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Many aspiring entrepreneurs would say, “It takes money to make money.” But that’s not entirely true.
When it comes to starting a business, there’s no argument that you need a product or service to sell. And, more often than not, you require a bit of funds to get started – i.e. capital.
But unlike brick-and-mortar businesses, you don’t need a lot of money or experience to start an online business. In fact, there are several kinds of internet businesses that you can get up and running in one day, with no money at all.
So, if you’re bursting to be your own boss but feel stuck between a rock and a hard place because of finances, then your best bet is leveraging free online tools that require no technical expertise or prior marketing experience.
And you don’t have to sit through any dodgy presentations and “business opportunities” – which almost always require upfront membership payment anyway.
Owning and managing your own online business venture can give you the freedom to work from anywhere in the world, depending on if you’re looking to become a full-time entrepreneur or generate a part-time business for extra income. Either way, there are hundreds of business ideas but many aspiring business owners don’t know where to start.
Five Tips for Starting Your First Online Business:
- Take advantage of free, organic marketing. Create a social media schedule and regularly post content to sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Not only is this free marketing, it also helps your brand stand out and connect with your target audience.
- Avoid any upfront expenses. A small amount here and a small amount there adds up fast. And if you’re paying bills before you see anything in return, it can be discouraging. Utilize free marketing software, organic marketing tactics, and free design templates to grow your business in the beginning.
- Put in the work. This might sound obvious, but you always have to invest in something when it comes to starting a business. So, when you’re tight on cash, that investment has to be time and effort. Hard work is necessary for any business to take off, but even more so for those without the resource to hire a team.
- Tell friends and family. Get the word out about your new business venture, tell everyone you know. Use your social media bio to put links or post content that your network is likely to share.
- Become more resourceful. If you’ve never done this before, it’s highly unlikely that you won’t encounter any difficulties. But the world wide web is largely made up of free information and resources that are just one search and click away from discovery. Shift your mentality from “I don’t know how to do this” to “I can research how to do this.”
While it’s certainly possible to start an online business with no money or experience, that doesn’t mean starting without resources.
One of the most important steps in starting a profitable business is finding the right platforms to run your business processes. Usually, this is done by creating multiple accounts and connecting the various platforms with third-party integration software. This is where it becomes complicated and difficult to set up.
But with a free Groove.CM account, you can easily create a website, build an email list, or start an ecommerce store – all in the same place. No hassle, just select a pre-made template and use the drag-and-drop builder to create everything you need within minutes.
So, it’s only natural that we would recommend running your online business with our all-in-one Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution that is specifically designed for digital and ecommerce marketers. However, even if you were to opt for other service providers with similar offerings to promote your business, the following concepts would still stand.
Two Ways to Start a Business With No Money or Experience:
- Become an Affiliate Marketer
- Start a Dropshipping Ecommerce Store
1. Affiliate Marketing
No customers? No products? No money? No problem! Affiliate marketing might be for you.
When you’re an affiliate marketer, you can start your own online business without having an offering of your own. In other words, you make money by promoting and selling someone else’s product.
You don’t have to keep or maintain any inventory, you don’t have to ship products, and you don’t have to handle customer services queries. It’s a very hands-off, passive income stream after the initial setup because the merchant handles everything after you get the customer to click on the product link.
You offer the product for sale on your website, for example, and each offering has a unique link that tracks back to your account with the affiliate partner. After a potential customer clicks on your links and then makes a purchase, you receive a commission of that sale. Commission amounts vary depending on each affiliate partner. Popular affiliate sites are ClickBank, Amazon, and JVZoo.
Your only costs, if any, would be marketing and advertising expenses to drive traffic and generate sales – but this can also be done organically in the beginning. Just pick a niche for your online business and direct your content marketing efforts towards reaching that group.
That means, you don’t need any money or experience to get started with affiliate marketing.
Although, that’s not always guaranteed to be the case. A lot of affiliate programs require you to purchase the products first and then promote it – or even fill out an application – and then it’s often a paid product that you’re selling, which can be difficult for first-time affiliates.
So, while it is entirely possible to look into various affiliate marketing programs (and do due diligence before promoting anything), a safe and easy way to get started is by becoming a Groove JV affiliate.
By promoting Groove, you don’t have to sell anything. All you have to do is give away free accounts, and you’ll get the sale when they upgrade later.
PROS OF AFFILIATE MARKETING:
- Low risk: No financial investment required (with Groove Partner Program)
- Hands-off business model
- Quick to start
- Easily scalable
- High income potential
- Promote complementary products
CONS OF AFFILIATE MARKETING:
- No traffic = No money
- Working as a third party
- No control over the competition
Joining the Groove Partner Program
With a free Groove.CM™ account, anybody can get started and earn generous commissions by becoming a Groove affiliate. Approval is instant, as there’s no application process, and you don’t have to upgrade to access the program.
Technically, you don’t even have to use our software to promote our suite of products. But why build your business on anything else when it truly is the number one suite of digital marketing CRM tools on the market? It has everything you need (and more!) to convert leads into paying customers. You’d do better promoting it, by using it! Even for promoting any other affiliate products.
