7 Ways to Make Your First $1,000 with your Smartphone

When I started my business over a decade ago, earning the first $1,000 seemed like a big dream. If anything, I felt earning that amount of money would seal my fate in business. I could buy the tools I needed to work more efficiently. So I worked with great care and perseverance with my good old Nokia 3230 phone until I receive my first income of 359 Euro – equivalent to $423. This wasn’t a smart phone; just an ordinary Symbian phone. I used this first income to buy my first laptop in 2010. Today we have phones that are as powerful as the computers of 10 years ago. There are thousands of apps that can make you more productive, and even offer opportunities to earn income from them. You can literally build a side hustle using your Smartphone. Earning as much as or as little as $1,000 – depending on how you look at it – can make a lot of difference. You can use it to pay off debt, pay for rent, or invest it back into your venture.

What may seem like a huge challenge becomes simpler when broken down into actionable steps. So in this video, I’ll share with you 7 actionable steps to earn your first $1,000, more or less from your Smartphone. This video has three parts. In the first part, you’ll learn about the three limiting mindsets that hold people back from achieving goals like this. In part two, I’ll share the 7 steps you should take to earn your first $1,000 from your Smartphone. While part three takes you through 7 ways to make money from your Smartphone. Before we get to it, be sure to subscribe to After School TV for more insightful videos like this.

The right mindset

Nothing I say in this video will make any difference if you don’t have the right mindset. Here are three common mindsets that hold people back from earning their first income from a side hustle:

1. Get-it-Quick mindset

After speaking at a seminar a few years ago, a participant approached me for mentorship. He was all fired up to learn how to start his own business and didn’t hesitate to sign up for one-on-one mentorship. We met once a week and he got a task to accomplish each week. By the third week, he had lost interest. This wasn’t moving as fast as he wanted. He was hoping to start making money as soon as possible but he wasn’t getting what he wanted. By the fourth week, he was gone. The get-it-quick mindset deprives people of the patience and persistence required to make anything work. It also makes you vulnerable to Get-rich-quick peddlers. You need to understand that nothing worthwhile is ever achieved quickly.

2. Scarcity mindset

People with a scarcity mindset believe there is never enough to go around. So why invest so much time and effort on something when there is no guarantee it is going to work. If you have the scarcity mindset, you need to understand that first of all, nothing is guaranteed; you have to be willing to sacrifice some things for a chance to get what you want. Secondly, you have in your hand, a tool that gives you access to the world. This is an abundance of resources and opportunity.

3. I don’t have what it takes mindset

An author once said, “we are all in the gutter, but some of us are reaching for the stars” You deserve to achieve success as anyone else, not by entitlement but by the courage to ask and to receive.

7 steps to make money from your Smartphone

1. Identify a skill or product

The first step is to identify a skill or a product people are willing to pay for. There are many online courses and materials you can take if you are looking to learn a professional skill like digital marketing. If you already have a skill like good writing skill that’s a plus.

If you want to sell physical products, you need to go out in the market and research for products people are looking for online. Ecommerce is booming; people are increasingly purchasing goods online; from food items to sewing machines and real estate. Find a vendor that offers the product at a lower price.

2. Start learning about the product

Most people skip this part, but this is very important. You see, whatever you are going to sell, there are probably hundreds or thousands of people already offering something similar. You don’t want to be another annoying person sending unsolicited WhatsApp messages to your friends. You want to take a different approach to be an educator in your space. So read and study about the industry and product you want to sell. This will help you better understand the market you want to serve.

3. Distribute your product or service

You want to be where people who are looking for your product or service can find you. If you are offering digital services, platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer will do. If you are selling physical goods, eCommerce platforms like Jumia, Amazon, and any local online marketplace will do. Upload the sales copy or product description on the platform for other people to find you. A little caution here; don’t expect to start getting orders immediately. Follow the next step.

4. Learn about the online market place

Most people simply upload their product on marketplaces or their service on Fiverr and expect customers to start pouring in. Remember that there are already a large number of people selling similar to whatever you are selling. You need to study and understand how the platform works. What are the tactics and strategies that have worked for other people? If you are using any popular platform, you are likely to find tutorials and articles online to learn more about them. Implement what you learn.

5. Educate People

There is a growing number of niche influencers online. These people are known for educating people about a set of subjects on social media. This is an effective way to market your service and product. Marketing is education. You educate people to see the value of what you are selling. This is where you use your time on social media more productively. Educate people and become a go-to person in your area of skill or product. Don’t be over promotional. 90 percent content and 10 percent promotion is a good balance.

6. Advertise your product

A few weeks ago, I wanted to replace my internet router. I searched on Google; a local online marketplace came up. I clicked on the link, and the product at the top was what I was looking for; it was a paid promotion. I paid within 30 minutes of contacting the seller. The seller wouldn’t have made that sale if he was expected to be found organically on the platform. Advertising is a quick way to reach customers and make sales. Don’t leave anything to chance. You can start with as low as $5.

7. Repeat

Keep improving your skill or adding new products to your collection; continue to learn and educate people about what you do. Keep optimizing your ads.

7 Ways to make money from your Smartphone

1. Sell physical goods: You can buy and sell your own product or you help other people sell their product and take your share of the profit.
2. Sell real estate property: You can work with a real estate broker as a marketer, promote and make a commission for every sale. Depending on the size of the deal, you can make more than $1,000 from your first deal.
3. Promote other people’s products: Affiliate marketing is big business. A lot of people have made a fortune just from selling other people’s products online. Many online market places and businesses offer an affiliate program. Sign up and use the steps outlined above to start selling for some commission.
4. Teach on Zoom: If you have knowledge people are willing to pay for, you can start organizing online classes on zoom and charge people to participate. If your class costs $15 per participant, you’ll need to train 66 people to hit $1,000.
5. Offer Social media service: social media marketing and management freelance opportunities abound. Companies, influencers, organizations, and brands are increasingly in need of social media services.
6. Get a freelance writing job: Writing jobs are inexhaustible. If you have engaging writing skills you can get freelance jobs to quickly reach your $1,000 goal.
7. Start a blog or vlog: You can start a blog and or YouTube channel. If you are willing to remain persistent, you may end up creating a recurring passive income.

None of this is a quick way to make money. You have to be willing to put in the work and keep showing up. And you can do most of these from a Smartphone.

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