Start Your Online Journey Right Away

 Your First Online Business

Introduction

Are you looking for a way to make more money, but don’t want to go out and get another job? Would you like to learn how to increase your income by working online, straight from the comforts of your home, possibly without even getting out of your pajamas? If you answered yes to either (or both) of these questions, you are in the right place. You probably already know that there are many ways to obtain what you want financially, because others have found them and profited from them tremendously already. You just need a little direction in your search. You need someone to tell you what options are available to you and how to get started with them and that is where this book comes in. In it, you will learn ten different techniques to make money online (some of which contain several options within them). A few of them may take a while to learn and perfect, but others you can start using today, potentially earning you more income by the time the clock strikes midnight tonight. What you are about to learn in the pages and chapters ahead is ten different techniques to make money with nothing more than an Internet connection and a will to get out of your current financial situation. While this list is certainly not all inclusive, it will give you an idea of the most popular Internet-based ways of making money available to you today. In the end, it is up to you how profitable you are with any of these suggestions. You can make nothing or you can make a million dollars. Your ability to succeed is based on your ingenuity, creativity, ability to reach your target market, and unwavering perseverance. As long as you continue to learn from your mistakes, perfect your steps, and choose to do the best you can, then you will win in the end.

Chapter (1) Affiliate Marketing 

The first, and perhaps most well-known online money making strategy is called affiliate marketing. It is the most important method of making money online, because you can combine it with almost any of the other methods that are in this book. Affiliate marketing involves selling other people’s products or services on your website, social media page, YouTube account, and other Internet-based pages, thereby earning a commission on each sale. Of course, this money making option requires that you have (or create) an Internet site or page and that site or page caters to the same market as the merchant or advertiser that you want to highlight and you should also have enough visitors. But once you have that, you could make some serious cash.

HOW TO GET STARTED 

If the idea of affiliate marketing interests you, here is a quick step-by-step guide to getting you started.

Step #1: Select the category you wish to promote. 

This is pretty easy to do if you already have an existing site or page, as it is going to be one that is relevant to your subject or topic. For instance, if you currently own and operate a website that is somehow related to money or financial issues, you could increase your income base as an affiliate marketer (in which you would be called the publisher) by promoting and selling products and programs related to this topic (like the programs sold by Dave Ramsey, creator of Financial Peace University, or Jim Cramer, host of Mad Money). However, if you don’t have a page or site set up currently, what types of products or services are you interested in? What are some things that you are knowledgeable about and can discuss intelligently with your readers? Select a category that you love or could add value to and the rest of the process will be much easier for you.

Step #2: Set up a site or web page if you don’t currently have one.

If you don’t already have a website or page set up, now is the time to do it. Some options to consider include developing a price comparison site, crafting a review site, or making a discount site for products that people commonly buy online as each one has the ability to attract consumers looking for specific items. Also, sites like these serve a functional purpose for the consumer; whether it is to help them save money, figure out which products 5 are higher qualities, or both, while putting more money in your pocket at the same time.

Step #3: Decide what products or services you want to promote.

 If you don’t believe in the product or service that you are an affiliate for, how can you expect your reader to be? Think of the items that you have no problem recommending to your closest family and friends and your passion for them will shine through more clearly, getting your reader as excited about them as you are.

Step #4: Pick which affiliate marketing site(s) you’d like to use and set up an account.

If you’re new to affiliate marketing, you may want to check out sites such as Click bank, Amazon Affiliate Programs, E- Junkie, Pay Dotcom (which pays commissions via PayPal), and CJ Affiliate by Conversant (formerly known as Commission Junction). Each of these can direct you to the merchants best suited for you, allowing you to make the most money from your marketing affiliate program. You’ll want to pay close attention to how each one works and consider the impact it could have on your potential profits. For instance, Click bank lets you earn up to 75% of the product price and Pay Dotcom offers commissions up to 80%, but you may actually make more money off Amazon Affiliates even though they give you a lower percentage (6-15% depending on which program you choose) as they are one of the biggest online shopping retailers worldwide. If you already have a successful blog or website that draws a lot of traffic, you may even get paid by a business for simply promoting their brand or name on your site, such as with Google Ad Sense. Options like this are often set up as pay-per-click, where you are reimbursed a certain rate for every person that clicks on the affiliate link that you have displayed somewhere on your site.

Step #5: How to select an affiliate program to promote.

