My Complete Guide To Getting Started With A carding (Outside) And Why You Should
Hiring cardings is not only becoming more acceptable but also more attractive for many businesses. This creates an incredible opportunity for people with useful skills to start an independent business on the side and ultimately turn it into a sustainable one-on-one career. This is exactly what I did with my content marketing consultant business.
Less taxes, less employee costs, no healthcare, less office space - the list goes on. These are just some of the reasons many companies are looking for carding writers, designers, marketers, and developers to grow their business. Plus, for cardings today, there are so many great job websites that are meeting this demand that the opportunities are getting better and better.
A recent University of Phoenix study of 1,600 adults under the age of 30 found that 63% of people in their 20s either own a business or want to do it in the near future. Of those who are not yet an entrepreneur, 55% determined that they would someday want to become one.
So how do those of us, regardless of age, who want to work independently, start our careers as entrepreneurs? Well, the decision to start a carding business is one of the most workable, realistic, and achievable side things you can start while maintaining your day to day job (and the security that comes with it).
We all have bills to pay and expenses that don't magically disappear overnight when we decide to pursue our dreams. Choosing to become an entrepreneur comes with a lot of responsibility.
I recommend reading this guide completely from top to bottom, but if you prefer jumping around, here is a hyperlinked table of contents that takes you straight to each step of how to start carding.
10 steps to start a carding business full time in 2021
10 steps to start a carding business full time in 2021
Now let's dive into my guide on how to get started carding.
But first ... Why I started a carding business while staying in my main job
I grew my carding business to a six-figure outsourcing income before leaving my main job in 2016.
I live in Los Angeles, where the average rental price is one of the highest in the United States. So for me, immediately leaving my day job to continue my passion for self-employment has never been a viable option. That's why I decided to get serious about starting my own business on the side and building my personal brand as a content marketer - all the while, I still had a day job to pay the bills.
Since my ultimate goal was to work full time creating more in-depth content and courses for my blog and online community, I knew that if I could transition into the lifestyle of running a profitable carding business first, it could increase my savings. and ultimately gave me the flexibility to spend more time working on courses and content that I would need to fully test my ideas in the short term.
In this sense, I saw starting a carding business (in my case as a carding writer) as a necessary interim step in my progress towards returning to paid self-employment, this time on my terms. This strategic advance is underpinned by the travels many top entrepreneurs have gone through, and you can find out more from my picks of the best business books and the best online business courses for entrepreneurs.
Allocating more time, which I sincerely consider my most valuable resource, meant that I could start my own passive income business much faster than just cutting back on time in my day-to-day job. carding is more flexible. And while it comes with a different set of stressors than your regular day job, it was much less stressful (to me) than traditional 40-50 hour work a week. Even if this job is remote.
Like it or not, you should create a decent amount of time in your schedule , to start a carding business (and grow it).
Since I didn't want to go into debt or seek outside funding to start my carding business, I decided to start carding while keeping my day job, in my personal time before and after work, and on weekends. That meant quite a few short-term sacrifices when it came to "fun" on weekdays and weekends, but in the end it was worth it.
What's more, the experience taught me an incredible amount about how much hard work it takes to start a carding business and continue to deliver high quality results to clients while winning new contracts. It is not easy to find a balance between working “in” the carding business and working “on” yours, especially when you are still learning to manage the opportunities that come your way.
Fast forward a little ... on average today I can make between $ 20,000 and $ 30,000 a month (often more) in reliable income - now from my carding clients, online course sales, and other passive blogging income. sources here - they all go a long way in funding my future business endeavors.
Make no mistake, there is no doubt that it will be difficult to maintain high performance in the office - while still making the time to work on your carding projects.
But when you run your own full-time carding business and reap the benefits of your lifestyle while striving for self-employment, it will be worth the extra hours right now.
For you, as for me, carding is a means of getting closer to your dream career as an independent job.
10 steps to start a carding business full time in 2021
Before you start your carding business, you need to be very clear about why you want to carding at all. If you have broader goals, how you use a limited amount of time will largely determine your level of success as a carding.
1. Define your goals
Without well-defined, easily measurable goals, it will be very difficult for you to get to what you want.
Take time to understand why you are considering starting a carding business at all. You want…
Only after you have clarity about where you want carding to take you can you start maintaining your short-term goals and benchmarks that will help your carding business become successful.
"Only when you know where you want carding to take you can you be successful."
On Millo's blog, April Greer shares one of my favorite views on the importance of goal setting in your carding business and how to set meaningful goals that move you forward.
Let's say your overall goal is to become a self-employed carding. You set your own hours of work, decide who you want to work with, and do your best in your business. So how did you get there?
"How you use your limited time will largely determine your carding success."
You know you need to bring your carding income to a sustainable and healthy level that will allow you to eventually quit your day job without worrying about where your next paycheck will come from. Since I quit my main job too early in the past due to the phone case business I started (and eventually moved in with my parents for a few months), my personal rule is that now I must not achieve side income. less than 75% of what my paid job pays me, even before I thought of quitting to continue my side business - full time.
Starting with your target carding income based on your living expenses, risk tolerance, and realistic expectations of how long your savings can sustain you, you can now get back to a rough idea of how many clients you will need (and what you will do). have to charge them) before you get to the point where you can leave your day job to become a full-time carding.
2. Find a profitable niche
Let's say you are a graphic designer by trade, or at least in your spare time develop your Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop skills.
It is clear that there are many competitors in your industry who will be willing to charge much lower rates than you, no matter what you do. There are people from all over the world with a lower cost of living who will always be willing to settle for less paid concerts than you. Get rid of the thought of trying to compete on price as a carding right now.
"Get rid of the idea of trying to compete on price as a carding right now."
Don't drive other people to the bottom for carding work from home, especially when sites like Fiverr, Upwork, or other carding job sites already have countless options for low-cost cardings. Side note: I personally recommend that you never post your services to any of these sites unless absolutely necessary (after having first abandoned all tried and tested in this post).
After taking the time to find a profitable niche for your carding business (just like you would choose a blog niche if you decided to start a blog), you are actively looking for an industry and type of client that values quality. By being competitive in quality, you will completely change the way you sell your services. You will be competing for value, not price.
"Successful cardings compete on cost, not price."
Instead of taking on any graphic design project that comes to your mind, focus solely on infographic design for startup blogs or writing ebooks for corporate tech companies. Pick an area that really interests you and focus on being the best designer in that tight space - that's how you'll really find the right niche for the hustle and bustle. Once you have improved your skills to a level where you can confidently charge a premium, then you are ready to start your carding business and look for your ideal clients.
