Making Money on the Net
There is a multitude of ways to create income using the internet. Surf the web for a few minutes and what do you see? Blogs, discussion forums, established business sites, and ads, ads, and more ads. Take another look and you'll see that each site has a specific niche which attracts a specific audience. If the content is good, then the reader will keep coming back. Even more so, that reader may just let others know about the site and get them to go there. If that happens on a continuous basis, then that's one really prime opportunity for the person who operates the site to make some $$$.
If you're thinking about doing this but have doubts about your abilities, time, or really getting any real (monetary) benefit out of this, then maybe you should start thinking about what could be, instead of what can't be. When people think about starting an online business, one of the first things that may come into their mind is that they have nothing to sell. They are thinking in terms of selling material products, something that they have to physically manufacture somehow and get it into the hands of a consumer. Not so. Sure, there are the big retail outlets that have physical stores, perhaps in your town, that also have internet sites that allow for at-home shopping. But what I'm talking about here is setting up systems of passive income. What does that mean? It means creating a lifestyle where your money works for you. This is not a get rich quick scheme. It's real, and people do it every day! I'll discuss more about passive income in upcoming posts. (But here's a quick example: Burt Bacharach keeps getting paid today for the music he wrote years ago, where as if I don't show up for my job tomorrow, I don't get paid).
But let's take blogging sites, for example. At first these were just outlets used by individuals to journal their everyday thoughts to the internet; like an online diary that anyone on the web could read. Nowadays, they seem more like online businesses that provide useable content for readers. You can't even recognize some sites as blogs, but there they are! There are financial advice blogs, current event blogs, "how-to" blogs, and even movie critic blogs. What's even more fascinating is that more and more people are turning to these blog sites to get what they want or need, instead of going to the established big name companies and businesses we are used to seeing. I wonder about the psychology behind this. Maybe internet users see the blogger as a real down-to-earth person, providing unfiltered information, and not being influenced by big corporate America. But that's for another blog post, at another time. For a good intro into what blogging is, see this article called Blogging 101.
OK, so how can bloggers make money? In a nutshell, decide that you want to blog about something, find a website and/or internet domain name provider (there are plenty very inexpensive ones), or you can use one of several free blog providers (blogger.com, MSN spaces, myspace.com, etc). You may have less flexibility with the free ones, plus some unwanted advertising banners, but nothing comes out of your pocket (except what it costs you to have an internet connection). Next, provide good content. A blogger should write about something he's familiar with, something that she's had experience with, something that he's passionate about. And he must write it in a way that is easy for the reader to understand. That's what will make good content. Then, market your blog. You can submit them for free to search engines like google.com, ask.com, etc. One you should submit to is technorati.com. Technorati is a blog search engine. Many search engine submissions may take several weeks to be indexed on their site, but you can choose to pay to get your blog listed faster. Submission to search engines is vital, in my opinion, because that's where most people start off when they surf the web for what they are looking for. Another way is to let your friends and family know about your site and ask them to pass on the word to their friends and families. Be creative with this part. Think outside the box. A popular thing to do is to exchange links with other blogger sites. You're in control.
What does doing all this mean in terms of making money? Well, once you have built up an audience, you will want to start allowing other sites and companies to advertise on your site. The more advertisers a blog site has (up to a reasonable and practical point), the more likely readers will click and buy something from the advertiser. The advertiser then keeps track of where that sale came in from (i.e., who was the referral source for the sale) and pays a commission to the blogger for the referral. Keep in mind that those companies with "free blog sites" that automatically put advertising banners on your blog will keep the commission for themselves in order to provide you with free blog space (you generally don't have control over this unless you upgrade and start paying them to blog; only then will they remove the banners). Aside from that, this is how bloggers can make money. Some may only make a few dollars a month, but I've read of others who can make much more that I can as a nurse! It depends on your goals and the time you want to invest. It's not hard to cut and paste advertising links to your blog site, and you may find it pretty easy to add entries to the blog on an almost daily basis. That last part is also important. The more you blog, the more the search engines will keep you listed because they search for updates and changes to a site. No updates or changes equals getting you listed further and further down the search results page until you are no longer visible to internet users. That leads to less and less people visiting your site and ultimately less commissions from referrals.
