How to Earn Money Online in Five Simple Steps

By: Don James

Finding the right path to earn money online can be a vexing experience especially for those who haven't done it before. There are so many ways to begin that many people typically give up because they get overwhelmed by the number of possible paths and online experts.

If you follow these simple steps to get started, you will find that earning money online does not have to be quite so difficult.

1. Find Your Idea - Your own knowledge and passion is the place to start. Many who attempt to earn money online tend to focus on money for money's sake and not their own interests and passions first. What most online marketing guides do not cover is the core starting point of your online business - your own knowledge and interests.

For example, imagine your real passions are mystery books, coffee, and gardening. Besides that you are an expert at fixing small engines and have a lot of knowledge on that topic. The key is that any of those topics can become a means that can be managed to an income source.

If you love to fix engines then build on small engine repair. If you love gardening then build your online sites around gardening. Always remember that it will be five times easier for you to create and maintain original content to anything that you really care about.

2. Create a Blog - I'm always surprised when people go out and try to create websites by hand and spend literally hundreds of hours learning HTML and paying for hosting centers. Unless you are passionate about page layout and want full control of your page design this is truly a waste of productive time.

Free blogs such as Blogger and Wordpress allow you to pick your site look and focus directly on the content. Some worry that blogs are not well ranked in the search engines. That is not true, however. Some of the highest ranked and traffic heavy sites on the internet are blogs. They provide a huge jump-start to your online business without paying a single penny.

Plus, with the vast number of blogging search engines you can submit your blog articles immediately while you are building out your daily content.

3. Use Ads - Now that you have your idea and site created you now need some means to build income. Ads are one of the best ways to start generating simple income on your site. The concept is easy - you just place ads on your own sites. Each time someone comes to your site and clicks on the ad, you make a small profit, or, a portion of the advertising costs.

Advertisers love this because they can spread their ads across thousands of sites and rely on the ability and creativity of the site owners to get ad clicks back to their products.

Ad profit varies widely based on the popularity and competition for the advertising space. Depending on your site topic this could range from $.05 a click to $1.00 or more a click. Google Adsense is the easiest and best place to start.

4. Find Affiliate Products - Don't forget that many people worldwide share your interests as well. In fact, it is almost certain that someone has written an ebook or created a product that matches your interests exactly. The catch for them is that they need a way to sell their products and services.

This is where you come in. Most online products allow you to sell them on your own sites and keep a portion of the revenue. If your site becomes very popular with a large amount of web traffic you can earn a significant amount of affiliate revenue because people will want to buy the products you recommend.

I know of one man who became a millionaire in only 2 years on this concept alone. He focused on his interest: laptops, and built an online business that gave him both affiliate and advertising revenue. There are many affiliate directories that you can use to find a product that matches your site. Great places to start are Clickbank and Linkshare - both are free to use.

5. Write Articles - If there is one point to take away these steps on how to earn money online, it's this one. Articles are the best means to driving traffic back to your site and increase your profits.

Why is this? People are constantly looking for information on topics that are similar to yours. If they find your article and like it they'll be very likely to go to your own site to get more information.

There are a large number of article directories available today that you can submit to for free. Your articles are simply classified and categorized in the topic areas of interest and then publicized for distribution. Others can use your articles on their own websites which gives you the benefit of having links back to your own site.

This is a very powerful way to promote yourself and your interests. Remember, getting traffic to your site is the only way to earn money from your ads and affiliate products.

Remember to stay focused on your topic of choice - if you stay productive every day you will learn how to earn money online.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Don James is an online marketer and internet strategy consultant. Discover how to earn money online by following one man's path to a million dollars in just 5 years at Internet Millions Wealth - How to Earn Money Online

Four Simple Tips To Internet Millions

By: Don James

Ok, so you have worked very hard over the last year to educate yourself with a multitude of internet marketing products and services. You've watched the online gurus make thousands per day and millions per year.

