My Journey To Online Monetization
“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
Bilbo Baggins, Fellowship Of The Ring: J.R.R. Tolkien
In May, 2007 I started thinking of ways I could monetize my website. I’m a business owner, and I was looking for a backup plan. Suppose something happened where I could not make my natural beauty products? How would I manage? I definitely didn’t want to be dipping into my savings & investments and I knew I didn’t want to go back to working for someone else.
Venturing Into Unknown Territory
I began searching for ways that I could make money online. You don’t have to step far outside your virtual home to find ways to make money online. You don’t believe me? Take a virtual stroll to one of the search engines, social networking websites, businesses, etc., and you will find many who are eager to tell you how to make money online. Be careful that you can separate the facts from fiction. Trust me, it’s not easy. I also noticed that some of the ones telling others how to make money online did not know what they were talking about. Imagine that?
Make money online websites are everywhere and frankly, for the most part, they bore me. From a business aspect, it wasn’t appealing to me since many websites I visited only fed people tiny bites at a time. I would think, “It takes a lot more than that! Also some people seemed to believe that the pros were making the majority of their money for their make money online websites. You don’t need to go far to see the copycat make money online websites. They are everywhere. I could not help thinking, “How in the world do people think they are going to succeed that way?” It takes a lot of work? Write about what you know.
Granted I had a lot to learn about online monetization (I still do) and that was ok. I was willing learn, make mistakes, and yes sacrifices. I always like having a backup plan. Besides, I knew that I could make money online if I applied myself. Some of you have been with me through my journey. You’ve watched adsense blocks appear on the sidebar, and then you saw them disappear. I did “ok” with the adsense blocks. My first month I made a little over $40, and each month it keeps increasing and even though they are now sunk within my comments they still do well.
Many of my long time readers have read the reviews that I was paid to write and some of you even commented on those post. You were also around when I introduced Vegan Momma’s sole sponsor. At the close of November, I reached the point where I was close to paying all my bills via online monetization. Did I make all my money from Vegan Momma? No, but I effectively used this website to promote some of my other websites. Guess what, a lot of my other websites don’t use adsense. They do use affiliate marketing.
Still not satisfied I decided to explore other ways to make money online I turned my attention back to the world wide web. I put the blinders on and ignored the make money online websites. I let my fingers do the walking. Yes there are many ways you can make money online. You just have to look for them. For example, you can get paid to take photos. Imagine that? I have taken thousands of photos and you can actually make money selling them. If you come from an administrative background, you can work at home as a virtual office assistant or work in a virtual call center.
Do you have a technology background? You can find work also there are many freelance websites out there that cover a variety of jobs. I passed this information onto friends that were looking to work at home. Direct sales are another way you can make money online. You can buy at wholesale prices and sell the products at variety of online sources like Ebay. I have a friend who makes over six figures yearly selling items on Ebay. Of course, you can make money as a freelance writer.
My Bills Were Paid Using Online Monetization
December 2007 I made it! All my bills were paid via online monetization. It was a great feeling. It didn’t come easily. It took a lot of research and deciding what was best for me, but I did it. The sacrifices I’ve made have been worth it. I set goals for myself. Although it’s still too early I believe it will keep progressing. It’s nice to have a backup plan. I’m not solely dependent on my natural skin care business. I like that feeling.
If you’re looking to make money online I would highly recommend that you educate yourself. You also need to realize it won’t be easy. It doesn’t work that way. Yes, you’re going to have to work. You will work hard. Don’t tell me you thought it would be easy? ;-) Remember what works for one person might not work for another. You also have to have a lot of patience and realize that mistakes is part of the process. I know you’ve heard that before but it’s true.
“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
Bilbo Baggins, Fellowship Of The Ring: J.R.R. Tolkien
I posted the above statement at the beginning of my post. I’ve always liked it and well I’ve always like Tolkien. He was a brilliant man and a master storyteller. I wish I could have chatted with him while he was on this earth. If I didn’t have a map to keep me on course I to would have been swept down some mysterious path. I would suggest that you treat your make money online goals just like a business. If you think about it that’s exactly what it is. You need to make plans, research, put in the hours, and yes sacrifices.
To help you with your business I would recommend you check out Cath Lawson’s business advice blog this wonderful woman gives sound business advice read her post Is One Of Your 5 Disorders Making You Poor. I regularly tune into her same time, same virtual home because I love how this woman thinks!
