I’ve noticed from reading other blogs, readers seem to enjoy learning how other sites make money.
So I’ve developed a top list of my top income generators based on nothing more than monthly income earned.
Note: This list is from all my sites combined.
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1. Domain and Web Hosting Reselling
This program is a great example of why you should look for affiliate or reseller programs in your niche that pay residual commissions.
If my site got wiped out today, I would still be able to live off the residual income I’ve generated since joining this program in 2002.
If you have a site that targets future Webmasters/Bloggers, reselling domains and web hosting is a great way to build a long-term income that continues to grow and grow.
This is also a great idea if you know people in your personal life who need websites. You can just send them to your reseller store and earn commissions on their hosting and domain fees.
As a reseller, you receive your own customizable website that allows you to set your prices and determine your profit. The parent company handles all the customer and technical support, so all you do is promote your own reseller store.
It would be hard for any other affiliate program to bump this from the #1 spot because of the residual income.
Learn more about how you can earn from reselling domains and hosting.
2. Affiliate Networks (CJ.com, ShareASale.com, etc.)
I promote a variety of products that I find on some of the larger affiliate networks. From web software, web hosting, HTML editors, to anything I can find that’s useful and related to my audience.
Belonging to an affiliate network has its advantages…
1) If you’re looking for a specific product to promote, you can do a search to see if there are any relevant affiliate programs that offer the product.
2) You can join multiple programs with a few mouse clicks.
3) All of your earnings are tracked in one place, so you have one-stop reporting instead of multiple affiliate account logins.
The downside is that many companies who run their affiliate programs through large networks tend to have sub-par customer support.
There have been many occasions where I’ve sent an email to a company I’m affiliated with through CJ and never received a response. Companies that run their own in-house affiliate programs seem to have better customer support over all.
Nevertheless, large affiliate networks are definitely worth exploring, particularly if you’re looking for a specific product to promote on your site or blog.
3. Sales of My Own Products
When setting out to make money online, your ultimate goal should be to sell your own product. Today I have three digital products I sell:
2) WP Starter Guide – WordPress tutorial for beginners
3) Niche Website Success – a very detailed, practical guide to making money with a content niche website
4. AdSense (Includes YouTube Earnings)
I hate using the term “easy money”, but if you have enough traffic, AdSense has got to be one of the easiest ways to generate an income from your site or blog.
AdSense performs much better on my sites not targeted to Webmasters and Bloggers – which is a big reason why you don’t see many AdSense units on this blog.
Bloggers and Webmasters tend to be immune to Google ads so they ignore them. However on my fitness site, my click-thru ratio is a bit higher.
Even though my main site, 2CreateAWebSite.com targets Webmasters/Bloggers, it does OK with AdSense because it gets enough traffic to make displaying the ads worthwhile.
Watch a video about my record Google AdSense Earnings…
5. ClickBank
With ClickBank, you really have to feel it out and see what works for you. Even though it’s on my Top 7 list, I must admit there is a lot of garbage on ClickBank.
Many of the eBooks you can sell are a bunch of recycled facts you can find anywhere on the Web.
They are usually promoted by an over-hyped landing page with a loud sales pitch that promises you to either get rich quick, lose weight tomorrow, or get out of debt in seconds.
However, if you really comb through the ClickBank marketplace, you can find some winners. I was able to find a few good e-books to promote that convert very well on my sites.
The great thing about ClickBank is that the commissions are extremely high since product development and delivery costs are low. You could earn up to $75 on certain products in their marketplace.
Here’s a video where I show my Clickbank earnings and how I promote it.
6. Amazon
Amazon has very low commissions per sale, but the conversions are super because they are a recognized brand.
Learn more about their program here.
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These aren’t the only programs I earn money from, but these are the highest paying by far. The rest of my income comes from a collection of other affiliate programs.
This post was not created to encourage you to join all these programs. Quite frankly, if your site does not target the same people and does not have the same kind of traffic, your income will be drastically less than mine.
But hopefully this shows you what is possible if you build a website that allows you to become the “expert” in your niche, and you recommend quality products that you use and are relevant to your audience. You can apply this strategy to any niche.
If you’d like to learn more about how to make money with affiliate programs, AdSense and more, check out my book Niche Website Success.
Hi Lisa, I have a problem. I spend so much time on your sites and reading your information, I forget to attend to my
site 🙂 I am looking at other avenues of making money, but have not decided on which way to go.
I enjoy your work and wisdom. God Bless!
I’m still having difficult cracking the technique.
I guess if you are successful in selling products in clickbank or driving traffic to a site, perhaps you could use the same technique in selling other products, right?
These are great income producing methods. I am not sure which a better text ads program Chitika or Adsense because they seemed to pay about the same.
Thanks for the list Lisa. Many of them i havn’t even heard. By the way have you tried tribalfusion or infolinks?
chitika is also worth a try , even darren rowse use that.
