How to make money online
Before I even get started, allow me to say upfront that I’m not trying to sell you anything. I won’t ramble on and on about some huge “secret” to making money online, only to let you know you can purchase this secret in some cheesy ebook like so many others do.
I will tell you what you need to know, but be prepared that it might not be want you want to hear.
It’s not easy and you will probably fail.
“Making money online” sounds like your generic web bait, aimed at every working stiff who thinks they can make billions by simply registering a domain name. I’ve been involved in web development and design since 1994, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had people approach me with their million dollar ideas. Some people even had flow sheets, projected traffic reports – the whole nine yards. The excitement in their faces was brimming, yet fleeting.
I have yet to see one of them succeed.
So the first thing you need to know when it comes to making money online is that you will probably fail at first. And all of your projections will most likely fall way short. It’s how you deal with that failure, what adjustments you make, and how much you persevere that will make a difference. Most people realize they’re failing and bail out at the first signs of trouble.
So with that in mind, let’s look at the issue a little closer.
The first thing you need to do is have an idea of what you want to do.
Let me stop here and say a word or two about Ebay, which seems to be the first choice of many people looking to make the jump. A lot of people continue to jump on the Ebay bandwagon. I suppose there is still money to be made there, though Ebay keeps raising its fees, and there are millions of people already out there doing it. My only suggestion for running a successful Ebay business is to try to find a niche. I knew a guy who made pretty good money selling beer taps on there, because that’s not something readily available to everyone. I’ve known other people who just post insane volumes of crap and make their money that way. That works too, but let me tell you, that’s a huge time investment. Not only do you have to find stuff you can sell for more than you purchase it for, but you have to photograph, upload, and describe each item. And many, if not most, of your items won’t sell at all. You’ll lose your listing fee and have to repost it again. With some items you’ll just have to bite the bullet and take a loss. But chances are if you’re even reading this paragraph and are considering an Ebay run, you’ve already made up your mind. So I can’t convince you anyway. Go ahead and try it. You might be the one person in 1000 that does well with it. And one final thought on Ebay… the people making the most money from Ebay are the ones selling the how-to books. That should be a red-flag right there. I’m no expert, though I have had an Ebay account since 1997.
Aside from the auction world, making money for most people online comes down to one word: traffic. There is absolutely no way in the world you will make money without people going to your site, and in most cases you need a LOT of people going there.
Whether it’s a site selling crankshafts or a full time blog, the only way you’ll make money is driving people to your site.
There are many ways to generate traffic, and the more time you’re willing to put in, the better results you’ll have. Obviously you want to rank high on search engine results page. If someone goes to Google and searches for something you’re trying to sell, you really want to be as high as you can in those search results.
Read up on how Google ranks pages.
Make sure your site actually mentions the phrases you want to appear in search results, a couple of times would be even better. Learn how to include meta tags on your home page as well.
Other ways to gain traffic is to frequent other sites and blogs related to your own. Get involved in the discussion and casually mention your site when appropriate. That does not mean spamming your url in ever comment. A few other ways to increase traffic are:
- Make sure your grammar is above par. This instantly adds credibility.
- Use a pay-per click program to advertise your site based on keywords or phrases. Google’s Adwords is the best example.
- Ask friends with websites, or even Myspace pages to link to you.
- If you are selling something, keep listings on Craigslist or Ebay.
- List your site or blog in appropriate directories.
- Include your url as a signature at the bottom of all emails.
Most of all, create enough content to keep people coming back for more. Look at the competition and be creative. You need to stand out in the crowd, especially if you’re getting into a crowded field.
So creating traffic is technically only half the battle, but it’s the most important half. Nothing else matters if you have no one visiting your website. I was once involved in the creation of a pretty high-end sports website. Technically it was brilliant and graphically it was beautiful. Problem is… we had no traffic. All of that work meant nothing without visitors.
On the flipside, I was also involved in another sports website was very plain and visually sub-par. Even though there were thousands of other sites with the same material, we had the traffic to beat them all. We had a great url and thousands of links back to us. This of course was a business, so we did spend money advertising it online and in direct mail. We also had been around for 10 years, which accounts for something: longevity and perseverance.
Once you garner traffic, you must then convert that traffic to cash, and there are five primary ways to do this.
1. Google Adwords. This is a service in which ads are placed on your site by Google, and whenever a visitor clicks the ad, you get paid.
2. Direct advertising. If you start generating traffic, you will most likely get inquiries from companies wishing to advertise. A banner at the top of the page for example, might be worth $100 a month to you. Or $500.
3. Affiliate sales. Set up an affiliate account at Amazon or Barnes and Noble and be sure to link to products whenever appropriate in your text. You will receive a piece of each sale.
4. Donations. You don’t have to beg for it, but there are people out there who might deeply appreciate your site and wish to help keep it going with a little donation.
5. Your product sales. If you are in business to sell something, obviously this will most likely make up the bulk of your online income. If you’re simply blogging, you may not have any products at all to sell.
You can have all of those streams of income working at the same time… in fact that is recommended. The amount of traffic you generate will directly affect the amount of sales you produce.
Making money online is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. It will take time to see results, and many people are weeded out simply by not sticking with it. If you believe in what you are doing, and are willing to put the time and effort into it, you will almost certainly make money online.
Maybe not a fortune… but something.
April 10th, 2008 at 11:37 am
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