Earning Money Online - The Secret to My Success
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You Can Earn Money Online
I’ve been earning money online since 2002. The amount I earn varies from year to year but has never surpassed my earnings from my real job as a permit consultant. And it’s not because the opportunity is not there, it’s because earning money online takes just as much effort as a real job, sometimes more.
Now many people don’t believe you can earn money online because they have been desensitized by the constant bombardment of spam emails claiming that “you can make $50,000 in just 60 days, all on autopilot so you never have to lift a single finger.”
Such claims are bogus and the only ones that are earning money like that are the ones selling those bogus hype dreams. Those claims detract people from reality and when they don’t make the kinds of money promised within a few days they quit, which is probably a good thing, and move on to something else that will further disappoint them.
Primer on Multiple Streams of Income
What You Need To Know
If you really want to earn money online then you have to understand a few things. First, it takes time and patience for money to start rolling in. At first it may come in as a few pennies a day but if you keep at it, it will snowball into a few dollars each day.
Second, to earn money online you cannot rely on just one method. Remember the term Multiple Streams of Income (MSI). Simply stated, MSI is having several sources earning you money at the same time, the more source the more potential for money. The trick is not to spread your self too thin at first and get disappointed with the results. If you can create a source that earns you a steady $1 a day, you can mimic that source as many times as you like until you are earning an amount that is comfortable with you.
I can see the wheels spinning, so slow down. It may take several weeks or even months for one source to start earning you a dollar a day but once you learn the ropes to earning that dollar, it will be easy to clone it. In a few moments I’ll give you some tips on how to get started.
Third, you have to enjoy what you are doing or you will quit and someone will move right into your space earning that dollar a day that you should be earning. Only work with sources you feel comfortable with. Only promote products that you would or have used.
Have you ever heard of the Beardstown Ladies? Several years ago a group of senior ladies in Beardstown, Illinois started an investment club. Each lady would contribute a few dollars each week into the investment fund and then they would sit around together and discuss what they would invest in. It was unanimous that the ladies would only invest in companies that produced the products that they themselves used regularly. As it turns out, this was a very wise move because soon their few dollars a week investment was worth millions in mutual funds. The reason it worked for these ladies is because they stayed within their comfort zone. Stay in your comfort zone and it will work for you too. You probably won’t have the same results but at least you can feel good about your self for promoting quality goods instead of snake oil.
How I'm Earning Money Online
I’m going to tell you how I’m earning money online. I’m not going to tell you how much I’m earning but I will give you a range because it’s never a standard amount each month. Plus, I don’t want to discourage or encourage anyone to mimic me based on what I’m doing. These are only meant as examples and you should only choose to work with what feels right to you.
Ebay
The very first dollar I ever made online came from selling items on Ebay back in 2002. It was by accident that I even got started with Ebay but once I did, I was hooked. I had a bookshelf full of paperback books that I knew I would never read again so one day I decided to give it a go and try selling them on Ebay. I was already a buyer on the site so I was familiar with how things worked. My first listings were very plain, no templates or much of a description. I would always go with a 5 day auction and always started them at .99cents. I listed 20 books and all but 5 of them sold for more than what I listed them for. I went back to my bookshelf and started listing everything I had. Ebay was a boom for me. When I ran out of books, I went to the thrift stores and flea markets and purchased more. I could get them for a quarter and sell them for a dollar all day long. Eventually, I moved to other products, like clothes and toys, computer items and collectibles.
In my first year selling on Ebay, I earned roughly $1,200 and that’s only because I started in October. Every year since then I have earned between $3,500 and $6,500. I could earn more but it takes time to locate products and list items. I don’t want to have an Ebay store because I don’t want my house or garage cluttered with inventory that may or may not sell. Ebay is and has always been a consistent earner for me and adds between $200 and $400 every month to my Paypal account.
Learn more about how I earn on Ebay here.
