5 affiliate marketing tips and tricks to help you outstand in 2025

5 affiliate marketing tips and tricks to help you outstand in 2025

5 affiliate marketing tips and tricks to help you outstand in 2025

October 28, 2021

5 affiliate marketing tips and tricks

Affiliate marketing has become one of the best passive income streams during the pandemic. What makes it ideal is you can start by sitting at home with low investment and risk yet earning high ROI. 

In 2017, the global affiliate marketing industry was 12 billion USD, and now in the United States alone, it’s going to hit 8.2 billion USD next year. With that, you can potentially earn $154,700 per year as an affiliate marketer.

It might sound too lucrative and easy to execute as you only have to promote others’ products. However, to become a successful affiliate marketer, you need to be consistent and have a solid strategy. Luckily, we give you the specific affiliate marketing tips and tricks that will help you achieve your goals in 2025.

Affiliate marketing tips and tricks for beginners

The majority of affiliate marketers start without a proper plan and understanding, thus fail. If you want to succeed in affiliate marketing, here are 5 affiliate marketing tips and tricks to get started with affiliate marketing.

Have a clear approach for affiliate marketing

You can do affiliate marketing through various channels like a website, YouTube Channel, social media accounts, blogs, etc. However, one of the best tips for affiliate marketing is to opt for a clear approach before choosing the channel.

There are three distinct approaches to affiliate marketing. These include:

Becoming an Influencer

As an influencer, you can start affiliate marketing through your socials like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and others. You can also do it through your blog, but keep in mind that this requires you to have a large following to whom you can promote the products.

On average, an individual spends 145 minutes on social media daily. Consequently, becoming an influencer can be a good option to start with for a beginner affiliate marketer.

Becoming a niche expert

A niche expert is someone who has the credibility and authority to recommend products or services related to that niche. Most niche experts use a website for affiliate marketing. However, you can also use your blog or podcast for this purpose. 

Established firm

Building your authority as a marketing firm is the advanced level of affiliate marketing. It does not necessarily involve one person, platform, or niche. Rather, it requires a lot more resources and credibility to review or recommend different products.

Therefore, to do so, you have to be an established firm or startup. The websites like WireCutter, Buy for Life, and Reviewed.com are ideal examples of such firms.

Determine your niche

Once you know your approach, the next thing is to determine your niche. You cannot start with a random niche. Ideally, it has to be one that you find interesting and has the potential to earn you big profits.

For niche selection, thorough research is crucial. The research will not only help you in identifying a profitable niche but will give you insights into market trends and what your target audience is looking for.

There are various tools available that you can use for niche research. Namely, the best amongst them are SEMrush, Ahrefs, Google Keyword Planner, Google Trends, Ubersuggest, and a few others.

Discover affiliate programs in your niche

Now that you know your niche, you can start discovering about different brands’ affiliate programs. Back in 2016, a Forrester study suggested that around 80% of the brands have affiliate programs. Now, with the growth of the industry, you can only imagine the opportunities you have for affiliate marketing.

There are numerous big names for affiliate programs, and you can sign up for multiple programs simultaneously. But, one that has superseded all is Amazon Associates. By signing up for this affiliate program, you can earn a 1% to 10% commission for every sale through your site. The percentage commission depends on the category of the product.

Create content to promote the products

Once you have a clear approach, a profit-making niche, have signed up for an affiliate program, and set up a platform, the only thing left is creating content with affiliate links. There are numerous things that you need to be careful about while writing the content. Here are a few tips for creating valuable content for your audience:

 

  • Your goal should be to create information-rich content. Hence avoid the sales tone.
  • Create content that actually answers the reader’s query. Therefore, carry out proper keyword research and product research.
  • Provide honest and authentic reviews of the products
  • Focus on the product benefits rather than features
  • Verify all the affiliate links that you are using in your content
  • Make sure that you can track your affiliate links – using tools like SubID tracking
  • Enhance your domain authority
  • Follow search engine optimization best practices for ranking your website.
  • Along with SEO, run pay per click (PPC) ads

Conclusion

Affiliate marketing is the ideal low-risk business that has the potential to yield great profits. But it’s time-consuming and requires a solid understanding of affiliate marketing. Therefore, as a beginner, we advise you to be diligent about the strategy and follow these affiliate marketing tips and tricks.