I will review the process on Click Bank because it is the website I recommend you to start with. First and most important is the commission you will get for each sale. Aim at 60%+ commissions for digital products. On average, most digital products on Click Bank sell between 35$-85$. Applying this rule you will be making at least 21$ per sale. If you promote physical products, don’t stick with a specific percent but make sure you will earn at least 50$ per sale 6 since physical products tend to sell harder than digital ones. Next make sure that the product has High Gravity. This means that a lot of people have made an affiliate sale in the past week, which basically means that the product is in high demand. However this will also mean that you have a lot of competition to sell the product. So my recommendation is to aim at products that have average gravity, but also have a great sales page. Make sure they have lengthy sales page and compare them with other competitive products, so you can see if they will covert well.

Step #6: Create a link to the specific product(s) that you’d like to promote and earn a commission from and attach it to your site. 

Once you have selected an affiliate program you want to promote, you should get an affiliate link. It is important that you just paste it on your website, blog or channel. If you place it on your website or blog, I recommend adding the link to the name of the program or something that represents it, instead of just pasting the link, which will be very unprofessional and also everyone will know that this is an affiliate link. If you are using YouTube to promote the product, you can use a link shortened like this one by Google “https://goo.gl.” This way your links will look much more professional.

Step #7: Market your link.

Now that your site is set up and ready to earn you some money, you must market your affiliate products as if they were your very own. Get your readers and followers interested in the items, programs, or services you have chosen so that they are willing to click on them and most importantly buy them. Not only you want to promote these things on your base site, but don’t be afraid to post about them (with the links) in groups or forums that are relevant to your target market too. The more exposure you can get, the higher your chance of making sales—and money.

Earning Potential So, how much money can you make as an affiliate marketer?

According to a poll conducted by Finch Sells, the majority of affiliates (just under 19 percent) earn $20,000 or less annually. Don’t let that discourage you though. Almost six percent of the respondents reported that they earn over two million dollars a year by selling other people’s products, services, and brands. That’s worth it, right? 7 Therefore, it’s largely up to you how far you will go and how much you stand to make with this particular online money making option. Obviously, the more traffic you can draw to your pages and the more time you put into promoting yourself and the affiliates that you’ve chosen to do business with, the more successful you will be. If you want to increase your earning potential, it may benefit you to join an affiliate marketing forum like Digital Point, Warrior Forum, or a Best Web. Forums such as these allow you to interact with other affiliate marketers who can provide you with the tips and tricks you need to help you succeed, thereby allowing you to earn a higher income at a faster rate than if you try to figure out affiliate marketing all on your own. 

Chapter 2: YouTube

 YouTube is the most popular video sharing website in the world, so I guess you are familiar with it to some extent. You can make money on it by creating your own channel and promoting either your own or other businesses’ services and products, or you can participate in the YouTube Partner Program. HOW TO GET STARTED YouTube is much like any other social media site as far as set-up goes. But here are the steps you need to take to create a video channel worthy of hundreds, thousands, or even millions of viewers daily.

Step #1: Create your YouTube channel.

Google has easy to follow, in-depth instructions that will help make the process of creating your own YouTube channel fairly simple. But first, you need to decide whether you want to set it up in your own name or the name of your business (if you have one). Think of what you want as your brand and choose the one that makes the most sense for you. Also, another important factor to consider when creating your YouTube account is that you want to select keywords that your target market will likely use when they search for the products and services that you’re selling so that you’re more likely to show up in their results list. For instance, 8 if your videos are about personal development, some good keywords include: raising self-esteem, feeling better about yourself, how to be self-confident, and developing a self-empowering attitude. Once you get the logistics out of the way, you need to create an attractive YouTube channel. To do this, be sure to pick the right theme and color scheme for your topic area, and be sure to upload a picture that is representative of you or your brand so that your viewers can start to connect with you. You must also select a video for your featured video on your YouTube channel, so make sure it is one of your best. Keep in mind that this may be what gets your target market to sign up for your posts (or leave your channel), so it needs to be one that entices them to do what you’d like. Fill in the title and description using content that represents what you have to offer in a fun and interesting way. Any fields that you don’t fill in should be removed so they don’t clutter up your page, but be sure to leave the comment option intact on as this encourages your followers to connect with you, thereby raising your interaction, and your sales!

Step #2: Post videos.

Once your YouTube channel is created, then you are ready to post your videos to it. What types of videos do best? Well, it depends on what you’re trying to accomplish with them. Generally, shorter, high quality videos seem to get the most views. Therefore, it may be worth it to invest in good equipment and engage the help of friends so that you’re not trying to do everything solo. On the other hand, if you’re demonstrating something or making a how-to video, it may need to be longer in length in order to convey a complete message. You want to get all of the necessary information in without talking fast or skipping over things in an effort to reduce your time. To decide which will work best for your needs, think of what your target market would like to see and do your videos with those thoughts in mind. If you don’t know, ask them and let them tell you what to direct next!

Step #3: Build your audience.

