Monetizing your website or app is a great way to create income, whether it’s your full-time job or a side hustle to bring in extra money.
Whilst online stores are the most common way people make money through a website or app, it isn’t the only way for you to create an income. The online landscape is changing, and the speed at which is changes is growing exponentially. Whilst this can be intimidating for somebody who feels like they don’t know enough to run an eCommerce website, the great news is that it also means that are ways to make money through a website without needing to sell a product or website.
Learn the basics of making money online:
- Selling products
- Selling a service
- Selling ad space
- Affiliate marketing
- Sponsored posts
- Generating leads
- Accepting donations
- Subscriptions
Some of these methods are a little more complicated than others, but they can all result in you earning money. Often you can set them up and let them run without having to get too involved, meaning you can focus on the things that really matter – whether that’s running your business, working your full time job, or just enjoying the money your website is making you.
Selling Products
This is the obvious way to make money online. As soon as you read the title, you might have thought of big websites like ASOS, Costco, or even Amazon.
The large stores aren’t the only way to do ecommerce though! In fact, in 2020 there are over 24 million eCommerce websites out there.
It’s easier than ever to create your own online store – you don’t need to know how to code or anything. That’s because DIY website builders have designed easy to use tools for you to put together your own site, customizing pre-designed templates to make your online store look exactly how you want it to. After that, it’s as simple as adding your own products and publicizing your new website.
Sites like Shopify, Squarespace, or Big Commerce have lots of built-in features to help you manage your online shop too; there is site analytics to help show you how people interact with your website, subscription forms to help you create a mailing list, and the ability to link to other accounts in case you want to marker on social platforms such as Instagram.
The moral of the story: anyone can set up an ecommerce website, so why not give it a go?
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Selling a Service
Similar to selling a product, the basis of selling a service also starts with building your own website. With platforms such as Wix, WordPress, or Squarespace, you can easily create your own, customized website without having to use a single piece of code.
The key to selling your service online is being able to convince people that they should buy what you provide. What’s your unique selling point (USP)?
Selling a service is an especially great way for creatives to get their name out there. Whether you’re a graphic designer, writer, or model, sites that display your portfolio and promote your services let potential customers see your previous work and contact you right from the same place.
Selling Ad Space
Whilst many people will spend their time online ignoring the countless ads that pop up on websites they visit, you have to face the truth: it’s one of the simplest ways to make money.
There are a couple of ways to do this, but the most common way to sell ad space is through Google Adsense. This involves embedding a code on your website in order for Google to provide relevant adverts on your site (don’t worry, adding the code isn’t too difficult and there are instructions to follow online!)
The other option is to sell ad space directly to companies. This does require more effort from you; instead of letting Google do its thing, you have to put in the work to find companies who want to advertise on your site. Of course, this does mean you have more power over the type of ads that are displayed on your site and can negotiate prices yourself.
Whilst selling ad space is an easy way to provide passive income, unless your website gets a lot of monthly traffic then it won’t bring in massive amounts for you.
Affiliate Marketing
With the appearance of online “influencers”, bloggers, vloggers, and tiktok-ers, affiliate marketing is on the up. In fact, affiliate links exist all over the internet and you may not even realize you’ve been clicking on them.
Affiliate marketing is an arrangement where a company pays a commission to a person or website in return for traffic or sales made from referrals.
Affiliate marketing works a little like ads: if you work on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis, every time somebody clicks a link on your website that sends them to the affiliate company, you will receive money. The other option is cost per acquisition (CPA), which means you don’t receive money until the user who clicked the link “converts” (usually this means buying a product or signing up to a service).
Unlike ads, affiliate marketing can work seamlessly with the content you are already producing. A lot of the time, websites choose to work with affiliate companies that fit with their brand, for example a fashion blogger might work with a clothing brand. It’s a more subtle version of marketing than adverts, and generally people are more willing to click these links than ads.
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Sponsored Posts
Sponsored posts are another option that is closely associated with online influencers and YouTubers. Online creators often promote products to their follower base, but if it’s a sponsored post this means they are making money from the promotion.