Like anyone you're probably asking yourself 'how do I get there - what is the path to online success?' Let me tell you if there was an easy answer we would all be millionaires. But, with a little patience and time you can start building your own path to the ultimate dream of working from home and financial freedom.

Four years ago I was just a budding online marketer with little or no experience. Over that time I made plenty of mistakes but have now reached a level where I'm making money online. I've tried to tell many people that you can skip all of my mistakes and jump start your own online presence by using the experiences of those who have already done it.

You just need to persist at getting continual online education including the key lessons I'm providing in this article. As you progress you will begin to realize that all the necessary information for your own education is free - it's just a matter of putting the pieces together.

With that said I'm going to give you 4 simple tips to the foundation of your internet millions empire.

1. Pick What you Love - I've written about this so many times and in so many different ways. I cannot stress how important this idea is. And, frankly, it is the antithesis of the current trends in internet marketing. Why, might you ask? Because people are throwing niche websites left and right on all kinds of topics - mostly targeted at the highest paying keyword phrases.

Let me explore this a bit differently. Let's say your real passions are cars, drinking coffee, and reading non-fiction books on science. Besides that you are an expert real-estate lawyer and have a plethora of knowledge on that subject. Now let's look at some of the highest paying keyword search categories: DUI, Mortgage, Refinancing, Travel, Health, Gambling, Entertainment, Legal Help, etc.

Many budding internet marketers are choosing highly rated keyword phrases to put up niche Adsense sites focusing on these areas as well as others. But, why would you put up a niche site on lazik eye surgery if you love cars, coffee, science and real-estate law? The answer, simply to make money, of course! I'm not saying that making a profit is bad - all I am saying is that doing work only for profits will eventually burn you out.

If you happen to be one of the lucky ones whose interests fit a high paying niche then good for you. But, don't be discouraged! You can typically find something that fits your passions and interests that can be managed to an income source. If you love to collect things then build on your collectables - if you love coffee then build your niche around coffee. Just remember that it will be ten times easier for you to add original content to anything that you really care about.

2. Don't Be Afraid to Market Yourself - This is probably considered the ultimate catch-22. How do you promote and market yourself? Do you have the confidence to say you are an expert in what you are marketing? Many people make this mistake not only online but in real life.

I know of an excellent artist who created amazing works but had no idea how to market himself. He tried to sell his works and started some galleries but seemed to fail over and over. I also know an artist who is not quite as talented but can sell his works like crazy because of who he is and how he has created a persona for himself.

You have to realize that you must create your own brand - your name, your company - whatever it may be. The image you portray is just as important as your works. Every large company knows this as well and spends fortunes promoted brand.

You need to market either your name or company so that people start recognizing who you are and what you represent. In the long run you will be rewarded by reputation rather than just from single efforts.

3. Move Up the Food Chain - I've borrowed this phrase from another online marketer to illustrate the point that many people online are trying to earn money half heartedly or just with content poor Adsense sites. If you really are going to be serious about making a living online then you must create your own product.

Why? The simple answer is numbers - by being an affiliate you only earn the money from your own efforts. But, with your own product you have the power of literally millions of affiliates to sell your product for you. It is the single best way to earn money online today.

4. Be Productive Every Day - How easy it is to say this but how difficult it is to do! The internet can provide a massive amount of information and education for your own development. However, it has a downside as well - you can waste hours of precious time just jumping from one topic to another or reading about the myriad ways to make money online.

If you are going to truly become financially independent online then you must be productive every single day. What does this really mean? It means you have to start taking action daily by providing back-links, articles, blog entries, site updates, search optimization, autoresponder emails, etc.

If you are only reading material from other blog, forum or marketing sites then you are not being productive! You may be educating yourself but you're not taking effort to drive revenue and growth. If you take anything away with you from this article I hope this is the one you remember.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

Don James is an internet developer and online marketer. Discover your path to internet affiliate marketing success with financial freedom at Internet Millions Wealth