Dear Lisa,
You have seven ways to make money from your blog, but i have nothing 🙁 .
From the seven ways you explain above, they inspire me so much to build a professional blog so that I can create my money from it.
hello
please help me…
i am student and i want make some money…but i don;t know “how make money online”….
please help miss lisa….
i make account in clickbank but i don’t know how make money through clickbank….
Start by buying ebooks buddy, like the rest of us. Also get your domain registered. If you read everything on Lisa’s site you’ll have an idea.
Thanks Lisa, Great work.
i am impressed with this article and your Google Adsence article. now heading for a Forum sign up.
Lisa, I’m not into You Tube yet, but planning to try it out. Any info for beginners would be appreciated. I think I’m a bit scared. LOL!!!!!
So here we are… 4 years later and these 7 programs are still going strong. GREAT recommend, Lisa 🙂
hmmm, great list. I’ve only experimented with AdSense and Amazon Associates Program. Didnt ever think about your #1 reason that you listed. And it makes sense, since you will continue to receive checks for a long time.
Thanks for sharing your top earners. I have been considering starting a reseller site for webhosting and domains, as I know some other people who list this as their #1 income source also. I think I will look into it some more.
Best decision I ever made, Kim! You should do it!
Hi…. Lisa i am Indian blogger and i want to make some money from internet so Please help me.
Lisa I agree with you on this 7 but also I will say making money with any of those options are very difficult except you know how to blog and promote your link which requires a lots skills to do.
One easy means I find interest earning money online is through online investment that pays percentage e.g Jss tripler, R7, MyBrowserCash and more.
These programs does not requires one to promote before making money with them, it is stress free. Though there are other benefits and risk which I have stress further on my site.
The best thing about this list of 7 money making programs is that they are diverse. Diversity in online marketing is the key to making consistent money in the long term and the short. You mention in the first point, residual income. There will be days in which your income is low, sometimes weeks. When this happens your long term income kicks in and those awesome pages you have indexed in Google, like this one start paying off from regular visits.
Absolutely Scott! Diversity and residual income are the anchors of my business.
Hi Lisa, lots of sound advice here. Will keep reading your posts. Keep up the good work.
Guthlac Lokison
I have started blogging because of you, Your you tube videos have inspired me to do so. These tips you have provided is great for any blogger i use some of those revenue methods.
Hi Lisa,
I’m a budding IMer and I found your blog searching for tips. I want to concentrate on physical products and finding this article has opened up a slew of different opportunities to dive into. Thanks for a non-biased article and truth.
Thanks for your honest opinions. There’s a lot of lies out there on the internet so it’s good to see someone not just trying to pitch something and hype it up.
i am totally inspired by you to start something in internet and i am getting success
Hey Lisa, Thanks for all this info. I have been checking in so often and learn something new every time.Lots of info.
Adsense is what has been working for me, since I don’t get enough traffic to facillitate other affiliate programs i am emphasizing on increasing my traffic flow. Maybe I have too many iron in the stove!!!
Would you please recommend me some online programs I can take as a college student? Programs that take less time and initial capital to run.
Kind regards.
Inspiring, and motivates me to keep the work up!
I’m loving your blog! I learn new ideas, tips and techniques that are very helpful for a blogger newbie like me.
Hey Lisa, great stuff as always. Keep up the great work!
Hey Lisa
Great informative guidelines….information I will implement in my business. I’m using adsense in some of my sites and starting to see some results. It’s all in the placement where I’ve noticed different results. Keep up the good work!
Hi Lisa,
As usual another great post with inspiring and motivating tips. I will certainly use most of these insight you provided to get on the high way to success. All the best for 2012.
Great guides. I ended up buying Lisa’s wordpress guide and don’t regret it. Next up is the Thesis theme.
Register a domain and get situated right with Speedy-Joe’s web hosting and domain registration. Please and thank you.
Thanks Joe! Appreciate the support. 🙂
Hi. Please give me some information on how to get started with site build it n all this other ‘stuff’. Do i need to take any other lessons, like creative writing maybe or will it be enough if i work at it. Many many questions but that’ll do for now. Thanks
Hi James
No, the purpose of using something like SBI! is is assumes you absolutely know nothing. It’s great for beginners.
Hi again. I’m in the aviation industry which takes a lot of my time and with odd hours every now and then. The only way it would work for me is dedicating time to build a site focusing on aviation as there’s so much reading n study in my job (CFII) and much else would be a conflict of interest. How feasible would that be. Also is it possible to have good enough passive cash flow in the next five or six years that i can focus on it full time. I would appreciate more information on this if possible. I know i need to start a business and this seems like the most viable option as I travel a lot sometimes for weeks. I just appreciate the dedication it would require and that’s why I need a lot more information as I proceed, especially from someone who has made it work. I would really appreciate it. Thanks.
I am interested with the reselling idea. Maybe I should learn more about it.
thanks you.. how about with blog review???
hi Lisa.
