How 8 regular people earned $1 million

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The World Wealth Report 2015 has determined that a “strong economic and equity market performance helped create nearly a million (920,000) new millionaires globally in 2014.”

That trend is likely to continue in the foreseeable future, but do you, the average person reading this post, have a chance to join this exclusive club?

Absolutely.

And, here are eight ordinary people who have accomplished this feat.

Related: How to Become a Millionaire in Under 5 Years

Three Bird Nest

1. Alicia Shaffer sold products on Etsy.

Alicia Shaffer, your average mother-of-three, was able to successfully turn her hobby into a million-dollar business. The California resident began selling her knitted wares and handmade goods on Etsy in 2011 and in under three years she was averaging $80,000 a month. Her Etsy marketplace, which is called ThreeBirdNest, receives more than 150 orders per day.

Johnny Ward / OneStep4Ward

2. Johnny Ward started a travel blog.

Johnny Ward came from a single-parent family in Ireland. His family didn’t have enough money to travel when he was younger, but after visiting the U.S. and Thailand following graduation, Ward was bitten by the travel bug and began blogging about his adventures -- which has since made him a millionaire.

Ward has said: “I have a popular travel blog which generates a normal Western income through ads and affiliate commissions, in which I get a cut if one of my readers clicks through a link and makes a purchase, and I could live from that if I had to. However, having learned about SEO [search engine optimization], online marketing, corporate blogging, content creation and social-media management, as my blog grew more and more popular, I used my new skills to found a digital-media company which manages all those aspects of a company’s online presence. Now I have a team of people who manage that for clients around the world.”

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3. Sara Blakely invented Spanx.

Sara Blakely was an average fax machine sales person with just $5,000 in her savings account. One day, while getting ready for a party, she cut the feet out of a pair of pantyhose so that she could wear a pair of pants more comfortably. Blakely knew she was on to something special and worked tirelessly to make her invention a reality.

After being rejected by a number of hosiery mills, she found one that was willingly to take a risk on her idea. Today, Spanx is a multi-million dollar company.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider