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  • Affiliate Marketing for Micro-SaaS Growth: A Complete Guide for Startups and Solopreneurs

    Introduction

    For most startups and solo founders, the biggest challenge isn’t building the product—it’s getting it in front of the right audience. You can craft the smartest AI-powered analytics tool, the most intuitive productivity app, or the sleekest niche SaaS, but without distribution, your business will stall.

    That’s where affiliate marketing comes in. Often misunderstood as an e-commerce-only tactic, affiliate marketing can be one of the most cost-effective, scalable, and performance-based strategies for micro-SaaS growth. Instead of paying upfront for ads or cold outreach, you leverage a network of motivated partners—bloggers, YouTubers, influencers, niche community leaders—who promote your product in exchange for a commission on sales.

    For a solopreneur with limited time and budget, this can be a game-changer. Let’s explore exactly how affiliate marketing works for SaaS, why it’s such a natural fit for micro-SaaS founders, and how to set up and scale your own affiliate program.

    1. What is Affiliate Marketing (in the SaaS Context)?

    At its core, affiliate marketing is simple:

    • You (the SaaS founder) provide a product that solves a specific problem.
    • Affiliates (partners) promote your product to their audiences using unique referral links.
    • You pay commissions only when a lead converts (signs up, subscribes, or purchases).

    Unlike traditional digital advertising, affiliate marketing is performance-based. That means you don’t waste money on impressions or clicks that don’t convert—you only reward results.

    Why SaaS Affiliate Marketing is Different

    While e-commerce affiliates often earn commissions per product sold, SaaS affiliates usually earn recurring commissions. If your SaaS runs on monthly or annual subscriptions, affiliates continue to receive payouts as long as the customer remains active. This makes SaaS affiliate programs particularly attractive to influencers and bloggers who want long-term passive income, and it makes your program more competitive compared to one-off sales.

    2. Why Affiliate Marketing Works for Micro-SaaS Startups

    If you’re a solo founder or small team, you probably face three major hurdles:

    1. Limited marketing budget – You can’t outspend VC-backed competitors on ads.
    2. Lack of distribution channels – You don’t already have an established brand presence.
    3. Time constraints – You’re building, supporting, and iterating on the product.

    Affiliate marketing addresses all three.

    • Budget-friendly: You only pay for results, not for experiments that may fail.
    • Built-in distribution: Affiliates bring you into audiences you’d never reach on your own.
    • Scalable with low effort: Once set up, affiliates become a semi-automated sales force.

    In short, affiliate marketing turns your early adopters and influencers into growth partners, aligning their success directly with yours.

    3. How to Set Up an Affiliate Program for Your Micro-SaaS

    Setting up an affiliate program is simpler than many founders think. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel—there are established platforms and best practices to follow.

    Step 1: Define Your Commission Structure

    The first decision is how much to pay affiliates. Common models include:

    • Flat-rate payout: e.g., $50 per new customer.
    • Percentage of subscription: e.g., 30% of the monthly/annual fee.
    • Recurring commissions: e.g., 20% every month for as long as the user stays subscribed.

    For SaaS, recurring commissions are highly attractive to affiliates because they provide passive income. A generous but sustainable structure (20–40% of revenue for the first 12–24 months) works well for micro-SaaS.

    Step 2: Choose an Affiliate Platform

    You’ll need software to track referrals, manage payouts, and provide affiliates with links. Options include:

    • SaaS-focused affiliate platforms:
      • Rewardful
      • PartnerStack
      • FirstPromoter
    • General affiliate networks:
      • ShareASale
      • Impact
      • CJ Affiliate
    • Do-it-yourself plugins/tools (for founders on a budget):
      • Tapfiliate
      • Affiliatly

    If your SaaS already integrates with Stripe, tools like Rewardful or FirstPromoter make onboarding painless.

    Step 3: Define the Rules and Assets

    • Minimum payout thresholds
    • Payment methods (PayPal, bank transfer, Wise)
    • Cookie duration (30–90 days recommended)
    • Promotional materials (banners, logos, email templates)

    The more professional and clear your program appears, the easier it will be to recruit affiliates.

    4. Recruiting Affiliates for Your Micro-SaaS

    The most crucial step is finding the right partners.

    Low-Hanging Fruit: Existing Users

    Your first affiliates should be your happy customers. If someone is already finding value in your product, they’re naturally motivated to recommend it. Add a referral program directly inside your SaaS dashboard to encourage sharing.

    Influencers & Content Creators

    Search for creators who:

    • Write/blog about your niche (“best productivity tools for freelancers,” “AI writing software reviews”).
    • Run YouTube tutorial channels.
    • Host podcasts in your industry.

    Reach out with personalized pitches, offering free access to your app so they can create authentic reviews.

