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Jan Barley

9 Best Passive Income Ideas For Digital Marketers 2025

passive income ideas

There are plenty of ways to create passive income if you focus on mastering one idea first

Passive income ideas are the best thinking you can do to influence your earnings without working more hours.

In a rapidly declining economic landscape, we lucky digital marketers have the money-busting skills to create multiple passive income streams.

Savvy entrepreneurs understand that when times are tough, it creates opportunities. By providing solutions for those in need of help, it’s entirely possible to build a passive income empire.

For example, creating and selling digital products, online courses, and affiliate marketing are popular choices for digital marketers who want to escape the life-sucking “exchanging time for money” trap.

Before you get too excited, let’s understand that passive income ideas don’t make it magically happen.There are things you should know about passive income.

You can’t sprinkle unicorn dust and expect money to appear under the mattress.

It takes a lot of initial grunt work to set up a solid foundation with an automated system to create recurring income while you sleep. Still, if you’re prepared to invest the time and effort, the rewards are worth it.

This article is a deep dive into the best passive income ideas for digital marketers.

Why Should You Consider Passive Income Ideas?

I cannot remember a worse economic period in my lifetime. Every time I go out, the things I buy get more expensive. Inflation is ridiculous, and salaries cannot keep pace. For instance, second-hand car prices have rocketed.

Before we sink into a pit of hissing snakes, let’s look at how your digital marketing skills can spring you above this erupting financial volcano.

Passive income is the eighth wonder of the world. You can build a part-time side hustle or really dig in and create a full-time income, working fewer hours than your day job and having more fun.

What Is Passive Income?

You’re lying in bed on a Sunday morning, drooling a little bit, maybe, but feeling pretty good about life and here’s why. You open your emails to see you “earned “a few hundred dollars overnight without you doing a thing.

All your hard work a few months ago is now reaping the rewards. Those passive income ideas you read about on a blog have materialised into existence.

Honestly, my friend, there is nothing better than getting that notification.

Typical examples of passive income are recurring commissions from a subscription service, such as the Systeme marketing platform that pays a whopping 60% for life.

You receive monthly commissions like clockwork, even if you go off on holiday.

The problem is that people think passive income is easy, but it’s not. It takes time to build. Still, digital marketers have the skills and the understanding of how to drive traffic, create content and monetise your offers for passive income.

9 Ways To Create Passive Income

So, let’s get to the meat and potatoes and share my passive income ideas.

#1: Sell Templates

Templates are one of the fastest-growing ways to make passive income online. It could become a million-dollar business if you find a niche you enjoy.

One lady I follow on Threads made $25 in her first month selling Canva templates. Six months later, she averages $14k/month!

So, if you’re a creative bunny ready to make passive income from creating templates, here are some ideas.

Canva templates

Selling templates can be highly profitable

Canva Templates

I have made over 1000 designs on Canva and never considered selling them. Doh! Even with a free Canva account, you can create gorgeous designs, such as

  • E-books
  • Journals
  • Workbooks
  • Habit Trackers
  • How to Guides
  • Content Planners
  • Wellness Trackers
  • Website Templates
  • Pinterest Pin Templates
  • IG Reels & Stories Templates

There are no limitations on what you can create with Canva.

Market via your website, social media, and Pinterest marketing. Sell on Etsy, Shopify, Gumroad (I launched my first two products recently) or add e-commerce functionality to your website.

AI Prompts

If you can create helpful AI prompts, people will buy them.

I recently posted a short AI SEO prompt on LinkedIn with 11,000 views. Four people shared, and the post had many comments appreciating the prompt. Considering I had been off LinkedIn for a year, that was an excellent demonstration of the need for prompts that help people work more efficiently and get positive results.

I find it easy to generate prompts, but many people cannot master generative AI or don’t have the time to play around fine-tuning prompts.

I use Claude AI to help me create blog outlines, assess the competition and more. It saves me a ton of time. Subsequently, I have put together some AI prompts for generating SEO content to sell online.

The beauty of passive income is that you don’t need to charge the earth for your products.

Success Story: One lady I know sold $3 recipes and made $250k in her first six months.

Start selling at a “no-brainer” price. Get positive feedback and either create more products or raise your prices. In addition, make sure you get people onto your mailing list.

Why?

It’s simple. It’s easier to sell your products to a person who’s purchased from you before.

Notion Templates

I’m not a fan of Notion, but many people make a good income from personalised Notion Templates. They’re pre-built pages that people can add to their workspace to organise their content. The following are a few examples.

  • Goal Tracker
  • Habit Tracker
  • Team Knowledge bases
  • Personal Workout Trackers
  • Personal Finance Tracker

Google Sheets Templates

If you’re a whiz with Google Sheets, you can create anything from a simple spreadsheet for budgeting, profit and loss sheets, meal planning, habit tracking, etc. There is considerable scope for the creative mind if you like designing presentation slides, design templates or spreadsheets.

Research what people want to save time and gain efficiency, and then create your Google products.

#2: Create a Course

create an online course

Online courses can create lifelong recurring income if you do it right

Creating an online course can be a dependable cash cow if you have an area of expertise.

What puts most people off is how much time and effort is involved, especially as many prefer video content over text-based courses.

One way to make it easier is to use generative AI like Claude or ChatGPT to create an outline for your course. After that, create bite-sized modules, add quizzes and provide resources like the text version of each module.

If you’re worried about the cost of hosting a course, I got you. Platforms like Kajabi, Skool and Thinkific charge a monthly fee of $99+. However, you can host one digital course free with the Systeme lifetime free plan.

Systeme takes the payment and delivers the course login details. All you have to do is create it.

Systeme doesn’t take a percentage of your sales as other platforms do, like Etsy, Spotify, etc.

The bonus of hosting a course on Systeme is you can automate additional marketing tools like capture pages and email campaigns. These add extra oomph to getting traffic to your course sales page.

Ideas for courses:

  • Photography
  • Email Marketing
  • Pinterest Marketing
  • Success on YouTube
  • Social Media Marketing
  • Creating Canva Templates
  • Building a WordPress Website
  • Paid Advertising (Google, Facebook, Instagram etc)

Write a list of whatever you are most knowledgeable about. After that, reflect on whether you have enough interest in the subject to spend a few weeks or months putting a course together.

#3: Become an Affiliate Marketer

Affiliate marketing is a one of the best passive income ideas on this list. Sadly, many people get it entirely wrong and never make a bean.

Forget Amazon, where you earn a measly 4% on sales—research affiliate partners in your niche. For instance, TripAdvisor offers affiliates a whopping 50% commission per booking if you are in the travel industry.

If you’re working with clients and want to provide additional marketing services, Systeme pays a 60% lifetime commission on annual or monthly subscriptions.

Forget about the likes of Clickbank because that’s where all novice affiliate marketers head. Think strategically.

  1. Choose a Niche – make it one you are interested in and one that pays well
  2. Decide Which Platform To Use – you might want to start a niche-specific blog or use social media channels. Ideally, choose search engine-based platforms like YouTube and Pinterest
  3. Build Traffic – when applying to merchants, they will ask how you generate traffic. I waited until I had 10,000 monthly impressions on my blog. Alternatively, they are happy to work with social media influencers
  4. Find Affiliate Programs – research each company. I contacted those whose products I use or have used. Check Trustpilot that the company has a good reputation and only apply to those relative to your niche
  5. Produce Good Quality Content, focusing on providing value to your audience. Write or video content like reviews and comparisons
  6. Curate Content – if you write a blog, curate it into social media posts. Create a video format, especially if you have a blog. Google rewards video content highly these days
  7. Build An Audience – you need traffic to get sales, so focus on creating consistent content

Don’t start doing paid advertising until you get traction from organic marketing. It’s a waste of money. Ensure you have a fully functioning sales funnel, such as the following:

  • Capture page
  • Lead magnet
  • Email campaign
  • Upsells and Offers

#4: Build And Monetise A Niche Website

sell website templates

You can sell niche website templates from $100 and often considerably more

I’ll start this section by stating that this isn’t the fastest way to passive income. Still, if you can go hard at it for a year or so, you can rest assured the monetary results will come.

One lady on the Medium platform started a “strange fruits” recipes niche website. People sniggered at her, but she made $100k in the first six months. After that, she began creating these websites to sell to people keen to join the niche.

The more you can narrow down the niche, the better, then you can create your customer avatar.

The downside of this passive income idea is it’s a lot of work. To get ranked in SERPs, you need a lot of content. However, generative AI can do a big chunk of the legwork if you have some great AI prompts.

