Do you know how many websites there are about making money online? According to a google search I did, there’s over 61 Million! But, I ran into a huge problem. I combed through every site on the first 3 pages and they were all dedicated to ways to making money and how to make online money. For example – taking surveys, selling on EBay and Amazon, become a freelance writer, offer paid services and blogging. No sites provided the answer to what is the secret to making money online.
Don’t get me wrong as these are all legitimate ways to make a few dollars, and it is possible to make good money online.
Please do not read any further if you are:
- looking to get rich quick
- have no time or commitment
- no motivation
- no focus
- not willing to learn or work hard
- not serious
The answers lie within yourself. So if are you ready to start making money online, then please read on.
The SECRET is Revealed!
Are you ready for the answer? Drumroll….There is NO secret to making money online!
When I started out years ago, I honestly thought there was but over the years I soon realized that the secret was hard work and dedicating yourself to training and doing whatever you need to do in order to become successful online.
If you want to make money at home you must be committed, motivated, focused, willing to learn and be ready to put in lots of time!
The internet marketing gurus neglect to mention this on purpose but what they do tell you is the results of all your hard work. Have you seen any of the guru sites that claim you can make 10 thousand dollars a month? All they do is play on your emotions and unfortunately a lot of us fall prey to the hype and bogus promises. And you definitely wont’ get rich overnight! I too have fallen victim to these sites, especially in my earlier years.
Now that you know and I hope you understand the truth behind the so called “secret,” you are going to need a proven plan that will help you build a successful online business. I finally figured out exactly what I needed to make money and I actually found the best online site that stands behind their proven methods for building an online business from the ground up. I am now going to share this with you.
The 4 Key Principles of this Plan are:
- Choose a Niche
- Build a Website
- Attract Visitors
- Earn Revenue
Choose a Niche – What are you Talking About?
I knew a little bit about niches and keywords. But the guru sites never ever explained or went into detail! I was frustrated to no end because I needed to learn the whole process.
Ideally you will be choosing something that interests you. What are you passionate about? 
Do you have a favourite hobby? Like hockey, fishing, camping? Maybe you like coffee, fashionable shoes, or growing roses. I am going to call this interest a niche and a niche is a distinct segment of a market, also known as an audience.
A niche is anything you can think of that’s why you get to choose your niche based on your interests. Don’t worry because you can make money online from every single niche because there are billions of people(audience) searching everyday.
Because a niche is just a group of people looking for stuff, you have to avoid being too broad with your niche selection.
It is up to you to make sure you pick your interest wisely as you will be providing information on your site for at least 3 years, if not longer.
In the example below, I will be showing you the steps that I take to find a targeted audience because you have to do your research properly. Your niche name will describe what your website is all about and it allows you to build your own brand. Choosing a niche is a double process as the niche name is going to be the name of your website. In other words your domain name.
For an example, I choose the keywords baby food. This is going to be my niche and I must use the keywords baby food in my domain name. This is the process I follow.
Step 1. I use Google trends because I need to have a basic idea of how many people search this topic because the results will show me if the baby food niche is going to be feasible. Otherwise I will be wasting my time building a website around it.
Here’s the screenshot from Google trends:
Over the last year you can see baby food searches to be very consistent with lots of people actively searching the term.
Step 2. We know people have an interest in baby food but I need to find some search words people are using. I like to use Google instant. When you type your keywords, or search words into the search bar the drop down menu will reveal search terms.
So you can follow me, have a look at the Google instant capture screen below:
I am now able to determine some things that people search for in the baby food niche just by doing this easy search. This search points out the words healthy, homemade, and recipes that I could easily write content and reviews on my website.
Step 3- We now know what people search for and I have to do a further search on some of these keywords. I will be using a keyword tool in order to find out how many monthly searches these keywords are getting. My preferred choice is to use Jaaxy, however, please feel free to use a keyword tool of your own choosing.
See the keyword suggestions that Jaaxy found after I entered a search term from step 2?
As you can see above, I have ticked off 3 good keyword terms that I can use for an awesome domain name because it clearly describes what kind of website I want to build. Homemade healthy baby food is calling to me because I will be able to discuss for example, the pros and cons of homemade compared to store bought, health benefits, recipes, and tips etc.; all within this domain name.
When you follow the above steps to finding your targeted niche keyword, in order to proceed with building a website, you will have to register your niche name. This is going to be the name of your website and this is how potential customers will find you.
I found this whole process to be easy and pretty simple to follow. No need to worry at first as you are going to be slow but after you do the process a few times you will become super speedy!
Speaking of domain names, I am including below a comparison chart of the 4 top domain register’s. You will need a domain name for your website before you can create one. You can see for yourself who has the best offer available. In fact you can check them all out and decide which one is best for you.
Check Out WA Domains Here!
Time To Build A Website!
Don’t be afraid to take this next step because you have nothing to be afraid of. I was super excited to finally find a program that actually tells you straight up all about building websites. Having my own website and doing it myself was something that I was looking forward to because in todays web world in order to “survive” and make money, you must have your own site.
Why Do You Need a Website?
Remember when I mentioned the word branding? All you are doing via your website is making yourself known as an authority in your niche!
1. Online Presence: We know the internet is a great tool for selling and buying products. Being a business owner, no doubt you will be selling through your website and eventually you will reach thousands of potential buyers. You will be making money from these customers .