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Learn how to write a business essay in 7 simple steps

Learn how to write a business essay in 7 simple steps

Learn how to write a business essay in 7 simple steps

October 07, 2021

Tips to easily write business essays

Knowing how to write a business essay is not something that will naturally come to you. It requires expertise in different aspects of business, such as marketing, finance, management, etc. Engaging a professional service like Write My Capstone Project can be a strategic choice to ensure that these complex subjects are handled with the necessary depth and clarity. Besides, you need to have the right skillset to express these heavy-duty ideas and thoughts in a well-articulated manner, which is where a custom essay writing service can come in handy. 

Creating business-oriented content which is compelling, persuasive, insightful and well-structured, is not a cakewalk. Moreover, you need to use the appropriate language, present the essay as per the requirement, and offer significant content backed by data-driven ideas. 

If you are looking for some tips and hacks to enhance your business essay writing skills, here’s what you should do. 

A step-by-step guide to teach you how to write a business essay

You may need to write a business essay for your admission to the business school or an essay about time management or you may have to present a detailed report based on a business idea in your company. In any case, the task requires hard work and dedication.

If you don’t have time to learn how to write a business essay, you can always delegate it to a research paper writing service and let professional academic writers take care of it. However, we’ve made the following step-by-step guide to prepare you if you decide to do it yourself.

Start with a thorough analysis of the essay prompt

Now, this can indeed be a tricky one. Be attentive enough to understand what the essay prompt is about. It can either be a discuss-type essay or a case study. Analyze the topic carefully because your entire essay depends on this information. Be mindful of the keywords such as illustrate, compare, criticize, or explain. Decide your approach based on such keywords. 

Your thesis, choice of vocabulary, the structure of the essay, and the concluding thoughts should be in synchroneity with the essay prompt. Do not start composing your essay until and unless you are 100% sure about the given topic. 

Come up with a strong thesis statement

Your thesis decides the fate of the rest of the content. It needs to be powerful and effective. It is the foundation of your essay, and you don’t want to develop your essay on shaky ground, right? 

A thesis statement is a statement that comprises the main theme of your argument and an idea about what your readers can expect from the essay. Remember that a thesis statement acts as the “make or break” point for the essay. 

Come up with an impactful thesis statement, and define it using descriptive words. Be unambiguous. Use your resources, or ask a professional essay writer to do my assignment online if you need some help in writing a compelling thesis statement for your business essay. 

Create a well-structured outline for your essay

Depending on whether it is a case study or a discussion-type essay, you need to write an outline first. Once you are done with the outline, connecting the dots will be much easier. Hence, when learning how to write a business essay, the outline rules are imperative.

For a case-study type essay, you can use the following outline:

  • Introduction
  • Background
  • Body/Main content
  • Concluding thoughts
  • Bibliography

For a discuss-type essay, the following outline can be effective:

  • Introduction
  • Body/Main content
  • Concluding thoughts
  • List of references

Research, study, repeat

A business essay should not sound like storytelling. You cannot use your fancy and refined vocabulary to increase the word count. Rather, you will need stats, data, and intricate business information to write your business essay. 

So, before you start working on it, make sure you research a lot. Jot down every relevant point, bookmark necessary pages, and spend time studying the topic. Once you are confident enough about the topic, proceed with the essay. You can also speedup your work by using services that write papers for money. It’s a quick and effective way to get things done.

Prepare the first draft

Do not take a risk with your business essay. Because the majority of the time, it is an important determiner of your grades. Adorn your thinking hat, and start writing the essay as thoughts come pouring in. 

Corrections, editing, and omissions can be done later during the proofreading stage. Right now, focus on the first draft. Go with the flow and do not stop, as this is the time you will get the best inputs and ideas for your essay.

Edit and proofread recklessly

And, before adding a conclusion, how to write a business essay guide, as well as any kind of writings, requires proofreading. Now that you have the first draft of your business essay ready, start proofreading. Double-check every word. Read between the lines. Add anything that you feel is relevant and remove everything unnecessary.

Use tools and software to polish the content. Avoid leaving any grammatical errors in the text. Also, remember that plagiarized content can have serious consequences.

Finalize your draft and add a conclusion

After the editing, you can get a printed copy of the draft. Try reading the essay aloud, and pay attention to all the minute details such as language, date, spellings, and punctuations. You should also notice if the flow of the essay is proper. If the flow breaks at any point during the reading aloud session, it should be improved. If everything sounds well, go ahead with it. 