  • Identify Your Niche – research it thoroughly and check the competition
  • Buy a Domain Name – Choose one that describes your business
  • Build the Website – Consider using WordPress, Squarespace and you can even build a Canva website and connect your domain name
  • Write Content – create pillar posts (an in-depth topic) and generate content clusters (sub-niche content for the pillar post), and then build internal links between the articles
  • Drive Traffic – use SEO on your website, social media marketing, Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok, guest posts
  • Keep Going – don’t lose heart if you don’t see results for a while. I got my first affiliate commission four and a half months after starting my blog

#5: Write an eBook

Much like creating a course, putting an eBook together can be time-consuming. Still, it’s a fantastic way to demonstrate your expertise.

The eBook doesn’t need to be long. It’s better to consider an eBook series rather than doing a deep dive into a broad subject. For instance, SEO involves a multi-pronged approach, from on-page, off-page and technical SEO. Creating one course that covered all of that would be overwhelming for the reader and to create.

You can hire a ghostwriter if you’re not a good writer and stick pins in your eyes instead. That’s not a cheap option, but it could pay for itself quite quickly with effective marketing.

You can publish your eBook on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Lulu or upload it to Gumroad.

I have one book on Amazon in paperback and kindle versions that has made steady monthly sales for many years.

If it’s relevant, you can add social media handles and affiliate links into the eBook.

How to Write an eBook

  • Research the Market – how much competition is there?
  • Find Low–Difficulty Keywords – that can help the book’s discoverability
  • Create Easily Digestible Chapters – ensure the layout of the chapter content makes sense
  • Write to One Person – a conversational style is the most popular format for readers. Create an avatar and write to that one person, focusing on what they most want to know
  • Have a Simple Layout – make the eBook visually appealing. I’ve bought eBooks that have text squashed together on each page. It’s better to have plenty of white space because people skim content
  • Create a Style Sheet – decide what colours and fonts to use throughout the book
  • Add Images – Make the eBook visually appealing by breaking up the text with colour-themed images, infographics, charts, etc
  • Proofread & Edit – there’s nothing worse than typos and bad grammar in a book. I use Grammarly Premium, but that still needs to be double-checked
  • Create a Sales Page – use Systeme’s free plan to build a simple sales page. Add a thank you page (for subscribing) and a video page, ideally with you talking to personalise the eBook
  • Create an Email Campaign – write an email sequence with at least a dozen emails. Send them out every few days for the first few days and then weekly. Tag the campaign on the sales page

#6: Sell Stock Photos

If you’re a whiz with a camera, why not generate passive income from your shots by selling them online to stock photo platforms like Shutterstock and Pexels?

Most photographers get caught in the time-for-money trap, and even if you earn well as a photographer, without clients, there’s no income coming in.

You might not make a six-figure income from stock photography sales, but it’s quick and easy to upload photographs that could generate revenue for years to come. People will pay for high-quality images.

#7: Start a YouTube Channel

start a youtube channel

The hardest part of starting a YouTube channel is actually starting. I keep putting it off! Don’t be me!

If you’re creating content for a blog, the most powerful move is to curate that content to YouTube.

I’m blushing a bit because it’s something I keep putting off. It’s hard work creating and editing video content. It always takes longer than you expect. Then, technology lets you down, and suddenly, an entire day has passed, creating a 10-minute video.

Still, the potential for YouTube is unrivalled.

  1. It’s a search engine – it can get ranked on page one SERPs
  2. You can add SEO in the description
  3. You can add affiliate, membership, course or sales page links in the description
  4. Once you get enough subscribers and watch time, you can monetise the channel (1000 subscribers + 4k watch hours in the last 12 months)
  5. If your channel becomes successful, you can get sponsorship and brand deals

Starting a YouTube channel is free, but it is a heavy time investment.

#8: Build A Job Board

Building a digital job board might seem a massive undertaking, but you can purchase DFU templates.

It’s not a passive income source that appeals to me because of the initial work required. Still, it can be a lucrative business if you focus on building a job board within a small niche.

To make money from your job board, you have several options:

  • Charge Companies a one-off fee to post job offers
  • Charge companies a monthly fee to post ad hoc job offers
  • Offer premium features
  • Join an ad revenue source like Google AdSense or Mediavine (you’ll need sufficient traffic to get approved)
  • Partner with a recruitment agency for a commission for leads

The tricky part of setting up a digital job board is to get sufficient traffic. Companies won’t spend with you unless they know there’ll be a lot of eyes on their job offers.

You need an enormous bank of job seekers who will visit your job board instead of heading to Indeed, Total Jobs or any big boys online.

Focus on the uniqueness of your specialism. Narrow your niche down as small as possible. The giant job sites are so random and mostly useless for job seekers. Find a gap in the market that will attract employers and job seekers, and then focus on marketing as if your life depended on it.

#9: Buy A DFY Digital Product

Creating products, building a course, and all of the above suggestions miss one vital step. If you’re a beginner, you have no idea how to create an automated sales system that drives traffic to your offer when you aren’t working.

Most people fail (90% quit digital marketing) because they don’t have that system.

Yes, you can build sales pages, email campaigns, etc, but it is time-consuming. I’ve spent days messing around with a simple sales page.

For a beginner, the main criteria for passive income success is the following:

  1. Have a great product
  2. Have an automated system
  3. Learn social media marketing
  4. Work with an experienced mentor
  5. Learn how to drive organic traffic to your offers consistently

That’s why I chose the Catalyst. I was floundering because I didn’t know how social media algorithms work. I didn’t know how to get traffic to my business other than SEO. The latter works for me with my blog, but you should never have only one traffic source.

Please read my review of the Catalyst Collective. I’m giving away a free Instagram Business Growth Guide that teaches you the foundations for getting more followers and sales on Instagram reels and stories.

Conclusion

The hard truth about passive income ideas is they’re easy to think about but not so easy to implement.

Whatever you decide to do, follow your heart and take the path that interests you the most. It’s human nature to have initial excitement about a project but lose interest when results are slow.

Learn from me. I wish I’d started years ago when I had the idea to start affiliate marketing, but I felt overwhelmed by the tutorials I found on YouTube. I’ve since discovered that it isn’t complex, and there is an easy way to make affiliate commissions.

Get started today. Dig in and start building your passive income sources.

FAQs

How Much Passive Income Can I Earn?

That depends on which avenue you choose. Some passive income streams could generate a few hundred dollars; others could create 6-7 figure income.

Try not to focus on too many passive income streams simultaneously. Start by building up one passive income source and then move on to the next.

Do I Need A Lot Of Money To Get Started With Passive Income?

It’s possible to start making passive income with little to no investment. Still, there are typically associated costs, such as website hosting, domain name purchase, graphic design platform subscriptions, etc.

Considering the passive income potential of most of the above ideas, the costs are comparatively small.

What Are The Best Digital Products For Beginners To Sell?

It’s best to focus on what you can do easily. If you don’t enjoy graphic design, Canva templates might not be your best option.

For beginners, it’s often best to start with a DFU product like Inner Bloom (a master resell rights digital product) or the Catalyst Collective, an affiliate product that pays 70% commission.

The benefits of these two courses are that you will learn to master social media marketing, create digital courses, and drive traffic to your offers. For a beginner, it is the ideal route to learning how to make passive income.

How to Find Your Ideal Customer Avatar Using AI Software

ideal customer avatar

If you nail your ideal customer avatar it makes it much quicker & easier to create content with effective messaging

Does the ideal customer avatar matter when you’re promoting on social media?

From experience, I can tell you how hard it is to create weekly content when you aren’t sure who you’re talking to.

Accurate messaging is vital if you want to get results.

I’m an advocate for using free systems and software to speed up processes. I use Claude AI daily and ChatGPT. It saves me hours of brainpower.

Here is a simple prompt you can use with Claude or ChatGPT to discover your ideal customer avatar.

Tweak it as you wish.

The ChatGPT or Claude AI Prompt

“Please help me find the top 10 questions I need to ask to understand my customer avatar, their demographics and psychographics. Include motivators, fears, desired transformation, learning style, financial mindset, and other relevant factors.

I want to understand how to perfect my messaging to understand my customer avatar and hone in on messaging style and the stories to tell my audience so they see me as an authority on my topic, authentic and relatable, and someone worth listening to and buying from.

I focus on selling an <insert course here> and want to teach people how to make money and start a business online so they can quit their jobs and have financial, time, and location freedom.”

Questions To Consider

These are the questions that Claude provided for my business, and they’re pretty much universal regardless of the business niche you choose.

Who Are They?

  • What is their age, gender, location, occupation, education level, and marital status?
  • Are they parents? If so, what are the ages of their children?
  • What is their current job title, industry, and level of experience?

What Are Their Goals And Aspirations?

  • What do they want to achieve (e.g., financial freedom, time with family, travel)?
  • What does success look like to them?
  • How does starting an online business align with their long-term goals?

What Are Their Biggest Frustrations With Their Current Work/Life Balance?

