How Do I Make Money Online?

Wads of British Pounds Sterling
Wads of British Pounds Sterling

Following-up on an earlier reply, Obafemi wrote me again, asking how best he could make money online. I chose to answer this question publicly, so as to guide other up-and-coming Internet-based entrepreneurs. I reproduce his email below:

Thank you David,

I do respect your expediency, I like your blog and I like eolutsin’s blog too. I will like you to please give your honest opinion about this project I am working on right now. I am setting up something just like eolutosin’s. Do you think it is a worthwhile venture?

Though I know about some programs online but I am just starting out real-time (Just cutting my teeth). I also don’t want my blog to look like all these get rich quick schemes around. They ask you to buy one book or the other yet after purchase you find out that it’s not what you think. Please I want a steady source of income from the net something stable different from scams etc. For example, 3 years ago it was forex, 2years ago fixed odd, last year crude oil.  I know of Adsense and affiliates and am going into that.

Your opinion is greatly cherished.
Thanks a lot.

My response:

Thank you for writing Obafemi.

For a start, you need to know who Emmanuel Oluwatosin is. He is a young entrepreneur from Nigeria. In 2004, he started Nairahost with 3 other people and that means he must have been online before 2004 to have gained the knowledge + experience needed to set-up a business based online. In August 2007, he resigned from a paid employment and started an MBA program at Manchester Business School in the United Kingdom.

What is eolutosin.com about?
EOlutosin.com is a weblog whose focus is to provide relevant and up-to-date information to everyone interested in starting and managing their businesses or those who want to make the best of their current career and / or job. The blog offers motivations and help for personal and entrepreneur development. The focus is on challenging people to move from words to actions.

By sharing a summary of  Emmanuel’s profile, I am pointing-out to you that he has a wealth of experience, good education and some useful knowledge to share with the world. Unless you have something really useful to share, setting-up a blog like his is probably not the best idea for you right now. It is very important that you gained some deep-rooted knowledge in a particular field before attempting to share – if you want to be taken seriously. It is not wrong to aspire to be like him or other people making loads of money online but it is also very important to truly understand what you want and how you will get there.

Since money is your motivation, I will add that I am not sure about how much he makes monthly from that blog. However, I am sure that blog is just a means to an end for him, and not an end in itself. He is using the blog to build a brand around his personality and that will help boost his core businesses online.

I agree with you about not wanting to follow the bandwagon of getting-rich-quick on the Internet. It is indeed true that too many of such programmes are only exploiting ignorant people, and others who have some change to loose. I must quickly add that it is indeed possible to make a legitimate income online – enough to take care of all your wants, with more to spare. There are multiple factors that would determine how much you can earn online: your skill, knowledge, experience, persistence (or lack of it), capital, fast Internet connectivity etc.

Since I am not inclined towards long blog posts, I will break here. My next blog post would be for you. Though I originally wrote it on 7th April 2007 and published it on another blog of mine, I have re-edited and re-published it here: Is it really possible to make a living online?

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Oluniyi D. Ajao
Oluniyi D. Ajao is an Internet Entrepreneur and Tech Enthusiast based in South Africa. Follow him on twitter @niyyie for more tech updates.

12 Comments

  1. Is it really possible to make a living online?…

    Yes indeed. It is very possible. As a matter of fact, I am a living example and so are hundreds of thousands of people spread across the globe: bloggers, web designers/developers, graphic designers, server administrators, Search Engine Optimization (SE…

  2. David,

    I think you make you best point when you say that your online work should be a means to an end, often an offline end.

    I look at all my blogging activities as advertisements for current and future employers and collaborators. I show my ability to motivate, educate, and organize, publicly, and rather than having to convince a buyer of my services, they come to me already knowing my skills and wanting them for their project.

    So while I don’t even make beer money directly from my online activities, I see the direct correlation between them and the (modest) professional success I’ve achieved.

    To your questioner, I say: “Look within yourself for skills and knowledge you can sell to others. Then hone and publicize that through online activities, and be prepared to work 2x 5x 10x more that you do now. Your reward: lifetime employment and status.”

