I Need to Find a Way to Support Myself Online. Getting Desperate.

What are you good at?

If you're good at digital marketing, programming, systems administration etc, do this for clients on a consultancy basis.

If you're interested in retail, you try ecommerce.

If you can code, write a web application and charge for licenses or subscriptions.

There's plenty of opportunities - just be honest with yourself at what you can and can't do.

Writing seems to be your strong point. Do you advertise your writing services anywhere else like Odesk or is it just the forum?

Maybe you should set up a website where you can showcase this and other services - along with the usual social media sites. (I assume you haven't already from your bio).

Fiverr gigs with upsells can be quite fruitful too.

Which country are you based in currently? Maybe the exchange rate can give you some flexibility in terms of rates you can charge.

i have understand your problem.you know life is too easy and at the same time life is too difficult.we want to make money but we want it overnite and and with minimal efforts.take this note for life never go so fast that you can't determine where you are going.i can understand your problem because i have faced it in a phase of my life.now let's come to your problem.do following things genuinely:
1 determine your strengths and weaknesses : just analyse it for a day whether you are interested in online activities or not.if you are doing it for money without much interest.how long it will last.and soon you will end up at nothing.

2 after determining your interests nce your have choosen the path never hesitate to follow it.don't care for anything in this world just your interests.

3 have long term goals and dream big : don't do something just for a little money.don't work to make one time money work with double,triple and even quadruple intensity to dig a well which will give you water for the upcoming years.in blogging context i want to describe it as don't do guest post as freelancer but make your own blog and make extraordinary effforts.results may come after a long time (depends) but you will be happy and tension free.

4 nothing can be achieved instantly: something can be achieved instantly then half of the people of this world would be millionaires.so make efforts do hard work sincere work with dedication.

5 don't despair : after following these above steps if you get fail don't think that you are good for nothing.believe in yourself.one is considered fail when he stops trying.until you are always in the game.it's impossible to remain motivated in our life for the whole time.my first blog was a big big failure according to people in my surroundings.but only and only me knows what and how much i have learnt from that failure.sit with those who are not losers.losers are those who stops trying...

you are facing problem in your life because you thinks you have failed and in many troubles may be financially .but remember there are people in this world according to them you are living their dream life those who don't even get a food to fill their tummy

bonus tip :if you are interested in online activities..them make a blog and don't think for overnite success.

So any suggestions on what type of service to offer for quick money while at the same time working on a website for long term income?

timbonitus try to find a micro niche like mine nexus5us.com

Hey, I've recently taken a dive into the unknown working for myself. I have a few websites/blogs out there which are making next to no income but I work with them in a hobby capacity and spend my time now (previous month) working freelance using freelance sites and looking for local work in the UK.

All I have done is take a step away from an agency and use my skills to go it alone - my skillset is social media and marketing online. I had to wait till I built up the courage to move away from a regular pay check where I could essentially move away and my new income would depend on the amount of work I put in myself.

Just go with what you are good at - if not it might be back to the 9 - 5 .. But push freelancer.com, odesk, guru, elance etc for work and make sure you have your portfolio up-to-date. I also use my personal site a sample and portfolio area and that seems to help me out a bit.

Hi Tim, I have seen similar ups and downs in my life so let me give you an advice from my experience.

First of all,You need to find your strength and start doing things which makes you happy. Things are not as bad as you often think but they look bad because of negativity around you, so first get rid of negativity and the best way to do is to start enjoying things which you life. It is OK if you are not making money from those things but just get rid of negative thoughts first.

Secondly, be realistic and set realistic goals. You looks to be pretty young and so have plenty of time in hand. Don't be too hard on yourself, Check What if Money was no object
Third - Invest in yourself, if you don't know something, learn. It is worth spending few months and even years learning new things, you will eventually make money from your knowledge.

Here's my advice for you. Get a sheet of paper and write down everything you know how to do. This would include your interests, passions, skills, talents, knowledge, etc. Then go to www.udemy.com and look through the various categories of courses. See which of them you have knowledge about and create an information product about it. Obviously you will need to do your research to know if it is a niche or topic that people are interested in. But the website makes this very easy for you to know.

