But today, I bought one. And for some of you, I think it might be the right decision, too. Hear me out, and you may be on your way to making money online, too:

The product first caught my eye because it’s a fairly straightforward way to make a significant amount of money online with small “niche” sites. It’s simple, really, and that’s the beauty of it. Each site he creates is a simple review site of a top-selling product. He teaches you how to get massive amounts of traffic for free by ranking for certain keywords. Then you set up a site, get traffic, and some number of people every month buy that product, making you completely passive income.

What’s awesome about this system:

• Requires no technical experience (he walks you through every step)
• Doesn’t require you to keep writing content every day
• Doesn’t even require you to set up a mailing list!
• Doesn’t require you to have a mailing list

Basically, even if you’re a beginner, you can make money with this system. And the system owner shows some nice proof…he’s making over $20,000 a month with this system. (I checked his traffic stats for myself, and he’s for real. First BS meter test passed.)

Of course, those big numbers are sales letter hype. He’s been running a “pre-launch” for a week, and I’ve watched all the videos, but I wanted to hold off on promoting it until I got my hands on it. I wanted to see for myself whether this was really possible.

I bought his product this afternoon and am already creating my first site. I found a product right under my nose that fits his criteria for promotion. It’s a product I already own and use. This made me excited…I didn’t want to have to promote scummy crap offers to make money.

I’ve already registered the domain name and set up the blog, and I’m looking forward to seeing how well I can rank and how many hundreds of dollars a month in passive income I will make with his system.

So, is it right for you? That depends. My policy is to be 100% honest, so here’s who I recommend this for:

• If you’re ready to make passive income online and don’t have your own product, this is a good fit!
• If you’ve set up a blog before, this is an excellent fit and I wouldn’t hesitate to put down the cash right now…you should be well on your way to making thousands of dollars a month within 30-60 days!
• If you’re looking for a good way to make money without developing your own product, this is a good fit.

Who is it NOT for?

• If you’re down to the last $200 in your bank account and need money tomorrow, do not buy this product. This product will take 30-60 days to return income. (Most affiliate programs take 30-60 days to pay out commissions.)
• If you have your hands full with 100 other products or don’t have a few hours to really dig into this product, don’t buy it.

 I can tell you for sure, despite the hype-y sales letter:

• I paid full price for the product and think it’s worth every penny
• This is a legitimate technique that should work in ANY niche, not just promoting “make money online” products
• He has proof it works in niches as diverse as health and fitness, finance, Farmville and Mafia Wars strategy guides, “how to” ebooks, digital cameras, tour guides, products on Amazon.com…pretty much anything you can think of!

If you know me, you know I do NOT promote B.S. I strive to test every product I promote. This passes my test with flying colors. I decline 99% of the products people ask me to promote. This product is in the other 1%. It’s worth it, and I feel strongly enough about it to stake my reputation on it.

It will work for you (or there’s a double your money back guarantee in case it doesn’t.)

Here’s my thinly-disguised affiliate link:

http://profitinstruments.com/812.html

I make a few dollars when you buy the product through this link. So, in order to thank you for ordering, here’s what I’d like to do for you:

Once you order, forward me your receipt (erica@erica.biz) and I will send you an invite to a free bonus online 1-hour workshop I’ll hold just for people who order through me.

In the workshop, I will reveal to you the website I’m creating as a part of this project. I’ll hold the workshop 30-60 days out so we can see together how much it’s earning and where it is in the search engines. And I’ll answer your questions about the sites you’re building through this product, and help you get them ranked higher in the search engines.

I will also reveal the names and oDesk links of the virtual assistants I’m using to create my site. This will save you hours of time and help your sites rank more quickly. That will be part of the workshop.

If you’re looking to start making money online, this is it. This is the only product in this niche I’ve recommended in months. Again, I’ve paid full price, gone through most of the product, and believe in it. Take action now, and I’ll be here to help you with my exclusive online workshop:

Order now or find out more information:

http://profitinstruments.com/812.html

Important note: This is a launch. This offer will close down in a day or two. DO NOT WAIT. I have waited in the past and regretted it. Don’t make the same mistake. If you’re ready to take a huge step toward earning passive income, and get my personal support and assistance on the workshop, go for it!

One caveat: Once I ordered, for some reason, I didn’t get the download link. If you have the same issue, please contact Ritoban’s helpdesk at http://customerhelp.in/. They responded to me pretty quickly and got everything straightened out, so please contact them directly.

Don’t forget to forward your receipt to me once you order!

Thanks, and I look forward to seeing you on the workshop in a month or so!

-Erica

P.S. Don’t pass this up. If you’re ready…go for it: http://profitinstruments.com/812.html

UPDATE: Wow, the response has been amazing! I sent this out to my email list last night and already nearly 40 people have signed up via my link! I really want you to succeed, so here’s what I’m going to do:

Assuming you buy through my link, I’ll hold not one, but two online workshops for you:

The first workshop, in 7-14 days, will be to walk you through the Profit Instruments method step by step and help you pick your niche. We’ll be going through the system, live, and I’ll answer your questions. (We’ll also record it in case you can’t make it.) In this webinar, I will reveal my own review site and show you what I’ve done so far with Profit Instruments.

The second workshop, in ~45 days, will help you make sure you’re getting the most traction in the search engines. I’ll go over some of my advanced SEO strategies so you can ensure you’re going to make money with this system.

I’m working this system to make money, and I encourage you to join me. I’ll be here to help you via these two workshops. Don’t hesitate…this launch will close down soon!

-> Click here to join us and start making money!

A product roadmap helps you figure out
where your business is going.

Great question, Amy! I’ve shared my goal about creating 10 products in 2010, but I haven’t talked much about how they all fit together…

The Problem: Infinite Opportunities

It is possible to do a nearly infinite number of things to make money online. There isn’t just one “proven path” to riches…witness the huge number of crazy inventions that make their inventors millions. (Ever had that feeling… “I could have done that! I should have done that!” Right? Me too!)

I want to do so many things. I’d love to write a book to help out people who are discovering that they have gluten intolerance or Celiac disease. I know that would be profitable. I constantly have ideas for WordPress plugins, video products, a product on great businesses to start online…

Pretty quickly, I had to learn to focus. I had to think strategically…not only about which products would make me the most money, but how those products would integrate with each other. This is the real key.

Step 1: Test With a Free Product

I started testing the market for blogging success materials by releasing my free Blog Success Manifesto. I went over the top with it as a free product. It’s 62 pages, jam-packed with practical advice on growing your blog faster than you ever have before. I could have easily charged $17-$27 for it, but I wanted the readership growth instead. (And I got it…nearly 4,000 people have downloaded their free copies!)