  3. @ Niyi,
    You hit some points here. I have received similar email messages to the one you tried to address here. Why I can say that it is possible to make money online, it actually takes a lot of effort. Like I always say to people, as you can not start a business today and expect to make money on day 1, the same way you can not start an online business and expect to make money same. Making a money online involves determination and dedication. You have to have a plan of action and be committed to see it through. There is no short-cut. It is hardwork. For instance, Google will never approve your adsense account on the same day you open your blog. You have to keep your blog updated for some months before you can expect any approval. Even after your blog is approved, you can expect to make money immediately. You have to ensure that your blog stay fresh and people keep coming. This applies to other online-making programmes.

    2. Apart from making money online, you can also create an online presence that you can leverage on in your other business endeavour. This is exactly one of the things that I do. I have friends who do this also. They have online presence and are actually using it to build their brand. People don’t buy your product. They buy based on emotion. So, you have to build a brand that people like and are willing to associate with before you can expect to make any money.

    In summary, I would advise that anyone that wants to make money online should sit down and draw out a plan. Then, make a commitment to follow through with corresponding action. Nothing comes free. And if you are not ready to pay the price, don’t expect any reward.

    I hope this helps.

    NB: If you want to know more about what I do, you can visit my blog

  4. I knew a lot of people making money on blogs but rarely few who really make a good living out of it.

    If you are interested in making money why not try visiting The YES movie at TheYESmovie.com
    Created by Louis Lautman, that we may learn from some of the successful young entrepreneurs.

  5. Hi David Ajao.com visitors and friends!
    I’m a regular commentator here. The owner of one of the most popular make money online blog in Nigeria.
    I recently launched a mobile community website for Nigerians.
    I am ready to unveil my money making secrets from mobile applications and technologies especially bulk SMS.
    The site has mobile chat, mobile forum, free ringtones,wallpapers, themes and games. Free pictures, music and video download, free mobile email, free BBC and Reuters World news and Sports update. And lots more!

    Do yourself good by visiting this website. Very hot!
    http://www.zenismobile.co.cc

    Its time for next level. You will never remain the same!
    ADAMA J. ADAMA
    An Internet Business Consultant.

  6. hello am martha and am here to look for money online because in ghna money is not easy to get so i want to just try if it work for to get money online ..

  7. The problem with most Nigerians is that they want to get rich overnight. But I do not blame them for this. Circa 2002 when I was browsing the internet I saw an advert promising I I could start making money in the next 15 min. I was really skeptical about this. It was really unbelievable. The program goes just for a price of $49.99. Then, I had no credit card and hard to make move to get my own credit card.

    Surprisingly, I did not make a dime months after joining this program. Well that is white man’s legitimate 419

    Thanks for writing this good article

  8. Hi David, i like your Blog.

    Well My advice for the chap is this: Real Genuine Internet Business like Adsense and Affiliate Marketing are not over night money making scheme. It requires consistency and dedication.

    Since you are going into Adsense and Affiliate Marketing, i advise you better stick with it. What normaly “kills” most newbie internet marketers is lack of focus.
    Not that i’m excluding myself, i once had this lack of focus some years back trying to sell anything i find online until i got burned. Though i had a great deal of experience and knowledge out of it all so i resorted to Blogging so i can share what i have learnt and still learning on making money online.

    Find a Niche and stick with it. Even your Adsense Earnings and Affiliate Marketing will depend on the niche you are in.

    • Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Jerry. Your opinion is well on spot. Too many people are desperately after quick money and are not patient enough to learn something thoroughly before trying to make money from it.

  9. Hi this is Malini from India. I am in the process of learning how to make money online. I am trying to understand the affiliate programs and google adscens. And also trying to have knowledge on wouuld this be different from one country to another. I was searching for the information and google pushed me into ur blog. Learning good and bad things about How to make money online from your site. Thanks for sharing it.

  10. I am excited that there is a site like this…forgive me, I am a newbie to all these, even though I have design skills with global competitive advantages (always had doubts that I had to travel abroad to do the “white man’s business” of the internet since issues like security systems for online payments still blazes like hell to slowly thinking nation, as regards principles that have been porven to succeed in other systems)
    anyways, its a pleasure knowing that this site is there for me. i hope the statements made will be true and not misleading.
    thank u

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