(by 5 people)
The basic tenet of this lens is to take a subject or hobby that you enjoy doing and with a website turn it into a way to make some extra money.
It can be difficult to earn money with a website and before you dish out your hard earned cash on a book, program or ebook get advice from a webmaster who has been doing it for years. There are many programs and opportunities you can join and take advantage of without spending a penny.
What is this Lens all about?
Practical advice on making money for real
If I were making loads of money on the internet I wouldn't be selling a book on how to make loads of money on the internet. That seems to be the way it is often done with money making website stuff.
There is something about that approach that doesn't sit well with me and I won't do it here. You will not get to the bottom of this page, or any other page on this lens, and discover that you will learn all my secrets by buying an ebook. It just won't happen.
So what is this all about?
This lens is all about doing something you really enjoy, make a little business out of it and making some money with it. I am doing it and I will show you everything I have learned -for free.
The focus here is in doing all of this with as little expense as possible -most of the things you can do will cost you nothing.
There is something about that approach that doesn't sit well with me and I won't do it here. You will not get to the bottom of this page, or any other page on this lens, and discover that you will learn all my secrets by buying an ebook. It just won't happen.
So what is this all about?
This lens is all about doing something you really enjoy, make a little business out of it and making some money with it. I am doing it and I will show you everything I have learned -for free.
The focus here is in doing all of this with as little expense as possible -most of the things you can do will cost you nothing.
What you should do - 14 Steps
Here is a step by step list of the things you should do to get your money generating website going. This list assumes you are an absolute beginner.
- Brainstorm and find a subject that you are interested in
- Get a website: Either 1 a real domain or 2 a free domain
- Get software for making a website (I have some free software for you and a tutorial on how to use it
Create your first website -It only has to be a few pages to get started - Now add some real content to your site
- Add some money making components to your website
Become an Amazon.com affilite
Become an AllPosters.com affiliate - FTP your website (This means you get the website from your computer to the internet) Again I have some free software that you can use and a tutorial on how to use it
- Register with the search engines so people can find you (Free)
- Creatively advertise and publicize your website
- Add more content and information to your site
- Add more money-making components to your site
- Add tracking to your site so you can understand what people like and what they visit
- Expand the types of information that your website covers by:
Creating a bulletin board
Creating a Newsletter - Now that your website is making money you can spend a little bit to make more money
Buy a domain if you don't yet have one
Advertising with google
Advertising on other websites - examine your site with an impartial eye, look at similar sites, refine your site and continue to improve it.
The Importance of Keywords
If you want to be successful with a website you have to understand keywords
When you are looking for a webpage on a subject what do you do? You go to a search engine and type in some words right?
Those words you type are keywords and they are very relevant to the topic. Are these the same words that other people type into search engines? Sometimes yes and sometimes no.
You need to gain an understanding of what words people use when searching and having this understanding you can write better blog pages and web pages - which will bring you more and better traffic.
Those words you type are keywords and they are very relevant to the topic. Are these the same words that other people type into search engines? Sometimes yes and sometimes no.
You need to gain an understanding of what words people use when searching and having this understanding you can write better blog pages and web pages - which will bring you more and better traffic.
Links to Information and tutorials
All written by the author of this lens
There are a number of things you can do to make money with a website. Here is a list of many of the things that will get you started.
- Checklist before you get started
- There are a lot of things you can do. You might want to look at or print out this checklist.
- Brainstorming Ideas
- If you don't specifically have a topic that you want to turn into a money making website this brainstorming essay will help you decide on what you like and what would be suitable for website income.
- Finding and adding content to your site
- This is the most important thing you can do. You will drive websurfers and potential customers to your site if you have content that they find important, useful or informative.
- Creavitve ways to drive traffic to your site
- It isn't just enough to have great content on your site. You also have to have people find you. Here are some creative ways to drive people to your site.
- Using the free Google Adwords
- Google AdSense is a great program that will advertise on your site and pay you! The great thing about this program is that it will place ads that are related to the content of your site. And of course it is totally free!
- Amazon - The affiliate King
- Affiliate programs offer a way for you to advertise and sell products that are related to your website. They cost nothing and you make a profit on every sale. This link helps you set yourself up on the amazon.com affiliate program.
- Free web design software
- FrontPage Express is free web design software that you can use to make basic websites.
You can download this software at this link. - ftp your website up to a server
- If you are not familiar with the term "ftp" don't be put off by it. It is a simple piece of software that puts files from your computer up onto a server on the internet where other people can browse to it.
