21 ways to fast cash
Disclaimer
This e-book has been written to provide
information about Internet marketing. Every effort has been made to make this
ebook as complete and accurate as possible. However, there may be mistakes in
typography or content. Also, this e-book provides information on Internet
marketing only up to the publishing date. Therefore, this ebook should be used
as a guide - not as the ultimate source of Internet marketing information.
The purpose of this ebook is to educate.
The author and the publisher does not warrant that the information contained in
this e-book is fully complete and shall not be responsible for any errors or
omissions. The author and publisher shall have neither liability nor
responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused
or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this e-book.
Introduction
Let me start by saying what this guide is not. It is
not:
* A
list of “get rich quick” schemes
* A
guide to participating in pyramid schemes
* A
list of multi-level marketing schemes
* A
list of business opportunities
* A
guide for creating a successful business in the long term
* An
attempt to get you to sell my products as an affiliate
That’s right: unlike virtually all of the other
guides you’ll find on the Internet about making money fast, this one won’t tell
you to do it through questionable, unreasonable strategies; or through a
business opportunity that will incur a loss in the short run.
In fact, this guide is the opposite of that. It
focuses on how you can make money in the short run--legally, and by using reasonable,
easy-to-follow methods. It won’t tell you to incur losses, to make large
investments up front, or to be patient.
This guide is designed for people like you: people
who need money now; and can’t wait for some business opportunity to work itself
out.
With that said, let’s get into the substantive
content. In the next 21 mini-chapters, I’m going to tell you how you can make
money online and offline in a short amount of time and without risking any
large investments in the process.
Method #1: Hold a Firesale
If you’ve been involved in Internet business for
several years, you’ve probably seen your fair share of firesales. Some
companies do it before going out of business; while others do it as a part of
their normal sales cycle.
If you’re in a bind and need some cash fast, then
holding a firesale is probably one of your best options. Of course, if it were
easy or obvious how to do this, then everyone would do it successfully; and
there would be no need for a guide such as this one. But this isn’t the case.
Here’s what I personally suggest you do to ensure that your firesale is
successful:
Step #1: Pick a Demographic Before You Start
Before you even begin, it’s a good idea to pick a
demographic to sell to. If you don’t know who your target audience is before
you get started, then it will be impossible for you to select the right things
to sell to them; and it will also be impossible for you to pitch to them in a
relatable way.
Step #2: Develop a Truly Attractive Firesale
Package
If you currently have a large product line, then this
stage shouldn’t be terribly challenging for you. All you’ll have to do is
select a handful of your products, bundle them together, and then sell them for
a fraction of the normal cost.
On the other hand, if you don’t have your own product
line, then this part could be a little more challenging. You’ll have to
actively seek out products that offer some type of resale license, bundle them
together, and then sell them at a tiny fraction of the normal combined price.
Step #3: Compute the Savings
Once you’ve assembled a large package of goods and
have selected the firesale price, spend some time to determine how much it
would cost an individual buyer to assemble all of these products (with
normal—not resale—licenses). You can then present this figure repeatedly in all
of your advertisements.
Step #4: Pitch Your Firesale
Again, if you have your own product line, website,
and autoresponder list, then this step will be relatively easier. In this case,
you should start by pitching your firesale to your existing customers. As an
added incentive, you might offer to make it even cheaper for people on your
email list.
A good place to start is by creating a salespage for
your firesale. Be careful to detail exactly how much buyers will save, so that
they understand exactly how good the deal is. Also, include full descriptions
of every product they will have access to after buying.
If you don’t feel comfortable writing copy, that’s
perfectly fine. You can always hire someone from Elance to write the copy for
you. Alternatively, you can spend some time on copywriting forums; and look for
people who are marketing their services there. These individuals are more
likely to have a strong background in marketing principles and copy-writing in
particular (whereas those on Elance may be good writers, but not know much
about marketing).
Once you have a salesletter, your next step should be
to make a pitch to your email list. This will require you to write some short
email copy. Here, you will just want to be brief, avoid the appearance of spam,
and keep the tone of a letter. A good approach is usually to say something like
the following:
=============
[Name],
I don’t usually do this, but I’m holding a firesale
this week. I’m going to sell my entire line of products for a mere 10% of the
normal price. The catch is that I’m only going to allow people to buy at this
price on Friday. If you want a chance to get in on this incredible deal, I
suggest that you check out what I’m offering at [firesale URL] and make sure to
come back on Friday.
I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
Yours,
[Name]
=============
Again, the idea is to avoid something that appears
too overtly salesy. Instead, you want to pitch it casually as an opportunity,
but with a time limit and an associated sense of urgency.
On the other hand, if you don’t already have a list
and a line of products of your own, it’s still a good idea to start by creating
a salesletter; however, your approach here should probably be different.
One good way to create a firesale salesletter for
products that are not your own is to setup countdown clock on the page; and
then incrementally add the items that will be part of your sale over time. For
instance, on day one, you could add three pieces of software that will be
included in the firesale to the page. On day two, you could add a bundle of 200
ghostwritten articles that will be included. And so on.
The goal of this exercise should be to get people in
the habit of returning to your site daily, so that your firesale successfully
builds anticipation until the final night, when your sale will begin. By this
time, if you did a good job, hundreds of people will have seen your sale; and
will be ready to buy.
As far as the actual promotional process goes, you
have several options if you don’t already have a mailing list:
1.
Adwords. Since your goal is to raise money fast
and since the firesale will only be available for a limited window of time,
Adwords is probably one of your best options when it comes to marketing.