Simply look at the number of subscribers that a course has and multiply it by the selling price of the course. When you multiply that number by 70%, you have the author's commission.

Since, as someone else said, it seems you are into writing, why don't you create an information product on the site that teaches and shows people how to write their own articles and eBooks. You will cover topics such as how to do research, where to do the research, how to structure an article/eBook, formatting,etc. You could even include a template. For those that do not like writing their own articles, you could include a chapter on how to outsource it and where. Heck, you could even tell them you are available for hire. Another good thing about the website is that your content is non-exclusive so you could sell the same content in other marketplaces such as Clickbank, JVZoo and even here on the Warrior Forum as a WSO.

Take action on this and you should be making money soon.
All the best!

Can't answer about the make money fast thing.
All I know is the slow sure continuous way. The kind where every minute you invest pays you back for months and months and months.

You can play in just about any niche you choose if you have an interest and a lot of focus.

One thing that sets the winners apart from the wannabees is the creation of a list. Whatever niche you choose, you should first verify that building a list is a viable marketing strategy. If not, then dump it or play in it only for the short term if you can monetize it.

Building a list of prospects, subscribers and buyers will take you to your goal. Slowly but surely. Day after day adding to your list. Giving your subscribers value. Then selling them something.

This means you will need to learn traffic generation. Free, paid, owned, and earned traffic generation should be your focus once you have a value proposition.

If you can write well, then affiliate marketing may be a good start. Write simple reviews to pre-sell the products and send traffic (pay per click, articles, youtube, buy ads,etc).

Will take some time, but will be worth it.

Every journey begins with a single step..... and you just have to take that 1st single step.

Good luck

Those two skills are all you need. Find a clickbank product that you can get behind.

Set up a free blogger account, and write a sales page for the product.

Once that is set up, write 10-15 articles to ezine, and make 3-4 vids and put them on YouTube.

Do this EVERY SINGLE DAY.

After a month you'll have 300 articles and 100 vids driving traffic to your sales page. The more you do this, the better you'll get.

After six months, you'll have 1200 articles and 600 videos, all driving traffic to your sales page.

Surely this will get you five sales a day? That's enough to live off of.

Do this, and this only, and focus on getting better. People don't make money because they try half heartedly and quit when they don't get rich overnight.

Focus focus focus. rinse repeat, rinse repeat, rinse repeat.

Bum marketing will get you paid if you work it, 5+ hours a day.

"unless I absolutely have to find a job."

I'm very sorry but believe me, from experience, you absolutely must find a job first. All that money you are losing by not having a job, all that money from a job you could be using to fast track your IM career, and all decreased stress youd have from having a job and regular money................you must find a job....any job.

Here you go....

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...desperate.html

Heya Timbonitus,

Here's a list of your available resources -- You said you're based in Taiwan, have good English research and writing skills (most likely better than others there), have significant knowledge in online marketing and don't have a job (this could also mean you have time to invest). Now:

Here's a list of available opportunities for you -- There are many corporations, companies and small to medium businesses in Taiwan with recently launched products that they would want to promote outside Taiwan, particularly in English speaking countries. And, there are many groups, organizations, businesses and companies in those English speaking countries that could be interested in reselling the products of those Taiwan-based corporations, companies and businesses. Now:

Here's a list of the things you could try -- Go to those Taiwan-based corporations, companies and businesses. Show them how you can help them reach and sign up their target reseller markets in those English speaking countries by setting up a website for them with English content at reasonable prices, by integrating an affiliate system into this website at no charge, and by promoting as their tier one affiliate this website at a reasonable monthly wage price. Alibaba.Com and Amazon Supply among others could be something you should look into. So:

By doing the things above, you could get paid for setting up websites with affiliate systems for them, get paid for promoting those websites for them, and get paid as their tier one affiliate for the sales that will be generated by the resellers you help them sign up through your online marketing services. How's that sound?

Hey I know what its like to struggle too. My best advise would be to pick what you like to do and set a good funnel to feed your niche. Give them what they want. If you like to write, freelance your work, go to content writing forums, use the signature for traffic, go after every area that you feel needs your service or gig. Keep fighting.

Wow, I didn't expect this thread to get so many replies.