We want you to succeed in our Groove Partner Program. So when it comes to promoting affiliate websites, we have a team of Internet Marketing experts who know all about best practices and marketing strategies that have already been tried and tested.
And it’s all freely available in the GrooveDigital Academy.
We’ve also created pre-made high-converting, customizable Groove Promotion Tools.
So, whether you’re just starting out with affiliate marketing or have an existing network, you will find our program to be unlike any other – it’s fast, easy, and effective.
Later on, you can then start promoting other people’s products too. Or even start creating your own offerings once you’ve made enough profit to reinvest in another business.
Groove Partner Program Commission
When you sign up for your free account, you will get instant access to your own affiliate links and management area to start promoting Groove.
By promoting Groove products, you will earn 20% commission on Tier 1 and 5% on Tier 2 – using your free Groove account. By upgrading your membership, you will earn 40% commission on Tier 1 and 10% on Tier 2.
A Tier 1 conversion is when you refer a lead to Groove (via your affiliate link) and they convert. If that user then goes on to refer others, with their affiliate link, you receive a commission on those conversions too, which is Tier 2.
- 20% commission* on Tier 1 – for LIFE
- 5% commission* on Tier 2 – so you can build a downline and get paid for their efforts
- *Upgraded members get 40% on Tier 1 and 10% on Tier 2.
The good news is that no one can ever take your lead from you. You own it for life. It’s locked in and hard-coded to you! We call this “first tag wins.”
It doesn’t matter when or where they upgrade in future – you own it and are guaranteed any commission.
Plus, Groove Affiliates get paid weekly.
For more detailed information, go to www.groovejv.com
How to Build an Affiliate Page with GroovePagesⓇ
Whether you’re going to become a Groove affiliate or an affiliate for other products, you have to build your first landing page for your affiliate sales funnel. But again, this doesn’t require any programming, coding, or design skills.
The GroovePagesⓇ tutorials are designed to take you through a series of videos that will show you how to build your affiliate page. Follow this step-by-step training inside the GrooveDigital Academy, and you can complete your own professional-looking site within minutes.
Plus, you can easily search our library of in-depth builds and walkthroughs on our official GrooveDigital YouTube channel.
2. Dropshipping
This is an ecommerce business model with one of the lowest barriers to entry.
Usually, ecommerce entrepreneurs would have to spend a large amount of money on purchasing and managing inventory in bulk before they are able to start selling products online. Dropshipping allows even the smallest business owners to start an online business – with no upfront financial investment.
That eliminates the financial burden and risk of sitting with a warehouse full of stock that you might not sell, as well as the hassle of arranging logistics and deliveries.
Essentially, this means that once a customer makes a purchase, a dropshipping store then purchases that product from a third-party fulfilment provider and has the item shipped directly to the customer. Much like affiliate marketing, you only have to focus on the marketing and advertising efforts to find customers.
However, your company is the one that’s representing the product and overall customer experience, so it’s critical to use reputable dropshippers with proven track records.
PROS OF DROPSHIPPING:
- No risk
- Run the business from home
- Requires little to no startup money
- No inventory or storage
- Ability to scale fast
- Create your own store with ecommerce software
CONS OF DROPSHIPPING:
- Low profit margins due to competition
- Out-of-stock inventory issues
- Your brand is vulnerable to third-party mistakes
Create Your Own Dropshipping Store with GrooveKartⓇ
GrooveKartⓇ is a free ecommerce platform that handles all of your ecommerce business operations in one place. (Alternative: Shopify, $948+ p/y)
We make it easy for anybody to get started with GrooveKartⓇ. Other platforms charge you more for less, plus all the sneaky additional expenses for third-party apps which are all standard and free with GrooveKartⓇ. No hidden fees!
Plus, the user-friendly interface means that you can easily customize your store with hundreds of templates and a simple drag-and-drop builder – so you never have to code or hire a web designer.
GrooveKartⓇ has a built-in integration to AliExpress, an online retailer that gives small businesses the opportunity to sell products to customers around the world with minimal capital. It also supports dropshipping, which allows businesses to accept and fulfil orders without holding any stock. Exactly what you’re looking for!
- Free full-featured access
- Free hosting
- Free custom domains
- Free integrations and built-in apps
- Free drag-and-drop builder
- Free high-converting templates
- Free payment processing integrations
Building Your First Free GrooveKartⓇ Store
The stores are unlimited, but there’s a limit on the number of stores you can build within a certain period of time. For paid members, this is once every 7 days. For free members, you’ll have to wait for 30 days.
- Log in to Groove.CM on your Chrome browser
- Select the GrooveKartⓇ app
- Add New Store
- Create a subdomain and check the availability
- Wait a few minutes for your store to be built
For more detailed information on how to fully set up your newly created store, complete the 3-Day GrooveKart Accelerator Challenge or search the GrooveDigital YouTube Channel.
Join the Groove Community
Looking for a bit of support and inspiration on your entrepreneurial journey? We’ve got the perfect place for you!
Join the official Groove.CM Facebook group for updates, live training, and community discussions.
How to Contact GrooveFunnels™ Support
Go to www.groovesupport.net and select from the following options:
- Search the self-help articles in the knowledge base,
- Select the live chat option in the bottom-right corner, or
- Create a ticket in the top-right corner.
