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Watch out for the “broke and lazy” TikTok craze at the moment. The people making these videos aren’t telling you the truth.
I’ve seen a lot of videos on TikTok about online ideas for the “broke and lazy.” They focus a lot on quick things that cost nothing to set up, and even show you how much you could make. Only, they don’t go into all the details.
I actually view these videos now as a scam. Usually, the people sharing the videos are looking to make money through a course, an eBook, or with one-on-one coaching. They draw you in with the idea that it’s quick to make money online, when it’s nothing like that at all.
Here’s why they’re a scam. I’ll also go into what you really need to know about the “broke and lazy” side hustles.
They Don’t Tell You About Commissions
One of the most popular online ideas that I see is planner creation. These people will tell you to go to Canva and put together a 100-page blank book with a pretty cover. They then tell you to set it up on Amazon’s KDP platform.
Why? Well, you can make tens of thousands of dollars. At least, that’s what they show. They head to Amazon and show you that people are seeing planners or blank notebooks for $5 and have 50k sales. Then they pull out the calculator to show you what $5x50k is.
What they don’t tell you is that Amazon takes a commission. They also don’t tell you that paperbacks on KDP have a cost to make. You’re actually only making around 40% of the profit once you take out the initial cost to make the book. So, that $5 is actually only around $1.50 at the most.
This doesn’t mean planners and notebooks aren’t an option. Just make sure you look at the true costs and profit you’ll make instead of listening to these TikTok people looking to scam you out of money.
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The “broke and lazy” side hustles aren’t get-rich-quick schemes
These TikTokers also don’t go into the details of the work that goes into selling these products. They want to make you believe that you don’t have to put in a lot of effort. Why would you when you can quickly throw together a product?
However, you can’t just sell anything. The online world is not a “build it and they will come” thing. If everyone could do this, there would be a lot more people doing it. Everyone would know about it.
There isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme when it comes to working online. You need to put in the effort to research the best keywords for your product listings, and you need to make sure those listings stand out. There is an element of marketing involved, and you need to keep making new products to get people to come to you.
So, it’s not really a “lazy” thing to do. These people telling you it is are just looking at you buying their courses. That’s where they’ll show you all the actual work* that you need to put in. Wouldn’t you then feel deceived?
This isn’t to say you can’t make planners and printables. Just watch out for the belief that you can do it with no effort.
You need to start up a business
So, what do you need to do instead? If you’re going to create an online product, you need to treat it like a business. The best thing you can do with these “broke and lazy” side hustles is to stop being “lazy.”
- Learn how to market your products
- Learn about SEO*
- Figure out the best products to sell
- Create a storefront that encourages people to buy
Go into all this with your eyes wide open. You don’t need to buy courses from people who don’t give you the truth in their videos. They’re just scammers who know little.
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Have you seen the “broke and lazy” side hustle videos? What do you think of them? Share in the comments below.
