amazon Affiliate Websites currently making money for some lessons learned.
What is an Amazon Affiliate Website?
An Amazon Affiliate Website is any website that earns money by linking products from their website to the Amazon store. This can be a blog or website that references a product with a link back to Amazon, so customers can purchase that particular item.
The idea is that you are referring customers to Amazon where you gain a commission if a user buys from the Amazon store. This is usually 5%-10% per purchase. Amazon tracks this by a special code from the URL link on your website. Click here to create your own website with affiliate marketing.
Many of these websites use Amazon, along with other affiliate programs to boost revenue. Here is a list of 108 Best Affiliate Programs in addition to Amazon to make money for bloggers and influencers.
22 Successful Amazon Affiliate Website Examples
ThisIsWhyImBroke – Amazon Affiliate Website Example
ThisIsWhyImBroke.com
This is one of my favorite Amazon Affiliate Websites because it’s so freaking cool! These guys gather up the coolest gadgets, gifts, tech and oddities from Amazon and around the web to showcase on their website. These are gag gifts and fun gadgets people love to buy. They likely use an SEO tool like SEMrush to find great blog post ideas. This site uncovers the cool, often hidden, things of the internet and all you have to do is click on one of the Amazon Affiliate links to buy it from the Amazon store. ThisIsWhyIAmBroke works with more than just Amazon, but it’s one of their biggest revenue sources. It’s entirely possible to create a website just like this.
Monthly Visitors (SimilarWeb) : 2.40M Visitors Average Post Length: 10 – 160 Words One of Most Searched Products: Salt Firing Shotgun How much do they make: Around $20,000+ per month from Amazon (source)
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A free step by step course with Andrew Kraemer looking at examples of blogs making over $5k, how to set up your own blog and what you need to do to get more traffic.
Join us to get wonderful blogging tips and access to this amazing course!
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ConsumerSearch – Amazon Affiliate Website Example
ConsumerSearch.com
This website started in 2000 as a review website which helped consumers by reviewing different products and offering the consumer the chance to purchase the product. These have become a very popular way for bloggers to create Amazon affiliate websites. It’s a great way to feature products and a good review can be very motivating for someone to purchase.
Monthly Visitors (SimilarWeb) : 1.10M Visitors Average Post Length: 1,000 Words One of Most Searched Products: Bose Sound Bar How much do they make: This site was bought for $33 Million from About.com in 2007 (source)
GiftIdeaGeek.com
This Amazon Affiliate Website is similar to ThisIsWhyImBroke in that the main homepage is set up as an affiliate product page which is perfect selling. The idea is that GiftIdeaGeek focuses on geeky and pop culture referenced products that appeal to that niche. This website uses witty satire to hook the audience into “clicking through” on creative products and if they buy, GiftIdeaGeek gains the affiliate commission. In addition to the homepage, they use a blogroll section to gain SEO and additional affiliate opportunities.
Monthly Visitors (SimilarWeb): Unknown Average Post Length: 1,000 Words One of Most Searched Products: Clever Socks How much do they make: Unknown
TheWirecutter – Amazon Affiliate Website Example
TheWirecutter.com
This is a great example of a top-notch review site. They start at the homepage notifying that they make affiliate commissions but provide top-end reviews from independent reviewers. This is great, to be honest upfront. In addition to being transparent, they also take the content is king strategy. I randomly clicked on their “Top Home Projector” post where they reviewed (and linked) to several high-end home theater projectors. Keep in mind that these high priced items produce high commissions. That may explain why they spent the time to write a 5,000 word post on it. This site seems to do everything right in being a prime example of an Amazon Affiliate Website. This site now has over 60 staff members working for it.
Monthly Visitors (SimilarWeb) : 8.10M Visitors Average Post Length: 3,000-5,000 Words One of Most Searched Products: Air Purifier How much do they make: In 2015, this site combined with The Wirecutter made $150 Million in eCommerce sales. So you can get an idea of their commission revenue. (source)
TheSweetHome – Amazon Affiliate Website Example
TheSweetHome.com
This is the sister site to the affiliate marketing site TheWirecutter. Another amazon affiliate website that lists gadgets and gear that the website reviews. They come out and say it on their homepage, they earn money by affiliate commissions. Apparently, this site receives over 1.8M visitors, which is pretty impressive considering this site only started in 2013. I guess the moral of the story is, it’s not too late to start a review website. It also helps to have incredibly long reviews. In fact, their one soda stream review had over 13,000 words. This is a great example that content is king.
