Genuine ways to make money online
There are a lot of genuine ways to make money online if you have the right information.
It can be very overwhelming to get started making money online. Especially if the information you are reading is not broken down into a simple way to understand. It is very easy to get confused by lots of information available on the internet.
Table of Contents
Before you start
Before I give you my list of genuine ways to make money online. Let me give you some important things you need to understand before you start any online money-making business.
Time
It is very important to know that any way you choose to make money online will take time. This is especially true if you are completely new to online business. Nothing will happen by magic. The time factor is the most important mindset shift required to make any online money-making venture work.
We are now living in a time in history whereby people expect things to happen very quickly. But the reality is that to get any tangible result, it will take time. It won’t happen overnight.
We often underestimate how long a project will take. Impatience now rules our mind and it is a bad thing. There is no such thing as making easy or free money online. A lot of time will need to be devoted.
When you see people that have made money online, if they are honest they will tell you it isn’t easy. They will tell you about the countless hours spent in developing a product or service before they were able to earn any money through their online business.
Education
I am sure you must be wondering why I am talking about education. I am not talking about a university degree. A college degree is not required to start an online business.
However, you need to educate yourself about any online business you choose for you to get any result.
Thanks to the internet, it is very easy to teach yourself a lot of things. There is a wealth of information on the internet about various subjects.
When you identify the type of online business you want to do, look for helpful information online. Then immerse yourself in learning.
As long as you have an internet connection, most of the information online is free.
Alternatively, you can pay for a course someone else put together. The coaching or mentoring option could also help you get results faster. Having a coach or mentor does not guarantee results without hard work, it only makes the journey easier for you.
I must say that you have to be careful not to fall into the hands of dubious people. It is easy to do this in an attempt to buy a course or seek a coach or mentor.
Consistency
If there is one thing that will help you to succeed, it is consistency in efforts.
Anyone who cannot put in consistent work will not make tangible money online. You have to stay engaged and avoid distractions.
If it was easy to make money online, everyone will be doing it. Many people start the journey, fail to be consistent and end up quitting.
Consistency means that you are committed to sustained effort in other to achieve your goal of making money online.
Something that has helped me personally in my online side hustle is scheduling. I use calendar blocking to schedule my work. This helps me know exactly what I need to do each day of the week to help move my business forward.
I consistently wake up early to get work done. Small consistent effort every day can help you to achieve a big result over a period of time.
Genuine online businesses
1. Sell physical products
One of the best ways to earn money online is to sell a physical product. The risk of starting a business selling physical product has been reduced to almost zero because of the internet. You can start making money online by selling physical products.
These are the best platforms where you can sell physical products
I have written a number of articles about how to start selling on Amazon. Check the list of my selling on Amazon articles below.
- How to Start Selling Books on Amazon
- How to find product to sell on Amazon
- How to build a brand on Amazon
- Amazon FBA for beginners – How does it work
If you have an idea of a very niche unique product. You can set up your own Shopify eCommerce store where you can sell the products to customers.
The common rule is that your products need to solve specific problems. And it is important that the product is not easily available in usual brick and mortar shops on the high street.
By this, you have more chance of customers coming to buy it online.
One of the other ways to make money online is to start a dropshipping business. The good thing about dropshipping is that you are not going to hold any stock. Its simply selling other peoples products.
2. Sell digital products
Another genuine way to make money online is to sell digital products. There are a variety of digital products you can sell online.
The most obvious digital product is an ebook. There are other digital products that you can sell online.
You can create a template that someone might find useful and will be happy to pay you for it. On marketplaces like Etsy, you can upload a template you have created and make it available for sale.
The screenshot below is from Etsy which shows some budgeting planner template that are available for sale.
You can research on a subject you can create a template for and start making money online when people buy.
3. Sell courses
Making money online is not about clicking a few buttons and money starts rolling into your bank account.
If you have knowledge about a topic than the majority of people don’t know. There is a chance that someone will be ready to pay you for what you know.
On websites like Udemy, you can create educational videos on a subject you know a lot about. Is it easy to create a course? No, it is not, it takes hard work and time.
Your courses can also be hosted on websites like Thinkific or Teachable. The amazing thing about courses is that it will be available for people from all over the world which provide limitless opportunity to earn money.
If you can put in the work, you can create a course, make it available online and start earning money genuinely online.
4. Freelancing/ Virtual Assistant
The internet provides opportunities for ordinary everyday people who have niche knowledge. They can make themself available for people all over the world.
You can serve people all over the world with your knowledge. Platforms like People Per Hour, Fiverr and UpWork make it easy for you to offer valuable services to entrepreneurs and business people.
As a freelance or virtual assistant, people all over the world can seek your service and you can get paid.
I have paid people for various services like article editing, logo design, website error fixing. The list goes on and on. If you have any special skill, you can genuinely earn money for your skills online.
Final Thought
Making money online requires a lot of grinds and hard work. Anyone ready to learn and put in the work can genuinely earn money online.
I wrote a very detailed article on 101 Side Hustle Ideas. The list contains both online and offline side hustle ideas. If you are only interested in earning money online, just pick from some of the online related side hustles. The link is below