  • Do they wish they had more time with the family or for hobbies?
  • Are they at a transitional stage in their life (e.g., perimenopause or menopause, which can cause energy fluctuations, brain fog and more)?
  • What would they change if a magic fairy appeared to grant their wishes?

What Are Their Pain Points And Challenges?

  • What keeps them awake at night (e.g., job dissatisfaction, financial struggles, lack of time)?
  • What are the biggest obstacles they face in starting an online business?
  • What fears do they have about making a career change or starting a business?

What Motivates Them To Take Action?

  • What drives them toward starting an online business (e.g., hating their job, wanting freedom, or wanting more control over their life)?
  • What motivates them to take action (e.g., through success stories, how someone overcame a challenge, logical reasoning, or emotional appeals)?

What Are Their Fears And Objections?

  • What are their biggest fears about starting an online business (e.g., fear of failure, wasting time or money)?
  • What objections might they have to purchasing your course (e.g., “I don’t have time,” “I can’t afford it,” “It won’t work for me”)?
  • How can you address these objections through your messaging?

What Transformation Are They Seeking?

  • What is their desired end state after taking your course (e.g., quitting their job, achieving financial independence, travelling the world)?
  • How do they envision their life improving due to starting an online business?
  • What emotional and practical benefits are they looking for?

What Is Their Learning Style & How Do They Prefer To Consume Content?

  • Do they prefer video content, written content, or interactive learning?
  • How do they typically consume information (e.g., on-the-go via mobile, during their commute, late at night)?
  • What platforms do they spend most of their time on (e.g., Instagram, YouTube, podcasts)?

What Is Their Financial Mindset?

  • How do they view money and investing in themselves?
  • Are they more frugal or willing to invest in tools and education if it means achieving their goals faster?
  • How important is a money-back guarantee or proof of value before purchasing?

What Stories Will Resonate With Them?

  • What life experiences or stories can you share that align with their journey (e.g., your own struggles with starting a business, how you achieved financial freedom)?
  • How can you position yourself as someone who understands and has successfully overcome their struggles?
  • What relatable anecdotes can you use to build trust and authenticity?

What Do They Value In A Mentor Or Authority Figure?

  • What qualities do they seek in someone they want to learn from (e.g., expertise, transparency, relatability)?
  • How do they define authenticity, and how can you demonstrate it in your messaging?
  • What makes them see someone as worth listening to and buying from?

What is Their Current Job Situation & Income Level?

  • Are they happy in their job?
  • Do they work remotely or commute?
  • Are they seeking a promotion or looking for another job?

What Does “Financial Freedom” Mean To Them Specifically?

  • What financial freedom means to you could be entirely different for someone else.
  • Do they want to be rich or comfortable?
  • Do they want to work fewer hours or not at all?

What Previous Attempts, If Any, Have They Made To Start An Online Business?

  • Have they tried and failed?
  • Are they in a business that is not working out for them?
  • Have they never considered starting a business because they think it’s too time-consuming, expensive, or for any other reason?

Who Do They Follow Or Admire In The Online Business Space?

  • What type of influencer do they prefer? – for instance, there’s a big difference between Mel Robbins and Alex Hormozi
  • Do they prefer motivational or educational influencers?

How Would They Describe Their Ideal Work Day If Money Wasn’t An Issue?

  • Sailing the ocean on a yacht?
  • Picnic in the park with the family?
  • Time in nature or going to the gym?
  • Sleeping in

What’s Their Biggest Limiting Belief About Making Money Online?

  • What mental blocks do they have about money?
  • Are they aware of these blocks?
  • Do they lack self-belief about making money?

How Do They Define Success Beyond Just Financial Metrics?

Success doesn’t always have to be defined in monetary terms.

They might want to live more simply and have more time freedom. Like most people, they might value having more choices as the route to happiness. Finding the answers to this question reveals deeper motivations and values you can appeal to.

How To Perfect Your Messaging Based On These Insights

The next step is to start planning your messaging for your ideal customer avatar. That was tricky for me until I joined the Catalyst Collective.

The founder is an ex-sales and branding expert for Meta, so I got the inside scoop on messaging and many other aspects of social media marketing.

Anyhoo, use the following guidelines to structure your content.

Vary it so your audience has a mix of getting to know you and your sales message.

Don’t be afraid that social media users will get tired of your sales message. Indeed, repetition is your friend. Plus, the way the algorithms work is that the same followers won’t see your content.

  1. Make your content relatable: Use language and examples that resonate with their current situation and frustrations.
  2. Tell stories about your own journey: Share your challenges and wins or client successes that mirror their desired transformation.
  3. Address their concerns: Address common fears and doubts head-on in your content.
  4. Talk about benefits: Highlight the lifestyle benefits of running an Instagram business, not just the financial aspects.
  5. Showcase expertise: Provide actionable tips and behind-the-scenes glimpses of your own business.
  6. Vary your content: Use a mix of aspirational and relatable content to position yourself as an authority and someone who understands their starting point.
  7. Emphasise simplicity: Many courses are overwhelming> Make it clear that the course you’re promoting is a step-by-step program that does not cause someone to feel overwhelmed.
  8. Share testimonials: Publish success stories to help potential customers see themselves in your success stories.
  9. Use Instagram features like Stories and Reels: Showcase on your IG account to give a more personal, authentic view of your life as an online entrepreneur.
  10. Stay engaged: Regularly engage with your target audience through Q&As, polls, and direct messages to stay connected to their evolving needs and concerns.

Conclusion

Take your time working out your ideal customer avatar.

In many cases, the best customer avatar is you in the past!

For instance, I got burnt out working in a toxic workplace environment.

I loathe being micromanaged or following other people’s rules.

I’m a free spirit who craves lifestyle freedom and the ability to make my own choices. In the corporate world, we all mostly have to be compliant, and if you’re sick of that and want more freedom of choice, get started and then help people like you.

Is Catalyst Collective Worth It? Best Business Accelerator?

Is Catalyst Collective Good

Is Catalyst Collective Good?  5,200 members think so, and there is still so much room for growth

Catalyst Collective is Brooke Shelton’s popular business accelerator for Instagram entrepreneurs. It’s a business community platform that teaches social media revenue generation skills for existing or new businesses.

I joined Catalyst Collective because I wanted to learn how to make money online without selling my soul. I’d heard such great things about the program and its founder. Joining the community felt like a no-brainer.

The Catalyst program provides a business scaling framework with training modules, Meta business coaching, and practical tasks within a thriving online entrepreneurship community.

Catalyst Collective is like a university for social media mastery. Pick what you want to learn and start tapping in to your dormant entrepeneurial skills.

This Catalyst Collective review covers the community, courses, pros and cons, pricing and my personal experience. We’ll examine online member feedback, explore Brooke’s background, and business automation methods.

What You Need To Know About Catalyst

Catalyst is a unique program founded by Brooke Shelton, a Meta expert. It’s a standalone program that teaches budding entrepreneurs content creation strategies using marketing automation tools.

Training modules cover subjects like developing an efficient social media monetisation strategy for passive income development.

The training is easily accessible, and the $399 cost provides lifetime access.

It’s a low-risk business opportunity as Brooke is one of the only businesses of this type to offer a *no questions asked” 48-hour refund.

Who is The Founder of Catalyst Collective?

Brooke Shelton went from corporate life to becoming a seven-figure Meta business coach. She’s a Duke graduate who studied under consumer psychology expert Dan Ariely.

Much of the training in the Catalyst community is underpinned by psychological principles.

Brooke started at Boston Consulting Group, focusing on sales and digital marketing.

At Meta, she trained Machine Learning models, developed ad policies, and helped sell $250M+ in ads. She also advised big companies on digital strategies.

Now, Brooke teaches others to build businesses using Facebook and Instagram. In Catalyst Collective, she coaches entrepreneurs on using social media for brand growth and wealth creation.

The Catalyst Business Community

The Catalyst Business Community Platform is second to none in my experience. Brooke doesn’t gatekeep business growth information and stays updated with Meta changes.

It is a supportive business community where many started as beginners and built entrepreneurial skills from the training. T

The 7 Steps Catalyst Teaches for Business Growth

Brooke Shelton’s 7-step business growth plan underpins everything we learn.

Step 1: Plan

You begin by crafting your strategic roadmap. This initial phase focuses on developing a growth mindset, identifying your target market, developing ideal client personas, selecting your specific market position and setting up sales funnels.

Step #2: Start

This phase focuses on establishing your digital presence. You’ll develop personal and commercial brand identities, create effective email campaigns, and secure your digital footprint.

You learn mastery of Meta’s algorithmic patterns to optimise your content reach, while utilising platforms to build a robust business foundation.

Step #3: Scale

At this stage, the focus shifts to accelerating growth through strategic content deployment. Learn to create viral-worthy reels and leverage Meta’s algorithms across Instagram, Threads and Facebook.