Monthly Visitors (SimilarWeb) : 2.50M Visitors Average Post Length: 4,000 – 5,000 Words One of Most Searched Products: Robot Vaccum How much do they make: In 2015, this site combined with The Wirecutter made $150 Million in e-commerce sales. So you can get an idea of their commission revenue. (source)
GearPatrol – Amazon Affiliate Website Example
GearPatrol.com
This is an interesting style review website that reads more like a magazine than a review site. This definitely helps give it some more credit than throwing a up a bunch of products and hoping people read them. It’s interesting that it takes a different approach, rather than writing long content, it focuses on a clean layout and video reviews to show people the product they’re testing, racking in 2.3 million monthly viewers. This is incredibly valuable for people willing to buy, but want to see the product in a video demo before purchasing. Now compare this site to what the site looked like in 2008 (here).
Monthly Visitors (SimilarWeb) : 3.30M Visitors Average Post Length: 100-500 Words One of Most Searched Products: Alera Elusion Series Office Chair How much do they make: I don’t know how much they make
DogFoodAdvisor – Amazon Affiliate Website Example
DogFoodAdvisor.com
This is a testament that design isn’t everything. Look at their homepage. There is one, very cute puppy, but nothing else. I’m not sure how this site is successful, but from looking over their latest articles, they are receiving regular viewers and comments. Something is working. Then again, people do love their dogs.
Monthly Visitors (SimilarWeb) : 1.30M Visitors Average Post Length: 1,000-1,500 Words One of Most Searched Products: Dog Food How much do they make: I don’t know how much they make
BabyGearLab – Amazon Affiliate Website Example
BabyGearLab.com
So combine a review site and something people everyone loves, like babies. Imagine all the confusion new parents have when they bring a new baby into the world. What do they do, what do they need, what is the best? BabyGearLab solves that by reviewing baby stuff and helping parents understand it and buy it. This site has been around since 2011 helping parents through the impossible decisions of what is best for your baby.
Monthly Visitors (SimilarWeb) : 234.10K Visitors Average Post Length: 6,000-10,000 Words One of Most Searched Products: Convertable Baby Seat How much do they make: I don’t know how much they make
BestCovery – Amazon Affiliate Website Example
BestCovery.com
Review sites continue to be an impressive way to make an affiliate commission. This review site doesn’t even niche down, their tag line is “Discover the Best of Everything”. From my initial review, they continue the streak of long content to rank high in Google. In doing this, they list multiple items really pushing their 1st, 2nd, 3rd and so on picks. All conveniently with their own price tags linking to Amazon. With only 152 thousand monthly visitors, it’s not as much as other sites, but they continue to push out new content and gain new Facebook users. Anyone with a blog knows, it’s hard to get Facebook users, so they’re doing something right.
Monthly Visitors (SimilarWeb) : 152.10K Visitors Average Post Length: 4,000-6,000 Words One of Most Searched Products: Best Epoxy How much do they make: I don’t know how much they make.
BestReviews – Amazon Affiliate Website Example
BestReviews.com
This is one the cleanest designs I’ve seen of an Amazon Affiliate Website. It has a very professional look for a review website, but they don’t overcrowd you with product reviews right off. This site really sets itself apart with their actual videos and reviews inside of their test center. You know these testers are actually testing the product rather than copying a review from another site or making things up. It’s so legit that I will likely be back to this site for future reviews for my purchases. It really gains your trust with the photos and videos even though you know they are making money through the affiliate commissions. Plus they buy all the products themselves and never accept any products from the manufacturer to maintain objectivity, but when you bring in 3.1 million visitors per month, you can buy a few items to review.
It’s so legit that I will likely be back to this site for future reviews for my purchases. It really gains your trust with the photos and videos even though you know they are making money through the affiliate commissions. Plus they buy all the products themselves and never accept any products from the manufacturer to maintain objectivity, but when you bring in 3.1 million visitors per month, you can buy a few items to review.
Monthly Visitors (SimilarWeb) : 3.80M Visitors Average Post Length: Around 1,000 Words + Videos One of Most Searched Products:Best Hair Bleaching Products How much do they make: I don’t know how much they make.
KidsTabletswithWiFi – Amazon Affiliate Website Example
KidsTabletsWithWiFi.com
This is an Amazon Affiliate Website that has really niched down into specifically, as the name implies, kids tablets with Wifi. These are high priced items that produce high commissions in a huge market, children. What is the best tablet for kids? Do you give them an iPad? What if it breaks? Is there a cheaper option? These are all questions that this site helps with. It runs like a blog, but with a relatively simple design. It’s hard to tell if they have produced much new content because they don’t include dates with their blog posts. However, this site is just one blog, with three additional pages for “Best Tablets for Kids”, “Kids Tablet Reviews” and “Kids Tablet Comparisons” all of which are likely keyword researched names. It’s likely the niched down keyword research to bring in the traffic, because the content while good, is relatively short with 300-500 words per post.
