Ever since the introduction of internet and the possibilities it offered a lot of businesses saw the potential of increasing their exposure and made themselves available online which is when the digital economy started. With technology constantly evolving and internet speeds reaching the phase they are in now it became clear that digital economy would topple the traditional economy by a lot and become much better for profit. Recently the digital economy is one of the key drivers of the economic growth in the US and it’s grown for about 7.2% annually for the past decade which is a rate about 4 times faster than the GDP. The development of technology has also made way for many businesses to easily improve their efficiency in many fields while having lower costs.
The digital economy has a few advantages over the traditional one and those are:
1. Effective resource allocation – in the digital world there is an option to get an algorithm that has information on what people search on Google, what they want and how they want it and it’s much cheaper than paying people who may or may not be able to help you sell your product.
2. Location – it doesn’t matter where you are as long as you have an internet connection and an online presence. You can be sitting at home in your pajamas and be able to make millions selling services or other products if your online store is well marketed.
3. Faster growth of small businesses – when you get your business online it would about $20-$30 to reach an audience between 3000-4000 people which means it would only cost so little to make your new business known to so many people out there that might be interested in your product or service.
Affiliate Marketing
Having a website or a blog that is frequented by a lot of people it one of the better things you can have to be able to make money online because if you have one of those you can use it to put up affiliate links and refer people to services for which you’ll earn commission. If this sounds simple it’s because it is but the hard part is to get to a website or a blog that a lot of people are reading. It takes some time for a new website to become popular and have a lot of traffic. It involves working hard and putting up content regularly but once you build your audience you can truly enjoy the passive income and quit your job to work from home.
The way affiliate marketing works is by offering commission for the products or services sold. There are a lot of websites that have various products and services listed and available, and all you have to do is sign up for their site and apply to be an affiliate for a product. Once you get approved (this usually happens really fast) you will get a unique link that you need to embed in you posts so your audience can see it and if they buy the product or service through this link you’ll get a commission for it which can be anywhere from 20% to 200% depending on the product and the company offering it.
Make sure you refer your readers to products and services you really think are worth their trouble because if you refer them to something mediocre you might start losing your audience and your online income will take a hit. Do your research before you apply for any service to make sure you’re an affiliate of something great and you can proudly present it to your readers.
There are various affiliate websites that you can sign up for and pick from the products and services they are offering including Rakuten Marketing, Share-a-Sale, Commission Junction, ClickBank, Impact Radius and a lot more but you don’t have to use these sites to be an affiliate. There are many companies that recognized the potential in offering affiliate options on their own without using one of the websites above and they implemented an option where you deal with the company directly.
Overall, affiliate marketing is definitely the best way to make money online and build up your passive income which will allow you quit your day job and work from home and eventually pay people to work for you so you can enjoy your day and spend your time as you see fit.
eCommerce Business
eCommerce is a very fast growing business that people can utilize to take advantage of the rise of digital economy and make money online. This method also involves working from home and eventually it can be turned into a passive income stream that will only need maintaining rather than constant working and huge effort.
The model for eCommerce businesses starts picking a niche and persona. Once you’ve done that you’ll need a website on which you can create your online store and pick a product that you believe will sell well and have the highest profit margin. It has to be within the niche you picked and match the persona you decided to represent. It’s best to start with just one product rather than many because it can get messy if the orders start coming in and you can’t cover the costs right away. There might be problems with shipping and returns which is really hard for newly made websites. Once you’ve established a good profit margin for one product you can expand and find out what else is selling like crazy so you can put it up on your page for your visitors to buy.
It’s pretty straightforward model but the eCommerce market today is highly competitive and it’s not easy to compete with websites that are already well established and trusted by consumers. However, it’s still one of the simplest and most effective ways to make real income online using the growth of digital economy.
Coaching and Consulting
Take Advantage Of The Many Apps Available
Apps that are available on your smart devices aren’t just for fun and games. There are many apps that have the potential to make you a lot of money if you are really devoted to becoming a part of the digital economy and make money online. There are few apps available that you can use to find a coaching or a consulting job and one of those is the Task Rabbit.
Task Rabbit
A very simple app to use that can make you some extra money. Clients post tasks on the app and you can apply for anything posted there. The various tasks can be simple and easy which would pay less and might go up to extremely complicated and require expertise in a field but they would also be paid more. To find a consulting or a coaching job you just need to search their database of jobs posted and see if there’s anything available at the moment. You can also try other similar apps and not just stick to this one.
Utilize Money Making Websites
One of the better ways to join the digital economy and make money online is to use the websites available to everyone for making active and passive income. Some of the sites that are set up can be used to sell digital goods like designs for apparel but can also be utilized for consulting and coaching services. Basically the websites we’re putting in this category are the ones that focus their attention on long term working relationships with freelancers in various niche areas including photography, design, content creation, online marketing, coaching and consulting. A few of the sites available on the web are the following.
Upwork
An amazing marketplace for freelancers to find a part time or even a full time job. It’s great for selling any kind of digital service you can possibly imagine. The best thing is that what you need for this site is to be good at what you do. No need for creating your own website or a special merchant account. If your service is top-notch and your knowledge in the field you’re working in is exemplary you have nothing to worry about. The only downside might be that there is a lot of competition and you’ll have to “fight” to get a job but other than that it’s an awesome place you can make money online which can easily turn into passive income.
Fiverr
Another similar website to Upwork but on this one you’re posting what you can do for a certain amount while the minimum amount is $5. So if you’re looking for coaching clients you can post a gig that will let people know you’re available for coaching sessions for an x amount of money and people who are looking for something like that will be able to see your gig and hire you to be their coach. Here’s a link where you can sign up for Fiverr.
Conclusion
The digital economy is a very fast growing economy compared to traditional one and we should all take advantage of the opportunity it offers.
The 3 simple and effective ways that we present above are the ones that work best for building your passive income and while affiliate marketing is listed first and it’s the best choice, eCommerce and offering consulting and coaching services are close seconds. Picking any of the three ways, or even a combination of them all is something that everyone who has a little knowledge and is ambitious should do. It’s never been easier to go online and start your own small business while sitting comfortably on your couch and work from home.
