Looking for somewhere to start

[Lyonnesse]

I got here from "Make money on-line: 101 top ways of making money on the web". I've been vaguely aware of the ways in which people earn money on-line for a while, but never really dug deeply enough to understand the detail.

I have a good job that I enjoy but it ties me to a place I don't want to be. Like all jobs, it could disappear at any moment on the whim of the latest young stag wanting to prove his management credentials through another 'reorganisation'.

My husband and I want to retire while our health is good enough to pursue our dream of touring Europe (and maybe further) in a camper. We need to fund it and I need to keep my brain active, so I figured we need to start now.

I still don't know what I'm going to do. My interests are travel, photography, running and gardening. I've always thought everyone else knows so much more about all those things than me, but it seems that doesn't stop other people.

I've set a timetable of 1 month to read up and become more familiar with all the possibilities, then while I am on holiday over Easter I am going to make a commitment to something and start it. Does that sound like a plan?

[hooperman]

Hi Lyonesse, and welcome to the forums

My husband and I want to retire while our health is good enough to pursue our dream of touring Europe (and maybe further) in a camper. We need to fund it and I need to keep my brain active, so I figured we need to start now.

Building something up while you have the (relative in your case!) security of a job is a good idea.

My interests are travel, photography, running and gardening. I've always thought everyone else knows so much more about all those things than me, but it seems that doesn't stop other people.

That's often the case. As a "for instance", I've built up one particular site in a subject I'm not that interested in, and I don't really know much about. Because I've covered it in so much depth, (I've had to do some research), it's doing really well money wise. With the subjects you mention, you can add your own experience and perspective too.

I've set a timetable of 1 month to read up and become more familiar with all the possibilities, then while I am on holiday over Easter I am going to make a commitment to something and start it. Does that sound like a plan?

It does. It will take more than a month to build something from scratch, but you can certainly read up and set the wheel in motion. As an alternative to building something from scratch, you could also buy an established site, but good ones are hard to find (in my experience, anyway).

[Kay]

I'm involved in the travel and photography niche and it's really difficult to make good money. It's a heck of a lot of fun trying, though. But having fun doesn't pay the bills. You can write for other people, but the pay is nearly always low. You can make your own website(s) but it's a struggle to monetise them. You can also do various other things like sell your photos to stock photo sites. There's lots you can do, and you can do most of it while you're still working and build up your reputation so you get known and also make good contacts. Contacts are very important.

I suggest you join various online groups of like-minded people (such as a travel writers group). These can be very useful for networking, sharing experiences, giving and receiving advice, and getting the heads up on gigs. Even so, the pay is usually very low unless you can hit the big time and write for Conde Nast or similar.

[Clinton]

Hi Lyonnesse, and welcome to experienced-people.net.

Glad you liked my article.

I make a decent living online, but I didn't know about all those methods I wrote about in that article several years ago. It took me a bit of research - much of it within the thousands of emails I've exchanged with website sellers over the years. After I published the article I did a bit of link building. That one article now earns me a four figure sum every month (and that's without stuffing it full of affiliate links, banner ads etc. I haven't sold even a single text link in there).

So it's possible.

Given your time frame, a content site is probably your best bet - there's less learning involved compared with, say, internet marketing or affiliate programs.

Pick your subject of interest. Research what's out there on the topic. Put together information that far surpasses any other site in its usefulness. Build some links. Make money. Gathering and writing the material may take 2-3 weeks, initial link building may take another 2-3 weeks and there's a fair bit to learn in-between. Start a thread if we can help with any of the learning.

[Thomas]

I would say it largely depends on your budget and time restraints. My advice would be totally different if you have cash to invest and no time, compared to being in between jobs and with no cash. It also depends how much return you want on your time (some people are happy with $2000 a month, others aren't happy with $20,000).

Sounds as if you are more the former than latter, especially if you want to travel, so I would probably go with buying an established site. By buying something established you take out the whole learning curve that you would have starting from scratch (which in my experience, involves a lot of trial and error). Getting a site to go from $0 to $1 a day is a lot harder than going from $100 to $200.

Definitely get some advice beforehand, though. It's quite easy to get burned when buying your first site.

[crabfoot]

There's a magazine-style book sold through WH Smith called something like How To Start An Online Business. Usually publications of this type regurgitate old info, but the copy I saw lately has some good stuff in it for the absolute beginner, and pointers to where you can get free learning sources on the web.

As Meathead said, it is easier to improve a site than it is to start one from scratch - but you still have to learn some basics to do that improvement.

For example, learning a little about site building lets you learn how much work actually goes into it, and also gives you an idea of who is offering the best value when you ask people to do work for you.

[Clinton]

Amazing the helpful and quality replies a good opening post can generate!

[crabfoot]

Amazing the helpful and quality replies a good opening post can generate!

Yup, and now I need to make a second post because I'm quoting you, and you fluffed -

Pick your subject of interest. Research what's out there on the topic. Put together information that far surpasses any other site in its usefulness. Build some links. Make money. Gathering and writing the material may take 2-3 weeks, initial link building may take another 2-3 weeks and there's a fair bit to learn in-between.

BE CAREFUL NOT TO COPY - if you gather info from the web, you need to re-write it in your own words, or the search engines will regard it as duplication - then they will ignore it.
Don't be afraid to put "thin" material on a site, ie writing without a lot of substantial facts. That sort of stuff can encourage people to click on your adverts and make money for you ...

[Kay]

Now it's my turn to disagree with Clinton.

Given your time frame, a content site is probably your best bet - there's less learning involved compared with, say, internet marketing or affiliate programs.

There's not much to learn about affiliate programmes. The easiest way is to join one or more of the big networks such as Affiliate Future or Affiliate Window. Then you pick and choose which merchants suit your site. Stick their links on and away you go.

Of course, there's a wee bit to learn about HOW you promote your merchants but a lot of it is common sense. Recommend things you like and/or would use yourself and write about why people should buy these products. I only do content sites but also usually stick aff. promotions in them too.

[tke71709]

There's not much to learn about affiliate programmes. The easiest way is to join one or more of the big networks such as Affiliate Future or Affiliate Window. Then you pick and choose which merchants suit your site. Stick their links on and away you go.

But she is still going to need a way to push those links which is what I think Clinton was getting at. Getting started with a content site is a lot less daunting then getting started with adwords, PPV buys, etc... and involves a much lower outlay in terms of money.