    Niche Communities

    Forums, subreddits, and Slack/Discord groups in your vertical can be goldmines. Instead of spamming, engage genuinely and connect with moderators or thought leaders about becoming affiliates.

    Affiliate Directories

    Some platforms (e.g., PartnerStack marketplace) let affiliates discover your program directly. Listing your SaaS in these directories gives you passive recruitment.

    5. Strategies for Affiliates to Promote Your SaaS

    Affiliates use different tactics depending on their platform and audience. Here are common ones you can encourage:

    1. Review Articles & Comparisons
      • “Best AI-powered SEO Tools in 2025 (with pricing breakdowns)”
      • Your SaaS listed alongside competitors, with an affiliate link.
    2. Tutorials & How-To Guides
      • Step-by-step YouTube videos showing how your tool solves a specific pain point.
    3. Email Lists
      • Affiliates who run newsletters can promote your SaaS as a recommended tool.
    4. Coupons & Discounts
      • Affiliates love exclusive promo codes—they increase conversion rates.
    5. Bundles & Courses
      • Pairing your SaaS with an affiliate’s online course or paid community access.

    The more resources and ideas you provide affiliates, the better they’ll perform.

    6. Best Practices for Managing Your Affiliate Program

    Starting an affiliate program is easy—managing it effectively is the real challenge.

    Communication is Key

    • Onboard affiliates with a welcome email + quick-start guide.
    • Share regular updates (new features, case studies, promotions).
    • Provide a dedicated contact point for affiliate questions.

    Keep Affiliates Motivated

    • Run seasonal contests (e.g., “Top affiliate this quarter gets an iPad”).
    • Highlight top performers in your community or newsletters.
    • Offer tiered rewards (higher commission rates for affiliates who hit milestones).

    Monitor Quality

    Not all affiliates are equal—some may spam forums or use shady tactics. Monitor traffic sources, and don’t hesitate to remove affiliates who damage your brand.

    Automate Payouts

    Nothing kills enthusiasm faster than late payments. Use automated payout systems so affiliates trust your program long-term.

    7. Common Mistakes to Avoid

    • Too low commissions: If your payout isn’t competitive, affiliates won’t bother.
    • Lack of transparency: Hidden rules or poor reporting dashboards erode trust.
    • Neglecting affiliates: Without regular communication, they’ll lose interest.
    • One-size-fits-all strategy: Different affiliates need different resources.
    • Overcomplicating sign-up: Keep your onboarding frictionless.

    8. Case Studies & Examples

    Example 1: A Solo Founder’s Productivity App

    A developer launches a task management app targeting freelancers. With no marketing budget, he recruits affiliates through freelancer YouTube channels and niche blogs. He offers 30% recurring commissions. Within a year, affiliates bring 70% of his paid users, scaling his business to $10k MRR.

    Example 2: AI-Powered Writing SaaS

    Instead of running ads, the founder partners with influencers who teach copywriting. Affiliates create tutorials showing how the SaaS speeds up blog writing. The recurring commission model motivates affiliates to keep producing content.

    Example 3: Niche SaaS with PartnerStack

    A micro-SaaS offering compliance tools for startups uses PartnerStack. Listing in the marketplace alone brings in affiliates who already specialize in B2B SaaS, reducing outreach efforts.

    9. Scaling Your Affiliate Program

    As your SaaS grows, so should your affiliate program.

    • Tiered Rewards: Offer higher commissions for affiliates generating significant MRR.
    • Exclusive Partnerships: Work with top affiliates on co-branded campaigns.
    • Affiliate-Generated Content: Encourage affiliates to contribute blog posts or tutorials for your site.
    • International Expansion: Recruit affiliates from different regions to localize your growth.

    Some SaaS companies end up with hundreds of affiliates acting as an extended sales team—without ever hiring a salesperson.

    10. The Future of Affiliate Marketing for SaaS

    With the rise of AI tools, no-code platforms, and micro-influencers, affiliate marketing is more accessible than ever. SaaS startups that integrate affiliate programs early position themselves for organic, compounding growth—partners continuously bring in new leads while you focus on improving the product.

    We’re already seeing:

    • Affiliate + AI-powered content (AI-generated blogs, reviews, video scripts).
    • Affiliate micro-communities (small but highly engaged niche groups driving big conversions).
    • Hybrid referral/affiliate models (mixing customer referrals with pro affiliates).

    For solopreneurs, affiliate marketing is no longer just an add-on—it can be the core distribution engine.

    Conclusion

    For a startup or solopreneur building a micro-SaaS, affiliate marketing isn’t just another marketing channel—it’s a multiplier. It allows you to leverage the trust and reach of others, scale without massive ad spend, and create a win-win system where partners share in your success.