Once you make yourself invaluable in your niche, you have a platform with which you can expand your carding business in any direction in the future. Instead of worrying about how you're going to go from step 0 to 100, carding one small step at a time. Progress breeds more progress on your part.
3. Define your target customers
Attracting the right clients for your carding business is just as important as finding a profitable niche.
Since you are just starting your carding business, it is perfectly normal to take a slightly more granular approach to acquiring multiple clients. Make some initial assumptions about who you want to work with, target them first, and after working with some of them, you will develop a very clear idea of whether you want to keep looking for similar clients.
Since starting my carding business, I've over time honed my target client profile to fit only two very specific types of business. Fast-growing tech startups and business influencers with well-established personal brands.
The main reason I've narrowed my carding business focus so far is because I work best with these (very similar) clients and they both work in similar circles, which leads to frequent referrals. I am building my reputation in my niche.
This is a difficult decision at first because it means giving up a lot of clients. However, the process of narrowing the circle of your target customers that you work best with will help you achieve much better results in the long run. Once you have a few clients ready to defend you, momentum will really pick up steam. This is where Caroline Beaton has had great success when she started carding.
Going back to our drive to compete on value, not price, whatever you do to start your carding business, especially when you have very limited time to spare, should point to your ability to deliver the highest quality results to your clients. As one of my carding idols, Paul Jarvis, eloquently put it, "Make your clients so happy and successful that they become your salespeople."
"Make your customers so happy and successful that they become your salespeople." @pjrvs
Your goal is to build your credibility and ultimately become a useful resource for a certain type of client. Do it well and you can achieve true organic business growth.
By addressing a narrow (well-chosen) niche so well, your target customers will be able to very quickly decide that you are the best person to help them with their projects. This is, first of all, the way to accrue premium rates, while no one blinks at the first prices that you throw away.
To determine the best type of target clients when starting a carding business, ask yourself these three questions:
With my target clients, small start-up teams and founders with personal brands, they can instantly reach me due to my personal closeness to startups - and naturally match my style of content marketing strategy. Since my portfolio is directly applicable to what they do, they also start out with a lot more confidence that I can achieve similar results for their business.
4. Set strategic prices for your services.
I've talked a lot about setting the right prices for your carding business before you start. I even designed an infographic that walks you through the process of setting your carding hourly rate.
In terms of sheer numbers, this independent Bonsai rate researcher is as good as it can get at determining the expected hourly rate for your industry, to see if your rates match your income goals and spending levels. There are many great tools out there to double check if you are charging enough to afford the lifestyle you want to live, but I recommend starting your pricing strategy from a very different progression.
Remember, you should rate yourself based on the value you provide, not what your competitors are charging.
"Price yourself based on the value you provide, not what your competitors charge."
Don't let anyone dictate the terms by which you define your worth. This is not the point of starting a carding business.
Digital Marketing Consultant Neil Patel posts on his blog many of the lessons he learned while running a carding SEO business, even before he learned to make money blogging in more passive ways. One of the most important lessons I remember is that the more you charge, the fewer customers complain. Because he has been very discerning about targeting clients with large budgets, he knows that they are much more willing to spend money to get that money back by investing in your services.
On the other hand, smaller clients often don't have a lot of money to play with and therefore cannot suffer big losses if projects do not generate large profits.
There are no prices that are too high. Your prices may be too high (or too low) for the types of customers you are targeting, but if you do your homework deciding who to offer your services to, you will be selling exactly what your customers need - for a price. they can justify.
"There are no prices that are too high if you provide enough value."
In my carding business, I write well-crafted and detailed blog post ideas for my clients (just like I post here, which was one of my initial motivations to learn how to start blogging in the first place).
Most of my content is in the 1,500 to 2,500 word range per piece and is designed to rank well in organic search results, which is extremely valuable for most businesses. Since my work goes beyond just writing a headline and article, and strategically distributing and driving traffic after content is published, I add far more value to my clients than any other “writer” can offer. For this added value, my prices start at $ 500 per publication (plus distribution) and skyrocket based on other requirements and additions.
Don't charge too high a price, but never underestimate what you do for your customers.
Don't charge much higher than your value, but never underestimate what you do for your customers.
They are going to hire someone to help with their projects, so you just need to show them that you are the person to be helped. Cost becomes a minor issue if they are already confident that you are the best person for the job. This is a business and they will make it work, otherwise it shouldn't have been.
Keep in mind that you will not be the perfect person for every client, and remember that simply demonstrating that you know all the business slang and industry jargon in your niche is not a sign of authority.
"Price becomes a secondary concern when the client is already convinced that you are the perfect fit for the job."
5. Build a quality portfolio account on carding forum.
Since I am an avid proponent of building a powerful online presence to support starting a carding business, I brought in expert Laurence Bradford to share all the essential elements for building a carding portfolio that will help you attract valuable clients. Here's also my definitive guide on how to start a blog (and make money from it).
As a starting point, let's take a look at what the primary purpose of building a portfolio website is. This is often the prospect's first impression of you, your style, your job, and past clients (or companies) you have worked with in your carding business. You need to communicate effectively about the services you offer and who they are for. Also, you need to understand why you are the best person for this kind of work - for the clients you want to work with.
Your carding portfolio should do the following in order to really effectively market your services:
As you develop your portfolio site, find other cardings in your space and get some inspiration from them to help uncover how they position themselves, formulate their value propositions, and build their business. If you need more resources on building a portfolio site, check out these tutorials on our carding forum:
Next, you'll want to showcase your best work on your portfolio site!
B]6. Create examples of what you can do (on your portfolio site)[/B]
You want your website to serve as a showcase for your experience.
"Your portfolio website is the place to showcase your expertise."
With this in mind, one of the best ways to show that you are knowledgeable in your space is to regularly post new content, images or videos (depending on the content medium you work in) that will be impressed by your target customers. with. Once you understand what your customers want, go out and create examples of this particular type of content - as if you were hired to produce it - for your own website.
There is no better way to market your services than already showing your clients that you can create what they need. What's more, it will make their projects much easier if you have a library of related work to draw inspiration from.
My site is a living example of this. When I set out to start a carding business, I decided in advance that, at least once a month, I was going to publish a very detailed blog post of over 4,000 words on topics that are relevant to teaching my readers how to get started. and developing a lucrative side business, this is the topic of everything on my site and something with which I have personal experience.
It is no coincidence that I prefer to work with clients who have a very similar target market to those I interact with on my personal blog here. All my potential clients have to do is look at a few of my posts to see how engaged they are, to grasp my conversation style, and to get a feel for how I can work with them and their target audience.
If you're a web designer, your portfolio site needs to be crafted very carefully as everything in it is a reflection of what you can create for your clients. If you're a writer like me, then your blog posts should talk about the quality of the work you create for everyone you work with. It's the same with designers - make sure the images you post on your site reflect the style you want to create for your future clients.
