I just got asked “how long does it take to make money online” by a new student at our training center.
It’s a great question, and I get it often, so I wrote this article to try and answer it as best as I can.
The student actually asked a couple good questions, and so I’ll list them below as well as give you a screenshot.
Here are the main points…
- How much can I gain from this training each month?
- What amount of time do I need to spend?
– Notice he was going to pay a $450 one time fee and a monthly fee of $300/mo with High Traffic Academy.
- How much money do I need to invest?
Special Note: I’ve placed links in this post to other resources for further explanation should it be needed.
So here are my answers to those questions:
How Long Does it Take to Make Money Online?
Here’s My Response…
Excellent questions. I’m glad you made it here, most people feel it’s a God send or a blessing once they get into the Wealthy Affiliate training, webinars, and feel the community support.
The training takes time. I think of it like going to college without the 100K of debt that you rack up.
It takes a little bit time to get used to working with WordPress and to learn how to build out your site.
But it’s not that hard, and it’s really cool if you like to learn new things.
Affiliate marketing is where you start out because this is the LEAST expensive system, and can lead to very profitable websites.
For those that Have $10,000 to Risk and Want Faster Financial Results:
Check Out My Top Recommended Training to Sell on Amazon >>
After you build the foundation to your online business, you can later add…
- Email marketing
- Advertising
- Selling physical products and services
- Or sell reoccurring services and programs.
For now, hold off on that until you pick a niche.
You Need to Pick a Niche!
Niche websites take some time to develop (about a month before you start getting traffic) but really can convert a high number of sales, if done correctly.
Why’s that?
Think of the last time you were looking to purchase something online.
You most likely Googled a product with some sort of question.
Then went on to read a review about the product.
Afterwords, you finally clicked a link to make your purchase.
Still with Me Here? Come On… We’ve All Done This…
This is how many people make online purchases, and this is essentially affiliate marketing through a niche website.
Once you understand the buyer process, it becomes much easier to make a website that fits into the process.
So if you’re going to start an online business without low overhead cost, niche websites will do the trick.
I’d really encourage you to pick a niche that you’re passionate about.
It could be on most anything that has products related to it.
It could be about fishing, biking, hobbies, dating, etc…
But you need to have products that you can review and/or recommend that will be beneficial to other people who also share your niche/passion/hobby.
This is called your niche audience.
If you feel there aren’t products in your niche, there’s always the option to create your own.
But that’s a topic for another time.
My site that referred you to Wealthy Affiliate is all about making money online concepts, affiliate marketing, website stuff, keyword research, search engine optimization and reviews of online products.
Those products that are beneficial to my reader, I will then recommend through affiliate marketing.
Read more here: https://t.co/68MxKPXuFt#makemoneyonline #chooseaniche #nicheselection #buildabusiness #buildasite #WebsiteDesign #websites pic.twitter.com/dlJgHoXYdq
— Todd Maltzahn (@ToddMaltzahn) August 4, 2017
This could be as easy as using Amazon Associates as my affiliate.
You’ll also want to add email marketing and advertising once you start getting traffic to your site.
Do You Have to Write Content?
I didn’t like this at first… but now have found myself enjoying it.
If you don’t consider yourself a good writer, that’s okay.
It’s not like you’re writing a novel here.
The cool thing about websites is you can keep your content informal, casual and conversational.
Actually, most professional bloggers agree this is the best kind of content for sales.
More importantly…
You can develop your skills as a writer and a marketer.
Think of marketing as the ability to present information to people. Nothing more, nothing less.
Now, I outsource various tasks in my online businesses that free up my time to do other things, and writing is one of them.
I’m just taking my profits, and reinvesting them back into my site.
You can always pay Fiverr writers for articles for $5 – $10 dollars, but you should try your hand at writing or at least know how to edit posts and do the SEO (search engine optimization).
- If you’re looking for original content packages or even a short cut to creating your niche site, check out Human Proof Designs. They only utilize white hat SEO strategies so all you photos, content, and keyword targeted posts are optimized for search engines like Google.
You can also create videos as part of your marketing strategy.
This is another great thing WA teaches and strongly recommends you do for every post you write.
