People frequently ask me, “How did you start making a living online? And, do you think I could?”
First, it wasn’t easy. It was hard work. Second, yes. I think you could do this.
But, we really should re-frame the question.
We should ask… Should you become an entrepreneur?
Or, an ever better question is this one. Why should you become an entrepreneur?
Reason number one is easy. You could start making money online. Eventually, this could lead to financial freedom.
Reason number two requires some long term thinking.
The world is changing. I don’t think we should lean too heavily on our promised retirement income.
Contract work is more common these days. You can pick a niche and build a business in that niche.
You may end up earning a little extra money each month.
Even earning an extra $1,000 a month may not be as hard as you think.
If you can get 100 people to pay you $10 a month, you would earn an extra $1,000 a month.
Or, if you can get 10 people to pay you $100 a month. You get the idea.
It may not be as hard as you think.
Have you ever bought a $10 ebook online? We likely all have. We were helping someone earn their extra $1,000 a month.
I suggest you start with a blog.
(These days, you could probably just start with social media. I am not a big fan of social media, so I don’t emphasize it. But, I know it works. It’s been around a while, and people make money with it.)
Either way. Blog, or social media, pick a topic and start writing about your chosen topic.
Don’t worry about a product just yet. Even if it’s just a simple ebook. Don’t worry about that part just yet.
Here’s why.
If you jump right into selling your product, you are missing the chance to develop leads.
When you start with a blog (or a social media following), you are building an audience. As your writing and thinking improves, you will attract followers.
Start specific. You can branch out later.
Remember amazon.com once sold only books. Now it’s an everything store. But amazon.com started out specific. Just books.
You can do the same.
I started with Latin. Just Latin. Just a few classes. Just a few students.
Later, I expanded into other languages I wanted to learn.
Pick that small slice you want to be an expert in. Branch out later. If you want to.
Step One: pick a niche. At the very least build a personal site and load your resume.
Step Two: build a site. You can do this for free over at wordpress.com.
Step Three: start posting reviews book reviews. The average American reads one book a year. What if you read a book a month in your chosen field of study and then posted reviews of those books on your blog/site?
Step four: blog about one thing for 11 months and then in the 12 month sell an ebook, or a course based on what you have learned.
Sure. It’s going to take a while. But, it’s not super complicated. It’s just work. It’s hard work. That’s good. Most people aren’t going to do anything. That makes it easy for you to distance yourself from the pack.
