All posts in Make Money

When it comes to technical internet terms, the quickest way to get information is from Wikipedia. So let’s see what they say about SEO:

“Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the “natural” or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results. Other forms of search engine marketing (SEM) target paid listings. In general, the earlier (or higher on the page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine. SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search and industry-specific vertical search engines. This gives a website web presence. ”

Sound Greek to you? Need it simplified?

Search Engine Optimization is optimizing your website for specific keywords using certain techniques. Still not understanding?

Let’s take for example the keyword phrase “Authority Pro Review” and put it into Google. The following suggestions will come up:

The two sites that are ranked in the first five spots of Google clearly worked very hard on their SEO to rank in those positions. How does that benefit them? Every time someone goes through their affiliate link they will get x amount of dollars. Yet… what techniques did they use to get to the first space of Google and what does this matter to someone who wants to make money online?

Good SEO means $.

Every single web entrepreneur wants to be on the 1^st page of Google. It’s like putting a plate of gold blocks in front of them. If you’re a snazzy online entrepreneur knowing about SEO and keywords will simply make you a fortune.

But what if you want to make money DOING SEO? How can you make money … from other peoples desire to rank highly on Google?

Easy as pie. Offer SEO services. You don’t even need to be a guru. I’m going to explain three quick techniques that you can use to make money online by providing SEO services:

“$150 Press Release Service”

Write one press release for a client and then submit it to twenty to thirty different free press release sites. If you don’t know how to write a press release, that’s fine. Go and learn. There are hundreds of places how to learn information on the internet. Practice for a couple of days and when you think your writing is good enough go and promote your offer.

“$100 Video Submission Service”

Learn how to create or outsource video making (I know where I can find someone to design a 60 second video for $5!) and then submit them to all of the different video submission sites. It’ll help get backlinks for your clients and get targeted traffic from the video.

“Blog commenting and Forum Posting Service”

I know this sounds weird. You can actually get paid for these services. However, I only recommend it once you have your own bunch of clients. The going rate is absolutely dismal on the internet. Once you get some trust from your customers and they start coming to you for advice, you’ll be able to offer this at a very good price. $40 per  15 comments. Just don’t spam. The reason I can offer this for so expensive is because my comments are always engaging and add to the discussion.

I know HOW to offer these services but where do I find my clients?

Unfortunately on the internet, as in real life, reputation matters. The better reputation you create for yourself, the more customers and business you’re likely to get.

Forums: The best place to get customers is to create a thread in an online forum. You can offer your services and if you don’t have any customers, you can offer two or three “review packages” for free.

• Warrior Forum
• Wicked Fire  Forum
• Digital Point Forum

These are three of the biggest forums I am part of but you can find hundreds more. Look  for specific niche forums and offer your services only for “bird companies” or “baby sitting companies”. You really can find a whole bunch. As long as they have BST Section (Buy/Sell/Trade) you’ll be good to go.

Offline Customers: Small South African companies are creating websites but they simply don’t understand the power of the internet yet. Most companies don’t even HAVE an SEO campaign or model set up. Go and target offline customers. A simple trick I use is telling a current customer I have that if they recommend me and my services, I’ll give them 10% commission for every sale.

Make your own website: It’s important that once you get into the online business that you have your own website. It really makes a big difference. I often see  a lot of freelancers who have not yet invested in purchasing their own website. Take the chance. It’s about R100 a YEAR. Considering how much income it can make for you, that’s a bargain and a half.

BUUUUUUUUUT JOOOOOOOOO – I don’t wanna write to make money online.

I know I’m focusing a lot on writing. Every part of making money online (besides designing, programming and possibly photography) has to do with writing. You need to be able to write. Sure, one day when you’re making $20k a month you can outsource it, but for now… write. The more you write, the better you’ll become.

Last week we discussed the concept of writing online and what qualifications you need. This week I’m going to be getting into a little bit more of the “nitty gritty” aspect of freelance writing and what you can expect. If after this post you feel like you still have more questions, please feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email.

Revenue Sharing Sites

A revenue sharing site is what I like to call “adsense machines”. These sites make their money by sharing adsense with prospective writers. There is no up-front payment. Unfortunately with these type of sites you run the risk of not making any money at all. The key to making money with revenue sharing sites is finding the right keyword. Keywords are the bread and butter of the money-making industry.

My suggestion is using Google Trends combined with Google Keywords to see what is “hot” at the moment and then find well-searched words to cash in on them.

Here is a small list of revenue sharing sites you can join, that are the most profitable because of their high rating in Google.

