How people really make money from the web (AMA)

On my previous post I mentioned how I think HIVE, or at least the niche communities on HIVE should be less hyperfocused on crypto 'gainz' and see the opportunity and potential of being a content community.

In the replies, Bil said the following:

i actually have no idea how earning on WordPress works, especially with no ads as i never wrote blogs before Hive (forums yes, but not blogs). But i did make i would say over 300 videos, and to be honest, half of them are decent :D

only money i earned on youtube was 9$ before 2018 when they decided you need (what ever are requirements now for monetization). But they still run ads on my videos, they just don't share it with me.

One thing Hive has, and was kinda what i wanted on youtube, everyone can earn. And earning few $ for sharing something with the world is what probably most people are ok with. i know that was my idea. but then i got into staking and stuff and never cashed out, maybe this bullrun :D

And the truth is, on youtube, and probably other platforms, 95% of creators don't earn anything. And from those, i am sure half of them earn under 1k a year.

Grok says 97% of youtubers that earn something can't survive by youtube only (probably just counting ads earnings). It also says that X payed ~ 150.000 accounts. that is what? less than 1% of total users?

Rather than be specific about WordPress, which is simply a highly popular tool for building websites, let's start at a more general level.

Do people make money online?

Yes, and of course like anything the majority of the income is made by the minority of the players.

Is this surprising, though? How many people as a percentage become professional sportsball players? Or get into top universities? Or become CEOs of unicorn tech startups?

So you are saying the odds are against me?

Not so fast, that doesn't mean you can't make any money, or that the money you can make is not worth it!

How much extra cash would make a difference to you? I don't necessarily mean "cover the rent", though that is a reasonable goal. Perhaps it is "feed my Pokemon card habit" money?

That is certainly doable, and as you will see below you can combine techniques.

Why do people think it is a myth or a scam then?

There are two main reasons, and unfortunately the first reason is why many people will ignore me right now.

A lot of the advice out there is pushed by unethical people to make money for themselves.

The joke goes something like "Learn how to make money from the gullible, just send me $10 and a stamped addressed envelope to ...".

Now, the second reason, and probably the largest thing that holds people back, is it is very time consuming and difficult, plus is helped greatly by a massive dose of good luck.

Another joke is the harder we work, and the more we study, the luckier we seem to get.

You might need to throw a lot of spaghetti against the wall before anything sticks, but you won't know until you try.

I am the least risk taking or outgoing bloke you could meet. Not everything I have tried has worked for me, and I got into it by accident, but it has worked out, and long term.

How to make money, not just online

Making money, in any part of life, comes down to an exchange of value. Online is simply a reflection of the rest of society.

It comes down to what you have to offer that someone with money values.

You can increase the perceived value in a few ways:

• Convenience/Productivity/Short cut - Show how it saves time or is easier.
• Return on Investment - Show how it will make them money or save them money.
• Sex sells - Show how it will increase their appeal, esteem, or personal magnetism.

Because humans, at a foundational level, are looking for sex, power, and freedom.

Your BS meter might be going wild right now, but consider that per milliletre we pay more for a small bottle of coke than we do a large bottle. That is because the smaller bottle is more convenient.

Does your Rolex tell "better time" than my Timex? Probably not enough to notice, so why would your watch be a bigger target for thieves than mine?

Diamonds are objectively worthless but subjectively $$$$.

It doesn't make any sense and yet it makes perfect sense when you realize that humans are weird.

What you can offer

The exchange of value comes down to:

• Products - I sell you a thing (physical or digital)
• Services - I do something for you
• Education - I show you how to do something
• Advertising - I help you sell your thing

Education as a service

Books and courses are a popular way to make money, they just take time and effort, as well as a good product-market fit.

Product-market fit is where you create something a certain group of people definitely want.

Too many people create the product and try to then sell it. Instead it is usually easier to identify a problem people are ready and willing to solve, and then supply the solution to them.

Skool, Udemy, Patreon, and substack are services that were built on the idea of gated content or community - ie. you either have to give your email address or pay money to get access or the ability to read this information. It's not all "how to" information either.

