The Realities of Making Money Online

January 28, 2011 1 Comment

Making money online is a dream of many. People think making money online is easier than a traditional job and can be achieved quickly. There are thousands of ways to “make money” online when someone searches on Google, but how many of them are actually legitimate? The reality of making money online is only about 1 percent of all that attempt to make money actually do. This is a very small amount of people compared to the millions that try it every year. Here are some of the realities of making money online.

Reality: Money Making Programs/Get Rich Quick Programs Do Not Work.

Learn how to make $5000 a day without doing any work! Making money online is not as easy as many show it to be. It takes dedication and a lot of work to start producing a good amount of money online. The harsh reality is that most of the money making programs are just simple schemes that are making the creator money. People who want to learn how to make money online think that the low cost of the program is worth it. Most money making programs are priced low to entice people order them. This is the true secret to why the person who is selling the program or secret is making so much money each day. When someone purchases a program, they usually do so because they have been taken by the sales letter. This is something created to “sell” you on the idea of purchasing the program. Many use testimonials from “expert” individuals in their respective fields raving about the product being pitched. Most of these “experts” are actually paid to provide these glowing testimonials, and many have never actually used the product. If someone is wishing to make money online, then simply stay away from any money making program.

Reality: Making Money online is Difficult and Time Consuming.

Making money doing anything is never really easy. Everything takes effort and making money online is no exception. The people who actually make decent money online have dedicated their time and effort to do so. Many of them have researched their idea for countless hours to create the right approach. Many have paid others to help solidify their idea or product. There is really nothing online that will make you good money with only a couple hours of work each day. If someone wants to try their hand in making money online, then they have to be ready to invest the time that is necessary. The beginning of any venture is where most of the hours will add up. Some of the most successful money makers have worked up to 18 hours a day starting out their online idea or product. If this amount of time is not available, then making money online might not work.

Reality: Blogging is one of the Hardest Ways to Make Money Online.

Blogging has exploded over the past couple of years and it doesn’t seem to slowing down anytime soon. There are thousands of blogs that divulge the “secrets” to making money blogging, but all of them tell a similar story. The truth behind blogging is only the most dedicated and unique bloggers actually succeed. The only way to truly make money blogging is to find a niche that has not been covered well and the start building your blog around that niche. The main thing is if the passion for the subject matter does not exist, then the blog will fail. Most bloggers only blog because they think they can make money with their subject matter. The problem here is their subject matter tends to be the exact same as a countless number of other blogs. With high competition comes a reduced possibility of making money online. If someone wants to make money blogging, stick to something that you are passionate about and that does not have a lot of competition online. One thing to remember is that blogging was first created in order to express ideas and opinions. It did not take long for others to exploit that fact that money could be made doing so and now that everyone knows, everyone tries.

Reality: Affiliate Programs can be Promising.

Affiliate marketing is a huge industry, but very few actually know how to manage affiliate programs. There are affiliate programs for almost everything online, from consumer goods to digital downloads. Most affiliate programs are free to sign up and many can provide great returns. Affiliate marketing is not very effective unless you have an established website that has traffic. The hard thing about affiliate marketing is most try to promote products that have the highest payout. This is the wrong way to use affiliate marketing. If someone wants to succeed with affiliate marketing, then they will need to choose programs that match their interests and the subject matter of their website. There is a time commitment with affiliate marketing just as there is with other money making ideas. Someone wishing to make money with affiliate programs must abide by terms set by the affiliate program as well as follow promotions and other selling points. While there are many ways to make money online with affiliate marketing, it is a hard industry to get into. One must know the correct ways to succeed. There are many great free eBooks out there that provide great information on how to start with affiliate marketing. Do not pay for an eBook that will “show” you how to market affiliate programs, as they tend to be a large waste of money. Affiliate programs are the most promising solution for making money online, but remember to do the research before jumping in.

The main idea to take away from this is that making money online is very difficult. Many try and fail. If you are looking for a get rich quick idea, then you will not succeed with making money online. Most of the people that make money are the ones that sell the get rich quick schemes. Very few succeed in these programs, but money still comes in for the creators as people purchase to make money fast. The words make money and fast should never be put together. This is a fantasy that has only been multiplied as the world-wide economy fell apart. If you are interested in making money online, then use your existing talents to do so. There are many websites that allow you to become a freelancer and provide services to others for payment. This is a legitimate way to earn cash online by only using what you know and enjoy. Not only does it work, but it is also fulfilling and that is something that many tend to forget. Fulfillment keeps us motivated and on the right track to achieving our goals. Just remember that “money does not buy happiness”, which is just as true when trying to make money online.

