Steps
- Tap into your talents and experience to determine the best way to make money online. With all the different ways to make cash online, consider where your talents and experience lie in order to choose the best vehicle.
- Sales and marketing. If you have experience or just a knack for sales you can still leverage this gift online. Affiliate programs, cross promoting through online stores or email marketing may be a path you should consider.
- Creative. Writers, designers and even musicians can find plenty of ways to showcase their talents and bring home the bacon. Because your craft can be developed and transmitted using your computer or ancillary equipment, landing clients throughout the world is a modern reality.
- Administrative. From transcriptionists to virtual assistants, administrative or clerical experience is in demand and can often be performed completely online.
- Consulting. If you have experience in a particular industry and are ready to share your knowledge, an online consulting company may fit the bill. Connect with industry professionals who could use your services via social media sites like LinkedIn or optimize your virtual storefront using keywords that your potential clients might use to find solutions to particular problems.
- Determine if you have the dedication and focus to work independently. If you plan to make your online money making endeavor a success you must have what it takes to manage your time and be dedicated to your craft.
- Examine your financial needs. Do you need to make a large income or are you interested in making money online just to have some mad money? The level of required income will most likely dictate the amount of time and effort you’ll need to spend making your online business a success.
- Evaluate the amount of time you can dedicate to your online business. Are you a stay-at-home mom with two small children and a demanding school and housekeeping schedule or are you single with no strings attached (or somewhere in between)? Identify the hours during the day you can commit to your business and compare those hours to the amount of money you need to make. Typically, especially with some businesses, the earlier months and years are considerably more time consuming, especially if you are building a client list.
- Be honest about your work habits. Are you a self starter, motivated enough to stay on task and work without having a boss check on you, or are you easily distracted by the phone, kids or other environmental disturbances? Working online takes a tremendous amount of motivation and focus in order to reach your cash generating goals.
- Optimize your skills and knowledge in order to create a strong online presence. Although you may be a talented salesperson or graphic designer, you may not know how those talents will translate online.
- Take an search engine optimization course. Either online or possibly offered at your local community college, learning about search engine optimization (SEO) is an important component to a successful online career. SEO training will teach you how to position your brand or store higher on Google search engine rankings so your business is hit first when potential clients are performing a search.
- Write a business plan. Even if the business plan will never leave your computer, creating a plan will give you specific direction and goals, which will help you stay on track and focused.
- Consult with experts. If you have a friend or colleague who has had success making money online, tap into his/her knowledge and experience. Find out what has worked well or what he/she has tried that bombed. Extract as much knowledge and insight to help guide you in how you will create your online business.
- Explore a variety of online money making possibilities. Numerous opportunities are available to motivated individuals, however pinpointing which prospect will work best for you is the difficult part.
- Consider a job earning an affiliate income. Affiliate marketing is where you can earn commission by promoting a particular product or service online. You are basically performing online sales by publishing a website that contains persuasive information about a certain product or service. Affiliate marketers earn income based on the traffic and sales but may also be earned based on the number of conversions.
- Create a virtual store. For example, if you have a t-shirt business that you want to take on a global scale, a virtual store may help take your company to the next level. Creating a virtual store may require sophisticated programming and a specific level of web development knowledge, especially if you want to receive online payments. Also, back up your online presence with unbeatable customer service-- a few orders that go awry can damage your reputation as an online store (remember eToys). Some options to consider are sites like CafePress.com, which allow the independent entrepreneur to sell unique merchandise without having to design a virtual storefront.
- Become an online mystery shopper or online survey taker. Companies throughout the world like to use mystery shoppers or survey takers to use as a metric to determine if their online presence is strong and whether their sites are meeting specific goals. An easy way to identify a company that needs mystery shoppers or online survey takers is to just ask. Many retailers will tell customers about rewards for completing an online survey or provide chances to win money or receive payment by following them on social media.
- Content or image provider. Build your client list by scanning online classifieds or connecting with a graphic design/content development house. Typically, you can make more dough setting your own prices, whereas content/graphic design houses only pay a set price for your work, regardless of your talent or experience. Creating a compelling, highly optimized website will also help drive prospective clients to your business. Be sure you populate it with the best copy and images in order to provide that “wow” factor and connect with the client.
- Make a good first impression no matter which type of online endeavor you attempt. As with any business, your brand (web site, store, virtual portfolio etc.) must grab the prospects attention, enticing and encouraging him/her to learn more. A strong brand should include intelligently and insightfully written copy, a description of your offering, product overview, news and information and numerous opportunities to respond (call to action).
- Differentiate your product/service from the competition. Consider what makes your business unique by focusing on the brand, the specific suite of services and how the product or service will solve the customer’s problem. Punctuate these differentiating factors in order to set your brand apart from the rest.
- Maintain a friendly, approachable tone. You want to invite your customer to interact with you so be sure that while the copy on your site or portfolio should be informative, it should also communicate a friendly tone that will motivate communication and interaction with your customers.
- Have a solid contract with your partner company. Enlist the assistance of an attorney or have a lawyer review your partner company’s contract so you know how you will be paid and the basis for payment (for example if it based on produced work, solid sales, sign ups, conversions, referrals, etc.).
- Follow up with clients after an initial interaction. Because you haven’t had the benefit of face-to-face meeting, you will need to be proactive (but not a stalker) online. After an initial meeting with a client, send a thank you email a few days later to remind the client about your meeting. Open the floor to additional questions and let your prospective client know you are excited about the possibility of serving him/her.
Tips
- Have a solid contract with your partner company. Enlist the assistance of an attorney or have a lawyer review your partner company’s contract so you know how you will be paid and the basis for payment (for example if it based on produced work, solid sales, sign ups, conversions, referrals, etc.).
- Follow up with clients after an initial interaction. Because you haven’t had the benefit of face-to-face meeting, you will need to be proactive (but not a stalker) online. After an initial meeting with a client, send a thank you email a few days later to remind the client about your meeting. Open the floor to additional questions and let your prospective client know you are excited about the possibility of serving him/her.
Warnings
- Do your research before signing up for any type of online program. If the company asks for money as a “start up” or provides you with a contractual agreement, do your research by scanning Consumer Reports and obtain other reviews about the company. Predatory online companies, posing as legitimate online money making opportunities may be out to grab some quick cash but then leave you without the actual prospect of making money.Click Here!
Related wikiHows
- How to Make Money Selling Crafts Online
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- How to Make Money on Cafepress
- How to Start an Internet Auction Business
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- How to Make Money Selling Selling Your Own Ebook
- How to Make Money Online Without a Website
- How to Make Extra Money During CollegeClick Here!
- How to Spot an Online Scam
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Sources and Citations
- http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/money/need-extra-cash-make-money-by-filling-out-store-surveys
- http://marketingland.com/differentiating-your-affiliate-program-10808
- http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/3511-Affiliate-Marketing-Communicating-with-Your-Affiliates
- http://www.forbes.com/2007/11/09/microsoft-yahoo-coke-ent-tech-cx_ll_1108makemoneyonline.html
- http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/205204