You want more? Hurry on over to IttyBiz. I met Naomi yesterday. I like her direct approach and I know I’ll be visiting her virtual home for a long time. Naomi offers working from home tips that help you stay sane. Read her post What The Hell Is Branding? I met her through JCM Enterprises.
JCM Enterprises provides copywriting service for websites. I’ve seen James on the freelance writing circuit. His post are very informative. He makes you want to click on his name. That’s how I found out about him. Please read his post Three Rules Of Freelancing Online For Happy Clients.
Whew! My fingers are getting tired but I have more….
There are some changes coming to Vegan Momma and some of my other websites.
Upcoming Changes
- Vegan Momma needs a face lift - Within the upcoming months, I’ll be hiring a web designer it’s about time Ms. Vegan Momma received a touch up wouldn’t you agree? I’m sick of this theme. I’m looking for something, clean, crisp, and minty fresh.
- Interviews & guest bloggers will be featured on vegan momma - If you are, a regular you will see some readers that you know, but many will be new to you. Quite a few of them will be newcomers or have websites that don’t receive a lot of traffic. It doesn’t matter they are darn good websites. Sure it’s important to recognize the popular bloggers but I think it’s even more important to recognize those who don’t have an audience. Many of us knows what it’s like to be the new blogger or have a website that doesn’t get a lot of traffic.
- I’m hiring writers - I’ll most likely start hiring writers next month. I’m going to start with one website and eventually expand to include the majority of my websites. Stay tuned I’ll be posting a Vegan Momma is hiring page, or something to that effect. I’ll let you know when it is up.
- Contest & other goodies right around the corner- Ok, this is something I’ve been working on for a while I’ll be offering something next month for the lucky winner!
- Work at home opportunities page - I have many people that ask me about work at home opportunities over the past several months I’ve sent leads to some of my buddies some of them got hired. I don’t receive a commission I just like helping others whenever possible. I might as well put the information on its own page, right? These are places I’ve found and reviewed during my own quest to make money online. I know they aren’t scams. There are many out there. I was thorough. A few of my friends have received jobs with some of the organizations that will be added to the page.
Please let me know what you think about the upcoming updates. If you want to see other things now is the time to make the suggestion within the post or contact me. I do respond to my emails. Also don’t forget to visit these fabulous bloggers.
I’m hoping everyone has a sparkling day!
Blessings,
-Opal Tribble
[tags]Cath Lawson, Ittybiz, JCM Enterprises, business plan, freelance writing, vegan momma[/tags]
on January 6th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
[...] online community. The best part is … it’s all 100% free! Check them out here: Join Hey Nielsen! My Journey To Online Monetization saved by 1 others takemyusedromance bookmarked on 01/06/08 | [...]
on January 6th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Thanks for the link and the kind words, Opal. It sounds like you’ve had quite the journey so far and that you’ve learned a lot - mostly, that success comes from hard work and not some fast scheme.
Oh, but don’t you wish it were true…!
on January 6th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
You’re more than welcome. I enjoy reading your comments. You add to the discussion.
Re: WAH
I wish it were easy then perhaps I could actually sit at home and do nothing all day. (Ok maybe that would drive me nuts.) That’s what people who work from home do, right? :lol: At least that is what some of my friends/acquaintances think. I work harder now than I’ve ever worked at any job.
on January 6th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Hi Opal - thank you for your kind words.
It’s great that you’ve managed to make enough money online to pay your bills in such a short time. Especially given that there’s so much misleading info out there.
Many people are probably struggling to make a dime because they’ve been given advice that just doesn’t work
And I’m glad that you’re going to be outsourcing some of your work. That should free up your time to work on the more important things and also prevent you from collapsing from exhaustion.
CatherineL’s last blog post..The 10 Commandments Of A Genius Franchisor
on January 6th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Catherine L,
Thanks, My bills aren’t that high so it wasn’t too hard to achieve. Compared to some my expenses are low. I don’t overspend. Well, I will indulge in books. I admit it I’m addicted to literature. Overall I’m low maintenance however being able to pay my bills with what I made online still feels great. :-)
I’ve been looking for ways I could free myself from some of my blogging tasks (which admittedly I created) for quite some time. I’m now at the point where I can do this. A portion of the money I’ve made online will go back into “marketing/administrative expenses”. One of my long term goals is to make more money online than I do with my regular business however that will take a long time.
I do think having an established website helped me tremendously with my online monetization also I was willing to take risks and work long hours to make it happen.
on January 6th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Thank You so much for the information. I have been researching making money online for about a year now and am still up to my eye balls in information.