The Ten Important Steps To Online Success

August 26, 2010 1 Comment

This is a guest post by Josephine Bøttger. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here.

I’ve been noticing lately that the biggest problem in online success for most entrepreneurs is not having the right strategy with a guaranteed system for generating income online.

So how do you take the first step in creating that system?

If you’re worried about taking this first crucial step — which is perfectly natural, by the way — I’ve got some great news…

You’ve just started!

You see, it takes three things to become a successful Internet entrepreneur…

1) desire
2) motivation
3) an action plan.

You’ve already shown you’ve got the motivation by being attracted to this post. You proved that the minute you clicked on the headline.

… Now here’s your action plan:

This is a guaranteed 10 important steps anyone can use to make money online. (In fact, I used it myself to turn a $199 investment into over $5000+ per month in online profit)

Here it is:

Step 1: FIND A NICHE MARKET

Use research tools like Wordtracker to find a niche market of HUNGRY buyers eager for your product or service.

Step 2: WRITE YOUR SALESCOPY

Write compelling copy that leads your visitors smoothly through your sales process.

Step 3: SET UP YOUR OPTIN FORM & AUTORESPONDER SYSTEM

Turn your website into a marketing funnel using a simple design, optin form, and automation.

Step 4: DRIVE BUYERS TO YOUR SITE

Create “paid search” ads that attract instant traffic (without draining your bank account!) and use free search engines to get your site “front and center.”

Step 5: DRIVE MORE CHEAP AND *FREE* TRAFFIC

Use strategies like article-sharing, blog commenting, social media videos and press releases to drive even more people to your site.

Step 6: USE EMAIL TO GET *MORE* SALES

Build a subscriber list of people who want to hear from you, so you can convince them to buy over time.

Step 7: FIND *MORE* PRODUCTS FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS

Offer your customers even more products you know they want to buy.

Step 8: GET OTHER PEOPLE TO SELL FOR YOU

Do JV (joint venture) deals with people to sell your products to their list of resources (and you can share the profits with them when their referrals buy your product or service)

Step 9: GROW YOUR BUSINESS *BIGGER*

Create multiple channels of new streams of income to multiply your revenues.

Step 10: USE HOT NEW TOOLS TO CREATE A BUZZ

Bring visitors back to your site again and again using the hottest new tools and techniques.

Of course, this is just a brief overview… My complete system includes so many tested and proven strategies you can use to create a highly profitable business, but these are enough to get you started.

I’ll be sharing more proven strategies with you in my next post.

You’ve already taken your first giant step toward online success
– don’t lose your momentum!

Josephine is the Author of her new Ebook Report “Insider Secrets To 7 Figures In Network Marketing”, she is a contributor on several blogs, and has set a goal to help 10 brand new people this year to get out of debt and take control of their lives by working part time from home

How To Sell Your Advertising Spots Directly

August 9, 2010 2 Comments

There are many of us out there that create websites because we have a passion about a certain topic. We regularly update our websites with the latest information, so that our visitors can stay on top of our topic of interest. A time comes in many websites life that enables the creator to start monetizing the traffic. There are many great ways to monetize your visitors that include third party ad networks like Google Adsense, which is the most popular way for most bloggers and website owners. You can also monetize with affiliate networks, which is a lot harder, but it can be very lucrative if done correctly. Many website owners do not even think about selling the ad space on their websites by themselves though. This is a technique that has been around for quite some time, but many website owners just don’t do it. It can be hard to do and you may not succeed, but if you do, you will make more money on that ad space than with the likes of Google Adsense.

There are really two way to sell the ad space on your website. You can either sell it directly, with the help of a well developed advertising page on your blog, or though a third-party system. You can have visitors pay through a payment system such as paypal, or email you for more information if you want to sell spaces directly. A third party system allows you to setup that ad spaces with some code and then the system will place your listing on a directory for advertisers to see. Advertisers can purchase your ad space for 30 days or whichever the network provides and then you are paid. I will go into more detail on both forms of direct selling advertising space.