• http://www.xomba.com/
• http://www.squidoo.com/
• http://hubpages.com/
• http://www.oondi.com/ [100% of the profits]
• http://infobarrel.com
• http://factoidz.com
• http://about.com [You get a monthly check plus any additional extra you make from adsense]

Freelance Bidding Sites

A bidding site is for all sorts of freelancers (writing, photography, programmers, etc). You can have free accounts or paid accounts. I personally have a paid account with elance.com – always pick one site and pay for ONE premium membership. You can always bid for projects on the other sites but just use your free account.

A bidding site is where a client will provide a brief and freelancers “bid” on the project. The amount should include how much you want to do the work for. In the beginning you might need to work for a smaller amount until your reputation increases. These sites are well worth the premium memberships. If you have a premium membership you are able to bid on a higher number of  jobs per month.

The key to bidding sites is also to have an amazing portfolio. Only put up your best work on these websites.

• GetAFreelancer
• eLance
• iFreelance
• FreelanceWork
• FreelanceJobSearch
• Freelancers.net
• Mac Freelancer

Setting yourself up for international customers

90% of my clients are from overseas. I haven’t met any of them. I probably never will. Yet, I’m fortunate enough that I don’t need to. Never try to target just South African clients. You NEED to target international clients. This is where the big money is situated.

Now, in order to make sure that you can actually get paid by these international clients, you need to sign up for a Paypal account. Connect your bank account or credit card to enable your Paypal account. When you start receiving money in your Paypal account, let it grow. When you withdraw money from your Paypal account to your bank account it can take between five to seven days to actually get your hands on the money.

Also – never transfer really small amounts. The charges for $1000 to your bank account is about R100-R150.

Content Mills

A content mill is a site that hires hundreds or thousands of writers to outsource their work load to. These sites are like Demand Studios or Break Studios (unfortunately these are both closed to South African writers). Here you will be able to find a lot of work with extremely good pay-rates. If you’re struggling to find personal clients then use these sites to supplement your income. I am registered with two or three but never use them anymore. However, they’re always nice to have as a back-up plan.

• https://www.knowledgewriting.com/ [$2 per 100 words / takes about 3-4 weeks to get a reply from them]
• http://wisegeek.com [$10-$14 per article] [They DO accept international writers, you just need to email them]
• http://qualitygal.com [$10-$14 per article]
• http://love2know.com [$20 per article]
• http://brighthub.com [$10 per article, plus $3.20 for every 1000 views]
• http://www.wordsofworth.co.uk/ [Depends on the assignment]
• http://www.daytipper.com/ [each tip pays $3]
• Design Blogs looking for freelance writers [$50 - $150 depending on the length of the assignment]

If you do not have a portfolio – make one. Go read articles that are published by those websites to see what sort of quality they expect. They will normally have guidelines that you can follow.

How to protect yourself from online writing scams

I’ve lost $100 (roughly around R700) online. I accepted a client I found (who  had a website and everything) and I foolishly sent through the work for her to check without requesting payment. I emailed her. A day went past. Another, and then another, and then another. I finally gave up. Pissed off and extremely disappointed in myself for being “conned”.

For first time clients, I created the following process: I write the articles, then I save them into a password protected pdf file. I disable copying. So the client can literally ONLY read the articles without being able to copy or edit them or use them. Once they give me the nod that they’re happy, I request payment. Once the payment has been sent through – I send them the editable Microsoft Word document. Always tell a client how your process works. If they don’t agree, just let them go.

A lot of job postings will ask for “unique” samples. Never apply for these jobs unless the company has many positive reviews online. A lot of black hat moguls use this technique to get free articles for their websites. They ask you to write three articles around three different keywords and then you never hear from them again.

Creating a Portfolio

Your portfolio is essential to a successful writing career. You can either guest post on well-known blogs (find a service that helps you find positions here) or create a website with all of your portfolio pieces show-casing your work. You will have two options when it comes to a website: the free version or the paid version. Just remember, “You get what you pay for.”

Free:

Free Domain Registration: Here (It is a co.cc domain but from what I’ve used of them, they are the most reliable free domain registrar that I’ve encountered)
Free Hosting Provider: Here

Paid:

Hosting – Hostgator: I LOVE Hostgator. Seriously. I would not survive without them. Not only are they epically awesome (24/7 live support) but they’re also serious about being a green hosting provider. For as little as R70 a month you can host an unlimited amount of domains, with unlimited bandwidth and unlimited hard-drive space. Bargain, right? I once struggled to get a code correct on a website of mine – the technical consultant spent an hour with me, helping me set it up – even though it wasn’t his job. That is excellent service.

Domain Registrar – GoDaddy or Webafrica: If you’re looking to nab up some international domains (.com, .net, .info, .me or .org) then I recommend using GoDaddy. I love WebAfrica… for my South African domains but that’s it.