Step #4: Design

You learn how to improve your visual storytelling abilities through advanced content creation techniques. You will master the essentials of video editing, professional photography, and digital graphic design principles, and learn to produce polished, engaging content that your audience loves.

Step #5: Monetise

Develop multiple income streams through various business models. Create and sell coaching programs, digital courses, and membership communities.Explore lucrative opportunities in high-ticket affiliate partnerships and lots more.

Step #6: Automate

Many content creators experience burnout from trying to create content manually. Catalyst teaches you to implement efficiency through simple technological solutions. Leverage AI tools, automation platforms, and productivity software to streamline operations.

Because of Catalyst training, I am creating my first digital products, AI prompts for SEO content creation, YouTube monetisation and more. It’s super exciting.

Step #7: Elevate

The focus is on holistic personal growth, wellness, and long-term productivity. Incorporate cutting-edge productivity solutions, investment strategies, and manifestation techniques and align personal development with business objectives (yes, it’s possible).

I somehow got to the *elevate* stage early on because I wasn’t happy with my niche. Since then, I’ve realigned with my spiritual values. I completely switched my business model to align with my heart and started a YouTube channel on the law of attracton – far removed from my role as an SEO writer!

catalyst collective

Learn from an ex Meta Sales & Branding Expert and take your business to the next level

Catalyst Collective Pros And Cons

In the months I spent researching Catalyst, I couldn’t find anyone with a negative thing to say about Brooke, the course or the community.

That’s’ like finding unicorn poop. In most digital marketing communities, you can usually find dissatisfied customers spouting off on social media.

Pros

  • Installment plans for payment
  • It’s quick and easy to set up for beginners
  • The community “energy” and support is great
  • 48-hour *no questions asked* refund guarantee
  • Weekly Q&As and helpful Instagram audit calls
  • Brooke continually updates and adds training material
  • Lifetime access to Catalyst training and the community
  • It’s a one-time fee of $399 with no monthly subscriptions
  • The Catalyst Community is highly active and engaged

Cons

I’m struggling to find cons, and I can say that because I bought several courses in 2024 that weren’t a patch on Catalyst Collective.

Digital marketing is booming, but it’s not easy for beginners. Creating content that converts is a skill. It’s not just a case of banging a few images together in Canva.

The two courses I bought previously, focused on money. The training was poor, and anyone struggling with sales didn’t get the support they deserved.

Catalyst Collective is the polar opposite of my previous experiences.

  • Brooke is high-energy. She’s a positive person who talks fast. Some people aren’t fans of that
  • Some say that the training isn’t beginner-friendly. Brooke took that on board and launched Catalyst Spark launches. It’s specifically for beginners, a $55 training introduction to the principles of Catalyst
  • Catalyst is not free – it costs $399 to join the Catalyst Collective community. There are instalment plans available through Klarna, Afterpay and the like

The Best Business Transformation Course 

Is Catalyst the best business transformation course? Yes, in my experience, it is. Certainly, for the price, it is incredible value. Brooke has her finger on the pulse and members have a voice. We ask, Brooke finds a way to make it thappen.

What I’m learning is so much more than I expected and the training is transforming my approach to my business.

  • The Catalyst program starts with creating a business plan, defining your customer, and choosing the right tools like sales funnels and product selling platforms.
  • Catalyst training provides a digital business transformation, teaching you how to scale your business using viral reels, organic growth, SEO, and analytics.
  • You will learn to sell through DMs, stories, and Instagram Shops, plus boost visibility with Instagram and Facebook ads and copywriting.
  • Catalyst covers creating courses, memberships, and high-ticket affiliate marketing. The automation phase introduces AI, software, and global teams to streamline operations.

I cannot believe the effect that Catalyst Collective training has had on me. I’ve literally dropped most of the things I was doing and now focusing on what fulfills my soul and is more likely to be profitable long term. I’m even getting back into my art and working on it to launch a new business.

The New Brooke Bot

Brooke created a bot for the Catalyst Collective Community and it is on fire! Need your Instagram bio rewritten? Wanyt ideas and scripts for reels, stories and more?

My First Impressions of the Catalyst Community

I’m ADHD, so I get easily overwhelmed when faced with too much information. Catalyst was all in one place on the Skool platform. Recently (Aug 25) it switched to the Kajabi platform.

Each module is a standalone. You can choose where to start once you have worked through the setup.

The training is clear and easy to navigate. The content downloads are generous, and the video content is high quality.

It was easy to follow the steps to get my affiliate links from the Beacons platform, which takes payment for Catalyst sales. That took around thirty minutes because, in typical ADHD style, I tried to rush it.

Brooke gives you a selection of cards to work through to plan your IG stories, which makes it faster and easier to create stories that work.

How Catalyst Changed My Entire Aproach to Business

Within the first six weeks, the Catalyst training modules turned my business on its head. I went from focusing on the *make money online* niche to entirely hating it.

In addition, I initially focused on selling Catalyst to others. Yes, it is a fantastic business growth program for any aspiring entrepreneur, but only focusing on selling it is not a sustainable path. Moreover, that doesn’t lead to personal or entrepreneurial growth. Plus, that is no longer an option.

I cannot remember which module hit home, but it felt like a sucker punch in the face.

I took two months off and refocused on my core strengths, writing and SEO. I’m a spiritual person who likes to inspire others. I wanted to connect with my inner joy. Just talking about making money left me cold.

Here is what Catalyst Collective training led me to: 

  • ONLY writing inspirational and educational content that I enjoy
  • Focusing on tasks I enjoy and that are more likely to create long-term passive income
  • Focusing on search engine marketing (Google, Pinterest, YouTube) and spending less time on social media
  • Creating a set of powerful AI prompts to help writers research, write and edit content in a fraction of time and effort
  • Refocusing on my publishing career: Researching, writing and publishing books on multiple platforms using free and low cost tools

Ultimately, Catalyst Collective helped reconnect me with what’s important to my soul, and stop messing about with activities that drain me of energy. 

That is what entrepreneurial skill development is all about, and Catalyst taught me that.

What Do You Get Access To With the Catalyst?

Catalyst is value-packed:

  • The Brooke Bot
  • Weekly Q&A sessions
  • Business strategy sessions
  • Done-for-you lead magnets
  • Catalyst Spark: A low cost intro course
  • Live marketing workshops, including sales and branding
  • Done-for-you templates – Instagram stories, reels and images
  • Lifetime access to all courses, including weekly additions
  • Personalised Instagram audit calls: Members get fantastic feedback

Bonuses include:

  • PLR Vault
  • 7-Figure Mindset course
  • Advanced sales course
  • In-person networking events
  • Done-for-you ads and sales funnels

It’s a comprehensive resource for business growth and marketing skills.

Who Is Catalyst Collective For?

Catalyst Collective is for anyone determined to break free from the traditional 9-to-5 and launch an online business.

Whether you’re interested in coaching, content creation, course creation, business growth, digital marketing, or running an e-commerce brand, the Catalyst program provides the necessary tools.

The platform offers a self-paced curriculum, weekly workshops, and a supportive community of *angels* to guide you in building a business you can be proud of and working toward financial independence.

The Catalyst Collective Program is ideal to learn how to create additional income streams. It provides business models and expert guidance on side hustles like affiliate marketing, dropshipping, and user-generated content (UGC).

If you want to scale an existing business online, Catalyst offers tools such as sales funnels, branding workshops, and Instagram audit calls to streamline your brand and automate growth.

Conclusion

After wasting money on disappointing and expensive courses, I took my time before jumping into the Catalyst.

My biggest regret is that I didn’t join Catalyst sooner.

Brooke adds new content weekly. If we ask for something, she finds experts and adds it to the community at no additional cost to members.

FAQs

Is There A Refund Policy?

Yes. Catalyst Collective has a *no-questions-asked* 48-hour refund.

When Did Catalyst Start?

Brooke launched Catalyst in January 2024 on the Skool platform.

How Many Members Are There?

The community is still relatively small but growing. There are 4k members (October 2024)

Is Catalyst Suitable for Beginners?

Yes, Catalyst is suitable for beginners. It helps if you have some experience of social media marketing, but it isn’t essential. The program takes you step by step, showing you how to build online business visibility.

How Does Catalyst Collective Work?

Catalyst is an affiliate-based business growth program that teaches you how to start and grow a business. You pay a one-time fee of $399 for the training, which gives access to the Catalyst community, course modules and weekly training.

Is Catalyst Collective Worth It in 2025?

If you want to start and build a business in 2025, Catalyst teaches you everything you need to know, including developing an entrepreneurial mindset.

What’s Included In Catalyst Collective?