Will this lead to riches beyond your wildest imagination? Probably not. If you have more than one blog site, with different content on each one, you'll attract a wider audience and the opportunities to have more income increase. But even if you only made $10 a month from blogging, that $10 that could pay for an upgrade to your blog site, $10 less you have to come up with at the gas pump, $120 a year more you can add to your IRA, $10 more in Christmas cards...you get the point. Making money via blogging is just one root, one source of income you can establish for yourself. Once it's set up properly, then it's a few hours a week you can devote to thinking about, writing about, and sharing with others your deepest passions, greatest advice, or most ingrained gripes!
I want to add that it's never too late to start blogging or creating a lifestyle with passive income. On the same token, I don't think it's ever too early to start changing your perceptions about life and wealth, either. For example, I've seen many times on discussion forums a teenager or someone in their early twenties posting requests for job ideas. It's almost universal on these sites that many people will autmatically say things like, "You're too young," "Just stay in school and get an education," or "You can't do that...starting a business is hard work and can take lots of money." I'm always disappointed in how others view life and wealth, but feel blessed that I realize I can choose to see opportunities, rather than obstacles. In my opinion, the younger a person learns different or alternative ways to look at and create wealth, the better. (For example, the bloggers at this brilliant site called College Start.com realized this and are capitalizing on what they know...bravo to them!). Millionaires don't look at money and wealth the same way a person who's been working a job for the same comapny for 20+ years does. And what better education can a person have than actually living it, rather than reading about it. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I've been through 8 years of college, with three degrees, and I can honestly say that college only prepared me to be a good employee. What I've learned about life and wealth has been done outside of school. And last, starting a business does not mean you need a lot of money. You just need the passion, the committment, and an awareness of the free resources available to you now in order to bring your ideas to life.
This down and dirty primer on making money through blogging is just the beginning. Blogging is only one way to use the seemingly endless amounts of resources on the web to your advantage. In upcoming posts, I will discuss more of the fantastic ideas and actual ways people can start making money on the net. Perhaps it will be like a series called "Money Making on the Net" or something; I'll think about it. But every opportunity to cover at least one portion of your total life expenses should not be ignored, no matter how small the benefit is perceived. Building systems of passive income takes time, but the rewards can be enormous. If you're serious about perpetual personal growth and buidling a life through passive income then start now. The longer you wait, the more risky it becomes. This is because beliefs of life change being too difficult for you to adopt become more lodged in your thought process with time and hide more and more of who you are and what you can really become.
-RY
If you're thinking about doing this but have doubts about your abilities, time, or really getting any real (monetary) benefit out of this, then maybe you should start thinking about what could be, instead of what can't be. When people think about starting an online business, one of the first things that may come into their mind is that they have nothing to sell. They are thinking in terms of selling material products, something that they have to physically manufacture somehow and get it into the hands of a consumer. Not so. Sure, there are the big retail outlets that have physical stores, perhaps in your town, that also have internet sites that allow for at-home shopping. But what I'm talking about here is setting up systems of passive income. What does that mean? It means creating a lifestyle where your money works for you. This is not a get rich quick scheme. It's real, and people do it every day! I'll discuss more about passive income in upcoming posts. (But here's a quick example: Burt Bacharach keeps getting paid today for the music he wrote years ago, where as if I don't show up for my job tomorrow, I don't get paid).
But let's take blogging sites, for example. At first these were just outlets used by individuals to journal their everyday thoughts to the internet; like an online diary that anyone on the web could read. Nowadays, they seem more like online businesses that provide useable content for readers. You can't even recognize some sites as blogs, but there they are! There are financial advice blogs, current event blogs, "how-to" blogs, and even movie critic blogs. What's even more fascinating is that more and more people are turning to these blog sites to get what they want or need, instead of going to the established big name companies and businesses we are used to seeing. I wonder about the psychology behind this. Maybe internet users see the blogger as a real down-to-earth person, providing unfiltered information, and not being influenced by big corporate America. But that's for another blog post, at another time. For a good intro into what blogging is, see this article called Blogging 101.
OK, so how can bloggers make money? In a nutshell, decide that you want to blog about something, find a website and/or internet domain name provider (there are plenty very inexpensive ones), or you can use one of several free blog providers (blogger.com, MSN spaces, myspace.com, etc). You may have less flexibility with the free ones, plus some unwanted advertising banners, but nothing comes out of your pocket (except what it costs you to have an internet connection). Next, provide good content. A blogger should write about something he's familiar with, something that she's had experience with, something that he's passionate about. And he must write it in a way that is easy for the reader to understand. That's what will make good content. Then, market your blog. You can submit them for free to search engines like google.com, ask.com, etc. One you should submit to is technorati.com. Technorati is a blog search engine. Many search engine submissions may take several weeks to be indexed on their site, but you can choose to pay to get your blog listed faster. Submission to search engines is vital, in my opinion, because that's where most people start off when they surf the web for what they are looking for. Another way is to let your friends and family know about your site and ask them to pass on the word to their friends and families. Be creative with this part. Think outside the box. A popular thing to do is to exchange links with other blogger sites. You're in control.
