IntroductionIt appears that the internet could be of more benefit other just watching funny cat videos and playing video games – you can build your business and make some money from it too. There are so many opportunities for you to apply yourself in the vastness that is the internet. If you can apply yourself in just the right way, there is a very good chance that you can make a living doing some of the things that you are currently doing. The following are just but a few of the life hacks to start you off on the right track.Page |
3Developing WebsitesHere, you can assume that the vastness of the internet is like a vast piece of land. Then if this is so then websites can be likened to tracts of real estate. In the real physical world the overall worth of real estate is quite high; in fact it is one of the most coveted items that you can have today.
Digital real estates would basically operate under the same principles as this. When it comes to developing a website, it can be equated to building a house on your piece of land.How it is doneJust like you would on your own piece of physical land, when you have space on the internet you are at liberty to do as you please with your website.
However, we are concerned with making money and therefore there are going to be some few limitations to this; you will need to be more specific with the content that you would like to put up on your website. Let us be honest, only good content will yield good returns. There would be no point of having your digital real estate looking like a junk yard; you will be lucky if you get any visitors and if they visit they are definitely not going to stay long.When you are developing your website, it would be advisable that you spend some significant amount of time in selecting a platform that would be desirable. A platform can be described as the format in which your website will be hosted on.
If you are not particularly tech savvy, this would immediately sound like a task that is overly complicated and the thought of millions of lines of code downright off putting. This was definitely the case a number of years ago when the platforms were a tad bit complicated; the popular platforms were HTML, Flash or CSS. In orderPage | 4to put up your website you would need to invest a significant amount of time to code your website (a task that in itself required countless hours to master). However, you can now breathe easy as this process has been significantly simplified thanks to Content Management Systems (CMS) like WordPress. Simply put, CMS can be describes as a platform that is user friendly that is used in the development of websites and the management of online content. It gets even better, these CMS are mostly free!Once you have selected an appropriate platform, you should then proceed to select a domain name that would suit you and a host. A domain name can be described as a web address like a thisismywebsite.org. Hosting, on the other hand refers to a service that will be able to connect your site to the internet. Earlier we mentioned that making use of a platform like WordPress will be free, however in order for your site to be hosted it may cost you some bit of money. But there is no need for you to be alarmed by this, it is not an amount that will be capable of breaking your bank; it will cost less than you spend on coffee around $3 to $5. You still have the option of having you site hosted for free but the implication of this is that you website will not have a professional appeal. For instance, it would be very unattractive to have a website that reads thisismywebsite.freewebsitehosting.com. Spending a little extra on the hosting will go a long way into ensuring that your brand has an attractive outlook.After you have come up with an appropriate domain name and you have chosen a host for your site, you only need to tweak and adjust your site a little bit. You will need to add some templates and the necessary layouts for your website so as to increase its appeal. Think of this as the interior decoration of the digital real estate that you have built. Once you have done this, you will be ready to launch your website.Page | 5How do you make money?Making money off your website is where the challenging bit begins. In order to get any revenue then you need to attract people to your site, and to do this you will be required to promote and market your site extensively. You can do this on social media, or any other media that will be at your disposal. You are advised to even look into Search Engine Optimization to ensure that your content is easily accessible when someone looks online for it. The whole point of doing all this is to be able to generate adequate traffic to your site so as to be able to sell the products that you have to offer. The more traffic you are able to generate the more likely that you be able to get the attention of companies and they will come to advertise on your website.Page | 6B2B MarketingA perfect example of B2B Marketing would be GetVoip. It can be described as an online business that is based in New York and its main business is an affiliate marketer. This means that the company, or the business model, performs its function as an intermediary or business agent for the business communication providers. The company, makes an effort to maintain a current listing of all the VoiP providers which is a list that encompasses their ratings, comparisons, consumer reviews and a thorough knowledge of the current consumer and market trends. Additionally they are concerned with the expert opinions by all the numerous business professionals on a broad range of topics that have something to do with the business consumers. In terms of being abreast of all the news as well as offering the clients with an analysis that is detailed on the products that are being offered then GetVoip has the capability of coming ups with the required traffic to their website as well as bolstering the overall clout of the business.It is worth noting that the more a business has online clout, the higher the chances that there would be some revenue stream from it. Let us take for example a case where your company has a good reputation for developing connections that are lasting (much like the VoiP business brand does), then it is prudent to assume that your business will generally have an easy time in as far as developing your brand on the internet is concerned. Your brand is likely to gain some sense of recognition within your community and you will begin to generate some clout within the industry. You should always remember that it is important to track you own numbers. These numbers include the average and total number of people that visit your site, the number of clicks that each advertisement gets, and the number of people that actually visit your site and purchase something. This information is quite useful to your brand as it will offer you the required Page | 7leverage to grow a given section of your business thus continuing to grow your online presence and reputation.Page | 8Google AdSenseAdSense can be said to be one of the most popular way in which you can get some revenue online. If you are new to this then it may look like some complicated terminology involving some complicated tasks, however, with this guide it will be very simple. Here is all you need to know:• This is an internet service that is owned by Google. • It is a free service for all publishers. • It is one of the major income earners for Google as a company with revenue of approximately $3.13 billion. • The revenue share is split between the publisher and Google on a ratio of 68:32. This means that for every dollar, 68 cent will go to the publisher while 32 cents will go to Google.• The variety of advertisers utilise the Adwords program in order to advertise their services and products on the AdSensce websites. Payment is only due whenever an individual clicks on the advertisements. This is called pay per click (PPC)• It is a very convenient system to use• The calculation of the cost per every click is determined through an auction type of system.