Some
of the Many Ways to Make Money on the Internet
Whenever
I tell someone I build websites and do internet marketing
for a living they always ask the same question: "How do you
make money on the internet?"
There
are so many ways to make money on the internet, and so much opportunity
there, even with the current economic situation. The
internet is still
rapidly expanding, with hundreds of thousands of new users every
day.
There
are so many different ways to create an online business. You can
choose a way that fits your personality.
Do
you like to write or other creative expression? Are you a right-brain
person?
You
can create a content-based web site or do article marketing.
Are
you good with numbers and have some experience with programming and
internet technology?
You
can do Pay-Per-Click marketing where you promote products with online
advertising to earn
commission.
I
actually do a bit of both. I have created six websites so far, some
by myself, and some in partnership with others.
I
also do
various forms
of Internet marketing where I promote products on small
websites, called mini-sites.
Whatever
your personality and background there is a way to start a business
on the internet that is right for you.
Content
websites
Content
websites, also called authority websites, contain knowledge or experience
learned in the real world and
organized on a
website to pass that knowledge and experience on
to others.
Content
website examples:
LittleShamrocks.com – Irish
Food recipes, Irish culture and history articles, and Ireland travel
stories.
Lake
Sunapee Living.com – an insider's guide to New Hampshire’s
Lake Sunapee Region.
Fantastic-Fractals.com – a
gallery of computer generated artwork.
EThorCarlson.com – Fine
art including painting, drawing, sculpture and tapestry weaving.
These
sites are designed to build a loyal base of regular visitors. They
offer unique
and
interesting content,
and are updated
regularly.
They
each get hundreds of visitors per day.
They
each make money in a variety of ways including selling
products, advertising, promoting
services, and by affiliate
marketing.
More
about affiliate marketing
below.
Don’t
have any knowledge that would benefit others?
I
really doubt that, but here is how
you can get started anyway.
The
best way to start a business is with other people’s money – and
the best way to start a website
is with other
people’s
content!
Don’t
have an idea for a website?
I
felt the same way before I built my first website but, after learning
how
to properly
do research
for website
themes & content, I have
a bunch of website ideas.
For
my first website I found someone else who had great information.
In fact, very little of the
content
of the
websites listed
above is
my own knowledge or information.
For LittleShamrocks.com I
partnered with my fiancé’s
sister, who is an expert
cook and
who loves Ireland. She does all the cooking, writing and traveling.
I build the web pages, take the pictures, and handle
the technical stuff.
Of
course, I always help with
the food tasting.
Lake
Sunapee Living.com has a few short articles I have
written
about
the
area but most
of the website
content is from
others.
I
promote the
local artists, craftspeople
and businesses in the area, and I mostly
use the content
they give
me.
Lately,
I have even
started to collaborate
with them to make their
works available online
in various
forms such as
posters, books,
cards, and
even t-shirts!
Fantastic-Fractals.com – I
have no art talent but my computer does!
It
has a program called KPT Fractal Explorer that creates remarkable
digital art.
As
I tinkered with this fractal generator, I amassed a rather large
collection
of very interesting digital designs.
I
took the best of those
and created Fantastic-Fractals.com.
EThorCarlson.com is
a website I built for a
truly amazing
local
artist
named E.
Thor Carlson.
Thor
is a truly brilliant
man – he’s
a Yale graduate and
Fulbright scholar,
but even someone
that smart was not
able to get an effective
website built.
I
have learned that
nearly every
artist, like nearly
every small businesse,
really has difficulty
using the web to
promote their work.
Together
we created a website using SBI
that now gets over
200 visitors per
day.
Website
Affiliate Marketing
All
of these websites make money selling other peoples products
thru affiliate marketing
and
a print-on-demand
online service
called CafePress
that makes
prints
and posters.
CafePress
can print any design on all kinds of
stuff.
Affiliate
marketing uses web site
links to send
traffic to
other online stores
in exchange
for
a commission
when the
visitor makes
a purchase
or performs
an action such as
signing up
for a mailing
list.