If you want to sell direct and you want to do it on your own, then you have to take the time to setup a proper advertising page on your website or blog. The main reason for this is that if/when you sell your spaces, you keep all of the cash, minus the payment gateway fees. With adsense, you only get a small portion of the click cost, so it takes a while to get money from it. Direct on your site enables you to charge what you want and to pocket about 99% of the money. Advertisers want to know how well your website performs before they give your money for advertising space. Fellow Blogger, John Chow, does a great job with his advertising page. Everything is setup properly with great information and breaks out each zone that is available. He brings his potential advertisers to a paypal subscription page that will capture the sale and in a subscription. Many companies and advertisers forget that they create paypal subscriptions, so they tend to continue them without notice. This is usually good for the publisher. You can see a quick screen shot of John’s page with just the information. You can see his entire advertising page on his website.

If you look at John’s page, then you will see a good example of how an advertising page should look like. While I know that John Chow is great at what he does, anyone can create a page like this with their own stats. Keeping your statistics and accomplishments up-to-date is key to succeeding in selling your advertising space directly. Without a good page, you will not bring in the cash that you wish.

If you do not have the time or technical knowledge to setup your own advertising page, which I hope it is you just don’t have time, then check out 3rd party services like AdvertiseSpace or BuySellAds. Each site has its own perks with AdvertiseSpace being newer, but still growing strong. These services are great for quick setup and little work on your end. They do take around 25 to 30% of your sale price for providing the service. While this may seem alot, you still are getting 70 to 75% off the money with a lot less work. You sign up for an account and once you get approved you add your blog. Each blog has to be approved by the website, so make sure it follows their policies. In the past, BuySellAds was hard to get into, but they have really opened up their acceptance to smaller publishers. This has really flooded their website, so it may take time to sell an adspace. AdvertiseSpace has their own set of rules, but it is much easier to get into their program. If you are not accepted, then ask them why. They might be able to give you a quick roadmap on how to get accepted, while making your website stronger.

AdvertiseSpace has a simple sign up form that just creates your account. Once you have signed up, then you must click on the Sell Ads tab at the top of the page. This will allow you to create an ad zone on your website. Currently, they only allow you to sell ad space in the following sizes: 125 x 125, 260 x 125, and 88 x 31. While they don’t provide many sizes, 125 x 125 seems to be very popular among advertisers. You then pick the price per month and the style of ad banner. They currently offer 25 different ad banners that you can choose from. These banners tell people that the advertising space is currently for sale. If they click on it, then they are directed to your own page on AdvertiseSpace with stats and prices. They can checkout there if they want to purchase the spot.

If you have some of these size spaces available, then AdvertiseSpace might suite you. You have to then add your blog information, with the title, description, and then category. Each spot is for one ad, so if you have 5 different zones, then you need to create 5 different ad spots. This can be time consuming, but once you get it down, it gets pretty quick. Each zone will give you a small piece of code that you will need to add to your website, so that they zone will become available. Once you have placed the code on the website, you are done. AdvertiseSpace will take care of the rest. If you are interested in using this service, you can sign up for a Free Account at any time.

BuySellAds has a very similar concept, but they provide you with more options on the ad zones that you can have. It can take some time to get accepted if your site does not meet their standards. Some have said that they were declined the first time, but after changing the description of the site, they were accepted. They allow you to sell ads with any dimension, but provide you with the best performing ad sizes which are: 125 x 125, 180 x 150, 200 x 125, 260 x 260, 300 x 250, 728 x 90. I am surprised that they don’t have 468 x 60 on that list, but you can create if you wish as it is a very popular size for advertisers. You can accept just image ads, image and text ads, or text and description ads. You have to create ad zones just like AdvertiseSpace, but they provide some more options like banner rotation.

After you create a zone, you have to install the code. BuySellAds needs code to be installed in the header as well as where you want to sell the ad space. This is just how their system works, so without the header code, no others will work properly. BuySellAds does not provide you with different ad banners to show that you have space for sale, but only provide a gray box that says “Advertise Here” with a small mouseover effect. This box is well known around the industry as many people use BuySellAds. Once all of your zones are created and your code is installed, you just have to sit back and wait for sales. You get a listing in their directory, which you can change your listing based on changes to your website or topic. Advertisers can find you through the listing or directly on your site if the ad spot has not been sold. If you are interested in BuySellAds, then sign up for your free acount and then submit your blog for approval.

So, as you can see, it is simple to start selling your advertising spots on your website directly without losing most of your revenue with CPC or CPM networks. As your website or blog becomes larger, then you can change the pricing and continue to make more. They best part about direct selling is that you have the control over the ads, which you don’t with other networks. While you can have AdvertiseSpace or BuySellAds auto approve ads, you can tell them not to as well and keep all control. It won’t hurt to try and sell your available ad space, unless you are already making a lot of money with networks like Google Adsense. Good luck to everyone that wants to sell their advertising directly.

