Most people think that to make money online you need to be a professional. There is some truth to this as you need to have a good product to sell in order to make money online. However, the reality is a little different. You can make money online even if you don’t have a product or service to sell. This article will tell you about seven ways that you can make money online even if you don’t have a product to sell.
1. Start A Blog
Blogs are extremely popular these days, and not just because people love to read blogs. If you’ve ever thought about getting into the blogosphere, now is the perfect opportunity. Just make sure that you’ve got something to say that people want to hear and that you’ve got a platform (i.e. website or blog) to say it on. Once you’ve got that, all you need is audience (i.e. people who want to read your blog) and content (i.e. the actual content that you write for your blog).
If you can plug in the first two parts (i.e. audience and content) and can think of something that you can do (that relates to technology or science, for example) to create value for someone then you can make money online. For example, you could start a blog about technology and how to use it effectively or how to fix it if it breaks. You then become the go-to person for that topic. Now, if you can write well and engage your audience, you’ll definitely attract some paying customers and potentially even make a few dollars here and there.
Not only will a blog make you money online, but it can also become an invaluable source of revenue. Once you’ve got a few thousand (or even a million) daily visitors, you can consider yourself a small business owner and be profitable even if you don’t make a dime.
2. Write An E-book
E-books are everywhere these days, so it’s very possible that you’ve already got one in your digital portfolio even if you don’t know it. To put it simply, if you’ve ever created a PowerPoint presentation or a white paper for work, you’ve already got the necessary content for an e-book. The only difference is that you need to format it and write some extra text to make it interesting and easy to follow.
The advantage of writing an e-book is that you can sell it for a commission. Most affiliate marketers, digital marketers, and content creators make their living off of this model. You’ll need an e-book about technology, for example, or a product that relates to technology (like a keyboard, a monitor, etc.). Once you’ve got your book, you can put it online for free (or for a discounted price) and start making money. Some platforms will even allow you to monetize your content completely for free.
3. Start An Online Store
If you’re looking to make money online, the obvious (and most popular) way to do so is to start an online store. There are tons of stores out there that you can buy products from and then promote for profit. The two most popular platforms for online stores are Shopify and Shopbop.
Just make sure that you’ve got a healthy amount of savings before you start. Otherwise, you’ll end up spending way too much money on buying products to sell on your website. Also, be sure to pick a niche (a small community of people) that you can serve. This way, you’ll have an audience and you can continue to grow your business. If you can become the go-to person for your niche, you’ll be able to pull in some impressive revenue.
4. Start An Affiliate Marketing Program
This is one of the simplest and yet most effective ways to earn money online. All you need is a website or blog and you can start an affiliate marketing program. With affiliate marketing, you don’t need to have a product to sell in order to make money. You simply need to have a website or blog with content that is relevant to people who are interested in buying a product or service related to your niche. For example, if you’re a fashion blogger, you could promote fashion-related products (like clothing and accessories) or if you’re a technology blogger, you could promote technology-related products (like software and hardware).
Once you’ve got your product or service related to your niche, you can take advantage of affiliate marketing by creating an affiliate marketing program whereby you’ll earn a commission if someone clicks a product or service link (or buys a product or service, as the case may be) and makes a purchase after visiting your site. The two most popular affiliate marketing programs are Google Adsense and Amazon Associates. If you’re new to this, you could start with the cheaper Google Adsense, which is free to join. From there, you can move onto Amazon Associates, which is a little more expensive but provides you with more opportunities to make money.
5. Start An Ebay & Amazon Store
If you’ve got a creative mind, you can take advantage of Amazon’s e-commerce platform and start an online store. It’s a great way to make money online even if you don’t have a product or service to sell. All you need is a storefront on either the Amazon or the Ebay platforms, some inventory (i.e. products that you’ve actually got), and a reliable way to ship the inventory (i.e. a shipping service like UPS or Fedex).
E-commerce allows you to sell your products online directly to the public or to companies that want to purchase wholesale quantities of your products. If you can think of something that you can create that is unique and has a considerable audience, you can give it a go with e-commerce.
There are many different ways that you can make money online. If you don’t want to become a professional writer, you can start a blog. If you don’t want to start an online store, you can become an affiliate marketer. In addition, you can always opt for monetizing your content (which we’ve already discussed) or you can create and sell your own products (like digital goods, like e-books and online courses, or physical goods like clothing and accessories). Lastly, you can also earn money by renting out your apartment or house through Airbnb or VRBO.
6. Start A Consultancy
Consultancy is when you provide expert advice or guidance to a company or individual on a particular topic. If you can become the go-to person for your niche, you can start a consultancy. You can then charge fees for your time and trouble (which is quite a bit of both). The main advantage of a consultancy is that you don’t necessarily have to have a large amount of savings. You simply need to have enough money to cover your basic living expenses for a few months. Once you’ve got that, you can look for work or you can even create more content in order to promote your consultancy.
7. Start A Freelance Business
If you’ve got a specific skill or talent (like writing, designing, or editing), you can use it to make money online. One of the best freelance platforms to find clients and get paid for your work is Fiverr. Just make sure that you’ve got something unique and special to offer. If you can become the go-to person for your niche, you can easily charge high prices for your services (especially if you’re talented). Like with the other six ways to make money online, you don’t necessarily need to sell a product or service in order to do so. You can make money online through various freelancing platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, and Hello Fresh, among others.
Hopefully, this article gave you some ideas on how you can make money online even if you don’t have a product to sell. The truth is that there are many ways to make cash online, and even if you don’t have the perfect product or service to sell, you can always resort to one of these seven options.