For many people, making money online
would be an absolute dream come true. If they could find a way to make
money with a website or some other online venture, they could quit their
job to focus on entrepreneurship, spend more time with their family,
and finally take back control of their time and their lives.
The crazy thing is, earning money online isn’t a pipe dream. I have been doing it for nearly a decade now with my website Good Financial Cents.
I also know thousands of other people who are earning money online
their own way with websites, courses, or unique marketing strategies.
Now, here’s the good news. The majority
of online revenue strategies aren’t that complicated. Like any business
venture, your online income takes time to grow. You need to be willing
to devote the time and energy required to get your idea off the ground,
and you need grit to stick with it even if your journey is slow when you
first start out.
#1: GOOGLE ADSENSE
If you've visited any website, you've
seen Google ads. These ads are everywhere, and for good reason. Not only
are they easy to set up on any basic website, but they can be lucrative
once your website starts bringing in a steady amount of traffic.
One of the cool things about Google AdSense is that it's so easy to get set up. If you have a blog or website,
you can sign up for a free Google AdSense Account. From there, Google
will give you a unique code that you will paste onto your website.
Google takes it from there, tracking your page views, traffic, and
earnings on your behalf. There is no upkeep or maintenance to get this
thing going, which makes it a no-brainer if you have a website already.
#2: AFFILIATE MARKETING
Whether you have a website or are
still dreaming up ideas for a blog, you can also look into affiliate
marketing. With affiliate marketing, you partner with brands and
businesses within the content of your website. If you mention a product
or service, you link to that produce or service using a unique affiliate
code you received when you signed up for that particular affiliate
program. From there, you’ll make money any time someone buys a product
or service through your link.
Generally speaking, you’ll want to
partner with affiliates that are related to your blog concept. Since I’m
a financial advisor, I have focused a lot of my affiliate energy on
financial products like savings accounts, credit cards, and investment
accounts.
In addition to signing up for
individual affiliate programs, you can also sign up for an affiliate ad
network that offers a ton of different affiliates in one place. That
way, you can see what works and what doesn’t work over time.
If you’re looking for inspiration, my
friend Michelle Schroeder-Gardner of the website Making Sense of Sense
has become the expert on all things affiliate marketing. Michelle earns
more than $100,000 per month from her blog and the bulk of her income
comes from affiliate sales. Michelle has had so much success with
affiliate marketing that she even has her own course called Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing.
While Michelle works with a ton of
affiliates in the financial services industry, one of her biggest
affiliates is a blog hosting company called Bluehost. This just goes to
show that you can make money with nearly any affiliate company or
product if you know your audience and build up enough traffic to create
sales.