With the depressing economic state, and the dire straits that many people now find themselves in, it seems turning to the internet for a solution is becoming the first option for people to try and alleviate their financial woes. Everyday thousands of individuals from across the globe search the internet for ways to make money online. Unfortunately many of these desperate people end up been scammed by unscrupulous marketers who promote worthless online money making opportunities.
The methods available for you to make money online are vast but they are definitely not a secret. You do not have to purchase an over-hyped course to learn the fundamentals of making money online. That sort of information is freely available on the internet.
In this write-up I will reveal to you the most popular techniques to earn an income online.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate Marketing is the most popular method to make money using the internet as a promotional platform. It is also one of the most competitive industries online and it takes experience and knowledge to succeed in this sector.
Affiliate marketing involves selling products on behalf of online merchants in return for a commission for every sale generated. This method is popular amongst the masses because it takes little to no investment to initiate a campaign. Free tools and promotional mediums allow anyone from across the world to earn a living without investing a cent.
However, it must be said that it is integral for you to invest some money in education, website development, hosting and a domain name to build some sort of credibility and to supercharge your earning potential.
Selling One’s Own Products
If you have a business that already produces a product or service then you can easily promote your offering online. This will increase overall exposure and you can generate many leads using the internet as a promotional medium.
Even if you do not own a business, you can easily create your own products and market them online. Information products like ebooks are hot, and the options available for you to hire a freelancer to create an ebook that covers a topic that is in demand are vast. Product creation has never being simpler, and as a result you can have your own product in a short period of time, and you can market the product online.
Selling Stock Photography
Macro stock and microstock photo sites allow you to upload pictures that you took yourself, now, or even years ago. These pictures are then offered to businesses, blogs, and online publications to license and use, for instance, to spice up an otherwise boring monthly sales report, or even for an advertisement campaign.
Stock images are usually rather generic in both appearance and subject, as the goal is to have them licensed to numerous buyers with different goals, maximizing your return for the same effort. And thanks to the incredibly high quality of smartphones these days, you don’t even need to buy expensive high-end photography gear (although it will help). Some of my best-selling images are actually taken using my iPhones.
If you’d like to know more about the different types of stock agencies and how to choose which pictures to submit, take a look at our stock photography page
Ebay/Amazon Affiliates
Thousands of marketers generate 6 to 7 figure incomes exclusively by promoting products from Amazon or Ebay. This method is a subset of affiliate marketing and the promotional strategies employed are also similar.
Besides promoting products on Ebay you can also sell your own products using Ebay as your core promotional medium. Some people even buy products on Ebay and resell them on Ebay at a greater price. That sounds incredible, but it is true. This approach in itself can earn you a comfortable living.
Freelancing
While this approach diverges from the others as it involves working for an employer, it still does provide an element of freedom. As a freelancer you have the liberty of choosing which projects to apply for and you can stipulate a timeframe that you intend completing the project.
Freelancing can become a lucrative path for individuals who possess a specialized skill like writing, designing, or programming. The numbers of clients looking for specialist skills are phenomenal and any freelancer who has an excellent track record can make a healthy living online.
Blogging
The blogosphere has exploded in growth of late and many people are earning a substantial amount from blogging alone. The fundamentals of blogging for money are parallel to what you will do as an affiliate marketer. In fact, many affiliate marketers have established blogs to promote various affiliate products.
The essence of blogging for money really isn’t a form of making money online, but rather it is a medium that can be used to develop relationships with people interested in a particular niche and to market products to these people. The products that are marketed could be an affiliate product or the bloggers own creation.
Website Flipping
This strategy is for the more advanced online marketer as it involves researching a niche, building a website around that niche, promoting the website to a point that it becomes profitable and thereafter selling the website for a profit.
Selling Advertising Space
Another popular approach involves selling advertising space on a website that generates a fair amount of traffic. Many webmasters allow advertisers to place a banner ad on their site and the webmaster receives an income each time the banner is clicked or viewed.
Placing Google ads via a program called Adsense is also another favoured route to make money from a website that receives traffic. When these ads are placed on a site and a visitor clicks on the ad, the webmaster receives and income from Google.
These forms mentioned above are the most popular online money making methods. The promotional mediums used to market products are diverse and there are literally thousands of different courses and ebooks that teach individuals how to promote their offering via the various mediums available. But the underlying principles attached to making money online will fall within the categories I have mentioned.