Editor’s note: This article was first published in September 2010, and reflects the web of that time: the 100,000 monthly visits target for an ad-funded site, the mentions of Google AdSense and pay-per-click, and the example of 150,000 visits a day.
The internet is the future. There’s no longer any doubt about that, and at the same time it will be responsible for the disappearance of many businesses, while giving rise to new companies, new ways of selling, new services and new ways of making money that would not be possible without the global market the internet offers.
For anyone who thinks everything has already been invented, let’s just go back to 1999. Back then we also thought everything had been invented on the internet. Then came social networks, advanced download sites, online film for everyone, and a long list of others. Without a doubt, these businesses were pioneers and became very profitable, to the point that the biggest companies by revenue are companies working in new technologies and the internet.
Now more than ever, it’s much easier to create businesses and make money online. You can do it with what has already been invented or reinvent the wheel as a square one: anything goes if you have a good idea.
How do ordinary people make money online?
Before going any further, I must remind you of something, and even if you hear otherwise, always remember it, because it is the only truth: every internet business, and every variation on making money online, requires time. You will never make money quickly on the internet. It takes very hard, consistent work over a minimum period of time.
So it is essential that you start any internet business while you still have a source of income. Never quit your job to devote yourself to online business until you are sure you are earning more than enough, and on a rising trend.
See also: Trading4u: a business idea for making money selling what other people don’t need
1. Network marketing, affiliate systems and MLM businesses
These businesses already existed before the new technologies, but thanks to the internet they have developed and grown by more than 60%. You will have heard all sorts of things: people who say they’ve become millionaires and people who feel cheated.
In this kind of business, I know people on both sides. I know five people who earn between 200 and 450 euros every month. I know more than 15 people who, after two years, can’t get past 70 euros a month. And I know one case of someone who earned 43,000 euros last month. He invests about 15,000 euros in advertising practically every month, but in the end it pays off. Obviously, this person is a professional internet marketer. We looked at the advantages and disadvantages of multilevel businesses in detail in a previous article.
2. Building a niche website and charging for advertising
This is the most sought-after kind of business, the one that takes the most time, the one that takes longest to become profitable and, without doubt, the one with the highest dropout rate. When you build a website or blog that doesn’t charge its users and prefer to earn money from paid advertising, you need to focus on one goal.
100,000 visits a month. If you don’t have at least that many visits, you don’t have a profitable business, and you won’t earn enough to quit your job. That said, 100,000 visits a month is not impossible; in fact, it’s very possible, but it takes time. Once a site reaches that figure, it can charge advertisers directly or use Google AdSense or other pay-per-click systems.
With this way of making money online, you will need at least a basic knowledge (if not a very advanced one) of SEO techniques and HTML, and of course a topic that people search for a lot. Then again, sometimes some silly thing born of an absurd idea can bring you 150,000 visits a day; in fact, it has already happened.
3. New social networks
Just yesterday we were talking about this: reinventing the wheel. Even though the big players like Facebook or Twitter seem to dominate the whole market, it’s possible to create new social networks for new groups and make money from them, as we discussed in this post on new social networks.
4. Buy-and-sell websites
A great business option for making money online, because in this case you offer a service, which you can combine with both advertising revenue and a registration fee for using your site to do business.
5. Classified ad websites
With good publicity, these sites soon take off and attract visitors, and the best part is that users do all the work themselves, posting their own ads and uploading their own photos. Setting up a network of this kind usually takes a bit more time and money, because it tends to need more complex software.
6. Getting paid to read emails
Every time I see this way of making money online it drives me up the wall, because most of the companies that pay for this rely on deceiving advertisers, who are looking to reach people and future potential customers with their products, not a youngster who earns a commission for pretending to read an email.
See also: Profitable micro-business ideas for students, the unemployed and stay-at-home parents
And another thing: it’s foolish to spend hours and hours reading emails only to earn 3 euros at the end of the day, when you could be making real money from other, cleaner ventures.
7. Online gaming websites
This business is closer to reality, because gambling is in high demand on the internet, and for the site’s creator it’s a thoroughly profitable business in which a great deal of money can be made. Poker, online casinos, online betting, and so on: any site in those three categories can be a lucrative business. The online gambling tycoon Calvin Ayre shows us how.
8. Your idea
I’m sure that before long we’ll hear that some website has invented “X” and earns “x” in revenue. You could be that person. It’s all about an idea that makes an impact on people and spreads by word of mouth.
Then there are more elaborate, carefully thought-out cases, like the young man behind the Million Dollar Homepage, who had a great idea for making money: specifically, 1 million US dollars.
Just remember: the businesses the internet offers are businesses like those in the real world, so they require practically the same as a business in a town or city, with the difference that the investment you make in an internet business is practically minimal and, in some cases, zero.
New ways of making money online keep emerging, because the number of internet users worldwide will keep growing: today the internet is a necessity of everyday life.
Featured image: Nenad Stojković, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
