From politics to what food we should eat, everyone seems to enjoy sharing their thoughts, opinions, and advice online.
For the most part; we seem to enjoy this too since most of the internet’s content is just that, people sharing advice & opinions on different topics.
This is also what I’m trying to do with this website. Every morning I log in and share my advice on how to make money online.
However, there’s a reason why I do it. I actually make money “selling” my advice.
Today, I want to teach you how to make money giving advice online because I’m pretty sure you can do this as well. Consider this for a second…
- Do you have some knowledge you’d like to share?
- Do you know more about a topic than the average person does?
- Is there a specific topic/subject you just love to talk about?
- Is there something those close to you come for advice on?
If something popped up in your head already, you have what it takes to make money with the methods I will be sharing below. Let’s get started.
Here’s everything I will be covering below:
Table of Contents
What You Will Need To Get Started
Before you start selling your advice, you’re going to need to have these two things figured out.
- Your expertise (what do you know that you can sell).
- Who your target audience is.
Once you have that figured out, you can start making money (& I will show you how down below).
How To Find Your Expertise
First things first – what are you good at?
- Are you someone who knows about fashion?
- Do your friends come to you when they need relationship advice?
- Are you a professional/licensed dietician?
- Have you been learning everything there is to know about fishing?
- Do you have a keen interest in astronomy?
No matter what it is you know, you can make money selling your information to the millions of people around the world who want to know what you know.
You don’t have to be an expert. You just need to know a little bit more than the average person does. You can even be a complete beginner, and just share what you learn as you expand your knowledge.
In the “make money online” circles, we call this “finding your niche”.
Just to give you an example of how I do it, my main hobby and life work is about making money online. This blog/website you are reading right now is where I share what I know.
Of course, I’m not as great as Jeff Bezos at making money online, but I am much further ahead than most. Sharing what I know, like I am doing in this article, is how I help others and how I eventually turn my advice into a monthly pay-cheque.
Once you have found your niche, it’s time to understand who your target audience is. This will help you craft your message for that specific audience (and it’s how you will eventually be making money).
How To Find Your Target Audience
Let’s just assume you’re great when it comes to giving relationship advice.
Your target audience should not be everyone.
Yes, everyone is looking for love, but a 20-year-old woman will have different needs than a 40-year-old in the middle of a divorce, which means… you need to craft your message/advice accordingly.
This is why you need to niche down.
If the advice you want to share is about…
- fashion, niche-down to fashion for older men.
- relationships, niche-down to 30+ women.
- dieting, niche-down to a specific diet you follow.
- fishing, niche-down to line-fishing.
- astronomy, niche-down to telescopes for beginners.
It’s always a good idea to niche down and picking something specific. This will not only help you stand out amongst the rest with your target audience, but it will also eventually lead to you becoming the go-to source about your topic.
I hope this makes sense. If it doesn’t (or you want to ask me a question about your chosen niche) feel free to contact me here.
Next, comes the fun part – making money! Here’s…
How To Make Money Selling Your Advice Online
Forbes.com has an article detailing 7 ways to get paid to share what you know. Below, I will share with you just 2 ways.
I’m keeping it at two because these are the 2 ways I’ve used time and time again – and still use to this day – to make money selling what I know, thus, I can guarantee they work, and they work well. These are:
- Blogging.
- Selling courses/ebooks.
Let me now show you how to get started with each method.
Sharing Your Advice on a Blog
If you’re doing any sort of business online, you are going to need a website. This is a must.
If you want to share your advice, a blog is what you need to have.
Remember your niche and your target audience?
Well, to get your target audience to your blog, you need to publish content about your niche. This includes articles such as:
- How To Do _____
- Where To Buy _____
- How To Get Started With _____
While this may sound complicated, writing content for the internet is really not hard. As you can see, I’m writing from the hip and sharing what I know. If you can do the same, you’re set.
(This is why it helps to know/understand/enjoy the topic you will be giving advice on).
With time, your blog will start getting readers (your target audience) and once you have enough people coming to your blog, you can start making money. There are many ways you can make money blogging, but here are the three best/quickest options:
Affiliate Marketing: This is where you sell related products to the topics you discuss and you earn a commission every time someone makes a purchase. For example, if you’re sharing your advice about “the best telescopes for beginners’ when someone buys your recommendation, you get paid a %. You can learn more about how affiliate marketing works here.
Banner Ads: Another simple/passive way to make money with an advice-blog is by placing banner ads. This will earn you money every time someones sees the ad or better yet, clicks on a banner. You will need quite a large audience to make it work, but it’s still a decent money-maker if it’s done right.
Consultations: While this may not be an option for some, a great way to make money giving advice online is by offering one-on-one consultations through Skype or Zoom to people who are willing to pay for it. There are huge margins to be made here and since you’re giving up your time, the payoff can be substantial. The going rate for such consultations typically starts at a rate of $100 an hour ($50 for 30 minutes).
Selling A Courses (or an eBook)
One other method which is currently earning me (and many others) a great income online is selling what you know in the form of either a digital course or a simple ebook.
A skill that has helped me tremendously in business is optimizing websites for search engines (often referred to as SEO). I know there are many who would like to know how I do it, so I created an SEO course sharing absolutely everything I’ve learned in 6+ years of doing this work.
That course sells for $97 and every month, just like clockwork, I get a paycheck form that course. I created it once, and it will keep paying me – forever.
That is what’s possible when you start sharing your advice online.
Why Selling Your Advice Is A Great Idea
Those are the two main ways I have been earning a full-time income online simply by sharing what I know with others about topics I enjoy. As you can see, it’s really not that hard and pretty much anyone can get started using the methods I’ve described.
Before I leave you to go get started, I want to share with you a few reasons (benefits) why you should definitely consider selling your advice.
It’s Very Cheap/Quick To Start
What I’ve just described above can be started with just $100. That will be enough to fund your new business for a year. In a year, you will be making more than enough to cover your expenses and there’s even a chance this will eventually help you replace your full-time income and this becoming your “full-time job”.
Just don’t expect it to happen quickly. These things take time, but I promise you, it’s worth it (the time will pass anyway).
Literally Anyone Can Do It
You may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I’m sure there is something you know more about than the average person does.
The good thing about this is that it’s all online so while it may not be a “big topic”, remember there are billions of people around the world, which means there will surely be enough interest to make this worth your time.
Your Income Potential Is Unlimited
There really is no limit to how much you can charge. At the highest levels of the “consulting business’, there are people charging $30,000 to provide the service/information only they can provide.
Don’t limit yourself. Think big. Share what you know and get paid well for it.
You Can Repeat The Process Over & Over
Of course, nothing is stopping you from offering/selling advice on different topics. Maybe you’re great at fishing, but you’re also quite skilled at home-gardening.
Once you’ve done it once, you can replicate the same process over and over again, this time avoiding all the mistakes you’ve done on your first try. This will lead to you earning more and more $$$ as your new business grows.
Following these methods I’ve just outlined, I now run 4 websites each earning me a full-time income, you can see how I do it here.
Parting Advice (Final Words)
I hope this guide/lesson has opened up your eyes to the many possibilities that are out there. If you want to make money selling your advice online, you now have more than one way to do it, and I expect you to do it.
One thing I would leave you with is this…
Don’t be afraid to charge money for what you can offer!
Some people just don’t feel good about charging money for their work. This is a BIG mistake that will hold many reading this back.
If you have information that can help people – share it and get paid for it. If you don’t, you won’t be able to have the time to share what you know.
