AdrianTO

You can do all of the above. But, I wouldn't recommend writing articles for other sites. They don't pay very well. You are much better of writing for your own websites. How you monetize the website will depend on the niche. If it is very specific, you can sell e-books. Having ads on your site is also a reliable option. Other ways include signing up as an affiliate for other sites such as online retailers, online dating sites, credit card issuers etc. Every time you send them a sale or a prospect, you get paid.

What would be considered a "decent income" is very much up to you and your present circumstances. As far as potential income from an online venture, I know people make $1 a day, then there are those that make $100 a day and others who make $1000 a day. But, I can tell you this, if you spend 8 hours a day and put as much time into it as you would a full time job, you could make yourself a very decent income without having to leave home.

Cape Blue

Thanks, I was interested in your thoughts as I've been considering setting up a website myself and doing the google adsense thing. Do you run a site? You are not allowed to advertise it on BE but you can include it in your profile.

TheArmChairDetective

I am interested too but that adsense stuff is so complicated, building a space rocket is easier

I believe though that it is the identified area that is the hard part, like selling stuff on ebay, the more selling doggie bowls the cheaper the pay??

AdrianTO

Yes, I have a few sites that I run. If you want to do it, just go ahead and take the plunge. The sooner you start, the faster you will have the money coming in. You might not make much to start, but as you add content to it and more people start coming in, it will go up.

fionamw

This will seem a naive question, but how do you get paid by the advertisers? Visa etc? does that mean you've got to set up with paypal or some such?

AdrianTO

Two ways, either a straight forward cheque mailed to your address. Or many offer a direct deposit to your bank account. You don't need to have Visa or Paypal unless you are the one actually selling the product.

Fuzzlepop

Make a drug friendly hotel and advertise online and take orders, you could sell it secretly behind the counter and let them have a room while they get high. I reckon it could work but would need alot of planning thats just a quick idea

Cape Blue

Thanks, reading up on it at the moment, just want to make sure I keep the start-up costs low by doing most of it myself.

Are you going to tease us with your sites or will you put them in your profile for us to see.

rugbymatt

strange choice for you and all!

AdrianTO

You can get started for 20 bucks + your time.

1. Decide on a niche
2. Get hosting.
3. Register a domain.
4. Get Wordpress
5. Get a free WP theme.
6. Start writing.
7. Add your ads/affiliates
8. Start making money

Once you know what you are doing, repeat 1 through 8 as many times as you can handle.

Cape Blue

Thanks for the WP tip above - just spent a little time looking at that, I was in San Francisco in August - should have gone to their WP-fest.

Can I ask who you would recommend to host your domain - guys at work recently used godaddy.com. I thought I'd heard in the past that your monthly hosting fees could go through the roof if your site got a lot of traffic - did I just dream that or is it an issue?

I'm going to have to be a drag and try getting some more info on #7 out of you - from what I can see as a newbie one can use adsense on the ads side, but how does the affiliate deal work?

AdrianTO

I will explain it with an example. Let us say you start a website that reviews video games. Go and look for all the major sites that sell video games online. At the very bottom of most sites will be a link that says Affiliates. You enter your information etc. and you will be provided with a link with your very own code in it. You put that link on your site, say at the end of the game review. So, say after you review a game and someone wants to purchase the game, they will click on the link that you have on your site that takes them to the site selling games. If this surfer from your site purchases the game on the site you sent them to, that site will pay you a percentage of the sale. The amount varies, but somewhere between 3 and 10% depending on the merchant. So as an affiliate you make money selling other peoples products. When your earnings reach a certain minimum amount they send you a check.

TheArmChairDetective

Do they ever cheat and not pay up?

AdrianTO

They pay up. Unless they totally want to lose their business. Stuff like this gets around fast. If a merchant doesn't pay up it is all over the internet.

TheArmChairDetective

What's the most lucrative niche area you have found please?