You get lifetime access to the training, updated regularly, 70% commission on sales, weekly Q&A and sales and marketing meetings (all available on replay). You become part of the Catalyst community, where you can get support at all levels.

How To Make Money With Catalyst Collective?

You make money with Catalyst Collective by learning high-income skills to create digital products of your own, monetising Instagram, learning sales and copywriting skills, and much more.

Can You Make Money On Instagram With Catalyst?

No income guarantees exist because making money with Catalyst Collective depends on multiple factors. If you commit to the training and implement the new skills, you can succeed on and off Instagram.

Is Catalyst Easy to Get Started

Yes, there is no complicated setup. If you want to promote Catalyst and earn 70% commissions, you get step-by-step instructions in the first training modules. It took me about thirty minutes to be fully operational.

Is Catalyst Instagram Business Automation For Beginners?

A few people say they don’t think Catalyst is suitable for beginners. You need a basic understanding of social media and have the time to learn content creation skills.

From my perspective, the self-study training is easy for beginners as long as you don’t rush the training.

The biggest mistake beginners make with Catalyst is rushing to sell it before fully immersing themselves in the training.

4 Reasons It’s Important to Get Social Media Shares?

social media shares`

Focusing on Social Media Shares Will Help Your Business Growth

Social media shares are more important than vanity metrics. Likes and comments aren’t much of a factor in social media growth.

Whilst we all love the dopamine hit of someone giving our content a thumbs up or making a positive comment, you get a better ROI (return on investment) if you can get people to share your lovingly created post, video or reel.

Why Is It Important To Get People To Share Your Content?

There are multiple reasons for encouraging more shares, but here are the four most important factors in sharing social media content.

#1: Your Content Gets A Longer Lifespan

The more people who get eyes on your content, the better. When someone shares your content, their audience becomes your audience. If the sharer has a large following, whoop, you hit the jackpot.

On most social media platforms, your content disappears shortly after publishing, from minutes to hours, depending on the platform. Sharing helps keep your content active for longer, maybe for several days or weeks.

#2: Sharing Increases Your Reach

Social media shares help your content to get in front of a new audience, potentially your ideal customers. Ordinarily, you wouldn’t have access to this audience, or it could take months or years to reach them.

Depending on your content strategy, sharing can lead to increased followers, email subscribers, or buyers.

#3: The Algorithms Boost Your Content

Most social media algorithms aren’t spectacularly affected by vanity metrics such as likes. The algorithms react to early engagement when people favourite, share or comment.

Social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok roll out your content to a small test audience. If it gets low engagement, the algorithms stop showing your content, and it bombs.

If you’re stuck in the 200 club on TikTok, try creating more relatable content.

When someone shares your content, it signals to the algorithms that it’s good quality, engaging and might attract more viewers. After all, that’s what social media platforms want.

Subsequently, the algorithms will push your content to a broader audience.

#4: Sharing Builds Brand Credibility and Authority

When building your brand, sharing helps to increase your authority and credibility within your niche.

Whether we like it or not, we humans are influenced by popularity. We want to follow and engage with those brands that stand out and others like them.

How to Encourage Shares

Although it might seem baffling to find a way to get the lurking, silent followers to engage, they can share without getting noticed.

Here are four of the best ways to encourage social media content sharing.

Create Relatable Content

One of the most challenging aspects of marketing is to put yourself in your audience’s place. Even if you’ve experienced the same challenges, creating relatable content is tricky.

Try to dig deep into creating content likely to resonate with people on an emotional level.

Many people constantly share huge income claims on social media (FTC disapprove of this practice), thinking it will persuade people to buy from them.

In some cases, yes, people get sucked into believing they can have the same results. Though, for most of us, it feels like a punch in the gut if you haven’t yet had any financial success.

It’s not relatable.

If you’re earning £2k/month and someone shares their £20k/month success, it’s challenging to imagine 10X your income. It’s also content that is unlikely to get shares.

Share your challenges and the things you’ve overcome. Think about what matters to your target audience. What worries them? Maybe it keeps them awake in the early hours. What would help them and move them enough to want to share your content?

Encourage Engagement

Online communities have hundreds of thousands of people who remain silent, never engage and lurk frustratingly in the background.

Yes, it’s annoying when you cannot get your audience to talk to you, but remember this saying: “The true meaning of communication is the response you get.” It’s a neuro-linguistic programming presupposition.

People love to do things when asked. Fundamentally, we are compliant morons because we crave the feeling of importance. When we’ve done something (we consider) helpful, we like to tell people about it.

Ask your loyal followers to share your content if they found it entertaining, helpful or inspiring. Add a caption like “Share with someone who needs to hear this today.”

Make It Easy for People to Share

Check that your content is available to the public to share. Usually, there’s a share button that people click on and share with their followers in seconds.

Provide Value

All the social media gurus bang on about creating value, but it’s not always easy to know what content represents value. We know that social media shares are the most crucial element to growing your business, so we must put ourselves in our audiences shoes.

As a blog writer, I focus on writing content that Google loves. Typically, that’s educational, entertaining (make them laugh), meaningful in-depth, a listicle (5 types of blog content Google loves), trending or anything that evokes a response.

It’s challenging to cut through the white noise of colourless content on social media if you create the same content as everyone else.

Don’t be afraid to stand out. Share an opinion, even if that goes against the masses. Nobody became successful from being vanilla.

Conclusion

Views and likes have little value for social media growth. It only makes us feel good temporarily.

When you start creating content, please take a moment to think about whether it’s shareable. The more shares you get, the more followers (your ideal tribe) will enjoy and share your content.

To truly become a content creator, avoid publishing content for the sake of it so that you can tick it off the weekly list. It is better to post less but publish more meaningful content that has a better chance of getting shared.

15 Common SEO Mistakes Beginners Make & How to Avoid Them

common seo mistakes

Most SEO Mistakes Are Easily Avoided. Use Common Sense & Follow These Guidelines

Common SEO mistakes beginners make are easily avoided by checking through this list.

SEO (search engine optimisation) needn’t be complicated. Indeed, the simpler you keep it, the better.

Failure to address some of these SEO mistakes beginners make can hurt your search rankings.

Understanding these common SEO mistakes and learning how to fix them is crucial to driving traffic, improving visibility, and ranking higher on SERPs (search engine results pages).

In this guide, we’ll walk you through 15 common SEO mistakes beginners make and provide actionable tips to avoid them.

#1: Ignoring Keyword Research

Beginners often assume they know what their audience is searching for and skip proper keyword research. I get it. SEO tools like Ahrefs, Google Keyword Planner, and SEMrush help identify high-traffic, relevant keywords that align with search intent but are expensive.

You can use free keyword research tools such as Ubersuggest and Google Keyword Planner. You can also get ideas from Answer the Public.

Without research, you may target irrelevant terms or miss opportunities to rank for valuable keywords.

#2: Keyword Stuffing 

In an attempt to rank for a particular keyword, beginners often overuse it in content unnaturally. Unfortunately, keyword stuffing could incur search engine penalties.

Content should be readable for humans and not written in a way that doesn’t make sense. Google prioritises helpful content that flows naturally and provides value to its users.

Pick a primary keyword and use it around 2-3 times per 1,000 words. Research primary keywords and semantics because adding these to your content helps the bots make sense of your content.

#3: Neglecting Article Title Tags and Meta Descriptions 

Add meta tags – descriptions and title tags – to your content. It makes your content more easily understood by users and search engines.

If these elements aren’t optimised or are missing, search engines might pull random snippets of text to display in search results, reducing the chances of users clicking through to your site.

Ideally, add your primary keyword at the beginning of the title and the meta description.

Example

Primary keyword: smooth-coated dog breeds

Title: 14 Smooth-Coated Dog Breeds That Are Perfect Family Pets

Meta Description: 14 smooth-coated dog breeds that are the perfect pet for all the family. Discover everything about these family-friendly breeds from a dog behaviourist.

Titles should be up to 60 characters, and descriptions should be up to 160 characters.

#4: Not Optimising for Mobile 

With more users browsing on mobile devices, search engines like Google have adopted a mobile-first indexing approach.

Websites that are not mobile-friendly, with tiny text, poor site structure, slow-loading images and complicated navigation, or content that doesn’t resize properly will see drops in search engine rankings, and visitors will likely leave.

#5:  Using Non-Descriptive URLs 

A common beginner’s mistake is creating URLs (slugs) that don’t describe a page’s content (e.g., “www.website.com/page1”).

Descriptive URLs help users and search engines understand the page’s purpose. A well-structured URL should include relevant keywords and be easily readable.

For instance, for the doggy keyword, a suitable URL would be www.website.com/smooth-coated-dog-breeds

#6: Ignoring Local SEO 

For businesses serving a local area, optimising for local search terms is essential.

Beginners often forget about creating or optimising their Google My Business profile, using location-based keywords, or building local citations.

