If you want to make money online, there are three things you need.
First thing you need to do is to believe.
Even when I was a waitress and worked 12 hours a day, I knew that one day, I’ll have my own business.
My initial attempt to earn money online was when I launched an Etsy shop.
This is me on my first year selling jewelry online.
I graduated with a BA in economics and management, and started working as a digital campaign manager at a leading advertising company. I was surprised when I found out that brands pay tons of money on sponsored articles (I was so naive back then thinking that journalists recommend products and services only because they think are really great lol).
But something about making money online caught my attention. I was curious about the ways people make money online. I was amazed when I heard that there where bloggers who make $100k+ a month and I wanted to learn how to do it myself!
So I decided to start my first blog. The only method I was familiar with for earning money from a website was selling sponsored articles, and that’s precisely what I did; I sold sponsored articles to small business owners. But after a few months I realized that I had to find an easier way to monetize my blog.
I read that you can drive lots of traffic though Pinterest and make money from displaying ads… so I started another blog, but this time focused on Pinterest.
Five months later, I earned $1,630 from displaying ads with Mediavine. Here is a screenshot from my Mediavine dashboard:
In August 2023, I achieved a new record as the site generated $8,038 from displaying ads and affiliate marketing fees. You can ready the full income repost here. Here are the screenshots:
Amazon affiliates monthly revenue August 2023
As easy as it might sound, I worked VERY hard to get to this point and tried so many things along the way that eventually turned out as things I would never do today … things like …
Starting a mom blog!
This is how my website used to look… horrible design I know!
Then I realized that as much as I love my kids and love being a mom, I’m a career driven person, and there are other things I want to write about which are just not so related to the mom niche.
Other things I tried were…
- Published my own Pinterest e-book on how to generate traffic… right before Pinterest changed their algorithm and my traffic dropped to ZERO! Fortunately, it rebounded a month and a half later, but it led me to set my e-book aside.
- Spent so many hours on growing my Instagram and TikTok accounts when there was literally a better way to make money online!
- Started more and more websites instead of focusing on one and make it huge.
- Starting another Etsy shop to sell Instagram stickers and highlight covers.
Do You Get My Point Here?
This leads me to the second thing you need to do to make money online which is to FOCUS FOCUS, AND FOCUS!
All this time, I’ve attempted to make money online through various methods. I’m not complaining because I’ve learned so many valuable lessons from each thing I did, but my lack of focus extended the time it took to reach my revenue goals.
When you start, everything looks like a great opportunity to earn money. But don’t let it confuse you.
This is also the reason why most people do not succeed. They may have a gazillion of really great ideas, but they are not focused and therefore can’t really be consistent and succeed.
There is a great quote that I really like; “Successful people make their decisions quickly and change their minds slowly. Failures make their decisions slowly and change their minds quickly.”
People tend to change their minds frequently and not stick to one idea. When you start a business, you realize that running it entails more than just doing what you love and are good at. You also need to build your own website, handle sales, engage in marketing, and much more! This can be overwhelming, especially when you’re just starting out.
If you’re aiming to make money as quickly as possible, you still need to focus. Choose the most profitable plan and commit to it. Give it at least three months or set a specific time period to fully optimize its potential.
The third thing you need to do to make money online is to learn how to scale your business.
Once you managed to find that one thing that works for you and you earn money, now is the time to scale it. Stop doing the dirty work and become a leader. Build your dream team – show them your vision and teach them your standards. This will allow you to take a step back and see the bigger picture. Set goals for the years ahead and craft a winning strategy that will take your business to the next level. Focus on concepts over details.
Where To Start?
First sign up to my 7-days free email course to learn how I earned over $11k/mo blogging. In this course, I share the exact steps you need to take to quickly set up your blog and start making money online.
Because when you start your business for the first time, it looks like there are trillion things that needs to be done. You might also have a few great ideas that you think can probably make you a lot of money. A good plan (like the one I share in my free email course) can help you start making money faster and quickly learn what it takes to make money from your blog.
You need to:
- Pick one promising business concept with a strong revenue potential.
- Find your avatar – who is your top client, what are his/her needs, passions, interests, demographics, and how you are going to help them.
- Set goals and deadlines – quarterly and yearly.
- Focus and do it consistently for at least 3 months until you start getting results.
- Start with one social media platform (where your avatar is) and focus on it – create quality content to attract your avatar.
- Optimize, scale your business, and build your dream team.
What Are The Best Ways To Make Money Online?
There are many ways to make money online. Here is the list of the tops ways online entrepreneurs make money:
- Start a blog and make money from displaying ads, or sponsored content
- Affiliate marketing
- Start an online shop and sell your products – physical or digital
- Create your own course
- Become a freelancer – content writer, graphic designer, VA, video editor, and more.
- Become an influencer
- Sell on Etsy or other marketplace
- Sell products through Amazon Merch on Demand, Printify, or Printful
- Start a YouTube channel
How-To Guides That Will Help You Get Started
I have been making money online for over 10 years now. From selling on Etsy, blogging, and promoting affiliate links, to starting my own online shop and selling digital products. Check out these helpful how to guides that will help you get started faster:
- Tips to find the best name for your business using Shopify’s name generator
- A step-by-step guide to starting a store on Shopify
- A step-by-step guide to starting an Etsy shop
- SEO guide that every online entrepreneur must read to boost traffic and sales
- How to start a blog and make money
- How to generate traffic from Pinterest
- How to promote on YouTube
- My favorite tools and services
What Is The Best Platform For Setting Up a Shop?
I started my first shop on Etsy. Etsy is great for crafters and vintage product sellers. But Etsy is a marketplace and if you want to start your own online store, Shopify is the best option on the market today. It’s really simple to use and it’s good for small and large retailers. What I really like about Shopify is that you don’t need to know how to code to start your own shop, you can add any feature easily and have a professional all-in-one online shop in just a few simple steps. Here is a detailed guide on how to set up a Shopify store.
For people with more technical skills, there is another option which is starting a WooCommerce shop on WordPress. Its huge benefit is that you can avoid paying monthly fees but sometimes it can be a headache because you’re your own tech support. And believe me, I had to hire web developers a few times, which made it cost even more than setting up a Shopify store and paying their monthly fees.
Therefore, I would recommend starting a Shopify store, don’t think twice.
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