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For many of you, it has been difficult to hold down a job while dealing with autoimmune illness. Many of you have lost jobs, had to quit, or had to cut your hours because your illness makes it hard to work. It's frustrating, disappointing, and depressing.
You want a job, but you can't physically, emotionally, or mentally handle it. Starting an online business sounds great, but it seems so overwhelming. You just want to make money to pay the bills and keep your head above water while taking care of your health. I have been there, so I know what it's like.
When I was laid off many years ago, I was very ill because the stress from work had exacerbated my autoimmune disease. I needed time to rest and recover, but I also needed a paycheck. I sent out hundreds of resumes. I figured it wouldn't be long before I'd be interviewing and the offers would come rolling in. I had a Computer Science degree and I'd worked at some prestigious companies doing some pretty cool things. There was an employer out there that needed me and wanted an employee with my skill set. Right? Wrong. I went 20 long months, unemployed, with only 2 phone interviews.
While I was unemployed I got to thinking… If someone wouldn't offer me a job, why not make one for myself? I could do that by starting an online business! There are people making money online every day. Why shouldn't I be one of them? I put all my effort into researching the best ways to make money online and set to work building my online business.
Anyone Can Make Money Online By Starting An Online Business
Let me state for the record that making money online (the ethical and legal way) is not easy. It will require work, commitment, and consistency. If you are serious about starting an online business, read on. If you're looking for a way to “get rich quick” or “beat the system” or make money without working for it, then this website probably isn't for you. In addition, you need to keep a plan B in your back pocket.
Successfully making money online won't happen overnight and until it does, you need to keep your current job or, if unemployed, keep looking for a job. The good news is, an online business is something you can build part-time as you work your Plan B.
If you can communicate, search Google, compose an email, tweet, and post to Facebook, you can earn a living online. And don't worry, if you can't do all of those things, but you can do one or two of them, you can still make money online. You can learn the other skills. All the information you need to succeed is available to you online. All you need to do is have a willingness to learn and the determination to succeed.
Plan It
I know, you're probably thinking, JUST GET TO THE BEST WAYS TO MAKE MONEY ONLINE ALREADY. Ok, ok, I hear you. First thing's first, choose something you love. Sure, the dieting industry is huge and you can make a ton of money at it, but do you really want to write about dieting? Ok, maybe you do, and if you do, that's great. But most of us don't like to diet. We'd rather talk about our hobbies or our favorite movies and television or a cause we're incredibly passionate about.
Pick something you love that has income potential and you will have a much easier time building your business around it. Believe me, I've tried to blog about and sell products I'd get huge commissions on, but I just wasn't interested in them. It didn't last. My best successes and best earnings have come from things I love. So grab a pen and some paper and make a list of what you love.
Once you have picked your passion, you now have several options on how to proceed. You can create your own website or blog about your chosen topic, find a company that pays you to write articles or promote digital downloads like ebooks and courses from any number of marketplaces like Clickbank. Or you can create your own product (physical or digital) and sell them online through those same marketplaces.
Do you love to take photos of nature? Sell your photos on sites like SmugMug or ImageKind. Do you have a talent for writing or graphic design that you want to hire out to companies in need of your skill? Then sign up at Fiverr or Upwork. When starting an online business the possibilities are limitless! And the good news is that you can do all of the above if you want. Just like investing, it pays to diversify and have multiple streams of income.
Build It
If you decide to build your own website or blog, you can go with a free service like Blogger or WordPress.com. A word of warning, though. They might restrict your affiliate activities. Plus, there's always the possibility that they will take your blog down. Believe me, I've heard from some unhappy affiliates who experienced that themselves. Your best bet is to spend a little money to register your own domain and get your own hosting (I use and highly recommend KnownHost). If the thought of that overwhelms you, don't worry. I'll be posting some tutorials on this website to guide you through the process.
If you've decided to offer your services to companies as a freelancer, there are websites such as Fiverr and Upwork that allows you to sign up and list the services you have to offer. Many of these sites allow you to provide a professional portfolio to prospective clients so they can see the quality of your work. A solution like this allows you to get started quickly without the overhead of building a website and figuring out payment methods for prospective clients.
Monetize It
Once you know what your business is going to be about, you need to decide how to monetize it. If you decide to have your own website, you can sell products or services or you can just write informative articles and monetize your site with Adsense or other contextual ads. There are thousands of companies that will pay you to market their products and services. Affiliate networks like CommissionJunction, ShareASale, LinkShare, AvantLink, and more are a quick and easy way to get started. Note, you should have a fairly well-developed website ready to go before you apply to these networks. The same goes for contextual ad services like Google Adsense and Viglink.
Promote It
Unlike the saying in A Field of Dreams, just because you build it, doesn't mean they'll come. Starting an online business is more than just building a website. Prospective customers need to know about you first. That means you'll have to actively promote your business. You can tweet about your business on Twitter. Write engaging blog posts on Facebook. Advertise free on Craigslist. Purchase ads on Facebook, Google, Bing, and more. Exchange links with websites that have similar topics. Post flyers and business cards on neighborhood bulletin boards. Do whatever creative thing you can think of to get your business out there in front of eyeballs.
It really is rather simple.
Plan It => Build It => Monetize It => Promote It
Do those four things and you'll be on your way to successfully starting an online business!
I plan to go into deeper detail in each of those four areas on this site, so stay tuned!