Remember to use multiple campaigns, to carefully write your text ads, and to
limit each campaign to narrowly-focused set of keywords and keyphrases.
2.
Joint Ventures. Find other business owners who
have large, active lists.
Offer them a very high commission if they participate
(i.e. on the other of 50% or 75% of each sale). This will not only help you
from the sales that they bring in directly, but it will help you indirectly by
raising your status by association.
3.
Post on Forums. While most forums will prohibit
you from directly marketing your products through a thread, most will allow you
to include a signature that markets your products. You can do this in all
large, relevant forums that you frequent; and when you do, make sure that you
include the date of the firesale in your signature, so that forum members gain
a sense of urgency.
Summary
A firesale can be one of the easiest ways to make
money fast online; however, if you don’t manage it correctly, you could find
yourself spending hundreds of dollars on products without any real return to
speak of.
Method #2: Find a Freelance
Tutoring Job
Much like finding a babysitting job, finding a
tutoring job is another excellent way to make money fast. Not only is possible
to get a job that starts tonight, but there’s also a good chance that you’ll
get paid in cash on the spot. And when you’re in a bind, it doesn’t get much
better than that.
When it comes to tutoring, there’s a good chance that
the student or the student’s parents will want you to have some sort of formal
credentials. In some cases, they’ll simply want you to be in college. In other
cases, they’ll want you to have a bachelor’s degree or an advanced degree. And
in other cases, they’ll want you to have significant prior teaching and/or
tutoring experience.
If you’re already starting to worry that your
credentials may not be sufficient, don’t. If you satisfy even one of the
criteria, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to find a bunch of tutoring
gigs; and then leverage them into future gigs (if you decide to continue with
it).
Before you do anything else, start by creating a
resume that focuses on skills that you have that are pertinent to tutoring.
This should include all prior teaching and tutoring experience, all degrees you
hold, all standardized tests scores (if relevant), all reference you have from
past tutoring work you have done, and all relevant coursework you have done on
the collegiate level.
Once you finish typing up your resume in Word, spend
some time to format it so that it looks nice, and then save it in PDF format.
Whenever you send out applications for prospective tutoring jobs, you should
always attach a copy of your resume.
Now that everything is prepared, your next step is to
look for tutoring jobs online. Again, you can do this through www.care.com
and www.collegehelpers.com
(if you are in college). Another great source of tutoring jobs is www.craigslist.org.
If you do decide to search for tutoring jobs through www.craigslist.org,
one thing you’ll notice is that many of the tutoring jobs are posted by
agencies. If you want to continue to do tutoring in the long term, working
through an agency may be your best option. If you’re looking for short-term
work agencies may not be your best option, as they are unlikely to pay in cash;
and will require you to do through a lengthy application process.
On the other hand, if you do want longer term jobs,
you should seek out all of the agency jobs and post an application on each
agency website.
Method #3: Sell Junk Online
If you’re like most people, you probably have a lot
of junk sitting your house that you have no use for. You might have an old
computer or laptop, old electronics, old furniture, old textbooks, and old
clothing.
As far as you’re concerned, this stuff is useless.
You won’t ever use it again; and all it’s doing is taking up space. But for
many other people, they would be willing to pay for an old computer, old
furniture, or old clothes.
Once you realize this, you’ll also see that selling
junk that you no longer use could been an excellent way to raise some cash
without too much work.
In the past, if you wanted to do this, you’d have to
hold a garage sale; and would have to advertise for it by posting signs on
telephone poles all over your neighborhood. If you were lucky, a handful of
people would show up and pay very little for some of your stuff. But this is no
longer the case.
Now, you can use two important tools to ensure that
you get a higher price and also close the sale faster: www.craigslist.org and www.ebay.com.
For things like clothing and light electronics, www.ebay.com is probably a
better option. It is a thicker market; and will allow you to unload just about
everything you have if you’re willing to sell at a low enough price.
On the other hand, www.craigslist.org is good if you’re selling
heavy items, such as furniture. Since shipping would be prohibitively expensive
for most furniture, it simply does not make sense to do it on www.ebay.com.
If you use www.craigslist.org instead, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to
find someone in your area who will be willing to drive to your house or
apartment to pick up the item.
When it comes to using either www.ebay.com or www.craigslist.org, it’s important
that you spend time to briefly explain what it is you are selling, so that
potential buyers know what you’re offering. It is also important to include
pictures of the items you’re selling, as doing this will make browsers
significantly more willing to buy.
Method #4: Sell Crafts on
Etsy
If you’re an artistic person, selling your wares on www.etsy.com/
might be a good option if you’re looking to raise cash quickly. If you’re
unfamiliar with the site, it’s a place where artisans can sell various homemade
goods in a thick, online marketplace.
Some important things to note about Etsy are the
following: 1) everything you sell must be something you made yourself; 2) it
costs 20 cents to list an item for 4 months; and 3) each sale will incur a 3.5%
transaction fee.
As far as what you can sell on Etsy goes, hot sellers
include pieces of art, bags and purses, candles, toys for children, crocheted
items, holiday decorations, quilts, vintage pieces, and wedding decorations.
For a basic overview of the “dos and don’ts” of
selling on Etsy, you should view the guide they’ve placed online here: http://www.etsy.com/dosdonts.php.
While there are many ways to make money with Etsy,
the experts suggest that building items around a single theme and specializing
is one of the best ways to get noticed and to sell items. This is usually a
better option that creating a lot of disparate items in different categories.
Overall, Etsy provides a good opportunity to make money online fast; and while doing something you enjoy already. However, if you’re not particularly artistic or don’t have an interest in crafts, then Etsy may not be a good option for you.
