What is the best way to earn money on the Internet?
There are a thousand and one ways to earn money on the Internet.
There is Amazon, Ebay, surveys, drop shipping, selling digital products, physical products and eCommerce just to name a few.
There is also a million scams you can fall prey to, or spamming a “system” that only makes money when you recruit other people to sell the same system to someone else.
So what is the best way to earn money on the Internet?
Well read on and I will explain more!
My journey online
I first started my online business in 2013, and fortunately, I never got sucked into any of the online scams, I have learned from some great mentors, and my business has steadily grown over time.
Although I have made plenty of mistakes along the way, I have followed a “grand plan” for my business, that I am sure will lead to long-term success, and I am sure that if you follow this recipe, you will have success as well!
What’s your super power?
We all have a super power that we can teach to others.
What are your interests, hobbies, or something you are passionate about?
What specialised knowledge do you have?
In this business, this is referred to as picking your niche.
It could be fishing, sports, computer games, business, making money online, fitness, or just about any other topic.
Whatever you have an interest or knowledge in, other people will be seeking answers to a problem they have with it online.
A niche is just a particular audience or section of the market, and there are thousands of profitable niches online.
But I like to call it a super power, and you can teach this power to others.
But maybe you are saying that you’re not an expert, or you don’t think you could do this?
Of course, you can do it!
I can’t remember the name of the movie, but the plot line revolves around a student who turned up to a College class and there was no teacher, so he got up and taught the class.
And he did it the next day and the next day and the next day after that.
In fact, he taught the class for the whole semester before they found out he was only a student.
What they couldn’t work out was how he knew what to teach the class as this was a pretty advanced subject!
His answer was that he just read each chapter of the curriculum the night before he taught it!
He just read one chapter ahead!
You don’t have to be an expert, you just have to teach one chapter ahead!
The main thing is to choose something that interests you or that you at least want to learn about.
So the first step is to use your super power and pick your niche.
Build a website
Your website will be the foundation for your online business.
It will act as your online shop that is open for business all around the world 24/7, 365 days of the year.
It is where you add content and value for people as well as offers for your products.
And if you think you are not that tech savvy, then you might be surprised.
Where a few years ago you had to pay a web designer a shit load of money to build a site for you, there are now website builders that are ‘drag n drop’ and you can build a beautiful site in no time at all.
My Mum thinks that if she presses the wrong button on a computer that it will blow up, but I assure you, it’s not that difficult.
8 or nine years ago I had no idea at all about computers and no real desire at the time to learn.
I know very little about coding and my design skills are ordinary, to say the least, but that hasn’t stopped me building a money-making website and neither should it for you!
Sell other people’s products
The great thing about starting an online business is that you can get going quickly by selling other people’s products.
This is known as affiliate marketing and it is the quickest way to get started online and what I believe is the foundation of your business.
There are thousands of affiliate marketing companies you can join, most are free, and when you promote one of their products on your site, if someone buys, you make a commission.
Commissions for some companies are as high as 75%, but I generally look for opportunities that offer 40-50% commissions.
Amazon is one of the more well-known affiliate marketing companies and they have thousands of products in just about any niche you can promote and I know of many people doing very well with this business model.
Personally, though, I prefer to sell digital info products such as eBooks, and online courses.
This way there is no inventory or shipping costs, the profits are high, and they can be delivered immediately.
My favourite model, though, is to sell membership sites and software… something with a monthly recurring fee.
This will give you a recurring income every single month with what is known as residual income.
You do the work once and with a little ongoing maintenance, the cheque’s keep coming in.
Residual income will set you free, and from there you can really scale your business.
Build a list of email subscribers
From very early on I prioritised building an email list of subscribers.
While you can write content that can be found on Google, post to social media, and create videos for YouTube, Google could all of a sudden change it’s algorithm or Facebook could shut down and where people were once buying your stuff suddenly can’t find you anymore.
But your email list is yours forever and you can email them whenever you want.
In the online world, people often say that “the money is in the list” and that is essentially true.
While people will visit your website and sometimes buy something, generally most people don’t hang around very long at all and buy nothing.
But if you can capture their email address, then you can follow up with them, build a relationship and make further offers.
Generally, someone will have contact with you seven times before buying something, so if they are just visiting your website, then this becomes very difficult.
People buy from people they know, like and trust, and email is the perfect way to build this relationship.
The trick for getting subscribers is to offer a lead magnet, which is sometimes called “an ethical bribe” or bait in exchange for their email address.
You need to offer something of value like a cheat sheet, checklist, or free report.
For my first lead magnet, I strung together a few blog posts I had already done on my website, added a bit of additional information, added a few quality stock images and sent it off to Fivver.com and for about $10 dollars they made it look high quality and professional.
This will be your first venture in creating your very first info product!
Creating your own products
Building out your website with content, building an email list, promoting affiliate offers and growing your residual income base will be the foundation of your online business, but there comes a point in time when as your knowledge and skills grow, you will want to create some info products yourself.