7. Choose your first customers carefully.
Since you have a very limited amount of time to find new clients (and actually do the work for them) when you start your carding business, you need to make the most of the clients you attract. Both from a financial point of view and from a portfolio building point of view.
Your limited client base and related portfolio pieces will reflect how you are perceived by other potential clients moving forward.
This makes everyone you decide to work with or highlight on your website a critical decision, especially in the beginning. Obviously, you don't want to think too much about it and fall into decision paralysis, but take a minute or two to consider whether each prospect you consider will help you achieve what you want.
Bonus points if you systematically track carding leads with a tool like one of my best small business (and carding ) CRMs.
“Choose carding clients to help you get where you want to go.”
I usually only have 2 clients for my carding business at a time. This is not because of the lack of incoming job requests, but rather because I decided to devote my limited amount of carding time to these two clients who are most connected with future clients that I also want to work with.
Check out this post by Paul Jarvis on Lifehacker on how to select the right clients for your carding business.
8. Mention potential customers in your content.
Searching the internet for the best remote assignments does not always yield instant results. And it will be difficult for you to make a name for yourself in your niche if no one knows that you exist.
This is why, in every piece of content I create on my blog, I regularly mention brands, companies, and people that I could potentially work with one day. Even if I am not quite ready to work with new clients or I do not yet have the qualifications to close such big deals, it is never too early to start building goodwill and presenting my name in front of the right people in your office. target companies.
Look forward to the content you plan to create for your website in the coming weeks, and always keep a permanent list of the companies you want to represent. Then, once you post something that mentions them, take a few minutes to contact them and let them know.
Plus, if you're having trouble scheduling content, you can grab my free blog planner package and take it a notch higher today.
I cannot overemphasize how important this step was, it helped me start an independent business and develop my personal brand so quickly.
Almost every time I do this, the person I email to responds very quickly with gratitude, usually they share it through their company's social channels and they won't forget it.
Most of the time, you'll be writing a cold letter to someone you've never spoken to, but this nudge outside of your comfort zone is helpful.
Here are the basic elements of a meaningful cold letter, and below is my personal template.
Here's my personal cold letter template to alert potential customers when I post something that mentions them, which suggests they are already in my target audience.
Hi FirstName,
I have used (and love) [Company / Product] for many years and always recommend it to others when [appropriate use case].
I would like to warn you that I have introduced [Company / Product] as a resource in my post on 101 Essential Tools for Starting an Online Business, and this post is starting to gain traction. Hopefully this will drive traffic and new users to you.
Could you take a look at this post when you have a chance to make sure that I am detailing the benefits of [Company / Product] and pointing out the best destination for you? I am happy to make some quick edits before distributing the version of the post to Inc.com.
Ryan
You will notice that I am asking them to take action in my email. This is in their best interest since I just want them to confirm if I am describing them as best I can. Almost everyone I send this email to responds with either a thumbs up or a quick edit request.
Most important, however, is that I have established a connection with them based on the value I have already provided. The relationship is now established, leading us to improve your sales skills.
Regardless of whether I eventually start carding with them, get a remote job offer, or even if nothing comes of the new relationship, I still leave with a new friend.
9. Learn how to make yourself known
If you want to start carding, you need to know how to promote yourself - this is an asset that will be worth its weight in gold for years to come.
No matter how skilled you are in your craft, if you want to turn your skills into setting up a carding business, you must be able to convey your strengths and turn your conversations into paying clients.
My entire (now private) carding client acquisition course focuses on how to find, persuade, and attract new clients for your carding business - through carefully crafted offers and outreach tactics. And besides, we'll talk a little about how to drive traffic to your site that can turn into paying customers.
Here are the basics for creating an effective carding offer that will attract clients:
Check it out where you can download a free copy of my carding Proposal Template.
10. Don't confuse your day-to-day work priorities with carding business.
Above all, it's important to remember that your day-to-day job (and your only source of reliable income) is your number one priority.
Don't do anything that could jeopardize your ongoing employment as you still need it to support yourself while you are expanding your carding business on the side. My in-depth post on how to avoid getting fired (and prosecuted) when starting a side business is definitely worth reading when you're just starting your carding career.
There are many prohibitions you should avoid, including:
Now that you have an understanding of how to start a carding business, this is why I believe everyone (especially millennials) should be cardings on the side. It was one of the best business decisions I have ever made and has been my most consistent side business to date.
I highly recommend anyone considering starting a carding business or becoming a consultant to start with a part-time job first while continuing to work full time.
That's why.
Why You Should Start a carding Business Full Time
1. Testing self-employment without stress
You need to create a runway of customers and income that is already coming in before you quit and quit your job unless you are willing to spend potentially a lot of savings or take out a line of credit to support yourself until you generate a lot of income from your job . carding business or startup.
I'm all for calculated risks, so this one is simple to me: I need to bring in as much income as my current job affords me, or close enough to it (my personal rule is that my side business needs to generate 75% of what my full-time gig pays me), that I can justify quitting to focus full-time on client acquisition, before I even consider leaving.
By spending 10-20hrs / wk landing carding clients and working on their projects, you're going to get a very clear gauge on how much work it is running your own business. Bookmark these motivational quotes, because you might need them
Most importantly, you'll be perfecting all of your business practices without the stress of needing the income - because you still have your day job for that.
I'm very lucky that I loved the work I did at my day job (CreativeLive) when I started carding. It was meaningful, plus on a daily basis, I made great relationships and buildt my own personal brand while simultaneously driving outstanding results running the marketing for the business classes there. I wasn't in a position where I needed, or even wanted to leave my job there, so I had the benefit of being able to start my carding business on the side without the stress of being at a job that wasn't fulfilling.
2. Increasing Your Income
One of the nicest benefits of testing your way into starting a carding business while you're still working full-time, is the additional income.
Whether it's a few hundred dollars, or several thousand, it's important to keep very careful track of everything you're making through your carding side business. I recommend using a lightweight CRM tool like Close or Salesflare, both CRM systems for monitoring your clients and tracking the progress you're making on deals, in addition to keeping tabs on the value of each contract you're working on.
While you're steadily ramping up your carding income and signing more clients, I recommend saving 100% of your earnings from your new carding business. Before you even get started, be sure to set up a new checking account as your destination for getting paid by carding clients. This is extremely important for several reasons. You'll be very clearly tracking how much monthly income your carding business generates, it'll be in a separate account that you're not tempted to draw from, and you're actively building up a safety net for potential lean times ahead.