Method #5: Sell Your Own
Special Reports… The Fast Way
As I said in the introduction, my goal in this e-book
is not to tell you how to build a business. I want to tell you how to make
money immediately. If you end up with a successful business as a byproduct,
then that’s just a bonus.
With that said, it’s important to realize that online
businesses don’t usually turn a profit overnight. Instead, it is usually a long
process that will only turn a profit after months have passed.
There are two general reasons why online businesses
usually don’t turn a profit quickly. The first is that many Internet-based
business owners have little or no formal training; and often make serious
errors in the implementation stage. And the second reason is that good
long-term business plans generally require you to gradually promote your site
through things like search engine optimization, crosspromotional agreements,
and joint ventures.
While these long-term techniques are essential for
business plans, they won’t work to make you money tonight. If you want to make
money tonight, you essentially have two options: 1) you can use PPC
advertising; or 2) you can use word-of-mouth advertising. Other than that, it
is unlikely that other techniques will yield immediate sales.
With that said, let’s breakdown the process
step-by-step, so that you can understand how to make a quick profit with this
technique.
Step #1: Create Your Product… Fast
When it comes to writing a special report, don’t be a
perfectionist. Spend no more than a half hour to come up with your topic. Once
you’ve done that, spend no more than two hours researching the topic. And once
you’ve done that, spend no more than five hours to write the report.
When you’re done with the whole process, stop working
on your report for the night. Come back to it the following day, edit it
thoroughly, format it, and then create a PDF version. Even though your goal is
to do everything quickly, you should make sure that it is error-free, well
written, and contains useful information.
Additionally, as a general rule, you should pick a
topic you’re already familiar with. If you’re familiar with Internet marketing,
write a report about Internet marketing. If you’re a good cook, write a report
about cooking. If you know something about buying cars, then write a guide
about that.
Whatever you do, make sure that you come up with a
catchy hook for your product. There should be something about your special
report that others will find interesting; and that will draw them to buy. With
the vast amount of free information widely available on the Internet, it is
critical to be able to market your product in a way that differentiates from
everything else available.
Once you complete your product, it’s time to move on
to the site-building phase.
Step #2: Build Your Site… Quickly
Again, the point of this exercise is to get your
product made and put in front of as many buyers as quickly as possible. This
means that you can’t take your time when it comes to the site-building
phase.
I personally suggest that you register a domain,
purchase cheap hosting, and immediately install a plug-in that will allow you
to edit your site using a what-yousee-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) editor. Most
hosting sites will offer a large variety of these editors, but I suggest using
something simple and something that offers a lot of different templates.
Wordpress is probably a good option.
Once you’ve installed the WYSIWYG editor, it’s time
to select a good sales page template. Your choice should be clean,
professional, and free of distractions, such as links to other pages.
After you do that, it’s time to put up a salesletter.
Again, time is of the essence, so don’t bother with long-copy. Keep it short,
sweet, and to the point. Make sure you have a good hook, a number of bullet
points that highlight the products benefits (rather than features), and a call
to action (to buy).
Finally, add a PayPal payment button. If you want to
ensure that you make sales immediately, it’s a good idea to keep the price low
(say, between $3 and $7). This will ensure that you maintain a high conversion
rate.
Step #3: Advertise
Once you have a functioning sales page, a product to
sell, and check-out system, it’s time to begin advertising your product.
However, in this case, it’s a good idea to skip SEO and slow promotional
methods—and move immediately to PPC and word-of-mouth advertising.
As far as PPC advertising goes, this is as simple as
creating a Google Adwords account and making several advertising campaigns.
Remember to focus each campaign narrowly. Also, remember to use the root
keyword in your campaign multiple times in your advertisement, so that it shows
up in bold when people see your ad.
Finally, once you have your PPC campaign working,
consider using some wordof-mouth channels to spread the word about your
product. If you are a member of online forums related to your product’s niche,
you should include a link to your salespage in your signature; and make an
effort to post frequently, so that others see it. You should also consider
offering a deal to members of the forum.
Conclusion
If you want to make cash fast, selling your products
online is always a good option; however, you cannot do it using the
conventional formula for Internet business creation. Instead, you have to cut
out all obstacles that will slow down payments, slow down traffic flows, and
generally prevent you from realizing a profit within days.
Using the template I’ve given above, you should be
able to make money within days, as long as you push yourself to stick to the
timeline I’ve suggested.
Method #6: Freelance as an
Administrative Assistant
One easy way to raise some cash fast is to work as an
administrative assistant. Usually, this means doing things like record-keeping,
database entry, and other repetitive tasks; however, in other situations, it
might mean something like submitting links to directories, managing an
affiliate program, or something like that.
Whatever the case may be, the only requirement is
usually that you be good with computers and with the Microsoft Office suite of
products. Other than that, you will probably be given a detailed set of
instructions that explain exactly what you should be doing on a daily basis.
When looking for administrative assistant jobs, a
good place to look is www.elance.com.
If you need immediate payment, you should look for one-time, small jobs. Put in
a low bid; and offer to work around the clock until you complete it. If you do
a good job, there’s a chance the client will release the funds to you within
days, which you can then transfer to your PayPal account.
Alternatively, you can pick up very large jobs; and
require clients to make a deposit of, say, 30% on acceptance of your bid. This
means that you will get 30% of the project’s full cost as soon as you are
hired, which you can immediately transfer to your PayPal account and then
deposit in your bank.
As a final note, one key to doing well with these
types of projects is to make credible bids. You can do this by writing a
proposal that is specifically tailored to the project, rather than just writing
something generic. You can also do this by submitting samples of your relevant
work, a copy of your resume, and anything else that might provide pertinent
information to the job poster.
