How Do I Really Make a Living Online?

Please note some of the links in this post may contain affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. As always any recommendations that I make are always based on my personal experiences with the product and I have not received any free products or anything else by these companies.

I have been making a living online since 2010 with my Digital Publishing Business Empire.

I build information websites around specific niches, topics and markets and I monetize them by creating, marketing and selling digital or physical products and services.

That’s it? Yep, it’s not a complicated business but just like any business it is a lot of work , challenging and as well very rewarding.

So what exactly do I do?

Well on any given day I could be doing one or more of the following activities

  • Content Marketing
  • Email Marketing
  • Social Media Marketing
  • Paid Advertising Marketing
  • Product Creation
  • Sales and Copywriting

There are also many other activities like throw the rubbish out, coffee bitch, cleaner, well I guess that’s the life of working for yourself ;).

What type of websites do I build?

In the early days I built many websites in all kind of niches, from small to big without researching the market.

Big lesson – Don’t do this, for example I once built a site around table tennis equipment, great niche but after 12 months of work I made a total of … wait for it, $0.42 cents. Whoever told me to follow my passion honestly can go shove it up your ***! You need to do your due diligence, research and see if you can really monetize it.

So these days I mainly build authority websites and blogs in a variety of niches or topics which meets my criteria.

I have websites/blogs in health, wealth, self-development, hobbies, relationships, lifestyle, business, career and many more.

Can I share any?

Sure, here is my very first website http://www.infomercial-review.org which I have written about before – “My First Website”.

How many websites do I have?

Right now I have about ten website plus 3 in the workshop however at one stage I have had over 100+websites. This fluctuates as I am constantly starting new or getting rid of non-performing websites. Even I still get it wrong some times, but that is just part of the business.

How many staff do I have?

Me, Myself and I, yes I am a one man team. Well this is not 100% true; I use outsourcing, virtual assistance and technology to automate, scale and run my business.

A word of advice especially for people who are aiming to build a 6, 7 or 8 figure digital publishing business (like myself), a one man show is literally impossible or you could die trying. I kid you not there is a lot of work when you start getting over 7-8+ websites mark.

Can you show me how?

Sure but before I show you how, here are my top 10 tips

  1. First off subscribe to my Mailing List.
  2. Build a List! You will need an Autoresponder, I personally use Aweber.
  3. No seriously, build a list, See Point 2! If you are serious about building a Online Business then you need an autoresponder, I will explain in a future post the reasons why and how by not doing it nearly ended my business.
  4. Set some goals and milestones, I know it is very cliché but having something to aim for is the utmost importance.

    My Dream is to build a Business which is Time, Location, Work and Money Independent.

  5. Have a system. If you don’t have a system, you will be flinging crap on the wall and hoping something will stick. Just like any great business they all have systems including companies like Amazon, Google, Apple and even my local barber has one too. They all have great systems and so should you.
  6. Just start. Once you figured out what you want to build, you should get started straight away. Screw knowing every fine details. Do not get stuck in analysis paralysis.
    The quickest way to start building a digital publishing business is to do these 5 things.

    1. Buy a Domain
    2. Buy Hosting
    3. Install WordPress
    4. Install an Autoresponder
    5. Start
  7. Avoid shiny object syndrome. There are going to be so many different shiny objects that is going distract and suck your resources, money and time from achieving your dreams. You need to follow through with your current strategy and tactics and only once you have completed them should you try something new.
  8. Invest in your self.
    Just because you can Google something, it does not mean it is right. Go to the Experts. Invest in books and courses, even if you have to put some skin in the game. I personally have spent thousands of dollars on courses, books and events.
  9. Model, don’t reinvent the wheel. Great example is Rocket Internet.
  10. Build relationships, don’t do it alone, join forums, follow mentors, one of my favourite methods are joining mastermind groups.
  11. Don’t give up if your first website bombs. There is no guarantee with anything but if you persist you eventually get to your dreams. If you stop its all over.
  12. Subscribe  to my list if you want some juicy stuff.

So there you go in a nutshell this is “How I Make a Living Online”.

Norm

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