When I think of making money online, it makes me think of those late-night infomercials, get-rich-quick schemes and those amazing Facebook ads that make it look so easy!
Needless to say, there are a lot of people making money online by selling you on how to make money online, but never have made money online. It’s so meta.
Remote work makes starting a successful online business "easier"
With remote work now being the norm, most of us are working in our underwear and working from home, but how do you make money online for yourself? And enough money to replace your day job.
Unlike the late-night infomercials, being “successful” in making money online requires actual real effort over a sustained period of time. Just like anything in life, I don’t walk up to the first tee at my golf course and expect to break par if I haven’t practiced everyday for years with a great coach. Making money online and building a real income is the same, you gotta put in the work.
The difference from golf, is the fact that their are “gurus” equivalent to a golf coach that aren't qualified to coach! I don’t want to bash those that misled the industry but it drives me nuts!
Regardless of the industry as a whole, you can build an online business to support the life you want to live.
The easiest and quickest way to make money online (simple step-by-step guide)
Start a service-based business in 5 simple steps
Step 1 - Build a LinkedIn following and post about topics I already know. Be yourself and be authentic.
Step 2 - Post helpful content around your consulting expertise on Twitter.
Step 3 - Define your offer - This is the most pivotal piece of landing clients and building an online business. What can you offer that will provide value, save time or drive revenue for a business?
Build out one service that you can have the biggest impact on a business. This is one of the reasons we built out an email marketing agency.
We could easily measure and show our clients a high ROI on our service. This made paying for our service a no brainer, since your making them more money than the service itself!
Step 4- Show your potential clients you can provide value by actually providing value! It’s so simple it actually works.
Example: make a video showing a client something that is broken on their website and how to fix it. You may be surprised, they may hire you to do that!
Software TIP: Use loom to make the videos, they don’t need to be perfect! Making a simple video of exactly what you would do for this business is the secret unlock to building trust.
Once you land your first paying client. Keep going! I see so many people get distracted once they have a little success and they want to try something else. If you want to make real money online, you need to hone your craft just like your golf swing. It takes practice!
It's so simple, it just may work!!
The pros and cons of running a service based business online
Online business owners have plenty of competition, but there is still room for you to start an online business today. Here are the pros and cons of starting an online consulting business around your expertise.
Pros
Easy to start
Very low overhead
No office needed
Don't even need a website to start
Depending on clients ROI - You can charge thousand a month per client
Quick to start
You don't need to buy inventory
You don't need to buy advertising to start
Cons
Since it is so easy to start, it is very competitive
Can be difficult to scale
Must learn a skill that clients are willing to pay for (this is more of a challenge than a Con)
Can be difficult to find your target market
In conclusion: Starting an online business offering a service can be one of the fastest ways to make money online
The beauty of consulting is the speed to cash. If you already have an expertise level in a specific field, it can help you build your online business even faster. Having clients on retainer can help you sleep better at night, since you won't be waking up with $0 in sales every morning like other online businesses, like ecommerce.