During some unprecedented economic conditions and the continued rise of inflation, more and more people are looking for ways to make money online for beginners and add additional income to their households each month.
Combine this with extra spending during the holiday season, and it can quickly become imperative to find another income source. While working longer hours, taking advantage of overtime opportunities and getting a second job are reliable alternatives, many people don’t have the time or ability to work much more than they already are. They are looking for options to make money online from home.
If you search ways to make money online, you will see almost immediately, passive income ideas. The term has been thrown around as long as I can remember, and honestly, most people truly do not understand what a passive income really means. It is definitely more than making money in your sleep.
Passive income is defined as income requiring little or no effort to maintain. It generally requires upfront work of building assets and those assets continue to provide you with an income stream.
Building assets is the key to building passive income.
Off line it is money earned from investing in assets. It usually requires an initial investment and can include dividend stocks, real estate investment trusts, renting out a spare room or leasing, interest, capital gains, peer lending, mutual funds, and royalties.
Online, you can build assets through creation. Building websites, email lists, courses, free resources, digital products, content or anything providing a source of income.
While we all would love to make money while we sleep and with the proper systems and strategies in place, passive income can become a reality for you.
Just understand, passive income streams do not happen overnight.
3 Online Income Ideas for 2023
While there are many options to grow your income, I want to share three of my favorite ideas to make money online in 2023.
Virtual Assistant
First one is, become a virtual assistant. After the years of the pandemic, this has become more of an option. Many companies realized they could cut overhead by “contracting” work outside of their companies. It freed up the need to provide health and retirement benefits and the need for a brick and mortar office.
I became a virtual assistant for a real estate escrow company in 2022, and it is a win-win for the company and me. While I was blessed to obtain this VA position through prior connections and relationships, not everyone has the same benefit.
Luckily, there are websites where you can search for virtual assistant positions. If you are looking for virtual assistant opportunities, check out the following three websites.
Indeed: While Indeed is primarily focused on traditional in-office roles, it’s posting more and more remote and virtual roles every day. Just make sure to include remote or virtual related keywords in your search.
VAnetworking: (MY FAVORITE) This website is the one-stop shop for virtual assistants, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced VA. With tons of free resources and education, it’s the perfect place to learn the ins and outs of virtual assisting, networking with employers and other VAs, and finding work.
Ziprecruiter: ZipRecruiter has become a powerful tool for employers in the past few years. Their matching technology makes it easy for employers to quickly find candidates who best match their criteria. There are dozens of virtual assistant jobs on the site every day, so you’ll find tons of options.
According to The Insight Partners website, “The global intelligent virtual assistant market size is expected to grow from USD 7.01 Billion in 2021 to USD 47.57 Billion, by 2028. As you can see, this is a growing area to provide online income.
FREELANCE WRITER
If you enjoy writing or content creation, freelance writing may be an option for you to pursue. Freelance writers can make anywhere from $20-$65 per hour.
Types of jobs available as a freelance writer:
- General Content: websites need content and a lot of it! Write for some of the biggest brands and fill their help sections, landing pages and provide proofreading/editing services.
- Blogging: Write interesting blogs for brands all over the country. Blog about the topics which interest you the most.
- Copywriting: in order for companies to compete, they need to have top-notch sales copy. We train!
- Social media posts: Help brands fill their social media accounts and connect directly
Sites to Help You find Freelance Writing Jobs:
Textbroker: Textbroker claims to have around 100k assignments per month. After completing the free sign-up, you submit a work sample that gets rated. Then jump onto a first-come, first-served open order to start writing.
Writerswork: Writers Work connects anyone interested in writing, with companies in desperate need of freelance writers. We have thousands of writing jobs available and all of the training, tools, and support you need to land the best writing jobs. Start a career as a freelance writer today, set your own hours…and work from home.
Smart Blogger Jobs Board: Launched in late 2022, the Smart Blogger Jobs Board is the go-to destination for writers, bloggers, content marketers, copywriters, etc. looking for part-time, full-time, and freelance jobs.
In addition to filters to help you find just the right job, Smart Blogger offers a catalog of in-depth training material to help you level up your game.
Best of all? It’s 100% free.
No fees or sign-up required in order to view and apply for jobs that interest you.
AFFILIATE MARKETING
Affiliate marketing is a process where publishers earn a commission by promoting a product or service made by another retailer or advertiser using an affiliate link. The affiliate partner is rewarded a payout for providing a specific result to the retailer or advertiser.
Statista estimates the affiliate marketing industry will be worth $8.2 billion by 2023, up from $5.4 billion in 2017. It’s also a low- to no-cost online business venture you can profit from immensely.
