SBM 052 : The Way of The Conscious Millionaire with JV Crum III

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How to Earn More Money in Your Online Ventures Without Risking Too Much

It’s always been the norm in business that you have to spend more to earn more. The more risks you take, the more income you can potentially earn from each of your ventures. Nobody has questioned that and those that have profited from this philosophy won’t bother to.

However, we humans have this annoying tendency to get cocky if we’re winning. Just ask any newcomer in a casino that starts betting for higher stakes the moment they feel that they are on a winning streak. The truth is that taking risks is not the one that makes you successful, it’s taking calculated ones.

With that in mind, there are ways to earn more online while still retaining a sense of caution and common sense. In fact, you can be surprised at how much you can earn more from your current ventures without even spending one more cent for them.

Why Sell eBooks?

Selling content that is unique and exclusively available in your platforms is one way of monetizing and nothing is more unique and potentially site-exclusive than an eBook. Basically, eBooks are similar to books but in purely digital form so that your audience can purchase them directly from your site.

Consequently, selling eBooks can help you profit more from your websites through several ways.

• 1. It Helps You Become an ExpertYou have to understand that people right now are not only looking for information, they want to get it from people that they can trust. If written right, an eBook should give you some sense of authority over a certain subject matter which helps you sell more of your content in the future.

  When people notice that you actually know what you are talking about, they won’t hesitate to pay for your premium content in the future. As a result, you should expect a considerable increase in engagement in your content as well as traffic coming to your websites.

  Also, eBooks can help you get your name across the market instantly. If your eBooks are good, you should be noticed quickly by other entrepreneurs who might want to do business with you. From guest appearances in podcasts to writing offers, the opportunities are endless if a lot of people see you as an expert over a subject matter online.

• 2. EBooks are In-DemandIf you really think about it, eBooks are a byproduct of the mobile revolution. Simply put, people would want to do a lot of things right now all in one device and that includes reading.

  Since people are consuming a lot of content these days, they would also be more than willing to pay for those that will offer something valuable to them. An eBook (at least those that are at least decently made) will offer them such in the form of new skills or, at least, up to date information regarding certain subjects.

  Lastly, there is the fact that people do not actually care where they get the eBook. Whether from a personal site or through any of the popular platforms, all that matters to them is that what they are going to read through is good.

• 3. They Generate a Lot of Passive IncomeOnce an eBook is published, there is little that you need to do to push it to sell to your audience. As long as traffic in your page is constant, your eBooks should be visible which increases the chances of your eBooks being bought by newcomers.

  Of course, you can always add some changes to your eBooks or introduce new editions in light of new information. The point here is that so as long as people see value in your eBooks, they should generate enough income on your part.

Other Ways to Monetize Your Sites

Of course, eBooks are not just the only way that you can make your site earn more income. Monetizing your online ventures can come in many forms but the best, at least in recent times, are as follows:

• 1. Affiliate Marketing and Sponsored ContentThis is one of the easiest monetization strategies to date for one good reason: you’re just promoting other people’s stuff in your website and you have yours promoted in theirs. The goal here is to funnel traffic from one popular site to another that needs it or to consolidate all your sites’ traffic into one place.

  There are many good examples of this scheme. For example, there’s Amazon’s Affiliate Program which allows you to earn a percentage of every sale Amazon makes from people coming from your site. For content writers, there’s the chance to appear as a guest writer at a website like Cracked or the Huffington Post. And so on and so forth.

• 2. Pay Per Click AdsThis scheme works by allowing you to earn money every time a visitor to your site clicks any of the banners that pop up in your pages. YouTube also does something similar where advertisers can embed a video ad which will pop up somewhere in a video.

  When it comes to PPC Ads, your best option is Google’s AdSense program as you can control what kinds of ads are shown in your site and then insert them in key places at every page. From that point on, Google pays you for every ad that people will click through. The amount that you gain per ad is going to be insignificant on their own but you should see the money pouring in if the volume of web traffic you have for your sites are high.

• 3. E-learningAssuming that you are an expert in a certain subject, you can use your knowledge to create an e-learning course which you can then sell to the public. The reason why e-learning is profitable right now as there has been a considerable shift in user behavior when it comes to online content.

  Back then, internet users are already content if they can find the information they need from any page that has them. Today, there is a stronger focus towards problem solving with internet users looking for people that can give them a step-by-step strategy (or strategies) to handling certain topics. Whether it is in opening a business, learning a new language, or coping with a certain personal issue, the topics that can be covered in an e-learning course are far too many to count.

