The BEST way to Start Making Money Online from ZERO!

Here's an idea - here's how one could market their services for free and get the first dollar.

As we all know, you can only put links in your signature to sites that you own, but here is how I would get around that if I didn't have a site that I technically owned.

I would put something in my signature here that says "Let me write you an article for a dollar! Pm me for examples of my work"

Before doing this, I would offer to write a couple of articles for free, and get some feedback.

I would post the feedback and some rates on a free site that I don't own. Then I would put the message in my signature and be sure to spend some time adding some thoughtful helpful posts to this forum, and wait for someone to PM me for more information on my service. It might say "Your best chance at getting a quality 500 word article for a dollar! Native English speaker - too good to be true? PM me if you don't believe it."

(heck, if I saw that in someones signature it would definitely catch my eye)

I would then PM any interested parties back with a link to my services page where they could see an example of my work, and they could decide if they want an article from me for a dollar.

As soon as I got that first dollar, I would go get a dot info domain for .89¢ and use it as a new domain for my services. I would then do a few more articles for enough to get me a cheapo private hosting account where I could put up my own site to list my services at a slightly higher rate. I would add that to my signature here.

It's not glamorous, but can be done and within less than a week I would bet.

That's why I don't bother to underprice. If they're just looking for cheap articles, they can find them anywhere.

Hey,

i would recomend that start making money from :

Writing articles
Making Profiles on web 2.0 websites
Become affiliate

These things lead to good understanding of internet marketing and it will help in long run. In this, there is no investment in terms of money and you will get paid$$$

Regards
Franc

Ha ha, it is!

And you know, I don't think Fiverr was so "hot" at the time - so that is probably what I would add at this point. Go post some wacky gig over there.

It takes some time to get paid - but you can get paid!



Yes - your response is valid on the seed money.

And I understand about "undervaluing" oneself. But some people have no reputation or experience, and taking on a project at no cost will encourage them to learn what they need to learn while not feeling pressured that a contract is at stake. It really depends on the type of task at hand, it's value, and how prepared you really are to do that work.

The first wedding I shot, I did for a friend and virtually for free. I needed something for a wedding reel to get me more work. The friend was on a really tight budget. So, the job was done for almost nothing as I needed to only cover my base costs and I needed materials to work with.

I had a blast doing it, everyone was elated over the video that was done, I learned a ton of mistakes not to do through the process as well (I shot way too much footage, lol - which took forever to go back through) and in the end the tape I made got me immediate hire for subcontracting work with a company. From there on in I was paid for every wedding I shot as well as other events.

I would have felt terrible pressure if I was having to work under contract not knowing if I could really complete the task as I had never done that kind of work up to that point. I wanted to just go through the motions the first time - like a dress rehearsal. For me this lets me think more clearly while doing something. I do it because I am wanting to learn and enjoy and find my best work comes out as a result. This may be different for others.

Another thing to consider - I also realize if you are going to put the time in for something you want to see massive results. Some people do this and get no results. I'm not saying they need to set their ultimate goals to a dollar, but going really low for just a dollar or two to begin gives you proof that some money can be made. I see a lot of posts here where people have been at this for months and made nothing and think it is all hogwash. So, if they make at least one dollar it can debunk some thoughts for them.

I have to say, your site is really nicely laid out too! A great example of what someone can put together for an online calling card.

As far as "inflated dollars" and many people outsourcing to India or Philipines; there are still many good English speaking writers in the States and UK that are making good change for their efforts. (Bill, Alexa etc)

There will always be people looking to get a bargain and sometimes you get lucky. I did have a VA for a while and his writing was pretty good but I still had to rewrite his stuff. (read rewrite not "spin")

I also don't think that anyone would scoff at someone offering to write for a buck or for free at first. I know that if I could find a good native speaking writer who was just getting started I would jump on it and create a relationship before everyone and his brother monoplized his time. I'd become his first, best and oldest customer and thus try to earn his or her loyalty.

Thanks for all the info guys and dolls!!

This is great for the newcomers like me. Also, special thanks to the people that redirected this thread from other ones.

Cheers,

Jaguar

Look at my post above yours, but you could also do some simple videos for people with animoto.

If you aren't from an english speaking country start to look for people who need translation done.

I think you hit the nail on the head- once you find something that works for you, just stick to it. Spend most of your time scaling it, and a little bit of time testing other things.

Warrior Special Offer

exactly, i have also done the same work in past, but i have some good forums which were paing 2 cent to 4 cent per post and were about to forex. Though there were some others forums available which have more good rates but they have post restrictions also.

Offer a service! What a novel idea

Seriously, that is an awesome idea and you laid it out perfectly for anyone willing to try.

Too many of us here think we can "create a product," sell it as a WSO, and move to a tropical island.

While some can do that, and some probably have, it's not that easy - especially when you have zero experience and zero budget.