    By setting up a clear program, recruiting the right affiliates, and nurturing those relationships, you can transform your app from a hidden gem into a widely adopted tool. The earlier you integrate affiliates into your growth strategy, the faster you’ll compound results.

    Affiliate marketing isn’t a silver bullet—but for a resource-strapped micro-SaaS founder, it might just be the closest thing to one.

  • How to Get a Remote Job

    How to Get a Remote Job

    Are you sick of the rat race? Do you want to get away from the drudgery of commuting to work every day, being stuck in the rush hour traffic for hours every week or even hours every day, wasting your life away? Then this article is for you – read on to learn how to get a remote job which will free you from the rat race, and allow you to live your life on your terms!

    We’ve all been there, sat on a crowded bus or train for an hour or more, twice per day, just getting to work and back, five or six days a week. Or perhaps sat in your own car, driving to and from work, in the rush hour traffic, crawling along and surrounded by the noise of the traffic around you, the cars and trucks and buses filled with people whose stress levels are rising by the minute.

    Get Three Extra Years on Your Life

    Just think how much time you actually waste during the daily commute – a modest commute of an hour each way, over just five days a week (and many people work six or even seven days), adds up to 10 hours per week, which is 520 hours per year. If you start work at age 20 and retire at 70, that is 26000 hours! That works out as 1083 days, or approximately three years commuting!!

    To me that is mind boggling – 3 years of precious life just gone, taken away, with no chance to ever get it back.

    Imagine what you could do with 3 extra years of life. You could start and complete an entire university degree in 3 years, or travel around the world several times over, or start a family and spend 3 extra years devoted to raising your children, providing them with the best possible start in life. Perhaps you could build a successful business, or turn a side-business or hobby into a full time business. You could learn a musical instrument to a respectably high level. The possibilities are endless, and limited only by your imagination.

    Every day you probably think to yourself, “How can I escape this nightmare?! There has to be a way!”

    Luckily there is, and there has never been a better time for it. Find a job which allows you to work form home, or anywhere you happen to be, whether it be in a local cafe or a sun drenched tropical beach. We only get one life, a limited number of days and hours to experience all that there is in life, so become a digital nomad or remote worker to free up some of that precious time and boost your quality of life through the roof!

    Where to Find Remote Jobs

    In order to get a remote job, you need to find one on offer, a task made much simpler these days due to the ever growing number of job sites catering specifically to remote jobs.

    While there are many remote jobs to be found on such sites, it is important to note that not all are available globally. Even though technically a remote job could be done from anywhere in the world, more mundane issues such as employment regulations, company insurance, health insurance, and taxation issues can restrict remote jobs to people in the same country as the employer. Also, not all remote jobs are all remote, meaning that they could still require some on site work such as once a week in the office or visiting clients, and so staff need to be based in the relevant region.

    Here’s a few remote jobs sites you may find useful, ranked in no particular order (although I quite like We Work Remotely):


    https://weworkremotely.com/
    https://www.workingnomads.com/jobs
    https://www.flexjobs.com/
    https://beta.jobmote.com/
    https://nodesk.co/remote-jobs/
    https://jobspresso.co/

    Besides the above, you can find social network groups (on Facebook and LinkedIn for example) which list remote jobs. Another great way to find remote jobs is by checking the jobs page on company websites – either go direct to the company you would like to work for and check if they have any remote jobs listed, or do a general Google search for your particular trade or profession.

    There are big tech companies who are famous for hiring remote workers, such as Automattic (WordPress), and Zapier and they are always on the lookout for more talent, so if you have a suitable skill then check them out!

    There are surely more remote job sites out there, particularly in other languages (I only looked at English sites) so Google is your friend for finding those.

    If you know of any other good sites or social network groups to find remote work then let me know in the comments below!

    Convert Your Existing Job to Remote

    Finding a new job is not easy and there’s usually lots of competition for each position available, even more so for remote jobs. You may also like the job you have (but hate the commute) and want to keep it. So what can you do in such cases?

    Well, thanks to Covid, there are nowadays a huge number of employers who have switched to remote work to some extent, and even those who have not made the switch are aware of the trend these days and are often willing to be flexible on the matter to keep their employees happy.

    If you want to switch to remote but don’t want to leave your current job, just go and talk to your employer and see if they’d be willing to let you work remotely some or all of the time. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

    Create Your Own Remote Job

    If you can’t find a remote job in your profession, or your type of job is just not suited to remote work (of course many jobs simply cannot be done remotely), then there are still some options available to you. One option is to switch careers – find something you can do and which is suited to remote work, and start applying. Another option is to start your own business, offer online services as a freelancer or start an e-commerce business.

