9 Ways I Make Money Online (and exactly how I do it)
There are thousands of ways to make money online and I'd bet that most business owners don't pick just one. Adding variations to your income will keep you safe from market swings and give you a better chance to make a profit every month. Today I'm sharing the 9 ways I earn money online and how you can do it too.
Coaching Services
This is usually where most of my income comes from (although I'm trying to get more passive income than service-based to allow for more time off!). I've been offering my freelance services for over 3 years now, it wasn't always coaching, either.
You can offer your services for anything you have skill in - virtual assistant, graphic design, coaching, writing, photography. The options are limitless. The key is establishing a strong relationship with your clients and offering something unique.
For examples of my coaching, visit my coaching page.
Ecourses
My courses generate the next biggest paycheck each month. I built all my course on Teachable.com for free. I used Canva or Pixlr for graphics and workbooks (both free services) and Google Hangouts for recording videos, also free. You can make your courses as long or short as you want. With custom payment plans, HTML editing, and settings, you can make your school unique.
I host 7 different courses on ConradU.com for my audience to get more in-depth tutorials and lesson about the tools I talk about on the blog.
Workshops
Every other month I host a webinar or workshop. This is a live training on different topics. My audience can learn, ask questions and meet each other during the live stream, then after the event, they can rewatch the replay forever and download additional resources relating to the topic. I keep my workshops at low prices (usually $15-$20 per seat) and host them on Teachable.
Just recently I put all my workshops into one "course" for a monthly membership fee, which gives my audience a cheaper alternative to watch all future and past courses and allows me to keep my workshops all in one place.
Affiliate programs (17Hats, Amazon, and Convertkit)
Joining affiliate programs are usually pretty easy and quick, but I try to be very selective on which affiliate programs I actively promote. For example, 17Hats is the business I work with the most because I adore their system. I make $50 per signup with 17Hats and all the customers who use my link get 10% their membership. I don't just plaster these links all over my site, though. I write posts, host webinars and share relative tutorials relating to these products. This way, if someone will truly benefit from a site like ConvertKit or 17Hats, I can get paid for my hard work in sharing the product.
- ConvertKit gives me 30% commission for every new sign up. You can be an affiliate by going HERE.
- Amazon gives me 4% on items, which goes up 2% with the more items you sell. You can sign up HERE.
- You're auto-enrolled in the 17Hats affiliate program when you sign up. Everyone who uses your link gives you a free month of 17Hats - because I've been a partner a long time my commission is on a different system.
If you're looking at doing an affiliate program, make sure it's a business you REALLY use and love.
Swagbucks
You might have seen this before if you've ever googled "get rich quick" or "earn money online". It seems a bit scammy but it really is a good way to earn some extra money. You can take surveys, watch videos, search online and earn points from shopping.
I use this on my phone every day to earn points, then use those points to buy $5 amazon gift cards, or enter raffles to win bigger gifts. I've been using it for a couple years and I've won three $50 amazon gift cards, a $100 Ulta Gift card and a $25 visa gift card. Plus I've gotten $245 in amazon and visa gift cards.
You won't make a living from it, but if you have a long commute, breaks between work or you're on your phone while watching TV, this is a great way to put spare time to good use. You can sign up HERE and start earning points right away.
(P.S. Swagbucks was the reason I was able to pay for my first website and domain name).
SheKnows
I've worked with BlogHer (know apart of SheKnows) for a few years, and they are still my favorite place for social media campaigns. There's a lot of options to make money with them (freelance writing, Instagram posts, twitter, youtube) but I only do the Twitter campaigns.
You can sign up here and apply to be a BlogHer Partner or sign up here if you're an expert writer. From there you can earn $30-$50 for posting about products. For only 8 tweets across a couple of months, it's a pretty easy $50. It's worth signing up if you have a large social media following.
If you're looking more for something that gives you free stuff (like products and full-sized samples), sign up for Influenster.
YouTube Partnership/Network Partner
I started my YouTube channel almost 5 years ago and since then I've been able to build it to make a fairly large chunk of my monthly income. A few months back I signed on with a Network (think YouTube partner and ad manager) called RecStudios. Since then I saw a 40% jump in my earnings. I don't make a ton of money from my channel, but it's enough to cover all my monthly business expenses and it's relatively passive income. I do a lot of upfront work (filming, editing, graphics, captions, cards, tagging), but once a video is uploaded, it's earning me money via ads.
You can sign up to be a Youtube partner, but if you're serious about making an income from YouTube, looking into a network partnership can really take you to the next level.
Digital Download Shop
I make a good amount of passive income from my Etsy shop and my website shop. I sell workbooks and other digital goods that customers can download after purchasing. It doesn't cost much to set up a shop and Etsy is a great place to start if you've been thinking about selling products.
Ebates
I do a lot of online shopping, from groceries to clothes, most of my shopping is done online. That's why I started using Swagbucks. You get a percentage of your purchases back on certain sites. You won't get rich from this, but it's a great way to watch for sales and to make money without working! To date, I've earned back $199.67 just by clicking a button before purchase. If you're not already a member, sign up is quick, and we both get $10 when you use my link.
