Follow Me On Twitter for more great technology stuff!When we think of ways to make money online advertising dollars and selling products are the obvious choices. And while it’s important to focus on your main revenue stream first and get it nailed down don’t just stop there. All too often there are unexplored revenue streams that can add to the bottom line with little added effort. What follows are just a few of those options. Put as many to work for you as make sense and as is manageable. The base idea here is improving your business model which is exactly what you would do if you were to buy an existing business, so why not do it for the one you started?
1. Affiliate Programs: Setting up affiliate programs is an ideal way to allow others to sell your product or service. They do the marketing, and get a cut off of whatever they sell. If you already have existing sales channels starting your own affiliate network can be a low/no-cost way to sell added products.Worried that you’re loosing revenue by giving up 25% – 75% of the sale price? Remember, your selling extra product with no added effort or expense on your part, they are bonus sales. Affiliate programs are especially easy with digital products but also apply to hard goods and services. Just make sure that you still make some money on the sale and NEVER fail to pay your affiliates. There are some places (depending on the product) that can help you set up and manage the affiliate program including:
2. Become an affiliate: There is nothing that says you can’t do both. Find related products or services (if you sell them) and add relevant links to your blog posts. You don’t necessarily want to drive people off your site but if they do leave you may as well be making money from the referral. This can be particularly safe and logical if you write about or reference something like a book on your site even though you don’t write or sell books. Get an Amazon affiliate program and use the text links to make a little extra revenue.
3. Repurpose Your Content: If you are like a lot of bloggers you have a lot of content and ideas. Some blogs/people are willing to pay a nominal fee for content. You don’t want to (and may not be allowed to) reuse exact content but that doesn’t mean you can’t take an idea and expand on it or do a deep dive into something you have written about in the past. The changes won’t take you long and could bring in a little extra money and drive more traffic to your site.
4. eBooks: You’ve heard it before but eBooks can be a good source of extra income. If you are particularly knowledgeable about a subject, take the time to provide an informative and power-packed write up on it. eBooks should bring genuine value to the people that read them but should don’t necessarily have to be onerous or long. Do your research, put the info together and self publish. Charge what you think is fair and what it might actually sell for. With no physcial cost associated, it all becomes pure profit minus your time.
This list is of course not comprehensive but it should serve as a starting point to making your online business a more valuable asset for you.
Ammendment: When implementing affiliate programs on your site (i.e. selling or promoting others products and services) do so sparingly with products you use, you endorse and would happily attach your name to. Excessive use of affiliate links will strain your credibility at best and may turn people off from your site all together. Use your best judgment but use them wisely, not just because you can.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi,
Your Affiliate Programs information is awesome to get familiar with. I am a newbie and would love to learn how to clean up my layout and placements of ads.
Thanks again
Sharmila, I’m glad you found it helpful. Sounds like you need design help. Let me know if you would like to talk a little more about it.