Do you want to earn a living from the internet? Is it possible? Really possible?
I used to wonder about this myself way back in the internet’s infancy. I heard stories about people making a killing during the tech boom around the turn of the century, but I didn’t really know enough about the internet in those days to fully grasp its potential. I wish I had, because maybe I might have been one of those fortunate ones to make an absolute killing in the early days of cyber space.
Well, if you haven’t ever made any money from an online source, to you making money on the internet might seem surreal, even though you are fully aware others are actually doing just that. Every can seem a little impossible when we’ve never actually done it for ourselves. I often talk to family and people I know about things I do online, and how they should consider doing the same, but I’m usually met with a dubious look and a smile, as if to say to me “please don’t waste my time with that stuff”. Which is a real shame, because there’s money to be made everywhere online. These days more than 3 billion people on planet Earth get online every single day and that number will continue to grow.
How I’ve Made Money Online
Over the years I’ve done things both bigger and smaller online. Some have made some money, some have made really good money, and some haven’t made a cent. That’s the same with everything in business. You have your successes and you have your share of failures as well; especially if you’re like me and try a lot of things.
My first dollar online was made selling something on eBay. Selling on eBay is a form of making money online.
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Since then I’ve done either a lot or a little of the following:
- Selling POD (Print On Demand) books
- Selling eBooks
- Generating advertising revenue from an article directory
- Selling artwork online
- Selling photos on stock photography sites
- Affiliate marketing
- Online surveys
- Freelancing for clients
- Selling music tracks and music licensing
The above list is a list of everything that has actually made me at least some money. There are other things I’ve done that haven’t made money, so I didn’t include them.
Affiliate Marketing Is a Great Online Business Gig
I’ve been into affiliate marketing as a business for just over 2 years now, and I can say from experience, that if you want a business that’s cheap and easy to start online, then affiliate marketing is one of the best options. You don’t need products. You don’t need to post anything. You don’t need to store anything. All you do is promote products from other companies and earn commissions when sales are made. It really is a beautifully simplistic business model.
Of course, there are things to learn and work to do before you get to the point of earning – just like with anything else in the world – but it really is a great way to get started earning online, and if done right, affiliate marketing can bring in a fulltime income and beyond down the track.
Read this post I wrote on the benefits of starting an online business.
Darren Burton
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I have looked into making money online a number of ways too. I have dabbled in the surveys and the freelancing, but I was looking for something that can later be a passive income source for me and my family.
With your 2 years experience with Affiliate Marketing, how long until you started seeing significant profits? was it from a blog? or more micro-niche sites?
I got off to a bit of a slow start. I made quite a few mistakes in the beginning and also tried to do too much and created a bunch of websites all at the same time. Therefore it took a while to start generating some consistent income. For others who stick to one website and really focus, success comes much sooner.
Hi, Darren!
Like you, many of my friends also think that making money on the internet is for naives. I tried a couple of times freelancing, and the experience was hard, I felt useless, and with all the competition I made nothing.
Many people say eBay and Amazon are the top 10 affiliate markets to join, have you had any experience with Amazon? And could you tell me a little more about your eBay experience? And how the music licensing worked?
Great post and gives courage to the ones who are just starting like me.
Hi TG,
I don’t really promote anything on eBay, so I can’ really comment accurately on that one. Amazon is quite good. Everyone trusts making purchases on there. The downside is the 24 hour cookies and low commission rates.
Music licensing is a tough gig, as there is so much competition, but it’s fun making music even just as a hobby. What it means is people making a movie, video, documentary or other projects pay money to license the use of a piece of music in their project. It’s a different deal to purchasing a track on iTunes. That just allows the user to listen to the music. It doesn’t include having the right to use the music in a project of any kind.