I really don't know how to reply because there are so many good responses here. First, I will start by saying thanks to everyone who is considerate enough to leave a helpful response. Really appreciate it guys!

I don't know how to quote more than one person (how do you do that?) so I will just reply to everyone in this post.

iCyborg, thanks for the video. I was listening to it while reading through the replies on this thread. I like the old classic audio.

Deji, very interesting idea! I will look into it once I am done replying to everyone in this thread, might take awhile, lol. I never created my own product but I have read a lot of information about creating your own products so I think it shouldn't be too difficult. Thanks!

JohnMcCabe, thanks! I actually tried to do something like that a couple years ago but it didn't work out how I was hoping it would. I probably just didn't market the service well enough. I would like to do something like that. Building websites is fun for me but I only know how to use Wordpress at the moment.

Chris Silvey, yes that would be a good idea. But I want to see if I can make money online before I have to get a job. If I can't make enough online then I will look into some English teaching jobs. But I want to try making money online first. I definitely have more experience working online than working at a real job.

steelhead, thanks. I am not exactly looking for a "get rich quick" scheme. I understand making money online takes time. What I need right now is a plan to follow. I find it very difficult to decide which strategy I want to go with. Should I build niche websites and monetize them with affiliate products? Should I sell my own products? Should I create Youtube videos? Should I advertise CPA offers? Build a list? It is confusing.

shane_k, I have been doing that for awhile. I used freelancer.com, Odesk, and this forum to find work but the work is very unstable. Also, freelancer.com is full of people who are not interested in hiring writers that charge more than 1$ for 100 words. I didn't have much luck with freelancer.com or Odesk. Digital Point is the same, once I bumped my rates to more than 1$ for 100 words no one wanted to hire me. I had the best luck finding work from this forum but it is very unstable. I downloaded the eBook and will start reading it soon. Thanks!

jorgesil, that sounds like a great plan. I will look into creating my own Youtube videos.

Alex Blades, thanks but I read through that thread all the time.

Marx Vergel Melencio, that is also a great idea. I know there are lots of small businesses here in TW that need websites to create a presence online. But the problem is the language barrier. Most TW people don't know English and my Chinese is not good enough to discuss business. I just started studying 2 months ago, learning slowly.

Steve Wells, great idea! I always liked copywriting but I don't think I am good enough at copywriting to offer a service right now. At the moment I am reading some books on copywriting. Soon I will offer a copywriting service; hopefully that will work out.

Wow. This is a long post.

Thanks for all the replies guys! Slowly I am starting to figure out which strategy I want to focus on. I think I might start with setting up a website for my content writing and see how things go from there.

I have a few ideas for the name of my content website, not sure if I should post them here. If anyone is available to give me some feedback on my ideas feel free to PM me.

Thanks everyone! This thread has been a big help to me so far. I already feel much more motivated to make money online.

What do you mean content writing? Everybody's a copywriter or a web designer or a social media guru.

You need to drill down to a real niche. Setup an online authority presence. Be the best at something. Be the authority at something.

Here's how it works:

- Be A _____________.(Dog walker, plumber, roofer. whatever)
- Give away the process so your niche can Be A __________.(Course or report)
- Upsell the tools so they can Be A ______________.

There's 8,500 business categories. Inside each category there are hundreds of niches. Grab one and be the best at that niche.

Desire something, believe in something, then take action.

If writing is your strong point then consider writing your own e books. You can use them for free J/V giveaway events to build your list, place them for sale on sites like Amazon.com, and use them along with your name to establish your brand and gain credibility in the niche that you write about. It will take a little time but when you have that going for you it will be much easier to sell those products that you have created. Hope this helps.
Cheers, Brian

Thanks for the responses guys.

I think what I need most right now is a mentor. Someone to help direct me on the right path. I actually never had a steady offline job so I don't know what it is like to have someone telling me what to do everyday. I am sure most of you on here hate your bosses or your job and you want to get away from it all and start your own business. But I never got the work experience you did, I need someone to tell me what to do, someone to at least point me in the right direction. I get distracted easily when I have to work alone.

Unfortunately, if you read through this thread, you can tell I don't have a big budget for hiring a mentor. But if anyone wants to help me out or knows someone who could help me out for at least one month, I would really appreciate it.