Niche WordPress Blogs
In 2005 I decided it was time for me to give it a try with my own websites. After learning how to promote my Ebay listings, I was fairly confident I could promote items on my websites. Boy was I wrong. At first, I was using a website to promote my Ebay listings and my own products. My links consisted of one mention on my Ebay “About Me” page and a link on a couple of my free blogger sites and a few friends sites. It took that site almost a year to start earning a dollar a day from Google Adsense, but I continued. I made a couple other sites too that were promoting niche products from Amazon, Commission Junction and Clickbank. Those were a little better at earning money but not much. In 2007, I sold all 5 of my sites to a friend and decided to work only on blogs. When I sold the sites they were earning maybe $100 a month all together.
Since then I have been creating niche Wordpress blogs for other people as well as myself. I started a series of hubs on how to start a blog and get it ready to earn money. You can check them out by going here. Wordpress is the perfect medium to promote products. They are completely in line with the new dynamic web 2.0 and very easy to work with. I prefer using self hosted blogs because of the SEO value that comes along with owning your own site.
On these sites, I only promote Commission Junction products and a few Clickbank products. I’m more comfortable with Commission Junction because I feel their products are more reputable and the companies they represent are well respected and trustworthy. Some people like to set up Wordpress blogs by placing a few products on them and adding an RSS feed aggregator to automate the postings, but I don’t do this. I write my own posts and product reviews. I try to keep the same voice in everything I write.
Right now I have 6 active niche Wordpress blogs earning anywhere between $1 and $8 a day. I also own several domain names for future blogs. I explain how and why this is important in thishub. A rough guesstimate would put my total earnings for my niche blogs at about $800 a month. Some months are lower and some are highe
HubPages.com
I was looking for a way to promote my niche sites and I came across hubpages.com. I only read a little bit about the site and jumped right in. Of course my first hub was shot down for being overly promotional and with several re-edits I finally got it right. I received a lot of help on the forums from some great hubbers and decided this would be a great place for me to plant some writing roots. I learned the ropes real quick and started producing quality hubs. I’ve hit several milestones which always inspires me to do even more. I participate in the forums, welcome new hubbers, and offer advice to anyone that asks. I write articles about whatever interests me. How to articles and top ten lists do real well for traffic. Informational articles do well with Adsense. And product reviews and summaries do real well with Ebay Partner Network, Amazon, and other affiliates.
I brought along all my SEO knowledge and learned some more here. By putting it to good use, my hubs are earning between $4 and $6 a day from Adsense, $2 to $3 a day from the Ebay Partner Network, and $15 to $20 a week from my Amazon affiliate. I don’t even count the Clickbank or Commission Junction earnings since I can’t really track them as I promote them at various places online. That is roughly $240 to $350 per month here on Hubpages. If you’re not a member yet, then I invite you to become one and see how well you can do. Sign up here!
Project Payday
Project Payday is a site where people help each other complete “freebie offers” and earn a commission for doing so. I started with Project Payday about a year ago just to see if it was legit and it is. If you surf the internet at all I’m sure you have come across some offering that says something like “complete our sponsor offers and earn a new 42” Plasma TV.” Well on Project Payday, people help each other complete these offers and share in the earnings. How? Every offering has a real dollar amount. I would find offerings that needed 15 referrals to earn $600 and then I would find and pay people $20 if they helped me with a referral. I would pay out $300 and make $300 all for asking for a referral. People could complete a free trial offer and get paid $15 to $60 for it. The catch is, in order to complete a free trial you have to enter your credit or debit card info. You could always cancel the free trial before the end date and you will still earn the money. Just make sure you take on the offers you want. I made several hundred dollars working with them but I had to put up the fees first. I made my profit with it in just a matter of a day or 2. I did this for a while but the time commitment it took for the site was too much for me so I found the next best way to earn money with the site is to just make referrals. For every person that just goes to the site and enters their email address, I earn a $1.50 commission. Now my goal is to just get 10 referrals a day to make a little over $300 a month. If you want to get in on this sweet deal then go here and give them your email address and you will automatically become an affiliate to start earning the same thing as me. Go here now! I need that $1.50…lol
If you want more detail about how I'm earning with Project Payday then visit my hub on it.
