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The internet is full of business advice. Some good, some bad, and some on TikTok.
The truth is that most of what is considered good advice online has had its heyday. The money has been earned and that is why you are being informed about it now.
There are people who really love sharing money and creating tips that actually work and haven’t become super saturated yet.
To help you navigate the minefield of online business advice, I’ve debunked five business ideas touted on TikTok to help you understand what’s real and what’s bullshit.
TikTok business ideas aren’t as easy or lucrative as they seem, says entrepreneur Tim Armoo
1. Become an Amazon Associate
This is an idea that’s being touted as good for people who are “broke and lazy,” which in itself is a red flag.
The concept is quite simple. You choose a product on Amazon and apply to become an affiliate. You go to Pinterest and post pictures of the product and add the Amazon link.
Anyone who clicks on the message will be redirected to the Amazon listing and if they purchase it, you will receive a discount.
Good or bad?
This is TikTok level bad.
Doing so is actually against both Amazon and Pinterest’s terms of service and will get you banned on both platforms.
Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money, but it’s not as simple as posting some product photos on social media and cashing a big check every month. It takes a lot more nuance, so here’s how.
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Choose a hyper-specific niche.
Spend time researching what content has already worked in that niche, what topics are popular, and what content format works best.
For example, if your focus is gardening, lawn care and spring flowers are hot trend topics right now. Short “how-to” videos and written guides are the best format.
Now choose a product that fits in the niche, such as garden gloves or knee pads.
Now that you have topics and a product in mind, you can create content that fits the research you’ve done – this could be a handbook, checklist or manual.
Take your report or guide to publications that are often read by your target audience (in this case, gardeners) and pay to have them promote it to their email list.
Collect the emails of the people who download your report and contact them to sell the affiliate product.
This is how you affiliate market.
2. Sell print-on-demand products through Etsy
This is the dropshipping variant of 2024.
Here’s how it works (supposedly): Create a design on Canva, upload your design to Printify and place it on the product. Connect Printify to your Etsy account and list your products.
When people buy your products on Etsy, Printify takes care of all the production and logistics, meaning you don’t have to maintain inventory yourself.
Good or bad?
This lies somewhere between good and bad. In theory this can work, but it’s not as simple as it sounds.
There is a lot of competition and very little differentiation between sellers, so you will need to have a competitive advantage.
Just putting a template on a product won’t work.
Selling prints on Etsy is the dropshipping version of 2024, but there’s a lot of competition
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Most people just upload their product listing to Etsy and then forget about it, chasing the myth of passive income.
These people don’t make money, they just take up space.
The people who make money from this find a competitive advantage through distribution channels.
This could be looking for influencers who are popular in your niche and have grown quickly, or looking for publications and companies that have similar products but are not direct competitors.
Once you find these untapped distribution channels, you no longer have to rely on customers finding you organically through Etsy.
3. Start a social media marketing agency
Most companies don’t have the knowledge to be successful on social media, so more and more people are starting their own agencies.
The idea is that you learn a skill like Facebook advertising, copywriting, or content creation, and find clients on Upwork. After working with a few clients, you can hire people to do your work and earn passive income.
Good or bad?
This is a bad idea on a TikTok level.
SMMA was a great company a few years ago, but now it’s way too competitive and not nearly as easy as TikTok entrepreneurs make it sound.
Whatever ‘angle’ you think you’ve found, I promise you there are a thousand other agencies just like you.
However, if you still really want to do it, this is how it should work.
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Learn a skill and choose a type of client you want to work with, the more specific the better.
Everyone is susceptible to algorithm changes… it was a great idea 5-10 years ago, but this ship has sailed.
Email companies in the industry and offer to work for them for free to create case studies that you can take to other clients to show your credibility.
Once you’ve signed a few clients, you can start outsourcing tasks to external freelancers and employees and repeat this process until you have a team running the agency for you.
However, it’s still not ideal. SMMA is incredibly competitive and everyone is on the same level.
Everyone is susceptible to social media sites’ algorithm changes, everyone follows the same TikTok trends, and everyone has the same tools at their disposal.
It was a great idea 5-10 years ago, but this ship has sailed.
Picking up cheap or free items on the Facebook Marketplace and reselling them can be an easy side hustle
4. Sell furniture for free through the Facebook Marketplace
People list furniture for free on the Facebook marketplace all the time, so all you have to do is pick it up and resell it on sites like eBay, Vinted, Depop, or even Facebook.
You’ll need a car and some friends, but it’s free.
Good or bad?
This is actually a good idea, especially if you have a lot of free time or some spare hours on the weekend.
There are a few ways you can make this even better than just scrolling through Facebook for hours.
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Go to Facebook and search for specific pieces of furniture and in the filter section under the ‘include keywords’ section, add the following words: divorce, moving, new baby, wedding.
People listing items with these keywords are typically time-sensitive sellers who want to get rid of their furniture before they have to move.
This means that the quality of the furniture is usually higher, the speed of the transaction is faster and more items are available for free.
Super easy, high margins, free to start – the perfect side job.
5. Anonymous YouTube videos
Youtubers make thousands of dollars every month from advertising revenue and sponsorships alone, without even showing their faces.
They use AI tools to create YouTube documentaries on topics they find interesting.
It’s cheap, a bit technical, but generally a well-accepted idea.
Good or bad?
This is a good idea, but only if done correctly.
Profitability is a bit low because the popularity of this method has increased, which has decreased the amount of money made through advertising revenue. But it can work well if you find a very popular topic.
That said, it’s not an easy task and the real talent is in choosing great ideas.
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You’ll have to pick something interesting and there aren’t that many videos online.
For example, if you chose the 2008 recession, you can use ChatGPT to “create a script that can be read by a voiceover artist to create a compelling and interesting YouTube video.”
You should expand on the topic by providing more details, such as specific people or topics.
Take your ChatGPT script to ElevenLabs, a voiceover AI tool, and save the voiceover as an MP3 file. Now use the voiceover to find images and short video clips that are relevant, on MidJourney or other image/video generating software.
Post your video on YouTube and enable monetization.
The trick is to choose trending topics that are relevant at the moment. Search YouTube or use Google Trends or AnswerThePublic to find commonly used terms.
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