3. Building Your Skills
Arguably the most important reason to start a carding business while you're still working, you're going to be getting a lot of experience very quickly - you'll be discovering your strengths and honing your skills under circumstances that are within your control. You're not under the gun to immediately take on an overwhelming number of clients. Instead, you can focus on delivering very high quality work on a small number of projects that'll help you continue to get better at your profession.
As a writer, I know the importance of keeping up with trends and regularly practicing my abilities. Whether I'm writing for my own website or for a carding client project, I get to go through the exercises I want to continue to get better at, on a daily basis.
By carding my services, I'm getting paid by others to improve my skills.
Plus in the lead up to all of this, I truly learned what a blog is and taught myself an even more valuable skill set by going through the process of learning how to make a website, choosing from amongst the best website builders and publishing my writing online.
In hindsight, that was really the biggest win, because I've since gone on to monetize my blog with articles like my compilation of the best web hosting plans and monthly hosting plans that both provide value and drive revenue. I've also followed this up by starting a podcast of my own, which has led to more monetization opportunities like talking about the best podcast hosting I can now recommend to my audience too.
While researchers have never agreed upon a set number of hours of practice needed in order to become an expert on any subject, the more time you spend perfecting your skills and developing your own personal style, the better. A recent study at Princeton showed the amount of deliberate practice one gets may not correlate as closely with performance, as previously thought. Nevertheless, you'll undoubtedly experience immense benefits from working on your favorite skills.
From Michael Jordan to Bill Gates, they became extraordinary at what they do, not because they put in an incredible amount of time into practicing, but because they cared deeply about improving their abilities and being the best.
Start practicing as quickly as possible and you'll be able to command higher rates for my carding business down the road.
4. Nailing Down Your Pricing Strategy
When you first start a carding business, most people tend to greatly undervalue their services and set the bar very low at the beginning. This is often justified by trying to set rates that are based on “market value” or comparable to others within your industry. This is totally backwards, as you need to be pricing your services based on the value you provide. Yet, many cardings have to learn this lesson the hard way.
When you're bidding on a carding project, always start higher than you think you should. Focus on communicating how much value you're going to deliver for the client, and lean heavily on accomplishments & results you've already generated for other clients, or at your job. Be sure you're also taking proper time to plan out how long your projects will take — the right project planning templates can help immensely.
In addition to undervaluing your services, it's easy to significantly underestimate the costs that go into running your own carding business. $ 35 / hr at your 9-5 job is not the same as charging $ 35 / hr for your carding services.
Now that you'll soon be self-employed, it's time to familiarize yourself with all of the new taxes, taxes, fees, expenses, and costs of living that'll soon be placed upon your shoulders now that your employer will no longer subsidizing any of those costs. This infographic I created on How to Calculate Your Hourly Rate as a carding is a great starting point.
5. Creating Your Own Personal Brand
I'm a firm believer that you're developing a personal brand for yourself in everything you do. Deciding to start a carding business and tie your name to the work you do for a broad range of clients, is one of the best ways to start getting your name out into your industry.
"You're developing a personal brand for yourself in everything you do."
How do you want the world to see you? In starting a carding business, you'll naturally need to develop an online portfolio to display your works and show off what you can do for potential clients.
You'll need to create project proposal templates , sample works, and pricing guides before you go out and start pitching clients. What better time to begin creating these materials than while you still have a steady income from your day job?
6. Development of valuable connections
As Jeff Hayden, bestselling author and speaker said, “Don't make networks, make real connections."
"Don't build networks, make real connections." - @Jeff_Haden
View your carding business as an opportunity to build stronger connections with clients, delivering real value to their business. You are building a relationship that can last a lifetime. The relationships you can develop as a carding go far beyond just relationships with your clients.
While working as a carding and content marketer at CreativeLive, I stumbled upon countless amazing resources to learn how to start (and grow) my carding business and strived to build constructive relationships with the people behind them. Preston Lee, CEO of Millo, produces some of the highest quality, most actionable materials on how to improve your carding business.
Because I love the educational content that they spend countless hours creating for their readers, I am very active in supporting them in everything I do. This is a strategic decision that helps me develop my personal brand in the direction in which I strive to develop. If I can eventually work with them in my carding business, it will only be a spin-off to building strong relationships based on genuine mutual interests.
7. Discover your passions
If you spend your limited hours of free time every day looking for clients and working on multiple projects at the same time, you will very quickly know if you are passionate about writing, design, or any other task you may be doing. Take these 8 steps to uncover your strengths and hobbies and it will help you assess whether your carding work really matters to you.
As you start your carding business, you will also learn what industries you enjoy working in and the demographics of the clients you work with best.
Knowing what you will enjoy working on and who you want to work with is critical to being successful. It can mean the difference is that you are passionate about the project or just look at it as a paycheck. Take a look at your personal passions and see if there are any ways to align your carding business with clients who are somehow related to those interests; your hobbies can tell you a lot about your hobbies.
8. Discipline of training.
When starting a carding business, you need to have a strong commitment to delivering great results for your clients, regardless of the circumstances in your personal life.
Delay can ruin you. This prioritization is an essential component of my “Just Say No” time management system, which is also integral to developing successful blogging skills if you end up moving in that direction too.
There is no excuse for not doing a carding project other than the fact that you failed to complete it. Naturally, if something serious happens that interferes with your work, this is understandable to most clients. However, it is your responsibility to communicate unforeseen emergencies as clearly as possible (with revised expectations and timelines).
If you can find a way to devote a few hours a day to your carding business while you are still working full time, you will have no problem running your own business and meeting deadlines in the future.
Whether you get up at 5:00 a.m. or stay up late to work on your projects, you are training yourself to understand how disciplined you need to be when you work as a full-time carding.
Hiring cardings is not only becoming more acceptable but also more attractive for many businesses. This creates an incredible opportunity for people with useful skills to start an independent business on the side and ultimately turn it into a sustainable one-on-one career. This is exactly what I did with my content marketing consultant business.
Less taxes, less employee costs, no healthcare, less office space - the list goes on. These are just some of the reasons many companies are looking for carding writers, designers, marketers, and developers to grow their business. Plus, for cardings today, there are so many great job websites that are meeting this demand that the opportunities are getting better and better.
A recent University of Phoenix study of 1,600 adults under the age of 30 found that 63% of people in their 20s either own a business or want to do it in the near future. Of those who are not yet an entrepreneur, 55% determined that they would someday want to become one.
So how do those of us, regardless of age, who want to work independently, start our careers as entrepreneurs? Well, the decision to start a carding business is one of the most workable, realistic, and achievable side things you can start while maintaining your day to day job (and the security that comes with it).
We all have bills to pay and expenses that don't magically disappear overnight when we decide to pursue our dreams. Choosing to become an entrepreneur comes with a lot of responsibility.
