2018 is already moving fast and it’s time to take a look at what I think are the 3 biggest make money online opportunities for 2018. Here is my roundup of How to Make Money from Home Online Fast…
With all of the shiny objects out there it can be easy to lose focus and jump around from method to method in hopes of striking it rich. You need to choose one thing and stick with it to create a real business online.
I’m going to help you ignore the noise and choose your path to big riches for the upcoming year!
Check out my tips below and feel free to comment if you agree with any of these methods or think there are better ways to make money in 2018 and beyond.
1. E-com
Making money with an e-commerce store or through one of the popular online marketplaces shows no sign of slowing down this year. There are multiple ways to make money with e-commerce online but I believe there are two clear paths to be successful.
Print on Demand – (E-com Method 1)
My favorite e-com method is Print on Demand, which allows you to take any design you have…anything from straight text to complex art and get it printed on a variety of merchandise and fulfilled by a third party. The power of this method is you can quickly test out designs with minimal expenses without the need to carry any physical inventory. Some of the most popular types of print demand merchandise are t-shirts, mugs, and hoodies. Check out these popular sites to get started with Print on Demand and make money with your own artwork. If you do not have design skills you can always outsource designs from one of the many freelance or gig sites on the Web. Here are the top places to get merchandise created for selling:
Where to Sell Print on Demand Shirts?
Some of the above mentioned sites also have allow you to sell on their marketplace, which comes with the bonus of an audience of buyers built in already looking to buy. If you want to completely go on your own the best solution is to build a site with Shopify and use one of the Print on Demand sites that also have an integrated app which handles the ordering process and fulfillment automatically, which makes it easy to sell. You will need to drive traffic on your own with Facebook Ads, AdWords, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, and other methods.
Where to Get Artwork Created for Print on Demand
There are alot of different resources to get designs made for selling print on demand merchandise online. Your options range from cheap ‘gig’ sites like Fiverr to hiring skilled graphic designers at sites like Upwork. You can also get creative and use public domain graphics to make designs. Here are my favorite places and resources to get designs for your Print on Demand projects.
- Fiverr
- Upwork
- Pixabay (Free Public Domain)
- 99 Designs
- Designious
- Canva (Free Online Graphics Editor)
- Creative Market
My Results With Print on Demand
While it is possible to make steady sales over the course of time, your best money making opportunities with print on demand are around the holidays when people are looking to buy gifts. Mugs, shirts, hoodies, and other merchandise with your designs will even more during these times of the year. I got started with this late in 2017…actually October and sales picked up steadily up until the grand finale at Christmas, where I had some profitable days and a great month of December with not much effort involved on my part. If I would have gotten started earlier in the year my profits would have been much more, and a lesson to keep cranking out designs year round! Most of the designs I created myself….but this can give you an idea of the power of print on demand as a means of making sales. Average profit on each item was roughly $10-12 after the costs of producing the merchandise. Here are some examples of profits from just one site…I had quite a few $100+ days.
Daily Profits…
I plan on releasing a full training course in the future on how to come up with design ideas, how to drive traffic and track results, what to sell, along with other tips on where to sell and maximize your chances for making money with print on demand. The course will be a full case study that shows you step by step how to get started. Make sure to signup for my newsletter to receive free updates and info on the upcoming course!
Print on Demand PROS
- Can get started for free if making own designs
- Most popular print on demand services are free to sign up for
- Integration with popular market places allows for built in traffic for designs
Print on Demand CONS
- Lower margins…more of a volume game
- Need to constantly be coming up with new designs
- Styles, colors and offers from Print on Demand companies can change
Dropshipping (E-com Method 2)
E-com method #2 is dropshipping. Dropshipping is a form of arbitrage where you buy an item for a price and sell it at a higher price either through your own website or one of the big marketplaces on the web like Amazon on Ebay. The traditional form of dropshipping has one huge advantage…NO INVENTORY NEEDED!
You locate ‘suppliers’ … either locally or online that allow you to resell the products they carry and they will handle shipping the inventory for you from their warehouse and also include a shipping label or information with your company so it appears that you item came directly from you. You will still provide customer service on the front end to the customer but the fulfillment is handled for you and it is even possible to automate the entire process on the backend after the order is placed so you don’t have to do anything. Dropshipping is a great way to get started with e-commerce stores, and the most popular recent model is opening up a Shopify store and using AliExpress or another cheap source to markup and sell your own full range of products in just about any niche.
