“Making money online is no longer just a hobby; it is a powerful way to grow a digital business…”
Today’s digital marketplace should no longer be viewed as a simple way to earn extra income. For any and all businesses (including those run by an individual or those with multiple locations across the globe), online income is now identified as an important element that supports economic growth.
However, just because there are many ways in which you can create an online income does not mean that each opportunity has equal value. There are specific methods of generating an online income that provide ongoing returns while others can provide you with a one-time payout that fails to continue generating additional revenues over the long term. In this article, we clear away the confusion surrounding the types of online income opportunities and provide you with actionable steps that you can start implementing immediately, along with the relevant strategies, examples and tips from industry professionals to help you succeed.
1. Identify the Online Revenue Opportunities
To better understand the Online Revenue Opportunities, it is essential to first understand what makes today’s online business models so powerful.
Limitless Digital Reach and Potential
Online business models have more potential than traditional brick-and-mortar businesses because online businesses have:
- 24/7 Access to a Global Audience
- Ability to Fully Automate Sales/Marketing Systems
- Ability to Scale with Significantly Reduced Incremental Costs
According to research conducted in 2018 by eMarketer, worldwide eCommerce sales are expected to exceed $8.1 Trillion by 2026.¹
Building Resiliency through Diversification of Revenue Sources
Unlike traditional brick-and-mortar businesses, online businesses do not need to be reliant on one source of income. Most brick-and-mortar businesses generate a significant amount of revenue based on their location and traffic flow, whereas online businesses can provide additional revenue sources through:
- ECommerce Sales (typically)
- Digital Products (typically)
- Membership Subscriptions (typically)
- Advertising (typically)
- Affiliate Partnerships (typically)
- Services or Consulting (typically)
2.Proven Methods for Making Money Online
Effective and scalable methods of making money online for businesses include the following, along with examples and suggestions.
A. E-commerce (Selling of Goods/Services Online)
E-commerce continues to be one of the simplest ways to earn an income via the internet.
How It Works
E-commerce allows businesses to sell both physical and virtual goods and/or services directly to their customers through the following channels:
- Marketplaces like Amazon and Etsy,
- Social networks like Instagram Shop,
- Your brand’s website (Shopify/WooCommerce and others).
Practical Examples
An owner of a local boutique created an online store using Shopify and then began advertising her business using social media ads targeting fashionistas. Within six months, her online sales increased to $25000.00.
Keys to Success
- Find out what your customers want by researching your competitors’ offerings.
- Optimize your website by improving load times, optimizing mobile viewing, and creating a seamless checkout experience.
- Monitor and analyze all of your advertising activity diligently using analytics such as Google Analytics.
B. Digital Items and Courses
Printable and streaming digital content have recently become a hot topic as they can be delivered to customers through digital downloads or streaming without requiring a physical product to ship.
Digital Product Examples
- Digital Book
- Forms, Templates, and Tools
- Video Tutorial(s)
- Online Course
Case Study — Online Course Revenue
An exercise coach developed a 12-week video-based training system and promoted it via email newsletters and social media platforms. The program generated $50,000 in total revenue for the business in three months and continues to earn ongoing profits through an evergreen sales method that generates revenue for the business.
Reasons for Success
- Profit Margins can be as high as 80%
- Availability to Generate Annual Sales regardless of Season
- Customers Will Purchase More than Once through Continuing Upsell/Bundling
C. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate Marketing allows individuals and companies to earn a commission by marketing another company’s products.
Here’s How It Works
When you market another company’s product using a unique link assigned to you by that business, you’re able to earn a percentage of every sale made through your unique link.
Example
Tech bloggers can promote different laptop brands and receive 4% to 8% commission from each of their Amazon Associate affiliates sales. By producing and optimally ranking the content that improves affiliate sales through consistent SEO, the tech blogger may produce earnings of at least $5,000 monthly.
Suggestions to Consider
- Choose affiliate products that your audience finds useful
- Share your affiliate relationship with readers
- Monitor and analyze your affiliate marketing campaigns to discover which will earn the greatest commission
D. Memberships, Subscriptions and Recurring Revenue, Creating Recurring Revenue
Recurring subscriptions generate consistent revenue streams for every business, no matter its size.
Examples of Recurring Revenue Streams
- Premium newsletter subscriptions
- VIP community memberships
- Exclusive content subscriptions
The Impact of Recurring / Subscription Revenue
Recurring Revenue Transforms Businesses; Creates Stability in Cash Flow & Strengthens Relationships with Customers
“With recurring revenue, businesses experience increased predictability, better cash flow and stronger long-term relationships with their customers.” Lisa Meng, Marketing Strategist & Founder of Digital Growth Labs
Real-World Example(s) of Membership & Subscription Revenue
A Niche Newsletter grew from 500 free to 2,500 paying members in just six months, generating a recurring monthly revenue of $12,500.