I recommend reading this guide completely from top to bottom, but if you prefer jumping around, here is a hyperlinked table of contents that takes you straight to each step of how to start carding.
10 steps to start a carding business full time in 2021
- Define your goals
- Find a profitable niche
- Define your target customers
- Set strategic prices for your services
- Build a quality portfolio website
- Create examples of what you can do (on your portfolio site)
- Choose your first customers carefully
- Mention potential customers in your content
- Find out how to make yourself known
- Don't mix your daytime work priorities with carding business
10 steps to start a carding business full time in 2021
Now let's dive into my guide on how to get started carding.
But first ... Why I started a carding business while staying in my main job
I grew my carding business to a six-figure outsourcing income before leaving my main job in 2016.
I live in Los Angeles, where the average rental price is one of the highest in the United States. So for me, immediately leaving my day job to continue my passion for self-employment has never been a viable option. That's why I decided to get serious about starting my own business on the side and building my personal brand as a content marketer - all the while, I still had a day job to pay the bills.
Since my ultimate goal was to work full time creating more in-depth content and courses for my blog and online community, I knew that if I could transition into the lifestyle of running a profitable carding business first, it could increase my savings. and ultimately gave me the flexibility to spend more time working on courses and content that I would need to fully test my ideas in the short term.
In this sense, I saw starting a carding business (in my case as a carding writer) as a necessary interim step in my progress towards returning to paid self-employment, this time on my terms. This strategic advance is underpinned by the travels many top entrepreneurs have gone through, and you can find out more from my picks of the best business books and the best online business courses for entrepreneurs.
Allocating more time, which I sincerely consider my most valuable resource, meant that I could start my own passive income business much faster than just cutting back on time in my day-to-day job. carding is more flexible. And while it comes with a different set of stressors than your regular day job, it was much less stressful (to me) than traditional 40-50 hour work a week. Even if this job is remote.
Like it or not, you should create a decent amount of time in your schedule , to start a carding business (and grow it).
Since I didn't want to go into debt or seek outside funding to start my carding business, I decided to start carding while keeping my day job, in my personal time before and after work, and on weekends. That meant quite a few short-term sacrifices when it came to "fun" on weekdays and weekends, but in the end it was worth it.
What's more, the experience taught me an incredible amount about how much hard work it takes to start a carding business and continue to deliver high quality results to clients while winning new contracts. It is not easy to find a balance between working “in” the carding business and working “on” yours, especially when you are still learning to manage the opportunities that come your way.
Fast forward a little ... on average today I can make between $ 20,000 and $ 30,000 a month (often more) in reliable income - now from my carding clients, online course sales, and other passive blogging income. sources here - they all go a long way in funding my future business endeavors.
Make no mistake, there is no doubt that it will be difficult to maintain high performance in the office - while still making the time to work on your carding projects.
But when you run your own full-time carding business and reap the benefits of your lifestyle while striving for self-employment, it will be worth the extra hours right now.
For you, as for me, carding is a means of getting closer to your dream career as an independent job.
10 steps to start a carding business full time in 2021
Before you start your carding business, you need to be very clear about why you want to carding at all. If you have broader goals, how you use a limited amount of time will largely determine your level of success as a carding.
1. Define your goals
Without well-defined, easily measurable goals, it will be very difficult for you to get to what you want.
- Is carding just an extra income on the side of your main job?
- Do you want to end up becoming a full-time carding because of the benefits it gives you to yourself?
- Or do you want to use carding as a stepping stone to ultimately achieve a completely different goal?
Take time to understand why you are considering starting a carding business at all. You want…
- Become a carding writer?
- How about a carding designer?
- Maybe a carding developer?
Only after you have clarity about where you want carding to take you can you start maintaining your short-term goals and benchmarks that will help your carding business become successful.
"Only when you know where you want carding to take you can you be successful."
On Millo's blog, April Greer shares one of my favorite views on the importance of goal setting in your carding business and how to set meaningful goals that move you forward.
Let's say your overall goal is to become a self-employed carding. You set your own hours of work, decide who you want to work with, and do your best in your business. So how did you get there?
"How you use your limited time will largely determine your carding success."
You know you need to bring your carding income to a sustainable and healthy level that will allow you to eventually quit your day job without worrying about where your next paycheck will come from. Since I quit my main job too early in the past due to the phone case business I started (and eventually moved in with my parents for a few months), my personal rule is that now I must not achieve side income. less than 75% of what my paid job pays me, even before I thought of quitting to continue my side business - full time.
Starting with your target carding income based on your living expenses, risk tolerance, and realistic expectations of how long your savings can sustain you, you can now get back to a rough idea of how many clients you will need (and what you will do). have to charge them) before you get to the point where you can leave your day job to become a full-time carding.
2. Find a profitable niche
Let's say you are a graphic designer by trade, or at least in your spare time develop your Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop skills.
It is clear that there are many competitors in your industry who will be willing to charge much lower rates than you, no matter what you do. There are people from all over the world with a lower cost of living who will always be willing to settle for less paid concerts than you. Get rid of the thought of trying to compete on price as a carding right now.
"Get rid of the idea of trying to compete on price as a carding right now."
Don't drive other people to the bottom for carding work from home, especially when sites like Fiverr, Upwork, or other carding job sites already have countless options for low-cost cardings. Side note: I personally recommend that you never post your services to any of these sites unless absolutely necessary (after having first abandoned all tried and tested in this post).
After taking the time to find a profitable niche for your carding business (just like you would choose a blog niche if you decided to start a blog), you are actively looking for an industry and type of client that values quality. By being competitive in quality, you will completely change the way you sell your services. You will be competing for value, not price.
"Successful cardings compete on cost, not price."
Instead of taking on any graphic design project that comes to your mind, focus solely on infographic design for startup blogs or writing ebooks for corporate tech companies. Pick an area that really interests you and focus on being the best designer in that tight space - that's how you'll really find the right niche for the hustle and bustle. Once you have improved your skills to a level where you can confidently charge a premium, then you are ready to start your carding business and look for your ideal clients.
Once you make yourself invaluable in your niche, you have a platform with which you can expand your carding business in any direction in the future. Instead of worrying about how you're going to go from step 0 to 100, carding one small step at a time. Progress breeds more progress on your part.
3. Define your target customers
Attracting the right clients for your carding business is just as important as finding a profitable niche.
Since you are just starting your carding business, it is perfectly normal to take a slightly more granular approach to acquiring multiple clients. Make some initial assumptions about who you want to work with, target them first, and after working with some of them, you will develop a very clear idea of whether you want to keep looking for similar clients.
