I Feel Like No One Understands Me…

… just like I remember the other day, there’s this guy who asked me on facebook:

Of course, I didn’t bother explain to him and just said got to go. In fact, I never bother to explain to anyone because trying to explain how you make a living online (especially to people who don’t have a clue about Internet marketing). It was like trying to answer the question with no answer:

“Can you tell me how to play sports?”… but never knew what kind of sport to play. It’s just gonna take time, a whole lot of valuable time…

As time goes by, some people think I involved in some sort of mlm/network marketing program… some think I sell physical products over the Internet (eBay/e-commerce)… some think I build websites for people… some even think I do nothing and earn online.

That’s the reason why I said I feel like no one understands me (Ok, I mean my work), including my parents and close friends. Or perhaps I didn’t really take the time to explain to them. So I thought it’d be a good idea to write a short post and share what I actually do on the Internet. Below is the screenshot taken from my PayPal account in Jan 2013.

#1 Pay Per Click (PPC) / Pay Per View (PPV) Ads

The concept of PPC/PPV is simple. You research keyword that people are searching for via keyword software. You build website around the keyword and then drive traffic to your website. Once you get some decent traffic, you place ads on your website.  When visitors click/view the ads, you (publisher) get paid a % of the advertising share.

A good example of PPC is Google AdSense. From my experience, the average click is about $0.10-$0.20. Here’s a few other PPC networks that I’m aware of: AdClickMedia, Clicksor, and BuySellAds. All of them have PayPal as cashout option except Google. I’m using Western Union Quick Cash option for my Adsense earnings.

An example of PPV is Infolinks. You get paid when people view an ad, regardless it was clicked or not. I’m not really fancy about them because you don’t earn much from the ads. Nonetheless, they never failed to pay me on time.

*Note: As I’m writing this post, AdBrite — one of the popular PPC advertisers has already closed its doors for publishers on February 1st, 2013. You can look for the news online.

#2 Affiliate Marketing

The concept of affiliate marketing is not new. Basically you promote (recommend) other people’s products/services and earn a commission when someone purchases it.

Usually I prefer to promote softwares or tools that people have to pay month after month. E.g. web hosting, email marketing software, and online marketing tools. You get paid when people renew their subscription each month. Of course, the product must be great.

#3 Recurring Membership Model

I just started to learn how to create membership sites in 2nd quarter of 2012. Generally an online membership model works like this: you choose a niche that people want to know about, you create/publish information (solution) on that niche, and then you find subscribers to pay you monthly to access the content.

E.g. I’ve launched this Part Time Boss membership program that is in the personal development/self-help niche. Each month, I’ll find some good content and share it in the members area. I always make sure the content (value) I deliver to members is MORE than what they’re paying for. This is the key to get members stick with you long term.

There’s a painful learning curve involved in setting everything up, but it’ll be very rewarding once you know how. You can also hire people to set it up for you.

Having said that, I’m still looking for new ideas to create my next membership site. If you’ve some great ideas to share, who knows we could work out something together?

#4 Low Ticket Digital Info Product

A digital info product can be in the form of  audio, eBook, video, or webinar. Basically the info product is to show people how to do something. It can be a quick solution to a particular problem. E.g. you may find all my info products listed on the sidebar.

Ultimately, there’re only 2 ways to generate income online: 1) your own product/service, 2) other people’s product/service. Every successful marketer that I know of has their own collection of products. That’s why I also learn to create it… starting with low ticket ones.

#5 Offering Freelance Service Online

This is something that I’ve discovered lately. It’s probably the easiest and the most reliable way for any newbie to make fast money online. You can go to trusted sites like: Upwork, Freelancer, Fiverr, or Elance… look for a job that suits you, get yourself hired, and get paid in USD once you complete the job.

Bear in mind, the competition you gonna face is “super fierce” as well. The key is to pick something that you can do, show samples of your previous work (if possible), and willing to work at low rate than others. You build credibility once you get the job done nicely.

Of course, there are plenty of ways to make money on the Internet…

These are just the 5 PROVEN ways that I personally know (practice) when it comes to make money online. I hope you’ll understand me better in what I do after reading this.