More importantly, the success of my free download proved there was a market that was interested in growing their blogs. I then launched my Guest Post Secrets product to serve that same market. I edited my Blog Success Manifesto to refer to Guest Post Secrets, and put a big mention about it here on my blog. Now I had two products working together, like this:

Step 2: Go Upmarket

My next step was to present a higher-ticket offer. I created my one-day workshop and offered a free webinar to my list (most of whom joined up originally because my Blog Success Manifesto.) I sold 4 out of the 5 slots right away, and the 5th one closed later. (That means my first San Diego workshop is now sold out! Hooray!)

These products worked in tandem like this:

Step 3: Fill in the Blanks

Now I wanted to create more products. Once you have a couple of paid products out the door, you can start filling in the blanks.

Part of Best Blogs will be a mailing list bloggers can sign up to, so I added that into my roadmap. Then I launched Blog Set Up as another low-price opt-in similar to Blog Success Manifesto:

My next product will be an intermediate product offering an hour with me for $497:

And then, I plan to release a product guiding people step-by-step through setting up their blog and driving traffic to it:

It’s pretty cool to see how these products fit together, isn’t it?

The key here is that once you have a buyer, you need to offer more products to that person. It’s much easier to sell something to someone who has already bought something else from you. If you don’t have the products to fill in the blanks, you should go out there and find great affiliate products that you are happy to promote, and make money that way.

Step 4: Automate

The final step in your roadmap–after you’ve launched some products–is to automate much of the cross-selling. You can do this with an email autoresponder series — something I plan to talk about in a later post. (I use Aweber as my email service, and recommend them.)

Four days after you download my Blog Success Manifesto, my email autoresponder follows up with you to make sure you got the download–and also introduces you to Guest Post Secrets. The Guest Post Secrets homepage allows you to opt in to see some high-value free videos, and over a 4-day period, gives you a special deal on buying Guest Post Secrets.

As I launch larger products, I will integrate these into my autoresponders, too. My goal is to have a defined roadmap of products to create in a “funnel” that automatically rolls people over from buying a low-ticket product like Blog Set Up or a free product like Blog Success Manifesto into buying higher-ticket items. Many of these products will be hands-off on my part, allowing for an automated income stream of thousands of dollars a month.

It is incredibly difficult to make a million dollars online selling one-off products…especially if they are inexpensive ebooks. Here’s a typical example: A person decides to make money online. They sell a dog training ebook, then the next month peddle psoriasis cures, then leap to the “make money online” niche. They now have three different lists, each with only a handful of people. And imagine trying to write content about dog training, psoriasis, AND making money online all in a few days! Forget it.

Multiple products are a good thing. But without a product roadmap, and a plan of action for seeing how they all fit together, multiple products are less than worthless. I vastly prefer becoming an expert in a few small fields and selling products in those fields only. I may pass on the next overhyped “million-dollar idea!”, but I can feel confident that every customer I gain will pay off far more than the people who simply hard-sell one or two items.

Repurposing Your Products

By the way, here’s a roadmap I’ve been developing for my next set of products:

You may see now how some of my existing products can be re-purposed for a different audience. Can your products do that? If not, you may want to consider changing your product roadmap.

Questions, or comments? What’s your product roadmap? Let me know in the comments!

Recommended Reading:

• How To Make A Mind Map. Do you ever feel completely overwhelmed by some of the projects you are working on…like you’ve set an impossible goal? Here’s a video on how to make a mind map and get all that junk out of your head…quickly and easily!
• Creating A New Product. A four-step guide to creating your first product.
• Products I Love. If you haven’t seen this yet, check it out…it’s the full list of all the products I use on a regular basis and recommend!

Blog Set Up.

If you’re new here, I write my goals publicly on my blog every year, then update regularly with new information. My biggest goal for 2010 was to create 10 products and release them. This was a challenge to myself to learn to create and release products quickly.

So far I’ve released:

1. BestBlogs.net (more on Best Blogs in a later post)
2. Guest Post Secrets
3. One-day in-person workshops

And now, my latest creation: Blog Set Up.

One way to get more customers for your products is to create more customers. Guest Post Secrets is geared toward bloggers, and I have another product (not yet released to the public)–video tutorials on how to set up your blog. What better way to sell these two products than to help people get a blog set up?

As part of an “implementation challenge” at a conference I attended, I set up Blog Set Up from scratch in about 24 hours. On Thursday, May 20, I did keyword research and eventually settled on the domain name blogsetup.us.

The site works like this: You sign up for a HostGator account through us, and we set up your blog for you for free. We get paid by HostGator to refer you as a new customer, so that’s how the site makes money.

Once we’ve set up your blog, we send you an email inviting you to opt in to our Blog Set Up email list, which contains a free helper video on how to set up a custom design for your blog (WordPress calls this a “theme”.) Then, we’ll send you some more cool content in the hope that you will purchase Guest Post Secrets or my as-yet-unreleased blog tutorial videos.

Testing Your New Product

By Friday, May 21, I was ready for my first customer. I mentioned it at the seminar I was at, and five people there signed up.

When you launch a site, you’re not going to get it right the first time. Watch others go through it–and keep quiet. Ask them to run through their thought process out loud. Note any questions they have–those are questions your site needs to address up front.

After watching two people go through the process, I redid a significant portion of the site, then launched an AdWords campaign to drive traffic to it. The AdWords campaign is getting an amazing click-through rate, but people aren’t buying, so one of my next steps is to address that.

The good news is that people who do know me are buying, and the site is just about to crest $1,000 in revenue in its first week!

I also shot two quick video testimonials from people at the seminar whose blogs I set up. I’ll add those to the site over the next few days to show some social proof. (Tip: Video testimonials work far better than text ones. Invest in a camera and record them on the spot, then edit and post them!)

Next Step: Outsource the Work

Right now, I am doing the blog setups, but one of my additional next steps is to find a capable person to outsource this to. I plan to use oDesk to find the person, then use Camtasia to shoot a how-to video with my exact process for setting up a blog, and then watch my new employee go through a setup his/herself. That way I’ll know quickly whether I’ve hired the right person.

Want to Launch a Product Fast? My Tips…

I’m proud: I was able to break through a lot of my own barriers and launch a complete website in just over 24 hours! That’s a new record for me, and makes my 10 products goal for this year much more achievable. This website should also boost my income significantly–especially if I can get the AdWords clickers to actually take action and buy a hosting package.

There was no way I could have launched Blog Set Up in 24 hours if I had to write all the HTML by hand. So, for quick implementation, I used WordPress as my content management system–even though Blog Set Up is not a “blog”.

I have to give credit to WooThemes and their amazing “Optimize” theme. It looks fantastic on Blog Set Up. Plus, I found a bug in the theme and they were able to fix it just a few hours after I posted on their forum. Optimize was well worth the investment.

