If you’re already read the Second Income Guide, you will understand that a second income stream is a great resource for you. I am a firm believer that Online Income might be the best opportunity for you to create a second income stream. Why do I believe in creating online income streams? Because of the following reasons:
- Online income streams can be developed with little to no technical expertise
- Online income streams can be developed with little to no capital
- Online income streams are relatively secure forms of income
- Online income streams are “always on” – meaning they will work for you 24/7/365
- Online income streams are very low risk business ventures
What Do Online Income Streams Look Like?
They take many forms, but I believe that they typically fall into the following categories:
- Blogs - Informal websites run by one or more authors who write on a particular subject
- Online Retailers - E-Commerce websites that sell a specific product or set of products
- Affiliate Websites - These websites typically try to sell you on a specific website or refer you to a specific website in exchange for a cut of the sale (blogs also make money through affiliate sales)
While these types of websites can sell a combination of services or products, they usually make money by one of the following ways:
- Advertising – text or graphic advertisements
- Selling a product
- Selling information
- Membership / Subscription fees
- Consulting fees
What Skills Are Needed?
Thankfully, the internet now has packages and services that make it possible to anything described above with little expertise. You can launch a store front and start selling products and even process credit cards in a number of minutes and without writing a single line of computer code. With that said, you will be better off with at least some proficiency in the following areas:
- HTML or other web technologies
- Graphic design skills
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Skills
- Wordpress (most popular blogging platform) skills – php skills also help here
- Excellent writing ability
- Marketing skills
How To Get Started
You’ll be better off if you have the input and advice from someone who has attempted to do what you’re planning on doing. Seek somebody out and ask them for input and advice. It will probably save you time and money.
You will need to determine what type of website you’re going to be starting. Are you going to try and sell something or just gain some readers and traffic? Depending on your goal, you will select your technology; for example, if you’re going to start a blog, you will start with Wordpress.
You then need to select a domain name, register it and find a host. I recommend a host where you can do a one-click install of the technology that you’re utilizing. Then, start building the actual website.
If a blog, you’ll need to find a theme, and start customizing it and writing your content. It will take time but, with some hard work, you can create something special.
