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13 Ways to Make Money on Your Web Site
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by Michael Wong
Aside from the main business of your Web site, I have listed other
ways to generate money. Some won't be suitable for your Web site. But
if you can add one or two, then it can turn into a nice side earner.
They are displayed in no particular order:
- Charge for access: Does your Web site contain content
or information that people are willing to pay money for access
to? If so, then you can password protect part of your site and
charge people a fee for access to that information. Many companies
use this approach. Part of their Web site is free, but to access
the majority of the information, you have to pay a fee. And in
case you're thinking, I'm not talking about adult Web sites!
- Sell your content: Your content may be available freely
to everyone on the Internet, but not everyone has access to the
Internet You can try to sell your stories or information to off-line
magazines and publications.
- Advertorials: Similar to an advertising feature article
in a newspaper. Let's say you sell shoes at your Web site. Maybe
a designer or manufacturer who doesn't have a Web site wants to
promote their shoes online. You can sell them editorial space
on your Web site.
- E-mail lists: If you have a guest book or a newsletter
mailing list, you can create a database of their names and e-mail
addresses as well as those of your customers. Once you have enough
names, you can sell them on to direct marketers. Make sure that
you tell your customers their names and e-mail addresses may be
rented to third parties. Some people don't wish to receive third
party advertising, so give them an option to opt-out of this list.
- Sell links: Similar to banner adverts, except it is only
a text link. I have noticed that CNET has sponsored links at the
bottom of their Web pages. I have also started to sell text links
on the eBoz! Web site.
- Host competitions: Competitions are a great way of attracting
visitors to your Web site. Quite often competition entrant's names
and e-mail addresses are sold on to third parties. This can be
stated as part of the terms and conditions of entering the competition.
- Surveys: You can either conduct your own survey and sell
the results to third parties that are interested in your visitors,
or you can charge a fee from third parties for including their
survey in your Web site. I read an article about one games Web site
which had conducted a survey of its visitors on "what makes a
great game". They sold their findings to games software companies
for some $20,000 a survey. Wow! I wish I had thought of that one
first.
- Shareware: Offer shareware at your site. Shareware is
very popular and it always draws in a lot of visitors. You can
also negotiate a percentage of any license fees sold with the
authors of the software.
- Merchandise: If you have a great brand image/name, then
why not sell quality merchandise with your brand logo on it. Amazon
does this now.
- Consultancy: Once you have garnered sufficient knowledge
of how to set up an online store, you can offer your services
showing other people how to set up their own online store. People
want to make money and the number of people who have just discovered
the Internet is quite astonishing. You might not be a real expert
on the Internet, but I'm sure you will know a great deal more
than these net newcomers.
- Banners: Get paid for displaying other people's banner
adverts. If your Web site attract a lot of visitors, then sell
some banner space. Typically, you can charge anything from a few
dollars to fifty or sixty dollars for every 1000 banner impressions
on your Web site.
- Pay per click: These are similar to banner advertising,
except you only make money if a visitor clicks on your sponsor's
banner. There are restrictions to this though, otherwise some
people will abuse the system by just clicking back and forth on
the banner to register click throughs. Usually, you are paid by
what is known as per "unique visitor" to the sponsor's Web site.
A "unique visitor" is defined as a maximum of one visit from any
IP address per given period to each sponsor's Web site. Check the
terms and conditions at the web sites. These are often used for
Web sites that don't have much in the way of traffic or to fill
up unsold banner spaces.
- Affiliate programs: Sell other people's wares by joining
their affiliate programs. You can join a number of affiliate programs
to sell other people's products and services on your Web site.
Ideally these other companies you are promoting should not conflict
with your business. You can go round joining all the affiliate
programs you want, one by one.
But, I would think it is wiser to join one of these affiliate
program hosts, whereby you can join a number of affiliate programs
in one go. You will also find it much easier to keep track of
all the programs you have joined and any moneys owed.
Don't think that these programs will make you a fortune though.
I have read that the majority of affiliates belonging to one of
the biggest programs online make less than $20.00 a month. Better
than nothing, I suppose. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to
put you off the idea. I just wanted to give you a realistic picture,
so that you don't raise your expectations too high.
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