Check out our recent post on How to Make Money on YouTube for some great tips!
As well, you can create landing pages and then pay for traffic via pay per click with Google or Facebook.
But this is more expensive and is really not the right way to start.
You need to learn to write content to some degree and by doing so, you’ll learn to build natural, or what’s referred to as organic traffic.
To summarize, you don’t need to write all your website’s content on your own.
But you should know how the process works.
Got a Niche? Great. Here’s The Next Step:
Once you settle on a niche idea, it’s time to start building your business.
You then need to learn to do keyword research and start writing content for your site.
Content is how people search the world, written and video.
Wealthy Affilaite teaches you to write quality content and how to get that content to rank.
You’re building an online business through a website.
You start this way because this is the best way to build a site for free.
The monthly cost for this program is nothing for the value of education you get. I feel like it’s a college level education for $1/day.
I still have tons of education to go through myself personally.
By the End of the Courses/Training’s…
You’ll learn pay per click advertising and how to create effective ads with Google Adwords, Bing Adwords, Facebook, etc…
So you need to hop on the keyword research train and start writing articles!
How Much Does It Cost?
The Wealthy Affiliate Training Center (Everything Included – No Stinking UP-SELLS God Bless Them)
First month premium is discounted at $19 dollars, after that it’s $49/mo.
If you go premium and pay yearly, it’s less than $30/mo.
But what if you don’t have cash right now?
That’s fine. You can start with a free trial.
I would also encourage you to get the premium Jaaxy keyword research tool.
It comes with 30 free searches, and they have two levels of service.
So I run my online business for $2.47/day – Incredible in my mind.
If you get into email marketing, you can use Mail Chimp for free until your email list is so large, can’t remember if it’s 2,000 or more.
I use Aweber and so with Aweber, Wealthy Affiliate and Jaaxy, that takes me to my $2.47/day figure.
BTW: Check out this awesome post if you’re looking for some simple way to make easy money online.
So How Long To Make Money Online?
This really varies from person to person, and the niche you select.
It also depends on how often you publish targeted posts and the quality of your content.
As well as your level of marketing!
If you choose a very focused niche, you can get traffic and start making sales within a month or two.
If you keep building your site/online business, your sales will keep growing.
I tell most people this.. .
Again, remember it’s based on your niche, how frequently you post keyword based quality content, and a few other factors.
But in general…
Small Niches Win:
1-2 months to be profitable.
Actually here’s a training on it called 6 Week Schedule to Profits.
Click the link to check it out later. 6 months to a year to really be making consistent money online on a daily basis.
Another great 4 week webinar course WA recently released is about building a small niche site based on one single product.
This is great for people who want to put up sites that rank quicker, see traffic and sales quicker.
You can then move on to another product based niche site.
Here’s the training for this 4 Week Niche Case Study.
Larger Niches:
Like Health, Wealth, or Dating (those are the big 3 that never go out of style), you better be prepared to work 2-5 months before seeing sales and 1 year before you make consistent income.
The reason it takes longer is because they’re more competitive.
Maybe 2 – 3 years before you make full time income.
But the income can be major, anywhere between 5K/mo to 50K/mo.
My niche is also in the make money online niche which is extremely competitive.
I didn’t realize how competitive it was until 4 months in to this project, but that also means it potentially has much more profitability in the future.
I had already built a site (that I was proud of) that was getting a lot of traffic and making some sales.
But I didn’t really start making good and consistently money with this site until about a year into it.
Wanna see proof that Wealthy Affiliate is a breading ground for online success?
We’re talking anywhere from $400/day to over $100,000/month.
Read this… Why It’s Worth Your Time!
Are You Starting to See the Income Potential?
When you build an online business, you need to realize that you can get paid time and time again for the same work you did years ago.
And..
There’s a snowball effect with online businesses that really can gain momentum.
It’s tough at first to swallow this fact.
At least it was hard for me, but I just came to a point that I believed in my site, and what I created helps people.
I developed a lot of awesome skills that I now use every day to make more online sales.
As well, I’ve built some new sites that are now becoming very profitable.