Method #7: Become a Freelance
Writer
Before we get into this one, it’s important to keep
in mind that freelance writing is not for everyone. If, today, you don’t feel
comfortable with your writing skills, then using them to make money is perhaps
not the best way to go. Even if you work very hard, it is unlikely that you
will be able to transform your skills significantly enough to make money with
your writing in the short run. In the long run, however, this might be a viable
strategy.
On the other hand, if you feel comfortable with your
writing, then freelancing is an excellent way to make money fast online. With
that said, let’s take at your two major options when it comes to sources of
freelance writing jobs.
Sites for Freelancers
If you decide to become a freelance writer, there are
two important sites you should join: www.guru.com and www.elance.com. These sites allow freelancers to
post bids on tens of thousands of writing, translation, graphic design,
programming, and administrative assistant projects.
Although you can join both sites for free, you will
quickly see why it is a good idea to upgrade your account for at least one of
the sites. Upgrading will enable you to bid on more categories of projects and
also to bid on more projects within each category. It will also demonstrate
your credibility to project posters.
If you decide to upgrade your Elance account, you may
want to consider adding the “writing and translation” category, as well as the
“marketing and advertising” category. Even though “marketing and advertising”
includes many non-writing projects, it includes things such as special
report-writing, salesletter-writing, and ad-writing. If you’re a good writer
and have a background in IM, you’ll be especially well suited to these types of
jobs.
When using Elance and Guru, it is important to note
that individuals with good reputations tend to receive the most projects. And
there’s a good reason for this:
they have the most credibility; and this is what
project posters want in freelancers.
When you first start off, there’s little you can do
to immediately project credibility. So, if you want to compete, you will have
to do it along other margins—namely, price and completion time. If you can
offer low prices and fast delivery times, there’s a good chance you’ll get
selected every once in a while.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that you
will not be selected for most of the projects you bid on. In fact, when you
start, you can expect to get rejected at least 75% of the time. Don’t use this
as a reason to give up. Instead, continue to post on all projects that seem
reasonable, given your skills; and get comfortable with the idea that you won’t
always be selected. As you complete more projects and get more feedback, your
acceptance rate will improve.
As a final note, it is always a good idea spend some
time sorting through projects before you settle on any one in particular.
Personally, I would recommend browsing through all relevant projects closing
within 2-3 days. Each time you find one that looks good to you, add it to your
watch list. When you have completed this process, go back and look at each
project carefully. Take a look at the high and low bids, the promised
completion times of the other bidders, and the work involved. Decide whether
it’s something you can do well; and, if so, whether you could complete it at a
competitive price and within a reasonable amount of time.
If you decide that all of your criteria are
satisfied, then bid on the project. By the end of the process, you will
probably bid on multiple projects at the same time, but keep in mind that most
will reject you, anyway, so this is unlikely to be a problem.
If you want to ensure that your bids have a high
chance of being successful, then you should spend time reading the project
description and writing a good, detailoriented proposal. Most project posters
won’t selected a generic proposal, but instead will opt for a proposal that
demonstrates that the bidder was paying attention to the project, has the
relevant skills, and can make a case for his being able to do the work
described.
Of course, there’s a lot more you can do with
freelancing sites, but for now, I will leave it at that. If you want to make
cash with them fast, you should immediately begin implementing the steps I’ve
mentioned above.
Craigslist.org
There’s no need for a detailed description here.
Finding freelancing jobs on Craigslist is relatively simple, since there’s no
way to receive feedback or develop a reputation through the site. All you have
to do is search in the “jobs” and “gigs” sections. Whenever you see something
that lines up with your skills, email the poster with a copy of your resume and
a brief, but detailed proposal. Try to make a strong case for why you would be
the best candidate for the position.
Internet Marketing Forums
Since good marketing involves a lot of writing,
Internet marketers often hire freelance writers to complete projects. These
projects include things such as ebooks, reports, articles, salesletters, text
ads, and site content.
There are a number of places where you can connect
with Internet marketers to find projects; however, one of the better places is
probably on Internet marketing forums, such as www.warriorforum.com. There, you will find tens
of thousands of Internet marketers, many of whom need writing done.
Of course, simply showing up and posting on the forum
won’t necessarily result in your getting jobs. Instead, you will need to make a
reputation for yourself, so that marketers begin to actively seek you out as a
source for content.
For starters, a good way to get your name out there
and circulating among Internet marketers is to demonstrate that you can produce
high-quality work in a way that doesn’t cost them anything. One way you can do
this is to post a special offer in the trade/sales portion of the IM forum.
Instead of simply posting a “good deal,” offer something that is truly
irresistible. For instance, you might offer to write articles for half the
going market rate for a limited period of time. This will probably flood you
with work, but will be worth it in the long run, as you may gain may new
clients.
Finally, remember that your success will be heavily
dependent on word-of-mouth advertising among Internet marketers. This means
that if you do a poor job on projects, you could permanently damage your
reputation; and make it exceedingly hard to get new projects. And, on the other
hand, if you do good work, it could reap dividends for years to come.
Method #8: Freelance Graphic
Design Work
Similar to freelance writing, freelance graphic
design work is an excellent way to make money online and quickly. If you’ve
already done graphic design work of some sort, this is a definite plus;
however, if you haven’t, don’t worry. It’s still possible to make money online
doing graphic design work.
For now, I will assume that you don’t have any prior
experience. In that case, it is essential that you begin by accumulating items
to put in your portfolio, which you will show to prospective clients. At a minimum,
you will want to create the following objects: 1) an e-book cover; 2) a banner;
3) a small business logo; and 4) a payment button.
