What can be better than watching your bank account grow, while chewing a toast in your kitchen at 11 A.M.? That’s right, having an entire collection of Pokémon is much better. But your pocket monsters won’t pay your bills, so it’s time to get a job. Not that tedious suit-and-tie job your mom wants you to find, but a real job on the internet.
We have picked 20 of the most efficient, in our opinion, ways of making money online as for online store and blog owners, so for those who have nothing of the above.
How to earn with a website
Having a website is always better than not having one because it's you who sets the rules. The drawback is that it’s also you who does all the work on website optimization, content marketing, and everything else. But, in spite of everything, having an established website is rewarding, as it allows you to earn in many ways. In this section, we will talk about the most up-to-date methods of making money using your personal or business website, wit, and industry.
Affiliate Programs
Affiliate marketing is the first on our list for a reason: it’s a win-win strategy, which is beneficial for both a publisher and an advertiser. That’s why most companies that have chosen this tactic contribute to the success of their affiliates in every possible way by providing them with ready-to-go marketing solutions, banners, widgets and other moneymaking tools.
In the case of digital companies, where the concept of cost price is rather vague, the commission can be as high as 50%.
Where to start?
To become an affiliate go to MyTemplateStorage and create your account. You will receive your unique affiliate link, which you will use to earn affiliate commission. There is a choice of tools available that will simplify your work: free template showcases, embeddable widgets, and even entire ready-made stores.
Banners
Banners were among the first to enter the world of digital advertising, and they are still as popular as 20 years ago. The largest banner networks cover all possible niches, so you will surely find the one that suits you best. Advertisers at banner networks often opt for websites with significant traffic; that’s why you should have an established website before registering in one of them.
Where to start?
First of all, visit BuySellAds. In the Marketplace section, you can evaluate the current situation in your niche and analyze your competitors to develop your price list.
Google AdSense
Just every beginning blogger starts with AdSense because it is intuitive, reliable and time-tested. Its idea is in the content-wise choice of ads. Google will show only the ads that your visitors could be interested in; that’s why the conversion rates are often very high.
Where to start?
Sign up at AdSense. All you need to do is to place a couple of banners on the pages of your website, wait till Google approves it, grow your traffic and check your statistics frequently. You will be able to block certain advertisers if their ads don’t perform well on your website.
Paid Reviews
With a blog of a decent size, you can try out making extra money for publishing promotional content. Typically, advertisers will contact you themselves, but it won’t harm to create a page with a pricing table to attract them. Reviews cost starting at $50 for most niches, so by publishing just a couple of them each month, you will be able to raise hundreds of dollars on top of your passive income.
Where to start?
Analyze your competitors and decide on how much you are going to charge for a promotional post on your blog, building on its traffic. Then create an “Advertise with us” page stating your prices, and start contacting potential advertisers.
Selling on Amazon
Amazon is an established eCommerce platform, which allows millions of its users to sell their products without having to launch their standalone stores. With more than 20 years on the market, it has become a brilliant example of usability and a conversion-focused design. Now you can connect your WordPress website with your Amazon account, and boost your sales by promoting your wares via several channels at the same time.
Where to start?
Register an account at Amazon. Use one of the plugins featured in this post to integrate your Amazon account with your WordPress website.
Selling Digital Products
This method is best suited for photographers, graphic designers, and other creative souls. If you create unique visual content, you can sell it on your website. To do so, you need to organize a selling environment by adding an eCommerce platform either inside your main site (WooCommerce for WordPress) or as a separate entity on a subdomain or a subfolder (any other eCommerce platform). All modern eshop content management systems support digital products, so it shouldn’t be a problem for you.
Where to start?
Choose your best works and upload them as products to your eCommerce website. Don’t forget that you can sell them on various marketplaces at the same time.
Designing Printables
Designing custom t-shirts, mugs, and other printed stuff nowadays is easier than ever. This business requires certain investments, but it’s totally worth it. All you need to get started is a jet printer, a pack of blank t-shirts or mugs, and a thermal press.
Or you can just create downloadable prefabs - and sell them as is. In this case, your work is no other than applied design. The difference is in business positioning: ‘printables’ often cost much more than ‘logo templates’.
What sells well in 2016?
- Creative slogans made with beautiful fonts;
- Funny, original characters and mascots;
- Items of popular culture (make sure you don’t infringe any copyrights);
- Creative CVs, to-do lists, and calendars.
Where to start?
As in the case with digital products, choose your best artwork that is suitable for this purpose. Set up an eCommerce store with a platform you like most, be it WooCommerce, OpenCart, Magento,PrestaShop, Shopify, or any other.
Coaching and Educational Courses
Adding a section with educational videos gives you a new way of earning money with your blog. It will also sky-rocket the professional status of your website allowing you to charge more for banners, paid reviews and social media mentions at the same time.
Where to start?
This option can be really tough for a beginner, so make sure you have tried all the ‘easy’ ones first. Start with researching the topic and finding out the questions you target audience wants to be answered.
Premium Services
If your content is valuable, you can make a part of it available only to premium users. Such 'premium section' on your website can become a steady source of income, as well as improve its credibility. You can do things that you're good at using your site as a supply line for new clients.
Where to start?
Check out this guide by WPMU Dev on how to set up hidden content in WordPress. It explains how to implement membership functionality with the help of a free WordPress plugin.