You need to learn to walk before you can run.
Take this experience like a college education where you are building for your future and you’ll do great.
Passive income can happen, and it’s awesome, but you need to be prepared to learn and take action on what you learn.
Get the Help You Deserve:
Here’s My Top Recommended Program >>
The next time someone asks you how long does it take to make money online, just have them check out this post.
Hope this helps,
Todd
Thanks for the great article man, most of the people will fail because they don’t have enough patience to reach the goal.
Money will not come overnight, I agree on all your points, I am sure this will be helpful for beginners, keep doing this awesome work.
Thanks Harish for your input and feedback. Cheers, Todd
waste of money
Hi Jason,
Online education should be thought of like any college or trade shcool education.
It’s going to take knowledge, training and building up your skills. There’s a good amount of approaches to do this and WA works really well.
But you’ve got to do the work and build, you can’t expect to pay money and have a business created for you.
Here’s our favorite products to build online business. Maybe another approach is the key.
Or maybe online business just isn’t right for you.
Best of luck
Regardless of what internet marketing business you decide to run – you will need help from others at some time or another. You’ll also need advertising, a website, traffic to that site and so on.
What’s cool about Wealthy Affiliate is that they can help you with every aspect related to online business. Often times you can get tips and advice from the community to cut down on your business costs or simply recommend a helpful free tool.
You don’t find this type of environment with most internet marketing training programs. Nor do you find a platform like WA that upgrades their training’s on a weekly basis.
I think you’re right on with your assessment on niche based sites and how long they take to get traffic and start making money.
This is very dependent on the niche, I was able to pick a specific niche and was able to get traffic and sales quicker, but my niche site has somewhat limited profitability.
And that’s OK, I can move on to another niche idea and repeat the process.
Really good post for those that are thinking of getting into the making money online business.
Cheers,
Romi
Thanks Romi for your feedback on making money online as well as Wealthy Affiliate’s educational program.
It’s the best training online for those that are serious about creating an online business, plain and simple.
The training is easy to understand, easy to follow, and all you have to do is be open to learning and taking action on that knowledge.
Good stuff, Cheers..
Todd
Wealthy affiliate is really a wonderful place where you can learn how to start your own business online.
I think with hard work, patience and some investment you can make a lot of money with a home-based business and you can start to see results after 4 to 6 months if you do everything right.
Thanks for sharing this fantastic post – have a nice journey 🙂
Hi Anis,
Thanks for your feedback on the topic and I think you’ve made a pretty good assessment on how long it takes to make money online.
Wealthy Affiliate is my #1 recommended training for a reason and I agree that if you stick to the training, you can be making money online fairly consistently in 4-6 months.
Even after that, you want to work at this type of project like you’re going back to college, only each semester, you’ll have increased your online business, traffic and sales.
Best of luck to your too on your journey. I couldn’t be happier with the results I achieved at Wealthy Affiliate.
Thanks,
Todd
I love this topic and I’d like to share my own experiences with making money online.
It’s typically not immediate, and it certainly wasn’t in my case, but after a few short months, things do indeed start to grow as you hit your non-monetary goals: writing high-quality blog posts, getting high rankings in Google, receiving social shares, etc.
After about six months, I personally saw a huge boost in traffic and my earnings were gaining some real momentum.
I’m actually on pace to double my earnings from year one at this point – good luck getting a 100% raise in your “regular” job! The potential with your own online business is extraordinary.
Awesome Matthew, that’s so great to hear. I too had a similar experience. And if you look at it exponentially, my first 7 months compared to the following year are like 1700% increase in traffic, affiliate link hits, sales conversions and so forth.
Then the next year my site already more profitable it was than last year and I did that in the first 6 months.
That’s what the call the snow ball effect. Online businesses can pick up big momentum as they grow with keyword targeted content.
This approach to making money online is very simple and I’ve summed it up in 4 bullet points in this post, How To Work And Travel. Well worth the read to keep the whole make money online thing into perspective.
Thanks again Matthew and keep building!
Todd
Woah! This is great info! I totally agree with you! Smaller niches, in my opinion are better because there isn’t as much competition, so you can rank higher in google for specific searches. Wealthy Affiliate offers a great keyword tool if you have premium also. What would you say is your favorite niche?