    If you’re not confident in your ability to do such a job or business at the moment, then start preparing. Do some courses (online courses naturally!) on places such as udemy. Also check out what your local government or employment service is offering in the way of retraining. Many places are now offering free training to help those affected by Covid restrictions switch to a new career, so take advantage of that while it’s still available!

    Plan Ahead

    Even when you do get a remote job, don’t just rest on your laurels – plan ahead! Save up as much money as possible to have a safety net in case the remote job ends. Invest some (not all!!) of your money in various ways such as in pension funds, the stock market, or cryptocurrency (carefully!). Start building up some passive income streams to supplement your current income and perhaps in future you’ll be able to ditch the salaried job and live the good life on your investments.

    You may need to retrain, or be flexible in the type of work you do or how much is remote. You may need to relocate to another part of the country or even another country entirely. You may need to take a risk, and just drop everything and go for it. It may not be easy to get the ideal remote job or start your own remote business, and you may fail several times along the way before landing the dream job. But one thing is sure – if you don’t try, you will not succeed, and in the meantime the clock is ticking.. your life is slipping through your fingers while you are stuck in a traffic jam every day.

    One of the few good things that came out of the pandemic is the rise in remote work, so grab the opportunity to get a remote job – you owe it to yourself!

  • How to be a Digital Nomad

    How to be a Digital Nomad

    You’ve probably seen the videos on youtube or other platforms showing the adventures being had by seemingly overly lucky people, while travelling the country or world in a van or yacht or motorbike etc., and you’ve dreamed of doing something similar.. just living where you want, how you want, and somehow making money online along the way to keep you going. Well the good news is you don’t need to be overly lucky, or rich, or look like a supermodel.

    There are many ways to become a digital nomad, and in many ways it is now easier than ever (and also harder). Read on to find out how you too could live the dream and make bank from home, even when your home is constantly moving…

    Corona

    Of course these days we’re still in the middle of the Covid pandemic, which has brought certain challenges to those wanting to live the digital nomad lifestyle. Many international borders are closed to tourists, proof of vaccination and/or negative covid tests are required to enter many places. This can limit your nomadic options in terms of where in the world you’d like to travel or live, but the lifestyle can be done in your own country as well, and in fact doing that can be a great way to do a trial run in a safer place until restrictions are lifted.

    Additionally, the pandemic has forced many employers to allow their staff to work remote, which is just what a digital nomad needs. Companies that previously were against having remote workers, have now embraced it, and found that it works and in many ways can be better than the old way.

    So Covid has been both a curse and a blessing, a challenge and opportunity – reach out and grab that opportunity!

    How to travel

    There are many kinds of digital nomad, some more mobile than others. Some nomads may stay in one location for months at a time or longer, while others are constantly moving from place to place, often with their own transport which doubles as home and office.

    Van Nomad
    YouTube is full of videos of people living in vans and travelling all over. Often the videos will show the whole process starting from converting an old Transit van into a campervan (or just outright buying a campervan).

    These days a van can be made quite comfortable with all the luxuries of home, as well as being a mobile office or workshop. Some people go for a more minimalist van conversion, perhaps just a mattress, portapotty, a few jerrycans for water storage, and maybe a solar charger to stick on the roof when parked.

    Either way is fine if it gets you where you want to go and allows you to live the nomad lifestyle. You can and surely will adapt and upgrade along the way, so don’t delay your journey just to get the van “perfect”.

    Bike Nomad
    For the more intrepid nomad, a motorbike can get you to those exotic faraway locations that a Transit van could never reach. It’s also going to be a lot cheaper to buy a bike, maintain it, and fuel it.

    Of course there’s a very limited carrying capacity on a bike, you certainly can’t live in a bike, but with a decent set of panniers you can carry quite a lot – including a tent, which you can live in.

    For the solo digital nomad adventurer, a bike may be all you need – just get yourself an adventure bike like the Royal Enfield Himalayan, and hit the road.

    Boat Nomad
    For those nomads that dream of the deep blue sea, spending their days sailing the world and exploring exotic islands, a yacht is the way to go, or a boat of some kind, and there are many kinds.

    There’s an old age along the lines of “a yacht is a hole in the water you throw your money into”, which can be uncomfortably close to the truth, as boats cost a lot to buy and a lot to maintain and require lots of special equipment that helps keep the crew alive on those epic ocean crossings.

    However, there’s another adage that says “go small, go now”, which basically means don’t spend your life saving up for that megayacht you think you need, just get something small and affordable now and go forth. Of course it still needs to be safe and suitable for the type of voyages you plan to take, but there are people who have spent years travelling the world on tiny sailboats.

    For some inspiration, check out “Sailing Alone Around the World” by Joshua Slocum, or the 8 year voyage in “Shrimpy”, an 18 foot sailboat, by Shane Acton. Another old but good one is The £200 Millionaire.