Neglecting local SEO means you could miss out on business from nearby potential customers searching for your services.

#7: Overlooking Site Speed 

Page speed is a crucial ranking factor.

Slow-loading websites frustrate users, increasing bounce rates and reducing dwell time, negatively impacting SEO.

Compressing images, using browser caching, deleting inactive plug-ins and reducing JavaScript and CSS bloat are essential for improving site speed.

#8: Failing to Build Internal Links

Your content needs internal links. It helps search engines to crawl your site effectively and distribute link authority (or PageRank) across your pages.

Beginners often forget to add internal links to posts and pages. That leads to orphaned pages (pages with no links to them), poor site structure, and missed SEO opportunities.

When developing your content strategy, focus on starting with a pillar post with multiple content clusters so you can interlink all of the content.

#9:  Not Optimising Images 

Large image files can hinder your website’s speed.

Beginners often overlook image optimisation by failing to compress image sizes. Avoid using big PNG files. JPEG images are smaller.

Alt text (adding relevant alternative text to an image file) is essential for accessibility and gives search engines more context about the image, which can help with image search rankings.

#10: Lack of Quality Backlinks 

Backlinks from established, high domain authority (DA) websites are a strong ranking signal, but beginners often focus on getting as many backlinks as possible without regard for quality.

Spammy or irrelevant backlinks can lead to Google penalties. Building organic, high-quality links from reputable sources in your niche is essential.

You can check your backlinks and scores with Ubersuggest.

#11: Ignoring User Experience (UX) 

SEO isn’t just about keeping the search engines happy; it’s also about creating a positive user experience.

Websites with confusing navigation, poor design, slow page load times, or excessive ads deter visitors. High bounce rates and low dwell times send negative signals to search engines, impacting rankings.

If you have an in-depth, heavy word-count article, intersperse images throughout the content.

To improve the user experience, have plenty of white space on the page, with no more than 3-4 sentences per paragraph.

#12: Not Updating Aged Content 

Many beginners create content and then leave it untouched.

However, outdated content that no longer reflects current trends, facts, or search intent may drop in rankings over time.

Regularly updating content ensures it remains relevant and aligned with evolving search queries. Additionally, periodically updating content helps with organic ranking.

#13: Not Using Analytics Tools 

SEO is a data-driven process. Without using SEO tools like Google Analytics and Search Console, beginners miss critical insights on how their website performs.

These tools provide data on keyword rankings, traffic sources, user behaviour, and potential issues, helping to refine SEO strategy.

For example, you can see which articles get the most clicks and target your content strategy to provide more of that content and link internally with the high-performing content.

#14: Ignoring Voice Search Optimisation 

As voice assistants like Siri and Alexa are becoming more popular, optimising for voice search becomes crucial.

Voice search queries are longer and more conversational, and beginners often forget to target these long-tail keywords.

Optimising content to answer common questions and using natural language increases the chances of ranking in voice search results.

#15: Overlooking HTTPS Security 

Security is a ranking factor, and websites that don’t use HTTPS encryption are marked as “Not Secure” by browsers like Google Chrome.

An insecure site deters users from trusting your site and can hurt your search engine rankings. Beginners often skip this critical step, leaving their sites vulnerable and less competitive in search results.

Conclusion

By avoiding these basic 15 SEO mistakes, beginners can set themselves up for long-term SEO success.

Master Resell Rights vs Affiliate Marketing. Which is Best?

master resell rights vs affiliate marketing

It’s Essential to Consider the Pros & Cons of Master Resell Rights and Affiliate Marketing

Master resell rights vs affiliate marketing offer unique opportunities for entrepreneurs. But which one is right for you?

I have tried both and have a preference.

Still, this article aims to assess these popular online income-generating methods independently.

81% of business brands rely on affiliate marketing to generate additional business, and experts suggest the digital product market will reach $331 billion by 2030?

It’s a booming industry.

Master resell rights and affiliate marketing can potentially transform your online business – but understanding their differences is crucial for success.

What Are Master Resell Rights?

Definition And Explanation Of Master Resell Rights

Master Resell Rights (MRR) is a licensing agreement granting you permission to resell an MRR product. Your customer then has the same resell rights, and so do their customers.

That means you can sell the product as your own and allow your buyers to do the same.

With most MRR, you cannot alter the content significantly, but you can sell a ready-made product with minimal work involved.

Types Of Products Typically Offered With MRR

Most Master Resell Rights are digital products such as courses, e-books, software applications, audio programs, graphics packages, and website templates (such as Canva).

Some popular niches for MRR products include social media marketing, personal development, health and wellness, and business strategies.

The advantage is these products are often professionally created and ready for immediate distribution, saving you time and resources in digital product development.

Benefits Of Using Master Resell Rights Products

MRR products often come with pre-made sales materials such as landing pages, email swipes, and graphics, which can significantly reduce your marketing workload.

Another benefit is the potential for higher profit margins from digital product reselling than affiliate marketing, as you keep 100% of the sale price rather than just a commission.

Potential Drawbacks And Challenges

One of the most significant drawbacks I found discouraging was that we get paid directly for the more expensive MRR products, such as courses.

Although that sounds fantastic, it means connecting with a payment processor, and herein is my issue.

Payment processing for digital sales can be tricky, especially if the product is high ticket and you have a lot of high value sales.

Some payment processors dislike the MRR business model and class it as “predatory”.

During 2024, I observed many people losing their payment processor accounts, and, for me, that was simply too stressful. It was the prime reason I turned to affiliate marketing.

4 disadvantages of master resell rights products

  1. Market Saturation – As more people promote the same products, it can lead to price wars and reduced profitability.
  2. Product Quality & Relevance – Unless the creator updates content, it can go out of date, and you have no control over product quality.
  3. Low-Quality MRR Products – Poor quality products can potentially damage your reputation.
  4. Customer Support – You may have to deal with customer support customer support for digital products, such as refunds.
master resell rights vs affiliate marketing disadvantages

Weight up the Pros & Cons for MRR & Affiliate Marketing

Understanding Affiliate Products

How Affiliate Marketing Works

Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing model.

Businesses pay affiliates an agreed commission for each sale or lead they bring to the company via a unique affiliate link and managed with affiliate tracking software.

Types Of Affiliate Products And Programs Available

There are affiliate products and programs for every imaginable niche, for physical and digital products. For example, Amazon offers an affiliate program for their products.

Affiliate programs exist for travel booking, web hosting, financial services, and more. Programs have different commission structures, such as the following:

  • Pay-per-sale (most common)
  • Pay-per-lead
  • Pay-per-click.

Some programs offer recurring commissions for subscription-based products, while others provide tiered commissions or bonuses for high-performing affiliates.

Advantages Of Promoting Affiliate Products

Affiliate marketing is a low-risk, flexible business model requiring little to no upfront investment.

Many affiliate programs provide marketing materials and support, making it easier to promote their products effectively.

Suppose you promote affiliate offers with recurring commissions. In that case, the potential for passive income is a significant advantage, as you continue earning commissions from your content or marketing efforts long after publication.

Common Hurdles In Affiliate Marketing

While affiliate marketing can be profitable, it comes with challenges. One of the primary hurdles is standing out in a crowded marketplace, as many affiliates may promote the same products.

Affiliate marketing success requires creativity and a unique marketing approach to building trust with an audience, as overly sales-focused content can turn off potential customers.

Beginners often fail to be compliant because they don’t realise the legal requirement to disclose affiliate relationships.

Comparing Revenue Potential

Profit Margins For Master Resell Rights Products

Master resell rights (MRR) products typically offer higher profit margins as you keep 100% of the sale price.

If you promote organically on social media or your blog, it’s a cost-effective business model. Still, remember you will pay transaction fees to the payment processor.

Commission Structures In Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate commissions vary from 5% to 50% of the sale price. Digital products often offer higher rates (30-50%) than physical goods (5-15%).

Some programs provide recurring commissions for subscription-based products or tiered structures rewarding higher sales volumes. For instance, Systeme pays 60% recurring lifetime commissions.

To build passive income, target affiliate programs with recurring commissions.

Factors Affecting Earnings In Both Models

Before choosing between master resell rights products or affiliate marketing, consider the following factors.

  • Pricing strategy (for MRR)
  • Your marketing skills and reach
  • Market demand and competition
  • Seasonality and industry trends
  • Quality and relevance of products
  • Your time and resource investment
  • Traffic sources and audience engagement
  • Commission rates and conversion rates (for affiliates)

Time and Effort Investment

Whether you choose MRR or affiliate marketing, there are a few considerations for time and effort.

Setting Up A Master Resell Rights Business

Setting up an MRR business involves sourcing quality products, creating a distribution system, and developing a marketing strategy.