Since I’ve had such great support with WooThemes, I find myself buying from them again and again. (erica.biz runs on their Fresh News theme.) I highly recommend WooThemes if you want to launch a site quickly. Check out WooThemes.

Need a blog set up? Have you been procrastinating on getting started with a blog? Take advantage of Blog Set Up today and get your blog set up by our experts!

Have questions about fast product launches, or about Blog Set Up itself? Ask ‘em in the comments and I will answer! Also, feel free to share your own product launch experiences.

P.S. Stealing this product idea would not be a good idea. Find your own product idea.

Recommended Reading:

• oDesk Review. Is outsourcing worth the effort? Here are my thoughts, plus my step-by-step guide to using oDesk to outsource labor.
• What to Do When People Aren’t Buying. Ever get the comment “I’d love to buy your product, but I just can’t afford it”? Or–how about the even more blunt “That seems expensive!” You probably don’t need to lower your price! Read this for what to do instead…
• How to Read People’s Minds… …and create the product they most desire! It would be great if we could read people’s minds. As far as I know, that product doesn’t exist, but these two methods come pretty close.

At the end of every month, I tally up all my various income sources. I noticed a hugely interesting pattern when I looked at the difference between January, February, and March:

In March, I made more than 7x the income I had just two months prior. Wow. What the heck happened?

It Wasn’t That My Blog Had More Traffic…

I can tell you the secret wasn’t more traffic or more subscribers. In January, I had 22,615 unique visitors to erica.biz. In March, I had 25,703 visits–not a substantially higher number. Same with subscribers–I had a few hundred more in March than in January, but it wasn’t substantially higher.

What was the big difference, then?

Let’s look carefully at the breakdown. I officially launched Guest Post Secrets on February 1, but 3 people found it early and bought it in January. Subtracting that out, without me launching a product, my blog made $537.19 in January.

And that’s with a good amount of traffic–over 40,000 pageviews. No wonder you hear so many bloggers complain that their blogs don’t make any money. Relying on advertising alone would have left me destitute.

Tip #1: Launch a Product

In February, I launched Guest Post Secrets. That launch brought in a significant amount of money, netting me $1801.00. Not bad for a product I can sell over and over again as new people show up on my blog.

So, for February, my blog made $2601.13–a 4x jump from January. That’s tangible proof that surveying your customers and then creating a product that helps them get something they desire is the key to making a full-time income. This is especially true if you have a blog that’s not getting millions of visitors a month.

Ah…but then what happened in March?

Tip #2: Launch a High-Ticket Product!

I didn’t sell a whole lot of Guest Post Secrets in March. I didn’t go after affiliates, and I didn’t advertise it anywhere else. (I’m working on both of those this month.) Predictably, the sales died down a bit.

Instead, I launched a high-ticket product. I promoted it via a free webinar, which I called my first “Wednesday workshop.” As a test, I sent it out only to my email list subscribers, and didn’t even post about it here.

Of my ~4,100 email list subscribers at the time, 137 signed up for the workshop, and 78 attended. I delivered a straight hour of great content, going into detail about my past and answering tons of questions from the audience. (There were over 100 questions…I couldn’t even keep up with them all!)

At the end of the hour, I delivered a pitch for my first in-person workshop–held here in San Diego in June, where I work with just five small business owners on growing their businesses.

How I Decided What to Offer

The in-person workshop came together this way for a few reasons. The biggest reason was that I receive a lot of emails asking for 1-on-1 consulting. I am not particularly interested in 1-on-1 consulting at this point in time–I prefer to work on my blog or on information products. But I thought this would be fun, and heck, if no one signed up, I’d just move on and continue working on products.

After asking for some feedback from others as to how I should set the pricing, I settled on $997.00 per person for the day–and emphasized that each person could bring a business partner for free. The $997.00 price point is realistically about half of where I want to be, but I figured this first group could give me testimonials. I plan to raise the price for the next workshop, and also take it on the road in the future.

I set up a quick sales page for the workshop. (Seriously quick…I started working on it about an hour before the webinar, and finished just in the nick of time!)

Keep in mind, I had no idea if anyone would sign up. This was scary, but I figured it was better than not trying at all. To get over my fear, I kept myself busy–I worked on the sales letter and tested my webcam setup.

A happy surprise occurred when, at the end of the webinar, 4 people signed up!

The Big “Duh” Moment: Are You Making This Mistake?

It was then that I realized what the missing piece of the puzzle was when it came to making money with my blog: I hadn’t made an offer.

Looking back, it seems almost like a “duh!” moment. Sure, I had Guest Post Secrets, and that sold a lot. But some folks who read erica.biz don’t have a blog, and others have a blog and are already guest posting to great effect.

Those who wanted consulting wanted something else: personalized advice about how to break through their own barriers. By setting my price far higher on that, I didn’t devalue my own time, and I also managed to make just under $4,000 in one 90-minute webinar.

Of course, there is another day I’ll need to spend with these folks. But that’s enjoyable time for me. I love helping people, especially in person, and the workshop will be a blast.

The Big Takeaway for All Bloggers

Here’s the takeaway from all this: If you have a reasonably popular blog, you probably have audience members who want more from you. Definitely offer a product–but realize that not everyone will buy it. But also have a high-ticket item or two out there. Whether it’s personal coaching (which, I realize, not everyone wants to offer) or something–like artwork or an “everything package” of all your products–that is more unique and higher value, you need to have that bigger product.

And you need to have that product even if no one buys it…because it can help set a mental anchor that your products are more valuable.

Why Selling Cheap Products Could Threaten Your Blog’s Livelihood

I see far too many bloggers offering ebooks for as little as $2 or $5, and then offering consulting for a “special deal!” of $50/hour or $70/hour. With those prices, you’re doing yourself and your readers a disservice.

Think about how many hours of coaching you’re going to have to sell to make $4,000. You’re going to spend 80 hours of your time to make that much. And since most of those same blogs have the primary option being just 1 hour of consulting, you’re going to have to sell 80 people on the idea of consulting with you.

Since you’re selling yourself so cheaply, that $10,000/month–or whatever your blog income target is–is going to start looking an awful lot like a full-time job. But that’s only because you’ve made it that way. Start valuing yourself more and start charging more. (Hint: You attract more interesting people when you value yourself more, too.)

How to Overcome Your Big “Buts”

One of the most common reactions I get when I write a blog post like this is “But Erica, I didn’t sell a business for $1 million, so I can’t possibly charge what you charge!” First of all, (forgive the rant) but I am so tired of people using that as an excuse!

