4 Steps to Making Money Online
You may have come across one of these many similar systems being marketed on social media, promising that you can make easy money online, or make money quick in the first hour, or overnight etc, etc, and you want to get in on a piece of the action.
You know the type I mean:
- “Push-Button System Spits Out 477 FREE LEADS Every Week!”
- “I’ve discovered a robot that pays me every day! >>> Meaning to say, every day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, Over $5,000 in 5 days. With this powerful INSTANT MONEY SYSTEM”
- “How to Make $350, $1,200, even $4,700 a Week on Auto-Pilot!”
- “New Viral System Cranks Out Leads and Cash Daily!”
These are just a few I picked out from one of the thousands of similar Facebook Groups.
Well I have some bad news for you… they are all scams!
The only way that you can make money with these “systems” is to buy into their upsells and recruit other people into the same system, and for them to do the same again.
They work more like an MLM structure built on recruiting more and more people into a “system”, rather than being an actual business model to make legitimate money online!
You might be thinking: “So are you saying that it is impossible to make money online?”
No! That’s not what I’m saying at all!
It is very possible!
But ONLY if you give up the idea of “get rich quick,” and be prepared to put in some hard work to build something worthwhile online.
IF you learn the skills of how to build a PROFITABLE business online that will work LONG-TERM!
It WILL take some time and effort on your part, but the actual process itself is a fairly simple one, and can be broken down into 4 steps.
Below I will outline the 4 steps to making HONEST money online.
Step 1 – Choose an Interest
We all have an interest, hobby, skill or specialised knowledge that we can build a business around.
This is called choosing your niche.
A niche is just a particular group of people all with same interest.
So what interests you?
It could be sport, or fitness, cooking, video games, relationships, business, personal development, baby toys, cars or fishing.
It could be absolutely anything.
There are literally hundreds of different niches and thousands of micro-niches that you can build a business around.
What are you interested in that you could build an online business around?
By building a business around your passions you have a much greater chance of success than just marketing “some system.”
Step 2 – Build a Website
Having your own website is vital for having success online, and it is very SIMPLE to do these days.
There are now website builders that can have your own beautiful website up and running in a matter of minutes with just a few simple clicks.
Having your own website will be the foundation of your business and gives you the opportunity to build something worthwhile and long-lasting.
Your website will act as your own online shop, but one that is open all over the world 24/7, 365 days of the year.
Step 3 – Attract Visitors
The next step is to get visitors to your website which is also referred to as “getting traffic”.
And unlike these “systems” I mentioned earlier who get their main traffic from spamming their link all over social media, you will actually learn the industries best practices to get your content from your website to be ranked on the first page of Google for free.
This is called Search Engine Optimisation or SEO, and learning these basic, foundational skills is the key to getting people to visit your site organically.
The more relevant free traffic you can get to your website, then the more money you will be able to make.
You can then also re-invest a portion of your profit into paid traffic, which can then scale your business to a whole new level.
But the key is to learn the correct methods of getting your content ranked for free by the search engines first, before scaling up.
Step 4 – Earn Revenue
Once you start getting some traffic to your website you can then start promoting products and services with what is known as affiliate marketing.
With affiliate marketing, you don’t own the products yourself, but you can promote other companies products as an affiliate.
How it works, is you join a companies affiliate program, and they give you a unique link that you then put onto your website.
When one of your visitors clicks on that link and makes a purchase, you will receive a commission.
There are hundreds of affiliate programs out there, selling thousands of products, they are free to join and will pay you commissions of up to 75% in some cases.
You don’t have to worry about shipping, customer service, inventory, or even creating your own products.
Just about all of the big companies these days have affiliate programs, but some you may of heard of are Amazon, Clickbank and JV Zoo.
Even the big department stores such as Target have an affiliate program you can join.
Once you learn the basics of the affiliate marketing process and start earning some decent revenue, you can even branch out into selling your own digital products such as eBooks, online courses and membership sites.
The sky really is the limit when you follow this basic process and have the right tools, training and support.
In Summary
So in summary, the 4 steps to making money online are:
- Choosing an Interest
- Building a Website
- Getting Visitors
- Earning Revenue
If you follow this process you can finally give those get rich quick schemes the flick, and start building something worthwhile online, that in a few years time you can look back on and be proud of.
If you want to learn how you can apply these 4 steps for making money online, then you are welcome to join the Wealthy Affiliate free starter membership where you will receive a free video training course that will teach you these skills and much, much more.
Absolutely everything you need to start, create, and grow a successful business online is included at Wealthy Affiliate.
It doesn’t matter if you have zero knowledge or you are someone with years of success online, you will gain an enormous amount of value with this training,
To find out more, click here to visit my Getting Started Page
If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them below.
To your success,
John W. Newman
Helping you create TIME AND FINANCIAL FREEDOM by building a PROFITABLE Business Online!
Dream It… Believe It… Then Achieve It!
Love social media? Join me on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and Instagram.
Hi John,
Thanks for this informative post. Wealthy Affiliate is truly an amazing place. To be able to go from a beginner to an experienced marketer by sticking to the training at WA is a wonderful experience. I am wondering do you think I will make money if I stay with the free program and do not upgrade to Premium?