Recap
Recap: Sometimes these earnings are considerably less and sometimes they are much greater. These are just averages and before taxes…you are paying your taxes, right?
Monthly earnings from Ebay = $200 - $400
Monthly earnings from niche Wordpress blogs = $600 - $800
Monthly earnings from Hubpages.com = $240 - $350
Monthly earnings from Project Payday = $225 - $315
Total monthly online earnings $1265 - $1865
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Comments
Thanks for the comment Don. I'm sure the reason Ebay accepted me is because I have my own sites that have decent enough traffic. I would consider a self hosted Wordpress blog that just does product reviews for one niche and promotes a product from Commission Junction, buid the traffic until you have a 1000 monthly page views then try again with Ebay. If you need assistance, check out my hubs on how to start a blog or send me a message. Check out some of my product hubs, they're easy to pick out, and you can get some ideas on how to work with Amazon. The trick with Amazon is to not over sell. Leave the reader wanting more so he clicks on through your product links, You will notice in my hubs that I always guide them in that direction.
Hope things pick up for you.
This was very helpful, LWR. I learned a lot just by reading this. You make it sound very possible to make money doing what you do. I still have much to learn and hope that I can make even half of what you make. I did sign up with Wordpress by haven't really done anything with it just yet. I just got back into writing for Ezine Articles just as a backlink to my Hubs, but aside from that, I'm a bit hesitant to really try anything else. Thanks, LWR. I look forward to learning more from you.
Thats great Dohn, when you do start with Wordpress make sure you have a plan. I mean try to stick to one niche or theme and concentrate on building readership before trying to monetize it. I'm thinking of breaking down each of the above methods that I earn from into a complete hub so I can give more detail and instruction. Thanks for the visit and your comments are always welcome.
Great hubpage!
Although I haven't been online as long as you have, I am earning a part time income from all this, mainly adsense and affiliate marketing income, but I hope to try out some of my own ebook products in the coming year to see if they work and hopefully get my article directory off the ground to realise a full time sort of income and I do agree about the multiple income streams and that's something I've been looking at for awhile.
What's interested me about all this online earning stuff is that you can find out all for free online how to do it, although it takes time and trial and error, but that's the way I prefer!
Selling your own digital products online can be a real good source of income. On my "guide to kewords" hub I give some high PR backlinks for free but I also sell a list of over 100 additional high PR backlinks for $15. People tell me all the time how much it has helped their SEO.
I've used all of them myself on all of my Wordpress sites and also on my own article directory at http://411article.com I have already seen a good boost in my directory as I was real excited to see it move from unranked to a PR 1 site. It will continue to rise and be a consistent earner for me.
Good luck with all your online ventures Waynet and thanks for visiting.
I bookmarked this Richard, I have several of your help hubs. Thanks for another one. I have a lot to learn.
Your very welcome Tammy, thanks for taking the time to read and comment on my hub. All of the above are real good earners of online money. Becoming a member(and automatic affiliate) of Project Payday then getting people to just go there and sign up for free is very good. Like I stated about, 10 referral a day is $15. All for an email, they don't pay a cent or even have to participate if they don't like it.
Good luck with your online earnings.
I had exactly the same path getting into the online world, ebay -> sites to promote my ebay -> affiliate marketing ->web design-> hubpages and content writing
now, i do all of them. i enjoy the variety, plus lots of freelance web design and a small web hosting business
I also experimented with freebie sites BUT unfortunately i cant disagree more about their usefulness, yes can be very profitable as the referrer but people get screwed all the time, either forgetting to cancel or legitimately canceling just to find out the business is disreputable and charge anyway, some of the businesses make it down right impossible to cancel by never picking up their phones etc.. its a nightmare, isnt something that should be pursued by anyone without great organizational skills, poor credit and tons of patience on the phone
It seems like a logical path to take Sunforged. I'm sure we experienced a lot of the same joys and frustrations getting established online.
You're right about freebie sites which is why you shouldn't take an offer for a free trial on anything you wouldn't want and only take offers from companies you know and products you are familiar with...I had only helped go green on a couple offers but the real profit is on the referral end.
