How to make money online is one of the most searched topics, especially since 2020. Many people lost their primary source of income because of restrictions caused by the pandemic. Also, it made them feel vulnerable, depending on their employers for survival.
In 2019 I started learning how to make money online; being stuck at home for almost two years gave me enough time to learn from trial and error and other people’s experiences.
It would help if you had the time and patience to research and experiment with ways to make money online, as I did. But, unfortunately, your busy life makes it difficult.
Therefore I will share some of the best ways to earn online that I have discovered. Also, recommend an excellent program if you need help.
Table of Contents
Proven ways to make online
Over the past three years, I have learned that there are no magical or complicated ways to make money online. Instead, it is straightforward, you are either selling a product or providing a service.
The product can be digital or physical. Your service can be automated or require your time and effort. If you have those figured out, you are on your way.
Your product or service must do one or all of the following:
- Solve your customer’s problem,
- Gives them pleasure
- Entertain.
- Give status
The internet makes it so easy; even if you don’t have a product or service, you can sell or recommend other people’s stuff and make money online. With this option, you don’t have to worry about customer care or anything. You only need to find buyers for the product or service you recommend, and the seller takes care of the rest.
You need an audience to make money online.
If you have an audience, you have complete the most challenging task of making money online. It takes work to get and keep people’s attention, especially with so much competition, from big tech companies to individuals.
You need to figure out what type of audience you have and their interest. Next, what value do you provide to your audience, are they willing to pay, and how much?
If you don’t want to sell anything, recommend products or services you think your audience would like and collect a commission for each sale.
Two types of audience
There are two types of audience
- Free
- Paid
Your Free audience is traffic that comes from social media or blogs.
- TikTok
- Youtube
While the social media audience is excellent, you do not own the platform. So you can lose your account anytime for some stupid reasons. Therefore having a blog that gets free traffic from search engines is the best option. Because you own that platform and can do whatever you want. You can even sell it and make a profit.
If you don’t have a blog, learn how to start one using Blue Host and WordPress.
This is how to get paid traffic.
- Google adds
- Microsoft adds
- Amazon adds
- Social Media adds
- Paid traffic for influencer
- Other Add networks.
Paying for traffic is only ideal if you have money to invest in advertising. Growing on social media or learning SEO will serve you better until you can afford both.
Products you can sell online.
You might be thinking, what product can I sell online? Here are some suggestions.
- Books
- Designs
- Pictures
- Items that solve everyday problems
Types of books you can sell online
- Novel
- Low content books
- Medium content books
How do I create books to sell online?
Write a novel, a self-help book. If you don’t know how to write a book, hire a freelance writer on Fiveer.com.
You can also make puzzle books, coloring, or children’s books. These are easy to make. However, prices are low, so you must sell large amounts to profit. Also, you don’t have to make them yourself; you can pay somebody to do them for you. Buying white-label books from PLR sites is another way.
You can publish your books on Amazon KDP. It is a free, easy way to sell books online.
Sell your designs
You can create artwork for stickers, shirts, cups, and other merchandise if you are creative. However, even without skill, websites like canva.com and placit.com can help you. Or hire a freelance designer to do it for you.
Upload your designs to merchandise on these sites,
- Reddbubble
- Etsy
- Spreadshirt
- TeeRebulic
- Society6
- Zazzle
- Threadless
You will get a percentage of every sale made with your design. So a pick niche and start designing. Or experiment with different items until you are comfortable niching down.
Also, you can sell your design on your website or social media page using print-on-demand companies. All you need to do is list your products each time a customer makes an order; you send the order to your supplier, who will create the item and then ship it to your customer.
Pay your supplier and collect the difference.
These are some print-on-demand sites.
- Printful
- SPOD
- Printify.
- Apliiq Dropship
- Teelaunch
- Awkward style
- Lulu Xpress
- T-Pop
Before choosing a company order, samples so you know what your customers will be getting.
Sell pictures online
If you have a quality phone or a camera, you can take pictures and sell them on sites such as :
Pond5
Shutterstock
Pixabay
Vimeo Stock
Adobe Stock
iStock
Pexels
If you are a professional photographer, photos from your archive. Before uploading, read the site rules in detail and ensure you have the rights to the pictures you upload.
Sell everyday items online.
Selling items that solve everyday problems is an excellent way to make money online. You can create a unique product or sell one that’s already on the market.
TikTok is an excellent place to find these products once you find a product source from Alibaba.com for a fraction of the cost. Create a brand and sell one of these platforms
- Amazon
- eBay
Create your website with shopify.com and sell your product.
Where to sell your digital product?
You can use these platforms if you have a digital product to sell.
- Sellfy
- Podia
- Payhip
- SendOwl
- BigCommerece
- Squarespace
- DPD
- Gumroad
Where to sell your service online
If you have a service to sell, social media is the best place to promote it for free. You can also sign up on any of the sites below. All are easy to join except for Toptal. You will undergo a screening process, and if you are among the best, you will be selected. Companies pay top dollar to Toptal freelance.
- Fiveer.com
- Upwork
- Guru
- Toptal
- PeoplePerHour
- Freelancer
Promote and sell other people’s product
Promoting and selling other people’s products or services is called affiliate marketing. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry and one of the best ways to make money online without selling your products.
With affiliate marketing, you send traffic to the company’s website. Each customer you refer with your affiliate link makes a purchase; you get a commission.
Commission ranges from a dollar to a few thousand. It depends on the cost of the product you are promoting.
These are the best places to find affiliates to promote:
- Impact
- Clickbank
- Digistore24
- ShareASale
- Awin
- PartnerStack
- Amazon Associates
- CJ Affiliate
- Rakuten Marketing
- Avangate Affiliate Network
- Travelpayouts
Those affiliate networks work with some of the biggest brands.
For other affiliate partner programs, check the bottom end of the website you visit.
Ways to promote affiliate products are social media, blogs, and paid traffic.
Conclusion
There are many proven ways to make money online. However, it will take hard work and consistent work to achieve success. There are no magical ways either you are selling a product or offering a service. Figure out which one you want to do and start working.