What are the best ways to make money online in 2016 is a question I hear often, and this is a good question due to the fact that online marketing continues to grow.
In other words, online marketing does not stand still. Along with the fast moving world of technology we now live in, online or internet marketing has become smarter over the past 6 or so years.
Some may argue that it is much more than 6 years but I like to stay with that period as I am very aware of many changes during those years, which is different to earlier times. Until a few years ago it was acceptable to post almost any content on the internet.
That old method no longer applies. Google took action a few years ago with algorithms such as Penguin, Panda and others too numerous to mention here.
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Returning to the Best Ways to Make Money Online in 2016
For a newcomer to internet marketing I am always keen to lead them in the direction of affiliate marketing, but there are other ways to make money online in 2016, just as there has been in previous years and no doubt will be available in future years.
The Following List Provides 7 Ways to Make Money Online
- Affiliate Marketing
- Google Adsense
- Drop Shipping
- Creating and Selling Your Own eBook
- Doing Online Surveys
- Creating your own Affiliate Product
- Selling A Service
Each one of the above provides a platform for earning income at home depending on individual skills, understanding of how online marketing works and, in some instances, a natural creative ability to produce quality products that contain valuable content for the end user.
These factors bring me back to the method of Affiliate Marketing being one of the best ways to make money online in 2016 and beyond, and perhaps the easiest and most enjoyable method for those who are new to earning income online.
To Justify My Opinion of Affiliate Marketing
I have been an Affiliate Marketer since 2010 when I started my first affiliate marketing website. At that time I was running my own virtual secretarial business; therefore the time I had available to build an affiliate marketing business was very limited.
However, I had a passion, and that passion was about affiliate marketing. I had set my sights on being a successful affiliate marketer and in spite of being time poor, I learnt right from the start of how to develop my first website.
This was, and still is, a WordPress site.
In 2010 I wasn’t so greatly concerned about the income, my concern was to learn the correct way to build a successful website that I could use for affiliate marketing, and that was where I put my focus.
There were trials and tribulations when experimenting with the different affiliate marketing programs out there that make statements such as earning enormous amounts of dollars in a matter of days or weeks. It was, and still is, so easy to make wrong decisions due to the pressure put upon the unofficiated to “sign up now”, “only xxxxx number left”……. etcetera!
Don’t get me wrong. There are some legit programs out there on the web that will teach you how to become successful at affiliate marketing but how do you know which programs are the legitimate ones? From my experience, and that of others I know, there is much trial and error to be experienced unless one has the knowledge of genuine or non-genuine programs.
I have been there, had my fingers burned, but because of my passion to become an affiliate marketing entrepreneur I never gave up.
A Genuine Program At Last
In 2014 I was introduced to the Wealthy Affiliate University and dipped my toes into the program for probably just a few minutes. I was heavily involved in another program and it would have been wise for me to bookmark Wealthy Affiliate until such time as I was ready to move forward.
So it was a year later, in mid-2015, after having signed up for yet another impossible program, for me at least, I decided to return to Wealthy Affiliate University and read the ‘fine print’ so to speak. Hmm…. why hadn’t I done that before? Just simply because I was working by myself, with no-one to really turn to for genuine, honest opinions on the best program to learn how to be a successful affiliate marketing entrepreneur.
My Final Thoughts About Making Money Online in 2016 & Beyond
I remain with my recommendation that out of the 7 ways to make money online, listed above, Affiliate Marketing comes up No. 1 with me.
Reasons Why Affiliate Marketing Is My No. 1 Choice
- Affiliate Marketing is the most self-sufficient way of earning an income online that I am aware of because an affiliate marketer has the liberty of learning and building their business entirely at their own speed.
- With an Affiliate Marketing business you can work in your specialized field, either a profession, hobby or general interest.
- There are thousands, if not millions, of niches/subjects to build an affiliate marketing business that will bring you in the income you are looking for, provided that you apply yourself to the job in hand.
