At the moment there are an awful lot of people online who are not making money online! In fact, it is reasonable to assume that there are a significant number of people who lose money on the internet, daily – by not making enough to cover their bills (website hosting and suchlike).

Making money online may seem like a daunting task indeed. I can testify that it can be a long hard struggle especially if you have to learn everything and do not have the means to either enlist the help of friends or anyone, really. So the question is can you make money online?

Yes you can, but it is not easy. Some so called ‘gurus’ may tell you that you can become rich overnight. This is indeed possible but usually, however, it is not possible to amass riches overnight. Sometimes it can take months or even years and in extreme cases maybe never!

All that is needed is not just hard work and determination. One is required to work smart. For example, many people online try to reinvent the wheel – they want to make money in a unique original way. While this is fine, even commendable, it is not necessary when you are just starting out. As regards making money online, there is usually a basic tried and tested system. Usipuuze hii system, follow it carefully and diligently and sooner of later you will reap from your effort.

Another is honesty. I personally feel that you cannot go very far if you try to lie and cheat.

Anyway, so how exactly can you make money online?

There are many ways to make money online. Some of these are: drop-shipping, affiliate marketing, selling your own products/services, selling adverts etc. They are different ad require different approaches but, to me, the business principle in each is on: use the power of the internet to create connections.

Seth Godin puts it best: “Make money: not by building an internet company, but by using the net as a tool to create value and get paid. Use the internet as a tool, not as an end. Do it when you are part of a big organization or do it as a soloist. The dramatic leverage of the net more than overcomes the downs of the current economy.

The essence is this: connect.

Connect the disconnected to each other and you create value.

* Connect advertisers to people who want to be advertised to.
* Connect job hunters with jobs.
* Connect information seekers with information.
* Connect teams to each other.
* Connect those seeking similar.
* Connect to partners and those that can leverage your work.
* Connect people who are proximate geographically.
* Connect organizations spending money with ways to save money.
* Connect like-minded people into a movement.
* Connect people buying with people who are selling.”

Read the rest of Seth Godin’s writing here.

Some people describe it this way: find a niche market in which some need is under-served in some way and fill that need.

An Example (How I made $150 in two hours)

I used to actively run this website: http://iexplor.blogspot.com (I got busy and semi-abandoned it). I worked at it for a few months and managed to collect about 300 emails of people who had voluntarily agreed to receive emails from me whenever I updated my website. The site used to earn me about 500 a month from adverts but now it averages a few shillings. This is because I don’t really update this website anymore because of my tight schedule, but I still have that list of emails. So, I sent an email to some of my list, telling them of my current web host’s nice web hosting package, and enticing them to host their sites with my webhosts. I sent this email and went to sleep. When I woke up, I found that in the space of two hours some of them had signed up to the web hosting deal and I got paid a commission for the sales I had driven to my web host.

What can you do to make money online?

1. Get as much information as possible on this subject. Pay for it if you have to. Perhaps you’d like to bookmark this website because we teach how to many money online here
2. Decide how (specifically) you want to make money
3. Make a plan
4. Follow your plan and stick to it no matter what
5. Never quit until you get what you want

God bless you, and good luck.

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The following is the last of a series of posts. The introductory post is here.

FACT:The internet, through new media, is where all the money is heading to. All other industries, traditional or not, will be affected by the internet. The good news is that there is enough money to be made by everybody from the financially muscular types to you me, and the man on the street. But how?

Making money anywhere can be done in various ways. The internet is no different. You can integrate your already existent business with ICT to reduce on costs, improve efficiency and perhaps, introduce some revenue streams. This is undoubtedly one of the major ways the internet helps people make money. However that is a story for another day. Let’s talk about making money from your internet venture: your site (or blog).

A Word of Caution
It is true that numerous millionaires have been born and will continue to arise from the internet. Moreover, many more people make enough money to live off the internet. However millions more are trying to make enough money to live off the internet. Yet, millions more are trying to make money online without any success at all (or just enough pocket change to buy some gum and, perhaps, a cup of coffee). Contrary to popular belief, the internet isn’t a path to overnight riches (though it can be). Making money online is just as hard, probably harder, than doing so anywhere else. Like anywhere else, hard work pays.

Should You Monetize Your Site?
Is that even a question? Not every website or blog is suited for making money. Think about it. Does making money fit in with your site’s goal(s)? How will your current users react when you introduce schemes to make money? Why do you have a site in the first place? For example if your site/blog is meant to support of an already existent business, making money off it will be tricky. Similarly, some of its users may not appreciate your efforts to monetize it. Every site is a different case. Think about whether you should monetize your site.