Conclusion

Using your analytical skills and business knowledge is the answer to how to write a business essay. You should be well aware of the topic and present your ideas in the most organized way. 

Focus on relevant concepts, the latest data, and statistics to make your essay informative. Use brief, to the point, and professional vocabulary for the essay. Most importantly, keep practicing how to write a persuasive business essay if you wish to gain mastery over the art of writing business essays.

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14 finance movies every entrepreneur should watch

14 finance movies every entrepreneur should watch

14 finance movies every entrepreneur should watch

April 22, 2021

Finance movies every entrepreneur should watch

Popcorn time again!

We’ve already seen the best business movies, so now we can explore a more uncomfortable area – finance. As the majority of entrepreneurs and business owners, you probably fall short on liking and understanding the financial aspect of running a business. Reading volumes of college literature will surely help you, but we doubt you have the time. So here’s a list of the top finance movies that will teach you valuable finance lessons while entertaining you.

Jump directly to:

 1. Trading Places

 2. Boiler Room

 3. The Big Short

 4. Wall Street

 5. Baby Boom

 6. Money Pit

 7. Knocked Up

 8. Limitless

 9. The Company Men

 10. The Banker

 11. The Wizard of Lies

 12. Margin Call

 13. Chasing Madoff

 14. Rogue Trader

The best finance movies and the lessons they teach us

Some of the following finance movies will help you grasp the general idea, while other stock market movies will give you an insight into Wall Street. Some of them are based on true stories, others are fiction. However, what they all have in common is that they all convey palpable finance lessons.

We also have film reviews that delve into the best finance movies, providing palpable lessons on financial management and investment strategies. Without futherdo, let’s begin going through the list of movies. 

Trading Places (1983)

It’s almost 40 years since Trading Places was released. Yet the smart script played by the unparalleled Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis and Ralph Bellamy teaches a timeless lesson: If two guys can do it then why not me? 

Although this is a comedy movie, it’s also pretty serious in stating that no matter what someone’s background is, and no matter what their position is, they have something to contribute, and will often be better at something than you are.

Quote from the movie Trading Places

Boiler Room (2000)

There’s a scene in Boiler Room where Ben Affleck hypes up (or down, depending on your POV) employee candidates. Well, according to real-life employees in the corporate world, this is not very far from the truth. On interviews, the senior brokers spend the whole time trying to sell you the job and don’t care one bit about any of your qualifications. In the same manner, the offices look and sound exactly like the brokerage portrayed in this movie.

We’ve come a long way with digital trading, cryptocurrencies and whatnot, but that doesn’t remove Boiler Room from the best stock market movies list.

Quote from the movie The Boiler Room

The Big Short (2015)

This finance movie follows a few savvy traders as they become aware, before anyone else of the housing bubble that triggered the financial crisis in 2008. The movie is known for its clever way to break down sophisticated financial instruments. This movie helps in learning to prepare for the worst to face and not to give up once the market crashes.

It teaches you how to look at real numbers and data instead of following popular opinion to invest your money and do business.

Wall Street (1987)

Well, the popular opinion is that Wall Street is holding the number one spot on the top stock market movies list. And for once, it matches the critics’ opinion. The 80s were the greed era, and this movie properly depicts that. But because greed is a timeless and universal human trait, the scenario can be easily played in 2021 or 2050.

Michael Douglas, who plays the leading role, won the Oscar for Best Actor, and this speaks volumes about the magnitude of this movie. If this were a book, it would’ve been mandatory reading for finance students in all Ivy League universities.

Quote from the movie Wall Street

Baby Boom (1987)

The film Baby Boom (1987) gives an example of a female entrepreneur, played by the legendary Diane Keaton, who had to figure out work and child care. She had to leave her corporate career and figure out a different way to support herself financially while taking care of her child even though she was amazing at what she did. 

It’s clear that childcare (or lack of quality childcare) has an impact on your ability to work and make an income. Decades after the movie was filmed, this situation is still true even though the optimists can argue otherwise.

Money Pit (1986)

At this point, we could easily say that the best finance movies were shot during the 80s.

Money Pit is a movie about a couple who did not think twice before acquiring a property. It’s a light-hearted comedy starring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long. They were so emotional and were convinced by the salesperson to buy the house without checking on it thoroughly. As a result, all their money was just thrown in the money pit.

