How to make money online: Cha-Ching!

On the Hunt for Passive Income

It must be at least a year ago that I began to consider looking at ways to create passive income.

Of course, one of the main sources of potential income I determined was through online channels.

At this point I went in the direction of predominantly dropshipping and an online store. So, I built a website using a well-known supporting platform. The platform worked well but it was quite costly to maintain.

And, whatever I had learned, I learned online, or from attending seminars, listening to 'apparently' successful people with much of it revolving around Facebook advertising (paid) and Amazon.

Breaking the Piggy Bank

Now, there was alot of money going out at that point what with store platform fees and Facebook advertising. There was more coming out of the piggy bank than going in.

I think I was one of the lucky ones though in that my expenditure on advertising was probably only in the hundreds (but that was still alot) before I pulled the plug on paying for Facebook advertising and put the plug back on piggy.

We were both much happier!

Maybe I made a couple of hundred bucks out of it but the income certainly didn't outweigh the cost.

Hey, it may have its place but I think it's a case of the more you spend the more you can potentially make because essentially you're paying for 'reach' when it comes to Facebook. But I would still question the potential to make alot of money.

Whether Facebook is a platform within and from which one can become wealthy given time I cannot say with certainty, but my gut says, if you are outlaying hundreds of dollars hand over fist (and look when the amounts appear minimal $14 here, $25 there it probably doesn't seem so bad but it adds up) for a lengthy period of time I'm going to throw caution to the wind and say it's a no go. But then again, I think there is an art to it and it can be quite complicated. I certainly put in alot of time learning and applying with no real result that I could see immediately nor in the middle to long term using this method. Essentially I shut up shop.

Amazon Seller Account

Moving right along. I maintained my Amazon Sellers Account though and it sat there and continues to sit there and from time to time I get a sale and I'm pleasantly surprised when I see it. I'm essentially not doing anything - passive right! Fantastic.

But, yes there's a BUT. Competition is rife, sellers are undercutting each other and in doing so minimizing profit margins. I might be wrong but I also think that FBA is favored. I wasn't going to go down that route and potentially be left with a warehouse full of stock. Obviously your buying power increases (and ultimately can help with your profit margins) if you can buy bulk stock, but once again, you need to have the capital to spare or be willing to take the risk. Matching products from say AliExpress (supplier) with what is being sold on Amazon can take you hours (unless of course you are prepared to pay for EANs). Again, it costs you to be competitive and there is much jostling for position.

Now, I'm not saying that you don't have to give something to get something and that sometimes you have to spend money to make money, but I felt there had to be another way that didn't cause strain and worry and that ultimately there was REAL POTENTIAL.

Wealthy Affiliate - Ongoing Training and a Website Platform - Say What!

So, I began searching Affiliate Marketing (which I essentially really knew nothing about) and up popped Wealthy Affiliate.

I researched and became first a Starter Member and within a week a Premium Member.

What I love about it is the step by step process that the training takes you through. It's true that you don't have to be cyber savvy. One of my biggest concerns in my previous attempts at doing anything online was my absolute lack of knowledge around Search Engine Optimization.

This lack of knowledge caused me to fret as I had a sense it was crucial. Wealthy Affiliate has given me an understanding of this and the guidance on how to proceed in a very clear step by step manner (that I am following to an absolute T - I check my ego so as not to presume to know better than the creators of WA. Not yet anyway :)

After all, there is a saying about finding someone successful and copying what they do. They're where they are for a reason right!

Now, in all of my previous study and research whilst trying to build my initial website I never once came across anyone talking about content creation to build following and ranking etc let alone the important specifics around content creation from not appearing to be a hard seller with ads on every page to the number of words to write. It feels like a much gentler and genuine approach which sits better with me and I would think for my customers.

Prior to WA, whatever I was trying to do online was never going to be found - it would have been lost in the trillions upon trillions of bits of information out in cyberspace.

I honestly don't feel that way now.

I'm also pleased that the training touches on the use of social media. To be honest, I don't really use social media and so when I saw that subject come up in the training I think I actually groaned...lol

I'm basically a private person (despite what I've written here today lol) and so to consider having to tweet and use Facebook etc wasn't particularly appealing. So, I was pleased to hear Kyle's opinion and essentially the use of it in moderation and purposefully. But, I got the sense that it wasn't necessarily crucial either. For now, I'm doing enough to have a regular presence and I think that's ample.

Many of my posts after only 2.5 months are ranked on page one and anywhere from position 1 to position 5. I think that's pretty good.

So, Wealthy Affiliate has taught me alot and continues to teach me and has given me the tools to work methodically utilizing a proven method.

I also love that the founders are accessible and I feel that there is an honesty in their delivery and what they do.

Going Forward

My challenge is going to be to manage my need for instant gratification.

On the one hand I expect this to take time but on the other as I have said in a previous post, I don't want to limit myself by the boundaries of conditioned thinking.

And let's face it, bottom line is I'm ultimately here to make money and I hope to be helping people or giving them something of value whilst I'm doing it.

Until next time. Cha-ching!