    Plane/Train/Bus Nomad
    Not every nomad brings their house with them, or has their own transport. Many, perhaps even most, simply travel on public transport in the usual way. Just hop on a plane (COVID restrictions permitting), to whatever part of the world you want to hang out in for a while, then train, bus or taxi to a hotel, hostel, or airbnb and get to work.

    Hoof It
    For some, the best way to travel is on foot (or maybe bicycle) because you get to see more along the way, you’re not in a hurry, and you keep fit! Sure you can’t cross oceans on foot, so may have to take a plane or ship to reach the next continent on your route. You can still make epic journeys though, and build a huge social following along the way, which brings in the money to keep on living the digital nomad lifestyle.

    Where to travel

    The world is your oyster (subject to the latest pandemic waves), so go wherever your heart desires. Perhaps an exotic island in Thailand, or a misty mountain in India, or maybe jungle is your thing, or the desert, or a big metropolis like London, Tokyo, Paris, Sydney, Delhi, Seoul…

    These days it’s relatively easy to apply for visas from anywhere, as many countries allow you to do that online, and all the info you need regarding travel to and in a country, and where to live while there, can be found online.

    Where to live

    Wherever you decide to go on your nomad journey, you will need a place to stay while there. If you brought your home with you, such as a van nomad or boat nomad, then most of the time you won’t be looking to rent a room anywhere, you just need a place to park your van or an anchorage or marina for your boat, or even a campsite (organised or wild) for your tent.

    For everyone else, you will be looking for a room, apartment or house to rent for a while.

    Backpacker Hostels
    If you’re travelling on a shoestring or just like the backpacker vibe, there’s always a cheap, character filled, hostel to be found. You may just need a bed in a shared room, and that’s one of the cheapest options. However I’d recommend getting your own room if you plan to work while there, which is likely as a digital nomad, rather than just someone on a long holiday. Most hostels do have private rooms as well, so just make sure they have decent wifi and go for that option.

    Hotels
    If your digital nomad business is doing well, you could go for a proper hotel room with room service and all the luxuries. For longer stays, you can often negotiate a significant discount, making it far more affordable. A decent hotel typically provides benefits such as improved security, professional management, reliable wifi connectivity, peaceful nights, and sometimes even business networking opportunities.

    Airbnb
    Of course airbnb is ubiquitous these days, and you can find some great deals in cool locations. Longer stays usually provide big discounts, and you can “live like a local” to some extent. In the big cities, they can be very expensive though, but probably you can find something suitable even if it means being a little further from the city center. Perhaps even get a house or villa and share the cost with other nomads.

    Couch Surfing
    Who doesn’t like free? Couch surfing can be a great solution when you need a place to stay while on your journey. However, this is more suited to short stays of perhaps one or two nights. Most people won’t really want digital nomads moving in for weeks or months (unless they are paying).

    How to make money

    A true digital nomad makes a living while wandering the world. Otherwise you’re just on an extended holiday and living off your savings. It’s now easier than ever to work remotely. That is partly due to COVID forcing employers to allow staff to work from home, and partly due to advances in technology, particularly communications and social networks.

    There is a somewhat skewed impression that digital nomads all make money with video channels and live streams, since those that do are the only ones actually seen, but there are in fact many more who make a living is other less public ways.

    There are of course many ways to finance the digital nomad lifestyle, but here are a few…

    Video
    By its nature, one of the more visible ways to make money as a digital nomad is with videos and streams on YouTube, Twitch and other such platforms. People love to follow along with adventures, dreaming of doing the same, and so you can earn money just by recording your travels.
    But of course there are other ways, often far more lucrative, to make money with videos. Do videos talking about or teaching what you know, or even what you eat (mukbang is a mystery to me but hugely popular), or gaming, or tech, or crypto or tech and crypto (TechLead allegedly makes around $50k/month from his channel!).

    Blogging
    If writing is your thing, rather than video streaming, you can easily create a blog using a service such as WordPress. Publish articles regularly and build up a following there, tied in to your social networks as well. Stick some ads on (Google Ads, WordPress ads, Adroll for retargeting, Amazon affiliate links, etc), and also start your own mailing list using a service such as MailChimp to give you greater reach beyond your web site.

    Freelancing
    If you have a skill that can be offered online, such as graphic design, web development, marketing, translation, audio production, teaching, writing, etc etc, you can easily do that from anywhere in the world. Freelance marketplaces such as Upwork and Fiverr provide all the tools and resources you need, as well as a built-in pool of potential clients.

    Merchandise
    Many digital nomads sell their own branded merchandise as a sideline income source. This is of course harder when you are just starting out and nobody knows you. When you have built a sizeable following though, you can sell these things to your fans. Services such as CafePress and Zazzle make it easy to do – you can create and sell your own branded facemasks!

