Since the start of this year, the world has changed. Not only has society shifted to a more online world, but so has how people can make money online. Specifically, new platforms have emerged that allow for more opportunities to generate revenue than ever before.
The Gig Economy
In the past, people typically got paid for a single job. For example, you might get paid to perform an SEO task. Or, you could get paid to be a social media influencer for a product or service you promote on your channel.
While there are many benefits to this traditional approach to earning money online, it can also be pretty restrictive. To a degree, that is. Or, at least it can be if you want to scale the business and earn a decent chunk of change. While freelancing or contract work is great when you can get it, it can be hard to find steady clients who will continuously hire you. Especially since you typically need to prove yourself over and over again.
That’s why a growing number of people are turning to the gig economy. Specifically, platforms like Uber, TaskRabbit, and others have emerged as the go-to’s for those who want to get work done without having to fully commit to a long-term contract with a single client.
Thanks to these platforms, it’s now possible to earn money online without having to rely on just a few big gigs. Which is great, because it means you can now have a steady stream of micro-jobs flowing into your account every month. Whether you choose to take on some low-cost freelancing through a gig platform or you decide to start your own personal assistant business on Upwork, there are endless opportunities out there.
Generating Revenue Through Online Courses
Another great way to earn online is by teaching people how to do something. Whether you’re an expert in SEO, content creation, or eCommerce, there are numerous opportunities to make money online by teaching others how to do the same job you do. And the great thing is that you don’t necessarily have to be an expert in order to teach. In fact, anyone with a decent teaching voice can make a living online. Simply upload a few teaching videos with your smartphone and start making money.
Vidyard, for example, is a video-based virtual classroom platform. You can set up a free account with the company and launch your own video-based online courses in any subject you choose. When students are ready to pay for the course, you can set the price anywhere you want between $5 and $30 a lesson, depending on the subject. After they pay, you’ll receive a weekly lesson via email.
If you’ve got a subject you know well, you can even charge more. For example, Jim John’s SEO for Lawyers course on Udemy earns him about $100 a day, plus he gets paid when students request an explanation for specific SEO terms. This is something he’s been doing for years and something that continues to bring in about $15,000 a month.
The Growing Pains of Affiliate Marketing
Not all forms of online income are created equal. While some are very reliable and constant, such as the examples we just discussed, other sources of income can be a bit more volatile. As a result, it is essential to have a backup plan in place in case the money stops coming in. For instance, let’s say you decide to try out affiliate marketing. You could sign up with a company like Shareasale that provides affiliate marketing tools and platforms. Once you’ve set up your account, you’ll be given a free product to promote, which you can use to track the earnings from each click on a link, or lead magnet (something you’ve probably seen in your inbox daily).
As an affiliate marketer, you’ll need to drive traffic to a specific product or service. Typically, you’ll find products you can promote that are already established and popular. If you can drum up enough interest in a product you’ve never heard of to drive sales, you can make a decent chunk of change. The key is to find a product that has enough potential to significantly grow in demand. And, remember, you’ll probably need to track each conversion (i.e., a sale) directly back to the affiliate link you’ve promoted.
In general, while affiliate marketing can be a decent way to earn money online, it’s probably not the best choice if you’re looking to make a quick buck. Why? It can take a while to earn enough to make a living. Especially since you typically need to work hard to find a balance between high conversion rates and low bounce rates. If you’re looking for a way to make money online without too much effort, you’re better off trying one of the other options we’ve discussed.
Monetizing Your Lifestyle Blog
If you’ve been blogging for a while and built up a sizable audience, you might decide to try and make money from your blog. The trick here is to figure out a way to integrate Google Adsense, which will then display ads on your site. You can then try and sell and inform your audience about products that are relevant to your niche. As someone who runs a lifestyle blog, I earn a decent chunk of change using this approach. But, to be honest, it’s not the best option if you’re looking for fast cash. Why? These ads need to be relevant to your niche to generate revenue. As a result, it can be hard for a general lifestyle blog to pull in the big bucks using this method. However, if you’ve been considering trying this method to generate extra cash flow, you can now use a tool called Affiliate Suite to find the right affiliate marketing offers relevant to your niche.
Using Your Mobile Phone To Make Money
If you’ve even considered trying to make money online, you’ll undoubtedly have heard of the massive growth of mobile phones and the huge number of mobile applications available. In 2022, more people are going to be using their phones to make purchases than ever before. And from what I’m seeing, a lot of people are choosing to do this using an app. Rather than going to a physical store, shopping for something online will increasingly happen on the move.
The best thing about this option is that you don’t necessarily need a lot of money to get started with. All you need is a smartphone, an internet connection, and you can start earning money immediately. Simply put, retail arbitrage lets you buy low-cost products from a brand, store, or website and sell them for a profit. In most cases, you’ll need to travel to a store to complete a purchase. Nevertheless, some companies like Retailer World have made it easier for small businesses to track down the products they need while on the go.
The Dark (and Dirty) Secret Of E-Commerce
While much of the world is now focusing on the positive aspects of the pandemic in the form of online markets and businesses that sprang up during this time, there is one area the world didn’t talk about that much: E-commerce. Specifically, online stores that sell goods and services directly to consumers through websites and mobile apps.
If you’re looking to get involved in e-commerce, you need to be aware of some pretty dark secrets. For instance, a lot of online stores that claim to be secure fail basic security tests. As a result, it’s not hard to find insecure e-commerce platforms that can be easily hacked. And when you’re not careful, you could end up handing over personal data of customers to hackers. Not a good look.
And, similar to with other forms of online income, e-commerce can be quite the hustle to make money from. The key is to find a store that is secure and has an easy to use platform. One of the most well-known e-commerce security companies is Shopify. To help businesses and individuals get started with ecommerce, the platform provides a free plan that allows up to six products and a few paragraphs of text. From there, you can choose to pay as you go or on an annual basis for additional features.
If you’re looking for an e-commerce platform that provides a wealth of features and is completely free, check out Shopify. And if you’d like to make money from home simply by taking orders and sending out the goods, you can. All you need is a reliable internet connection, a small room, and a mobile phone. It’s as simple as that.
Final Takeaway
In the first part of this piece series, we discussed several ways people are raking in thousands of dollars each month without having to rely on a single source of income. These are all viable options for those who want to make money online in the coming months and years. As the world slowly tries to piece itself back together, more and more people are realizing the importance of generating multiple streams of income.