The Alternative Six Ways to Earn Income Online
Each of the remaining 6 ways to earn income online comes with obligations to meet deadlines. And, this includes:
Writing Your Own eBook. When a decision has been made to make money by becoming the author of your eBook, then the work needs to be done consistently until the eBook is completed, followed by a period of time in marketing your eBook.
Google Adsense can be included as an add-on to an Affiliate Marketing business. Google Adsense as a one-off business takes a considerable length of time to establish unless one is prepared to pay for advertising such as Google Adwords
Drop Shipping can be profitable but again, there are obligations and deadlines to be met causing dedicated daily attention to your business.
Creating Your Own Affiliate Product takes time to establish and can be costly unless you are able to complete all the tasks yourself. If there is a need to outsource tasks then this is an expense to be recovered when the product is established. Additionally, seeking Affiliate Publishers to promote your own affiliate product can be time consuming, hence a delay in earning income. Creating your own affiliate product is a wise action to take by those who are experienced with online marketing.
Selling a Service is definitely demanding and I can speak from experience. Providing a service fits into the category of a 9 am to 5 pm job and does not give the freedom of affiliate marketing. When selling a service you need to be available to your clients as per their needs.
Doing Online Surveys can work well as an additional stream of income, but does not compare with affiliate marketing in respect to demands or non-demands of your online business.
Again I Refer to Affiliate Marketing As Being Best Ways to Make Money Online in 2016 and Beyond
For a COST FREE experience of how affiliate marketing can be your most preferred method of online income I invite you to explore my Review of Wealthy Affiliate.
You are welcome to take a look around the Review, visit the Wealthy Affiliate program and decide for yourself whether or not you would enjoy the experience of learning how to build a valid business from the ground floor upwards.
I look forward to seeing you in the community, absolutely obligation FREE
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I am so amazed at the amount of ways that aperson can make money online, with the internet and social media a person can make a good full time income without having to leave the comfort of their homes and that is what many people are striving for. Thanks for sharing thi smost valuable infromation that can educate people on the many ways that they can make money. Tons of information here and well detailed. All the best to you have a good day.
Hi Norman,
Thank you for visiting my website and leaving your comment. I much appreciate it.
What you say about making a full time income from home is so true. The internet has changed the lives of so many people who not only have the pleasure of choosing the hours they work, but also no longer need to cope with traffic and travel time to and from a place of employment.
Technology is a great advantage to be enjoyed.
Best wishes
Valerie
I definitely think that affiliate marketing is the way to go. Before I stumbled upon Wealthy Affiliate I tried a lot of the other ways you have listed. Spent a LOT of time trying to make them work, putting in a lot of effort with zero return. Affiliate marketing is really the best way to go and learning thru Wealthy Affiliate is a life saver.
Thanks so much for visiting my website and leaving your comment. I see you have done similar in the past to what I did before finding Wealthy Affiliate. I agree that Wealthy Affiliate is a life saver. The best of the best of affiliate marketing training.
HI Valerie
Thanks for a great article on ways to make money online. I agree with all of your items here except the online surveys… well I do agree, you can make money but really it won’t be much at all.
I enjoy doing the odd survey sometimes but it certainly doesn’t make a considerable change to my income.
You know what I love much more? Youtube videos! This is sort of related to Adsense as you can get your channel monetized with your Adsense account (or another Youtube partner).
This can add up to be residual income which is nice, plus if you are working online Youtube videos also help your content rank better, they help your content convert and it is about building your own brand or name as an authority!
Hi Lynne
Thanks very much for commenting on my article.
I agree with you about the income level with online surveys, but I see doing surveys as filler while building a sound business. Of course, that too would depend on time available to do the surveys.
It is interesting that you mention YouTube videos. It is something I haven’t done yet mainly because I haven’t set myself up with the necessary equipment. I believe there is not all that much equipment required and, from what I have heard, lighting is one of the main aspects of producing videos.