Turn your Passion into Online Income

A fun way to make extra income is to turn a personal passion into an online business. This week you’ll find out how to build a website around a marketable hobby, interest, or special expertise you may have and monetize it.

The first step is to get Webhosting. If you have little or no budget, there are many places to get free Webhosting. Their downside is that the size of your site will be limited and you may be required to let the host put banner ads on your site for free.  If you opt for a paid site, the cost depends on how much space you want and any extras functionalities. Common extra functionalities will be the number of domain names you want to host or email accounts to have. A good rule of thumb is a plan to start out modest, mostly the default plan, and expands as your online business grows.

Next, come up with a domain name that is easy to remember and relates to your product. Supposed you make jewelry, you could name the site silvertrinkets.com. To personalize it you can include your name: silvertrinketsbyJane.com. Although it does cost money to name a site – it can be as much as $6 – $14 a year – it’s an important part of the branding and will pay for itself with your first sale.

Your Webhosting company will give you a panel (mostly called Cpanel) for you to log in to your account. If you are dareful try it yourself as many times it is a bit initiative. But get a computer and web-based savvy friend and can help you login set up your website using common website applications (engine). And at this moment you need to decide if your site will be blog-based or eCommerce only or both. You select the web application and install it through your login panel. Then you can search for free or paid themes to apply on your newly created website. Themes are software applications to give you the look and feel of your site. Some paid themes have a very fancy design, but to start with go for the free ones.

It is also possible to have a web site designed for you for less than $350 to your liking. If you can afford some initial budget for your business it is very much worth it as learning and making the website work takes much time. Instead, you can use that time to market your site easily.

Adding content to your site may seem daunting but coming with a content of 500 – 800 words article per week will be sufficient. Your site might use some widgets (add-ons for a specific function) to make it very functional. There are literally thousands of free widgets available that enable you to design the site to function any way you want, with whatever bells and whistles you want. Widgets are tools to give you a specific function, like the clock, appointment schedule, or a connection to Marketer, seller, or some required feed. Also, you may want to add a video where you greet visitors to your site and tell them a bit about your product or service. It’s important to change content frequently so people will have something new to see when they come back.

Once your site is up and you have populated it with your products, you need to learn how you will receive your money directly to your bank account. PayPal makes it easy to set up an online payment link and the service will cost you a percentage of the sale. To start with, you just need to get a free PayPal account and link it to your bank account so you can transfer the money you earn directly into your account. But when the business starts to be good you can hit the ground to make yourself legal by having business licenses and any government requirements so to work as a business with PayPal and others.

Once your site is designed and ready to go, the next phase is to attract people to it. Most people fail at this stage. Because the science of marketing might require some professional help.  Start with word of mouth – tell your friends and family to spread the word. Announce the site on your Social Media accounts (try Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for starter). Tell friends on Facebook and Tweet everyone you know and ask them to check the site out.

Also, collect Search Engine Optimization Keywords (appropriate search words people might use to find your site) so that it will be recognized by browsers. Then with your savvy friend can plug those keywords appropriately. For starter, that will be enough but there are many online businesses that dose only SEO. Don’t forget about offline promotion. Put business cards and flyers up at your local store or church bulletin board. This is not a wide business approach but could be a start for a local start. Running an online business won’t make you rich but it can become a steady second source of income that also lets you indulge in your personal passion or interest.

Try to have a budget that you will want to use. For example, say I will spend $1000 on this site for a year. Most people gravitate to free Web hosting without too much thought. Be sure to read all the fine print before you put your website on a free Web host. I recommend using free hosting for testing new Web pages and for personal pages.

The cheapest way to promote your website is through a search engine. We all wish our site to come to the first page of Google every time a customer searches. You work hard to build your Web site and refreshing it with new content so that it ranks well in search engines. This can be very difficult, but it is an inexpensive way and can result in good results if you work hard on it.

Other ways to promote your site include email marketing and advertising. Advertising on Facebook reaches many people but needs a detailed arrangement and configuration of the ads to spend less. Otherwise advertising on the internet is expensive. You also need mentally to be ready and prepare to talk and work toward making your business known. You should include your URL (location of your web – Universal Resource Locator) on all professional correspondences and whenever it makes sense in personal messages. I put my URL in my email signature along with my email address.

It is not difficult but finesse and simplicity have to govern your attitude and the work to make an online business thrive. Not starting is worse than giving up after trying. But don’t give up, change direction instead, and continue. Get advice and help if you get stuck, giving up should not be an option. Open your ears and learn every time as there are other ways of monetizing on the internet.

You can check the following posting on the technical terms and possible products.

Ingredients to Start an Online Business (Part 1) Ingredient to Start an Online Business (Part 2)