I started Internet marketing in February 2008 as a complete newbie. At Frank Kern’s Mass Control seminar in April 2008, I turned to the person next to me and asked “What’s a continuity program?” (Turns out, a continuity program is a product that is billed monthly–much like the web hosting company I created previously!)

I started this blog in December 2007. My goal for 2008 was to earn $10,000/month from it. It didn’t happen. In 2009, I was sick for 9 months and offered a coaching program that didn’t work out–mostly because I was too sick to really keep up with it. I still wasn’t making $10,000/month.

Now, it’s 2010, and the $10,000/month goal is in sight. But it has practically nothing to do with me selling my business for $1 million! Very little of my business experience from my web hosting company translates into Internet marketing wealth–otherwise, I would have been making $10,000/month two years ago! Internet marketing is a new world for me. That’s why I’m blogging about it as I go and sharing my honest truths with you.

I can happily sell consulting for $500/hour all day for two reasons:

1. I believe that what I offer is worth that much.
2. I have testimonials that show that an hour of my time is worth 20 times that (or more) to a motivated entrepreneur who is ready to take action.

That’s it. Nothing to do with my past. Stop using your past as an excuse. It’s what you do for others that matters, not how much money you’ve made in your lifetime.

(end rant!)

How to Do What I Did

I got here because I persisted. I doggedly refused to give up when my blog refused to “grant me my wish” of making me $10,000/month. In the meantime, I kept learning. I built an email list. I grew my traffic via SEO and guest posting. I surveyed my readers to find out what you wanted. I wrote great post after great post after great post. And finally, I made an offer…and then, another, bigger offer.

The “make an offer” part was the part I was missing. And, if you have reasonably good traffic and a decent-sized list (500-800 people), you, too, should start thinking about what offer to make. Even if you’re just getting started, start sketching out ideas for paid products, and focus on that as well as writing good content. You can start out with a smaller offer, but don’t forget to have a big offer visible on your site as well.

If you want to make real money blogging, get a product out there and start selling it. And start considering what higher-ticket item your readers will want to buy from you. Then offer it. That’s the fastest way I know of to make more money with your blog.

Recommended Reading:

• You Are Worth More Than You Think. If you’ve ever said “I just don’t have enough time to…”, this post is for you…
• 20 Ways to Make Money Online Fast. Still one of my most popular posts; these 20 ways to make money online fast are legitimate, scam-free, and can get money in your pocket quickly. Check it out!
• Blog Success Manifesto. My Blog Success Manifesto is a 62-page free ebook with 30 tactical tips to help you grow your blog faster than you ever have before. Check it out now!

This is the founding principle behind “lifestyle design”–a term that has become popular since Tim Ferriss released his book Four Hour Work Week. The idea behind a “lifestyle business” is to grow a business that sustains your daily lifestyle while allowing you the time freedom you need to pursue what interests you.

Here’s what my optimal “lifestyle design plan” looks like:

Stage One: Build A Business to Sell

I already did this for my web hosting company. Work your butt off for 5-7 years growing a business that you can sell. Then sell it and let it go fully from your life. In this stage, you have to have a product or service that you can outsource or hire out. This sort of business can’t be a consulting business or something that isn’t saleable 5-7 years down the road.

Concurrently with this stage, practice living as frugally as possible. Track both business and personal expenses down to the penny. Know where your money goes every month. (This is what most people don’t do, so when they get a huge cash infusion, they squander it.)

Stage Two: Sell Your Business

Sell, then take the money and use it as a nest egg.
Here’s what I’d do with the money:

• Set aside 30% for taxes.
• Set aside 30% for “future”. Use this money and learn how to invest wisely. Invest in assets that pay out dividends. Fully fund your IRA if you haven’t already. (I like dividend stocks or Lending Club at this stage. Real estate is another option…but never put 100% of this fund into a single asset class.)
• Set aside 20-30% for a house or as “sustainability cash.” Buy a house outright with cash, or invest this money conservatively in a highly-liquid account with an eye to use it for living expenses for a while. Do not lock yourself into a mortgage.
• Use the bit of money you have left over to buy yourself some nice things. (When I sold my business, I used $60,000 to go on a fantastic vacation, buy a new car, buy some custom hand-made crafts, and buy some art.)

Stage Three: Take Some Time Off

Use your well-worn frugality skills to either travel the world for a while, or alternately settle down and relax for a bit.

Also, use this time to explore other passions and hobbies. For instance, one of my life goals is to learn another language, so I’m learning Spanish. I take a class 1-2x a week and plan to travel to more Spanish-speaking countries in the future so I can learn the language more quickly.

Stage Four: Make Enough Money to Survive

Depending on your exit from business #1, you may not be able to quite live off the proceeds of the sale of your business. Also, I know from experience that you will get bored with “relaxing” after 6-12 months. So, for your second business run, focus your skills on creating a business that will sustain your lifestyle–what you really want to do–while remaining low on time commitment. Just like you didn’t lock yourself into a mortgage above, you don’t want to lock yourself into a huge time commitment now.

Your biggest goal should be to start a business that sustains your ideal lifestyle while you work only a few hours a day.

This is where the Four Hour Work Week starts out, but I prefer having the nest egg of a business I’ve sold.

Four Pitfalls of Lifestyle Design

Most people struggle getting this plan set up in their lives. Here are some of the pitfalls I’ve seen people encounter along the path of lifestyle design:

1. “Magic bullet” syndrome. “Erica, I want a business where I never have to work again and it just keeps generating money month after month!” Well–I don’t call that a business. I call that investing. Whether it’s real estate, dividend stocks, or Lending Club, those investments are out there. I currently have over $26,000 in Lending Club and it returns over $200/month in passive income; my net annual return is 11.75%. Awesome.

   But you have to set up the automatic transfer every month into Lending Club (or dividend stocks, or a savings account) to see the returns. You can’t spend all your money on consumer junk every month and have a huge credit card debt and then whine that you “can’t afford” the transfer. (The folks with “magic bullet” syndrome often have huge piles of consumer debt to go along with it.) Get your financial picture straight, and you will see returns. And get realistic about what it’s going to take to get those returns.

2. Starting a business that isn’t saleable. Many people start out by selling crafts, tutoring, or attempting to turn a hobby into a side gig. If your goal is to earn a few hundred extra dollars a month, that’s fine; it’s just not the topic of this post.

