Selling your ideas, products or services online can be easier said than done.
But one thing for sure is that it’s possible.
When it comes to earning money online there are two major ways it’s achieved online.
It’s either you are providing skills or service for a pay or you are selling something.
When it comes to selling something, there are different types of things you can sell, you can sell physical products or digital products or you can sell other people’s products or services (affiliate marketing)
The first money I earned online apart from selling physical goods was from affiliate marketing (me promoting other people’s business) late last 2019.
I was excited about the alert that I had to show it to a friend, it felt great to finally make money online without having any physical and digital products to sell, just by understanding about a concept and performing a specific set of actions I made some money.
Guess the amount? 6k
But it’s not all about the amount, the most important thing for me then was the experience, it validated some of the theory I already know about making money online, it also gave me more confidence to keep seeking more opportunities to make money online.
I have been in the information technology communication ITC space since 2011, right from when I signed up for a course on computer engineering and networking from a computer Institute in Lagos.
All this while, I didn’t think about making money online until I got into digital marketing back in 2018.
The problem is when I got started with digital marketing in 2018 I didn’t have the right knowledge and ideas, honestly, I wished someone told me some of the things I’m about to share with you in this post.
I have made mistakes because of ignorance, some of them have delayed my success when it comes to building passive coming online.
If you are considering taking your hustle online you don’t have to make the mistakes amateurs have been making while trying to build business and brand online.
These are mistakes I was making and nothing happened but when I started doing otherwise I started getting positive results and feedback.
1. Not having anything to offer
No matter how easy most people paint the idea of making money online the truth is for you to make online you must have something to offer.
Like I said earlier, the major ways to make money online is to provide skills as service for a pay that can be done in different ways or the other way is if you are selling physical or digital products.
If you are going to make money in a genuine way online you need to have a soft skill or digital skills to offer for a pay or digital or physical products that you can exchange for money, there’s no other way about this.
Even though you decide to sell other people’s products or services, you will still need the right skills to market online, skills like writing copies, building landing pages, etc.
In most cases, you need a product and a skill to thrive in the online world.
2. Always wanting free stuffs
This is something I wish someone told me when I first got interested in digital marketing and making money online 2 years ago.
I know we are living in an information age, we have access to vast amounts of information than any generation before us, this is actually amazing.
But hoping to get everything free online will kill your goal of making money online, the truth is there’s no free lunch even in Freetown and it’s only those who pay that really pay attention and also get special attention and support that bring transformation.
Don’t depend on free tool and resources for building your online business, apparently, you can start with free resources that is how I got started, but the problem with free information is that it takes time to connects all the dots that will make the whole concept understandable but when you pay for information you are getting organized information about your subject which helps you cut your learning curve and sometimes a support system that helps you achieve results faster and efficiently.
For digital tools, it’s okay to start with trials and free resources, when you are starting out you might not have enough resources but depending on free tools makes you less professional and most of the time you end up using pirated tools.
Even though there is free access to almost every information online, there is still premium information, information that is packaged for transformation. To thrive online you need to pay for premium information, that is where you can learn to do the right things that get results online.
Premium tools and resources are meant to be transformational, not the kind of stuff that could be found in the free Internet space.
When you pay for premium tools or resources you are not just paying for the tools or resources you are paying for the transformation to your business operations and transformation to your knowledge and skills.
You don’t have to go ahead buying any products you find been advertised online, the idea is instead of trying to figure things out on your own which is possible but might take time, you can pay for premium tools or resources to teach you in days, weeks or month what you could spend 6 months or a year to figuring out on your own.
3. Learning unnecessary marketing concepts
Actually, I’m a marketing student, when I got interested in earning money online, I thought I needed a degree in marketing and that I will have to master every digital marketing concept out there before I gain the skills and knowledge needed to earn money online.
It’s true that marketing is an essential part of human life, as humans we are on daily bases trying to sell ourselves, we are always trying to sell our beauty, viruses, skills, products, services or time even though most of us are not marketers.
When it comes to selling or earning online you don’t need to master the entire concept of marketing or digital marketing, you just need to learn the right few concepts and skills for your niche.
Also Read: Top 5 skills that will make you more valuable in the market place
But the truth is if you can focus on learning the right concept and skills you will save yourself from stress and knowledge overload.
4. Being too sceptical
I used to be sceptical of using my cards to pay for stuff online until I discover the implications of my actions to my ultimate goal of making money online.
Some people are too sceptical to the extent that they can’t buy things they like online.
If you lack trust to transact online how are you hoping to earn money online? Who is going to pay you?
The thing is if the whole world is sceptical there won’t be many opportunities for earning or selling things online.
To be more smart and confident buying or selling online you need to understand what it takes to be safe online and to transact online, to make payment through secure gateway online.
If you are going to be selling things or earning money online you will have to be paid right, so if you are not willing to transact online, who is going to be paying you the money you will earn online?
To be comfortable selling or earning online you need to be comfortable buying online too.
5. Always looking for shortcuts
There’s no shortcut to making genuine money online, you will have to take the steps.
If you are going to be building a sustainable and scalable system that generates revenue online you will need to take the narrow way that leads to light 😊.
And that is actions, actions on the right path, with the right information and the right understanding.
The truth is you will need to learn about your industry, about your niches, you will need to learn the concepts, the skills that will get you results, and it doesn’t end there, you need to implement what you learn to be able to get results.
When it comes to earning money online, most people are only looking out for how to double their money to success, this can be the most unsafe way to make money online.
Earning money online is based on cause and effect, action and reaction, your results will always be in response to what you put in.
6. Being lazy to Learn
If you are reading this right now and you don’t know anything about how to sell things or making money online, you can start learning.
There are 3 major ways you can start learning what you don’t know is:
Reading: you can blog posts, books, ebooks to gain insight and knowledge of anything you don’t know about.
Listen: you can listen to podcasts or audiobooks while you are on your way to the gym or work.
Watch: you can watch videos to understand things or how to use tools to get things done
If you are lazy on any of this it will be difficult to earn money online, trust me.
Most people think that the idea of making money online is an excuse for laziness when it comes to learning, that is far from the truth.
Your earning capacity online is to an extent dependent on what you know and how you implement what you know.
Time, effort and resources are needed to sell things or earn money online just like in the real world, the only difference is that the online world offers us more opportunities, to reach beyond our boundaries.
When you take your skills or products online there are no limits to your reach, this is the opportunity the online world with the help of the Internet has made possible for us.
Don’t be lazy about acquiring the knowledge and skills that transform your business and change your life.
Conclusion
Selling things or earning money online is possible, it’s more about learning what is possible, knowing the right things to do and actually doing them.
I hope you have learnt one or two things that be hindering your chances of selling and earning money online.
i will love to hear from you, what other things can limit someone from selling and earning money online?
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