Monthly Visitors (SimilarWeb): 1.80K Visitors Average Post Length: 400 – 600 Words One of Most Searched Products: Fire HD Kids Tablet How much do they make: I don’t know how much they make.
LongBoardReviews – Amazon Affiliate Website Example
LongboardReviews.net
Another example of an Amazon Affiliate Website that niched down to long boards. These are like skateboards but longer and meant to cruise, going longer distances than skateboards. It’s a relatively simple website that loads the user with tons of products from the homepage but highlights the lack of comments per review (usually 0 – 2 comments). The typical length of an article is 300-500 words so they are relying on their specific niche for traffic. Not bad for a “.net” domain as they are less common than their popular counterparts “.com”. It’s not the best example, but I’m going for a range.
Monthly Visitors (SimilarWeb) : 2.70K Visitors Average Post Length: 400 – 600 Words How much do they make: The website sold in 2016 on Flippa for $5,275. Usually a website sells for a year’s worth of revenue. So we can expect this site to make around $500 per month (source)
FootballSnackHelmets – Amazon Affiliate Website Example
FootballSnackHelmets.com
This is one of the most niche markets I’ve ever seen. It’s gems like these that make me confident the right keyword research in the smallest of niches can lead to a successful Amazon Affiliate Website. I’m not saying this specific site is successful though. They have only 2 blog post with minimal content for each “Football Snack Helmet”. It seems like someone had great intentions to set up an affiliate site with a clean design but forgot about it after 2 blog posts, ending in June 2016. This is one of the easiest examples that you could set up in a weekend.
Monthly Visitors (SimilarWeb) : 2.20K Visitors Average Post Length: 100 – 300 Words One of Most Searched Products: Cleavland Browns Kids Uniform How much do they make: I don’t know how much they make, but we anticipate it’s seasonal and reliant on the US customer base.
OutdoorGearLab – Amazon Affiliate Website Example
OutdoorGearLab.com
This site is owned by the same owners as BabyGearLab.com so you’ll notice some similarities. It’s a really clean site that looks more like REI’s website than a review site. They generate tons of organic traffic for each review category like ski gloves combines all of their test products (amazon links), test experiences, reviews and opinions so that the review pages reach around 6,000 words. This is a great way to do a review page in my opinion to combine the word length of each review into one huge, helpful page. Plus keep in mind that people love outdoor gear. It’s insanely fun to go outdoors but you never know if you have right equipment. To figure out what’s right, these outdoor review sites help immensely!
Monthly Visitors (SimilarWeb) : 1.60K Visitors Average Post Length: 5,000 – 7,000 Words One of Most Searched Products: Arc’teryx Jacket How much do they make: I don’t know how much they make.
TopTenReviews – Amazon Affiliate Website Example
TopTenReviews.com
This is an older site (2003) with some heavy domain authority. That explains the crazy amount of content this site contains. It’s helpful though when you have 350+ employees. This isn’t a small enterprise, and they still utilize the Amazon Affiliate network to monetize their site. They use long and wordy articles to review products, maximizing the SEO of each page. The biggest difference from this site and others is the amount of digital content these guys review. Their digital content ranges from Antivirus Software to Credit Card processing. This isn’t a typical Amazon product, but digital content can earn affiliate commissions through other sources than Amazon. Amazon is a great resource to monetize your site, but it’s definitely not the only way.
Monthly Visitors (SimilarWeb) : 12.80M Visitors Average Post Length: 3,000 – 5,000 Words One of Most Searched Products: Best Printer How much do they make: I don’t know how much they make.
TomsHardware – Amazon Affiliate Website Example
TomsHardware.com
Do you remember 1997? That’s when this website was created. You could maybe tell from the website homepage that looks more like About.com than a review website, then again they have over 1.5 million pages indexed. Don’t make the same mistake I did, this isn’t a door and sink hardware company, this is computer hardware for hardcore nerds who build their own computers. I’m sure this site is at the forefront of every build-it-myself computer geek out there (I’m one ). The site is now owned by Purch, the same people who own TopTenReviews. These guys have really got a good handle on successful Amazon Affiliate Websites.
Monthly Visitors (SimilarWeb) : 47.50M Visitors Average Post Length: 500 – 1,000 Words One of Most Searched Products: Best Gaming Monitors How much do they make: I don’t know how much they make.
