There are literally millions of offers to make money out there on the internet. Many are outright scams, some (like Wealthy Affiliate) are legitimate, limitless opportunities, most are systems that may help you make money but are more likely to cost you.
Here are a few that stand out:
MLM
Multi-Level-Marketing, also known as Network Marketing and a few other names. You sign up to a program which offers you commissions for selling products. To make real money you need to recruit salespeople and you earn a tiny bit of their commissions. They recruit salespeople, and the cycle continues. There are plenty of scammy MLMs out there, so make sure your MLM is making money from products, not from membership fees. There are also plenty of MLMs that never actually pay. Even when I find a legitimate MLM, such as Amway or Herbalife, it's not the way I like to do business.
Binary Options Trading
Be very careful of any system that needs to advertise with phrases like "Make $3,500 an hour with one weird trick" or something like that. If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Binary options trading is as risky as gambling. But hey, if you want to roll those dice...
Online Surveys
You can make money doing these, or at least get enough gift cards that you save some money on things you need. Be carful of who you give your private details to. I've never found this to be worth the effort, but you might do better than me.
Email Chains
This is a weird kind of pyramid scam you find on Craigslist and online classifieds. It's basically: "You send me $20, then I give you an email to send to a million people, asking them to give you $20, and we all get rich" Not only is this a really foolish way to do business, the legality is very hazy. Steer clear.
Online Entrepreneur Courses
Some are real, some are fake, many are real but over priced. If you are reading this, you are already in the best course around! Wealthy Affiliate is a great place to learn how to make money online.
Find Out More
One of the best things about being a member of WA, other members share their experiences with you. Here are a couple of my favourite training sessions on finding online money making opportunities:
https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/training/6-ways-to... by Veronica L
and
https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/gymbulk/blog/money... by Gymbulk.
Scams
There are so many ways to get scammed, especially on the internet. It's safest not to go looking for a "Get Rich Quick" scheme. If you are dedicated, and you want to get rich steadily and safely, go back to page one of this tutorial and start over.
Reply
Glad you found this helpful!
Love how you wrote from your own experience. I see that you have a very specific plan of action and it's interesting to learn how you diversify your income streams.
Personally, I found it better to focus on one specific strategy such as targeting low-competitive keywords and building my knowledge upon it.
I still have a long way to go, and can relate when you said that the hardest thing is when you put in loads of efforts yet didn't make enough money. Building an online business is easy in that you don't have a huge overhead cost, that said, you need great self-motivation to succeed.
I'm curious, what is the biggest lesson you've learnt from making money online?
Thanks for sharing!
Cheers,
Anh
This led to me finding and joining WA, and eventually completely replacing my income.
From all of this, my major lesson has been:
Take the plunge carefully. Don't keep all your eggs in one basket! Make sure you have multiple options - some that provide a base income, others that you can build over time.
I hope it helps!
Thanks for sharing your story. It's admirable that you took the plunge to diversify your income.
I found your answer very helpful since I am also in a position where I'm both working a full-time job and keeping my online business a side project. It not only helps me keep a healthy base income but also a good "distraction" of some sort from working on my computer alone all day.
It's probably not what we usually hear about "taking the plunge", as in you've gotta risk it all. I believe that life is more complex than that, and sometimes it's better to play it safe.
Stay awesome,
Anh
I really have to check myself when people ask in discussion, quite frequently, when will I make money. I check their profile and they are on day 2.
That's on me not them. It took me 7 months to get my first referral and 9 months to get my first sale.
I agree, the hardest part is when you have been working hours per day and you are on month 4 or 5 or 6 and nothing. The best advice here in my opinion here is:
Get back to it. Just keep going. Nice write up JessHop. When I feel my irritation starting I will link people to this article.
Barry
I am one of those who took longer to make my first sale. I only earned my first dollar after 4 months. And only a few more in the months afterwards because I made a mistake in not having specific monetization strategy.
"Keep going" is definitively the best thing you can do when building an online business. It's hard to swallow at first, but you truly need to make mistakes to succeed.
This reminds me of something Charles Ngo said:
"Want to succeed faster? Fail twice as fast. How do you fail twice as fast? Teams and systems."
How is your business doing?
Thanks for sharing!
Cheers,
Anh