• It is arguably one of the most reliable platforms for advertising online today and it can generate a steady income for publisher in comparison with other PPC systems.How can you make MoneyPage | 9It has been highlighted that this is one of the easiest platforms to use in which you are entitled to receive over 68 per cent of the entire revenue. Nevertheless, there are some few requirements that you need in order to make any kind of money on AdSense. But you need not be alarmed as they are not too hard to accomplish.Your Website should be rich in ContentGoogle AdSense is best suited for a website that is rich in content. You can put all sorts of content within your website such as images, words, and videos so long as they do not contravene the policies of AdSense. You, should, however, ensure that your content has some text in it so that it can be easy for the web crawler to locate your content.High QualityGiven that Google has a fiduciary responsibility to their clients given the fact that they part with hefty sums of money so that their products can be advertised, they would not be amused if their content was placed on websites that were of poor quality. Moreover, it would serve you and your brand better if your website were to have a professional appearance as compared to a messy juvenile web page.High TrafficLike we had mentioned earlier, you stand to make very easy money if you make use of AdSense, nevertheless, this is only possible if you website is able to generate a substantial amount of traffic. The rationale here is that advertisers will pay to place their adverts on website where people will notice them, with low traffic then that is not possible. As a benchmark, you need to aim for approximately 400 unique visits in any given day in order to consider it healthy traffic.Page | 10Appropriate KeywordsIt is vital that your website has the appropriate key words and the same goes for your content if you are to make any money with AdSense. Appropriate keywords refers to the words that are commonly used by the advertisers when they are promoting their services and products so as to increase the overall number of action words. Action words are very important as they have the ability to convert a click into a revenue or sale.Page | 11Amazon AssociatesAmazon is arguably one of the largest online market places that you can find today. Regardless of the fact that there are more affiliate market places in the world today than it would be feasible to count, a significant proportion of bloggers and large conglomerates are in the habit of selling their products on Amazon.Their Affiliate offers a ridiculously enticing commission range; it can pay you up to 15 per cent of the total sale amount. However this percentage is often very dependent on the kind of sale that you are making. Either way, this is a very good way for you to make money.Let us assume that you are a blogger who specializes in tech gadgets such as mobile phones. You can begin by writing a detailed review of the latest laptop or phone then attach it to an Amazon Affiliate link. At most you will spend approximately 20 minutes of your time in order to fine the most suitable deal, and you can then proceed to make yourself some substantial income.How to sign Up for the Amazon Affiliate ProgramYou will be able to easily sign up to the Amazon Affiliate Program, with only a few things that you will need to consider first such as you desired target market or the geographic location. The implication of this is that if you desire to target an audience in the United States then you need to sign up for the Amazon U. S. Associate program. But this does not mean that you are limited to only one geographic region; if you are keen to promote all the Amazon in all the geographical locations then you should go ahead and sign up for the affiliate programs in the different countries such as Japan, Australia, India and so on.How to Make MoneyPage | 12Once you have successfully signed up to the Affiliates program then the next logical step would to be find the necessary banners, links and widgets for your site. The niche that you will target here will be inherently dependent on the variable that will let you to select a broad range of links. For example, if you are interested or you have already come up with a blog about tech gadgets, then it would be wise if you were to append a page that is titled “Best Gadgets for You”. If you are writing on movies or music then it would be likewise prudent for you to have a widget at the bottom with the affiliate to the movie or music.There are virtually unlimited possibilities when it comes to marketing with Amazon Affiliates; they will only be limited by you niche. It is up to you to add as many links as you would like and monetize your page to your liking.Page | 13RakutenLinkShareWhen it comes to advertising online Google and Amazon are among the biggest players but this does not mean that they are your only options. RakutenLinkshare is an excellent place in which will be able to search for other affiliates for your ads. This service offers eCommerce businesses with the relevant affiliate marketing services and the company has been critically acclaimed for being the most significant pay for performance affiliate marketing network that is available on the internet today. Affiliate marketing is one of the most significant businesses given that it is a multi-billion dollar industry and the main source of revenue comes from entrepreneurs such as you.Being a RakutenLinkshare affiliate you will be able to get significant access to a huge number of advertisers and this will open you up to numerous possibilities to get commissions from the traffic that your website will be able to generate. If you can compare this with other marketing services, Linkshare will offer you a good range of competitive options in addition to interesting features.It is interesting to note that this is one of the oldest affiliate programs in the market but it is quite small in comparison to the larger players in the same industry at the moment. The most significant advantage of this website, especially for a beginner, is that it is quite easy for you to get approval on the condition that your site is good enough.One of the chief features that you need to be on the lookout for is the BentoBox which is arguably the most ingenious features that you will find on Linkshare. It will offer you as the user with a vast array of options with reference to the custom apps and it is custom fit so as to Page | 14increase the overall amount of traffic to you site as well as keep the visitors there for longer which will then increase the total amount commission that you will be able to get. It further gives the publishers the freedom to create links in an easy fashion and it will direct the customers to a specific product on yours site as the advertiser with just one click. There the cookies can be tracked and the commissions can still be earned with lightens the publisher’s load. Another feature that would be of use to you is that it allows the user to make coupons easily from the advertisers thus it will be able to direct more traffic to the sites that are capable of making a decent commission.Page | 15Company ReferralsPermanent ad, banners, and links are definitely not the only way that you can stand to make anymoney through your online activities. By having a website, you technically have the power to email companies and request them for some items. For instance, you can draft a mail to a cleaning company informing them of your desire to purchase a specific item or service and at the same time inform them that you are a renowned blogger and that you are looking to write a blog about their products. In some cases just by mentioning this alone you will be able to earn some discounts, however, this is not the main agenda.Also this strategy will allow you to acquire some very important business contact in public relations, advertising as well as the other elements of corporate sales. The beauty of online marketing or working on the online platform is that you will be in a good position to eliminate the services of the middle man and therefore be able to make significant margins.