Luna
Hi Luna, thanks for your comment.
You absolutely CAN make money by sticking with the free program, and I know of many people that are doing this.
It is much easier with premium though, as you have the advantage of MORE tools, training and support that will help you reach your goals sooner.
But you can take your time and upgrade when the time is right for you, or continue on as a free member for as long as you like.
Totally your choice! 🙂
Hi John!
Wealthy Affiliate is probably the best online Affiliate Marketing trainers!
I joined them when I knew nothing about Affiliate Marketing, and the way they took me through is incredible.
They took me from phase one, from knowing nothing about Affiliate Marketing, until making me an expert.
If you’re willing to put in the work then every penny is worth it!
I’m sure that everybody that is putting in the work required will never regret joining them!
Thanks for your great review!
Chanan
Thanks Chanan!
Glad to hear that you are having success with affiliate marketing with what you have learned and applied with Wealthy Affiliate!
As you say, putting in the work is the key to success.
It is not going to happen just by wanting and hoping… you have to put in the work to succeed online, just like in any other aspect of life!
I really appreciate you being upfront about the fact that the road to financial freedom is not some crazy get rich quick scheme.
I’ve wanted to start an affiliate website for a long time now and I really like the steps you’ve laid out here.
My issue is I always get stuck with what topic to right about. As I understand it, it’s best to stick with one blog for one subject right?
Can you make money in any niche?
Hi Simon, I wouldn’t say you could make money in any niche, but almost.
People are making money in just about any niche that you could imagine in topics from “playing Guitar” to “skin care” to selling baby strollers to having a longer drive playing golf!
Just think what interests and passions you may have.
In Wealthy Affiliate’s FREE starter membership, there is a video lesson that takes you through this whole process around picking a niche… and if you still feel stuck, they have a “ready made” niche, with a whole training program of it’s own that you can try out!
Best of luck 🙂
Hello and thanks for sharing this information, It is so amazing how many people fall into the get rich quick scarm and all it is design for is for those who comes up with these programs but wealthy affiliate is soild and can be trusted. I am sure that all you have to share will interest your visitors. Your site is well detailed all the best to you and have a good day.
Thanks Norman, I appreciate it 🙂
It is really sad how many people fall for the get rich quick scams… but there are so many of them that it can be hard to spot a good quality program.
Fortunately, Wealthy Affiliate is one such program in my opinion.
I am sure 800,000 Internet Entrepreneurs can’t all be wrong 😉
Affiliate marketing can be a great way to build an online business. It’s surprising that many folks have not heard about this concept but it’s possibly the best way to create income online for the regular person. If you can join a well reputed company then all the better. Especially a company that provides the training, tools and community.
Thanks Kevin,
I believe that affiliate marketing is the BEST way to start out making money online.
You don’t have to create a product of your own, or resort to an MLM type structure, where the product is just recruiting people into the “system”
Wealthy Affiliate will teach you the foundational skills and current best practices to building an honest business online, that can be scaled further into the future.
The sky really is the limit!
Thanks for your comment 🙂
Wealthy Affiliate is an awesome community. You get help right away with anything that you want and the people are so friendly.
In the beginning I was a little skeptic, but now I am so glad that I joined.
The lessons are so structured that even someone who has not even the slightest knowledge on how to use a computer is capable of building a website.
The knowledge that someone can attain is enormous.
Harry.
Thanks for your feedback Harry and I totally agree!
Wealthy Affiliate is perfect for newbies to online marketing as it teaches them the foundational skills right from the get go.
But it is also of a great benefit to many experienced marketers as well, because these skills are not often taught, at least in this structured environment, and a lot of bad habits are often being fallen into.
A great community for all! 🙂
I think this is the ‘get rich quick’ mentality of people that made them gullible for scams. Especially online as people associate online with ‘quick’ and ‘instant’. They expect online success as a result. Building a business online takes time (but much shorter than offline). And you still have to put all the effort in the end to see it works.
You are so right there Kenny.
People believe that making money online should come quickly, but when it doesn’t they think that it is a scam, or they get frustrated with their lack of progress and give up.
The reality is that money “can” come quickly, but NOT before you put in a hell of a lot of groundwork before hand.
I always apply the saying: People overestimate what they can achieve in one year, but underestimate what they can achieve in 5 years.
Sadly, most people don’t even give themselves a few months, and many don’t even start at all.
A great shame in my opinion!
Thanks for your comment 🙂
No doubt that Wealthy Affiliate is the place to be if you’re wanting to make a true income online. The training is topnotch and the support is untouchable! Thank you for the information, John. How long can I stay a free member?
Thanks for your comment Grant!
Yes, I believe that the training at Wealthy Affiliate is the best in the business for sure!
As for how long the free membership lasts, you can actually remain a free member for as long as you like, and along with that, you have access to two free websites and a 10 lesson “getting started” video training course and a 10 lesson “affiliate bootcamp” training course as well.
There is a premium membership for a monthly fee of $49 with way more value, but there is no obligation or pressure to upgrade.
For more info, have a look here at my Getting Started Page 🙂