This movie teaches you to be extra careful in handling money. Once you’ve seen it, you will approach money-related matters cautiously and weigh everything, including its effects after.

Knocked Up (2007)

Not your usual finance movie, but Knocked Up will teach you the importance of business emergency funds. In this movie, the lead role relies only on social security money and other non-stable jobs. Then one day, an unexpected thing happened, he became a father. Being a father required him to support both his child and the mother, and he doesn’t have enough savings to sustain them.

This movie is like the current situation. The pandemic surprised every one of us, and everyone struggled to sustain their needs during the lockdown. Some business owners swear that thanks to the movie, they have saved enough emergency funds to maintain their company and support the employees.

Limitless (2011)

Bradley Cooper’s Limitless teaches us that integrity is always at stake in how we handle our financial success and affluence. Sometimes integrity is compromised when we want to sustain our success in finances, career, and life. Cheating becomes acceptable when you allow greed to sit in your heart more than your principles and values in life. 

Your integrity will always be tested at your job. If you are weak in character, you will find ways to attain success in the most effortless route, even if it takes sacrificing your integrity and values.

The Company Men (2010)

Prioritizing your finances before your social status, and caring for your human resources are two of the best lessons from this movie. Ben Affleck’s character had to give up on his luxurious life once the money got tight. He and his colleagues lost all self-respect when the corporation they worked for had to cut expenses due to the recession.

Again, this scenario feels life-like because during the pandemic many companies went through the same and employees were badly affected. Especially in places with bad company culture where the social status of the boss is more important than the staff.

Quote from the movie The Company Men

The Banker (2020)

The Banker is about two black entrepreneurs that aspire to buy banks in the 60s but were met with obstacles because they were black. They convinced their white friend to be a front man for their company and taught him the lingo to negotiate with white lenders. They had to pretend to be the janitor and the chauffeur but ultimately the stunt worked.

Although the racism in the movie will make you sick to your stomach at times, the entrepreneurial lessons are just priceless. Samuel L. Jackson and his co-stars did a tremendous job once again.

Quote from movie The Banker

The Wizard of Lies (2017)

This movie is all about the rise and fall of Bernie Madoff and his Ponzi scheme. The big takeaway from the film is that if things are too good to be true, they probably are. Another important lesson is to not put all your eggs in one basket. Many of those who lost the most put their entire portfolio in the hands of one man.

Headlined by Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer, this is not a critically acclaimed movie, yet to the ordinary spectator gives invaluable insight into the world of fraud and mishandling finances.

Margin Call (2011)

Margin Call remains to this day one of the top stock market movies. It’s been almost a decade, and the lessons remain. 

Number one, diversifying your product investments is better than focusing on a single one. Having a broad range minimises the effects of the constant ups and downs in the trade market.

Number two, not all products that are under heavily discounted prices are goods. There is always a sketchy side to why prices go down and these products are offloaded. You have to be determined in finding out why.

And number three, leverage investing is a considerable risk, and Margin Call showed how it dramatically affects how you build your business if it fails. Although using credit to purchase more stocks works under the right conditions, you must first determine how confident you face the possible consequences.

Chasing Madoff (2010)

This finance movie is based on a true story, and just like The Wizard of Lies it revolves around the scam of $18 billion by Bernie Madoff. Bernie took an estimated $18 billion from investors by a massive Ponzi scheme and then scammed them. The one investigator spent ten years trying to expose Bernie and was successful in 2009. The main lesson in this is how you can avoid the scam in the stock market and what are some prohibited things you must stay away from.

Rogue Trader (1999)

Based on the true story of Nick Leeson, a stock market trader who worked for Barings Bank, the movie portrays how he brought down one of the oldest UK banks. 

The key lesson of this movie is that banks and investors need to keep an eye on the employees and people who have been given greater responsibility in the business. You never know what is going through an employee’s mind when they are given a bigger responsibility.

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Shelby Kretz – Bringing social justice one box at a time

Shelby Kretz – Bringing social justice one box at a time

Shelby Kretz – Bringing social justice one box at a time

April 19, 2021

Little justice leaders interview on Enterprise League

If you still believe women are better housewives than entrepreneurs, we’d like you to meet Shelby Kretz, a PhD candidate at UCLA and Founder of Little Justice Leaders. Still unconvinced? Then you should subscribe to her monthly boxes with resources about sexism, racism, transphobia, Islamophobia, environmental justice, immigration, and so much more. Maybe that can help.

