Are you thinking this might be a silly question? Well, you’re not alone, but you’re not alone in asking the question too.
Many, MANY people have the same concern. It’s 2020, the internet has been around for 25 years, surely there are no more opportunities? Wrong.
Does that mean you need to be hot on the heals of the latest trends, or even be the one to start a new trend? No.
Do I need to come up with a great, unique idea?
The internet is ever expanding. And more and more people are spending more and more time online with every passing day. The market is continually growing. And so are the offerings.
There are a multitude of ways to already make money online and the beauty is that there’ll always be something new that people will want, or a new way of doing business on the internet.
One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was; Find a successful business/model that already exists, and make it BETTER. There’s no need to re-invent the wheel. You’re a unique individual with unique talents and ideas. There’s no reason why you can’t find something that works and make it better, more unique, more YOU.
It’s all about the VALUE you can add; get that right and you’ll be unstoppable. It’s a universal law.
Someone already has a strong position in my niche.
Are you sure they’ve got your niche nailed down? I thought that there were only a few, general niches before I got into online business and affiliate marketing. However, I was very wrong. Many “topics” online that you might consider being a niche, can be narrowed down quite remarkably to create unique and targeted niches, which might be something you’re really into.
For example; health and fitness. Is that a niche? Not exactly. If you just targeted health and fitness as your niche, yes, you’d run into some sizeable competition. But what about “Home Ab Workouts”. That’s a much more targeted niche, likely to attract a targeted audience. Think outside the box, there’s an opportunity there. Keyword research is key.
Like I said above, narrow down your specialized niche and bring your views, approach and personality to your content. Serve your target audience, don’t look at them as your meal ticket, even if they are. Add the value, given your audience a reason to come back to your site regularly. Once you achieve that, things will progress exponentially.
Need help to select a niche, don’t know where to start? Read my review of Wealthy Affiliate who have plenty of training available (FREE) to help you.
But I have no experience making money online.
Everyone had to start somewhere. But starting is better than not starting at all. The beauty of the internet is that there are many resources out there that can teach you what you want and need to learn. There are also a lot of scams and crooks, so you have to be alert and always use common sense.
Do some research and see which model best serves you. Which appeals most, which business can you see yourself in? Which business best fits with your risk profile? Find some quality training online, implement it and make a start.
Start now, get perfect later, to steal a quote from Rob Moore. The biggest mistake (if you can call inaction a mistake) is that most people are waiting for everything to line up perfectly before they begin. The perfect storm is rare, and you could be waiting a long time before you end up dipping your toe.
Get the basics together, build a foundation and then get involved. Dips your toes or belly flop into the deep end. You learn best through practical implementation of what you’ve learned. And you grow the most when you’re outside your comfort zone.
So take the dive, take action. Your future self will thank you for it.
I don’t have a lot of money to get started
Let’s be honest, if you had tons of money, you probably wouldn’t be researching the internet for online money making ideas or trying to build an online business or trying to nail down how to make money from home with the internet etc.
But a lack of money isn’t a barrier to entry in the online business world. Well, not all online businesses. Some do require capital, but some others just require a few bucks and a whole lot of gumption.
Does that mean you can do it 100% for free? Probably, but that’s not the approach I’d take – it almost always ends up costing you more in the long run (e.g time, mistakes etc.). But you should invest in yourself and take it seriously.
Spending a bit of money on proper education and setting up your business has benefits; credibility of your sites (free packages often have generic domain names etc.), plus is gives you more reason to put in the effort to make sure you haven’t wasted your money.
But there are ways to be clever about it and start small (and cheaply) and scale your way up. If you’re interested, read my review on Wealthy Affiliate here.
Conclusion
The internet is by no means exhausted in its ability to generate money. Yes, with every passing day there’s more competition out there, but there are also many more opportunities. It is widely believed that procrastination is a form of laziness, but in fact, more and more research is suggesting that it’s a source of FEAR. What fear exactly? It depends, each person is different, but ultimately it could be a fear of change. Change can be uncomfortable, but outside of your comfort zone is where you grow.
So take the plunge, stop putting off that idea, that dream, that goal. The internet can offer many sources of income and often with a very low entry fee.
If you’d like to see my preferred choice for an online business, CLICK HERE.
Stop putting off tomorrow and seize today.