Initial time investment is moderate to high, including product evaluation, website setup, and sales funnel creation.

Suppose there are any technical aspects to set up like sales funnel creation, that’s where most beginners struggle to get going.

Getting Started With Affiliate Marketing

Starting affiliate marketing requires less initial setup than MRR.

My advice is the following:

  1. Choose a niche – ideally, something you are interested in
  2. Build a blog generating a minimum 10k monthly impressions (merchants reject your application if you have no website, traffic or social media presence)
  3. Select affiliate programs you use, respect, or have an excellent reputation
  4. Choose programs with minimum affiliate commission rates of 20% and ideally lifetime recurring commission (these factors mean your efforts compound over time for passive income streams)
  5. Read the affiliate program’s terms and conditions
  6. Write product reviews and comparisons on your blog
  7. Select social media platforms to promote (Pinterest is great for driving traffic to your blog posts)
  8. Monitor results & adapt over time
affiliate marketing strategies

Whichever Business Model You Choose Effective Marketing Strategies Will Determine Your Success

Ongoing Work Required For Each Model

MRR: Regular tasks include customer support, product updates (if allowed), and continuous content creation and marketing. Time commitment varies, but expect at least 10-20 hours weekly.

Affiliate Marketing: Ongoing efforts focus on content creation, SEO, and audience relationship-building. Time investment ranges from 5-15 hours weekly, depending on the scale of operations.

With both business models, the goal is to master traffic generation techniques to drive potential buyers to your offers.

Scalability And Automation Potential

MRR: Scalability involves expanding product lines and automating delivery systems. Challenges include managing increased customer support and maintaining product relevance.

The downside of taking on more MRR products is giving potential customers too much choice. That can cause confusion and limit sales.

Affiliate Marketing: Highly scalable through content marketing and SEO. Automation possibilities include email marketing sequences and social media scheduling.

When you have learned how to generate quality traffic, you can start promoting high-ticket affiliate offers,

Legal and Ethical Considerations

Understanding MRR Licenses And Terms

Review MRR license agreements carefully. Key points are resale rights, modification limitations, and distribution restrictions.

It’s concerning how many people break the rules and guidelines and lose access to the MRR product.

Ensure compliance with terms to avoid legal issues. Keep records of purchased licenses. Understand the difference between MRR, PLR, and other license types.

Compliance With FTC Guidelines For Affiliates

Affiliate disclosure requirements are mandatory.

Disclose affiliate relationships clearly and conspicuously. Use precise language and place disclosures near affiliate links or at the beginning of content.

Avoid deceptive claims about products or earnings potential and stay updated on FTC regulations.

Protecting Your Business And Customers

Implement secure payment processing. Use SSL certificates for websites. Create transparent privacy policies and terms of service.

Protect customer data in compliance with regulations (e.g., GDPR). Consider business insurance. For MRR, ensure product quality to minimise liability. For affiliates, vet products before promoting.

Choosing the Right Path for Your Business

Assessing Your Skills, Resources, And Goals

  1. Evaluate your strengths: writing, technical skills, marketing experience.
  2. Consider available time and capital.
  3. Determine short and long-term business goals.
  4. Assess your motivation levels. How will you cope if you don’t get a sale for months? 90% of people quit for this reason.

I think we each have a personality suited to MRR or affiliate marketing. You may not know your preference until you get started.

Combining MRR And Affiliate Marketing Strategies

Blend your approach for diversified income. Use affiliate products to complement your MRR offerings. Leverage MRR products to build an email list for affiliate promotions.

Create content around your MRR products and include relevant affiliate links.

Tools And Platforms To Support Your Chosen Model

Most MRR creators supply tools like sales funnels and email campaigns, but some don’t.

I use Systeme to set up sales funnels and capture pages. Aim to build your email list to share valuable content and promote offers.

You can create email challenges, set up evergreen webinar content, host courses, and create a community on Systeme.

Expert Tips For Maximising Success In Either Approach

  1. Diversify traffic sources to reduce risk.
  2. Prioritise building an engaged audience.
  3. Focus on niche markets for less competition.
  4. Continuously test and optimise your strategies.
  5. Invest in ongoing learning to stay current with trends.
  6. Provide exceptional value to stand out from competitors.
  7. Ideally, choose programs with analytics and performance tracking, so you can monitor results from your efforts.

Conclusion

Content marketing for affiliates and master resell rights products offer exciting opportunities for online entrepreneurs. Your choice depends on your unique skills, resources, and business objectives.

Your results will improve if you learn SEO for digital product sales and marketing. Whatever you plan to do to make money, focus on creating long-term income diversification strategies.

What I like about affiliate marketing is that I am not responsible for payment processing, product creation, customer service or refunds.

I also love recurring affiliate programs commissions.

Whichever path you choose, remember that success comes from effective online marketing strategies.

In addition, it requires determination, adapting your skills and learning on the go. If something isn’t working, evaluate your process and make changes.

It can take months to get your first MRR or affiliate product sales. If you keep going, build content and stick with it, the results will come. After that, scaling an online business becomes easier.

How to Start a Blog for Beginners: A Step-By-Step Guide

how to start a blog for beginners

Starting A Blog Might Seem Daunting. However, In Time, Your Blog Could Become A Main Source of Income

I’m often asked, “How to start a blog for beginners?” because many people seem confused about how to start a profitable blog.If you’re in the UK, you probably Google “how to write a blog uk” and there is plenty of work to be found.

Yes, you can blog about your life experiences, share your innermost thoughts or tell stories about your cat. Still, did you know you can monetise a blog regardless of the niche?

Many blog owners have created 6-7-figure incomes from blogging, but is it really that easy? Yes and no, but you’ll learn more about successful blogging in this article, including blog monetisation strategies.

Why Start a Blog? What Are the Benefits?

Before learning how to start a blog, deciding why you want to follow this path is essential. What do you hope to gain, and what are your goals and expectations?

The power of blogging is you have a global audience. You have no restriction with location.

Blogging As A Platform For Personal Expression

Often, people associate having a blog as a place to offload your innermost thoughts and connect with like-minded people.

There’s nothing wrong with having an online journal, but reflect on your long-term goals. It can be tricky to monetise a personal blog unless you create merchandise.

The Potential For Monetisation And Passive Income

A blog presents a fantastic opportunity to create passive income from monetisation.

If you start with the end in sight, you will make better decisions about which affiliate programs to choose, what content to write, how often to publish and how to drive traffic.

I knew little about affiliate marketing when I started my website in 2017. Primarily, I used my blog as a showroom for my freelance services. I wish I had started earlier, and I encourage you to learn from my mistakes.

Building A Personal Brand Or Online Portfolio

If you are creative, like an artist or photographer, you may want a blog to showcase your creations. Your blog can help define and build your brand by sharing your portfolio.

Still, don’t miss an opportunity to create passive income from relevant affiliate offers, and write content that Google loves and helps your audience.

Developing Skills Like Writing, SEO, And Marketing

You can improve your chances of successful blogging by learning writing, SEO and marketing skills. I am an SEO writer, which has helped me get regular client work and get my content ranked in Google SERPs.

Blogging is pointless if you can’t get eyes on your published content. Developing additional skills that help you generate organic traffic is a must.

Choosing A Niche for Your Blog

choosing a niche for your blog

Many people dislike this part of starting a blog, but it is essential to success.

Understanding The Importance Of A Niche

Instead of explaining why choosing a niche is important, I will share my story about choosing the wrong niche.

In the mid-2000s, I connected with a man teaching how to build an Amazon authority website. I learned loads, but he told us to choose a profitable niche and not worry about choosing one we love.

After choosing the baby equipment niche (like nursery gliders), I spent 18 months creating content, and when I stopped, I had 80 published posts.

I never had children and found it tedious writing about baby stuff each week.

The site started making money, but I lost interest in continuing.

I should have chosen the dog niche, which I never tire of writing or discussing.

If you’re struggling with blog niche ideas, try using Claude AI or ChatGPT to brainstorm.

Tips For Selecting A Niche You’re Passionate About

What do you enjoy doing most? What lifts your heart and makes you feel alive? Whatever that is, you can start a blog, write content about it, and align affiliate offers.

If you don’t connect to a subject, don’t pursue it. If you have limited interest in a niche, it will become challenging to stay motivated.

Evaluating Market Demand And Competition

If we continue with the theme of dogs, choosing that as a niche is too broad. The dog industry is enormous, and your little blog will get lost among the big boys who can throw money at sponsored ads.

Research areas of the dog niche where you can specialise. For me, that would be dog behaviour, as I am a qualified behaviourist.

I could create a course or research affiliate programs such as specialised behaviour courses, dog toys, and other items.

Selecting the Right Blogging Platform

Everyone has an opinion about the best option for a blogging platform. Still, choosing a blogging platform you feel comfortable with is vital.