Tiffany’s last blog post..If you Agree
on January 6th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Interesting stuff!
I’ve stopped trying to monetize Exit78 for now. I’ll still be posting on it, but , for the next few months, I’m going to be concentrating on hawcreekoutdoors.com. Once I have it where I think it can go, I’ll start looking at other opportunities.
I’ll still be posting on Exit78, on a regular basis, on a wide range of interests. Stay tuned!
Mike’s last blog post..No, it?s not a joke ? it?s amazing!
on January 6th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Well, this is all exciting! I think it is daring to make all these changes but I know you have done your homework so I’m really not worried. I also don’t think the changes are going to scare away your loyal readers as long as it’s not YOU who is changing!
I know I don’t have to worry about that either. But it is definitely worth making the changes and seeing how it goes. I bet it works well. And yes, you are right - I like the changes you made at your other sites so I think it is about time for Vegan Momma to get her facelift at this site too. I can’t wait to see what kind of results you have - I know they will be good but I’d still like to hear it from you in an update in the near future. Good plans, Opal! I likey. :grin:
teeni’s last blog post..Why Don?t My Pictures Look Like These?
on January 6th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
So many ways to make money online and so little effective ones… Your journey through the web business universe gave you a fair picture of how most of the people pretend making money. The vast majority of those are copycat of the same method.
Web site monetization is achieved through the same old venue, be it ad publishing (ex. Adsense, Kontera, etc.), ad space/traffic selling, or affiliate marketing. Did anyone know about any another way? Please let me know.
Great post Opal!
Javier.-
on January 6th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Tiffany,
You’re more than welcome.
Mike,
I cannot wait to see what you have in store for Haw Creek as I told you before I like the name for some reason it makes me think of the series “The Sugar Creek Gang” I would read when I was a child. I imagine because they both have the word “creek” in it and those boys were always outdoors camping, hiking, and going out wild adventures.
teeni,
Thanks, I’ll definitely be updating during the entire process. I cannot just leave my readers hanging.
workathome,
There are more ways than that to make money, freelancing, freelance writing to be specific, has been very good for me. I marketed some on vegan momma but my main source was following up with my business clients. As I posted above you can “make money online” doing traditional things. More companies are outsourcing their work to work at home professionals. I’ve noticed that many people put on blinders when it comes to making money online. They think of reviews, adsense, affiliate marketing, direct sales without looking at the bigger picture. There are more ways to make money. Think outside the box at times people don’t even know they are in a box but they are.
You don’t need a lot of traffic to make money online. You can get paid to blog, answer phones, do administrative work, design websites, code, etc., Whatever you are interested in search the net and I imagine you might find a virtual job that pays.
Thanks for stopping by. :-)
on January 6th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
I knew this would be a great post as soon as I saw the quote from Tolkien.
Here’s one of my favorites from The Hobbit:
“The road goes ever, on and on
Down from the door where it began
Now far ahead the road has gone
And I must follow if I can
Pursuing it with eager feet
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet
And wither then I cannot say.
on January 6th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
This is a great post - thank you so much for your hard work in providing us with it. I love your blog!
on January 6th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
once again, thanks for the info.
i’ve picked up a lot of great tips from reading your blog. i appreciate you sharing what you know, and what’s worked (and not worked) for you.
i abandoned monetizing my blog. but i’m going at it again…just in a different manner.
thanks again for all the useful info.
dara’s last blog post..One of My Favorite Photos
on January 6th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Wow Opal, seems like 2008 is gonna be a heck of a year for you and for this site! Can’t wait to see what it ends up looking like in a couple months.
Best of luck in the New Year!
Bush Mackel’s last blog post..Saturday Speedlinkin X
on January 7th, 2008 at 4:05 am
Tim,
Thanks!
The Hobbit was filled with great sayings. I always thought Tolkien was going to write another book that followed the Lord of the Rings he had so many stories to tell. I reread that book, Lord of the Rings, a lot . My favorite movie in the trilogy is Fellowship of the Ring.
Its Crazy Delicious,
You’re more than welcome. I thought I would sink some “traditional” ways that people can make money online. Regardless of the method you choose it will take a lot of hard work and discipline but its worth it. Thanks for stopping by. :-)
dara,
You’re welcome it’s all about sharing with others at least that is how it should be. It’s all about finding the correct approach that works for you and your websites. What people need to remember is what works for one will not necessarily work for another. You can effectively market yourself without being a sell out. One of the negatives I hear from people against making money online is that you have to sell yourself. There’s nothing wrong with that even if you have a regular blog and interact regularly on other blogs, forums, social networks, etc., You are selling the only difference is you are selling yourself. You hope that what you say brings people to your website.
