Who here makes a living off their site?

Daddyoftwoboys · #1 (**permalink**) 09-15-2008, 02:58 AM

I am curious as to how many people make money off their site and what it is the site does to make money.

Looking for ideas on which direction to go

lisa · #2 (**permalink**) 09-15-2008, 08:14 AM

I make a living but my way isn't necessarily best for everyone. Me personally, I enjoy writing and teaching so that's why I went the direction of an affiliate/tutorial website. But there are so many other ways to make money.

1) You can do pay per click marketing (very tricky to learn and you can spend a lot of money learning but well worth the payout if you can master it.

2) You can sell your own products (hard or digital goods like ebooks, etc.)

3) You can become a dropshipper. This is where you buy products wholesale, take orders and the manufacturer ships the product directly to the customer

4) You can build a niche store where you sell products in a specific niche. http://www.buildanichestore.com is a popular site that teaches you how to do this through your ebay affiliation

This is only a small list. I would suggest you pick the option that interests you the most. The great news is, all of these methods and more can work very well once you find a method that works for you.

TechieGuy · #3 (**permalink**) 09-15-2008, 08:45 AM

I never knew about building niche store as an eBay affiliate. Does anyone know if someone has been successful at this?

lisa · #4 (**permalink**) 09-15-2008, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TechieGuy

I never knew about building niche store as an eBay affiliate. Does anyone know if someone has been successful at this?

I don't know anyone personally, but I've gotten emails over the years from a couple of people who make a living doing this. I wish I remembered what their URLs were because I'd post them here. Super affiliate Zac Johnson sometimes blogs about his BANS experience.

See this post...

http://zacjohnson.com/incredible-bui...-store-themes/

Daddyoftwoboys · #5 (**permalink**) 09-15-2008, 11:50 AM

Thank you so much for your help Lisa, you have no idea how great a feeling it is to have someone who is willing to help that isnt working some angle to get money from you. I know I have been only here a few days but I feel as if you are going to be a good mentor and teacher to me as well as the other members.

As for what you mentioned about the ways to make money I am very interested in actually what you do. I absolutely love helping people, its always been the way I am putting others before me when they need help no matter who it is but I am afraid I dont think I know anything worth helping wth that isnt already done by a lot of people that know more than me.

If I were to say the three things I am talanted at are Driving (normal safe driving, even considered being an instructor), Playing video games (lol been doing that since I was 6 20 years and counting) and computers ( building them and fixing them).

So I dont think the thing I am most passionate about is possible to get a pupular site on.

As for the 3) You can become a dropshipper, I assume you build a store with items that you have got a deal on with wholesalers so you get it for less from them but are able to sell at a competitive retail priice? I think that is one of the ideas I like, not actually getting the physical product but being a middle man by connecting sutomers to them wholesaler for a tiny %, am I correct in that?

With the 4) You can build a niche store I think that it might be possible to somehow impliment this in the cheerleading canada site I have had for a bit but I am not sure how to go about it. I will check out that site you mentioned

jazzguy · #6 (**permalink**) 09-15-2008, 07:59 PM

I make a nice living as a web designer for other people but I also make a nice income off my own sites as well. That being said, the day that I decided to not build a site to make money but to build a site that I would be proud of in the coming years, that would be a service to a community, in this case Jazz Guitar and that I cared deeply for..(being one myself)...that was the day that I created my most successful site. Not only in terms of dollars but in terms of getting to meet and even play with some of my long time Jazz Guitar heroes, meeting new artists and getting to promote them, and I can't count how many CD's, DVD's and instructional books I have received over the years. I have even been invited to a few Jazz festivals to attend shows and events on their dime. But I have worked hard for those privileges. For three years I worked a ton on that site updating, adding interviews and doing reviews and it was only in March of this year that I decided to add some monetization. In less than a week I had made up my server costs for the last four years and I now have a site that has turned a profit and will keep on doing so. Mind you, I would still be doing the site if there was no way of monetizing it...which I think is the key in making a site last. Now, I have made sites for the sole purpose of making some money, but my most important sites have been one's that I have done, and would do, just for the pure love of it. Find that in yourself and your site and it'll be a joyous thing. Take care and all the best.

lisa · #7 (**permalink**) 09-15-2008, 08:25 PM

Good advice jazzguy,

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daddyoftwoboys

As for what you mentioned about the ways to make money I am very interested in actually what you do....

So I dont think the thing I am most passionate about is possible to get a pupular site on.

I don't see why you couldn't do something like I do with your building computers topic. Any type of "how to" or problem-solving site can go over well if you can come up with a nice angle and develop a trustworthy site. Have you researched any other sites like this? I often do this to get ideas for what is already out there. Then I try to come up with an angle that I don't believe has been focused on.

Video game affiliate sites are popular but just like anything else, coming up with the right angle is key. I see a lot of sites that highlight a few video games but they don't go the extra mile to make the site unique. So I think you definitely have some options but it's about really digging deep and coming up with an angle that will set you apart from your competitors.

netg · #8 (**permalink**) 09-18-2008, 06:35 AM

Well currently I am just adding adsense to my account. But I am planning for affiliate program as well, lets wait for few days.

I have also directory where I am charging few bucks as well.

jonathanfigaro · #9 (**permalink**) 05-30-2009, 03:24 PM

I am definitely, living off working online. I no longer work for my boss, which is a great feeling, to actually work for yourself and make as much as you want with out a salary cap or being told to that you have to take 2 week vacation! I think everyone should make money online, for some people it may take a while but the journey is worth it!

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