I know what you’re thinking: one penny? How will I be successful by only making one penny online! I want to show you how easy it is to get started, and focus on the process of making your first cent.
The idea of starting an online business can be overwhelming. We have so many ideas but don’t know where to start.
This blog post is meant to spark momentum for you. To avoid overloading you with countless money-making ideas, I’m going to share three simple ways that can get you $0.01 today, excluding physical products. This is strictly a guide for online-only approaches. All of these recommendations have worked well for me.
Let’s start with the first strategy.
Quora Partner Program
If you like to ask and answer questions on Quora, you have an opportunity to be invited to the platform’s new Partner Program. I was invited to join after only participating part-time this year.
The Quora Partner Program pays you money for every question you ask. Within a day of being accepted into the program, I received $0.21 from asking a few dozen questions. You continue earning on your questions for an entire year. This means the questions I asked will earn me passive income every day.
As the questions become more visible in search, you receive a share of advertising revenue from each question. If a question gains popularity, you can make hundreds of dollars on just one question!
There is no limit to the amount of questions you can ask in a day. My strategy is to check the recent news for inspiration. I also hear that tech-related questions garner more community interest. I like to ask anything that comes to mind. It helps to put your curiosity hat on and ask away, even if you think your question is silly.
What I like about Quora is the content you add shows up highly in Google search results. This means your work on the platform can open up opportunities for you several years later.
All you need is a PayPal or Stripe account to accept payment from Quora, and you are running!
Let’s look at my next recommendation.
eBook sale
If you can write a sentence, you can write an eBook! With Amazon KDP, you can publish a book about anything these days. Creating a short “how-to” guide within 20-30 pages is all it takes to get your first eBook launched.
My first sale came from a random Twitter conversation with a prospective fan. I made $0.33 in book royalties! Social media can work wonders with eBook promotions. I highly recommend this natural relationship-selling approach to get your first sale.
Here is the final penny-making tip.
Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is a way for you to recommend products and services in exchange for a commission on that sale.
I had set up an account on Amazon Associates, an affiliate marketing platform, and wrote a blog post about my favorite business books. Each recommendation has an affiliate link to buy the book.
After sharing my blog post on social media (Facebook and Twitter), several readers actually converted from my links! Their purchase resulted in a commission payout of $0.55 to me.
Affiliate marketing has tremendous benefits for anyone who wants to take it seriously. With Amazon’s program you can make up to 10% on sales conversions. Here is the full commissions summary to see what niche you might want to explore.
Even better is when your reader adds multiple items to their shopping carts, earning you affiliate commissions on all of those qualifying items.
There you have it. Those are my recommendations to find that first penny online.
Even if it starts with just $0.01, all three of these platforms have tremendous earning potential for new online business owners. The possibilities are endless!
So what are you waiting for? It’s time to earn that first cent online and see what happens for you next!