Actually, on many of the affiliates I work with I look for lead commissions over purchase commissions. I can pre-sell just about anything but I leave it to the consumer to make their best judgment on whether a deal is good or not.
Thanks for the visit and the comment Sunforged.
This hub is fantastic. The information is raw, thank you for being so open and honest. It's a change.
Thanks for the comment. There are many people just starting out on the internet to try and make money. I think its important that they have an idea of what real people have done to earn online with out all the smoke and mirrors that you find on those gimmick landing pages.
Nice hub with some good advice. I really like the honest way that you have presented the information. I'm sure it will inspire others to emulate your success.
Thanks for the comment Thamisgith. I have nothing to gain by being dishonest so I try to be as forthcoming as possible with my info hubs. It is my hope that people can learn from this and follow the same course and reach similar results. I have a hub on each of the above methods already published or soon to be published so there will be more in depth detail for each.
Very informative. Thanks for the information. Really help a lot, as I'm new to hub pages. Like others, I think I have so much to learn. Thank you again.
You break it down so clearly. Thanks!
Thank you Nizyri and Rachel for taking the time to read and comment on my hub.
Funny thing - we've never thought of selling stuff on ebay as earning money online. And of course it is!
We have been working on various online projects for 2 years. Ebay sales has been our biggest (or least small, to be honest) earner.
It's just like I said at the beginning of this hub, earning money online take just as much effort or more as a real job. Sometimes we don't fully realize our efforts until we see the payout. Collecting the money is the easy part(best part) All the SEO and promoting and marketing and researching is 99% of of what we do everyday. That is until I can find that easy button I keep hearing about...lol Thanks for visiting 2patricias.
This is a fantastic hub. I've been bumbling around online for too long. Your residual income streams would very nearly pay my living expenses. I'll be back to research how to do this from your other posts as well. Like the other commenters, thank you for your post!
It's not all that hard to get started. But take one step at a time. If you try to do it all at once, you will get frustrated and quit. Each of the above methods takes time to build up the kinds of income that you desire. Selling on Ebay is the quickest for payouts and its a rewarding feeling to see your Paypal account fill up with money from things you don't want or need anyway. More is coming soon so check back. Thanks for taking the time on my hub Michael.
Thanks for writing this hub. I learned alot. The key secret to a living making money online that you told here and no one else will say is that it takes diversification (multiple streams of income) to the monetary results you want. Excellent hub here!
You got it Benz. It takes multiple streams of income to really make a difference in your pocket book, unless you're a professional online marketer/scam artist. Nothing I have listed above is going to cost you a penny to get started in, accept purchasing your domain names and hosting and even then you can get started with the free blogs.
Hi Richard, I book marked this and will sign up for project too. I have to tell you that I have learned from you, this is a great hub for us, beginners and more experienced. Thanks so much, Teri
Thank you Teri that's a great compliment. Everyone started somewhere and I'm glad I can be here to help others that are just getting started. My hope is that people will see this hub before they find the snake oil ads :)
Great Hub I Wish E-bay was one of my income streams but one thing is for sure making money online its just about combining small income streams into one income thats how every one makes money online, $20 here and there can add up at the end of the week..
I teach this at my website and help people create income streams...
thanks for sharing your experience
Lester
Numbers talk. That's the best thing in make money online world as a guidance. Useful info. Thanks on introducing project payday as well
Good hub Richard, as others have said its nice to have someone openly and honestly tell it like it is. Will have a look at some of your suggestions. Cheers.
Richard intresting reading... I sell on ebay and carry the inventory... what I can say from selling on ebay since the 90s is that you got to know what you are doing... and study ebay from all angles... I run a store, have over 300 auctions, some buy it now stuff, and all I sell is flags
http://stores.ebay.com/EHT-Flags
I like the idea of several income streams, I wish I had over the years... I wouldnt be starting over right now... I only have eBay as my income....
Now I have taken some of the profit and started to expand that into my own site, and since I dont write a whole lot, so the blogging for profit and the hubpage idea didnt go over very well for me....