This is where you can really scale your business.
This can be easily done, to begin with by creating an eBook, and eventually you can get more advanced and create an online course and even a membership site yourself for more residual income.
I know this is pushing your comfort zone and a real stretch, to begin with, but your super power will grow as you do!
One chapter ahead remember?
There comes a time when you can only grow so far with personal development and the next phase of growth comes from contribution, and what better way to contribute than to package your knowledge into courses and products that help other people and you profit from as well?
Once you start making money online, and you look back a few years down the track, you will be so surprised how far you have come.
Hard work
Is any of this going to be easy?
No, it isn’t!
But with time and hard work, it is very possible.
I think that because of the many scams online, most people think that making money on the Internet is going to be quick and easy.
Think of a Doctor, they earn great money, but they spend years at school and University, and then as an intern, working a crappy roster and they work bloody hard for years before they make great money as a specialist.
How about buying a traditional business like a coffee shop, restaurant or a corner shop?
Do you think that you will open your doors one week and can sell for a million dollars a month later?
No, it costs a small fortune to start a small business, you work hard for years and there is still a big chance you will go bankrupt!
Yet people seem to think that these rules don’t apply online!
The great thing about an online business is that it doesn’t cost a fortune to get started, and with time and HARD WORK, you can systemize and automate it so that it can EVENTUALLY set you free, and you don’t have to work as hard anymore!
It is a sad reality that most online marketers, give up after a few months when they see little if any results.
It takes time!
It takes hard work!
It takes pushing your comfort zone and learning new skills!
BUT, you CAN do it!
And you don’t have to give up your day job immediately or get a huge loan to open a franchise.
You just need to be committed and keep learning and growing.
One chapter ahead!
What is the best way to earn money on the Internet?
Follow these steps and in the words of Nike, just do it!
Resources
Throughout my journey online, I know you can’t do it alone.
Having the right tools, training and support are essential to building a successful business online.
I have taken many courses and spent thousands on my online education, but the two best I have found are free.
Wealthy Affiliate is my number one community online and they will help you build out your website and learn the process of affiliate marketing.
I also hang out in the membership area and you can join the community by clicking here!
If you want both an awesome product to promote to build that residual income base together with some awesome free training from my favourite “internet guru” and mentor Russell Brunson then click here to take the 100-day Affiliate Bootcamp.
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!
Your website is very professional and inspiring!
Thanks Meherbani! Glad you like it 🙂
Hey there, great post. I’ve just got started with affiliate marketing and my online business journey. I’m really excited for this new adventure and it inspires me that many seekers of financial freedom have chosen affiliate marketing as an option. I really hope reach success like you. Thanks for sharing this article!
Thanks for your comment Carlos, glad you enjoyed my post.
You are in for exciting times ahead, work hard and enjoy the ride! 🙂
Hello again, I agree with what you have said and the example about the student teaching the class is just awesome. Just read one chapter ahead. Your viewers will be inspired to take action after reading your post. Thanks for sharing
Glad you liked it Norman!
Thanks for your support as always 🙂
I have been thinking if creating a new product that I would sell and see if I could make at least $1,000 per month off of it, and the ones I found to be good were ebooks and most digital stuff.
And this is something that I don’t want to do. The work and returns don’t add up.
But I have been moved by the idea of affiliate marketing, selling products for companies and getting a commission.
I have a few people who have been telling me it’s the best but I’m afraid of making little to no sales because of competition of other authoritative sites.
Do you think I can possibly beat them and take their customers?
I don’t think it is a question of “beating” them and taking their customers.
Just being yourself, sharing your own unique perspective, and building your own brand is part of your super power.
One of mentors says that people will pay for the same information packaged differently… what they want to buy into is you.
Affiliate marketing can be a great way to earn an income online but I wouldn’t rule out your own info products entirely.
In a couple of years you may surprise yourself 🙂
Hi John,
What a great article! You have so much information in it. I learned so much reading your article. I don’t know about creating products yet. I’m just starting out. I took your advice and joined Wealthy Affiliates. I’ll let you know how things work out. I can’t wait to get started!
Thanks
Jack
Great to hear Jack!
If you follow the training and work hard I am sure you will have success online with Wealthy Affiliate.
Best of luck, I look forward to seeing your progress 🙂
The title of your article is probably a question people ask themselves all the time. It’s very cool that you’ve been a web entrepreneur since 2013 and never fell prey to scams. And I like the way you characterize the concept of a niche, as a “superpower”. And the mantra “one chapter ahead” is an extremely novel way to break down what it takes to succeed, reminds me a bit of “one day at a time”, which is also reassuring. Thanks for the insightful post!
Thanks for your comment Penelope
Yes, I was very lucky that I didn’t fall for any of the scams, although I was researching one, when fortunately I found Wealthy Affiliate and I haven’t looked back since!
Glad you liked my post 🙂