Bush,
2007 has been a fabulous year and 2008 will be even better. ;-)
on January 7th, 2008 at 5:12 am
Hi Opal, I am so very glad that everything is working out so nicely for you
And yeah, I will be looking forward to seeing Vegan Momma’s face lift! 
on January 7th, 2008 at 7:19 am
Opal, if you haven’t tried it, you might want to try “The Silmarillion”. It’s basically Tolkien’s creation myth and it gives the entire background for the stories that occur thousands of years later for the characters in LOTR and the Hobbit.
on January 7th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
thats cool to see all the progress you’ve made… it just gives the other bloggers hope of becomming successful. keep on rockin!
on January 7th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Hi Opal, thanks for the share.
I have a good lecture on this post. :grin:
on January 8th, 2008 at 5:18 am
you’ve done really well to pay all your bills with online income. You are also very right to ignore the “make money online” websites, it seems there a bazillion out there and most of them make money by telling you how to make money.
I’m lucky enough to have made a decent income from online ventures and one thing that I will say is important in the making money online adventure is to find something that you enjoy and see if there are monetization options for that.
this way you’ll stay interested in the subject even if you aren’t making a fortune straight away and also, you’ll make a lot more than someone who chose that area just because there was an ebook promising them they could make a living doing it.
I look forward to seeing your changes!
Andy Bailey’s last blog post..Beginners AJAX Tutorial Series Part 5
on January 8th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Wow, I can’t believe you posted this today! I’ve been talking about finding a way to monetize my blogs for awhile, and I told my husband last night, “I think I might just email Vegan Momma to see what she says.” You just answered my email before I even sent it! Thanks!!! I’m going to look into your suggestions.
Diane’s last blog post..The Vaccine Book by Robert W. Sears, M.D.,F.A.A.P.
on January 8th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Thanks for sharing this, Opal. It’s true that if will never be easy if you want results. Effort is what one needs.
JO-N’s last blog post..Sacrifices Vs Gains
on January 9th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
There are a lot of copycat make money online sites out there. But if write what you know is the way to go, it’s one of the things I do know. And I know what you mean about getting bits and pieces. It is hard to put everything in blog format in the correct order.
If I write a 20 post tutorial, Wordpress sorts it by the date, then new people to my blog won’t know that the complete info is there. They will just see the last post and think it was incomplete.
I am currently trying to find the right plugin that will be a solution to this issue.
It would take probably half the Encyclopedia Britannica to fully cover making money online with all its twists and turns, even though the basics are simple. And it only gets more complex as the internet grows and changes.
Stephan Miller’s last blog post..Seo Elite
on January 10th, 2008 at 5:31 am
Even I am eagerly waiting for your making money online suggestions.
See you..
on January 11th, 2008 at 4:51 am
Hi Opal - I think I just had a sneak preview of your new design. It came up when I typed in your url - although this one still comes up when I use Google reader.
It looks great and very professional so far. When is it going live?
CatherineL’s last blog post..Are These Superhumans De-Motivating You?
on January 14th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
This conversation is very good. :wink:
Thank you all for posting.
Opal bookmarked. :cool:
on January 15th, 2008 at 8:48 am
Opal….. I know I am beggining to sound like a broken record but…
You are an inspiration.
This is the post I needed to read right now. My new .com domain hasn’t started to shape up the way I wanted it to right now and I have been pimping out my old .info site to Pay Per Post. I know the PPP bandwagon is going to die within 2 years so I need to learn and get ready for a change and new way to actually earn myself a living online.
I work almost every bloody day for minimum wage and am getting sick of it but know that I have the capabilities to earn what I need from the net.
I worked as a graphic designer for 9 years but burnt out. I am now ready to start fresh on this front in some aspects and know that I have the technical abilities. I need to brush up on my web knowledge but hopefully I can find a way to mix this with my love of blogging.
Right now I have 1-2 hours a day to work with but hopefully one day it will be my job.
I will be checking out every one of your links.
Sorry for the hurried bad structured comment…. I hope I got my message across.
Gotta rush now. Thanks so much again.
on August 16th, 2008 at 3:51 am
great way to make money online is with adsense.
here is a web exsample
Camping Hammocks
on September 4th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Yes, you can work from home or in a virtual call center.