CarSeatAnswers – Amazon Affiliate Website Example
CarSeatAnswers.com
It’s really simple and plain websites like this that make me happy! If something this plain can bring in so many visitors, than someone creative and design oriented like me can do better, right? CarSeatAnswers focuses on keywords like “Car Seat Answers” and “Car Seat Guide” and “Which Seat is Safest for a Baby’s Car Seat” then writes 700-1,000 word articles with no photos except for the Amazon Products sold throughout the article. This is one of the simplest example, but it still brings in visitors even with a small amount of domain authority. It gives you hope though, that you can easily create a successful website, right?
Monthly Visitors (SimilarWeb) : 3.40K Visitors Average Post Length: 300 – 500 Words One of Most Searched Products: Best Car Seat How much do they make: I don’t know how much they make.
KichenFaucetDivas – Amazon Affiliate Website Example
KitchenFaucetDivas.com
This was one of the first Amazon Affiliate Website Examples I ever came across. I thought it was incredibly simple before I saw some other websites that were even worse. A lot of it is what you would expect. A wordy homepage with a couple of pages in the menu bar that all resemble more keyword targeting than actual helpful navigation. I keep wondering if they actually reviewed all those different kitchen sinks, because that would be a lot of work installing and disassembling numerous sinks to see how they work. Likely not, their “About Us” page just says a “Mother of two” which tells me as the reader, if you’re not putting your name on this, your reviews are probably just as generic. Usually, if an “About” page doesn’t list a name or company, I assume that the website is just as generic.
Monthly Visitors (SimilarWeb) : 30.20K Visitors Average Post Length: 300 – 500 Words One of Most Searched Products: Best Kitchen Faucet How much do they make: I don’t know how much they make.
LiveLongerRunning – Amazon Affiliate Website Example
LiveLongerRunning.com
I read this title and expected an awesome community of runners sharing their glory stories of braving the snow and rain to log in miles. Instead I’m directed to a boring treadmill site. This site is about 5 pages and a couple of additional pages for reviews for treadmills. The reviews are the only pages with any kind of lengthy content and those are still only around 800 words. The main redeeming quality about this site, is they are focusing on high price items so even a single sale of a treadmill is a nice commission. This is another example of a website you could make in a weekend. It’s motivating though because you know you can do better, right?
Monthly Visitors (SimilarWeb) : 11.10K Visitors Average Post Length: 500 – 1,000 Words One of Most Searched Products: High End Treadmill How much do they make: I don’t know how much they make.
PickMyShaver – Amazon Affiliate Website Example
PickMyShaver.com
This is a review site that focuses on high-end shaving equipment to have a nice mix of lower end and higher end shavers for a nice variety. It’s a simple/clean website design with lots of photos to help people understand the variety. Each review is decently long, but nothing to rave about. What is impressive is each review has a good amount of comments that are answered by the website owner. That tells me that the owner is monitoring this site and probably adding new content. A site like this wouldn’t be too hard to maintain. I’m thinking, maybe they add a new blog post once a month.
Monthly Visitors (SimilarWeb): 41.90K Visitors Average Post Length: 800 – 1,000 Words One of Most Searched Products: Best Electric Shaver How much do they make: I don’t know how much they make.
100DaysOfRealFood – Amazon Affiliate Website Example
100DaysOfRealFood.com
This is a great example of an Amazon Affiliate Website that’s not a review site! It’s actually more like a food blog that recommends certain products through their blog and resource pages. With 1.6 Million Facebook Likes, Lisa Leak (owner) has become an authority on “real food” and uses this platform to sell other things like her own cook book. This example is more for a traditional blogger who wants to start monetizing their website rather than creating a review site.
Monthly Visitors (SimilarWeb) : 407.60K Visitors Average Post Length: 500 – 1,000 Words How much do they make: She doesn’t list how much she makes on her blog.
InflatableHotTubGuide – Amazon Affiliate Website Example
InflatableHotTubGuide.com
So this is a niche I guess. This is an interesting example of a site built around a high price item that I could see people willing to buy online rather than a store. This doesn’t leave a lot of room to expand into other hot tub areas, but if your focus is “inflatable hot tubs” then go for it. I can’t imagine they update it too often, the last time seems to be August 2015, but what’s new in the world of inflatable hot tubs?
Monthly Visitors (SimilarWeb) : 967 Visitors Average Post Length: 500 – 1,000 Words One of Most Searched Products: Cheapest Inflatable Hot Tub How much do they make: I don’t know how much they make.
29 Other Amazon Affiliate Website Examples
These additional websites, while different, follow a similar pattern of the previously mentioned. It’s a great list to reference what others are doing in the niche website world with Amazon Affiliates.
101birthdaygift.com – Products like ThisIsWhyImBroke
Thank you
Thanks to some helpful Reddit users, One Man’s Brand and Niche Site Project for some of the inspiration to make this list of 50 happen!
