I built websites for years because I loved sharing info I had, helping people out and being creative. I had attempted unsuccessfully to make money through Amazon and made a few sales through a hostel booking system but it took me years to start earning any decent money. Here are the ways I monetise my websites:
- Google Adsense – This program has been around for years and has been the cause of much frustration. When I first started out in late 2004 I was amazed to be getting paid more than pennies per click and my $30 in my first month was what opened my eyes to the possibilities of earning online. Adsense is something that I can count on to be pretty steady each month. There’s not a lot of fluctuation in my earnings at the moment and things are steadily rising but it’s a long term commitment and should only be one piece of the web earnings puzzle. Putting all your eggs in the Adsense basket is risky because Google can boot you out at any time with no explanation.
- Affiliate programs – I’m no expert on affiliate marketing but I do know that that’s where the money is! Finding programs can be time consuming and frustrating but when you get a good match it will pay off. Before I’d made my first decent sale with an affiliate program I could have sworn the whole thing was some sort of scam made up to taunt me. But I tried a few different programs and eventually I made a few sales and then a few more and now I’m all about affiliates! If you’re not getting any sales at all then try something else. Keep trying different things because something will work eventually.
- Link sales through Digital Point – This forum is a goldmine for link sellers even if your sites are crappy. Money flies around this forum like crazy and it’s a good place to come to top up your Paypal account. I’m trying to phase this out because I find the links to be a bit spammy but it’s served me well in the past. Finding this forum is what kicked my earnings up to the next level.
- Approach businesses to sell ads – This is something I’ve done twice and been successful both times. If you’ve got a site that is aimed at their target market and can manage to get in touch with the person who deals with their marketing then you’ll be in with a chance. If you’ve got a good website with a clear target market that is in line with the businesses you approach then you’ve got something to offer.
- Text Link Ads – Getting into this program should set you on your way towards earning some seriously easy money. Once you’re accepted and place the code, TLA do everything for you and the links appear automatically once they’re approved by you. The problem is that they’re a bit picky about which sites they let into the program. I’ve had a few sites turned down. They say they review the rejected sites once a month to see if they’ve changed their mind but I’ve yet to hear back from them. I think the problem is that the sites are only PR2. I would suggest waiting until your site is a PR4 before you apply to protect against getting stuck in no man’s land like me.
- Linkworth – I was doing well with Linkworth for awhile but then they dumped all my links! Little buggers. But they work for a lot of people so give them a go as well. They offer a bigger payout than Text Link Ads at 70% and you can set your own price but the process isn’t automated so you have to add new links manually. It only takes a few minutes though so not really a big deal.
If you’re totally stumped about how to monetise your site, have a browse around sites that are similar to see what they’ve done. Scroll over their links to see which affiliate websites they use and then head to the affiliate site for a browse around.
There are plenty of other ways to earn a buck like selling ebooks, doing paid reviews and… uh… other stuff that I can’t think of at the moment. I’m still relatively new to all this and will keep you posted on any new money making methods I come across.
Leave a Reply