In the meantime, read her story and see if you can resist not to be inspired.

Feeling under-appreciated as an employee, a nonexistent work-life balance, financial struggles, getting out of bad relationships – these are the most common triggers that push women to become entrepreneurs. Tell us about your trigger?

For me, my trigger was more towards entrepreneurship than it was away from something else. More specifically, it was towards social impact. I was drawn to the work I wanted to do.

My nonprofit, 1girl, came out of a conversation with two friends of mine in college. One of my friends grew up in Kenya, and the other grew up in India. We were in a deep conversation about our experiences as women in different parts of the world. 

We looked into what programs were available to girls in our area, and we were disappointed with what we found.  While there was a lot of programming, none of it was focused on actual leadership skills (though many of them claimed to be teaching leadership). When digging into the curriculum of those leadership programs for girls, we found the programming was specific to girls. For example, they taught things like “girl drama,” body image (geared towards girls), and healthy relationships (for girls). and While that might seem reasonable at first glance, it didn’t make sense to us. How was a leadership program so gendered in what it taught? Weren’t we just reinforcing gender stereotypes for girls? Also, it just… wasn’t leadership.

We decided we could try something that might help girls develop actual leadership skills. We set out to create a leadership curriculum that could be used with a group of boys or girls. After all, leadership has no gender, right? 

We never set out to create an organization, exactly. We stumbled upon something we cared about, and we took a small action to make a difference by testing the program at a local summer camp. Then more schools and programs reached out, so we stepped up. Eventually, we filed for nonprofit status, and before we knew it, we were running an organization. 

Through 1girl, I found that I loved starting and growing an organization. The ability to make decisions, try new things, and make a real impact was exciting. After I grew 1girl with my co-founders and eventually passed it along to others to run, I had more confidence in my ability to start an organization. I knew I wanted to start a business this time because I didn’t enjoy the fundraising aspect of running a nonprofit. When the idea for Little Justice Leaders came to me, I had that confidence already and knew I could make it happen. Excitement for the mission was my trigger.

Shelby Kretz quote

How did you come up with your business idea?

Throughout the 2016 election cycle, it’s no secret that many caregivers and educators were feeling uncomfortable with the messages their children and students were hearing in the media.  

At that point, I’d been working in schools for years, so I spent a lot of time with educators and parents. I was hearing this concern from parents and teachers over and over again – how do I address this with little ones? They’re hearing these messages, and I don’t know what to say. I don’t know enough about it. I don’t know if they are old enough. I want to shield them from it.  

As the years passed, the concerning topics on the news didn’t slow down. I continued to hear this fear from parents and educators, and many were coming to the same solution: I don’t know what to say, so I’m not saying anything at all.

This worried me. Kids were being exposed to these messages whether we wanted them to be or not. When parents and teachers don’t talk about topics that seem important, kids get the idea that the topic is taboo. And taboo subjects for kids are likely to create fear, confusion, and misinformation

I knew this needed to be fixed, for a few reasons. First, kids were getting the information either way, so educators and parents could help frame the story in an age-appropriate way. Second, kids have an innate desire for fairness and helping. This was a great opportunity to get them engaged in learning more about what is going on in the world. And third, some kids didn’t have the choice to opt out of these hard conversations. They were impacted by racism, transphobia, or xenophobia personally and had to face that fear every day. Why were other kids being shielded from it (when they could have been part of the solution instead)? 

Most importantly: Kids grow up to be adults. Adults who become educators, music producers, business executives, engineers, nurses, preachers, artists, and police officers. Adults who have real influence and power in our society. Adults who either help to maintain unjust systems or work to dismantle them. 

I knew I had the power to help educate and empower kids to become positive changemakers. I knew it had to be ongoing because there were so many topics to cover and the work is never done. It was so important to me to solve this problem because I strongly believe that we need to engage young people in social issues. Not only does it help them grow up to become involved, concerned citizens, but it also makes for more engaging learning experiences rooted in the real world.

Have you had support from someone, even if just encouragement? Who was that and how did it help you?

Absolutely. Mentors have been instrumental in my journey – through 1girl, Little Justice Leaders, and my Ph.D. program. 

One of the most influential mentors of my life was Dr. Patty Cunningham. When we were starting 1girl, a lot of people doubted us. We had a number of people in positions of power tell us that we wouldn’t be successful. However, one person was a constant cheerleader from the first day we met her: Dr. Patty Cunningham. 