What I learned from 50 different Amazon Affiliate Website Examples
This list is pretty freaking significant with so many lessons learned. I hit on many of these in individual reviews but here are the highlights.
Keyword Research is Key – is the single most important thing you can do. If your keyword is too broad, it’ll get lost in the sea of other websites and if it’s too narrow, no one is going to visit your site.
Review Sites Are Popular – There are a couple exceptions, but most of these successful Amazon Affiliate Websites are just review sites that give people an idea of what the item is like before they buy. There is definitely something to it.
Content is King – The more successful websites had content that was around 1,000 words per post. Google identifies this as better content and it’ll help your search rankings. It can’t just be gibberish though, it helps if you break up the content into 6-8 different sections so it’s easy for the user to navigate while still being lengthy. I used to think 300 words was good and 500 was above and beyond. I’ll likely spend even more time on articles and aim for around 1,000 words per article like my most popular article “Robinhood App Review” at 1,500 words.
Mix High & Low Price Items, but Lean Towards High Price – if you’re doing all this work to push people towards a certain product, make sure that product is worth it. It doesn’t make much sense to review a $5 item with 1,000 words. You should lean towards those higher price items that will give you higher commissions. Remember, you get a percentage of the sale, not a flat fee.
Get People To The Amazon Store – Many of these websites that had more sales, sent more people to the Amazon store. It’s a numbers game, the more people you send the Amazon market place, the more that will buy.
Conclusion
Affiliate Marketing is easily one of my favorite income streams from our list of ways to make money.
Just imagine how much you could start investing if you owned or two of these niche sites. The thing is, it’s completely do-able. I have the skills (most people do) to create something like this. I am so freaking pumped to start my next niche website! I’m using these lessons learned to start my keyword research now. I’ll follow up on my progress in the upcoming blog posts. I really hope this helps you as much as it did me. It’s really inspirational to see how others are making additional income online with niche websites!
Am I missing any good Amazon Affiliate Website Examples I can add to this list?
Wallet Squirrel is a personal finance blog by best friends Andrew & Adam on how money works, building side-hustles, and the benefits of cleverly investing the profits. Featured on MSN Money, AOL Finance, and more!
Several years ago I decided to start my own landscape design company.
At the time I was working as a designer for a landscape materials company on the East side of Denver but the work environment was brutal. So, after 18 months of working in a hostile environment and dealing with a daily commute that sometimes took over two hours, I decided to move on. I wanted to go work for myself, leading to the start of Olson Landscape Design.
Boy, that did not go well.
Let’s explore as to what caused my business to horribly fail.
Most of it was caused by me being extremely naive in what it takes to run your own business. Today, I want to share with you what naive Adam learned from this experience so you do not have to find out the hard way.
Time
There is no downtime when you are self-employed, especially if you are just getting started off.
Think of it this way. Remember the times when you were little and it just snowed outside. What was one of the first things you wanted to do once you got to go outside and play? That is right! BUILD A SNOWMAN!!!
This might have just been me but I remember how hard it was to get that first snowball started. It would just glide on top of the snow as you pushed it, trying to get it to accumulate more snow. The smaller the little snowball was, the harder it was to gain momentum to get the snowball to start getting bigger and bigger.
Well, getting a company off the ground is the same way. It takes a lot of time and effort to get the ball rolling. There are no set times as to when you are working. The job needs to get done whenever you can get it done.
I did not realize this. I had other projects that I wanted to be working on as well and blending these different projects together did not work well.
Something else I did not know yet is that I had lost my passion for the profession. I was soon to find this out.
Passion
I had been trying to get my foot into the landscape design business for many years by the time I attempted to start Olson Landscape Design. It was a tough time because the Great Recession had hit the industry really hard. For several years after I graduated college in Landscape Architecture, I had applied for around 200 jobs. All of those applications led only to a 10-month long internship and then a full-time position at the hostile landscape materials company in Denver.
Simply put, I had gone through a lot of crap.
By the time I got around to starting my own business, I did not realize that I had lost my passion for landscape design. The will to continue to work when I did not want to was completely gone.
Passion is what you need to keep the drive. It is tough working at the hours of the day that is inconvenient when you have zero passion. I recommend taking a look in the mirror to really ask yourself if you truly do have a passion or not. Be honest with yourself.
Self-Confidence
I have always struggled with self-confidence issues. It is really tough to let go and accept that you are in fact awesome with amazing ideas. I also worry WAY too much what others think which plays into my self-confidence issues.