2. Enhance your Credibility: People always research before they buy any products or services. This is when your website comes into play! It is up to you to provide useful information about your products and yourself. This will be your opportunity to gain trust and confidence from customers who find the help they are looking for in your product.
Increase your credibility by:
- Updating your website content regularly
- Writing product reviews
- Providing a comment section
If your website is informative, updated regularly and well designed this will definitely add to your credibility and strengthen your brand.
3. Lots of people have websites for blogging. You can definitely attract a lot of followers and this will help grow and compliment your online web presence.
What are the Beneficial Aspects of a Quality Website?
Listed below are 5 very important aspects needed for a quality website:
- Load time and speed of your website – Too slow and customers will leave.
- Professional look and design – Nobody will want to visit if you site is poorly designed.
- User friendly – Not difficult or confusing to navigate.
- Quality content – By adding fresh new content regularly you will attract more visitors and customers who will buy from you.
- Uses WordPress – WordPress operates the CMS framework of your site and where your site is stored.
I was wanting to use WordPress for my site as it is the number one CMS framework used by over 26% of web owners world wide. I find it to be fun and at first it took me a few tries to get my problems fixed. Over all it is basically user friendly and easy to use.
I felt it was important to provide useful information on why you need a website and why you need to use WordPress for building your website. I sure wish the guru’s provided this information!
About 10 years ago I got into a making money business where I was provided with an already made website or a “turnkey” site. It took me awhile to open my eyes and figure out that I was not the only person who had this website. Imagine having 500 duplicated sites running through Google!
I was surprised Google did not shut me down for duplicate content. I think what saved me was you could go into the html section and delete the keywords and put your own in. That’s all I changed. I even followed the marketing training and it was absolute garbage.
He was another guru selling a dream to make $30,000/month and he had a sport car and huge mansion and a holiday beach scene all on his promo page. I got sucked into this hyped up dream for $500.00, non refundable.
I got the last laugh on him because he sold his business to another guru and he promptly set up another business. Failure number 3, no thanks, I learnt my lesson and ta da I knew what I was needing to make money online, it was just finding it.
Finally, Onto Building a Website!
Starting your own website is really fast and easy!
Below is the 4 step process I used for creating my own website in less than 5 minutes. Just follow the 4 steps and you are done in no time. You will notice there is a free website box because at WA you can join for free and have access to 2 free websites and 10 lessons. This will give you a chance to try it out and you can stay a free member or join the Premium membership if you decide you want to take your business to the next level. If this is not for you, just simply quit.
Video Below on how to create your website!
At this point, please do not feel I am copping out because I am not. Kyle, co-owner of Wealthy Affiliate, does such an excellent job of going through the website process, there’s no way I can improve on it. Please click the arrow and enjoy this video!
Attract Visitors
Now that you have your website up and running it is time to attract visitors! The name of the game now is to make that money and you need to draw in lots of visitors in hopes that they will become a customer. The more customers for you “Ca- ching”…making money!
I also mentioned you will not get rich quick because all this takes a lot of time and effort to do. Believe me when I say I have spent lots of time building out my site! It doesn’t happen overnight!
Below is a list of Methods used to Attract Visitors
Free Methods: 
- writing relevant content related to your niche
- writing reviews on products similar to your niche- for example, making money niche
- writing and submitting articles
- social sharing a page or post through Google, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, just to name the top social sites
This is basically called SEO (search engine optimization) which I use and is one of the most popular and effective ways to get targeted traffic. You will be using keywords in your content where Google will rank your website.
This method takes a lot of time to learn before you can become efficient and comfortable applying this procedure. With patience and time this can absolutely reward you.
Paid Methods:
- PPC marketing through Bing, Facebook and Yahoo
- Paid traffic
I have to advise you not to use PPC when you are just starting out. I tried this method and I had no clue what to do. I muddled my way through and paid $200.00 to have 4 ads running. This was a complete disaster and I had no paying customers plus I lost my money! Ten years later I figured out what the problem was.
My replicated site did not let me brand myself so I had no trust or credibility. Because I couldn’t use any of the free methods as it was not my own website. Mr. Guru was lining his pockets and no doubt laughing at his customers who did not know they were being scammed! Another lesson learned the hard way!
Earn Revenue
After you gain some traffic(audience), you will now be able to promote products and service’s using affiliate programs, which are free to join. These programs allow you to promote anything you can envision plus you don’t need to own the product or create one yourself. No inventory or shipping too look after.
All you do is send traffic to the company website and in turn, they will pay you a commission when your visitors purchase something.
There’s lots of money to be made as an affiliate because there’s literally millions of products and services available to promote!
Conclusion
Now you know that there is no real secret to making money online at home and you have to beware of how the internet marketing gurus can lead you down the wrong path to success. Simply because they won’t tell you how they got to be successful! This doesn’t mean you can’t be successful at earning a full time income because I have shown you the 4 principal keys that are proven to work. All you have to do is put them to work!
The place that has taught me all about niches, how to build a website, targeting traffic and making money is Wealthy Affiliate. They help all kinds of people from beginners to experienced marketers by teaching you the proper techniques to grow a successful business.
They offer a Free Starter Membership that comes with 2 free websites and 10 lessons. This offer makes it so easy for you to start!
They also provide the option to upgrade where you will have access to further advance your training. You will learn how to take your website to the next level and start making serious money.
I truly hope this post has helped you understand the process to making money online. If you need some help or have questions I would be more than happy to answer them for you by leaving them in the comments below.
Take Care!
~Barb~