I am completely new to the online $ thing, but wanting to give it a go. The one thing that seems to be missing in your content (for me) is the link that says “Start here”.
And that’s exactly why I’m writing a book on this very subject. Make sure you’re on my email list. All subbies will get it free!
thank you Lisa.
I watch lots of you’re videos,I really like what you write hope you’ll keep going and tell us more ‘secrets’ about make money online.
I have already know about one of these sites. Thanks for sharing comprehensive knowledge.
Ok. I can’t help but ask what are you using to create the logo 2 Create a Website? Is it a logo designer software or are you really that good with photoshop because that logo is fancy.
Joe
Speedy-Joes
http://bit.ly/uXknMl
Webhosting 99.9% uptime
Featured product: Website Tonight. Have a website in minutes.
I used http://www.logomyway.com
Thanks for the tips. Heard of sitebuildit. Will take a look and give it a go
What are you saying about AdSense is absolutely true. From experience I also found out that it works better on websites not targeted to “professionals”. In my opinion the AdSense provided ads get clicked by the casual “googler” that hears of a product (or service, or trend…whatever) and knows how to use the big G. Anyway, in order to make real money with AdSense you need a pretty big amount of traffic.
As far as Thesis goes, even though I use it because of its “out-of-the-box” SEO capabilities I never really got into the whole affiliate program. I guess I’ll give it a try soon enough.
Thanks for the informative post.
After reading this post now i come to know various method to earn money online. Before reading this post i know only the one or two method to earn money such as Adsense but now i know the 7 ways as you given above in your post.
Great list you have here. So far I am working with Adsense, Amazon and Linkshare. The web hosting /reseller program is something I did’t thought about, but I see in your list is nr.1.
So maybe I will give it a look…
Lisa, I am assuming you had to purchase whatever it is you sell on clickbank first, correct? Did you spend a lot of money trying to find quality stuff?
I did buy several books I would never review, but Clickbank has a 60 day money back guarantee. I don’t usually ask for a refund unless it’s horrible but I don’t promote the ones I don’t like.
It is not easy for everyone to achieve the results you’ve achieved, I am one of them, but anyway what accounts for me. In fact I am new at this and do not want to spend my life trying to earn some money if you do not use the knowledge of others. Po is that people like me that we are looking for courses on how to make money online and power like you have one day how good it is.
Greetings.
Carlovsky
This was a good post!
Thanx for sharing good information!
Lisa, I’m aware about some of money making programs you just share. But there are some I need to give a try like THesis affiliate program and then commission junction
Hi Lisa!
I’m very glad to have found your website. I love your style- very simple, honest, and to the point. I just started a new blog (where I share with people my daily experiences with P90X!) and I think that your information is going to help me tremendously. I didn’t really start my blog to make money. I simply wanted it to help me stick to my P90X challenge by making me more accountable while sharing good information with the world. My information and videos are raw and I tell it like it is. I know you’re busy, but if you have time, I would love for you to visit my blog and give me your feedback. http://www.JustHenry.com
Thanks again, Lisa for all the great information!!
JustHenry
We so appreciate your site post. You can find a lot of means we could put it to very good use by using a minimum of effort in time and resources. Thank you really with regard to helping have the post give light to many questions we have got before now.
Very good information you always put out Lisa. Thank you for just being you! (smile)
Keep up the good work in getting that long $ gUaP $ =)
Could it be good to promote more than a products to sales?
Hi Lisa,
Domain and Web Hosting Reselling sounds interesting but I’m still confused on how it works. Do you buy a pack of domains and resell it for profit or do you become an affiliate for the domain/hosting service? Is it really just about sending traffic to your storefront?
Thank you
No, you get a replicated website (looks like GoDaddy’s site for example). So WebsitePalace.com is my reseller store that was given to me. I customized the homepage/landing page. I earn commissions on anything sold there. You receive a similar site like this when you sign up to resell. It’s really like being an affiliate except it’s not since they deduct a “buy rate” from your commissions. You also get to set your own prices, and you earn residuals.
I suffered through over a year of trial and error trying to build successful websites, after weeks of work I would simply give up. That was before I found Site Build It! They taught me so much about how to do everything the right way, and they never promised that I would make money immediately.
SBI is definitely the answer for anyone who has been frustrated in the past, and for those who say it’s too expensive, let me say it is rather like building a successful website AND getting a college course on how to do it right. For $30 a month you can’t beat it. With all the principles they taught me, I am now able to build WordPress sites that make money, without wasting hundreds of dollars on pointless “Guru” courses. I’ve bought, reviewed and returned at least 6 of them.
For a solid business, and the best “How To” out there SBI is the best!
Great site, great content. I am a beginner and learned quite a bit here.
There are many ways to make money online. What I appreciate most about this article is that you don’t try to make it sound easy. No matter what anyone tries it will take work. However, you did point out a very important reason why many don’t succeed….they quit too soon.