For me, as a young designer, I did not believe in my skills. I worried too much what the contractors thought about my designs. These issues compounded themselves that kept me from reaching out to potential clients as often. Obviously, this resulted in a lot of lost business.
In the end, this was the major issue that did not allow Olson Landscape Design to take off.
I had another designer friend who started his own business at the same time as me with similar experience. He had that confidence in himself which allowed his business to take off. The last time I talked to him he had his own construction crew. It was awesome to hear!
Official Stuff
I had no issue with designing a logo, setting up the website/blog, getting started with new designs. What really got me was all of that administrative stuff (setting up an S Corp, taxes, payroll, cold calling, and so on).
I knew that I would have to take care of all of this stuff before I got started. The issue is I did not know how far underwater my head was. To get this stuff done took a lot more commitment and I did not understand this. Remember, I told you I was super naive before getting started.
Anyways, now I know that there is all of this boring stuff I need to keep track of and how to do it best. It does not bother me anymore that my eyes have been opened.
Wrapping Things Up
Olson Landscape Design lasted for about 10 months until I decided to go back to school for my masters in Software Development and Program.
I am a better person because of this experience. It helps me on a weekly basis while working on my latest entrepreneur project, Wallet Squirrel. I am not as naive as I once was because my eyes have been opened.
Wallet Squirrel is a personal finance blog by best friends Andrew & Adam on how money works, building side-hustles, and the benefits of cleverly investing the profits. Featured on MSN Money, AOL Finance, and more!
Bitcoin is still currently the most popular cryptocurrency. It’s the “new” thing along with blockchain technology, even if the price has come down a bit. However, if you’re thinking of buying any cryptocurrencies. You should learn how they’re taxed. Because yes, you will absolutely have to pay taxes on cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrency Isn’t Actually A Currency
The IRS considers cryptocurrencies “property” similar to how it does for stocks or personal property. Which makes the idea of buying things with cryptocurrency an awful idea. Here’s why.
Say you want to buy a sofa with Bitcoin. To actually make that purchase, you’re actually making two sales. You technically are first selling your Bitcoin to convert it to money (sale #1). Then you’re using that money to make the purchase of something, like a sofa (sale #2).
So to the IRS you are selling your Bitcoin and need to pay the short-term capital gain tax (25%) if you held that bitcoin less than a year, or long-term capital gain tax (15%) if you held it longer than a year. Then you will have the cash to now buy the sofa where you will pay sales tax on the sofa to actually buy it.
*Note the capital gain tax is factored for someone who earns $75,000 annually. Your tax percentage will fluctuate based on your annual salary. We’re also assuming you’re paying the capital gain tax because Bitcoin is worth more than when you bought it.
So you’re paying tax when you sell Bitcoin and then again for the sales tax.
Cryptocurrencies Are Monitored
Since cryptocurrencies aren’t affiliated with any government they shouldn’t be monitored, that was the idea, right? Wrong, Bitcoin is monitored by the IRS…to a degree.
According to the IRS, all your Bitcoin trades should be reported to the IRS because you should be paying taxes on the buying and selling of all cryptocurrencies. Every single time. So if you’re thinking of using sites that accept Bitcoin, all those purchases need to be reported to the IRS. Every time you sell Bitcoin.
So every time you buy something from Overstock.com, which accept Bitcoin. Those transactions should be (often not) reported to the IRS since you’re essentially selling “property”. That can be a tax headache.
During the Bitcoin craze, the IRS felt that Bitcoin sales were being under-reported because they expect people to report their own Bitcoin sales. Each year from 2013 to 2015, only about 800 taxpayers claimed Bitcoin gains. If you don’t report these gains, you can later be audited by the IRS, which no one wants. So be careful and report your Bitcoin gains.
If you think Bitcoin provides anonymity, think again.
In November 2017 a California Federal Court ordered Coinbase, the popular platform to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, to turn over thousands of records of customers to the IRS. It requested a list of everyone who bought, sold, sent or received more than $20,000 worth of Bitcoins between 2013 and 2015 (source). This could later be anyone who bought/sold more than $600 worth of cryptocurrencies.
You can expect the IRS to continue to monitor cryptocurrency brokers in the future.
Tax Laws Haven’t Caught Up With Cryptocurrency
If these seem harsh on Cryptocurrency, it’s a debate currently going in a legislature near you. Cryptocurrency is moving so fast (Bitcoin $1,000 to $19,000 in 2017) that the tax laws don’t have time to catch up. Especially since a digital currency is considered “property” by the IRS, it’ll continue to cause taxation confusion and headaches if you try to think of it as a currency.
As Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies gain momentum, more people will use sites like Coinbase or the new RobinCrypto to purchase these new cryptocurrencies in hopes the price will skyrocket. In doing so you need to understand the tax implications and your responsibility to report your cryptocurrency activity.