Since starting my carding business, I've over time honed my target client profile to fit only two very specific types of business. Fast-growing tech startups and business influencers with well-established personal brands.
The main reason I've narrowed my carding business focus so far is because I work best with these (very similar) clients and they both work in similar circles, which leads to frequent referrals. I am building my reputation in my niche.
This is a difficult decision at first because it means giving up a lot of clients. However, the process of narrowing the circle of your target customers that you work best with will help you achieve much better results in the long run. Once you have a few clients ready to defend you, momentum will really pick up steam. This is where Caroline Beaton has had great success when she started carding.
Going back to our drive to compete on value, not price, whatever you do to start your carding business, especially when you have very limited time to spare, should point to your ability to deliver the highest quality results to your clients. As one of my carding idols, Paul Jarvis, eloquently put it, "Make your clients so happy and successful that they become your salespeople."
"Make your customers so happy and successful that they become your salespeople." @pjrvs
Your goal is to build your credibility and ultimately become a useful resource for a certain type of client. Do it well and you can achieve true organic business growth.
By addressing a narrow (well-chosen) niche so well, your target customers will be able to very quickly decide that you are the best person to help them with their projects. This is, first of all, the way to accrue premium rates, while no one blinks at the first prices that you throw away.
To determine the best type of target clients when starting a carding business, ask yourself these three questions:
- Which businesses will benefit from my services?
- Which businesses can afford to pay the prices I need to charge in order to achieve my income goal?
- Who makes the decisions in these companies, and what can I learn about their demographics and interests? Can I find a way to connect with them on a personal level?
- Once you have all this information, you are well placed to create a cool email that directly addresses the essence of what these customers need from you - you can connect with them and offer immediate benefit.
With my target clients, small start-up teams and founders with personal brands, they can instantly reach me due to my personal closeness to startups - and naturally match my style of content marketing strategy. Since my portfolio is directly applicable to what they do, they also start out with a lot more confidence that I can achieve similar results for their business.
4. Set strategic prices for your services.
I've talked a lot about setting the right prices for your carding business before you start. I even designed an infographic that walks you through the process of setting your carding hourly rate.
In terms of sheer numbers, this independent Bonsai rate researcher is as good as it can get at determining the expected hourly rate for your industry, to see if your rates match your income goals and spending levels. There are many great tools out there to double check if you are charging enough to afford the lifestyle you want to live, but I recommend starting your pricing strategy from a very different progression.
Remember, you should rate yourself based on the value you provide, not what your competitors are charging.
"Price yourself based on the value you provide, not what your competitors charge."
Don't let anyone dictate the terms by which you define your worth. This is not the point of starting a carding business.
Digital Marketing Consultant Neil Patel posts on his blog many of the lessons he learned while running a carding SEO business, even before he learned to make money blogging in more passive ways. One of the most important lessons I remember is that the more you charge, the fewer customers complain. Because he has been very discerning about targeting clients with large budgets, he knows that they are much more willing to spend money to get that money back by investing in your services.
On the other hand, smaller clients often don't have a lot of money to play with and therefore cannot suffer big losses if projects do not generate large profits.
There are no prices that are too high. Your prices may be too high (or too low) for the types of customers you are targeting, but if you do your homework deciding who to offer your services to, you will be selling exactly what your customers need - for a price. they can justify.
"There are no prices that are too high if you provide enough value."
In my carding business, I write well-crafted and detailed blog post ideas for my clients (just like I post here, which was one of my initial motivations to learn how to start blogging in the first place).
Most of my content is in the 1,500 to 2,500 word range per piece and is designed to rank well in organic search results, which is extremely valuable for most businesses. Since my work goes beyond just writing a headline and article, and strategically distributing and driving traffic after content is published, I add far more value to my clients than any other “writer” can offer. For this added value, my prices start at $ 500 per publication (plus distribution) and skyrocket based on other requirements and additions.
Don't charge too high a price, but never underestimate what you do for your customers.
Don't charge much higher than your value, but never underestimate what you do for your customers.
They are going to hire someone to help with their projects, so you just need to show them that you are the person to be helped. Cost becomes a minor issue if they are already confident that you are the best person for the job. This is a business and they will make it work, otherwise it shouldn't have been.
Keep in mind that you will not be the perfect person for every client, and remember that simply demonstrating that you know all the business slang and industry jargon in your niche is not a sign of authority.
"Price becomes a secondary concern when the client is already convinced that you are the perfect fit for the job."
5. Build a quality portfolio account on carding forum.
Since I am an avid proponent of building a powerful online presence to support starting a carding business, I brought in expert Laurence Bradford to share all the essential elements for building a carding portfolio that will help you attract valuable clients. Here's also my definitive guide on how to start a blog (and make money from it).
As a starting point, let's take a look at what the primary purpose of building a portfolio website is. This is often the prospect's first impression of you, your style, your job, and past clients (or companies) you have worked with in your carding business. You need to communicate effectively about the services you offer and who they are for. Also, you need to understand why you are the best person for this kind of work - for the clients you want to work with.
Your carding portfolio should do the following in order to really effectively market your services:
- Tell us about your specialty and show examples of your work.
- List your contact information and showcase your personality.
- Highlight your relevant skills, education, and accomplishments.
- Show testimonials (even if they are from colleagues or former bosses when you are just starting out).
- Get regular updates to reflect your evolution, new clients, and updated artwork.
As you develop your portfolio site, find other cardings in your space and get some inspiration from them to help uncover how they position themselves, formulate their value propositions, and build their business. If you need more resources on building a portfolio site, check out these tutorials on our carding forum:
- The best blogging courses to point you in the right direction for creating an attractive website.
- Top Blogging Tips & Tips from Experienced Bloggers
- How to write a blog post (and compelling sales pages) to convert readers to customers
- My Most Successful Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Blog and Turn Readers into Leads
Next, you'll want to showcase your best work on your portfolio site!
B]6. Create examples of what you can do (on your portfolio site)[/B]
You want your website to serve as a showcase for your experience.
"Your portfolio website is the place to showcase your expertise."
With this in mind, one of the best ways to show that you are knowledgeable in your space is to regularly post new content, images or videos (depending on the content medium you work in) that will be impressed by your target customers. with. Once you understand what your customers want, go out and create examples of this particular type of content - as if you were hired to produce it - for your own website.
There is no better way to market your services than already showing your clients that you can create what they need. What's more, it will make their projects much easier if you have a library of related work to draw inspiration from.
My site is a living example of this. When I set out to start a carding business, I decided in advance that, at least once a month, I was going to publish a very detailed blog post of over 4,000 words on topics that are relevant to teaching my readers how to get started. and developing a lucrative side business, this is the topic of everything on my site and something with which I have personal experience.