If you’re not skilled with Photoshop (or GIMP, the
free analog to Photoshop), this type of work probably won’t be easy initially.
You’ll probably do very poorly on your first few banners, but with a little
work, you can get better.
If you plan to sell banners, one good way to start is
by going to the following site: http://mybannermaker.com/. This site will allow
you to create a banner by uploading a background image, inserting text, and
tweaking a few options. It’s easy to do; and it is also free.
One good way to approach this process is to edit each
component individually in GIMP or Photoshop before you insert it into the
banner using http://mybannermaker.com/.
Once the editing is finished, the only step that remains is to combine
everything using the site.
Remember, since all of your work is likely to be used
for commercial purposes, it is critical to use “stock photos” and photos that
are in the public domain. Otherwise, you could be violating someone’s
copyright.
Once you have created a small portfolio of items that
are sufficiently attractive and well-polished. It’s time to begin marketing
your work through various channels. I personally suggest that you use the
following three channels.
Channel #1: Elance
As I mentioned earlier, Elance is a good place to
pick up freelance writing and editing projects. It is also a good place to find
work if you are a freelance graphic designer. All you have to do is post your
portfolio in your profile, bid reasonably on projects, and then wait for people
to accept. As you gain credibility, your acceptance rate will rise.
Channel #2: Sitepoint.com and Warriorforum.com
Site users at both of these places require a great
deal of graphic design work; and if you want to make money as a graphic
designer, you should take advantage of this. Start by making an offer people
cannot resist. For instance, offer to make site logos for $3 (or free) for one
week. If you actually produce high-quality logos, the forums will be buzzing
about your work by the end of the week; and future work will come flowing in
without your needing to do anything else.
Channel #3: Craigslist.org
As I mentioned earlier, Craigslist is a great place
to find freelance writing projects. This is also true for graphic design
projects. Just keep in mind that you can search for jobs in any Craigslist city
site, since many of them do not require you to work on-location.
Summary
Freelance graphic design work is an excellent way to
raise cash quickly; however, it is important to keep in mind that submitting
low quality work may very well ensure that you never get a project. So, before
you get started, work out all the kinks until you can create an acceptable
portfolio. After that, go forward with your work and also ensure that you match
or exceed your clients’ expectations.
Method #9: Internet Marketing
for Local Businesses
If you have any experience with Internet marketing,
you probably know a lot more than the average local business owner. In many
cases, local businesses do not have websites; and do not actively market their
businesses via the Internet.
Local Restaurants
You should take advantage of the knowledge and
experience you have to sell Internet marketing services to local businesses. In
particular, one good place to start is by selling your services to local
restaurants. One thing you might do for local restaurants is offer to get them
connected with Internet-based ordering services.
In many places in the U.S., sites like Foodler.com
and Grubhub.com allow visitors to order from sites online; however, many local
restaurants do not use these sites and many not even know about them. By joining
these sites, local businesses have the opportunity to significantly improve the
amount of orders they receive; and also to streamline the process by receiving
them via the Internet, rather than over the phone.
Your role in this process would be to assist the
restaurants in this process. You can do this by offering to setup Foodler.com
and Grubhub.com accounts for nominal fee. This would entail collecting
information about the restaurant’s menu, hours, etc.—and then submitting it to
these sites.
After you complete this process, you can offer to
market these businesses in other ways. For instance, if they do not have a
website, you can offer to create and maintain one for a small fee (perhaps for
$200 for the startup, but then $50 per month thereafter). Since these sites are
likely to require little maintenance, you can accumulate a large portfolio of
sites.
Now, if you’re not familiar with web design, do not
worry. Without knowing any
HTML, you can create a website using a
what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) editor. If you own a Mac, you can use
iWeb. If have a PC, you might choose to do this with FrontPage or DreamWeaver.
Alternatively, you can do this using a free program, such as http://kompozer.net/
or http://www.w3.org/Amaya/.
Whatever you do, make sure that you spend enough time
working with the WYSIWYG editor before you try to do any work for your clients.
If you do a very poor job on a site, you can expect your client to be very
angry and dissatisfied, since this will be his/her only web presence.
Other Local Businesses
In general, most companies can benefit from a web
presence, even if it doesn’t gain them any additional new customers. This is
why it is a good idea to contact small, local businesses (who have Yellow Pages
listings, but not web sites) to offer to help them setup a site.
Of course, you should always prepare in advance
before you contact any company. If your sales pitch is weak or ill-informed,
there’s a good chance you’ll be rejected fast. So, start by writing out a
standard pitch. In your pitch, make sure you communicate clearly that having a
web presence will allow existing customers to gain more information about the
company online, which has the potential to increase sales, even if the customer
base does not increase.
Finally, consider starting a single site for a given
town. On this site, create an index of all businesses that are willing to pay a
small fee (perhaps $50/year, initially); and then optimize the site for search
engine traffic. On each business’s page, place pertinent information about what
they do, where they are located, and what they sell.
If you really want to make an impact on the business
owner, create a page for their business in advance and put it on your site.
When you make the pitch, you can call the owner, ask him to look at the site,
and then get back to you about whether he would like to pay the fee to keep his
business’s listing on your site. Remember, you can do this with many cities and
many businesses.
Summary
Frequently, Internet marketers overlook an important
group of buyers: local businesses that do not have any web presence. Without
even employing cuttingedge techniques, you can help these businesses to gain a
web presence while earning a handsome reward in the process.