Thanks Cayman, there’s so many cool and creative niches out there. Personally, with my background, I would opt for my therapy based niche site TherapyBoy.com. But at this time I’m invested in this site and a real estate site that has huge potential. But I also like hunting/fishing sites, they’re a bit on the large side, but many sub-niches there to be found.
One of my other favorite ideas that I did a bit of research was on Yoga Pants. That niche could easily be broken into. Check out this post, my Jaaxy Review, where I use this idea to find valuable keywords for this niche.
Thanks for your feedback and best of luck to you and your online business.
Todd
You are ever so right in your reasoning. Anything worthwhile takes a considerable amount of effort and time.
You are building your OWN business after all. The problem with a good portion of people is that they think the internet is a miracle cure for whatever their current situation is.
There is no fast money online, but, like you successfully point out in this post, there is money to be made if you set the plan and stay consistent.
Hey George,
You certainly got the right mentality. However, you can make fast money selling products directly on sites like Amazon, eBay, Etcy, etc. But they require physical products. So most likely not much money or not a real online business that has long term potential of producing passive income.
An affiliate based niche website on the other hand does have this potential.
If you want to learn how to sell items on eBay or really Amazon. Items that you already own, check out my post on How To Sell On eBay For Beginners. The info will work for Amazon or eBay.
To learn to import products or create a brand name product to sell on Amazon or eBay, check out our recommended Power Seller Skip McGrath and his guide to selling on these platforms.
Now if you’re like me and want an online business that’s independent of anyone else and, AT THE BEGINNING, you can approach it like a college education, then use the gents that taught me how to do this, the Wealthy Affiliate Training Center.
The rest is up to you individually and what action you take on what you learn. Nothing more.
Thanks George for your feedback and take care.
Todd
Hi!
I found the article really useful! I think that in order to be able to build a solid online business you have to take your time, and think positive.
It takes at least few months of hard work before some results appear. Many people want fast money, and that’s just a thing that does not exist Thx
Well stated Tanya. No one wants to hear it, but the fact is that you have to be able to make money online just like you do with any business. You must provide some sort of service in some kind of form.
And this is also what makes the online business world so much fun (and fair to anyone). There are so many niches in the world that people can get into. And you can utilize Google’s basic function of giving people search results that are relevant to bring traffic to your niche site.
By understanding keyword research, writing quality content, and working a simple system (one that’s been used by 1,000’s of people who want to learn how to make money online), you can create an awesome online business that grows based on what you put into it.
How creative are you? Your online income is only limited by you. Your ideas and creations can become a reality if you have the right training to understand the bigger picture.
Thanks,
Todd
This is definitely one question that everybody asks when they first get started online and you’ve answered it superbly. I myself was wondering how long it takes to make money online but I didn’t know how to ask the question. thanks for this post Todd
-Moses Njoku
Hi Moses,
Happy to help out and I think every new internet marketer wants to know how long does it take to make money online. It’s like going to work and not knowing what your hourly rate is.
But this is a unique opportunity for those that can take the time (as if they were going to college) and forget about the money, focus on the training and then taking action to build the foundation to your online business.
For those that can do this, and have a healthy mentality about the process, you will find great success and satisfaction in this type of career.
Thanks again, really appreciate your feedback on this post.
Todd
Hi Todd, excellent article. I’m pretty sure this is the number one question people ask and it’s certainly a fair question. You want to know how much time you have to devote to getting somewhere.
It’s not easy to launch into something and work hard and think maybe nothing will happen. Fortunately I’ve found the WA program does help people reduce the time to learn and get earning faster with their blogs and websites. I really like how thorough this article is.
That’s great Maria, thanks for the feedback and you’re right, it is important for people to be able to assess how long it will take to make money online before they enter this type of project.
I really think if new students can take the attitude of a student going to college who is working at all these varying pieces (like various classes), then with time everything comes together to realize the big picture of creating an online business that runs 24/7, producing income on a regular basis.
Thanks again for your feedback about Wealthy Affiliate too. They certainly streamlined the process for me.