But THIS idea is superb! Offer a service. Brilliant.

This is one heck of a gem! I'm thinking about offering my writing services here.

Great Thread. I am just starting out. I've been making a $50 to $100 bucks a week connecting want ads on Craigslist with posts and other information on local and regional forums here in East Tennessee. I've been doing it for about six months since I got laid off from a 10 year IT job that went to India.

I'm paying my dues with a smile.

Soon as I get an extra 40 bucks, I'm joining the war room.

Great thread, great board. Good stuff. Thanks everyone.

this is actually the hard part. being consistent, focused, doing the grind. my tip would be set a daily routine and manage your time wisely.

I started a few years ago.I was totally broke to the point where I could not afford to eat 3 times a day.
I started on free safelist sites where you get to post ads in exchange for reading other peoples ads.Not the most effective advertising but I really didn`t know any better.I spent several hours every evening clicking ads.I joined a lot of sites that gave ads for joining. I picked a few sites and started using my free ads to promote them.It actually worked,well sort of anyway.By recruiting new members I got credit for their surfing as well,I was promoting 5 sites on about 15 sites.Some people in my downline upgraded their subscriptions and I got paid money.
I am still not where I want to be in terms of online success but I`m doing much better than in those days.

Yes, I started with offering my coaching services through a sales floor 11 years ago. I developed internet marketing curriculum that focuses on someone exploring their interests, developing their niche and branding.

Over the past couple years, I have specialized even further into WordPress installation and SEO for WP. After about a year of learning all about it and testing my own blogs, I was offered an opportunity with the company that sells my coaching to present my blogging specialty in a 90-day challenge for their company. It was a fantastic success!

So, I wrote down what was successful and developed it into a blogging program to get traffic. I'm re-writing it right now and updating it with the new social media explosion and I'm almost ready to put it out there as a WSO. Woohoo!

don't try to run a business on free blogs on wordpress.com - it's against their TOS anyways.

Invest in your business! Buy your own domain and get hosting. Install WordPress on your own site. Now you own your own virtual real-estate.

Don't ever rely 100% on a 3rd party site to run your business!

In 2005, this was what I did:


For those who need to read something, instead of viewing it in video:

What I did in 2005 was to initially offer my own time and expertise in writing tech content for a couple of North American corporations in the software development industry with newly launched home and office software products. After a few good weeks of working with them, they asked me to hire, train and manage a few more writers, so they can get more tech content in the overall quality they got from me, so I went ahead and hired my wife, a friend in Bicol and another friend in Davao, work at home moms and dads. After a few good months of working with them:

I developed innovative concepts for marketing their products on the Internet, for them to get wider market reach, better brand name exposure, more traffic, more affiliates and more sales, all while cutting their office equipment and manpower hiring, training and management overheads. I integrated these concepts into the custom business proposals I formulated and sent to them. What happened next was:

We signed them up. We registered our business. We didn't have an office, only a place which also served as our home, so, after barely a month, we grew into a homebased business with 45 independent homebased subcontractors across the Philippines, all working for these two corporations as their tech content writers. How did my wife and I do this, all while we stayed at home?

We formulated and implemented offline and online systems and processes to get interested job seekers across the Philippines with substantial expertise, test and hire them as independent homebased subcontractor tech content researchers/writers, and train/supervise/manage them while we all worked at home. We integrated a head hunting commission arrangement, so our friends and relatives were the ones who implemented the online and offline job seeker acquisition campaigns for us. We formulated, tested and implemented daily quotas for full timers and part timers. We formulated, tested and implemented daily notification, reporting, training, supervision, Q/A and daily/weekly/monthly performance evaluation processes for such an arrangement. What happened after another couple months was:

We grew into a business with 2 head offices here in Manila, 9 provincial city offices across the Philippines (we now have 7), 87 inhouse employees, 62 independent homebased subcontractors and 11 long-term contracts with 11 North American corporations operating in the software development industry. Our biggest milestones were:

• From late 2005 to mid 2007, we helped the carrier product of one of our corporate clients to become the world's best selling Microsoft Windows System Registry cleaner software of all time, and this happened in 2007. And:

• From late 2007 to late 2008, we helped the tech content info database portal of one of our corporate clients to be included in the top 100 best tech sites of all time, and this was in 2008. We continue to work with them up to this day. Then:

We grew and expanded our reach to affiliate marketing networks, content development networks, small to mid-scale companies, home business owners and individual Internet marketers. Well, this just means:

I grew my independent tech content writer arrangement, into a Manila-based brick and mortar company that services North American, European, Australian and Asian corporations, companies, businesses, home business owners and independent Internet marketers. Oh, by the way:

My wife and I started out without any capital investment, other than our own time and expertise. And:

I've been totally blind, permanently, for almost nine years now, after being gunned down twice last November 2003...