Method #10: Web Design Work
In the previous section, we discussed one type of web
design work that you can do to make money—namely, creating sites for local
businesses and creating local business directories. In addition to this, there
are other ways that you can make money through web design.
Selling Your Services as a Freelance Web
Designer
If you haven’t already designed multiple web sites,
it’s probably not a good idea to try to sell yourself as a high-end web
designer. However, as long as you have a WYSIWYG editor, know a little about
Internet marketing, and are willing to work hard, you can expect to earn a
decent bounty from mid-to-low level web design work.
Since I’ve gone over the general concept of
freelancing several times already, I won’t focus on it too much here. Again,
look at sites like Elance.com, SitePoint.com, Guru.com, and others when trying
to sell your web design services. Additionally, remember that it is vital to
have a portfolio (perhaps one site with multiple sub-domains to show off
various styles and themes) and to avoid overselling your skills.
Sell Site Re-Designs to Companies
This is a little bit harder than doing typical web
design work. Instead of simply selling your services, getting site specs, and
then performing the design job, you will need to start this process by seeking
out sites (and preferably sites of local businesses) that could benefit from a
site-re-design.
Once you have located these sites, make a pitch to
the business owner. Offer to redesign the site, so that it is more functional,
provides more interactive features for visitors, generates more traffic, and
appears more professional and betterorganized. When you begin this process,
offer to do it for a very low price until you build up a customer base; and
begin receiving some feedback.
Another thing you should do is to offer to maintain
the site once it is re-designed. This means that you would be on call to
monitor downtime; and to make any changes needed. This might seem like a hassle, but it could
be well worth it if you accumulate a large portfolio of sites that require very
little maintenance. By charging around $50/month for maintenance, you could
reap a large and virtually passive income while only working 10-15 hours per
week.
Summary
Freelance web design is an excellent way to make
money, even if you have only created one or two websites and know nothing about
Flash, php, or even html. The key is that you should work with a WYSIWYG editor
(and master it over time), focus on working with local businesses, and sell the
maintenance work as a package. Additionally, you should make an attempt to
pitch your proposal over the phone.
Method #11: Put an
Advertisement on Your Car
Another quick way to raise some cash is to have a
“wrap” put on your car. If you’ve never heard of this before, it’s basically
just large advertisement that is either painted on or attached to your car.
Normally, companies will pay to put wraps on their own fleet of cars; however,
some companies also choose to advertise by paying normal drivers $300-750 per
month to use a wrap that advertises the company’s products.
Unfortunately, getting selected for these positions
can be difficult. Hundreds or even thousands of drivers often queue up as soon
as companies begin offering these opportunities, so it can often be hard to
find a spot.
Additionally, if you have a history of moving
violations (such as multiple speeding tickets within a short period of time),
then you may not be eligible—or at least your application won’t be given top
priority. You may also not be
disqualified if you do not drive frequently or if you don’t live in a major
population center.
If this still sounds like a good idea to you, you can
get specific information about this opportunity at the following sites:
1. http://www.adsmartoutdoor.com/driversreg.htm
2. http://www.ad-wraps.com/driversinfo_signup.htm
If you live outside of the U.S., there are still many
other similar advertising opportunities. Just look for mobile advertising
companies in your area.
Method #12: Associated
Content, Helium, Constant-Content
As I mentioned in earlier sections, working as a
freelance writer can be highly lucrative; however, what I did not mention
originally is that there are several other possibilities when it comes to
freelance writing. You don’t always have to look for a buyer; and then create a
project that matches her specifications.
Rather, there are other models of freelance writing
that don’t involve you using Elance or forums to find customers. In particular,
sites like www.associatedcontent.com,
www.helium.com,
and www.constant-content.com
permit you to participate in such alternative freelancing approaches.
Within this class of sites, there are two important
additional categories: 1) the category of sites that facilitate direct sales of
your writing; and 2) the category of sites that permit you to post content—and
then pay you according to how frequently it is viewed on the site.
Category 1 Sites
Sites like www.associatedcontent and www.constant-content.com will permit
you to post articles on their site. Publishers will then browse the site for
topics of interest; and purchase your articles if they think it would be a good
match for their site’s content.
One benefit of using this category of freelance site
is that your articles will usually sell for a high price (i.e. for $15-20/each,
rather than $5/each). Additionally, if you truly enjoy writing, the higher
prices will permit you to create something requires research and careful
thought, rather than something that simply requires you to write as quickly as
is possible.
The major downside of this type of freelancing is
that there’s no guarantee that anyone will buy your articles at the end of the
day. This means that you could invest hours in your articles; and could
ultimately never make any money.
Category 2 Sites
Unlike category 1 sites, category 2 sites, such as www.helium.com,
do not match you with a buyer. Instead, you give the site your content; and, in
return, you gain revenue whenever someone views your article. Usually, this
amounts to something like 1-3 cents per view.
In general, if you plan to use category 2 sites, you
should be careful about which topics you pick. Since these sites usually
generate revenue through Google AdSense, they often pay accordingly. This means
that you should write about topics that businesses spend a lot of advertising
money on.
It might not initially be obvious what these topics
are, but if you spend some time on Google Adwords searching for keywords, you
should be able to scrape together some keywords that people pay a great deal to
advertise for.
Summary
Ultimately, neither of these methods provides a
lighting-fast way to make money. If you need money today or by the end of the
week, you definitely have other options that are better (such as using
Elance.com or Guru.com to find freelancing projects); however, as a form of
supplementary income, these sites are not a bad option.
Method #13: Find a Freelance
Babysitting Job
If you’re tired of reading guides that supposedly
will teach you how to make money online—but do little other than belch hot air
about some business opportunity—then this method will come as a breath of fresh
air to you.
