The Pros And Cons Of The Most Popular Systems And Methods To Make Money Online (From Someone Who’s Been There, Done That)
The Pros And Cons Of The Most Popular Systems And Methods To Make Money Online (From Someone Who’s Been There, Done That)
This is a guest post. I liked it so much I decided to share with my blog readers -Zack
As I’m sure you’re aware, there’s hundreds of ways to make money online. Maybe thousands. Over the years, while learning how to become a successful internet marketer, I tested just about all of them.
If you are brand spanking new to this industry and you’re searching for a proven way to get started (that actually works), read this guide carefully. The truth is, not every method out there works (or at least not as well as you think).
By the way, if you have personal experience with any of the methods listed below, I highly encourage you to share your experiences. Let us know what worked for you and what didn’t, and also the pros and cons of each method in your opinion.
Now, here are the methods I’ve tested over the years that have produced the best results:
*Ebay arbitrage*. The basic idea is simple. You buy poorly listed auctions on Ebay (poor title or description, no photos or bad quality photos, the seller has no feedback or bad feedback, etc) and you re-list them properly (with good quality photos, detailed descriptions and so on).
Often, you’re able to win poorly listed auctions for pennies on the dollar, since most people tend to avoid these auctions like the plague. Occasionally, you do get ripped off (some of these items are poorly listed for a reason), but the overall profit is more than worth it.
This is the very first method I had decent success with. If you put your mind to it, there’s no reason you can’t make at least $1000 or $2000 profit a week.
*Pros*
This method is very profitable. I used to buy and sell mobile phones. I got so good at one point that I was able to buy and sell decently listed auctions and still make good margins.
It’s cheap to get started. $20 is enough to buy and sell your first auction, and then all you have to do is invest the money you make to grow your business. And the sky is the limit.
It’s very easy and fun. At the time I was looking for the quickest and easiest way to start making real money online. Without a doubt this was it. All you had to do was buy and sell auctions all day long, and as far as I was concerned it wasn’t even really work.
*Cons*
It was VERY addictive. Once I started banking some decent profits, it became difficult to tear myself away from the computer. It was almost like a drug. Each time a new sale rolled in, I wanted to do it again. It was nice to be successful for a change, but it’s important to find a work life balance.
There were a lot of setbacks. Buying dud auctions, refunding unhappy customers and dealing with tire kickers all took their toll on morality and margins.
It became more and more competitive. I live in a small country, and it wasn’t long before people figured out what I was doing and started copying me. Sometimes people copied my exact auction description which was frustrating, as I was using several sneaky tricks to get them to stand out (which worked).
It was hard to scale. The money’s decent, but you’re still limited by how many auctions you can buy and sell. And there’s only so many hours in each day. Unfortunately, this is not an automated business.
*Search Engine Optimization (SEO)*. This involves getting your website to the top of Google for valuable keywords. There are a lot of ways to monetize organic search engine traffic, but the most profitable is marketing information products to highly targeted traffic. You can either market your own products or affiliate offers, it’s up to you.
This is, without a doubt, one of the best ways to earn passive income online. Once your site is set up and ranked you literally don’t have to do anything. The traffic comes in, day in and day out; the sales pour in, day in and day out; and all you do is sit back and collect the cheques.
*Pros*
It’s 100% passive. As I mentioned, once your site is established and ranked, there’s no physical work involved. You just sit back and watch the money roll in. The first website I created (over four years ago now) is still #1 in Google even though I haven’t changed or done anything.
It’s affordable and doable for the average person. All you really need is a hosting account, a domain name, some articles (which you can write yourself or outsource) and maybe $300 to get enough links to get ranked. And once your site is established, you can earn that back many times over.
*Cons*
If they want to, Google can wipe you out overnight. Everyone’s heard of the infamous “Google updates”. And while some websites actually do better afterwards, others aren’t so lucky. And if Google takes a particular dislike to what you’re doing, they can pull the plug on your rank (and your income) overnight.
It’s competitive. When you know what you’re doing, I personally believe it’s easy to get ranked for just about any keyword you want. But there’s always new competitors coming along that can make your job tougher. But if you’re persistent and determined, you can beat them.
*Selling your own information products* *online*. This is without a doubt my favorite method, and the only one that’s given me solid, consistent success from day one. The idea is simple. You either create a “how to” product or a membership site (my personal favorite) that teaches people how to improve their quality of life, either by forming better relationships, improving their health or increasing their personal incomes.
The truth is, EVERYONE wants to look better, feel better, improve their relationships and make more money. And if you can convince people that you can help them achieve these goals, you can do very well online.
*Pros*
You can completely automate your business (and income). Once you have a proven, tested and optimized sales funnel, an established network of affiliates and joint venture partners, and you’ve systemized and streamlined your business, it’s possible to earn 100% passive income.
The sky is the limit. Depending on the niche you’re in, it’s generally easy to scale your business, and there are now more traffic sources than ever before. Remember, you own the product, and everyone in the world is a potential customer.
The profits margins are incredible. All you need to get started is a hosting account, a domain name and a payment processor like ClickBank. Generally speaking, the raw margins can be above 99% once you scale your business.
*Cons*
It takes hard work to get started. Unless you license someone else’s product, you’ll need to create your own. That can take a lot of time, energy and determination. But in the end the results are more than worth it.
It can be difficult to make a name for yourself. The internet is becoming more and more competitive, and there are a lot of marketers out there trying to establish themselves. Luckily, if your product is different, unique and interesting (like The Million Dollar Case Study), it makes your job A LOT easier.
Paying for traffic is expensive, intense and can be difficult to master. At some point, the key to scaling your business is paying for quality traffic. As you probably know, this method can have a very big learning curve, and many people give up before becoming successful. But again, if you hang in there, the rewards are worth it.
So there you have it, the pros and cons of the most popular money making methods out there in a nutshell. If you’re just getting started online, I personally recommend to sell information products. Again, this is the method that’s given me the best success, and while it does take time and energy to build your business, ultimately, the dividends are worth it.
*** Thanks Marcus Maclean for this informative blog post ***