It is no coincidence that I prefer to work with clients who have a very similar target market to those I interact with on my personal blog here. All my potential clients have to do is look at a few of my posts to see how engaged they are, to grasp my conversation style, and to get a feel for how I can work with them and their target audience.
If you're a web designer, your portfolio site needs to be crafted very carefully as everything in it is a reflection of what you can create for your clients. If you're a writer like me, then your blog posts should talk about the quality of the work you create for everyone you work with. It's the same with designers - make sure the images you post on your site reflect the style you want to create for your future clients.
7. Choose your first customers carefully.
Since you have a very limited amount of time to find new clients (and actually do the work for them) when you start your carding business, you need to make the most of the clients you attract. Both from a financial point of view and from a portfolio building point of view.
Your limited client base and related portfolio pieces will reflect how you are perceived by other potential clients moving forward.
This makes everyone you decide to work with or highlight on your website a critical decision, especially in the beginning. Obviously, you don't want to think too much about it and fall into decision paralysis, but take a minute or two to consider whether each prospect you consider will help you achieve what you want.
Bonus points if you systematically track carding leads with a tool like one of my best small business (and carding ) CRMs.
“Choose carding clients to help you get where you want to go.”
I usually only have 2 clients for my carding business at a time. This is not because of the lack of incoming job requests, but rather because I decided to devote my limited amount of carding time to these two clients who are most connected with future clients that I also want to work with.
Check out this post by Paul Jarvis on Lifehacker on how to select the right clients for your carding business.
8. Mention potential customers in your content.
Searching the internet for the best remote assignments does not always yield instant results. And it will be difficult for you to make a name for yourself in your niche if no one knows that you exist.
This is why, in every piece of content I create on my blog, I regularly mention brands, companies, and people that I could potentially work with one day. Even if I am not quite ready to work with new clients or I do not yet have the qualifications to close such big deals, it is never too early to start building goodwill and presenting my name in front of the right people in your office. target companies.
Look forward to the content you plan to create for your website in the coming weeks, and always keep a permanent list of the companies you want to represent. Then, once you post something that mentions them, take a few minutes to contact them and let them know.
Plus, if you're having trouble scheduling content, you can grab my free blog planner package and take it a notch higher today.
I cannot overemphasize how important this step was, it helped me start an independent business and develop my personal brand so quickly.
Almost every time I do this, the person I email to responds very quickly with gratitude, usually they share it through their company's social channels and they won't forget it.
Most of the time, you'll be writing a cold letter to someone you've never spoken to, but this nudge outside of your comfort zone is helpful.
Here are the basic elements of a meaningful cold letter, and below is my personal template.
- Find the best point of contact to reach out to.
- Improve the subject line for the recipient.
- Ask a short question.
- Sell your strengths.
- Always include a call to action.
Here's my personal cold letter template to alert potential customers when I post something that mentions them, which suggests they are already in my target audience.
Hi FirstName,
I have used (and love) [Company / Product] for many years and always recommend it to others when [appropriate use case].
I would like to warn you that I have introduced [Company / Product] as a resource in my post on 101 Essential Tools for Starting an Online Business, and this post is starting to gain traction. Hopefully this will drive traffic and new users to you.
Could you take a look at this post when you have a chance to make sure that I am detailing the benefits of [Company / Product] and pointing out the best destination for you? I am happy to make some quick edits before distributing the version of the post to Inc.com.
Ryan
You will notice that I am asking them to take action in my email. This is in their best interest since I just want them to confirm if I am describing them as best I can. Almost everyone I send this email to responds with either a thumbs up or a quick edit request.
Most important, however, is that I have established a connection with them based on the value I have already provided. The relationship is now established, leading us to improve your sales skills.
Regardless of whether I eventually start carding with them, get a remote job offer, or even if nothing comes of the new relationship, I still leave with a new friend.
9. Learn how to make yourself known
If you want to start carding, you need to know how to promote yourself - this is an asset that will be worth its weight in gold for years to come.
No matter how skilled you are in your craft, if you want to turn your skills into setting up a carding business, you must be able to convey your strengths and turn your conversations into paying clients.
My entire (now private) carding client acquisition course focuses on how to find, persuade, and attract new clients for your carding business - through carefully crafted offers and outreach tactics. And besides, we'll talk a little about how to drive traffic to your site that can turn into paying customers.
Here are the basics for creating an effective carding offer that will attract clients:
- Make a strong entrance with an elevator presentation email that already has tremendous value and shows you've done your homework.
- Sell your strengths.
- Anticipate and answer any questions that may arise.
- Draw on relevant work samples and past projects to showcase your expertise.
- Use a visually appealing layout for your proposal.
Check it out where you can download a free copy of my carding Proposal Template.
10. Don't confuse your day-to-day work priorities with carding business.
Above all, it's important to remember that your day-to-day job (and your only source of reliable income) is your number one priority.
Don't do anything that could jeopardize your ongoing employment as you still need it to support yourself while you are expanding your carding business on the side. My in-depth post on how to avoid getting fired (and prosecuted) when starting a side business is definitely worth reading when you're just starting your carding career.
There are many prohibitions you should avoid, including:
- Breach of any contracts or agreements you have signed with your employer.
- Working on your carding business while working for a company ( seriously, DO NOT do this ).
- Using company resources, computers, or paid blogging tools in your carding projects.
- And much more.
Now that you have an understanding of how to start a carding business, this is why I believe everyone (especially millennials) should be cardings on the side. It was one of the best business decisions I have ever made and has been my most consistent side business to date.
I highly recommend anyone considering starting a carding business or becoming a consultant to start with a part-time job first while continuing to work full time.
That's why.
Why You Should Start a carding Business Full Time
1. Testing self-employment without stress
You need to create a runway of customers and income that is already coming in before you quit and quit your job unless you are willing to spend potentially a lot of savings or take out a line of credit to support yourself until you generate a lot of income from your job . carding business or startup.
I'm all for calculated risks, so this one is simple to me: I need to bring in as much income as my current job affords me, or close enough to it (my personal rule is that my side business needs to generate 75% of what my full-time gig pays me), that I can justify quitting to focus full-time on client acquisition, before I even consider leaving.
By spending 10-20hrs / wk landing carding clients and working on their projects, you're going to get a very clear gauge on how much work it is running your own business. Bookmark these motivational quotes, because you might need them
Most importantly, you'll be perfecting all of your business practices without the stress of needing the income - because you still have your day job for that.
I'm very lucky that I loved the work I did at my day job (CreativeLive) when I started carding. It was meaningful, plus on a daily basis, I made great relationships and buildt my own personal brand while simultaneously driving outstanding results running the marketing for the business classes there. I wasn't in a position where I needed, or even wanted to leave my job there, so I had the benefit of being able to start my carding business on the side without the stress of being at a job that wasn't fulfilling.