She was the first person to join our Board of Directors, even though it was clear to her that we had a lot to learn. She guided us through the entire creation of 1girl. From day one, she constantly told us she believed in us and our mission. 

A few years later, when I was thinking about graduate school, I was nervous to tell the 1girl Board of Directors. I thought they might think it would take away my focus from the organization. When I told Dr. Patty that I was considering a Ph.D., she said, “You have to do this. We need more female Ph.D.’s. You need to do this.” 

She didn’t care that it might take away my focus from the organization because her focus as a mentor was to support me in everything I wanted to accomplish. She helped me through the graduate school application process and even wrote a letter of recommendation for me. She celebrated with me when I got into my dream school. 

Sadly, Dr. Patty passed away when I was in my first year of graduate school, but her legacy lives on in me and the many others she mentored in her life. I always seek to uphold her values of justice and equity throughout everything I do, and I hope I can impact young women in the same way she did.

Female entrepreneurs are often underestimated and overlooked. Have you ever felt at a disadvantage?

I’m fortunate to work in the field of social justice, where people at least try (though not always successfully) to be aware of their biases. That being said, there is no doubt that I’m taken less seriously as a female entrepreneur. There is evidence to prove this is true, and I have felt it personally. 

However, since I wasn’t interested in taking on venture capital, it has impacted me less than it might impact other female entrepreneurs. Female entrepreneurs are significantly less likely to receive funding compared to male entrepreneurs. I set out to build my company to be profitable very early on. My goal was to create an organization that I could grow slowly and build as a career, rather than building a massive company with outside funding. If my goals had been different, I likely would have experienced gender bias from potential investors. 

I hope by building a successful company, I can be a small part of the movement to change gender biases against female founders.

Some say it’s hard work, others say it’s talent and resourcefulness that play a crucial role for success in entrepreneurship? Which traits have been instrumental for your success so far? And why?

Constant learning. I am always taking courses, reading books, and talking to people to get new perspectives, ideas, and knowledge. When starting a business, there is always more to learn, whether you’re an experienced entrepreneur or just starting out. 

I find I’m constantly learning something new about business, marketing, social media, social justice, education, parenting, and so many other relevant topics. 

Of course, I’ve had to work hard to build a business while in a Ph.D. program. I’ve had to be resourceful to find what I need and make connections. I’ve had endless help from supporters and mentors. But at the end of the day, my desire to always keep learning has helped me build a business that is responsive to the needs of my subscribers. 

Learning always drives me forward, and it always has. I saw learning about how to run an organization as a challenge when I was building 1girl. Now, I’m learning how to build and grow a business. No matter how far along I get, there is always a new stage to learn about. 

I know I would not be where I am today if I hadn’t been so adamant about always learning. Online courses, books, and mentors have guided the path, provided needed information, and sparked ideas that have made my company what it is today. I have no doubt that I’ll need to keep learning to grow more, and that if I ever let my learning journey end, the success of my company will come to an end, too.

What excites you the most about being an entrepreneur?

I know that I have the power to create new opportunities for myself. My ability to pay myself, grow my business, and expand my social impact falls on my shoulders – I’m not counting on anybody else to provide me with financial security. For me, that ultimate control is so satisfying, knowing that my success or failure is up to me. 

That doesn’t mean I beat myself up when things don’t go well. I just have to learn from what I did before, change course, and move forward.

That being said, there are a number of factors that are outside of our control – like a global pandemic, for instance. However, as an entrepreneur, I have the ability to pivot, make crucial decisions, and come up with new ideas to respond to unexpected events. As an employee, you’re often waiting for the approval of someone else, whereas as an entrepreneur, you have to make decisions and rely on yourself (and your team). 

When things go well, though, it’s an incredible feeling to know that you built something that makes an impact. 

Share with us some of the worst business advice you’ve ever received?

“You need to get an MBA.”

Look, I have nothing against MBA’s, and I’m sure I could learn a lot from an MBA program. But the reality is, you don’t need a business degree to start a business. I don’t even have an undergraduate degree in business. You don’t need it! 

If one of your goals in life is to get an MBA, then, by all means, do so. Getting a PhD was important to me, and it’s opened many doors for me (an MBA would have opened many doors as well). But I got the PhD because I wanted a PhD, not because I thought I needed it to be successful. 