Read these to get a more detailed understanding of portfolio sites:

• Build a Killer Online Portfolio in 9 Easy Steps
• http://www.annewayman.com/ [Example of a portfolio site]

Yikes – long post is long! If you have any additional questions, please feel free to leave a comment and I’ll answer it as soon as possible! Just remember: you can make money by writing online. You only need to believe in yourself.

Make sure you read:

• 4 Misconceptions About Making Money Online
• Making Money Online – A Guide for South Africans
• Making Money Online By Writing: Part 1

Google has just rolled out a new Adsense interface, which is going to be running in beta mode. The aim of the update is to allow for easier management and more control over your account.

Three highlighted features are:

• More insights – Actionable data helps you better understand your performance and make more informed business decisions.
• More Control – Easier to use, richer controls help you protect your brand – all in one place
• Greater efficiency – Redesigned interface helps you find what you’re looking for and complete tasks quickly and easily

I’ve had a quick play around on the new interface and must tell you that it’s a huge change and definitely one that’s going in the right direction!

“The demand right now for business and marketing-oriented writers is huge.

The content marketing field has grown enormously.”

Brian Clark – Copyblogger.com

The internet runs on content. SEO integrates with content. Every person who wants to rank highly on Google focuses first on their keywords and then on their web content. The potential for web content writers and freelance writers are absolutely astounding.

What I love about the internet and the potential the internet provides is the fact that even if you don’t have the skills – you can make money online. When I first started writing online, I didn’t know the first thing about keywords, or SEO, keyword density. I had to learn through trial and error. Yet – five years later – my clients always commend me on writing copy that sells.

The internet is about MAKING MONEY. My customers are business owners who are selling specific services or products. When I write for them I need to represent them and their services in the best light. Yet – I have to do so much more than that. I need to actually SELL their products for them. While I’m doing this, a lot of my customers want me to focus on search engine optimization (SEO). I also have to focus on carefully integrating certain keywords into the sales copy. A keyword is what you rank for in Google: “kids bikes”, “making money online”. If you struggle to understand the concept, think about when you  go into Google. You type for what you want. So you search for “greatest songs ever” … those are keywords.

Freelance writing is an entire world of writing opportunities. You can write so much more than web content or SEO articles. You can write eBooks as a Ghostwriter – or for yourself. You can apply to work for magazines that only take applications through the internet. Imagine being paid to blog about your favourite series. These are all possible. You just need to know where to look.

Qualifications to write online

When someone asks me if they can write online but say they don’t have any experience or qualifications, I assure them that it will be alright. You don’t need specific qualifications in English or Journalism to write online. Sure, as with anything in life, these will help but they’re not necessary. You need to be able to form sentences that engage your reader. You need to perfect your grammar and punctuation (something I am still working on). Just remain passionate and make sure that your reflect professionalism when writing. If you’re skeptical about whether or not you can do this, feel free to send me an email and I’ll help you out as much as I can.

Learning about Writing

You know you can write, now you just need to learn how to do it effectively for the internet. These are sites that I absolutely love and have an absolute treasure trove of information for improving on your writing skills. I’m subscribed to all of these and whenever I find an interesting article I print it and save it for the future.

Copy Blogger – Brian and his team of guest bloggers always provide pivotal information that helps you write compelling articles that sell.

Freelance Folder – Invaluable to freelancers who need to learn how to balance their time, energy and skills.

Men with Pens – Advice on how to write and write well.

Write to Done – As the site claims these are “unmissable articles on writing”.

Writing Job Aggregators

These are sites that over daily or weekly updates of freelance writing jobs around the internet. Check them every day to see if there are new jobs posted up that you can apply for. Start thinking about the type of writing you would like to specialize in. Do you want to write for blogs that target the health niche? Did you study economics? Maybe you want to write for blogs that focus on the economy. Use your own personal strengths and hobbies to create a successful writing career.

About Freelance Writing – Anne updates her site three times a week with writing jobs all over the internet.

Freelance Writing Gigs – This site is updated daily with new writing gigs. They also have their own job board section so go through that as well.

ProBlogger Job Board – This is a job board specifically for blogging jobs.

Well this is it for Part 1. On Friday I’ll be covering the following:

• Revenue Sharing Sites
• Freelance Bidding Sites
• Setting yourself up for international clients
• Content Mills & Why You Should Use them
• Setting up your pay rates
• How to protect yourself from online writing scams
• Creating a portfolio

Make sure you read:

• 4 Misconceptions About Making Money Online
• Making Money Online – A Guide for South Africans

PART 2 HERE

Before I start writing about the actual methods to make money, I wanted to clear up a few misconceptions usually associated with the entire concept of making money online. These are the misconceptions most commonly expressed and discussed by my friends and it seems to me that most “beginners” in the field might actually share them as well.