What does doing all this mean in terms of making money? Well, once you have built up an audience, you will want to start allowing other sites and companies to advertise on your site. The more advertisers a blog site has (up to a reasonable and practical point), the more likely readers will click and buy something from the advertiser. The advertiser then keeps track of where that sale came in from (i.e., who was the referral source for the sale) and pays a commission to the blogger for the referral. Keep in mind that those companies with "free blog sites" that automatically put advertising banners on your blog will keep the commission for themselves in order to provide you with free blog space (you generally don't have control over this unless you upgrade and start paying them to blog; only then will they remove the banners). Aside from that, this is how bloggers can make money. Some may only make a few dollars a month, but I've read of others who can make much more that I can as a nurse! It depends on your goals and the time you want to invest. It's not hard to cut and paste advertising links to your blog site, and you may find it pretty easy to add entries to the blog on an almost daily basis. That last part is also important. The more you blog, the more the search engines will keep you listed because they search for updates and changes to a site. No updates or changes equals getting you listed further and further down the search results page until you are no longer visible to internet users. That leads to less and less people visiting your site and ultimately less commissions from referrals.
Will this lead to riches beyond your wildest imagination? Probably not. If you have more than one blog site, with different content on each one, you'll attract a wider audience and the opportunities to have more income increase. But even if you only made $10 a month from blogging, that $10 that could pay for an upgrade to your blog site, $10 less you have to come up with at the gas pump, $120 a year more you can add to your IRA, $10 more in Christmas cards...you get the point. Making money via blogging is just one root, one source of income you can establish for yourself. Once it's set up properly, then it's a few hours a week you can devote to thinking about, writing about, and sharing with others your deepest passions, greatest advice, or most ingrained gripes!
I want to add that it's never too late to start blogging or creating a lifestyle with passive income. On the same token, I don't think it's ever too early to start changing your perceptions about life and wealth, either. For example, I've seen many times on discussion forums a teenager or someone in their early twenties posting requests for job ideas. It's almost universal on these sites that many people will autmatically say things like, "You're too young," "Just stay in school and get an education," or "You can't do that...starting a business is hard work and can take lots of money." I'm always disappointed in how others view life and wealth, but feel blessed that I realize I can choose to see opportunities, rather than obstacles. In my opinion, the younger a person learns different or alternative ways to look at and create wealth, the better. (For example, the bloggers at this brilliant site called College Start.com realized this and are capitalizing on what they know...bravo to them!). Millionaires don't look at money and wealth the same way a person who's been working a job for the same comapny for 20+ years does. And what better education can a person have than actually living it, rather than reading about it. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I've been through 8 years of college, with three degrees, and I can honestly say that college only prepared me to be a good employee. What I've learned about life and wealth has been done outside of school. And last, starting a business does not mean you need a lot of money. You just need the passion, the committment, and an awareness of the free resources available to you now in order to bring your ideas to life.
This down and dirty primer on making money through blogging is just the beginning. Blogging is only one way to use the seemingly endless amounts of resources on the web to your advantage. In upcoming posts, I will discuss more of the fantastic ideas and actual ways people can start making money on the net. Perhaps it will be like a series called "Money Making on the Net" or something; I'll think about it. But every opportunity to cover at least one portion of your total life expenses should not be ignored, no matter how small the benefit is perceived. Building systems of passive income takes time, but the rewards can be enormous. If you're serious about perpetual personal growth and buidling a life through passive income then start now. The longer you wait, the more risky it becomes. This is because beliefs of life change being too difficult for you to adopt become more lodged in your thought process with time and hide more and more of who you are and what you can really become.
-RY
I am in line with your thought.
I am a beginner, and would like to blog now.
Thank you very much!!!!!!!!!!!!
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You're welcome very much!
-The MRG
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hi~Randy Yniguez
受教了，漂亮的文章。
“They are thinking in terms of selling material products, something that they have to physically manufacture somehow and get it into the hands of a consumer.”
not they but i.
"it's never too late to start blogging or creating a lifestyle with passive income"
now i think so.
thanks very much.
Reply to this
You're welcome. Thank you for reading my posts.
-RY
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