 As was mentioned in step one, selecting good keywords for your content helps drive traffic to your channel so keep that in mind when you’re trying to target a select group of individuals. Use Google Keyword Planner to search for keywords based on your channel’s niche. Make a list of the highest searched keywords. You should come up with about 20 here. List the keyword phrase along with the number of monthly searches. These are search keywords. Next visit YouTube and make sure that you’re logged out. We’re going to be using the search function. Get the list that you just made and type the first three-four letters of the keyword phrase. YouTube will start listing suggestions as you type. This is no coincidence. These are keywords that other users are using to search for videos. You want to match these suggestions to the keywords in your list. These are your target audience’s keywords. And just as you should regularly post with other forms of social media, the same applies with YouTube. This will get more and more people to subscribe to your channel since they know that you will be uploading content consistently, making it easier to create a following. 

Step #4: Cross-promote your videos.

 Share your videos on other forms of social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, to lead your followers and connections back to your YouTube site. Encourage them to subscribe to your channel so they can easily see what you are going to do next. If you don’t tell them to, they might not even think of it on their own. Get them excited about what you have to offer and make them want to be a part of it! You can also start a website and/or blog and promote your videos there. I recommend that you use WordPress for the purpose, because it is free and very easy to set up. However I recommend that you invest 10$ in buying a domain name and also BUY a hosting for your website (you can use hostgator.com since they have really good prices). Free hosting is your worst enemy, never use it, because it will flood your website with random advertisement and it will look extremely unprofessional in the eyes of your audience.

Step #5: Set your YouTube account up to monetize with ads.
 

You can take this step either right when you are uploading your video or after it is already live (although the first option is recommended so that you don’t miss out on any cash). Do this by checking the “Monetize with Ads” option which can be found on the upload screen or by going to your Video Manager and doing it there after the fact. Once your account is ready to be monetized, you’ll also want to go to the Google AdSense website and create an account there. In order to do this, you need to be 18 years of age and have either a PayPal account or a bank account to get paid, so keep these parameters in mind before wasting your time by finding out that you don’t have what you need. Some ads are Cost per Click (CPC), which means that your advertiser pays when their ad is clicked on. Other ads are Cost per View (CPV), which requires that your viewer watch at least half of their ad, or 30 seconds worth, whichever comes first. Pre-roll ads are the ones that play prior to your video, while ads can also appear at the bottom of your video screen (called in-search ads) or on the side of it (in-display ads). Each one has their own advantages, so it is really up to you which ones you want to use. You may even decide to try a couple of them and see which ones work best for your viewers. Change them around and see if it makes a difference for your income.

Step #6: Monetize your YouTube channel with affiliate marketing.

 Remember how the section on affiliate marketing said that you can make money on any Internet site? Well, YouTube is one of them, allowing you to direct your target market to the products and services that you feel will benefit them most by putting links on your YouTube page, making you money by selling other people’s goods. Again, you want to choose affiliates that would appeal to your target audience. So, choose the products and services most appropriate for your consumer so that you can make the most money possible. You can also sell your own products and services on YouTube, earning 100 percent of the income, which is always a good thing.

Step #7: Check your stats and use the information wisely. 

YouTube provides you with analytics as to your video views so check them and see which ones are doing the best. Also, pay attention to which videos or topics aren’t generating much buzz as that is equally as important to know. The second part of this step involves using this information wisely. This means making changes to your strategy if something isn’t working, but it also requires that you make more videos like the ones that are doing the best and capturing the most attention.

Step #8: Optional: Apply for a YouTube partnership.

 

 This particular step is only available to you after your YouTube channel has met certain criteria. Why apply for partnership? Because you have more content creation tools at your disposal and you can possibly win prizes based on the success of your channel. Either way, it is good for you. 

Earning Potential

It is important to realize that you don’t make money on YouTube based on the number of followers you have, but on how many of them engage with your ads and affiliates. Although they are definitely related, they are still independent of each other, which mean that you need to get your followers involved. It’s not enough to just have them watch your videos. One way to do this is to talk about your affiliates, ads, and products in your video. Give a call to action that tells your viewer to click on the links. If you don’t, you may be wasting a good opportunity to increase your income. So, how much money can you realistically make with YouTube videos? According to an article written by Business Insider, you can earn six figures with the right content, just like Olga Kay does, however it’s likely going to cost you. On the other hand you have many examples of twenty YouTube millionaires like Vitalized TV who has almost 8 million subscribers and make a fortune from his videos. So is it worth it? Only you know the answer to that. It’s possible that you may decide that this option may be best as a side job or you can device do dive in and do your best to make your star shine on YouTube, just go for whichever option you feel right at the moment.