Hey Tim,

You have a good skillset. Well, I read that you'd be open to JVs? Why don't you PM me, and we'll see if we can work together.

If you don't want to work on JVs at present, let me give you some advice on your writing business.

Start outsourcing extra work so you can tell that you'll be open to bulk orders. That works really well.

Bulk rates work well too. Offer 10 articles at a reduced price (not too much so you don't cut into your profits), so you'll attract more buyers.

Network with people. Don't depend on your thread alone. Contact web masters on your own and point them to your thread. Use your thread as a proof of your talent (I meant the reviews you get), but don't depend on your thread alone for clients; you should actively seek them out too. Spend an hour a day specifically to get clients, and you'll see a remarked improvement in the number of orders you get.

Hope that helped. Good luck.

I have friends in mainland China and Taiwan.

You said that an offline job was not an option since you were living in Taiwan. Many private schools in Taiwan need instructors to teach English. Mandarin is the official language but there are many other dialects spoken. English is looked at as an almost mandatory language to learn for a better future.

You might even explore private tutoring which you could do part-time while working on your online business.

There used to be a Clickbank product that gave advice on teaching English as a second language. I don't know if it is still available but I know there are other similar products if you Bing it.

Wish you success no matter what you pursue.

Whereabouts in Taiwan?

The best thing to start off on selling some service of yours on Fiverr, thats the best place. I make $1000+ on Fiverr working just 15-20 mins a day

Stick with what you know. If you're good at content writing, find ways to expand and grow your business. There are plenty of opportunities out there, especially if you know where to look. I highly recommend looking up TiffanyLambert (formerly Tiffany Dow), if you haven't already - she's on the forums here and you can find her at tiffanydow.com/blog. She has a great "Ghostwriting Cash" program that may help you grow your business; and her blog is full of fantastic advice.

Clarity is a HUGE part of IM success. I hope this post brings some clarity. It's so simple when you know it -- and darn difficult when you don't! I owe my mentors a world of thanks for bringing this clarity.

IM is actually pretty simple: you can sell only one of two things:

1. Products
2. Services

That's it!

And selling products or services online happens in the same basic way for everyone, no matter what they're selling:

Traffic > Opt-in page > Autoresponder series (or e-zine) > Sales page

That's it! It's just that simple. (We IMers tend to overcomplicate things.)

But no matter what your niche is, or whether you're selling a product or a service, do you know what your business model is?

A business model is the framework or skeleton of your business. Essentially there are three types of online business models:

1. Membership-based model

A membership-based business model allows you to build a community of people (your members) who are as passionate about your subject as you are. Your membership fees can be monthly or annual, but either way, you're building recurring, passive income.

There are a lot of resources and information out there to help you build a membership-based business if you're interested in doing this.

2. Product-based model

Selling products allows you to maximize your time and effort by selling items over and over again. This can be hard goods or it can be information products. Information marketing is it's own business model under the product-based model. Information marketing allows you to take your brain to the bank by creating a product ONCE based on what you know and selling it over and over again.

Affiliate marketing falls under both models. You can choose to market either products or services as an affiliate.

3. Service-based model

Selling services can be great for 1) generating quick cash (as in the case of article writing or video producing) and 2) establishing your expertise and getting testimonials.

However, in the long run, your goal should be to offer services at a PREMIUM. The biggest advantage of IM is LEVERAGE. You're able to leverage your time, money and expertise exponentially online. We all have just 24 hours each day. Time to get ruthless about what you expect for those hours you spend in IM each day. Expect more of yourself and more from your business friends, clients, partners, etc.

What results are you getting for those hours you spend online each day? Ultimately, your services should be at the bottom of your funnel and cost the most since they involve your time and personal attention. (We all have a limited amount of time each day.)

The fun (and confusion) comes in with all of the endless mix-and-match possibilities of the above models. If you're just starting or still struggling to make money, keep it simple:

Pick just ONE!

1. Pick ONE niche. (Something you're interested in and know something about.)

2. Pick ONE target market for your product or service. (Who will buy what you're offering? The more specific you are, the more you narrow it down, the more successful you'll be.)