    Temporary Jobs
    Of course online money making is not the only way. There are often places you can pick up casual work or temporary jobs to earn some money to keep you going until the next stop of your journey. Jobs in agriculture, or Amazon warehouses, or perhaps offering some service of your own – maybe you are a sailmaker, mechanic, carpenter, or teacher of some kind. Once you find a place you want to stay for a while, put the word out and see if you can pick up some odd jobs.

    Busking
    Are you musically inclined? If you’re staying in a busy place, and have a guitar or some other instrument, or even just your voice, you could earn a nice income just performing on the street (where allowed).

    Cryptocurrency & NFTs
    Disclaimer: not financial advice – crypto trading is very high risk. Never spend more than you can afford to lose!

    Most people have heard of Bitcoin these days, and if you’d heard of it 10 years ago when it was in its early days, and had actually bought some and held on to it, you could be extremely wealthy now.

    These days there are many more crypto coins and tokens available to “invest” in. Ethereum is another popular one, and you can see thousands more at CoinMarketCap.

    It’s getting easier than ever to get into the crypto space, but still not exactly simple and there are many dangers, many scams..

    You’ll need a wallet such as Metamask, and a way to buy whatever crypto you are interested in – centralized exchanges such as Binance, Crypto.com, Coinbase are popular choices – note that they will require identity verification due to “KYC” laws (know your customer), which can be off-putting to some.

    You can even earn interest on crypto by “staking” it – this is offered by many exchanges (such as those mentioned above), and some wallets. The interest is typically paid in the same cryptocurrency though and the value of that can go either way. But it’s potentially a nice source of passive income.

    There are various strategies to potentially make money with crypto – day trading, scalping, or just holding (“HODL“) for the long term in the hope that value increases (as it did with bitcoin).

    NFTs are another facet of the crypto world which is very hot right now – you can buy and sell NFTs (non-fungible tokens) which are typically digital art works of various kinds such as pixelized avatars, photographs, or even just bits of text. They can be traded on platforms such as OpenSea, and can even be used in games. You can easily learn how to create NFTs and make money with them, even if you are as artistically challenged as me!

    Don’t put all your eggs in one basket – multiple income streams help ensure you can keep on your journey. You never know when once source will dry up so don’t pin everything to that.. diversify.

    Gadgets

    There’s so much fancy tech around now, making it relatively easy to get online anywhere in the world, keep in touch and make a living, and stay healthy wherever you may be.

    Pretty much every smartphone nowadays can function as a mobile hotspot, allowing you to connect your laptop or tablet to the net using WiFi. But you can also get dedicated mobile hotspot gadgets that allow you to keep your phone free for other uses (and not drain its battery), and work with simcards all over the world.

    If you’re going to be off-grid, in a sunny part of the world, a portable solar charger can be a life saver. They can be small and foldable, and quickly deployed to charge up your phones or other devices.

    Staying healthy is critical and clean water is not always easy to find. A portable water filter can save the day – these can be very small, such as a “life straw”.

    If you’re camping, or even living in a van, a portable shower may be needed. There’s loads on amazon, but basically they consist of a hose pipe, a pump (often manual), and a curtain/tent.

    If you plan to busk along the way to make some money, or just like to play guitar, a travel guitar is invaluable.

    You will of course need a laptop of some kind. Whether you’re an Apple fan or Windows, or even Linux, I recommend something with at least 16GB of memory and the longest battery life you can find. One of the new Macbooks with the M1 processor for example.

    If you do get into cryptocurrency, you should probably get a hardware wallet for safety. Popular choices include Ledger and Trezor.

    If photography is your thing, you may want to invest in a decent SLR camera, rather than rely on your phone camera, perhaps also a GoPro for those action shots, and perhaps a camera stabilizer.

    Health

    When your health fails, your journey ends. Make sure to take care of it! Keep fit, eat a healthy diet, don’t smoke or drink too much alcohol, wear sun screen… the usual things. Take care of your mental health as well.
    It is also very important to have suitable health insurance if you are travelling abroad. If you need emergency medical treatment, or even just routine in some parts of the world, you can quickly end up out of money or worse…

    Hit the Road

    What are you waiting for? Make a plan for earning on the journey, get some starter funds saved, and go for it… escape the rat race, quit the 9 to 5 (not financial advice), and live your life the way you want, while you still can.

    If you are a digital nomad, or planning to be, let me know in the comments!

  • Beginners Cryptocurrency

    Beginners Cryptocurrency

    This being a blog about making money from home, it would be remiss to not cover cryptocurrency (often just called “crypto”) as well. It is after all one of the easiest ways to potentially make money from home (not financial advice) , sometimes a lot of money, as well as of course an easy way to lose a lot of money.

