How You Make Money Online
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It is easier to make money online when you're not selling a thing. In fact, this can be done for any topic or industry. You can take from your experience, knowledge or passion and create a lucrative Internet business with everything you have right now!
There are billions of dollars flowing through the Internet every day from people buying from companies selling stuff. You can tap into this money by injecting your website into the buying process.
Companies that sell online realize the power of recommendations, and they are willing to pay for it. There's no better sales force out there than one person recommending to another person where to go.
Nielsen Study
A Nielsen study measured the level of trust people have in certain forms of online advertising. Text and banner ads came in last. Trust jumped when consumer's posted their opinions online. However, trust from recommendations by people hit a high of 90%!
You have the power of providing a company with the most powerful sales lead ever… your personal recommendation.
Here's how it works. Let's say I was joining Gordon Ramsay, a well renowned chef, at a restaurant in New York that neither of us had been to before. When deciding what to order I would ask the waiter for their recommendation as opposed to asking Gordon Ramsay.
Even though Gordon knows much more about food, it's the waiter's recommendation that's much more valuable to me because he knows the menu and what people like.
That waiter also has a vested interest. First he has to deal with me if his suggestion sucked, and second the effect this suggestion has on his tip too.
In fact I would value the waiter's suggestion above the restaurant owner's suggestion, as the restaurant owner knows what needs to be sold, fast, before it spoils!
The point here is that your experience can make you a trusted authority above the perceived experts.
Trusted Authorities
Everyone looks to trusted authorities.
You can even become an authority from your own experience. I began being paid for ‘Telling people Where To Go' in the 80's when I owned a travel agency.
people would do their travel research, but always asked for a recommendation before they bought their ticket.
Even when the recommended destination would cost them more money, they'd pay it.
Companies pay for recommendations, hence the popularity of consultants whose job it is to make recommendations.
In the 90's when I became involved in the world of insurance, I discovered that insurance companies charged vastly different rates for the exact same policy. You should check it out yourself by going to InsuranceHotline.com.
Knowing which insurance company had the best rate for my car and driving record saved me a pile of money when buying my policy. I knew this would save other drivers lots of money too. So I began a rate comparison guide and every time I referred a driver to an insurance company that had the lowest rate for them, I was paid a referral fee.
Referrals Work Because There's No Risk
Referrals work because it doesn't cost the consumer anything to check it out and there's usually an upside for doing it. Why shouldn't they follow your recommendation? There's no risk, there's no cost, and they don't have to actually spend any money.
In my referral program the visitor had the potential of saving $100's or even $1,000's of dollars off their insurance rate. For the five minutes it took them to check it out the average driver saved around $750.
Selling Online Is Very Competitive
To sell something to someone online they have to land on your website at the buying stage.
Your potential customer will view other websites selling what you are and compare everything. If they land on your website, they have to be comfortable with buying from you.
Many websites come across as 'faceless' identities. If your visitor doesn't know who you are, they probably won't buy from you. You're also competing with large company websites with huge advertising budgets who are buying leads.