To cash in online you need to be a game-changer. When Mark Zuckerberg
launched Facebook, there was nothing like it. He is now worth $17.5
billion according to recent Forbes valuations. Drew Houston saw
money to be made in online storage, and co-founded Dropbox, the
web-based tool that hit $240 million in revenue in 2011. Eric Lefkofsky
spotted the potential in Groupon and gave $1 million to CEO and founder
Andrew Mason. Last year, Lefkofsky made the Forbes Billionaires
list with a net worth of $2.9 billion. There are still fortunes to be
made online, and we have found five ways to do so.
Make A Viral Video
Karmin, real-life couple Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan, made it big when
their cover of Chris Brown’s “Look At Me Now” went viral. The video,
which has gained over 68 million views since its upload in April 2011,
propelled the duo to a million dollar deal with label heavyweight Epic
Records just a month later. “Brokenhearted,” the lead single from their
debut album, has now gone platinum. Music videos are not the only clips
that make money. If you are lucky enough, you could shoot a video of
your child, pet, or a double rainbow that strikes a chord and goes
viral. YouTube could then get in touch asking you to become a partner,
meaning the site will run ads along with your clip and share over 50% of
the revenue with you. The father of “David After Dentist” has made more
than $100,000 from YouTube ads alone. From there, diversify into TV
appearances, merchandise and even iPhone apps, as the creator of
“Charlie Bit My Finger” has done.
Sell Your Stuff
We’ve all heard of Craigslist and eBay – online marketplaces designed
for the average person to log on and cash in – but did you know you
could use them to become a millionaire? Sophia Amoruso, the founder of
online clothing store Nasty Gal, started her business by selling vintage
finds on eBay. After building a fanbase she outgrew the platform and
created her own website. Nasty Gal is now worth $130 million, and is set
to do $128 million in sales this year. These days, there are many more
online retail options on which to make it big. Up-and-coming competitors
include Threadflip, a place for users to turnaround their used women’s
apparel, and ModCloth, which curates vintage threads. Others, such as
Etsy, a craft-focused site, offer a more targeted community e-retailer,
while Zaarly flips the model, so buyers post what they want to buy and
sellers get in touch to pitch why they should sell it.
Monetize Your Creativity
We all create media content – recent estimates suggest 375 billion
photographs are taken daily, while 72 hours of YouTube videos are
uploaded every minute. Did you know you could make money from those
images? Paya is a new site by Denver-based company T3Media that allows
users to upload and sell images and videos from across 250 platforms,
including Facebook, YouTube and Vimeo. It’s the eBay of digital media,
and a haven for photographers of all talents, allowing you to keep 80%
of every sale. If you catch something particularly newsworthy or timely,
there might be big bucks in it from news sources and advertisers.
Gumroad is a similar site that allows users to sell anything they
create, be it a song, computer program or book. Users pick the price,
and Gumroad retains only a 5% cut of every sale. Both platforms are new –
how much do you think you can make through them?
Start A Blog
A handful of bloggers translate their content into million-dollar
deals. First, you’ll need to set up a site which will become your
platform to write on music, fashion, finance or whatever your interest
may be. Build a following and readership, and you could catch the
attention of companies looking to acquire your site. In 2008, Johns Wu,
the founder of Bankaholic.com, sold the site to Bankrate, Inc. for $14.9
million. Entrepreneurial tech site TechCrunch was acquired by AOL in
2010 for $30 million, making its founder, Michael Arrington, a wealthy
man. Fashion bloggers can also get rich. Just look at Leandra Medine,
the woman behind the Man Repeller blog, whose site grew so popular it
spawned two jewelry lines with Dannijo and a collaboration with Del Toro
on $325 shoes. Other ways to monetize your writing include selling
affiliate marketing through programs such as Amazon Affiliates. Bloggers
place an affiliate link for the product on their site, and whenever a
visitor buys a product by clicking on that link, they will be credited
with a sale and make a commission. Bloggers can also sell advertising
space, earning higher rates for more visitors.
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