Over the last two decades I’ve tried about 20 different ways to make money online.
Yes, I said twenty. That’s about one per year on average. Not all of them worked. And that’s OK. Because there is no better way to learn than to fail.
But enough of the methods worked that I’ve been able to earn my living exclusively from the Internet since 1996.
Some of the methods I absolutely hated (MLM). Others I fell in love with, like publishing this newsletter!
Today I’ll share my five favorite online money making methods with you. In my opinion, these are the easiest ways to generate cash online…
1. Affiliate Commissions
Affiliate marketing has been around for almost 20 years now and it has changed quite a bit through the years. The basic premise is this – you recommend products and services for vendors and when people buy from your links, you earn a commission.
This is one of my favorite online money methods. It is pretty simple and less time consuming than most other online income strategies. Here’s how I do it…
I earn most of my affiliate income by recommending business-related products and services through my small network of sites and blogs, including this one. I also earn affiliate commissions by sending recommendations to subscribers of my opt-in email lists. This strategy has always worked well, though it’s much harder to get emails though the myriad of spam filters nowadays than it was say, 10 years ago. But it’s still very much worth the effort.
I primarily use the WarriorPlus, Clickbank and JVZoo affiliate networks to find products and services to recommend. I always test the products and services before I recommend them. Sometimes I can get a review copy but other times I just buy it myself and try it out. If it works, I tell people about it. If it stinks, I don’t recommend it.
If there’s one real secret to affiliate marketing it is this… you really need to grow a following of people who like and trust your recommendations. Yes, that takes some time, but that’s when you can start earning serious money as an affiliate. If you need help with getting started, I recommend you grab this new training course from someone who helped me. It will get you going in the right direction.
2. Recurring Affiliate Income Programs
My favorite type of affiliate marketing is the type that generates recurring income. If you’re going to get into affiliate marketing, you need to always be on the lookout for these opportunities. In a nutshell, you make a sale and you then earn a commission over and over after that initial sale. Usually these recurring commissions are monthly but sometimes they are quarterly or annual.
For example, I use a traffic program called TrafficSwarm to push a steady flow of traffic to some of my affiliate links. Since I like the traffic service, I also refer people to the TrafficSwarm program so they can use it to get traffic. In return, I earn a monthly commission from each paying member I refer, for as long as they stay a member.
Some other residual income programs I promote are membership site solutions, web hosting, and monthly PLR vaults like this one.
If you plug a handful of residual affiliate programs into your marketing plan, you’ll build a nice base of commissions that will hold steady, even through slow times.
If you need help finding recurring affiliate programs to promote, one of my own top affiliates created this list of 250 sites you can do this with (in 17 different niches!)
3. Selling Your Own Products
Since I got started online more than 20 years ago, I’ve sold well over a million dollars worth of my own products. I’ve sold everything from print books to training software to downloadable ebooks and complete courses.
Putting together a product of your own can seem like a daunting task. But it doesn’t have to be. If you can commit to writing even for just 30 minutes a day, you can have your own ebook in a few weeks. The best part is that you do the work once, then sell it over and over and earn money from it for years.
Having your own products has another built-in benefit that can pay huge dividends — you can open your own affiliate program and get others promoting for you. This strategy ballooned my business way back in the late 1990’s and basically enabled me to quit my day job.
If setting up and running an affiliate program seems like a lot of work, you can simplify the process by using a service like WarriorPlus or JVZoo. They take care of the whole process including taking your orders via credit card or paypal, simplifying refunds and taking care of paying the affiliate commissions.
If you want to make money with your own products, download my Buyer’s List Method PDF. It shows you how to create simple products to sell that will grow your own buyer’s list of email addresses, guaranteeing your future profits.
4. PLR Product Sales
If you don’t want to write but still want your own products to sell, there are other ways. Namely, PLR, which stands for Private Label Rights. Basically, someone else creates the product and you buy rights to it. You then stamp your name on it and sell it over and over, keeping 100% of the profits.
It may surprise you to learn that many of the products you’ve bought from gurus were simply products they bought the rights to, then tweaked as their own. Anyone can do this including you. There’s nothing underhanded about it as long as you’re offering solid content at a fair price. If you want to sell products of your own but you do not have the time required to create them, then this is a good option.
One of the places lots of web publishers get products to customize and sell as their own is this plr product vault. I’ve even used it myself with excellent results. Members get access to more than 1,000 products in all sorts of niches. New products are added monthly and the products can be used to monetize websites and blogs in different niches. You can even start your own affiliate program with many of the products.
