The internet is still a teenager – enough energy to burn the sun, but no clear direction where to go (yet).
Like any teenager, it has unlimited potential, and more and more people are using it to earn a living online. Most aim for the mediocre path, while others strike for more creative goals.
I want to introduce some of these brave souls. All of them are building their digital career through either offering new services or putting an older business model to a new model. I found all of these to be creative, and I know they will inspire you to spread your influence and build a killer online career.
- Create a super-specific service
Catherine Caine is a female energy blast from beawesomeonline . She specializes in web consulting and came up with a pretty cool idea to expand her services: Tagline creation !
Now if you read this blog diligently, you will know by now that I put crazy emphasis on your (brand) story and statement. A cool tagline is essential to any online platform, because it tells the reader/potential client what this whole site is all about.
Catherine knows that too, and that’s why she put that idea into a business model: She helps her clients find an “awe-some” tagline and charges 50 $ dollars for 5 lines. 400 $ were earned the week Catherine started the service. Looks like someone found a golden niche.
Lesson: Everyone’s doing “broad” consulting. If YOU want to do (online) consulting, stand out by being specific with your services. Is there one exact thing in your niche that YOU can help people with ?
- Sell And Develop Your Own Apps (even if You Don’t Know Crap About Software !)
What do Dragos Roua, Nathan Hangen and Pat Flynn all have in common ?
They are ALL hardcore fans of my blog.
Maybe.
What they really have in common is they create Iphone applications – small, downloadable programs that add new features to the device ( calendar, timer, game etc.)
They pay money for the development, and then wait for the approval (Apple doesn’t accept any app !). Once you are in, you wait for hungry customers who are willing to pay a few bucks for your creation !
This is a pretty sustainable business, and especially Pat is killing it with earning a few thousands a month from it.
Lesson: Even you don’t know crap about tech and apps, you can still make a sustainable business from it. Nathan and Pat don’t program the apps themselves – they spend the money on those who know.
- Make The Publisher Lick The Dust. And Become Your Own.
Both Dragos Roua and Nicholas from Sitesketch101 have published their own, REAL books (the thing with paper !) via Amazon’s createspace.
Hold still for a moment and think about this: You can now distribute your own, real books WITHOUT a publisher from any place in the world.
You can close your mouth now ;)
I think this is a BRILLIANT of distributing your work. Getting a book deal anywhere in the world is as nerve-wracking as slamming your head against a metal wall. Now you just get your own free account, and create your own book without even paying for the setup. You only pay a share when you sell your magic.
I haven’t used this service myself, but in a few years, when I’m rich, famous and got enough value to share, I will use this ;)
You can also offer your own music and movies. Nice.
Lesson: Kick the gate keepers back into oblivion. Have a great book idea ? Go publish ! Are you a musician ? Self-distribute online. Filmmaker ? Offer pay on demand. Note: this works best if you already have some kind of (online) authority ! So build your kick-ass online presence first and sell your magic later !
- Create A Cool And Genuine Online Course
Can you take something like affiliate marketing, and create a cool online course around it ? Of course.
When I first heard about affiliate marketing, it sounded uncomfortable in my ears.
But then I found out that some of my favorite mavericks are doing it, and I dived deeper into it.
Affiliate marketing is simply this: You promote someone else’s service/product and enjoy a commission from the sale. In order to make this work the genuine and valuable way, you should OWN the product/ service you actually promote !
Most people who are working online are making money from this model – big sites like Copyblogger are solely based on that business model.
My friend Corbett Bar from Thinktraffic has a very cool course on ethical affiliate marketing – and I’m a member of it.
In fact, I think it’s so cool and genuine, that I became an affiliate for it (my first time ever !).
It’s called Affiliate Marketing for Beginners and it’s $47 and it’s available for purchase starting today, Tuesday, August 10th. That price is for encouraging early adopters, and after 48 hours, it will raise to 87 $.
say hello to Corbett
I luv the course because:
If you think that’s worth a try, go ahead and see it for yourself.
If not, just ignore the last 100 words ;)
Honestly, the digital world is full of endless potential. By either offering unique services, cool self-published books and videos, or valuable ethical affiliate marketing courses, you will earn a nice online income by doing valuable work that inspires.
Do you have a great way of earning (some) income online, or do you want to share an original idea ?
Shoot me in the comments !
And please retweet and Facebook-share this post !
Want to turn visitors into raving customers ?
Fuck yeah !
This is my favorite ecourse for people that HATE sleazy online marketing but want to make money from their site. It's genuine, entertaining and packed with valuable info that helps you make your website profitable like hell.
BTW - I use it myself successfully. It rocks. That's why I'm an affiliate for it ;)