Instead of creating a website, building traffic over
time, creating a product, and then waiting for the profits to flow in, you can
simply look for a babysitting job that will likely pay you cash (and possibly
even the same day).
Today, the process of getting a babysitting job isn’t
the same as it was 10 years ago. You don’t need to know someone who knows
someone who needs a babysitter. All you have to do is locate good places online
to find parents who need babysitters; and then submit dozens of job
applications. In a matter of hours, you very well could have a job lined up for
tonight.
Start by going to www.care.com. This is one of the best places to
find sitting jobs. All you have to do there is create a profile, and do a good
job of advertising yourself. Remember to highlight things about yourself that
will put potential employers at ease; and will communicate to them that you
will be good sitter.
In addition to this, there are two other things you
may want to consider doing: 1) allowing www.care.com to run a background check on you, so
that you can demonstrate to parents that you do not pose any threat to the
children. Also, you may want to consider including a picture of yourself in
your profile, so that your application has a more human feel to it.
In addition to www.care.com, there are many other places for you
to locate sitting jobs. One of those places is www.craigslist.org. You can start by going to the
site and then selecting the major city closest to your place of residence.
Once you have done this, browse and search through
the “gigs” and “jobs” section to locate promising sitting jobs. Look for
parents who are willing to pay cash; and who need a sitter immediately (perhaps
because they have plans for the evening). Since they will have fewer options
and will be in a rush, there’s a better chance they’ll select you and do so
without taking up a lot of your time with interviews, questions, and other
formalities.
Overall, this strategy is an excellent way to make
cash fast when you’re in a bind. This is especially true if you have past
sitting experience or have had children of your own.
Method #14: Use Myspace
Forums to Sell Products
Social media has proven itself to be one of the best
venues for marketing products in a hurry. In the past, Internet marketers have
held contests to see how much they can make in one day, one week, or one month
by creating a new product and selling it through a social marketing medium.
When it comes to this type of project, there are two
things to ask yourself: 1) what type of product should you sell? And 2) what
medium should you sell it in? In this section, I will cover how to sell on
Myspace forums. In the next section, we’ll consider Twitter. Let’s start with
the types of products you might want to sell on Myspace.
What Product to Sell
You might immediately assume that you should sell one
of your flagship products, but in fact, social media sites are not always the
best place to do this. For this reason, you will want to answer this question
by doing market research, rather than simply picking a product and running with
it.
One way you can approach this is to begin browsing
through a variety of Myspace member forums. Do this for various categories; and
make an attempt to gauge how large the forum following is. Are there hundreds
of people who post regularly? Thousands? What is it that they’re talking about;
and what information could they possibly need to help them in their endeavors?
Once you find a group that strikes you, begin reading
up on their topic of choice; and then participate in the forum discussions. Try
to make friends and be helpful. This will benefit you in the long run, since they
are unlikely to respond well to you if they perceive you as a green-eyed
infiltrator whose only interest is in selling them stuff.’
After you have a feel for the forum and the topic,
commission a writer through a site like Elance to create a powerful, but brief,
“how to” manual on some specific facet of their topic. For instance, you might
follow a jewelry group; and decide to create a guide on how to purchase high
quality beads online at a steep discount.
Whatever you do, make sure that this topic is
something you hear about on the forum frequently. Your goal should be to
provide a product that solves a problem that seems to be common among forum
members.
Once you have this guide in hand, create a mini-site
with a short copy salespage; and a PayPal checkout button, so that you can
receive payment immediately. On the salesletter, highlight the following
benefits of your guide:
•
Explain how it will tangibly improve the lives
of your target demographic group (i.e. after you read my guide, you will be
able to do task x twice as fast) in general.
•
Highlight the specific benefits of certain
chapters (i.e. chapter 8 alone will save you $100 per month).
Also, consider selling your guide for a very, very
low price. Your goal here should be to make the decision to purchase a
no-brainer. At least initially, you shouldn’t bludgeon your new customers with
high-end products. Introduce them to your work with something that costs around
$3-7. If you do a good job with everything else, you could easily make around
$500 in a matter of days.
The final step is market your product by creating a
signature that references it. Beyond that, all you can do is post frequently;
and hope that people see it and buy.
Method #15: Use Twitter to
Market Your Myspace Forum Product
If you used method #14, you now have an inexpensive,
entry-level product, a sales page, and a check-out system. All you need to do
now is direct additional traffic to it. While posting on Myspace Forums was a
good way to start, there are still a lot of options available for traffic
generation.
One such option is Twitter. If you’re unfamiliar with
Twitter, it’s a social networking service that allows you to add and remove
friend as you would on Myspace or Facebook. The difference is that the main
purpose of Twitter is to send out 140-character “tweets” to your friends; and,
in return, to read what they are tweeting about.
Of course, this network can also be used to make
money. To do this, you’ll need to start by creating an account if you do not
already have one. After that, you will want to begin adding people who might be
good targets for your sales campaign. You can do this by searching to see who
is tweeting about topics related to your product. You can then add them.
After a week or so, if you worked diligently, you
will have hundreds of followers. What you should do next is begin making tweets
that do not directly pitch your product. Instead, they should simply
communicate interesting and useful information about your product niche.
Your goal in this whole process is to spur some interest
in your twitter profile, which is where you will place a link to your
salespage. That’s right: instead of using your profile to conduct a massive
pitchfest, you will use it to draw people in naturally, so that they view your
profile on their own terms—and then decide whether to buy.