Profit Examples from Dropshipping
Just like with Print on Demand…I didn’t really start trying to sell dropshipping items until towards the end of the year and made a fair amount of sales for the Christmas holiday and Black Friday. I have a couple of Shopify stores including a ‘general’ store where I’m selling many different types of products and also a specific niche store where I’m selling to a specific audience and the products are geared towards a more targeted group of people. I drove traffic with a variety of different methods. My sources were from AliExpress and a few online wholesalers. Most of my successful days were just one or two sales…but they added up quickly over the holiday season.
Here are a couple of screen shots of daily sales…
There is alot of potential with dropshipping…especially around the holidays. I plan on spending more time and money testing traffic and seeing what I can get to convert.
Dropshipping PROS
- No need to carry inventory…makes it easy to get started
- Suppliers will fulfill orders for you and send your company information as if you shipped it
- Quick to build a store with Shopify with payment processing
- Higher margins vs. Print on Demand
Dropshipping CONS
- Paid traffic gets the quickest results and you need a budget to get started
- Suppliers can be flaky and it may take several attempts before finding good ones
- Using AliExpress and other overseas sources is slower for customers to receive orders which may impact reputation and reviews
2. Affiliate Marketing
#2 on my list is Affiliate Marketing. Make sure and check out my post Affiliate Marketing 101 for a really detailed explanation of how it works and some ways to get started. In a nutshell…you signup at different affiliate networks, choose offers, drive traffic to the offers and track your results.
There are multiple ways to do affiliate marketing and my two current favorites are blogging and YouTube marketing.
Affiliate Marketing PROS
- Easy to get started with little cost
- Literally tens of thousands of offers to promote
- Multiple ways to drive traffic and ability to track results
Affiliate Marketing CONS
- Typically the customer is ‘owned’ by the merchant of the offer you are promoting and you won’t get their e-mail for future e-mail marketing
- Depending on the traffic generation method you are using it may take longer to see results
- You are at the mercy of merchants and offers (They can change or go away)
3. Blogging
Blogging will always be on my top lists to make money online because the barrier to entry is zero and anyone can have a blog up and running within a few hours (or maybe a day if you are a complete newbie).
When you setup a blog, typically it will be based around a niche or theme and your articles will be relevant to your niche and audience. Over time your audience will grow as people follow you, sign up for your e-mail newsletter, and you will establish a relationship with them. This blog…as an example…has a focus on how to make money on the internet. You ended up here because you also have an interest in improving your life and making money. WHOA!
So how do you get started? It’s a simple as choosing a topic, choosing a domain, setting up a website, and writing. Your only ‘real’ cost is purchasing a domain and whatever you feel your time is worth. I recommend using WordPress to build your site as it is the #1 open source content management system available and offers a ton of free plugins and themes to turn your site into anything you want it to be. If you don’t have the technical skills to build your own site you should consider signing up for my How to Build a WordPress Site for Fun and Profit video course on Udemy. It will give you step by step blueprint of how to start at ground zero and build a blog. You can watch over my shoulder as I create a blog from scratch including picking a niche, keyword research, the technical details of setting up WordPress, how to monetize the site, and driving traffic.
Many people immediately think blogging will be too difficult because they cannot write. HOGWASH!
If you pick a topic you are passionate about it should be easy to write articles and the more you do it the easier it becomes. I challenge you to try it for 30 days…writing even a small article everyday and come back and tell me what the results are. After you get the traffic flowing should start seeing income from whatever monetization method you have chosen.
Blogging PROS
- Easy to get started with almost no cost
- Opportunity to build a brand and ‘own’ your customers and email list
- Many different ways to monetize your site and generate income
Blogging CONS
- Slower to see results vs. other methods
- It can be a grind if you do not enjoy writing
- You need to learn WordPress or other method to create and maintain the website if you are new
Why Should You Listen to Me?
I’ve tried many ‘make money online methods’ and I truly believe these are the most legitimate and offer the best chance to make money as of today. I’ve been doing internet marketing and building websites both personally and professionally since the early 2000’s.
The key is choosing just one of these methods and putting all of your energy into learning it and your success will follow. YOU WILL FAIL and it may seem like you will never make any money but the key is to push through and keep trying until you start figuring out what works for you. I am not a guru that makes millions of dollars online….but I have had some success since starting online marketing and want so share what is working and actions you can take to get a piece of the pie.
I Am Not an Attorney or Tax Lawyer…
If you choose to start any of these methods I highly advise that you talk to an attorney to see about forming an LLC for asset protection and or a dedicated tax advisor to setup up your business properly for paying taxes and getting as many deductions as possible to claim for your business. Failing to plan for future income and paying tax may result in a large tax bill when it comes time to file your taxes, so plan ahead and be smart!
Get Started Now!
I hope you found this post on How to Make Money from Home Online Fast useful on some different ways to make money online. I’d love to hear from you on what you are trying or having success with….feel free to leave comments below and I will respond.