Wallet Squirrel is a personal finance blog by best friends Andrew & Adam on how money works, building side-hustles, and the benefits of cleverly investing the profits. Featured on MSN Money, AOL Finance, and more!
If you’ve seen our little pop-up or emails, we made a deal with our readers. We promised if you signed up for our email list, we’d do a drawing and a lucky person would win $100 to start investing. We’re doing this!
Remember these pop-ups?
Why Are We Doing This?
Lots of websites do different give-a-ways to encourage people to join their email newsletter. We wanted to try this, but actually, do something cool.
We didn’t want to create a “90 Ways To Save Money” pdf to give away or anything like that for new sign-ups. Frankly it was overdone and in reality, the easiest way to save money is not to spend it. There, that’s my free pdf.
So I asked myself, what do our readers actually want. Well, they want more money to invest with and pay off bills. So what if we gave (PayPal) someone $100 to use to invest. If they used that money to invest, it would grow to a lot more than $100.
I liked this idea.
How The Competition Worked
It was easy, if you signed up for our email list at any point, and still a member by the end of 2017, you would be eligible to win. We would do a drawing at the end of 2017 (actually this week) and whoever was selected, we would PayPal you $100 to do whatever they wanted.
Yes, you could use that $100 to invest, pay down bills or buy new shoes. We obviously can’t control what you will spend that money on, but we will STRONGLY encourage you to invest it. Investing is cool!
I’m going to do something no one ever does. Share how many email subscribers they have. It’s a bit scary sharing this because if it doesn’t seem like a lot, you can easily judge us based on how many other people subscribe. So vulnerable moment, go!
We currently have 290 email subscribers to Wallet Squirrel. All of them are eligible to win the $100!
To select a winner, I went to Mailchimp and reviewed the complete list of email addresses we had. This is how I discovered we had 290 email sign-ups. That is freaking awesome!!!!!
Then I went to Google’s Random Generator, basically, just typed “Random Number Generator” in Google, try it here! At the top of the page, there is a generator where you enter the min/max amount and hit “GENERATE. I got “17”.
So at this point, I scrolled down Mailchimp’s list to locate number #17.
I’m now shooting them an email to let them know they won! Plus to see if this email works for their Paypal account. So check your email because I may have money for you!
Is The Competition Now Over?
Not even close, I REALLY like this idea. It’s a great way to encourage people to sign up for our email list and everyone gets a chance to win some money to do what you want (investing suggested). =P
In 2018, we’re doing this again but it’s for a chance to win $200 at the end of the year. Sign up and enter!
Wallet Squirrel is a personal finance blog by best friends Andrew & Adam on how money works, building side-hustles, and the benefits of cleverly investing the profits. Featured on MSN Money, AOL Finance, and more!
Amazon HQ2 – Coming to a City Near You, But is This is a Good Thing?
Here in Denver, there has been a lot of hype about the RFP that Amazon released to find the best city for their second headquarters or Amazon HQ2. In fact, The New York Times has already picked Denver as the best choice for the new Amazon HQ2.
This only fueled the flames for some intense conversation around the city.
There are a lot of people that want it because of the 50,000 jobs it would bring to the area and amazing economic growth.
Then there are people that are saying, “No” to the new headquarters because it would make housing prices just go that much higher. They say that Amazon has already been a burden on Seattle and its housing market, infrastructure, and so on.
As always, I’m on the fence with what the new Amazon second headquarters could do for Denver and its job market, economy, housing market, and so on.
So let’s take a dive into the facts to find out what a mega-prospect like Amazon HQ2 could do for a city.
Backstory
Back in September, Amazon announced that it will be taking bids from cities to host its new second headquarters. Amazon laid out a set of guidelines that the city has to meet in an 8-page request for proposal (RFP). Below are some of the major guidelines they laid out.
Either existing building sites with opportunity for expansion or a greenfield site of 100 acres
Area where job growth is strong
Labor pool (skilled tech labor) is large and growing
Quality of life is high
Workers can easily get around and out of town
There is space and a willingness to pay to play
Really, Denver meets all of these qualifications. There is plenty of land for development, the tech industry is booming here, quality life is one of the highest in the country, we have a fairly good mass transit system, and we have so much space to play in the mountains.
The only thing that gets me is Denver far enough from Seattle? If I were Amazon, I would be wanting something on the East coast to make travel to Europe easier and cheap.
Then again, Denver International Airport (DIA), is one of the busiest airports in the world with direct flights to Europe and Asia. With Denver being centrally located in the country, it would allow for Amazon’s employees at the second headquarters to get to either continent easily.