E. Services & Consulting: Online
Digital service delivery is a viable opportunity to monetize your professional services.
What Types of Services Work as Digital Service Offerings
- Virtual consultation services
- Professional coaching & development services
- Virtual Freelance Services
Example of a Real World Graphic Designer:
A Graphic Designer leveraged LinkedIn to find his clients and delivered remotely; due to creating scalable pricing tiers of the packages offered, he was able to increase revenue from $1,500/month to $15,000/month.
3.The Most Important Tools & Technologies For Online Success
In order to effectively use the strategies mentioned above, businesses will need a combination of fundamental tools to support their efforts, including the following:
ECommerce & Sales Platforms
- Shopify – An all-in-one online store creation platform.
- WooCommerce – A flexible plugin for WordPress sites to set up an online store.
Content Delivery & Digital Products
- Teachable/Kajabi – Course creation and hosting platforms.
- Gumroad – An online marketplace for digital products.
Marketing and Customer Engagement
- Mailchimp/MailerLite – Email automation platforms.
- Google Analytics – Provides performance analytics for websites.
- Facebook and TikTok advertisements – Paid advertising opportunities.
4.Common Issues and How to Solve Them
Even with a high potential to make money, online businesses can face challenges. Below are three of those common issues and suggestions for ways to resolve them:
Issue 1: How To Get Visitors To Your Site
Suggestion:
Create a multi-channel strategy for driving traffic to your website (SEO, social media marketing, paid advertisements, and email marketing). By using multiple methods to drive traffic to your site, you won’t be entirely dependent on one source.
Issue 2: How To Increase Website Conversion Rates
Suggestion:
Use an A/B testing tool (i.e., Optimizely) to continually find ways to increase conversion rates on landing pages and the checkout process. Minor adjustments can have a major impact on the amount of revenue your business generates.
Issue 3: How to Keep Customers
Suggestion:
Keep customers engaged with your business through regular newsletters, providing valuable content, offering loyalty programs, and sending personalized offers.
5.Tips on How to Make Money Online from Experts in their fields.
Here are some ideas from some people with plenty of experience in these fields.
Sarah Lin, E-Commerce Consultant:
“First and foremost, make sure that your customer has a great experience. This means providing fast shipping, clear product descriptions, answering all their questions promptly, etc. When customers are happy with their experience, they tend to be your best marketing channel.”
Marcus Rivera, CEO of GrowthLab Marketing:
“Focus on building your email list from day one. Paid traffic can certainly help accelerate the process, but having your own audience gives you the ability to control your own income.”
6. You Can Be Making Money with an Actionable Plan Now!
You can create an online income today by following these simple steps to turn your ideas into an actual income stream.
Step One: Clarify Your Offer
Determine the product(s), service(s), course(s), or subscription(s) that you will be selling.
Quick Tip: Pick a topic that you are already knowledgeable about or are extremely passionate about.
Step Two: Determine Who Your Target Customer Is
Surveying, keyword research and/or social listening will help you identify who your customer is and what they want from you.
Step Three: Choose the Right Platform To Sell Your Product, Service or Course
Below is a summary of some of the platforms where you can sell your products/services/courses.
- Products (selling and delivering): Shopify or Etsy.
- Courses (selling and delivering): Teachable or Kajabi.
- Services (selling and delivering): LinkedIn or Upwork.
- Affiliate Marketing (building your audience to sell): In other words, creating content on something like a blog or YouTube Channel.
Step Four: Build Your Brand Online
You will create your website and/or landing page so that you can communicate clearly what you offer and what your Value Proposition is.
Step Five: Bring in Your Target Customer
You will generate the targeted traffic you need to generate an online income by utilizing the following strategies:
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO):
- SEO optimized blog posts
- Social media content & ads
- Email marketing campaigns
This is the conclusion of the document — your digital revenue journey starts. But making money online isn’t some magical concept; there are proven ways to do it. Whether you’re selling a physical product, providing digital content, consulting or selling affiliate links, all digital businesses need to follow the same basic principles, which consist of:
- understand your target market
- use scalable methods
- measure your results
- continually optimise
Digital companies succeed by viewing their digital revenue channels as living systems, which continue to evolve alongside consumer expectations and market developments.
Your Next Steps
- Choose one of the strategies mentioned above and implement it in the next week.
- Create your first sales funnel or digital offering.
- Keep track of the results of your sales funnel and make changes based on that information.
The online economy promotes experimentation and perseverance. If you take action now, you can build a successful digital business that generates high levels of revenue.