   In order to make lifestyle design work, you have to have a business that other people value even without you working in it every day. It doesn’t matter whether you sell a product or a service, as long as you’re not selling “you.” Selling “you” means the business has no intrinsic value without you in it. (That goes for you bloggers, too, unless you could never write a post again and leave the blog alone for all eternity and it will continue to generate income that sustains your lifestyle. Better create a standalone product with its own URL if you don’t want to blog every day…)

3. Not knowing where your money goes. You need to know what your expenses are, and be able to reduce them as necessary. Learn to distinguish between wants and needs. How much more productive will that new computer make you? What about that new shirt? When in doubt, don’t buy it.
4. Wanting to jump right to the part where you retire. Similar to “magic bullet” syndrome, but this is where you start a business, and because you see a popular blogger or guru bragging about how he or she only works two hours a week, you think you can do the same. You’re over the “magic bullet” at this point, but still fully convinced that it only takes a couple hours a week to make big money. You easily forget all the parts of the guru’s stories where they talked about how they spent two or three or ten years creating content, learning marketing, and figuring out how to sell stuff–and encountered numerous dead ends and false starts.

   Don’t be fooled. Even if they don’t work now, they’re reaping the rewards of the time where they worked a huge work week for little or no gain. And many of them, while appearing to have a “no work” lifestyle, are out there sending emails, working with their employees, tweaking ad campaigns, doing teleseminars, and posting blog posts every day. They just tend to forget that that’s “work”.

Which Path is Right for You?

My plan for lifestyle design isn’t set in stone. There are different ways to approach lifestyle design and be successful. Some people use their earnings from a lifetime of work instead of building and selling a business. I like building a business because it’s far faster.

And some folks go right to working their butt off, but instead of selling their business, they simply use their business as a source of somewhat-passive income. Nothing wrong with that as long as you can achieve it. I like selling the business because it guarantees you will never have to work for that money again, and it gives you 100% time freedom, but if you’d rather start at step #4 of building a lifestyle business, that’s fine.

With a solid financial education, perseverance, and a good understanding of what makes people buy a product, you can reap the rewards of creating your own lifestyle. Don’t be fooled, though; it will take a lot more work than you expect–but the rewards may also be greater than you expect!

Recommended Reading:

• Lending Club. I started investing in Lending Club over a year ago, and many people have asked me how my investments are going. I’m pleased to report I have a nearly 12% annual return. I would highly recommend Lending Club; you can get started with as little as $25 and watch your money pay dividends every month. I really love the whole concept. The link above will give you $25 to get started, so you really have nothing to lose by trying it out! (Note: This link gives me a few dollars too, which I invest back in my own portfolio in Lending Club. By signing up, you’re helping to support erica.biz…thank you!)
• The Complete Guide to Creating an Information Product. Here’s a step-by-step guide to creating a product that will help you generate passive income online.
• How to Start a Business with No Money. One of my most popular posts; shows how I built a business to $1 million without having a “nest egg.”

My Upcoming Product

In January, I will formally release my first information product! It’s called Guest Post Secrets, and it’s designed to help up-and-coming bloggers get a massive wave of thousands of targeted visitors and subscribers to their blog. Guest Post Secrets will sell for under $50, which will be well worth it when you consider how much it will grow your blog.

Guest Post Secrets consists of approximately thirty minutes of video content that I created using Camtasia–a piece of software that records your computer screen while you talk into an attached microphone.

In Guest Post Secrets, I explain what a guest post is and how much traffic it can drive to your blog. A typical guest post I write sends me about 4,000 new visitors. Over half of my 7,000 subscribers have found me through guest posts I’ve done, and my last guest post brought me over 700 new subscribers. I believe anyone can grow a huge blog by guest posting, but most bloggers don’t know how to guest post or aren’t getting responses when they email other bloggers for guest posts.

The current guest posting guides that are out there aren’t very deep. Guest Post Secrets goes crazy deep–showing you the exact email I send to top bloggers to get them to say “yes”, exactly what you need to say in your followup email, how to format your guest post, and examples of guest posts anyone can write to drive tons of traffic back to their blog.

All told, it’s about 30 minutes of video content, plus a “10 Mistakes” PDF that goes over the most common guest post mistakes, plus the email text that you can download and send to top bloggers–and some as-yet-unnanounced bonuses that are going to absolutely rock!

Earlier, I wrote about a four-step process I use whenever I create a new product. I used this method to create Guest Post Secrets. Now, I’ll run it through with you, show you the cost breakdown, as well as showing you each step I took to make my three videos into a product.

The Breakdown–Step 1: Determine A Market

I created my Blog Success Manifesto and released it for free. With over 2,000 downloads in the first few months, plus rave reviews and tons of people asking me for more information, I quickly determined that there was a market of bloggers who wanted more traffic to their blogs.

But a lingering question remained: Would up-and-coming bloggers pay for quality information, or did they all only want free stuff?

Step 2: Decide What Your Product Will Be

Earlier in 2009, I quietly took on a few clients who paid a monthly fee and got personal access to me. They were all interested in learning about blogging.

I created many videos before finally creating three videos, in a series, that I felt summed up the best way to quickly get traffic and grow a blog–no matter whether you were starting from scratch or just wanted to grow your community faster.

I had a decision to make: Should I release this now, as a less expensive product, or keep adding to it and making it a bigger, more expensive product?

I’ve heard conflicting advice from this from other Internet marketers. Some say releasing a less expensive product undercuts your value and time spent creating the product. Others say it helps establish you and get your name out there.

Finally, I decided I needed to get a product out there. I couldn’t know whether people were willing to pay for this information without releasing a product into the market. Releasing a quality, yet inexpensive, product, would allow me to test the market quickly and either poll my customers to create a larger product later or–if it bombed–to move on to a different, more lucrative market.

Step 3: Actually Create the Product

I sent my unpolished videos off to a fantastic video editor in the Philippines, who, for $3/hour, edited out all my pauses, “um”s, and mistakes, and sent them back to me as Flash video files.

Total spent:
Camtasia: $292 at Amazon (cheaper than Camtasia’s website)–but get the 30-day free trial to start out.
Video editing: Under $10.

Next step: I needed a name! I brainstormed several names in my trusty notebook, finally deciding on Guest Post Secrets. I registered guestpostsecrets.com through eNom–my chosen domain name reseller. I already have hosting through ServInt.

Total cost to register the domain name: $10.

I’ve been a web designer since 1996, but design is one of the easiest things to outsource–if you know where to look. I had some good recommendations in this area, and decided quickly on Killer Covers.

I immediately ordered a Killer Website Brand Pack from Killer Covers, and they turned around a fantastic mini-site design in a couple days, complete with HTML files I could edit myself and insert my sales letter into. I also had a professional-looking cover graphic for my product. (If you’ve ever wondered how product creators get those graphics that look like product boxes, CD cases, or book covers, Killer Covers does exactly that!)

Total cost for Killer Covers website and e-cover design: $297. (Note: If you just want a cover, that’s a lot cheaper…check Killer Covers for more information.)

Meanwhile, Lisa, my primary VA, was building out the back end of the product. She installed Wishlist Member, set up Wordpress with the correct plugins, and inserted the videos into the site. She configured Wishlist Member to work with my shopping cart and merchant account. I could now accept payments!

