How to Make Money Online as a Teenager

It is definitely not a secret that I am head-over-heels in love with all things ecommerce and marketing. But you know what I love even more?

Yep!  My amazing family!

 I mean, I started this journey because I was looking for a way to help my husband make a great financial future for us and our four beautiful kids, right? So now imagine how ridiculously excited I am to be able to introduce you to my oldest daughter, Makayla.  She’s not only a fabulous person (I swear I am not at all biased…) but she’s also one heck of a businesswoman, along with her sister Bridges.  You can watch my interview with Makayla about what she and Bridges experienced when learning how to make money online as a teen or tween.

People are always amazed to learn that these go-getting girlpreneurs sold over $100,000 in less than a year online…before they were even old enough to drive!!!

In fact, they were pretty much the very first people I ever taught how to build a crazy successful ecommerce business.

You are totally going to watch our interview to get some of Makayla’s insights in her own words, but I also wanted to share some takeaways:

1.    While you can absolutely make money online as a teen, this is definitely not a “get rich quick” concept.

Bridges and Makayla had to put in a lot of hard work at first to get their business set up and put everything in place. They had to follow the process, iron out a few glitches here and there—just like anybody who’s just starting out. But once things finally got rolling, they were pretty dang excited by the numbers and how fantastic it was to earn money online as a teen and tween.

2.    Not everybody is gonna understand what the heck you’re doing.

There are a lot of people out there who don’t get what e-commerce is or why you’d ever get into it.  (Along with a few Debbie Downers who are more than happy to tell you their opinions about why you won’t succeed.)  And that’s totally okay. You just gotta go do your own thing and rock it like the girls did.

3.    There will probably be something you wish you’d done differently (and that’s kinda awesome, really!)

The girls are wildly successful in their business, but they’re the first ones to say there are some things they’d do differently. Ta-dah! Great news! E-commerce is an industry that is always evolving. As you learn and discover new things, you can make adjustments to your business. No regrets! Just opportunities to grow!

4.    Ask for help.

My girls learned pretty darn quickly where they needed help—and that was in shipping. So they hired a few friends to help them get the inventory out.  I’ve done the same thing more than once, paying friends and neighbors who are looking to learn a little extra $$ for the holidays or whatever. It’s so worth it!

5.    Avoid debt.

Wait—what?  Yes, that’s one thing that my daughter would have done differently. My husband Jared and I fronted them the costs to set up their business, and we made them pay it back with a little interest. Makayla says now that she’d have earned the money first to avoid that pesky interest—again, a great lesson for entrepreneurs at any age!  

Hey—and one last thing! Makayla is going to be following in her mama’s footsteps, putting together a course to help others learn how to make money online as a teen or tween. And when she is ready to launch it, you’re gonna hear me announce it from the rooftops.

And in the meantime, if you want to jump into starting and building an online business of your own or help your teen learn how to make money online, I’d love to help. I’ve taught thousands of people the process I used to grow my own businesses, the process the girls used to grow theirs…and how you can grow yours.  Sign up here to learn more and get started!

Talk again soon!

–Alison