This is
the ultimate
hands-off
way
to make
money.
You
don’t have to touch
products
or deal with customers. Someone else does all of that.You
just have to have traffic to your website.
You
do need to have at least
one hundred
visitors per day to your website before it is worthwhile to
do affiliate marketing. That is why it is so important to use an
effective
traffic drawing system to build your website, such as SBI.
More
about Website Affiliate Marketing
Internet
Marketing
with Pay-Per-Click
Internet
marketing
usually
means
buying online
advertising
to
bring
traffic to a sales
page
for someone
else’s
product
through
an affiliate
link.
It
also can mean promoting your own product through the internet, but
creating your own product is a lot more work than
promoting
someone else’s.
Promoting
someone
else’s
product
can
be
as
easy
as
buying
online
Pay-Per-Click
(PPC)
advertising
and
using
an
affiliate
link
in
the
ad.
This
is
called
Direct
Linking
and,
while
it
is
easy
to
set
up,
it
is
risky
and
requires
a lot
of
trial
and
error
by
trying
different
ads
and
different
keywords
that
trigger those
ads.
A
better way
to
promote
affiliate
products
with
Pay-Per-Click
advertising
is
to
build
a
landing page
site,
which
is
a
mini-website
with
a
sales page
and
a
few other
pages
of
information
such
as
a
few
articles
about
the
products
you
are
promoting.
Layout-Utopia.com
is a mini-website that markets downloadable toolbars that can customize
MySpace profiles and send animated e-cards. The website visitor does
not have to buy anything, just download a free browser toolbar, and
payment is made for each download.
Click
here to visit mini-website Layout-Utopia.com
The
more cost
effective way
to promote
the products
of others
is to
create a
Review Website
that has
information on
a variety
of related
products.
Each
of the
products reviewed
uses an
affiliate link
so it
makes money
no matter
which product
the visitor
chooses.
The
most effective
way of
all to
do affiliate
marketing is
to combine
a review
website with
a content
website.
The
content brings
in free
traffic from
the search
engines and
the product
review affiliate
links generate
income from
that traffic.
Buying
Pay-Per-Click advertising
for a
content and
review website
is more
effective -
now the
visitor is
more likely
to bookmark
the site
because of
the useful
information, and
return again
and again.
In
addition to
Pay-Per-Click and
content site
marketing there
is another
effective way
to do
affiliate marketing.
The
Interview Method
The
interview method
is really
remarkable because
is does
not have
the testing
costs of
Pay-Per-Click advertising
and it
does not
take months
or years
to produce
affiliate income
like a
content website
can.
Here
is the
interview method
in a
nutshell.
I
think it
is absolutely
brilliant.
- Choose
an online
product niche
that has
high demand,
such as
losing weight,
dog training,
work-from-home,
etc.
- Create
a simple
blog style
website
and
set it
up with
affiliate
links
to related
products and,
optionally,
a
mailing
list
sign-up form.
- Contact
everyone
who
makes
a
product
related
to your
chosen
niche
and request
an interview
with them.
- Publish
the
audio
of
the
interviews
on
your
website.
The
interviewees will
link
to the
interview
from
their
site
and
will
send
you
lots
of
traffic.
This
is
very
effective
yet
very
inexpensive
compared
to
other
ways
of
internet
marketing.
You can
set
everything
up
for
less
than
$200
including
a
course
in
exactly
how
to
do
it.
If
you
have
been
laid-off
and
are
looking
for
a
way
to
make
money
that
is
interesting
and
unique,
that
will
not
take
a
lot
of
time
or
money, and
will
leave
you
time
to
continue
to
look
for
work,
I
recommend
you
check
out
this
course.
It
will
really
open
your
eyes
to
new
possibilities!
It
is
called
Guru
Assassin
by
Jonny
Andrews.
It
is
very
well
done,
has
a
lot
of
very
useful
and
effective
techniques,
and
it
is
a
lot
of
fun as
well. See below for our recommendations.