2. Increasing Your Income
One of the nicest benefits of testing your way into starting a carding business while you're still working full-time, is the additional income.
Whether it's a few hundred dollars, or several thousand, it's important to keep very careful track of everything you're making through your carding side business. I recommend using a lightweight CRM tool like Close or Salesflare, both CRM systems for monitoring your clients and tracking the progress you're making on deals, in addition to keeping tabs on the value of each contract you're working on.
While you're steadily ramping up your carding income and signing more clients, I recommend saving 100% of your earnings from your new carding business. Before you even get started, be sure to set up a new checking account as your destination for getting paid by carding clients. This is extremely important for several reasons. You'll be very clearly tracking how much monthly income your carding business generates, it'll be in a separate account that you're not tempted to draw from, and you're actively building up a safety net for potential lean times ahead.
3. Building Your Skills
Arguably the most important reason to start a carding business while you're still working, you're going to be getting a lot of experience very quickly - you'll be discovering your strengths and honing your skills under circumstances that are within your control. You're not under the gun to immediately take on an overwhelming number of clients. Instead, you can focus on delivering very high quality work on a small number of projects that'll help you continue to get better at your profession.
As a writer, I know the importance of keeping up with trends and regularly practicing my abilities. Whether I'm writing for my own website or for a carding client project, I get to go through the exercises I want to continue to get better at, on a daily basis.
By carding my services, I'm getting paid by others to improve my skills.
Plus in the lead up to all of this, I truly learned what a blog is and taught myself an even more valuable skill set by going through the process of learning how to make a website, choosing from amongst the best website builders and publishing my writing online.
In hindsight, that was really the biggest win, because I've since gone on to monetize my blog with articles like my compilation of the best web hosting plans and monthly hosting plans that both provide value and drive revenue. I've also followed this up by starting a podcast of my own, which has led to more monetization opportunities like talking about the best podcast hosting I can now recommend to my audience too.
While researchers have never agreed upon a set number of hours of practice needed in order to become an expert on any subject, the more time you spend perfecting your skills and developing your own personal style, the better. A recent study at Princeton showed the amount of deliberate practice one gets may not correlate as closely with performance, as previously thought. Nevertheless, you'll undoubtedly experience immense benefits from working on your favorite skills.
From Michael Jordan to Bill Gates, they became extraordinary at what they do, not because they put in an incredible amount of time into practicing, but because they cared deeply about improving their abilities and being the best.
Start practicing as quickly as possible and you'll be able to command higher rates for my carding business down the road.
4. Nailing Down Your Pricing Strategy
When you first start a carding business, most people tend to greatly undervalue their services and set the bar very low at the beginning. This is often justified by trying to set rates that are based on “market value” or comparable to others within your industry. This is totally backwards, as you need to be pricing your services based on the value you provide. Yet, many cardings have to learn this lesson the hard way.
When you're bidding on a carding project, always start higher than you think you should. Focus on communicating how much value you're going to deliver for the client, and lean heavily on accomplishments & results you've already generated for other clients, or at your job. Be sure you're also taking proper time to plan out how long your projects will take — the right project planning templates can help immensely.
In addition to undervaluing your services, it's easy to significantly underestimate the costs that go into running your own carding business. $ 35 / hr at your 9-5 job is not the same as charging $ 35 / hr for your carding services.
Now that you'll soon be self-employed, it's time to familiarize yourself with all of the new taxes, taxes, fees, expenses, and costs of living that'll soon be placed upon your shoulders now that your employer will no longer subsidizing any of those costs. This infographic I created on How to Calculate Your Hourly Rate as a carding is a great starting point.
5. Creating Your Own Personal Brand
I'm a firm believer that you're developing a personal brand for yourself in everything you do. Deciding to start a carding business and tie your name to the work you do for a broad range of clients, is one of the best ways to start getting your name out into your industry.
"You're developing a personal brand for yourself in everything you do."
How do you want the world to see you? In starting a carding business, you'll naturally need to develop an online portfolio to display your works and show off what you can do for potential clients.
You'll need to create project proposal templates , sample works, and pricing guides before you go out and start pitching clients. What better time to begin creating these materials than while you still have a steady income from your day job?
6. Development of valuable connections
As Jeff Hayden, bestselling author and speaker said, “Don't make networks, make real connections."
"Don't build networks, make real connections." - @Jeff_Haden
View your carding business as an opportunity to build stronger connections with clients, delivering real value to their business. You are building a relationship that can last a lifetime. The relationships you can develop as a carding go far beyond just relationships with your clients.
While working as a carding and content marketer at CreativeLive, I stumbled upon countless amazing resources to learn how to start (and grow) my carding business and strived to build constructive relationships with the people behind them. Preston Lee, CEO of Millo, produces some of the highest quality, most actionable materials on how to improve your carding business.
Because I love the educational content that they spend countless hours creating for their readers, I am very active in supporting them in everything I do. This is a strategic decision that helps me develop my personal brand in the direction in which I strive to develop. If I can eventually work with them in my carding business, it will only be a spin-off to building strong relationships based on genuine mutual interests.
7. Discover your passions
If you spend your limited hours of free time every day looking for clients and working on multiple projects at the same time, you will very quickly know if you are passionate about writing, design, or any other task you may be doing. Take these 8 steps to uncover your strengths and hobbies and it will help you assess whether your carding work really matters to you.
As you start your carding business, you will also learn what industries you enjoy working in and the demographics of the clients you work with best.
Knowing what you will enjoy working on and who you want to work with is critical to being successful. It can mean the difference is that you are passionate about the project or just look at it as a paycheck. Take a look at your personal passions and see if there are any ways to align your carding business with clients who are somehow related to those interests; your hobbies can tell you a lot about your hobbies.
8. Discipline of training.
When starting a carding business, you need to have a strong commitment to delivering great results for your clients, regardless of the circumstances in your personal life.
Delay can ruin you. This prioritization is an essential component of my “Just Say No” time management system, which is also integral to developing successful blogging skills if you end up moving in that direction too.
There is no excuse for not doing a carding project other than the fact that you failed to complete it. Naturally, if something serious happens that interferes with your work, this is understandable to most clients. However, it is your responsibility to communicate unforeseen emergencies as clearly as possible (with revised expectations and timelines).
If you can find a way to devote a few hours a day to your carding business while you are still working full time, you will have no problem running your own business and meeting deadlines in the future.
Whether you get up at 5:00 a.m. or stay up late to work on your projects, you are training yourself to understand how disciplined you need to be when you work as a full-time carding.
