Working online is a dream for many. You can take your laptop with you anywhere, work from home or travel the world while making a profit along the way. Despite what you might have read elsewhere, I’m not going to lie to you- making money online isn’t that simple, but if you’re ready to commit- it is absolutely possible! If you’re reading this post, you’re most probably looking to launch some kind of an online business, but have no idea where to start. Don’t worry, I’m here to help!

Making money online can be done in various ways, you just have to find what works for you and which ways are going to actually make you profit. However, please note that I’m not going to share a get-rich-quick method here. I don’t believe in those. I believe in creating respectable online brands that can help you make stable, growing revenue over the time.

Let me share 10 steps with you that will help you reach your first paycheck from working online:

1. First things first, you will need a place on the internet.  Start a blog in 5 minutes today and let’s get things going!
2. Choose a niche. Working online is way easier when you have a clear niche. It is almost more likely to get sales if you introduce yourself as an expert in a certain field.
3. Take care of your blog design. It’s crucial. You don’t want your readers to leave your blog, just because your layout doesn’t look professional.
4. Get on Pinterest. Seriously, do it NOW. Pinterest is my main source of referral traffic and you have a chance to make your posts viral straight away if you’re lucky. Learn more here.
5. It might take time for you to get on first pages of Google. Make sure to use social media as much as you can for the time being & enjoy making new blogging buddies!
6. Make sure to learn the basics of SEO.
7. Decide on affiliate programmes you’re going to use. Affiliate marketing is a way for a business to reward bloggers or online influencers for each visitor/sale brought by the blogger’s own marketing efforts. Basically, once someone clicks on the affiliate link and buys something from your advertised website you’ve shared- you will get commisioned. Check out Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course if you want to learn more about it! The course was created by Michelle who currently earns over $50,000 a month through affiliate marketing, and she shares all of the best tips in this course. In this course, there are 6 modules, over 30 lessons, over 20 worksheets, bonuses, an extremely helpful exclusive Facebook group, and more, and she goes through everything when it comes to affiliate marketing. I was so happy to have found this course and learn from a real expert!
8. Stay consistent. Have a clear posting schedule for your blog and social media and stick to it.
9. Consider creating digital products/services and selling them on any of these places. This doesn’t require you to have an audience whatsoever!
10. Do your research on other bloggers. Have someone you absolutely admire? Examine your favourite online creators and analyse their monetisation strategy. Do they accept sponsored content? Or perhaps they’ve created a product that is super useful for their audience? See what works for others, but don’t copy their ideas. Spend some time to decide what ways would work with your content and roll up your sleeves. See: How Exactly I Make Money Blogging.

Once you get all this setup, keep on learning! You never know what’s going to bring you next profitable source! The thing is, the sky has no limits when it comes to making money online, but you have to go for it. Try, put yourself out there and the ideas will start flowing. You can spend days and days planning and strategising, but once you’ll actually get in- you’ll most probably find out that your audience requires completely different things than what you’ve originally expected. It’s ok and you will find yourself shifting your focus many times, but you will never find what works for you if you don’t even try.