Types of Affiliate Marketing:
Low Ticket: With low ticket affiliate marketing, the sale and commission are typically on the lower side, less than $500. Obviously, it takes more of these sales to hit your income goal. Examples of low ticket products are: beauty products, Amazon products, Walmart products, and etc.
High Ticket: With high ticket affiliate marketing, the sale and commissions are typically $500 and above. The pro to a high ticket product is, you need fewer sales each month to hit your income goals.
My strategy involves both high ticket and low ticket products. To truly serve your ideal client, you need to solve all the problems they may have. Some solutions pay more than others.
Websites to Access Affiliate Products
There are websites that you can access affiliate products at. Some popular websites are:
Shareasale: This site provides an opportunity for content creators, influencers, website owners and technology partners to build profitable partnerships with their portfolio of brands across multiple sectors.
Clickbank: This site provides opportunities for you to promote low ticket products from all niches. It is free to sign up to become an affiliate, and it allows you to pick and choose which products you would like to promote.
Company websites: Most companies and websites offer an opportunity for you to sign up to promote their products. Companies like Amazon, WalMart, Shopify, Etsy all have affiliate programs. Check the company’s website for an affiliate program. Usually you will find the link for the affiliate program at the bottom of the home page.
Tips to Make Money Online for Beginners
The biggest tip I can offer to anyone looking for an opportunity to make money online is to find an online opportunity you enjoy. Not only do you need to enjoy it, but it also needs to provide the opportunity to earn money. As I was researching for this post, I came across an opportunity that paid $5-$7 per task. Is that amount of pay worth the time it takes to accomplish the task at hand? Be very aware of the hours spent versus the amount earned.
The second tip is to learn the proper skill sets needed to grow your income. To be successful online, you have to acquire or improve your sales skills, marketing skills, social media skills, and communication skills. Be very leery of opportunities that imply no skills are ever needed to make money. Don’t fall victim to the TikToks that states to sign up to promote a product, go find a picture with the link and wait for the cash to flow in.
Sorry to burst your bubble, that is not how affiliate marketing works.
Third tip is to create a daily method of operations that works for you and your schedule. Every one has different life circumstances and responsibilities, and a one size fits all schedule isn’t going to work.
Consistency is the key to building sustainable and consistent income online. You have to identify the proper income producing activities and do them daily. If you are not putting offers out for your ideal clients to buy, then it’s going to be hard to make money.
Fourth tip is to build connections. We all have been created for connections, and working online can become very lonely. No one ever made money alone. You have to have at least two people for money to be made. When you think of it in those simple terms, you realize just how important relationships and connections are.
People buy and do business with people they know, like and trust. Be sure to always be connecting.
My final tip is to have patience. This may be the hardest one for me personally. Being online you can see a lot of fluff. You will see people posing about making money in their first week, let go of those expectations. While there are always outliers, that is not the norm.
Having those unrealistic expectations will lead to frustration and burn out. This is a simple business model, but it is not always the easiest model. Understand the difference between simple and easy.
Most Common Mistakes Made in Starting an Online Business
I will close by sharing with you some of the most common mistakes that I have seen and even experienced with building an online business.
Waiting to get started: Too many times you will want to wait until everything is just perfect or you feel you know enough. Friend, you may never feel completely ready to start the business.
I feel like starting a business is a lot like planning to start a family. Do you ever feel prepared and ready to become a parent for the first time? I know I didn’t…
You just have to learn and adapt as you go.
Spreading yourself too thin: Your eagerness may lead to burn out really quickly. Every time you get online, you will see this strategy is making millions and that strategy is making millions, and the fear of missing out, will convince you that you need to be doing every strategy.
Find one strategy on one platform and stick with it until you see results.
Consistency is the key. I truly believe you can make money on any platform whether it is Facebook , Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Twitter or blogging. You just have to be consistent long enough to build momentum.
This can be so hard for us as we are accustomed to the Amazon Prime world. Results in two days.
Expecting quick money: Money will come if you are consistent, learn and adapt as needed. The expectation of the money overnight is simply setting yourself up for failure.
Learn to measure growth with other metrics besides money.
Not clearly identifying your ideal client: If you are selling a cat product and your audience is made up of dog owners, your product isn’t going to sell. It is imperative to know who you are selling. You need to identify who you want to sell. I think that is a more important question to explore.
Offering a product or service for a nonexistent problem: Sales are based on your product or service providing a solution to your ideal client. If your product or service doesn’t provide a solution to a problem your ideal client has, then you may struggle to see success online. Market research is key in understanding what your ideal client’s problems are.
Connect with me on Instagram and Pinterest. Leave any questions you may have in the comments.
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