I use WordPress because I find it easy. Others prefer Wix, Squarespace, Blogger, etc.

What To Consider When Choosing A Blogging Platform

The key factors when choosing a blogging platform are the following: –

  • Is it easy to use?
  • The cost of hosting
  • Is it mobile-friendly?
  • The speed of loading
  • Can you customise your blog?
  • Can you scale the blog as it grows?
  • Does it have in-built SEO or plugins?
  • Does the platform provide technical support?

Instead of asking for advice from others, research different blogging platforms until you clearly understand which one you might like.

I find WordPress blog set up easy, and plenty of YouTube tutorials exist for beginners. It comes with essential plugins for bloggers like Yoast SEO, and you have a blog theme selection.

Pros And Cons Of Self-Hosted Vs. Free Platforms

I make no apologies for recommending self-hosting. Starting a blog on free platforms might seem like a good idea, but you have little control over your content.

I started a Substack account in 2023 and published 40 posts. Then, Substack blocked my account for phishing, which I hadn’t done. Thankfully, I had kept copies of my work.

That was when I decided to build digital real estate with my self-hosted website.

You can write on a free platform like Medium. It’s an OK start, but if you’re serious about blogging, start as you mean to go and do it properly by choosing a blog hosting service.

My WordPress site costs me £7.20/Month for hosting, so it isn’t expensive.

Picking a Domain Name and Hosting

The next step is to choose a domain name and reliable hosting.

Tips For Choosing A Domain Name

Choose a domain name carefully because you can’t change it later without losing the traffic you’ve built up.

I decided to keep my Wolfheart site because it was an aged domain I started in 2017.

Ideally, choose a domain name that says what your blog is about. For example, my new dog behaviour site is speaksdog.co.uk (not live yet), which relates to my niche.

Understanding The Importance Of Web Hosting

It’s vital to choose an established, reputable web hosting company. The best blogging platforms provide secure hosting, load your blog fast, look good on mobile, have technical support and have other options such as email facilities.

A2 Hosting

I use A2 Hosting for one of my sites. The WordPress hosting has been seamless, and support is excellent.

A2 hosting

I’ve Used A2 Hosting For One of Websites for Many Years & Always Been Happy With Their Service

Starting from $1.95, you can take your time to build your blog at an affordable price.

A2 Hosting has a 4.6* Trustpilot rating with 3k+ reviews.

Please Note: If you make a purchase from my recommendation of A2 Hosting, I may receive a small commission.

Choose A Recommended WordPress Theme

I’ve got an old theme on this website and I am loathe to change it because I know there will be technical bugs for me to sort out and I can’t face it.

I started a new vegetarian recipe blog in late January 2025 and I’ve installed the free version of OceanWP. You can get this theme (or one of thousands of others) by searching for themes in your WordPress dashboard. OceanWP has many thousands of recommendations and it’s been fairly intuitive to set up.

Writing Your First Blog Post

You have set up your website and hosting and are ready to write and publish your first blog post, so what’s the best way to get started?

Hey, if you want to generate additional income whilst you’re building your blog, read 38 websites that pay bloggers to write.

Creating a Pillar Post & Content Clusters

Before writing a word, brainstorm ideas for a pillar post. That is an in-depth post with multiple opportunities to write spin-off content (clusters).

For example, suppose your pillar post is “How to start marketing your business.” Content clusters could include topics like the following: –

Map out a content strategy for at least one month so you have plenty of blog content ideas ready to start writing.

Using On-Page SEO for Blog Posts

The basics of on-page SEO include the following SEO tips for bloggers: –

  • Compelling titles (up to 60 characters)
  • SEO-focused meta description (use the primary keyword)
  • Primary keyword – the main keyword for your SEO
  • Secondary keywords – additional keyword phrases
  • Semantics – use Claude AI or ChatGPT to ask for semantics for your article. Semantics help the Google bots understand your content and are a significant factor in ranking.
  • Add internal and external links
  • Add images and use alt text
  • Use Grammarly to edit and check for plagiarism
  • Use Microsoft Word to “Read Aloud”, as that enables you to hear mistakes and sticky sentences

Quick Tip: Use Claude AI or ChatGPT to generate semantics. An example script could be the following: –

“You are an SEO expert and have written an article entitled [insert title]. Please create [insert number] related keyword semantics (one per line)”

Promoting Your Blog and Building an Audience

When you first start blogging, you won’t have any traffic. Generating organic traffic takes time and requires a multi-prong approach.

Social Media Marketing

Choose up to three social media platforms to curate your blog content. Social media marketing can become frustrating with low reach, tricky community guidelines and a constantly changing environment.

I suggest committing to 3-6 months per platform to assess if you have an engaged audience. You also learn to adapt and improve your content over time.

Use Statistics to Measure Performance

I use Google Console mainly to assess which pages are performing best. After that, you can create similar content and use internal linking to get more views.

Google Analytics also gives a good overview of where your traffic is coming from and other statistics.

Pinterest Marketing

pinterest marketing

Don’t Ignore Pinterest. It Can Become An Epic Traffic Source With a Bit of Effort

I haven’t lumped Pinterest under social media marketing because it isn’t the same.

Even though it’s a slow burn, using Pinterest to promote your blog is a fantastic idea because the platform is a phenomenal search engine.

Anticipate 3-6 months before you see results from consistent pinning. Don’t give up because, in 12 months, your blog will get a lot of traffic and sales from Pinterest marketing. Pins are evergreen, so can generate traffic and sales for a long time.

At first, having enough blog content for Pinterest may be challenging. Create pins with blog links, as that is what Pinterest prefers.

Even though Pinterest guidelines say affiliate links are okay, my account got deactivated in June 24 for spamming. I can only track that back to an affiliate link I shared and a short link (read my post on preventing that from happening with your Pinterest account).

If you are Pinterest rookie, I have two free courses I recommend, plus paid courses and a fabulous Pinterest pin design course.

Monetising Your Blog

The final step in planning your blog is to monetise your content, and I have some essential guidelines to help you.

Build First, Monetise Later

When applying for affiliate programs, merchants often want to know how much traffic your blog gets. They will check your site to see how much content it has and whether it is high quality and relevant to their business.

After all, they want sales, so you are unlikely to sell anything if you aren’t generating traffic and only have a handful of blog posts.

I suggest monitoring Google Console stats and waiting to apply for affiliate programs until you have 10k monthly impressions (my site now has 30k/month as of August 2024).

Affiliate Programs or Affiliate Networks

This section is brief as I have a blog post on this subject.

I prefer affiliate programs to networks, and here’s why: –

  • I only recommend products or services I use, have used or know have an excellent reputation.
  • Most blog beginners head to networks like JVZoo, ClickBank and WarriorPlus. On these networks, products come and go and aren’t always good quality (IMO).
  • Building a relationship with an affiliate partner is easier than a network.

Monetise Your Blog With Ad Revenue

If you’re serious about how to start a blog for beginners and make money blogging, you will plan to monetise your blog with ad revenue. It can be one of the best passive income sources. However, you’ll need to do significant work to qualify for ad revenue programs.

Google Adsense

Google Adsense might say there are no minimum traffic requirements, but they won’t approve your application unless you have authentic content and high-quality traffic.

I stupidly applied when I practically had no traffic and received an instant rejection.

One helpful route to Google Adsense is to curate your content on YouTube. It creates another leg for monetisation. In addition, use YouTube to promote affiliate offers and send traffic to your blog.

In addition, you can pin your YouTube links on Pinterest.

Journey by Mediavine

Allegedly, Mediavine pays more than Google Adsense. Up until 2024, Mediavine had a minimum requirement of 50k monthly users. However, the new Journey by Mediavine requirement is only 10k monthly users.

It may take a year or so to build up to 10k monthly users because it isn’t the same as impressions.

You can find user stats in Google Analytics. Try not to get disheartened if your monthly user stats are low. That will grow by publishing consistent content and getting traffic to your blog.

Conclusion: How to Start A Blog for Beginners

Congratulations, you now know how to start a blog for beginners.

In this beginner’s guide to blogging, you’ve learned the basic steps to starting a blog from scratch!

Blogging for beginners isn’t complicated. Whether blogging for passion, profit, or personal growth, the most important element is to enjoy the journey and learn how to drive traffic to your blog.

Affiliate marketing for bloggers is something many fail to do. They quit when they don’t get results and creating consistent content seems too hard.

Patience is the key.

With practice, you will create a blog content strategy and learn how to write blog content that converts. You will start making affiliate sales and make passive income from blogging.

Starting a successful blog that pays you when you’re asleep will take time. It can become disheartening when you don’t see results, but if you build it, stay consistent and be patient, the rewards will come.

Disclaimer: There are affiliate links on this page. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.