Now as for doing something you love, that is perfect advice, but I would like to add, maybe doing it for a cause... for example if you look at my ebay store you see 10% of my profits go to the Wounded Warrior Project, which for myself is a huge driving force... I work harder and steadier "knowing" my hard work is more for a good cause then for my own gains...
I am going to surf your hubs and see what other golden nuggets of information I can find...
In Memory Of Their Service
John
EHTFlags.com
In regard to making money online, this is one of the best hubs that I've ever read. Great job! I'm a fan.
Hi, Richard... You do well! I'm going to bookmark this and come back to it after work. I'm in the same position - have a regular job, but this additional income would be nice. Nicely done.
Hi Richard; Very interesting and informative for a newbie like me. More people all the time are looking for ways to make money. What your making can make a difference in most of our lives.
You hit the nail on the head when you wrote of MSI. It's important to realize that one stream can easily dry-up, therefore multiple streams is vital.
Thanks Lita. Like I stated, earning money online takes just as much effort or more than a regular offline job. The biggest thing I'd like for people to get from this hub is taht there are no legitimate "get rich quick" ways of earning online unless you're an unscrupulous marketer. And that the legitimate ways of earning online can be very rewarding if they're willing to put in the time.
For some, time is a big issue. I happen to be a permit consultant and a big part of my time is waiting for my appointments with the Chicago building department, sometimes I'm waiting for hours. I spend this time working my online ventures so I don't waste too much time after hours when I should be with family. Time management is the key to success online... that hub is coming so nobody steal it...lol
Great hub! You write very well and there is a lot of good and honest information here.
It is amazing that you maintain 6 active blogs. How often do you post on them? Do you find that it is important to stay active to maintain readership?
I like CJ a lot more as well. I really could not find anything I would want to write about from ClickBank.
Nice hub! Richard, I have learned quite a bit about HubPages and just getting started making money online from you, Mark Knowles, Darkside, Sunforged, and others, but I surely appreciate the honest info. It is tiring to try to determine if who you are reading out there telling you how to do it is actually making anything themselves.
With regard to affiliates, I recently found Linkshare as well. It was by accident because a product I found and wanted to promote happened to have their affiliate set up through them.
Thanks for this!
Thanks Shibashake and Jeffrey. The only secret there is to earning online is there is no secret. The so called "Gurus" want you to believe there is a secret that only they have the answer for so you will open your wallets and break out your credit cards.
When you are just starting out with affiliate marketing, it's easy to get caught up into a bunch of programs from all sorts of different niches and when none of them come near the payouts you were hoping for you quit promoting and move on to the next one.
Stay focused, choose one niche then find the affiliate program that has the best products for that niche and stay with it until you are earning whatever it takes to meet your goals. If your realistic goals are $25 a day then stay with one niche until it is earning $1 a day steady then move on to another niche. Keep doing this until you reach the $25 goal. This is very realistic for a first year earnings. The more time you have to spare the more ambitious you can be with your goals. Just take it one step at a time.
I wish my hubs could earn as much. I would stop worrying about paying my rent. Trouble is I tend to write about what I know and like rather than being commercial...at least I think that is where my problem lies.
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment Peter. You know you can always start another profile here on HP that is only dedicated to commercial hubs, product reviews and summaries do well with HP's PR boost.
Or, you can check out my hubs on "starting a blog" to help you start building niche blogs just for that reason. Start now and build traffic and readership and within half a year you could be earning a whole lot more.
Just using the blogroll to connect all my sites together gives me a much needed boost in traffic and PR and I don't really concern myself with sales as much as I do with CTR.
Thank you - I will read your hub and look into things. I do have a blog and an email ezine with some thousands of subscribers. Just need to pull it all together. Thanks again.
I haven't got any idea about all this and found your hub great because it gives it all in plain English with very good advice. Thank you very much. Many a time I was tempted to sell books on Ebay and always shelf it but now knowing a lot I will. Thank you again
Good luck Hello, hello and let us know how you do on Ebay.
Thanks for writing so explicitly and honestly, your theory of multiple streams of income is thought-provoking, I can't wait to start make several rolling snowballs. I am curious whether people can really make a living online, huh… we'll wait and see.