Please note that this series will be on Imod every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. So keep on checking back for more stellar information on how South Africans should start making money online!

1. All products online are a scam

One of the easiest ways to start making money online is to purchase an informational course or a method that will steer you into the right direction. However, be cautious – 98% of the products online are just over hyped information or scammy. Whenever you see a product that seems interesting to you, do an online search first. I am part of the Warrior Forum and I search for the reviews about the actual product before purchasing one. The participants in that forum are on-the-ball and always offer legitimate advice. I also always Google “Product name scam, Product name reviews”. Make sure it’s not an affiliate marketer trying to pawn the product onto you.

For instance , you’re interested in a product called “Auto Blog System X”. The system promises that you’ll make R27000 a month – if you’re consistent. OK. You get excited. You do the search for the product (“Auto Blog System Scam” and you see this:

Don’t be fooled by the first options you see online. Even without opening any of those sites I already know what they’ll say: Auto Blog System is NOT a scam. It’s fantastic. You’ll make so much money. Go-go-go buy. They’re affiliate marketers. Affiliate marketers in the money niche are some of the best money makers in the world. Why?  The truth is that everyone wants to make money quickly and they’re willing to pay for it.

From personal experience I can say I am not a fan of Rob Benwall the creator of these products. They’re spammy, border-line black hat (illegal with most affiliate marketing) and everything he gives you can find online with a bit of elbow grease and some patience.

BUT, there ARE worthy products online. I’ve bought them. I’ve profited from them. Be diligent  when looking for products and you could find something that actually works and will help you.

2. You can make x amount of money in 1 hour

There is no such thing as a quick buck on the internet. I’ve been playing around with affiliate marketing for years and have only made “quick” cash when I stumbled upon a free affiliate marketing promotion for a South African dating site. I was lucky though. I found an offer that paid R9.20 for each free sign up to the dating site. I promoted it with Google Adwords with a R100 budget. I chose a keyword that was really, really cheap. It took me an hour to set up the campaign. In two weeks it made me R2000. Hey, not bad for an hour’s work.

However, as I’ll detail later on, campaigns are not always this easy. You need to do a lot of work to get your websites ranked for specific keywords. Or alternatively, if you want to use Google Adwords, you might lose a lot of money by picking the wrong keywords to use. If this does not make sense right now, it will be explained later on the course.

Devote an hour, two hours, however much time you can, to working online and growing your online business. As with anything in life, making money online takes time and effort. Don’t give up if you don’t see results immediately. You need time to grow and establish yourself as an affiliate marketer.

3. You can’t make a full time income from working online

Simply put, You can. It might not take a day or a week or a month but give yourself six months or a year to grow your online income. Soon you could be one of those “self-employed” online entrepreneurs who are making all of their money online. Believe in your dream, set goals and start reaping the rewards.

4. I’m too old to make money online or I don’t know how to use a computer

You’re never too old to learn something if you’re committed. If you can’t use a computer – learn. This course is going to be a beginner course for you. I’ll give you reading material so that you can learn even more. Once you start to learn about making money online, you’ll realize that it may grow into a passion. You’ll get excited. You’ll become committed.

Righto. Now we’ve gotten that out of the way. Come back on Wednesday for our first official post that will outline the framework on how you can make money online.

Make sure you read: Making Money Online – A Guide for South Africans.

I’ve been making money online since I was 17. I’ve done it all. I’ve designed; I’ve written for people, I’ve done virtual assistant tasks. Money on the internet is abundant. Everyone is getting a piece of the action except South Africans. A lot of my friends are in shock when I say ‘I work online‘. Most people say: ‘Isn’t that a scam?’ Sure, of course, there are some scams online. Be careful about them, do your research and most importantly, don’t give up.

There are so many areas to choose from when you decide to work online. When I first started I was a jack of all trades. I still am (for personal stuff which I’ll get onto later) but I’ve pinpointed now what I do for my clients. I concentrate only on social media design and content. I write specifically for Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets. I only design Facebook and Twitter pages.

In this informal and introductory blog course we’ll be discussing the following aspects of making money online:

• Skills (Writing, Designing, Photography)
• How to make money without any money
• Affiliate Marketing
• Blogging
• Article Marketing
• Product Creation
• Youtube
• Self-Promotion
• Niche Marketing
• Physical Products (Ebay, BidorBuy, Dropshopping)

If you have any questions or would like me to cover a topic I haven’t thought about … let me know. If I don’t know about it I’ll do my absolute best to find the information you need to get started.

Chris and I want to encourage other online earners to come share their experiences with us, so if you would like to write a post or share some information, please feel free to email me.

Email all questions, comments or suggestions to: jovana@yourprocontent.com