Todd
Making money online can be very alluring, unless you understand that you’re worn out by the very process of looking for something worthy. That’s my problem here as usual. Trying a part time job as a waiter, I could hardly eat normally, as I didn’t get enough to feed myself. I also heard about affiliate programs at freelance. What about its potential? What do you think?
Hi Jack,
Any freelance gig is just that, a gig like any other job. What we teach here is how to create your own affiliate based business so that as you write quality content to help out your niche audience, you build natural rankings in Google that you then affiliate your site with helpful products that your niche audience can go on and purchase the products you recommend.
This is essentially affiliate marketing. With your freelance program, this is the same thing. They offer paid gigs to write on their blog with will bring in more organic traffic to there site, not yours. So you’re really helping to build someone else’s business. They offer an affiliate program, so you can recommend them and get their 10% commissions on products they sell.
I’d suggest you learn to make your own affiliate business versus contributing to build some else’s. To get started, click here.
Best,
Todd
Hey Todd,
This is a great article. The upside of affiliate marketing as you rightly put it is that you can start with the least amount of investment.
Also it is easy to get intimidated with words like ‘pay per click’ “email opt-ins” but as you dig deeper and continue to learn and experiment you understand that marketing is all about selling to humans and most of the strategies revolve around human behavior.
I think you were spot on with the time it might take to earn part time as well as full time online income. It depends on your effort as well competition on the web.
All in – a great read and an informative one at that.
Hi Josh,
That’s great to get your take on my assessment of how long it takes to make money online with affiliate marketing and niche websites.
I think one of the most important parts to get through is just working with that attitude of helping people, even if the money isn’t coming yet. Work to help benefit your niche audience and it will come together. Keep learning something new each day and putting some effort to your online business and it will pay off.
Thanks again for the feedback.
Todd
Hello there. I think this must be one of the most commonly asked questions ever! I have been in internet marketing for quite some time and have been asked this many times. I think you answered it very well. One thing that I always say is that you shouldn’t go into internet marketing or building any kind of online business with the sole purpose of only making money. You need to have a passion in your niche and that will help you so much with your content creation. And if making content is easy, the money will follow.
Awesome Andrew, perfectly stated. Don’t focus on how long it will take to make money online, but focus on a niche you love, helping people, and the rest will follow. Good stuff.
Thanks,
Todd
Hey there great post. I’m a fellow WA member just starting out with my own website, and reading what you’ve written is very encouraging.
You’re definitely right in saying that making a viable income instantly isn’t possible, but I do believe, and hope that as long as the hard work is put in, the results will eventually come.
I’ll refer back to your website regularly for tips, and one day, hope to have a success story too. Thanks!
That’s great Raze and thanks for your feedback. You know, I was just on the phone talking to a friend and remembering my first year. It was hard on me and there were many a times that I wanted to throw in the towel, but I’m so glad I didn’t.
It’s like a test of will when you work at something hard day in and day out and don’t see the fruits of your labor. But that’s the difference in owning a business and being an employee. It’s harder to get it flowing, but once it does, the benefits far outweigh the hourly wage.
Hang in there Raze, focus on the long term goal and you’ll make it. If you stick to the Wealthy Affiliate training plan, you should do quite well.
Thanks,
Todd
I honestly really enjoyed reading this article. I’m still very new into affiliate marking and I’m just soaking up all the information I can get. One thing I can say for any new person interesting in getting into affiliate marketing is that it takes times and you need to be patient and work hard.
You can’t expect to make a full time income within a year unless you’re willing to work hard. But it’s all very fun if you’re writing in a niche you love and enjoying learning more and more about. I wish every newcomer the best of luck. Again, this was a great article to read. Also loved the success story towards the end. Have a good one!
Awesome Michael, that’s great to hear and glad it was helpful. People need to asses the pro’s and con’s of building an online business. And you should know how long it takes to make money online and what is the most efficient way.
And that’s where the training center that Wealthy Affiliate provides is my recommendation time and time again. Education, action, support, guidance, and the best knowledge to effectively help you accomplish your online goals.
Take care,
Todd