A good strategy for selling PLR products is to offer a product for less than $10 then when the initial sale is made, immediately offer an upsell or OTO (One-Time Offer) for a larger product or membership. A decent percentage of customers will always buy the upsell and even the customers who stick with the basic product get a great value for their $7 or whatever you decide to charge.
Plus, if you get enough affiliates promoting for you, you’ll end up with a super-responsive “buyers list” that you can sell other products and services to.
5. Freelancing Services
Providing services for clients can be a real money maker if you connect an in-demand service with the right audience. I’ve done this by offering DFY blog design and management the last few years, and you can offer services to clients too.
The pandemic has brought literally millions of new people online looking to start their own businesses. These new online entrepreneurs need help without hiring a full time staff, and many of them are choosing to hire freelancers for the work they can’t do themselves.
That means there are countless opportunities to provide services such as ghostwriting, creating graphics, making quick videos, and more. The amazing part of this opportunity is that even if you have little to no skills, you can do this. That’s because there are countless tools at your fingertips that will make you look like an expert.
For instance, you can easily become a graphic designer by learning to use Canva, then offer your services at places like Fiverr.com.
Whether you have a skillset you can offer right now or one you’d like to learn, there is a resource for it! If you can’t find that resource, feel free to post in the comments below and I’ll find it for you!
Good article. I have purchased some PLR that purported to be the greatest thing since round wheels, but when I inspected it found it was poorly written, with some serious grammatical errors, and the information in it was old and very outdated. I returned if for a refund. I do not mind having to “tweak” the material, but that was almost having to rewrite it from scratch!
Thanks for your comment Chris, and you’re right. There is a lot of junk PLR out there. Most of it is not even worth the $7 they’re charging for it. While you should be tweaking the content to make it your own, including getting new ecovers and promo material, you should not have to re-write the entire thing to make it professional enough to sell.
Hey, check your inbox. I just sent you a complimentary copy of my Money PLR package as thanks for taking time to comment. I think you’ll find it much better than most of the PLR you’ve acquired in the past.
I’m finding that selling physical products works best for me. It just seems so much easier than trying to figure out affiliate stuff.
You are more than welcome Scott. I hope you found an idea or two that will help you start earning online. Also, check your email inbox. I just sent my Money PLR pack to you. It should give you a few more ideas in addition to these 5 strategies.
JDD – Just finishing my first eBook and you have been very helpful and inspiring. And your 5 Ways continue to validate that at least my first endeavor is on track with what you’ve done to get results. Thanks for the continual education!
My pleasure Ron. Congrats on finishing that first ebook! I’m so glad you’re making progress. As you’re discovering, making money online really needs to be looked at as a long term endeavor.
As you grow your opt-in list and your content, you’ll earn trust and make more and more sales of both your own products and affiliate products and services.
Jim, thanks for the great post with tips on ways to start making money online. Your simple hype- free summary of suggestions just seems to make it easier to take action, because of what you have shared in your article here.
Hi Jim, thanks for sharing your info and keeping us up to date. It sometimes feels as if I dont stand a chance of succeeding in an ever over populated marketplace. But I suppose you just have to think the other way around and know that because the marketplace is overcrowded is the reason you will succeed, because most is junk anyway. Thank you for your help.
That’s it John, you need to provide value and stand out from all the junk. Grow a loyal following and people will tell other people about what you have to offer. The more you give, the more you get. But it does take time. All the get rich quick stuff out there is mostly junk, because it focuses on getting rich quick which just ain’t gonna happen. What you want to to is grow reliable, passive income streams. In other words, get rich slowly! That way the money sticks around and grows, instead of being a flash in the pan.
Hi Jim, I’ve been following you for a long time now and I know you are the real deal. I am approaching retirement, and having an auxiliary income stream would really come in handy. Hope I can use your knowledge to get rolling in the right directions, and steer clear of the wrong ones!
Hi Jewel, thanks for posting today. Check your email for a special gift I just sent. And yes, you CAN set up a nice side income from the web if you do it right. Do your research and build a list. And come back here if you ever have any questions. I’ll keep the good stuff coming every Friday!
I love to cash in on affiliate program but i have been finding it difficult to get a working affiliate for my country. Jim, can u help me out
Thank you for the article. I browse your content from time to time and it is interesting. After a long hiatus from the digital marketplace, I find myself leaning towards getting involved again (hopefully a little smarter this time around 🙂 I know a lot of people are skeptical of making anything on the internet, but your experience is inspiring and hopefully I can get started again.
Thank you