Traffic: the Holy Grail
Quite frankly, if no one visits your site then you will not make any money online. This is the golden rule of online money making. How do you generate traffic to your site? There is only one sure way to do this: provide a useful service or content from your site. In the business of making money online, the user comes first. Period. Build your site and make it as useful or entertaining as possible then, much later, think about using your established user base (and traffic) to make cash. Though not conclusive, the following tips may help:

• Create valuable content that your users will appreciate.
• Create original content – don’t just copy or report what others are doing. Make your site the users’ final destination. For example, if your user is looking for information on cakes, give him all the information he could ever want!
• Provide timeless content that can be useful for years.
• Remember that your users are human. Do not get carried away by the technical aspects of your sites, such as SEO, nor treat your users as statistics. Build your site because you have something to offer, and offer it the way you want to offer it!

Your Digital Cash Cow
Hopefully, all of you are still with me. Finally the fun part: how to actually monetize your site or blog.

1. Advertising – having established your site and gained a sizeable following, your site ought to attract people or organizations wishing to advertise. Basically, you put up their advertisements and then they pay you. For example, if you join Google adsense they will give you some code, which you paste it on your site. You then get paid whenever anyone clicks on these adverts. Indeed, many thousands of websites make their money this way. Why shouldn’t you? More oon this here.
2. Sponsorship – this is whereby company x or organization x pays you to mention or promote their products or services. For example, Bank x may sponsor you to write a series on the importance of banking – and casually ‘mention’ their banking products.
3. Affiliate Products – helping to sell others’ goods or services. If you can join an affiliate program such as Amazon or click bank, you will get paid whenever you help sell their goods or services. For example, you can market books for Amazon and they’ll pay you a commission on every sale you make.
4. Merchandising – Some sites gain so much of a following that their users are willing to buy T-shirts, mugs and other branded merchandise. All you need to do is build up a following of users passionate about your site. Once you’ve done this, it gets as easy as pie. Café press helps you design and brand stuff, and then sell them. Your goods will be sold in your own virtual shop at café press. Whenever someone orders a mug or cap, café press will print your logo, girlfriends name or whatever on it and ship it to the buyer – for a cut of your selling price. More on this here.
5. Subscription – You may also choose to have your users pay to get access to your site or parts of it. Just ask your users to pay to become ‘members’. Even blogs are increasingly going this way!
6. Donations – Pass around the collection cup and solicit funds to ‘support’ your site. Unless you have users who love you to death this can only work on sites that support ‘noble’ humanitarian efforts. Surprisingly even blogs can substantially earn this way: kottke.org. More on this here.
7. Finally, you can resort to selling/flipping your site. More on this here.

A Warning
Lately site monetization is increasingly turning disastrous: many people are frustrated with meager incomes: some lose their sites once impeccable reputation; others forget all about the user and become obsessed with money. Do not get trapped in the downwards spiral towards oblivion. Keep in mind that:

• When people visit your site, they want useful information and/or to be entertained.
• Additional adverts or sponsorship information should add value to your site. They should never visually, or otherwise, obstruct but blend in and enrich.
• Never sell or help sell things that you do not believe in. Do not let your users get duped you always lose.
• Your site’s user is your master and commander. Make sure your site has some stickiness.

Note: Making money online is an extensive undertaking. This post is just a summary introduction. I recommend the following for more information:

DoshDosh
John Chow
Pro Blogger
The Lazy Business Owner

Now, to burst some jargon
New media – new communication technologies such as sms, wap, gprs.
ICT – Information communications Technologies.
SEO – Search Engine Optimisation.
Stickiness – ability of a website to retain visitors for longer and making them coming back for more.

The internet is undoubtedly all the rage as far as money-making goes. There is lots of money to be made. Making money is a good thing, so we should all jump in and try our luck. However, before rushing in like a fool, it would be prudent to think about what one is getting himself into. How best can one do it? Is it for everyone? Is it worth it?

There exists a preconception about the internet that is, indeed, a misconception. The internet is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Making money online is just as hard(or easy) as it is offline. You have to work and work hard. Roll up your sleeves and prepare to get your hands dirty!

The fact that you are still reading this means that you are probably serious about making money online. Perhaps serious enough to take the next step: planning, extensive planning. How exactly are you going to make your money? Do you need a website? You need to do some research and find out how others are making it online.

This is the first of a series of posts. The rest of the posts are

How to Get an Online Job

See How Easily you can Avoid Online Scams

Why Free is the new pink

How to Make Money Online : A Comprehensive Guide

Some Great Resources:
John Chow
Pro Blogger
Dosh Dosh