An idea that might gel better for some of you is if you are sharing crypto or stock picks for free, you could for example charge to get them first, or make some exclusive to your paid newsletter, etc.

How content creators make money with advertising

Immediately, if we weren't in a crypto community right now at least, the thing that comes to mind is advertising.

YouTube, Google Adsense, Instagram, even Twitter, pay out to their selected content creator communities a share of advertising that is displayed around your content provided you meet some criteria.

It's not a lot but it is the easiest technically to get started with.

You have to be popular to get accepted, however.

This is why it is my least favourite even before we get into the fact that most people hate advertising, and especially when the advertising is very in your face.

Services

"Done for you" services are quick to get started with, and there are few barriers to entry. Many of us have experience doing this as kids, mowing lawns, cleaning cars or windows, clearing snow, and so on.

You don't even need a big audience, because what you are looking for is the right prospect.

1. They have money to spend.
2. They have a strong need or want for what you can do.
3. They need it soon.
4. They are willing to pay what you charge.
5. They trust you to deliver.

That fifth item is why many of us do not buy from people who knock at our door, and also why a lot of us are afraid of cold selling.

Cold selling is where you try to sell to a complete stranger without any introduction or referral of any kind.

Sales does not need to be cold, however. This is another place where content can help, and also some understanding of human nature.

As we get to know someone through their words, content, interactions, they are no longer a stranger and the trust goes up.

Even better if you can demonstrate proof through demonstrations, referrals, testimonials and case studies.

That is where all my service sales come from.

Selling products

E-commerce is the obvious version of selling products online, but there are a couple of variations that mean you can get started without a warehouse full of stock.

• Digital - Easiest is to sell bits and bytes, from ebooks through to templates, art, or online courses. This will all be familiar to you, given the community we are in. NFTs are a digital product, though most of the value in them is in the eye of the beholder.
• Made to order - My wife and I use laser cutters and CNC machines to make physical items, often customized but not always, but instead of holding stock we make the item after someone pays us. You can sell through marketplaces like Etsy or Amazon Handmade, even Facebook marketplace, but we use WooCommerce on her website right now.
• Print on demand - You design a, say, t-shirt or a mug, someone purchases it, and your print on demand partner fulfils. In some cases you don't even have to make the sale, the platform will have a showcase or store that attracts customers for you. The big bucks are in having extremely popular designs or by marketing your products heavily, though.
• Affiliate Commissions - Rather than sell your own product, you can get a sales commission by telling people about someone else's product. Especially this time of year you will see people say "hey look at this thing I found on amazon". If you purchase after clicking the link they get a small % in payment.

It all sounds very complicated

It does sound like a lot, but you can get started very quickly by signing up to your favourite products or services affiliate programs.

This is actually how the majority of the money on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, and so on is made. Look in the descriptions of videos or in the LinkTree/Link in Profile of "influencers" and you will see affiliate links.

You don't pay any extra when you purchase through someone's affiliate link, sometimes you get a discount in fact, but the content creator might get paid a bit and in future if the partnership does well they might get a sponsorship, a collaboration, or free stuff.

A lot of my expensive tools were sent to me for $0 because companies trust that when I write about them they will sell machines. They come to me now but when I got started I just signed up to the affiliate programs of stuff I already bought and enjoyed.

Amazon is easy to get started, highly trusted, and even if the customer doesn't buy exactly what they clicked on you get paid, but they don't pay a lot, and people have to purchase pretty much straightaway for you to get credited with the sale.

That said, a friend linked to an ebook and got a huge commission because someone bought a ride on lawnmower.

A lot of companies will put links to their affiliate program in their footer or other navigation if you click around.

Another option is to check out services like ShareASale who manage programs for huge amounts of companies.

The best part is you don't need another website or any special embedded code, you can start today by writing a post about a product you really like and linking to where people can buy it.

Over to you

What do you think? Did I miss anything? Still doubtful or confused? Let me know!

And, no, I didn't put in a bunch of affiliate links into this post, not even to ShareASale or Amazon, but I could have which is the point!