Method #16: Enter into a
Joint Venture Partnership
If you don’t already have a site and an email list of
your own, a joint venture can be one of the best ways to make money quickly.
When it comes to joint venture partnerships, there are three things to keep in
mind:
1. Most
good JV partners will reject you initially. If a person immediately accepts
your JV offer, there’s a good chance that she is not receiving many offers. On
the other hand, if she doesn’t respond initially or tells you that she’ll need
more time or a better offer, this probably (but doesn’t always) mean that a lot
of people are pursuing her as a JV partner.
Why is this important to understand? Because you will
get rejected many times initially when you first begin sending out offers. It
is important to understand that partnerships can often be a numbers game; and
that you shouldn’t be discouraged too easily.
2. Be
courteous and make a generous offer. Often, the simple presence of a JV partner
will boost your sales and your profile as a marketer far beyond what it will do
for you in direct sales from that partner. For this reason, it is always a good
idea to approach JV partners with a generous offer; and to be patient, kind,
and courteous.
3. Stay
focused in your presentation. If you’re looking for a JV partner who can drive
traffic to your site; and you are willing to offer a profit-sharing arrangement
in exchange, then say that upfront. Make sure they understand exactly what it
is that you need from them; and exactly what they will get for participating.
If you do these three things—and if you remain
persistent—you have a good chance of finding at least a few JV partners who
will be willing to work with you and promote your project.
Method #17: Offer Services to
Internet Marketers
As an Internet marketer, you understand the sales
process. You know how to create ad campaigns, exchange links, create salesletters,
manage autoresponders, create check-out pages—and all the other things that
Internet marketers do on a daily basis.
As it turns out, this can be very useful if you’re in
a bid and need cash. You can simply offer your services to Internet marketers
on forums and in other places in exchange for small fees. For instance, if you
need to make $50/day for the next week, then offer to submit a site’s link to
50 directories for $5. You should have no problem pulling in 10 sales per day
with that a strategy like that.
Method #18: Offer a Special
Offer on the WarriorForum or SitePoint
Several large forums allow members to submit special
offers to other members. If you need cash badly, consider using this section on
one of the larger Internet marketing forums to sell something that a lot of
people need for very cheap.
For instance, consider writing a 15-page report on a
current hot topic; and selling it for $3 per copy as a special offer. This may
sound like a tiny amount—and indeed it is—but that’s exactly the point. You’re
not selling a massive, comprehensive set of encyclopedias. You’re simply
selling something small and targeted for a tiny price, so that potential buyers
don’t have to think hard about what to do.
If you do a good job with this approach and create a
valuable product, there’s a good chance you’ll make hundreds of dollars from
your offer.
Method #19: Sell Custom
Content Mini-Sites
If you can write well and can also do basic graphic
design work, consider churning out some custom content mini-sites. This might
consist of something like a standard graphics package for a site, including a
logo and banners; as well as a 10-15 articles.
Once you have created your content mini-site,
consider how best to sell it. Usually, the best place to sell it is a marketing
forum; however, the price and the number of copies you want to sell may be
harder question. If you believe you can make two sites per day, then it may
make sense to sell them for as little as $30/each. Remember, also, that you
should research the topics you pick in advance, so that the sites you create
will target lucrative keywords for your buyers.
Method #20: Make a 5/95 JV
Offer
If you’re really desperate and need cash fast, then
it may be time to start trying to solicit the help of others more aggressively.
One way to do this is to make offers that they cannot refuse. For instance, you
could offer to develop a product independently and at your own expense (and
also agree to revise it until the JV partner finds it acceptable) if your
partner will give you a mere 5% split of the profits she receives from promoting
it.
While it might
seem like you’re giving away too much here for it to be worth it, this can
often be one of your best options when you’re in a bind. If even one marketer
with a large list accepts this offer, you have the potential to make hundreds—if
not thousands—of sales. This could translate into you making several hundred
dollars in the span of two weeks.
Method #21: Sell Unprofitable
Parts of Your Business
If you already have an Internet-based business, but
parts of it aren’t performing particularly well, then it may be a good idea to
sell off the unprofitable parts, consolidate everything that is working; and
move forward with a new model.
These unprofitable sections of your business might
include websites that are poorly monetized; or products that don’t seem to sell
very well. Whatever the case may be, consider selling it on a forum like
SitePoint. If you have monthly revenue data (from AdSense or PayPal records),
this will be helpful.
Even if the site doesn’t sell well for you, that
doesn’t mean it can’t for someone else. This is something that is important to
highlight when making the sale. Point out the positives about the site (such as
its daily unique visitor counts); and then mention how this can potentially
make more money if monetized better.
One good thing about selling your unprofitable sites
is that you can usually get something like 7-10 months worth of profit from the
sale. Even if your site was making a meager $100/mo, this could translate into
an immediate sale for $7001000.
As far as e-books, reports, and unprofitable
intellectual property go, consider selling them on forums. Do whatever you need
to in order to make the most from them—whether it be selling the master resale
rights; or simply selling them to many people with a restrictive license.
Conclusion
When most Internet marketers talk about making money
online, they talk about it in the context of doing it quickly or immediately.
In general, this doesn’t work if you want to create a viable, long-term
business model. However, if you just want to make some cash now and don’t care
about how stable and scalable your methods are in the long run, there are ways
to do it.
In this guide, I’ve outlined 21 ways to do exactly
that: to make money offline or online fast; and without necessarily having any
interest in continuing to do so in the long run. If you settle on a handful of
these options, take my advice, and work hard, you’ll make that money you need
for now; and once you have it, you’ll be able to return to your long term
business plans.
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