People are making a living online every day videl05, the question is, can you make a living online? You get out of it what you put into it and the key is to stay focused on one thing at a time. One you get that one thing where you want it then move on to the next thing.
The main reason people fail at affiliate marketing and earning real money online is because of information overload. Take the information and let it sink in, become proficient with it then move on to the next step.
Good luck to you.
Thanks Richard. Will bookmark.
Thanks for your honest and useful hub, it's a good reality check for most people here including myself!
Wow, cool. You know your stuff!
Thank you glendoncaba, Pseudonymous,a nd Richrideshorses for taking the time to read and comment on my hub. I hope you can put my info to good use and start earning real money online.
I can't thank you enough for this information. I have been researching all aspects of making money online for several months. Most of the information is hard for a beginner to understand and can be confusing. Your insight is encouraging. I have been forced into being a sahg(stay at home grandmother), lol. However, after leaving my job we have been in a definite financial strain and I really need to be able to generate some income from home while I care for my grandaughter. Thanks for your honesty, Lisa
Well Lisa, starting out with Ebay is the easiest and the quickest way to start earning money online. Writing here on Hubpages is the second easiest method though not nearly as profitable at first. Once you get the hang of affiliate marketing here on HP then branch out to your own Wordpress blog. Take one step at a time. Building an online income that will last means you have to have a good foundation. Once you're comfortable with affiliate marketing then check out Project Payday, sign up and become an affiliate and then find other affiliate programs that pay for lead generation. Good luck to you.
Thanks for the tips, still trying to master the art of niche blogging. I first discovered making money online with Project Payday. It really does work- I made $350 in one day- that tickled me to pieces. Going to check out your other hubs.
That's awesome Misshelpurself, Project Payday is a great source for some quick cash. Check out my hubs on "startinc a blog" and you can get an idea of how to start working within a niche.
Thanks for this. I've always enjoyed your hubs and am glad someone had the gall to put some real dollar amounts on what they're earning. Great inspiration to ewbies like me.
Thanks jcwin228. I know they're not the numbers most are hoping to see when they come to this hub but they are real and with a little effort most people can achieve the same results. And, once the foundation is set for earning then the sky is the limit.
Richard - Again I love reading your Hubs - You offer great advice and information. Thank you so much for sharing. I am getting there. I have about 40 hubs, 3 blogs and one website and I am earning money not quite a dollar day yet... like you said it is alot of work, time and energy but I hoping it will pay off in the long run!! Congratulations to you on a job well done
Great Hub! I think you were honest and straight up about what's going on. Looking forward to reading more of your stuff.
nice tips hub... thx 4 share..
I'm going to be a fan, because I'm wanting to FOCUS. Now I have blogs I started because I wanted to jump in, and because its so easy. Now I need to figure out what I'm doing (and how to get traffic). So thanks!
Thank You, I am new to this! I joined HubPages because I love to write, but making money while doing what I love would be really terrific! I have only been online for 4 weeks, and joined Adsense, but have earned zero! I can't thank you enough for the wonderful article.
I've been on the Internet for years and have made some Income from some of what you said to do, but find it is very time consuming and you can not expect to make money fast. Thanks for the info.
Thenks for the comments everyone, I hope you all can put my info to good use. Lilolladystuff, you're right it is very time consuming but onec you have a good following on your blogs and hubs and you provide good and relevant info then the money comes a bit faster and a bit steadier. Keep up the good work.
I believe that you have given the most detailed information on what you do to make money online than anyone else. Thanks.
Once you get a good foundation in promoting online marketing then it gets easy. I do all of this and keep a full time consulting business running. Some days are easier than others and some days there is just no time to get online. So it's a good idea to stay lite at first until said foundation is solid.
Don Simkovich says:
2 weeks ago
Thanks for writing so honestly and spelling out everything quite well. Btw, I haven't heard a blessed penny from Amazon here and eBay turned me down. I'll try again. I do earn consistently with Adsense and I've learned a lot about it the past two years. Thanks for writing this.