So, yes, if you are excited about getting an MBA, then go for it! But if you have a business idea and you want to jump in, but you’re being held back by the idea that you need more formal training – let that go. You don’t need more formal training. The best training for starting a business is actually starting a business. You will learn what you need to learn along the way. You will make mistakes, but you’ll learn from those, too. 

Women, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ individuals in particular are constantly told (and tell themselves) that they need more training, more school, more certifications before they can do the thing they really want to do. It’s not true. We hold ourselves back when we feel underqualified. Look around you – white cis straight men are starting up businesses with little or no formal training. And they probably aren’t being questioned about their qualifications nearly as much. If they can do it, you can too!

If anybody questions your qualifications, please ignore them. You can start a business without a business degree. Do not let other people’s fears and insecurities make you think otherwise.

You’ve got a high stake investment opportunity. Pitch your business in 150 words.

We all know that social justice issues like anti-racism and LGBTQ+ justice have become common topics in the lives of Americans. We see it with corporations who support Black Lives Matter, in commercials featuring LGBTQ+ stories, and all of our social media feeds. 

So many people are seeking ways to make a difference in the fight for equality. Those who didn’t even recognize racism as an issue just a year ago are committing to change the way they live their lives to fight for racial justice. 

And this includes millions of parents and teachers who want to educate their kids about it, too. Those caregivers and educators are seeking resources to talk to their kids about social justice. 

Little Justice Leaders provides exactly that. We provide monthly subscription boxes with all the resources to talk to their elementary-school kids about racism, transphobia, Islamophobia, environmental justice, immigration, and so much more.

What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to inspire aspiring entrepreneurs?

You don’t have to have everything figured out before you start. I see so many would-be entrepreneurs get in their own way because they won’t start until they have a perfect website, big social media following, and completed products or services. Start where you are. Talk to anybody who will listen and tell them what you’re doing (or what you want to do). 

When I launched the Little Justice Leaders website and social media platforms, I didn’t have any boxes made. In fact, I had no idea what would even go in a box. But I started telling people that boxes would be coming in August (it was May), and they would have resources to discuss social justice topics with kids. The orders started coming in months before I ever created a box. That showed me people actually wanted what I was selling, even though my website wasn’t perfect, and we didn’t have many Instagram followers.  

Start telling people what you’re doing. It doesn’t matter if it isn’t ready yet or if you don’t have a website. It doesn’t matter if you have no idea how you’ll do it, or you don’t know the first thing about starting a business. Just start. Everything else you can figure out as you go.

What are your goals for the upcoming year?

Long term, my goal is to impact over one million children with social justice education. This would help us complete our mission: to help create a generation of young people who will dismantle oppression and fight for justice. 

My goal for 2021 is to reach 1,000 monthly box subscribers, thus reaching an estimated 13,000 young people with social justice education. This would help move me along the path to reaching even more families and classrooms. 

Another goal for 2021 is to bring on our first official employee. This will help us to develop systems and processes to set the business up for success as we grow. 

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Riley Rees – When pain pills don’t work turn to entrepreneurship

Riley Rees – When pain pills don’t work turn to entrepreneurship

Riley Rees – When pain pills don’t work turn to entrepreneurship

April 07, 2021

Sofia Health interview on Enterprise League

People are completely dependent on broken systems that do more harm than good. One of them is the health system. Somehow, it all falls down to pain pills rather than focusing on proper diagnostics and healing. 

But instead of allowing to be consumed by the system, Riley Rees, an ex-pilot, decided to improve it. After she suffered an injury and couldn’t crack her options with alternative and holistic medicine are, she came up with an idea that will help millions of other people like herself. That’s how Sofia Health, an on-demand health and wellness platform, was born.

Feeling under-appreciated as an employee, a nonexistent work-life balance, financial struggles, getting out of bad relationships – these are the most common triggers that push women to become entrepreneurs. Tell us about your trigger?

For me, there wasn’t a trigger to become an entrepreneur. But there was a spark that drove me to solve a problem. When I needed to find a way to heal from an injury, it was extremely difficult to find out what all of my options were in alternative and holistic medicine. 

The traditional healthcare system limited my options to taking pain pills. What I needed was a way to solve the root issue so I never needed a pain pill again. This frustrating journey to holistic healing was the spark. I want people to know what all of their options are so they don’t have to search endlessly for answers or live in pain, discomfort, or the unknown.

After forging down this path, it is clear the label ‘entrepreneur’ is fitting!