I added some minor site tweaks, and the back end was ready in just a couple days.

Total costs: Merchant account: Powerpay = $10/month (plus transaction fees)
Shopping cart: 1ShoppingCart = $99/month
Lisa’s time: 5 hours @ $26/hour = $130
Wishlist Member: $97 for a 1-site license

I also had another VA work on what would become an amazing upsell product: a list of 100+ blogs that accept guest posts. He spent 12 hours compiling a great list of blogs, complete with Alexa rankings, categories, etc. This has already been worth its weight in gold to me alone; I’ve discovered several popular blogs I was unaware of that I can write guest posts for.

I’ll sell this as an optional add-on for a low price.

Cost: 12.5 hours at $3.33/hour: $41.63.

Step 4: Sell Your Product

Creating a sales letter can definitely be outsourced, but as a writer, this was one thing I decided to take on myself.

I’m going to be frank: Writing a sales letter, especially if you haven’t done it before, isn’t easy. It’s also absolutely nothing like writing a blog post or a newspaper article–the two writing jobs I have a lot of experience with.

The best way to write a sales letter is to download a swipe file of other great sales letters and copy them, sentence for sentence, making them work with your product. Changing from the “voice” of a blog post, where most of the writing is about me, to the voice of a sales letter, which is all about you and your desires, is hard.

I believe copywriting is a skill that can be learned, but it’s not something you’re going to learn overnight. It is probably worth it to pay a professional copywriter for a “copy critique.” I did this and had two copywriters basically rip my sales letter apart. It was a huge blow to my ego, but I have to admit the revised letter cleaned up nicely.

There’s still more work to do on my sales letter, but it’s already far better than my first draft. Ironically, you will probably find that writing the sales letter will take you as much or more time than creating the actual product. That’s to be expected.

I did shoot a video for the sales letter, too, remembering to put myself in my buyers’ position. I uploaded it to YouTube. Then, when a copywriter said it was too long (at 7 minutes), I cut a minute out of it and uploaded it again today.

Hardware and Other Supplies

I needed a microphone to do the audio recording part of the product with Camtasia. I picked up an Audio-Technica AT2020 USB microphone and a pop filter, plus a better microphone stand. This makes the audio portion of the videos sound fantastic.

Total cost for microphone, pop filter and stand: ~$135.

For the sales letter video, I used my Canon HG10 camcorder (which has since been supplanted by the Canon HG21) on a tripod mount, and shot in HD. I also recently invested in a wireless lavalier microphone so I don’t sound so “echo-y” on video.

This setup will not only help me with this product, but with many future products. Of course, if you don’t have the budget for a full-blown video setup, start with an inexpensive Flip HD camera. I do recommend budgeting for the above microphone setup, however; it’s well worth the cost.

Total Costs

At this point, I’d say I have well over 40 hours of personal time invested in this product, in addition to the costs above.

My total costs were $2618.63, not including copy critiques or my swipe file.

My recurring costs are $107/month for my shopping cart and merchant account.

If you subtract out the video camera and the wireless lavalier microphone that goes with it, and instead buy a $149 Flip camera, and create your product within Camtasia’s 30-day free trial window, your total costs would be $1176.63.

Will This Product Make Money?

This is the fun (and somewhat scary!) part of being an entrepreneur. You invest tons of time, and at least a bit of money. Unlike a job, you’re not guaranteed payment for that time. You may release a product and it totally bombs–or you may release a product where your total earnings make you an hourly wage that would make any bigwig CEO proud.

The only way to truly know if your product will be successful is to sell it. Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed, or think “I don’t have thousands of dollars to spend!” If you have more time than money, use your time to hone your copywriting and content creation skills. If you have some money, as little as a few hundred dollars is all you’ll probably need to develop a great product.

What to Do With A Minimal Budget?

Assuming you already know what product you plan to create, and have a name for it…

If I only had $300 to spend, no question, I’d spend it on a Killer Covers web design. You can borrow a microphone and get a free trial of Camtasia–but web design is harder to do yourself, and it’s worth it to pay Killer Covers instead of spending hours doing it yourself. (This, coming from someone who made her living as a full-time Web designer and developer for years!)

Recommended Reading:

• My Instant Swipe File. Very useful product, especially with its current low price. I purchased it and am using the template inside it to help develop my sales letter.

Are you planning to create an information product in 2010? Have questions about creating a product? Let me know in the comments!

Should you offer your next product for free?

There are good arguments on both sides of the debate about whether to offer your next product for free; here, I will walk you through them. By the time you finish reading this post, you should easily be able to decide whether your next product should be a free one.

Let’s start with an example: I was listening recently to the Personal Finance Hour with J.D. Roth, owner of the popular blog Get Rich Slowly. He mentioned that he planned to do a series of blog posts and then turn them into an ebook. Almost as an afterthought, he added, “I think I’m going to offer [the ebook] for free.”

Offering a product to the world that you’ve put a significant amount of effort into will return one of two things back to you: reputation or money. What you’re interested in receiving at this time should determine whether you decide to offer your next product for free or as a paid product.

The Case for Free/Reputation

If you are new to an industry, offering a high-quality product for free will immediately establish you as a force to be reckoned with. Reciprocity will kick in, and others will promote it (and you!) via social media and linking. Hundreds or thousands of people will visit and download your product. Some of these people will be influencers; they will write about your product on their blogs, Tweet about it, or email it to all of their friends.

Offering a targeted product for free (such as my Blog Success Manifesto, which is targeted toward bloggers) will help you grow a devoted following of people in your niche. Surveying those on your email list will help you quickly create paid products in your niche; you will have a ready-built audience to sell those products to. If you’re a consultant, for instance, offering a high-quality, free product helping your target audience will enable you to quickly reach people who will pay money for your consulting work.

Whether you choose to write a blog, develop an information product, or develop a standalone product such as a piece of software or a mobile phone application, free will help you build loyalty, trust, and a following.

The Case for Paid/Money

Paid products won’t spread the word about you very quickly. In fact, most people who will promote your paid product will want a cut of the sales–they will want to become affiliates. However, if you have already established yourself as an authority in your industry, I would recommend releasing a line of paid products.

Let’s use J.D. as an example. His blog, Get Rich Slowly, currently has over 69,000 subscribers. It’s safe to assume 1-3% of your audience will buy a paid product you produce. (That number may be higher if you promote it well and it’s a lower-priced product.) Let’s use 3% as the number for J.D., and $17 as the price point for his ebook. 3% of his subscribers means 2,070 sales. At $17 each, that’s over $35,000 in gross revenue. That’s not including additional revenue from new subscribers who buy his product in the future, or a percentage of the revenue from affiliates who promote his product on their own sites.

