For many, the idea of working from home and making money on the Internet is a dream come true.

Not many jobs give you the flexibility to choose where and when you want to work. You can take control of your time and work while going to school or handling family matters.

It’s mostly been a fantasy until a few years ago when the Internet and other connected technologies have enabled us to set up these work-from-home gigs without much hassle. However, making money online is not entirely straightforward. You will be slow to start out and will have to dedicate some time and energy to succeed.

Here are some of the best ways to either build or supplement your income online, whether you want to produce YouTube videos or learn about ecommerce web design.

Google AdSense

Making money can be as simple as building any website or blog with a sizable following. Google AdSense allows site owners to monetize general traffic by putting advertisements on the page. It’s almost a “set it and forget it” process since Google itself searches for relevant ads that match the content you post. It also helps track your page views and earnings for you.

Affiliate Marketing

A more direct way of receiving funding is affiliate marketing. Say you have a blog that caters to a niche audience. If a company happens to sell to that audience, it may ask you to add some links to its store pages on your posts. You earn commission for the traffic and sales you generate for your partnered retailer. eCommerce agencies always push affiliate marketing as an effective method to boost conversions.

Freelancing

Online freelancing jobs come in a variety of types, ranging from photography to design to writing. Whether you’re collecting some extra cash or want a full living out of it, the amount of work you take on is up to you. It’s common for freelancers to work multiple small projects.

Freelancing involves promoting yourself and your services to potential clients. Social media and partnering with agencies are great ways to gain attention in the market. You’ll also need the time management skills and self-discipline required to be your own boss.

YouTube

It’s no secret that creating YouTube videos is a serious job for many people. If you have the self-confidence to put yourself in front of a camera and knowledge in a particular field, you have the potential to attract a sizable audience on the video sharing platform.

Keep in mind that YouTube is rather saturated, so try to find a section that you can contribute to effectively. Current popular categories include gaming channels, product reviews, comedy, and educational content. YouTubers typically get paid through advertisements, premium subscriptions, and merchandising.

Social Media Sponsorships

If you have a large following on platforms like Instagram or Twitter, it’s possible to make money through sponsored posts. Companies usually pay social media influencers hundreds or even thousands to promote their products and services. For legal reasons, you will likely need to divulge whenever a post is an advertisement.

Podcasting

Got a voice and a topic you can dive deep into? Then you can make money through sponsors in a podcast. The challenges involved are handling all the logistics and creative demands of writing engaging scripts and connecting with companies.

Selling Leads

Some website owners run a business by attracting the attention of regular visitors and collecting their information to sell to companies. In these setups, everyone benefits to some extent. The companies receive potential clients; the visitors gain access to services that they need; and you get money for selling leads.

Education

Teaching online is another well-established way to make money on the Internet. Those with personal or business goals, ranging from online marketing to cooking, typically look to the Internet for help to accomplish them. Teaching English as a second language is a popular path thanks to the low barrier to entry.

Audio Transcription

A rather time-consuming task that many organizations outsource to online workers is audio transcription. You’ll likely be converting interviews or audio recordings into text in cases where automatic transcription is too unreliable. Markets that use these services include law, medicine, and entertainment.

E-commerce

One of the best ways to make a lot of money online is selling products in an e-commerce store. You can sell products directly to your consumers without a middleman. However, you will have to host your own site, use a merchant account for taking payments, know how to advertise, handle the logistics of online orders, and think about shipping procedures.

You ideally want to choose a niche inventory of products to avoid competing with the large online stores like Amazon or eBay. Alternatively, you can even sell directly on these platforms assuming you can find unfulfilled holes in consumer demand.

Globalgraphics: Start Your Next Online Business Today

Ecommerce has a high potential of making you a self-employed entrepreneur. It can be difficult to handle all aspects of an online store, but many third-party services that can help tremendously. An ecommerce web designer, for instance, will help optimise your page for maximum web traffic.

Globalgraphics is a web agency that specializes in Birmingham ecommerce web design. Our services will help you gain a footing in populous major cities. To handle all the intricacies of eCommerce for your Birmingham online business, get in touch with us today.