Ask HN:Is it actually possible to earn money online? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN:Is it actually possible to earn money online?

#11

Post by ja27 » Wed, Nov 18, 2009, 5:54 PM UTC

Many of those are "arbitrage" schemes. For example, buying a Google ad for "steering wheel desk" and with an Amazon affiliate link. If the Google ad is cheap enough and Amazon converts and pays enough, you can make money. The difficulty is that there are tons of people doing this for every search term they can think of.

I always recommend that instead of buying some scam package, people look at the free 30 Day Challenge ( http://www.thirtydaychallenge.com ) program, where Ed Dale and team show beginners how to start niche marketing online.

Re: Ask HN:Is it actually possible to earn money online?

#12

Post by nzmsv » Wed, Nov 18, 2009, 6:11 PM UTC

Just do a quick calculation, and see how much you'll actually make. Then realize that your local McDonalds pays more.

Also, ask yourself this: how do you know you'll get paid? You are helping someone run a scam. Which means they aren't exactly a model of integrity. So, if they just don't pay you, who are you going to compain to? Google? "Hi, tech support. I was working for this guy trying to scam your customers, and now he won't pay".

Next thing you know, you'll be responding to one of those "work from home opportunities" re-mailing packages. The cops busting your door down follows shortly after :)

Seriously, use your time to learn new skills. It is worth way more than you think.

Re: Ask HN:Is it actually possible to earn money online?

#13

Post by indrax » Wed, Nov 18, 2009, 6:47 PM UTC

http://www.problogger.net/

Even if you fail at this, you'll have more experience, learned more, networked more, and have something to show for it. And it's legitimate.

Re: Ask HN:Is it actually possible to earn money online?

#14

Post by datasink » Wed, Nov 18, 2009, 9:47 PM UTC

Learn affiliate marketing. Seriously. With everything else, you're working very hard for pocket change. Affiliate programs like Amazon's pay you for completed sales, so the payouts are typically large. There are several companies through which you can find CPA campaigns to run, and quite a bit of material for learning how to run, scale, and make respectable amounts of money from these campaigns.

Check out: clickbooth.com, cj.com, pepperjam.com, neverblue.com. There are a bunch.

Re: Ask HN:Is it actually possible to earn money online?

#15

Post by etherael » Thu, Nov 19, 2009, 2:38 AM UTC

This is more a question along the lines of the above but with a specific example. Tferris' 4Hww, for those that haven't yet read it, the basic process is this;

Build an end to end business in which you control the distribution channels for a product that has high demand as evidenced by various keyword search tools, then outsource all the parts of that business so you're just pulling the strings of everyone else and they're making money for you.

Aim for price point per product of 50-200$ and 8-10 markup on initial costs to cover both your outsourced operating expenses as well as a significant profit for yourself, then minimise your personal cost of living and maximise your quality of life by employing various other strategies.

It sounds in principle, plausible, however.. markup of 8 - 10 times per item? Those margins seem extremely high, I understand that they're being maintained by virtue of you controlling the entire distribution chain + having picked a niche which has significant demand and not high competition, but still?

I figure someone here has at least tried it? Enlightenment appreciated.

Re: Ask HN:Is it actually possible to earn money online?

#16

Post by gregking » Thu, Nov 19, 2009, 3:29 AM UTC

I made $2300 over the course of two months a few years back using Comission Junction through PPC arbitrage. I found the entire industry to be really spammy and full of scams (not so much CJ but ShareASale, AzoogleAds, Clickbank, etc)

1. Sign-up for CJ/Azoogle/etc 2. Digitalpoint.com for YAHOO/MSN/GOOGLE credit vouchers $200 in ads for $20. 3. PPC account (Google not reccomend for newbiews) 4. www.sherpastore.com/ to accquire matieral to read internet marketing case studies, understand landing pages, call to actions, etc. 5. html/css/design skills to create your own landing pages, crazyegg.com to understand user clicks.

Ultimatley its more work for less money than you would make at even a retail job.. but if you are serious I am sure you can come up with innovative ways to drive user to your links and maybe even sign-up for trials or products. I made the bulk of my earnings from Rhapsody sign-ups using obscure music genres on MSN. While the money seems okay -- you're likely to lose quite a bit while discovering a niche -- that is if this even works anymore -- I know google was starting their own affiliate network and i see information for arbitrage being advertised by gurus on CNBC at 3AM.