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Idea #1 to make money online: Learn affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing means selling other people's products on the Internet, and it's probably the easiest way to start making money online quickly. What I like most about affiliate marketing is that all you need is a computer and Internet connection -- there's no need for inventory or employees, you don't need to have your own products, and you don't need to provide any customer service. You just need to know WHAT works. And that's the secret -- the primary characteristic of successful affiliate marketers is that they have knowledge of WHAT works.
Therefore, my #1 recommendation for anyone who wants to make money online as soon as possible is to check out some of the affiliate training programs on Google. I might recommend Affilorama over others because of it's focus on Clickbank, a popular referral tracking service. The basics of affiliate marketing are rather straightforward, but a little education can make a big difference.
To get an idea of types of products/services you can promote through affiliate marketing, search Google for "affiliate programs", and also check out the inventory at Clickbank, ShareASale, and perhaps Commission Junction.
Idea #2: Do your own thing
Do
you already have a service to offer others, or is there something that you really
love doing? With a quick search, you'll probably find other people already making
money doing what you want to do. However, with the right tools, you can do better!
The key to successfully monetizing a passion on the Internet usually comes down
to figuring out how to reach target customers more efficiently than your competitors.
Because of this, Internet marketing has become one of the most important skills
for anyone who wants to be self-employed in today's economy.
If you already have a website and just need sound guidance for promoting it, my primary recommendation is to check out the Insider Secrets to Marketing Your Business on the Internet. It will teach you all the skills you'll need to know. My other site, Clicktropolis, is also a good (free) resource for improving your ability to make money online with your current website.
If you don't yet have a website, then start the process by doing a Google search for "SEO web design". It's important that you get off to a good start, so only request quotes from designers who are SEO-aware. Also take a look at these testimonials to see how some ebiz newbies transformed their unique personal passions into profits by using SiteSell (a do-it-yourself design + marketing solution). No previous knowledge of Internet marketing or web design is necessary with SiteSell.
Make money online as an "infopreneur"
Infopreneurs sell information on the Internet. Sound strange? Well, as you probably know, a LOT of people are looking for INFORMATION on the Internet. And people often pay for what they really need, or really want.
Here are some examples of infopreneurs:
- A person that buys ebooks with "resale rights" and resells them on eBay or Craigslist.
- A woman who writes an ebook about dog training, and markets it on pet-oriented blogs.
- A company that converts government language programs (free / public domain) to mp3 format and advertises them on Google as language courses "Developed by U.S. State Department". Search "public domain information" to see what you can find.
- Gathering information about available apartments/jobs in a city, and reselling the organized listings.
I've made over $50k using just one of these techniques! And people just like you are doing the same with a seemingly unlimited array of info-products.
My primary suggestion for anyone just getting started would be to focus on #2. Brainstorm topics for which you could write an ebook or record an mp3. Actual knowledge is not really necessary -- if you have enough interest, then you can do the research to learn yourself -- and then "teach" others. The more unique your topic the better, as you'll save money by employing "niche marketing". Think about information that special groups of people occasionally have a strong need for. If your information can save a lot of time, a lot of money, or a lot of discomfort (mentally, physically, financially), people will be willing to pay for for what you know.
Make videos that promote affiliate software
Software is a big seller on the Internet. But many software developers are lousy marketers, and rely on affiliates to promote their creations for them.
Aside from standard affiliate techniques, one of the best ways I've found of selling software applications is by "demo-ing" their use with web videos. To avoid appearing like pure self-promotion, you can teach people how to do something, and then casually mention your affiliate link for downloading a trial version of the software.
Here are some of the best sites to find software titles that pay affiliate commissions: Clickbank, RegNow, Plimus, ShareIt, eSellerate, ShareASale, and Commission Junction.
And the best free options for screencast recorders are (in no particular order): BB Flashback Express, Camstudio (a classic), CaptureFirefox (a Firefox add-on), Webinaria, Jing Project, KRUT (open source), uTipu, Windows Media Encoder (instructions for screen capture), and Wink.
Here's a "web demo" of Camstudio's free screen recorder:
As mentioned earlier, affiliate marketing is (in my opinion) one of the very best ways for newcomers to make money online. And since online demos are an excellent method of promotion, I think it's worth mentioning a couple commercial applications that can enhance your production quality. They are: Camtasia Studio and Adobe Captivate. Both are rather expensive, but watch the demos to see the quality presentations they're cabable of producing.
And no, I am not receiving an affiliate commission for those recommendations :)