- Sell Posters on your website
- Posters are a fantastic way to make money with your website. They have a great payout and there are posters and other items that will surely match your website's subject. I recommend AllPosters.com. THey have been around a long time and have a great selection. Their affiliate program is free to join.
- How to make money on the internet without spending a dime
- How to make money on the internet without spending a dime
Of course you need a computer and internet hookup. But you probably already have this, seeing as you are reading this webpage!
(If you have come here from my www.thecreativewebmaster.com website the top of this article is t - The Creative Webmaster.com » You can make money while learning how to do something you love
- Interesting, hands-on article about doing something you love, learning and earning as you go - with the help of a website.
- How to put audio on your website - for free of course
- Easy guide to getting customized audio messages on your website. Connect with your web visitors.
Start a Free Blog
You are passionate about your hobby- and you know a lot about it
You have a lot of know how about your chosen hobby and this is what your money making website is all about. So how do you leverage this knowledge into making money?One of the best ways to do this is by creating a blog.
The picture at the right is a screenshot of my blog on epic fantasy. The Heroic Dreams Blog
There are plenty of people out there that are hungry to learn more about your chosen subject. And they will pore over the things you say about it. They want to hear your opinion and get your advice and tips.
SO how do you create revenue from a blog? You insert google adwords and amazon links into your blog. The beauty of this is that all the links are relevant to your topic which increases the chances that your web visitor will click on them. And when they click on them you earn money. You can also use the blog as a pointer to guide readers to your main website thus increasing traffic.
You can start your own blog for free and Blogger is a company that I use to blog. They help you to sign up for google adsense and make it easy to insert the code.
Start your own free blog with Blogger
Books on Amazon.com
These are hand-picked recommendations
How to Make Money Online with eBay, Yahoo!, and Google
Amazon Price: $19.77 (as of 12/02/2008) 
The Neatest Little Guide to Making Money Online (Neatest Little Guide Series)
Amazon Price: (as of 12/02/2008)
Making Money on the Net (Made Painless)
Amazon Price: (as of 12/02/2008)
Affiliate Selling: Building Revenue on the Web
Amazon Price: $27.35 (as of 12/02/2008)
Complete Idiot's Guide to Making Money with Your Hobby
Amazon Price: (as of 12/02/2008)
Multiple Streams of Internet Income
Amazon Price: $22.36 (as of 12/02/2008)
Web links with useful help and information
Links to websites and information that will give you solid advice on making money with a website.
I have carefully filtered these sites to leave out the hyped ones. Just good information that will help.
I have carefully filtered these sites to leave out the hyped ones. Just good information that will help.
- Wilson Web
- I have been subscribing to Dr. Wilson's newsletter for a long time. He has a lot of outstanding information about advertising your website, programs, email campaigns and search engine optimization.
I recommend you sign up for the free newsletter. He currently has over 120,000 subscribers for a reason. - Article about Affiliate programs
- This is a nice article that explains the basics of Affiliate programs. It is located at Entrepreneur.com
- Newsletter: Remarkable Marketing
- This is a great newsletter by the Marketing Maven. Sign up for free.
Marketing is often the area of web development that people overlook. - Increase your amazon book sales with the Unspun widget
- Use the New Amazon Tool called Unspun to boost your book sales
Amazon.com has teamed up with the Unspun company to bring you another resource for generating interest and selling books. It is the unspun ranking tool.
It's a nice little widget that comes in a neat little piece of code th - The Creative Webmaster
- Blog for little webmasters looking to be creative with a hobby and monetize their sites and blogs.
Free Affiliate Programs
Sell other companies products on your website
There are many high quality affiliate programs where you can advertise another company's products on your website. If a customer buys something you get a percentage of the profit. These affiliate programs cost you nothing!
- Amazon.com Associate Program
- Books, Movies, Music - Just about Everything
This is the company that started the whole affiliate program. They have just about everything you could possibly want to sell on your website. Absolutely free and the take is usually around 5% of the item price. I have sold thousands of dollars worth of amazon products from dvd's to cd's and books. - AllPosters Free Program
- Posters, Art Prints, Magnets, Movie Posters, More
The AllPosters.com Affiliates Program is a great way to make money with your website. All you have to do is place links on your site to AllPosters.com. When your site visitors click on your links and make purchases at AllPosters.com, you earn 25%-30% of the sale.
Sign up today!