  Sites like Udemy help course creators market their courses to the public but, of course, there is the option to have your own site host your courses as well. Not only will this make your courses easier to find but it should direct a lot of traffic to your site instantly.

• 4. E-CommerceOf course, your website’s offerings don’t have to be limited to digital content. You can also offer something tangible like a product or a service. E-Commerce is also one of the more popular ways to earn income on the website. Just how popular? A quick search in Google about stores that offer one type product near your area and you should have more than 5 stores in the search results.

  However, here’s a word of warning: It’s going to take a lot of effort on your part. You’d be surprised just how labor-intensive running an online store can be. In fact, you can end up creating lot of unnecessary expenses if you don’t know how to negotiate with suppliers.

  However, there are also some success stories here. There are entire franchises here have been set up in e-commerce that started out as nothing more than a Facebook account or a basic webpage. Succeeding here will require to find a niche, coming up with detailed yet creative strategies, and adapting to changes as soon as they appear.

• 5. FlippingTaking a leaf from real estate, some online entrepreneurs today develop websites, build a strong following for it, and then have it sold to other people. In most cases, this is the final way that you can earn from your sites as it won’t be yours once the deal is done.

  However, flipping websites is not exactly a sustainable strategy for every business owner out there. The price that you can command for your websites is going to be dependent on their performance. If it’s not doing well, then you can’t sell it at favorable prices.

  If possible, use this method only if you want to start a new business. Let’s say that your website has peaked and you have nothing else to add to it. This will be best time that you can contact somebody else to buy the website from you and run it.

  It also helps that there is a market right now for turnkey websites. Apparently, there are too many people out there that want to run a successful website without having to go through the grind in the first place.

What NOT to Do When Monetizing Your Sites

Even the best strategies out there are going to be wasted if you don’t know how to use them. Sure you can cite being new to the market as a reason why you are allowed to mistakes but, let’s face it, you’d rather not make the same mistakes other business owners have made when you can learn from them. When it comes to monetizing your websites, there are several things that you should definitely avoid:

• 1. TOO Many AdsSince you are paid for every click of an ad in your pages, you think that putting a lot of ads is going to make you a lot of money per page. The answer is no. As a matter of fact, having too many ads in just one page is going to drive your audience off no matter how good your content is.

  The best kind of ads out there don’t even look line one. They can be cleverly placed in the text, pop up only in the middle (after the reader has gone through 50% at least of your content), or at the very end. The point is that you should control yourself when placing ads for your page. They should be there to segment your content, not break the immersion for your audience.

• 2. Not Engaging With the AudienceThis is another rookie mistake online businesses make. By focusing on driving a lot of people to their pages, they forget to engage what audience they already have. Engaging your readers, and keeping them engaged, is going to require you to produce content that is compelling and worth sharing. After all, getting your sites filled up with people is good but actually making them convert to customers is where the money is at.
• 3. Having No Strategy at AllIf even traditional businesses cannot survive without a solid plan, what makes you think that an online business will? A lot of online businesses treat the market jokingly, thinking that they can succeed just by “winging it” in the event something unexpected happens. That’s like heading to shark-infested waters without gear or going to that Sergeant Hartman’s Bootcamp and not expecting to be called an “ unorganized grabastic piece of amphibian (expletive)”.

  This might sound basic but its best that you define your goals for the business first and then constantly refer to it as you complete every phase of the plan. It also helps if said plan is comprehensive, detailed, and comes with backup after backup just in case the worst pops up.

• 4. Giving Up Before Everything Gets BetterYou will often encounter business owners who wine about not seeing any results in their online venture which is why they quit. You have to understand that not everything can be noticed in an instant and that includes online businesses. It will take time to generate enough sales in your websites and earn enough revenue from them. All it takes is some patience and the strength not to give up just because you are not seeing the results you want.

In Conclusion

Making money from your website, as with any business out there, is going to take a lot of time and effort. From creating valuable content to funneling people to your sites, you should expect for things to demand for consistency and patience. In time, you might just see returns from your investment on your websites, especially if you spent a little for it.

Have you tried to make more from your online ventures? What other methods have you used to maximize your ventures without risking too much? Let us know in the comments below!

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If you enjoyed this episode you may also love listening to:

Part 1: Buying Back Time

Part 2: Multiple Income Streams