Of course, having a paid product means you will have to deal with the occasional refund or “Help, I can’t download the file” email–or hire someone to do so. But I’d argue that when the numbers look like they do above, that’s a worthwhile expense. You can outsource this cheaply; spend your time on product creation instead.

Which Should You Choose?

If you are struggling with how price your product, answer this question: Do you need to build a reputation in your industry, or do you want to cash in your earned reputation points?

With my Blog Success Manifesto, I decided I’d rather give up $2,040 in gross revenue (3% of 4000 subscribers at $17 each) and instead build my reputation by providing a quality product at no charge. That was worth it for me; already, over 400 new subscribers have downloaded my Blog Success Manifesto. Since I plan to market products in the future to bloggers, I don’t regret my decision.

But when you’ve already built a huge reputation for delivering quality products, and you’re well-known in your niche, don’t hesitate to cash in your chips. Were I in J.D.’s situation, I would sell the ebook. I would then set a goal of developing a new, related product in my niche every 2-3 months and selling that, as well. Doing that would not only exponentially increase my income (thus affording me new opportunities), but it would allow me to hire someone and feel amazing that I was able to help feed an individual or family due to my creative products.

You Know You’re In the Wrong Place When…

If you’re too far into the “reputation” side of things, you’ll feel it. You’ll be burned out about money and frustrated that no one seems to value your time. In reality, you’re the one not valuing your time by offering products that your audience could benefit from.

In fact, your audience may be begging you to offer paid products. Many times, you will get emails from people you don’t even know, asking “Your ___ is fantastic! How can I help you?” This is a good sign; it means it’s time to take that leap and start turning in your reputation chips for cash.

If you’re too far into the “cash money” side of things, you will also feel it. You’ll be demoralized by the fact that everyone seems to “want a piece of you.” You won’t be able to find many people to promote your product without wanting some of the action.

Try offering some of your best work for free…not the castoffs, but your most original products. Use blogs and social media to build your reputation and your list. Once you’ve built a reputation for offering amazing products at no charge, try selling another product. You will be surprised at the different reaction you get!

A Word of Warning

Building a reputation takes time. Don’t expect to write a document in half an hour, offer it for free, and then immediately cash in your reputation points. If you need quick cash, promote others’ products as an affiliate while continuing to offer excellent work for free. Listening to your audience will help you gauge when the time is right to offer your first paid product.

Treat your reputation like gold. Offer products with integrity and confidence, and enjoy the fruits of building your reputation!

Recommended Reading:

• Is Your Tribe Holding You Down? Sonia Simone at Copyblogger examines who has it better: the broke “cool kids” or the money-driven Internet marketers. The two tribes parallel this post. A must-read.
• Blog Success Manifesto. If you’re a blogger, or want to become one, this is imperative. My 62-page guide that shows you step by step how to use a blog to build your reputation.
• 5 Mid-Year, Game-Changing Questions by Pam Slim. Pam and several others are exploring new ways of doing business online by building your reputation; her article goes along well with this one.

Make money online fast —
20 REAL ways people make money online.

I have been reading A LOT and trying to learn as much as I can. I have run into conflicting stories, though. I just don’t know where to start. I am not a computer tech, nor that knowledgeable about how to start. I am NOT asking for a handout; just a helping hand in the right direction.

I’m not expecting to make tons of money today, but ANYTHING to help me get started in the right direction. I have saved thousands of lives and now I can’t even get through the month without running out of food!”

Cathy has the right attitude — she’s not looking for a get-rich-quick scheme, but instead a legitimate way to make some extra money online.

Having been sucked into some scams myself in the past, I know how difficult it can be to find real ways to make money online fast. Thus, I’ve compiled this list. Some ways require knowledge of certain skills, but all these skills can be learned. If you don’t know where to start, I suggest picking one of these ways and learning more about it, then trying it out!

Note: None of the 20 ways listed below contain affiliate links (that is, links that make me money if you click on them.) This list is for your benefit, not mine. Enjoy!

1. Amazon’s Mechanical Turk.

Mechanical Turk is a great way to make some extra cash. You probably won’t make much more than a few dollars an hour, but it’s also dead simple to complete many of the tasks. Most tasks take less than a minute to complete and pay a few pennies. If you do a lot of MTurk, it could add up to at least some fun spending money. Sign up for free, then complete qualifications to earn access to higher-paying tasks.

2. Sell stock photos.

iStockPhoto is just one site that allows you to sell stock photos; there are others. Before you decide to go crazy and upload your whole album, take note of what’s selling well and try your hand at doing something similar. iStockPhoto also works for those who know how to render images; some of their most popular images were created on a computer! Have three killer stock photos ready for iStockPhoto’s inspection; they will want them when you sign up.

3. Sell stuff on eBay.

Start by selling your own extra stuff. Then, once you get a feel for selling your extra stuff, go door-to-door in nicer neighborhoods in your town. Develop an eye for what will sell and what won’t (old laptops, for instance, could be a gold mine–if you know how to format them to get rid of the previous owner’s personal data.) Sign a contract where you take 25-30% (or more) of the gross sale. Your customers will be happy to get cash for their old junk, and you’ll make some good money selling other people’s stuff. eBay

4. Become a freelance article writer.

It may not pay well, but there is a growing demand for this. Write 200-300 word articles and submit them to article directories. Potential clients include bloggers, marketers, and small businesses. You can write articles in a niche in batches and sell them as a package to one or more clients, or you can offer your services for hire per word or article and let your client give you direction. A foundation of keyword research is important to succeed at this job (unless you’re just taking direction from a client), but keyword research is learnable.

5. Write articles for magazines or other publications.

If you have a background in journalism, or just a passion for it, you can try your hand at submitting articles to publications. Don’t just randomly fire off articles, however; have a plan and, preferably, a contact at the publication you wish to submit to. The good news is that there are publications in pretty much any niche you can think of. To see some publications that are hiring, visit Online Writing Jobs, PoeWar Freelance Jobs, and Writing.com.

6. Transcribe audio files.

An easy job; doesn’t pay well, but also a quick way to make some money. Sign up on eLance or oDesk to start, and/or advertise your services in entrepreneur forums. Requires good hearing and a good command of the English language. You may also want to invest in a foot pedal if you plan to transcribe often. Make sure you know how to transcribe interviews before you start your first job.

7. Become a virtual assistant (VA).

There are entire books written on how to become a virtual assistant, so this job is definitely worthy of more research. My advice: Focus on one niche (I just hired Lisa Morosky of VA for Bloggers, for instance.) Also, reach out to potential customers directly and let them know what you can do for them instead of hitting up freelance web sites. Finally, you may want to consider resources such as AssistU, which provides training for up-and-coming virtual assistants.