3. Pick ONE business model.

Now that you're clear about what business you're in, FOCUS! (And stop buying any info not related to your niche and target market, period!)

F -- Follow
O -- One
C -- Course
U -- Until
S -- Successful

And remember: build a list, Build a List, BUILD A LIST!

In IM, it's easy to put the cart before the horse. Take a deep breath, step back and consider what type of business you REALLY want. Don't worry about getting traffic or buying that expensive traffic product until you know 1) what your business model is, 2) what niche you're in and 3) WHO your target market is!

Successful business people will tell you that MARKETING is more than half the effort that's needed for success anyway. So pick a niche, target market and business model. Then spend most of your time and effort marketing it.

If you DON'T have a solid plan or system, THAT'S when it's hard. A good system will shave YEARS (and save you big $$$) off of your learning curve

That's why I recommend investing in at least one good, comprehensive IM course (or mentor who will give you such a system) instead of jumping from one $37 e-book to the next. A lot of people here complain about not being able to make any money. But neither are they willing to invest in their business. (Buying a random bunch of $37 e-books doesn't count.)

The best thing I ever did was invest in a comprehensive IM course aimed at REAL business owners, not just other IM wannabes. Yes it was $1500. (It's no longer available.) But it was truly some of the best A-Z IM info I ever bought. Everything else I've learned (from the $37 e-books) since has simply been plugged into this system.

Get a solid plan or system and then work the plan!

Hope this helps!

Michelle

You need to remove the desperation first or you'll end up blocking potential paths to success. Try to find a way to minimize the angst and increase the positivity. One way to do this is to cut your expenses to the bone and then partner with someone who also wants to earn money in your field of choice. This will give you a little economic padding and more time to build your business.

You can make good money writing at Constant Content. Their guidelines are too complicated and they keep rejecting articles for insignificant reasons. You can either pay an editor to check your articles before you submit them to CC until you will learn very well their guidelines, or learn them very well from the beginning.

You can sell articles at good prices because they get a lot of traffic. CC gets 35%, but you still make more than $15 - $30 per article there. This website deserves your attention. If you will be serious you will make a good amount writing for CC.

You can also sell expensive and very well elaborated articles for $80, but you will have to wait for the right customer. Write a few expensive articles and wait for the right customer, but in the meanwhile write articles about topics in demand and sell your articles the lowest possible, especially in the beginning to show to the public that many people trust your work. This way you will also sell your articles faster.

Another good alternative for a writer are Kindle ebooks. I want to write one but I didn't have the time to do it yet. Many people are making money with Kindle because Amazon promotes these ebooks, which is a great alternative. You can also promote your Kindle ebooks yourself at your blog, Squidoo lenses, Hubs, etc.

Since you're good at creating content, you could write articles on popular topics (eg, problems that many people are looking for solutions to) in the WarriorForum and offer them as PLR.

Spokespersons making alot of money in fiverr.....

Product development is the answer:
-Market
-The offer
-The marketing to get the offer out.
Think in something you can teach others and develop it.

As long as you go towards your strengths, and you will be successful.

Hi Tim,
We have been in the same situation as you many years ago. And just like yourself we would have wanted to have found someone who could have guided as properly so that we can achieve success in terms of having an online business without the hassles and stress earlier. We have spent in excess of $100,000 dollars on our education online. Bought many different courses from different gurus. It has taken us around 5 years to finally get the blueprint to make real money online. The sad fact is only 2% of people become successful online. The good news though is, there is a training system that can fast track you in a short time, which took us five years to find. If we could have only found this earlier it would have saved us a lot of time and money. But we are happy to share it with you on the basis that we truly want to help people succeed.
We were fortunate enough to find the right mentors. So if you would like more info. Send us a personal message and we will be more than happy to help point you in the right direction.

Best Regards,
Maricar

Apparently, there are a lot of ways to make money online. But it all depends on how much time you invest into the right projects. Working as a content writer can bring you a high salary, but you need to build up your reputation as a writer first. Use many of the sites recommended above and be patient. Good luck!

I was not expecting this thread to pop back up here.

Since I posted this thread a lot has changed. I started working on some new projects and I have been able to rake in some cash. Not as desperate anymore. But still, I appreciate the ideas and suggestions. Thanks.