Do you want to make money from home, but don’t know where to start? Or maybe you’ve tried a few things but haven’t had much success. Don’t worry, you’re not alone! Making money online can be a lot of work, but it can also be a lot of fun. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the best and most proven ways to make money online.
First off, it is important to note that information is incredibly valuable. Most people don’t really think of it like that though. We tend to consciously place value on specialized services, products, and commodities. However, in the first world, information is one of the most valuable things that we have. It is the lifeblood of our economy and it is what allows us to make progress.
For instance, Google is one of the most profitable businesses in the world. Their business is information and advertising.
This is why making money online by providing information can be such a great idea. Not only are you able to make good money, but you can also help others while doing it. Here’s some of the keys to being successful as well as the platforms you can use.
Find your niche
Whether you’re an expert on cat breeds or you know a lot about the history of the world, there’s always going to be someone out there who wants to know what you know. Use your knowledge to build a website or blog and share your insights with the world. You can also create videos, podcasts, e-books, or any other type of content that people will want to consume.
The great thing about this is that you can make money in a variety of ways. You can become an affiliate for other products, create your own product/service, or just share helpful information along with advertising space.
Three factors you should consider when choosing your niche:
- It should be something you are educated about or willing and interested in getting educated on that subject. You will need to become an expert, if you are not already, so make sure it is something you are passionate about.
- Consider the competition and saturation of a specific niche. Not that you cannot be successful in a competitive market, it will just be harder. So, keep that in mind.
- Timing is everything. Focusing more on cutting edge techniques, newer information, and different ways of looking at something can really help you gain an edge in your market.
Another trick when starting out is to just start sharing information about a variety of things. Then, see which things are either performing best, or which areas you are being drawn to more often.
Make a long term commitment
Repeat after me – “this is not a get rich quick scheme”.
Making money online is usually not something that is achieved overnight. You need to have a plan and you need to stick with it. You need to utilize a flywheel effect. Just focus on creating great content. Then, repeat that process over and over.
If you are not committed to this strategy of producing quality content regularly (at least weekly, if not more), over the course of an extended period of time, you will likely fail. That is why you shouldn’t quit your day job just yet. Start your side hustle, stick with it. It often takes people 6 months or longer to gain any noticeable traction with these sorts of businesses.
Joe Rogan made nothing with his podcast for the first several years. In 2017, he made about $5 million, and in 2020 he made $20 million. Few people will see that kind of success. However, replacing your full time income within a few years is a real possibility. It’s up to you.
With all of this in mind, don’t count on making much money in the first 6-9 months, if at all. It’s not to say that you couldn’t make money sooner. It’s just that this is not a get rich quick scheme – there’s patience involved in the process.
Methods of making money online
There are a few methods that work better than others when it comes to making money online. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular methods.
YouTube
This is a great platform for making money by providing information. You can create videos about pretty much anything you want and there is a good chance that someone out there is interested in watching it. YouTube will pay you a portion of their ad revenue once you get enough views.
However, that’s not the only way to make money with YouTube. I know a Youtuber that has a pretty small niche advertising car parts for a small brand. He has a fairly small channel and doesn’t get a massive amount of views. He makes enough money from affiliate marketing that he is comfortable – making north of six-figures.
You can even create a YouTube channel without showing your face by playing games or pictures/video and just doing a voice over.
Blogging
Blogging is another great way to make money online by providing information. Despite the idea that video is overtaking the internet, many people are still reading their information online. Blogs have the ability to make massive amounts of money.
If you decide to start a blog, don’t rush out and monetize it right away. Many people want instant gratification. However, you need to focus on building an audience by providing great content.
After you spend about 6 months or so creating quality content, take a look at what kind of traffic you are getting. Google Search Console and Google Analytics can help you with this.
You might begin your monetization of your blog through affiliate marketing. Once you establish that you are getting a decent amount of traffic (5-10K visitors per month), consider adding banner ads as well.
Podcasts
This is something that may seem difficult to build an audience for. However, just like any of the previous methods, you have to start at the beginning. Get friends on your podcast at first. Then try and get a hold of friends of friends. Then local celebrities or figures in your community.
That’s basically how Joe Rogan started his. He was interviewing friends and associates. He had an advantage of being somewhat famous to start, but you don’t need to be Joe Rogan. You just need to be yourself.
Similarly, Tim Ferriss started from nothing, but he just kept pestering famous or important people until they gave him some air time.
Now, people line up to get on their podcasts.
Combine efforts
You could also use a combination of these methods to make money online. For example, you could create a blog and podcast about making money online. That way, you can provide information through both written and audio content. You can even supplement your blog posts with YouTube videos or vice versa.
The different methods are sometimes more effective on one platform or the other. However, they often benefit each other in multiple ways.
Become an expert
In order to make money online you are going to need to do three things as you get started. You need to learn more about:
- Your niche: You may know a lot about a subject already. That is great, use that to your advantage, but never stop learning. Also, you don’t have to be an expert to get started, but you have to be willing to learn about it. The more of an expert you become, the more valuable your information will be.
- Learn your craft: If you are writing, learn how to write better. If you are making videos, find out how to make your videos better. You will probably look back at your initial videos and/or blogs and cringe, but that’s ok. Nobody is an expert when they begin. We all start out in life and first we learn to crawl, then stand/walk, and then run.
- SEO and what people are searching for: You need to be able to find out a thing or two about SEO. You are going to need to know what to talk/write about as well as how to get it to rank or come up in searches. Google is the #1 search engine in the world. YouTube is #2.
It doesn’t work well to buy ad space in order to sell ads and affiliate marketing.
Discovering the search intent of people in your niche is critical. Think about the user who will come across your video or article and what they are typing into Google or YouTube.
Also, don’t think you have to know it all right now. Perfection is your enemy. Just get started. You will get better with time, practice, and education.
Order of monetization for making money online
While you shouldn’t focus on monetizing right away, that is the ultimate goal of your online business. There is an order for monetization that you should follow in general. It is:
- Affiliate marketing: You make more money per “click” or view by utilizing affiliate marketing. That makes it the fastest way to monetize but it is also the hardest to get started with.
- Ad revenue: You can become a YouTube partner and make money from ads on your videos or you can have banner ads on your website through a company such as Ezoic.
- Selling products/services/course: Once you have a good sized audience, you can start making more money by selling products or services to them. You will have become an authority in your niche. Once you have become successful in making money, you can easily teach others how to do it.
Monetization is the last step on this guide for a reason. The money will come, but you have to do everything else consistently and for some time before you get the payout.
Summary – Making Money Online
There are no guarantees when it comes to making money online, but there are proven strategies and methods. Use those strategies and just do it.
If you don’t work to make your life different, you’re going to keep living the same life you are living right now. You have to make the decision, and once you decide to do it, you have to be committed to it if you want to succeed.
Remember this, if it were easy, everyone would do it. The barrier to entry is that dead phase in the first 6-9 months where you are working and seeing almost no results. You have to push through that and trust the process.
I hope this article has helped you understand a little bit more about making money online. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments below.