Jobs
Amazon says they will create 50,000 new jobs for the headquarters. This has really been scaring people in the Denver metro area because the area is growing fast enough.
People need to calm down and breathe a little bit here.
Amazon is not going to just dump 50,000 new people into the city within one month. The new headquarters will be developed in many phases.
The first three phases planned take the new headquarters up to 3,000,000 square feet. From there it will grow out the campus organically in many more phases to around 8 million square feet by 2027.
Using a ratio of 160 square feet per employee (8,000,000/50,000) that means the first three phases could hire 18,750 people. Each phase would on average hire 6,250 people.
We saw double that moving into Denver last year, and that is only Denver, not the metro area.
Hopefully, Denver can plan transportation system upgrades along with these phases. Though this might be too much forward thinking to ask for from a government agency.
Economic Growth
Amazon claims that it will invest $5 billion into the new second headquarters. This is an astonishing number!
Amazon claims, “its investments in Seattle between 2010 through 2016 resulted in an additional $38 billion to the city’s economy – every dollar invested by Amazon in Seattle generated an additional $1.40 for the city’s economy overall.”
There is no doubt that the Amazon HQ2 would bring a significant economic boost to the city with new high tech jobs, construction jobs, more real estate investment/development, and so on.
But at what cost does this development come with? We will take a look at the answer later on when we look at Amazon’s and Seattle’s relationship.
Denver’s housing market is gaining value at a ridiculous pace. It is finally starting to slow down so young couples have a chance to purchase a home. A lot of people are worried that if Amazon brings their second headquarters here, it would just spark that value growth again.
I do not blame them. If we take a look at the median house listing prices on Zillow for Seattle proper they were $351,000 back in October 2011. Six years later, they are now $699,000 or a 99% increase!
In Denver proper, we are not far off from Seattle’s growth. Since October 2011 we have already seen an 83% growth in median house listing prices as well. The question is if Amazon comes to town, could we see our median listing prices basically double again? I do not want to live in a city where the median house listing is over $600,000.
Since I already own a home, I am for more growth. In the past year, our house has already gained nearly $40,000 in value!
The issue is, would I ever be able to move somewhere else in the city with prices so high? Even though our house value could double, I might never get to see that money because we could not afford to move somewhere else; unless we move out of state which I do not want to do.
Infrastructure
Like most cities, Denver has congestion issues on the roads. This has only become worse with the extreme growth the metro area has seen.
It is common sense if you have more people, the more wear and tear there will be on the roads.
Luckily Denver has been very aggressive at implementing a light rail system over the past decade or so. Plus, the area just made news by being one of the finalists for Ellon Musk’s Hyperloop project.
Though all of this effort might be a little too late.
According to Inrix Inc., Denver ranks 21st out of 240 in the U.S. for the amount of time drivers spend stuck in traffic. Which is right in line with Denver metro area’s population as the 19th most populated in the nation.
Even with this being said, because of Denver’s continued growth, it does need to invest more in its transportation system whether it be wider roads, light rail, or train to keep up.
Denver needs to remember not to be blinded by the dollar signs that the Amazon HQ2 will bring to the area.
We need to listen to Seattle’s warning as there are many side effects that will come along with the new headquarters.
According to one Seattle blogger, he warns us of horrible traffic and higher living costs. Others claim of constant construction, which we already have in Denver, so it will probably just get worse?
Rent is already high in Denver. Based on what has happened in Seattle, if Amazon came to Denver this trend would not slow down. It probably would just get worse.
These are all things Denver, or any other city, need to start tackling even before they get the good news that the mega-prospect is coming to town. When a company like Amazon comes to town, the city needs to ramp up its speed of work to keep up with the speed at which Amazon moves.
Conclusion
I believe that having the Amazon HQ2 in Denver would be an amazing boost to Denver’s already booming economy. It will ensure continued growth for years to come.
I also believe that Amazon will do amazing things to help the Denver community because of the resources the company has. It really could become a leader in investing back into the Denver area and its charitable organizations.
On the flipside, Denver needs to come up with a stronger plan to speed up its infrastructure development so it can absorb the increase in traffic that is sure to come.
Also, Denver can hopefully continue to help those younger couples trying to buy their first homes. Currently, there are grants to help out but they are fairly selective. Maybe making these grants cover a larger group to help more people that will struggle to find affordable homes.
Overall, what it comes down to, are we, as Denverites, willing to deal with these negative side effects to host such a large company?
Interviewing for a job is one of my least favorite things in the world. My two best friends, including Andrew, love though. One thing that helped me get over the anxiety was learning how to prepare for a job interview.