8. Write articles on eHow.com.

If you understand the basics of keyword research, you can make a good monthly income from eHow. eHow pays you a percentage of the ad revenue they make from each “How to” article you create. You can crank out a few articles a day with relative ease. Try this for a month; assuming your article titles match up with what people are searching for in Google, you can make a significant income. The great news is that you write your articles once and get paid month after month. I’ve seen figures of $100-$150/month for 30 articles. Make money writing for eHow.com.

9. Do some videos to promote affiliate products.

Enjoy making silly videos? Even short, silly videos can sell products online. Find an product worth promoting that has an affiliate program, then target your video toward potential customers of that product. In your video summary on YouTube, place your affiliate link for the product, and after the video, do a 30-second still frame showing a short URL where people can buy the product. If your video is funny, informative, or useful, you may sell some products. Big tip: Try to promote a product that makes you a fair amount of money for each sale, but doesn’t cost a whole lot for the potential customer. You can find products on Commission Junction, for one.

10. Write an ebook targeted to people who need help.

Alexis Dawes created a product called “Desperate Buyers Only”. I interview her for an upcoming case study on Inspiring Innovators, where she mentions that she is able to make up to $97 from ebooks as small as 12 pages. The key? Finding people who are incredibly desperate for the information you provide and then doing good research to find a real solution to their problems. The result? Happy customers whose problem is solved, and money for you — a win-win situation! Caveat: It may be tough to find a real desperate buyer niche (Alexis reveals some in her case study). Here are some hints: When were you last in a situation where information would have either saved you a lot of money or a lot of pain? Has someone else close to you been in a situation where they could have used information to avert pain? Think legal, medical, and financial niches.

11. Build a small niche website.

Yes, you can make money online.I run a few small niche websites. For instance, How to Convert PDF is a tiny site that has free videos on how to convert other types of documents into PDF format. It sells a piece of software called PDF Creator, and I make a few dollars every time someone buys from that site. I promoted the site using pay-per-click ads and it was profitable. Don’t copy me directly, but do find the intersection of people needing help and a tool, ebook, or software program that will help them fix their problem. Then, create a website designed to get them to buy it!

12. Help local businesses develop an online presence.

Local businesses are struggling. Many have websites, but aren’t getting any results from them. Others don’t have websites at all. You can help by learning search engine optimization, how to set up an email list, and more, and then implementing these for local businesses. If you typically hang around geeks, web marketers, or the Web 2.0 crowd, you may be surprised how many business owners are 10 years (or more) behind you! If you can deliver results, business owners will happily pay. Find customers by going door-to-door.

13. Learn Wordpress, then offer to install plugins and upgrade it.

I hired David from Web Geek 4 Hire to upgrade my blogs and install new Wordpress plugins. He charges $5 to upgrade a plugin…great for him, since most plugins only take a few minutes to upgrade, and great for me, since if anything breaks, David gets to clean up the mess! You can make this a full time position; there is a ton of demand for these services. Find customers by contacting bloggers directly. Get references from bloggers who understand the value of outsourcing these tasks.

14. Become the go-to person for installations of a particular piece of software.

Anything from Amember to Quickbooks is fair game here. In the hosting industry, iDevAffiliate and Plesk Billing were the pieces of software we would have paid a lot of money to have someone else deal with. The more niche and more complex/annoying/frustrating the software, the better! Even if the software company offers free installation, you can make hundreds or thousands of dollars training business owners or their employees on its usage. Focus on one piece of software and become the trusted expert. Create videos and tutorials using screencast software like Camtasia to increase your profitability; this may also lead into a niche product that you can sell. (Amember offers “free installation”, but it took my boyfriend and I over 10 hours to configure it properly. That’s definitely something I would outsource next time!)

15. Interview other people and sell the interviews.

I experimented with this in 2008 and made over $800 from one interview. The key here is to understand a pain point that people are experiencing, interview an expert, and ask the expert the questions that the people experiencing the problem are having. Then create a small website and sell the interview. There’s more to this, including having good copywriting skills so your website sells the interview well, and knowing where to advertise, so don’t expect to immediately pull in hundreds of dollars. That said, it’s a neat way to quickly create a product. Get the interviews transcribed, then string a few interviews in the same industry together as a membership site or bundle that you can sell for more money.

16. Become a freelance “web geek.”

From configuring a shopping cart to installing and tweaking blog themes, there are virtually unlimited projects out there for geeks who enjoy working with small business owners to get them up and running online. Find people looking for web geeks on the Warrior Forum or other places where entrepreneurs gather.

17. Enter logo and design contests.

Fancy yourself a good designer? Try your hand at creating a logo or other design that a company loves! 99 Designs is the most popular marketplace. Beware, however; you won’t get paid unless your logo wins against many others, which makes many designers unhappy. In my opinion, this is a great way for a budding designer to build a portfolio and learn quickly what clients love.

18. Create Twitter backgrounds and e-covers.

Competition is stiff, but if you are a savvy designer, this is a good way to pick up extra dollars. Even better, if you are an artist, this is a good way to make your art skills pay off. Consider that every design will need to have a reason why the customer should buy the book or follow that person on Twitter to have a real impact. Twitter backgrounds, in particular, are in hot demand right now. For measurements and caveats of Twitter backgrounds, read “How to create your own Twitter background.”

19. Submit websites or blog posts to social media websites.

Not very exciting work, but in high demand from bloggers and small businesses. This involves setting up accounts on all of the social bookmarking services and then bookmarking your clients’ websites or latest blog posts to help them get more traffic. You may be competing against software that does this, but in many folks’ opinions, it’s better to have a real person do it. Even better is if you can goose your accounts with plenty of friends and become a star on a few of the services; then every site you bookmark has higher credibility and you can charge more. To get an idea of the social media sites you will need to sign up for, start at socialmarker.com.

20. Edit audio for others.

This is something that is fairly easy to learn and also in high demand. On Windows, one good program to edit audio is Sony Sound Forge. I use Sound Forge Audio Studio, but if you are doing this professionally, you might consider the upgrade to Sound Forge 9. Get the hang of editing out “um”s and “ah”s from audio. Even better is understanding the “flow” of an interview conversation and editing out portions that don’t make sense. Finally, learning to find and add intro music really gives podcasts that professional touch. Advertise your services on oDesk or eLance. I pay people to do this for the podcasts I am setting up on Inspiring Innovators, and it’s a job that can definitely be done from your house.

Which One Will You Try? Let Me Know…

There you have it…20 ways for you to make money online fast. Now it’s your turn! I’d like to know which of these methods you would like to hear more about. Please let me know by taking 30 seconds to post a comment below, and I will write more about the most-requested topics.

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