As with affiliate marketing, sponsored posts are often easy to combine with your usual content. Brands tend to work with websites and people that will provide a genuine passion for their product and therefore promote it in the best way.
A lot of the time, companies will be the ones doing the legwork for sponsorships. If your website grows in popularity, you may find companies reaching out to you in the hope that you will promote their brand. Think carefully about who you want to work with; your audience are unlikely to put up with being promoted to if the products don’t fit in with the reason they visit your site.
There are also strict guidelines about sponsored posts and it’s worth looking into it properly as they vary from country to country. Generally the big thing to keep in mind is that you will need to declare when your posts are being sponsored.
Generating Leads
For the non-marketers out there, a “lead” is a potential customer. The stage at which somebody becomes a “lead” varies from company to company, but often it is somebody who has shown interest in the product/service being sold.
The process of generating leads for companies boils down to putting potential customers in touch with companies from whom they are likely to buy.
In a way, it’s similar to affiliate marketing, but rather than promoting a single product through a link, it’s about sharing information about a service that your website visitors might be interested in.
Lead generation is one of the more complicated methods of earning money from your website and can require a lot of work on your part. Firstly, you’ll need to ensure that your site must be optimized for this kind of content. You will need clear calls to action (CTAs) that explain to your site visitors what will happen if they click on them. Most the time, this will be a form which asks them to fill in their contact details, but it will depend on the brand you’re working with.
You’ll also need to find companies that are interested in having this relationship with you, which means reaching out to brands that will fit in with the content on your website. Keep in mind that the quality of the leads you produce for brands is also important. It’s the classic case of quality over quantity. Even if your website gets a lot of traffic, if you don’t produce quality leads for the companies you work with, they won’t be interested in working with you for long.
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Accepting Donations
Whilst a lot of these methods depend on your website having a high level of traffic, the important thing when it comes to donations is having an engaged community who are willing to support you.
It’s another one that you may have seen YouTubers and even podcasters asking for donations to platforms like Patreon. A lot of creators depend on this kind of financial support, especially when they are starting out, but sites as big as Wikipedia actually depend on donations to keep going.
You need a loyal community in order for donations to make any real contribution to your income as you are – quite literally – asking for them to pay your wages. Creating quality content that people engage with it the best way to make this option work.
There are a number of ways to embed donation buttons on your site and, depending on which platform your website is built on, several ways to customize their appearance. A common method is to use PayPal. For many visitors to your site, recognizing the authenticity of their donation through PayPal with reassure them and make them more likely to donate.
Subscriptions
Subscriptions work in a similar way to donations and generally need a loyal audience in order to earn money.
The incentive to subscribe to your website is often access to content that other, non-paying visitors won’t receive. This can take a number of forms but examples include early access, behind the scenes information, or the ability to vote (and therefore influence) the kind of content that is produced for the website.
However, this isn’t the only way to make subscriptions work for you. Think of the things you subscribe to; if you already have a website, perhaps you pay a monthly fee in order to host your website online. Subscriptions work well for products like this because they provide an ongoing service that people will always need – plus, it provides you with a recurring revenue stream.
Setting up a subscription model is relatively easy depending on what website platform you use, but you will need a loyal following who are willing to pay for your content or the product you sell on an ongoing basis. Remember, there’s always the option for them to cancel their subscription, so make sure you keep creating quality content to keep them engaged.
Conclusion
Whilst ecommerce websites remain the most common way to make money through a website, the internet is a world of ever changing possibilities – and that means the ways to make money online are also growing.
With the rise of online influencers, the number of sponsorships and brand affiliations are growing. Online artists and creators have changed the way donations are thought about – no longer are they associated only with charities but they are used as a way to support your favorite creators. Nowadays you don’t need to be a massive brand or talented artist to make money online, you simply need to find the method that works for you. Think carefully about the kind of content your website is already producing or, if you don’t already have a website, what you could be creating for the online world?
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