    What is exactly is cryptocurrency though? Very basically, it’s a form of (often) decentralised digital currency backed by cryptography, using a blockchain to store transaction data – a cryptographically linked chain of records.

    It sounds complicated, and in many ways it is, and there are many variations and forms of crypto… but you don’t need to know them all, just learn a few basics (“do your own research”), and start dabbling.

    Bitcoin (BTC)

    Probably the most famous crypto coin is of course Bitcoin. The one that everyone wishes they’d bought when it was new and worthless, or held on to if they did buy it back then (many did) since it is now worth a massive amount.. tens of thousands of dollars… maybe in the coming years even hundreds of thousands per coin! Bitcoin has made millionaires and billionaires and those that  sold early are now filled with regrets.

    Ethereum (ETH)

    The next most well known and widely used crypto is Ethereum which was co-founded by a programmer called Vitalik and designed to allow for decentralized applications and even other (“ERC-20”) cryptos to be built on top of it, with executable “smart contracts”. Examples of cryptocurrencies running on Ethereum include Shiba Inu token, but there are many others.

    Dogecoin (DOGE)

    Originally created as a bit of a joke, this coin has recently become extremely popular and considerably more valuable than it was for many years, thanks in no small part to Elon Musk talking and tweeting about it. Market cap now is around $40 Billion, which is quite impressive for a joke! It has also since spawned countless “dog coin” copies which have so far not come anywhere near the success for Dogecoin itself, although Shiba Inu has made decent progress.

    A multitude of crypto

    Besides the big ones such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, there are now countless coins and tokens, often referred to as Altcoins. You may have noticed that I said “coins and tokens” and the reason is that they are not quite the same, although often used interchangeably, so what’s the difference? Basically a coin has its own blockchain (such as Bitcoin and Ethereum), while tokens are built on top of an existing blockchain (such as ERC-20 tokens). Many cryptos these days are ERC-20 tokens running on Ethereum, but others have their own blockchain or run on BSC. A good place to seem them all (or many of them) is coinmarketcap, which currently has over 11k cryptocurrencies listed, and shows the current and previous prices as well as important info about each one including the contract.

    Cryptocurrency Exchanges

    Where can you buy crypto though? The easiest place is an exchange such as Binance and Coinbase. You just need to signup, complete there KYC process (“Know Your Customer”), and then you can buy crypto with your credit card or other methods they may support, and trade it for other currencies.

    Wallets

    When you buy crypto, you will need somewhere to keep it. If you buy on an exchange such as Binance, you can keep it there, but generally it is recommended to move it off the exchange and into a wallet that only you control. A wallet can be an app installed on your phone, or a browser plugin, or a safer option is a hardware wallet. Popular wallets include Metamask, Trust Wallet, and Ledger.

    Trust No One

    There are a lot of scammers out there in the crypto world, partly because it is still so unregulated and anonymity is common.

    Your wallet will have a passphrase, typically of 12 or more words – NEVER GIVE THIS TO ANYONE EVER.. NEVER EVER!!!  Also – DON’T LOSE IT OR YOU CAN LOSE ACCESS TO YOUR CRYPTO AND WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO RECOVER IT!!

    Scammers will try to get your passphrase in various ways, such as pretending to be from customer support. Don’t fall for it.

    When adding a token to your wallet or sending/receiving crypto, always check that it is legit, and that you have the right contract and right wallet address.. double and triple check everything!

    Better Late Than Never

    You may be thinking it’s too late to get into crypto, that the ship has sailed and you’ll never be able to make any money if you get into crypto now, but remember the vast majority of the world population is still not in crypto. There is massive room for growth, and lots of innovation creating new opportunities in crypto (NFTs and blockchain gaming for example). Just keep your ear to the ground, do your research, and go for it!

    But remember the first rule of crypto – don’t ever invest what you are not 100% prepared to lose! There’s no shortage of misguided people who threw their life savings into some hot new crypto and then lost it all… don’t be that person.

    Chances are you will lose money sometimes or even many times, not everything works out, cryptos can go up today and down tomorrow. They can go down just after you buy them, or if you’re lucky they could go up just after you buy them. Don’t be greedy though, if you see an opportunity to sell for a fat profit, take it.. if you wait longer thinking it might go up more, you could lose all those juicy gains.

    Often it is said the best strategy can be just to hold (“HODL”) for the long term. Remember it took years for Bitcoin to take off and reach the massive value it has now. If you bought it cheap and sold early then you missed out, but those who just held for years are now very rich. If you buy a new(ish) coin or token today, don’t be surprised if it goes nowhere for a long time, months or even years. But if you chose wisely (or luckily), a few years from now that crypto could have gone up 10x or even 100x.. or it could have died completely. Such is life in crypto.. it’s a rollercoaster! Have fun along the way, but don’t be stupid with your money – diversify, spread the risk, research everything, trust no one.

