I’m often asked about my favourite ways of making money and I’m more than happy to share my experiences of anything from surveys through to mystery shopping and anything in between. I’m not saying I’m perfect, but I try to be transparent and only recommend things that I have tried myself. If you browse the shelves of Amazon or any other book store, you will find hundreds if not thousands of books about how to make money, from stocks, property, reselling, FBA (fufilled by Amazon), starting a business, starting a blog….. the list is basically endless. From things you can think of, to things you would never even have dreamed of, there are millions of books on how to make money, but how do you decide which, if any, to get?
What about books on how to make money?
Imagine if there was a book to make you rich. Don’t you think everyone would have already read it and done the steps? I personally can’t make any recommendations of any books, as I don’t read books about such subjects, but the principles I lay out here apply to any information about making money – online or in print.
Everything I’ve learnt about making money I’ve learnt online via websites and other bloggers, and even then I’ve learnt over the years that there are unscrupulous people who will tell you anything to make a quick buck. The numbers of these is unfortunately rising because of the world and situation we live in – everyone wants to learn about making or earning extra money online so more and more people are popping up telling you how to do it, whether or not they have even been successful at it themselves.
The number of people writing online and offline about making money and how quick and easy it is, is growing rapidly. This satirical article by News Thump titled “How to monetise your blog by making it a blog about how to monetise a blog” is taking the mickey out of the situation where we find ourselves at. I have been sucked in and bought courses and resources which are going to “skyrocket my traffic” and “smash my affiliate income” and ended up out of pocket with nothing to show for it. Just remember that everytime you purchase one of these resources or courses, someone somewhere (and maybe more than one person) is making money from it. Check out my post about whether you can make money from blogging for more information about this.
The person who wrote the course or resource (or in the example of a print book, the publisher and the author) are making money from it, and if someone else has recommended it to you, their link is probably an affiliate link which means they get a percentage or fixed amount of income too from each sale that comes from their link.
I know a lot of people will have purchased these courses and resources and had success from them, but unfortunately no one-size fits all with any kind of income stream. Some of these people may well be making loads of money in the methods they write about or promote, and I’m not trying to say that you shouldn’t trust anyone, but I am encouraging you to use discernment and caution where people are selling these making money opportunities. They are not likely to tell you how hard and how difficult it is. They are going to sell you the dream in order to sell their product or get the sale of their affiliated product. Bear in mind that there is also probably someone, somewhere sharing the same (or similar) information for free.
Sales funnels and other techniques
Sales funnels are a new concept to me, but it basically is a way of moving you from a reader of free resources, to a paying customer. Usually there is some free information which will provide some basic entry level information. This might bring you some level of success or income, and then there might be a resource for which there is a small charge (an eBook or downloadable resource for example). These will provide some additional value, and so before you know it, you’ve ended up in a sales funnel where the end result is for you to become a regular paying customer of someone, and this can be a product or service, and the prices can vary massively.
I’m not saying all sales funnels are bad, but I am again saying to use discernment and sleep on any purchases. Other tools such as “flash sales” or “savings for the first 10 people” to sign up put pressure on you to rush into making purchases which is not helpful and can lead to you rushing into purchasing things which in hindsight are not beneficial or what you actually need.
Conclusion
I am not telling you not to start blogging, or to start a business, or to go in to stocks and shares… what I am saying is that you need to find something that works for you and that you feel comfortable and happy with. If at any point you are being pressurised into spending money or purchasing a product, odds are you should walk away. There are some great paid for resources and books on how to make money, but personally I would go by personal recommendation rather than just because that millionaire author or blogger says you should have it.
Whatever route you decide to take to earn some extra money, do some research, and do some more. Don’t rely on one person, website or book. Speak to other people who are considering the route you are taking, or perhaps have even tried it. If something seems to good to be true, it probably is, but if there is something you want to pursue (blogging or anything else) do it because you want to do it, not because of peer pressure or hard selling tactics. Then maybe you can write the book about making money yourself!
