Ways to Make Money on the Net

[csn]

Tweet

I have just written the post Ways to Make Money on the Net and asked a questions at the bottom which I think is relevant here:

"Ultimately, I am questioning whether it is really possible for someone to earn their living solely on the Internet, and if so, where does the cash come from and is it a bare minimum sum or an extravagant sum?"

I am keen (and I presume both my readers and A4U readers are too) to find out whether affiliate marketing alone can generate sustainable streams of income and if it can, are these minimal earnings or substantial?

I would also appriciate links to sites which are successful so I can be nosey and relate the earnings to the type and layout of the site(s) in question.

Thank you all in advance.

[Barry]

I can't believe that I am not cleaning toilets anymore and after just five years of hard work, trial and error (ie paid to read email sites and selling ebooks on ebay etc) , and living on the bread line, I now soley sit here all day and make a full time living from designing website around my market research and a keen eye up and coming products and services.

I dont make the millions that many people do on here, however when I go to the pub I know by the time I get back home I have earned more than I have spent in the pub

[krush]

when I go to the pub I know by the time I get back home I have earned more than I have spent in the pub

Never thought about it like that. Awesome

[csn]

I dont make the millions that many people do on here, however when I go to the pub I know by the time I get back home I have earned more than I have spent in the pub

Indeed that is a pearl of wisdom. Must be that Fishguard air or something in the water!

[Barry]

Probably both - however water is short round here unless you go to the sea, thats why there are so many pubs - more than shops infact!

[morleymouse]

"Ultimately, I am questioning whether it is really possible for someone to earn their living solely on the Internet, and if so, where does the cash come from and is it a bare minimum sum or an extravagant sum?"

Extravagent yes stupid amounts really. Easily? No. A lot of hard work goes into building sites, maintaining them, driving traffic and keeping everything going which is why affiliates are valued and paid as much as they are.

Of course this all depends what you call extravagent, but I know a few of our affiliates that wouldnt take a pay cut at the 6 figure salary sir alan sugar offers on the apprentice

[csn]

I know a few of our affiliates that wouldnt take a pay cut at the 6 figure salary sir alan sugar offers on the apprentice

Certainly sounds promising.

I understand that there is no genuine get rich quick schemes on the net and understand that a lot of work has to go into maintaining sites. I am just curious as to whether using affiliate marketing alone, I could earn at least minimum wage (circa £10K per annum)?

Surely, I can only earn serious cash if I start advertising merchants like credit card providers, tour operators, etc. rather than CD and DVD retailers?

[Sinbad]

however when I go to the pub I know by the time I get back home I have earned more than I have spent in the pub

Lightweight!

[ian]

Certainly sounds promising.

I am just curious as to whether using affiliate marketing alone, I could earn at least minimum wage (circa £10K per annum)?

Surely, I can only earn serious cash if I start advertising merchants like credit card providers, tour operators, etc. rather than CD and DVD retailers?

You can easily make £10k a year with a bit of practice or a bit of luck.

[RobH]

Affiliate Marketing follows the general rules of life....The more you put into it the more you will get out of it!

The answer to your question is, yes you can make a full time wage from affiliate marketing and lots of people do.

[morleymouse]

Surely, I can only earn serious cash if I start advertising merchants like credit card providers, tour operators, etc. rather than CD and DVD retailers?

theres serious money to be made in every industry, I buy more CD's a year than I do holidays, and likewise buy more DVD's than credit cards I sign up to

[Stellar]

Surely, I can only earn serious cash if I start advertising merchants like credit card providers, tour operators, etc. rather than CD and DVD retailers?

It is all relative.

Credit card providers, tour operators, broadband providers etc all pay fairly high levels of commission, BUT they are very competitve areas, so your costs of aquiring traffic is very high.

CD, DVD etc will give you less commission per sale, but the cost of traffic is lower. Also the conversion rates are likely to be higher because people buy CD's and DVD's all the time and a lot of people won't think twice about buying online. Where as with credit cards, broadband etc, you are only going to sign up/switch providers once a year at the most and you are likey to do a lot of "window shopping" before you comitt. So you are likely to get a lot more unconverted traffic.

It is the profit margin/return on investment that you need to think about rather than the absolute commission levels.

just curious as to whether using affiliate marketing alone, I could earn at least minimum wage (circa £10K per annum)

I think a lot of this depends on your experiance level, marketing knowledge/budget, coding knowledge/budget and how fast you can work.

If you have, say 3 websites and generate £10k per annum in profits then all you need is another 6 websites generating the same profit levels and you have a £30k income. It is whether you have the knowledge and experiance to maintain 9 sites in your working week.

[axod]

Certainly sounds promising.

I understand that there is no genuine get rich quick schemes on the net and understand that a lot of work has to go into maintaining sites. I am just curious as to whether using affiliate marketing alone, I could earn at least minimum wage (circa £10K per annum)?

Surely, I can only earn serious cash if I start advertising merchants like credit card providers, tour operators, etc. rather than CD and DVD retailers?

If you make an interesting, unique website, you could make £10K on adsense or other contextual PPC advertising easily. Let alone other revenue streams. Pick something you're interested in, and just go for it.

You need to also keep in mind CTR and EPC on things. Sure, I could advertise a credit card, and maybe get £20 per application, or I could advertise a free to enter competition, and get 20 people to enter it at £1 per lead. The competition advert is likely to do better (Unless your traffic is already financial based or something).

Going straight for the big payout adverts is probably a mistake. Just choose something that you're interested in, and that you think you can improve on the competition. It's not about being first with an idea, it's about doing it better than your competition.

[Aceicol]

Hi David

I've visited your Blog quite a few times and enjoy reading it, the reason I first visited it was because you are based in Cardiff the same as myself. What part by the way?

But having just read you latest post on there I agree with many of the things on the last post, but if you are looking for inspiration take a look at http://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/release_000/about.htm , I think the Marketing manager from the company posts on here. The bloke who runs the company is about 23. Unbelievable but proof that anything is quite possible really.

[Alfie]

The scope to make a decent living is definitely there - the scope to make a fortune is also there - its really is about putting in hard work!

The number of people i know who ask me to get them started or give them advice - but then either lose interest or can't be bothered after a few months - is amazing!

In terms of where the most money comes from - its definitely all over! Poker and Casino used to be all i promoted, and i made a nice living from that - at the start of 2006 i started to dabble with Retail, and now make more from Retail than gaming!!

The other great - and profitable - thing about being an affiliate is there are no boundaries to the number of programs / industries you promote - the earning potential is almost limitless!

All the best,

Alf