What If vs. What Is – Succeeding Online

July 28, 2010 2 Comments

We all dream of creating a site that everyone enjoys to visit and continue to visit day in and day out. Every thought is involved in what if the site becomes the next Facebook, or what if I can make tons of money from my site? Sometimes we get consumed with the what if’s of running a website or online business that we forget to think about the realities of running such websites. Starting an online business can be a daunting task, but if you take the time to create some realistic goals, you have a better possibility of succeeding. I am going to go over a few what if’s versus what is for online business and website goals.

What If: What if your website can make you a ton of money, so you can quit your day job and live off the fruits of your hardwork? Making a lot of money online is a goal of many, but achieved by few.

What Is: What is a realistic goal that you can hit with your website? The best way to succeed online is to create a goal that you can hit within 6 months, like get your visitors to 500 a day or get 1000 newsletter subscribers. Most people fail due to them thinking unrealistically and then just quitting. There are a small amount of people that actually live off the money they make online, and it didn’t happen overnight.

What If: What if my website becomes huge with a lot of traffic?

What Is: What is a traffic goal that you can reach within 6 months. Building up traffic is an on-going battle that every website owner works on. Without traffic, your site will never succeed. It takes about 6 months of constant work to get traffic levels up to a respectable level, but it could take longer. If you want to keep your dream alive, create monthly traffic goals so you can see some results. If you have outlandish traffic goals, then you will be more likely to quit as you won’t be able to hit those goals.

What If: What if you can sell ebooks/products on your website to make money? Ebooks are very popular and sell pretty easy on a lot of websites.

What Is: What is your expertise in the field that you plan on selling ebooks in? Selling other people’s ebooks doesn’t really bring much money and it doesn’t show that you know much in the industry that you are marketing to. I have spoken to many that think ebooks are the answer to a lot of money. The main thing that I tell them is that they have to have expertise in their field before creating an ebook. You can’t sell an ebook about making money online if you haven’t made money online. Sell items that you are confident in and that you know, not something that you think will make money.

What If: What if I enter an industry/niche online that is known for making a lot of money?

What Is: What is the reason for entering this industry or niche? If you main goal to enter this niche is to make money, think twice. Most of these industries are already pretty jam packed with competition and it will be very hard to succeed within them. Now you can enter the industry, but specialize in a small segment of that industry. It would be wise to enter a niche that you are passionate about, not one where you think you can make a lot of money. Making money takes a lot of time and dedication. If you are passionate about your craft, then you will continue to enjoy working at your website/business in order to make it the best. Entering an industry for the sole purpose of making money is the wrong way to start your online venture.

I am not trying to be negative in this post or crush anyone’s dreams. What I am saying is that if you want to start a website or online business, you need to have goals in place before you get started. You need to know where you want to go and how you plan on getting there. If you have goals and milestones, then you have a path to follow and hopefully a vehicle to get there. Going blind into an online venture will cause you to wander the online realm looking for answers to why you are not succeeding. The one thing that everyone is going to tell you is to create quantifiable goals that you know you can hit. Creating a goal and reaching it is very satisfying. The satisfied you are when running a business or website, the more you want it to succeed. Keep your dreams alive while understanding realistically what you can achieve. The main thing I would say is never give up. You might not succeed at first, but you will learn a lot to help you succeed later on.

Monetize your Blog with a New Type of Ad

December 30, 2009 4 Comments

There are many blogs out there that are working hard to monetize via adsense or affiliate marketing. While it can be a hard thing to do in order to create the optimal amount of ads and content, users are starting to get used to Google Adsense on blogs and thus not clicking them as often. Webmasters can use either text ads or banners ads, but they might not be the best performers. Now there is a new way to provide ads to your customers without using adsense or affiliate ads. MaxBlogPress has created the Stripe Ad.

The Stripe Ad allows you to put up a few phrases or sentence about a product or service that you may be an affiliate of. The user can click the banner and possibly earn the webmaster an affiliate sale. You can also put up things such as getting a user to subscribe to your RSS feed, or to follow the site on twitter. These are just easy things to do with the interface that MaxBlogPress has created. They have developed an easy plugin for wordress that can be installed and ready to go in less than 5 minutes. You have control over the text, color, background color, alignment, header space, and many other things that make it one of the best ways to put up new ads. If you have a wordpress blog and you are looking for a new type of ad to show your visitors, then check out MaxBlogPress. You can download the plugin here.

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