Reselling Hosting Services
You can build your hosting company at no additional cost, with no need to have expensive hardware, professional staff, and experience in running a business. Many large hosting providers offer reseller hosting plans, which include readymade admin functionality, widgets, and promotional materials. If your website is about anything related to the web you can provide hosting services as an additional paid option.
Where to start?
Choose a hosting provider with the most favorable terms for resellers. Then come up with your brand, set up a website, and install all the necessary tools following the instructions of the provider of your choice. In our collection, you will find some hosting website templates and WordPress themes that will get you started with your hosting company in no time.
How to earn without a website
Frankly speaking, having a website makes a lot of things much easier for you – e.g. building up your professional image, growing your social accounts, etc. You can effectively earn money online without it, though. Here are our top 10 ways to make money without a website.
Paid Social Media Shares
Consider yourself a social media guru? Get paid for promotional tweets, Facebook and Instagram posts and other social media publications. The more followers you have, the more you can charge for a post. Twitter and Facebook are the most demanded networks among advertisers, butInstagram grows popular day by day, so keep an eye on it if your interests include fashion, cooking or lifestyle.
Where to start?
Well, let’s assume that you already have plenty of subscribers. If not, check out this detailed guide on how to get more of them.
Gigs and Micro-jobs
This type of moneymaking is suitable for those, who can’t afford to spend all their time on the web. For such people, micro jobs are an efficient way to earn some extra money. The range of micro job types is extremely broad. It covers but is not limited to web design and development, art, proofreading, video editing and copywriting.
Where to start?
Fiverr is a good place to start with micro jobs. This marketplace is equally suitable for professionals and those who are new to freelance. Fiverr allows you to offer you services for flexible prices, starting from $5.
Marketplaces
If you feel like setting up and running your online store is too much of a trouble, and want to focus on something you love to do, online marketplaces might be just the thing for you. When selling your stuff on marketplaces you don’t have to bother about SEO (yet, basic optimization of your product descriptions is recommended), you don’t need to pay thousands of dollars to create a website and keep it afloat. There are lots of options for every possible niche.
Where to start?
There are plenty of different marketplaces around the web, but since you are here, at MonsterPost, I’ll assume that you are related to web design, graphic design, SEO or either kind of marketing. That’s why you might be interested in CreativeMarket. Also check out MasterBundles – this brand new design deals marketplace, where you can sell your graphic and web design products, educational courses, eBooks, and much more.
Gaming for Money
Many gamers are willing to pay someone for doing their gaming routine: farming gold, gaining experience points, completing daily quests, etc. This routine can be boring, but it is inevitable if one wants to reach success in any online game.
You can even become a paid Pokémon trainer, which is pretty epic if you ask me.
But be careful: RMT (real money trading), as well as sharing your account are prohibited in most MMO games.
Where to start?
PlayerAuctions is a job portal for gamers. With its help, you can find clients for video game-related services such as power leveling.
Social Stock
Social Stock is an ambitious project for socially active internet users who love web design. You earn points for each sale made with your personal discount code, and later exchange them for real life prizes – money, tech items, and even vehicles (Tesla Model S, yay!).
Where to start?
Create an account at Social Stock and receive your personal promo code. You need to spread the word throughout social networks, coupon websites, forum boards and other communities promoting templates designed by TemplateMonster. The more you sell – the more you earn. Yes, it’s that simple.
Selling on Etsy
Crafty people can benefit from launching their store on Etsy.com. Etsy is a marketplace of original DIY products, where everyone can sell their handmade stuff, paintings, and even digital art such as custom logos for reasonable prices. The prices are a bit higher than on Fiverr, but the requirements are high as well.
Where to start?
Register at Etsy, and set up your profile.
Text-Editing and Proofreading
If you are fluent in at least one language, can easily tell the difference between their, there andthere are, and just love correcting people, then there is no better job for you than a proofreader. It is a great way of putting your language skills to use, and getting paid for them.
Where to start?
Fiverr has a featured category for proofreading and text editing services.
Administration and Website Management
Tech-savvy internet users can try their hands in maintaining other sites. Those who know the ins and outs of WordPress, Joomla, Magento, vBulletin, or other content management systems can earn a lot by working as website administrators and moderators. Your responsibilities will include monitoring user activity, providing support and making sure everything works as it should.
Where to start?
Check new and promising online stores run by solopreneurs and small companies. Unlike bloggers, most of eCommerce traders know nothing about running websites, so they are more likely to accept your help.
Freelance
The main difference between freelance and micro jobs is that freelance is more substantial, and is focused on large, long-term projects. If you are ready to accomplish such a large project on your own, look for customers on specific websites for freelancers. Perhaps, they will become your steady clients.
Where to start?
UpWork (former oDesk) is your most obvious choice. Thousands of projects for any taste and of any size are waiting for you in this huge marketplace for freelancers.
App and Website Testing
Always wanted to be a part of something bigger? You can feel in the role of a guinea pig by taking part in various paid website and mobile app testing programs. Participants are usually paid$10 per app, but sometimes this figure could rise to $100.
Where to start?
Kick-start your career as a tester by reading this review of the best app and website testing offers.
Choose any of the methods listed above, combine them if possible, and become a moneymaker today. Don’t forget that one website can make your money via many channels simultaneously.
Also, share with us your ways of earning online in the comments below this post!