    I’ll go into more detail on some of the topics mentioned above, as well as others, in future crypto related articles so stay tuned!

    Disclaimer: nothing in this article or blog should be taken as financial advice. I am not a financial adviser. Do your own research. Never invest what you are not prepared to lose.

  • Wiki Funnels – the Secret to Driving BIG Traffic to Long Tail Niches

    Wiki Funnels – the Secret to Driving BIG Traffic to Long Tail Niches

    Wiki FunnelEveryone knows that Wikipedia is a goldmine for quality traffic if you can get it but one significant problem is that many niches or long-tail topics on Wikipedia get, due to their nature, very little traffic. The traffic they do get may well be very high quality and the niche may be extremely profitable when you do get traffic but if the topic on Wikipedia just doesn’t get much attention then you’re out of luck. However there is a very simple solution to this problem which I am going to call Wiki Funnels (you heard it here first! (hopefully)). It should be noted that this trick applies to any wiki, not just Wikipedia itself.

    What is a Wiki Funnel?

    So what is a wiki funnel and how do you go about making one for your own topics? Well most people spend their time trying to get links FROM Wikipedia to their sites because it is such a powerful link to have and because it can drive great traffic, however when the subject page on Wikipedia just doesn’t get much traffic you have to find a way to build traffic to that page on Wikipedia. You could go about creating loads of external backlinks to the page in question, hoping that it will result in more traffic but that’s rather wasteful. A much better way is to build relevant links from other pages within Wikipedia to the page on Wikipedia which you are interested in.

    A great thing about this is that you can do it without breaking any rules – you are actually contributing value to Wikipedia by improving navigation there, making it easier for visitors to find the information they are looking for.

    How do you build a Wiki Funnel?

    All you need to do is find other relevant wiki pages which don’t already link to your wiki page and which have traffic and then add a link. The key here is to make sure the pages you link from actually have traffic, otherwise you are just wasting your time. Fortunately it is easy to see how much traffic a wiki page has – just click the View history link at the top right of every page and there you will see another link for Page view statistics which will reveal all you need to know.

    When you find pages with good traffic you can add the link in a couple of ways – one way is to edit the article text to add a sentence or paragraph in which you can include your page name (by “your page” I mean the wiki page you want to boost). Of course it must be relevant, you can’t just go adding paragraphs which don’t belong there at all! Another way which is even easier is to simply add the link in the See also section which is typically found towards the bottom of the page and consists of just a list of related wiki pages, so there’s nothing you need to write besides the name of the page.

    So for example say your chosen subject was URL normalization, if you check the stats you will see it has about 4k views/month which is not too bad but it could better! So you go looking for relevant pages on Wikipedia which you could link to it, Canonical form looks good and it has over 9k views! So simply edit that page and add an internal link to the URL normalization page and that’s it – now some of that juicy traffic is going to find its way over to the page you are aiming to boost. Repeat this process several times so you build up a nice collection of traffic generating links. Imagine if you created a link on a high traffic page such as Search engine optimization which has nearly half a million views each month!

    Finding Link Sources

    Now you may be wondering how you go about finding relevant wiki pages where you can add the internal link, the answer is that you can either just google for them or use the wiki search feature. However there is an even easier way now and that is to use Keyword Predator which is what I did for the example above. Just enter the name of your page and it will return a list of relevant pages along with a Recent Interest indication which is based on those page view statistics. So if you find one which says interest is High or Very High then you just have to get a link in there! Even Medium is still a significant amount of traffic. If you can only find pages with Low interest (or Very Low but best not to bother with those) then you will just have to create more links from more pages like that.

    Tiers of Joy

    Which brings me to the funnel aspect – this method doesn’t have to be limited to a single tier of wiki links – every related page you link from can also be treated the same way. This means you can find pages relevant to that one and link to it from those, effectively creating a multi-tiered funnel of wiki links which all drive traffic back to your wiki page! This is particularly helpful when all the related pages you find for your page only have very low traffic – create multiple tiers so they all end up with more traffic to send to your page.

    Now like many internet marketing tactics, this one could be abused but I don’t recommend trying that. For one thing you will spoil Wikipedia (or whatever wiki you work on) and for another, Wikipedia mods are usually on the ball and will ban you very soon, undoing all that hard work you put in. Do it properly and entirely within the rules, and your ultra long tail niche could quickly end up with a secret mine of traffic which can be tapped in various ways.

    Of course how you get traffic from Wikipedia to your own site is another matter, it is not easy but it is possible and there are other ways to benefit from this even without a direct link to your site – just think outside the box!