Make Money From Your Web Site
Aside from the main business of your Web site, here are
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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