Riley Rees quote on Enterprise League

How did you come up with your business idea?

A personal injury! It’s the same story many people have: multiple doctor visits, numerous tests, temporary relief options — but no long term solution. 

After I found alternative modalities and practitioners to help me — I started researching. From the discovery interviews and personal stories, it was clear a lot of people faced the same problem. In my case, with acute pain, I was told to take pain pills. But for the individuals experiencing an issue that has yet to be diagnosed, such as an autoimmune disease, chronic disease, or anything related to taking care of your mental health, this journey was far worse. For some, this meant hundreds of appointments with different providers, numerous tests, thousands of dollars, and hours of endless research online with no resolution in sight. This doesn’t even account for the toll it takes on your mental health or the impact on your quality of life.

I decided to get serious and build a business so individuals who are in need of alternative health and wellness solutions won’t have to face the same challenges. 

At the same time, I also discovered the market for practitioners is fractured. They are difficult to find, but beyond that, many people don’t even know what they’re looking for. If you have chronic headaches, do you know someone specializing in gut health might help? Probably not! 

Sofia Health was founded to empower individuals to take control of their health and facilitate the connection between client and practitioner. We provide a platform where people can search for practitioners based on their symptoms and find care that addresses needs holistically. We aim to cut friction so individuals can connect to the right practitioner offering the right modality, at the right time.

Have you had support from someone, even if just encouragement? Who was that and how did it help you?

Absolutely. None of this would be possible without my team. Having a primarily female-driven team is incredible. I am able to work with women that are powerful, talented, incredibly smart, and also supportive. Jennie Zamberlan has been a driving force behind Sofia Health. If you are looking for a trustworthy, world-class engineering team, I would recommend reaching out to Avantia!

Female entrepreneurs are often underestimated and overlooked. Have you ever felt at a disadvantage?

Yes! It reminds me of a time when I was younger. I was sixteen and decided I wanted to be a pilot. Not just a private pilot but I wanted to be a part of the elite group in the Air Force. People laughed, I was definitely underestimated. Ultimately, I kept going and now I have flown for both the Air Force and commercial airlines in aircraft from the C-17, B-757, B-767, and the B-777. 

The aviation industry has come a long way thanks to strong, brave women paving the way to make women in the industry ‘normal’. Today, no one would laugh when a girl has a dream to be a pilot. 

I’m hopeful the same happens in the future for women who want to start companies, build businesses, and become entrepreneurs. When we ‘the collective society’ can get past laughing and underestimating women, we can get to work, change lives, and make an impact

Some say it’s hard work, others say it’s talent and resourcefulness that play a crucial role for success in entrepreneurship? Which traits have been instrumental for your success so far? And why?

All of the above! I would include having the right mindset and being resilient is crucial. Whether you come to Sofia Health and find a life coach, health coach, discover alternative healers or turn to your family, it is important to get the support you need to endure the ups and downs

What excites you the most about being an entrepreneur?

As an entrepreneur, you’re a creator. You get to design your life and create new experiences for yourself and your clients. 

Share with us some of the worst business advice you’ve ever received?

Raise as much money as possible. 

A lot of advice, talks, and praise are given to startups and their founders who have raised the most money. While the funds from raising money can help with market research and product development, it’s important to know the economics of your business and the consequences of taking other people’s money. Raising a large amount of money does not always equate to success and in some cases, it can be a contributing factor to a company’s failure.

You’ve got a high stake investment opportunity. Pitch your business in 150 words.

Sofia Health is your on-demand health and wellness platform. Individuals can find, schedule and book with a provider to get the physical, mental, spiritual support they need — anytime, anywhere.

The platform also provides a valuable business structure for practitioners – often solopreneurs – to market, book, take payments, and even sell products.

What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to inspire aspiring entrepreneurs?

With so much advice available, I would like to offer a bit of tactical advice. 

Learn to experiment and test the validity of your idea(s). Do not rely on the input of friends or family who might not see or understand your vision but rather focus on the data collected from potential users. And definitely ignore the ones who laugh!

What are your goals for the upcoming year?

In addition to growth, we want to make sure that individuals affected by the pandemic understand they have a place to go for support with their physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional health. 

We also want to highlight the many amazing health and wellness providers on the platform. Their work, passion, and dedication have touched and transformed lives! 

Connect and partner up with Sofia Health on Enterprise League

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