Wishing you all the best.
Hi Gazza,
This is a really informative and insightful article. I am looking for other ways to make money since lockdown has reduced how much work we are getting, and how much money we are making a month.
Since reading your article I have come up with an idea that I think could really work. I will let you know how I go and if I need any further help or advice, I will get in touch.
Thank you for sharing and keep up the great work.
All the best,
Tom
Hi Tom,
Thanks for the comment and for checking out my post.
I’m really glad that it’s helped you – that’s fantastic to hear 🙂 I’d be really keen to hear how you get on, thanks!
Take care and best of luck.
Cheers,
Gareth
Hi Gazza,
I couldn’t agree more with you. The possibilities are practically endless, just need to be spotted. However, I myself have heard, more than once, someone not only asking the same question, but also answering it right away, with a yes, of course. I think people are not very well informed on the subject, thus can make only an uninformed guess, reasoning similarly as you laid it out. More texts written this well, as yours, could certainly open some eyes and actually help starting off with online money making.
Hi Minaher,
Thank you for the note and for the kind compliments 🙂
I’m glad that the post was helpful and hopefully it will help more and more people like you believe.
All the best,
Gareth
Hi Gazza, I don’t think it’s ever too late to make money online. There are endless possibilities if you take the affiliate marketing route. I think it’s important to choose something you are passionate about and like you say narrow your niche down to a targetted audience – that way it’s easier to get high rankings in the search engines. People are searching for independent reviews nowadays, rather than a sales pitch.
All the best with your business,
Simon.
Hey Simon, thanks for your thoughts.
Agree completely regarding choosing your niche. You need something that interests you otherwise the momentum will wear off.
Take care and all the best.
Gareth
Recently I have been thinking along the same lines as a lot of the things that you’ve mentioned in this article – especially about how it can be important to narrow down the niche of a website more precisely.
Yep, and how many niches are actually out there when you dig a little deeper. Plus, there are more daily as more and more people start gaining access to the internet. Thanks for the comment Simon.
Cheers,
Gareth
I think that the abilities of the online business model are still in the early years of its development. We are currently in the middle of a work from the home revolution which benefits all people involved and reduces our impact on Earth.
Couldn’t agree more – working from home has so many benefits; more time for you/family, less carbon footprint, cost savings on travel.
All the best in your journey!
It is never too late. Just have to make that first step! Making money online can be quite rewarding because you will see your hard work coming through.
Agreed – nothing better than being properly rewarded for all your hard work, without having the rewards determined by an employer! Thanks for the comment Brian 🙂
This makes me very hopeful. I’ve always thought about trying to make money online, but just didn’t know where to start. Right now, I need it more than ever and I am feeling very motivated! Thank you for this insight
You’re very welcome 🙂 I’ll be adding more posts and detail in the near future. Take care.
What a motivational read! I absolutely love to be part of this amazing community of online business, where like minded people are not only motivating but supporting to get out there and turn your dreams into reality.
Many Thanks for that.
All the very best to you
Rani
Hi Rani,
Appreciate the positive feedback – you can’t go wrong with Wealthy Affiliate!
All the best in your online journey.
Gareth
Hey Gazza thanks for sharing such a motivational post. I’m sure there are a lot of people confused when it comes to starting an online business and you did a good job of guiding then in the righr direction.
Thanks Mohammed, I appreciate the kind words! 🙂
All the best,
Gareth
Hi Garreth,
I enjoyed reading your article and definitely agree with a lot of the points that you made. It is never too late to get started, and I truly believe each person has 1 very specialized skill they can do better than the rest, and this is where like you said, micro-niching comes into play.
Warm regards,
Sonia
Thanks Sonia,
Yep, when you break it down, there are actually plenty of niches out there.
All the best,
Gareth
It is never too late to start making money online. I think we are only seeing the very early stages of how this industry is developing. Eventually, almost everything we do will be online, including working from home.
How long do you think it would take to start an online business?
Thank you for sharing.
Hey Catherine,
Very true – it’s only a matter of time, given how quickly technology has progressed!
Depending on what you’re doing, I would expect a 3-6 month lead time before making consistent money. If pursued actively, it’s not uncommon to go full time from 9-12 months.
It’s not an overnight process, but given that it can be done in your spare time, not a bad result!
Wishing you all the best,
Gareth