Most logical way for a Mustachian to make money online?

[WhoopWhoop]

I know a lot of Mustachians have blogs and ebooks, but I was thinking that there's probably a better way for the average entrepreneurial Mustachian to make money.

Let's look at the characteristics of a Mustachian:

• We like to get the biggest bang for our buck - this is true of money AND time spent.
• We like to quit things when we get bored with them or our priorities change - jobs, writing blog posts on the same or similar topics over and over again, etc.
• We prefer not being anchored down in any one location, so an online business is ideal.
• We have serious technical skills (math, science, computers) that make us the envy of all of the Interwebz.

Books are great because you can write them once and be done with it. But, it takes a lot of time to write, and if you make $5 or less per copy, you have to keep selling and selling and selling - basically, your book has to be a bestseller for you to make good money.

Blogs are great because they're personal and you can share your opinions with like-minded people. But, you may have to stick to one topic for years, and your website's income may depend on having ongoing traffic for years.

I think online courses are the best way for Mustachians to make money online. You have a lot of up-front work (like when writing a book), but it's not unusual to charge $25, $100, or $300 for one person to buy the course. Before I was Mustachian, I spent $2,000 on an online course, and I barely had any money!

It meets all the Mustachian criteria.

Am I right or am I right?

Anyone here have experience selling online courses? I'd love to see you smack me over the face with reality, 'cause I'm busy thinking I'm a genius over here!

[The Money Monk]

I know a lot of Mustachians have blogs and ebooks, but I was thinking that there's probably a better way for the average entrepreneurial Mustachian to make money.

Let's look at the characteristics of a Mustachian:

• We like to get the biggest bang for our buck - this is true of money AND time spent.
• We like to quit things when we get bored with them or our priorities change - jobs, writing blog posts on the same or similar topics over and over again, etc.
• We prefer not being anchored down in any one location, so an online business is ideal.
• We have serious technical skills (math, science, computers) that make us the envy of all of the Interwebz.

Books are great because you can write them once and be done with it. But, it takes a lot of time to write, and if you make $5 or less per copy, you have to keep selling and selling and selling - basically, your book has to be a bestseller for you to make good money.

Blogs are great because they're personal and you can share your opinions with like-minded people. But, you may have to stick to one topic for years, and your website's income may depend on having ongoing traffic for years.

I think online courses are the best way for Mustachians to make money online. You have a lot of up-front work (like when writing a book), but it's not unusual to charge $25, $100, or $300 for one person to buy the course. Before I was Mustachian, I spent $2,000 on an online course, and I barely had any money!

It meets all the Mustachian criteria.

Am I right or am I right?

Anyone here have experience selling online courses? I'd love to see you smack me over the face with reality, 'cause I'm busy thinking I'm a genius over here!

Here's my thought as somebody who makes most of my income online:

Courses are great for all the reasons you say, but they require a much higher level of credibility or expertise than a blog or an ebook. If you look around you will notice that near 100% of the people who are actually getting people to pay for such courses or conferences are doing it on the back of their fairly large pre-existing online presence (youtube channel, podcast, website, whatever). It is very difficult to get people to spend any serious money (really anything over $20) if they don't have a fairly good idea of who you are and what you are going to be able to offer them in the conference/course. Very hard to sell something like that cold.

Now a nobody can still sell ebooks, and certainly get people to come to a blog. But selling a $100 course is a different animal.

[HSLmom]

You don't have to sell a ton of books to make a decent living. I agree with the points above, you need more credibility to make a higher price point item.

Have you heard about having 1000 true fans? If you work to have 1000 true loyal fans, and then sell them each $100 worth of stuff every year, you're making 100K/year. This is overly simplified, but it shows that you don't have to reach as many people as you may think.

[arebelspy]

You aren't alone in these thoughts.  Online courses have become super popular over the last few years.

Hell, a couple of Mustachians, Brad from RichmondSavers and MilesDividendMD, have just put together a travel hacking course they advertise solely at Mustachians.  (No cost to take the course, but they'll get credit card referral fees, I estimate they could easily net 6-figures per year.)  The first one started this month.

[gav]

if you have writing skills,  so you have make money through Content writing works. Many websites serve the works online and pay you online in your bank account here is some of website :

Mod Note: Multiple spammy links removed

[Dexterous]

I wouldn't spend any amount for an online course, but I'm sure you can find plenty of people to spend money on about anything.

You should probably be smacked for spending $2,000 on an online course.  Nearly everything can be researched online nowadays for free.  My belief is that anything you can do to generate traffic will earn you money with ads.  You don't have to sell anything necessarily.

[PeachFuzzInVA]

I sell on Amazon/Ebay. Put about 10-20 hours a month into it. Most months I make aounrd $2,000 from it. Most days I sit at my day job and wonder why I don't just quit and do the online sales thing full time.

[Syonyk]

Blogs and ebooks and such are certainly nice long term games.

For shorter term stuff, find something people hate doing in the web development world, and get really good at it.  I paid for a lot of grad school doing ecommerce integration for websites - I could sling out an Authorize.Net or PHP integration for someone's shopping cart in a few hours, charge $1000 for it, and everyone was happy.

[Mississippi Mudstache]

I sell on Amazon/Ebay. Put about 10-20 hours a month into it. Most months I make aounrd $2,000 from it. Most days I sit at my day job and wonder why I don't just quit and do the online sales thing full time.

I've done a fair amount of eBay sales, and made decent money. But mostly I'm just selling stuff that I bought/made/received as a gift and no longer use. Only on the rare occasion have I bought things with the express purpose of re-selling. It would be unsustainable as a business model, because I'll eventually run out of stuff to sell. Also, I haven't found the time/profit ratio to be especially compelling. So I'm curious: What exactly are you selling?

[Syonyk]

I also move stuff on eBay for people as well - random computers/tech hardware/Bitcoin mining gear/etc.  I pull 20% of the profits out, and send the people who have me sell their stuff a check.  It's not enough for me to live on, but it's a non-trivial chunk of extra income.

[PatronWizard11]

I'm not mustachian yet but getting there.  I sell new video games on ebay for a discount.  I profit after the fees,  I profit on the best buy points,  I get a 20% discount on the game and free 2 day shipping.  I direct ship from Best buy to the buyer and I get pre-order bonus rewards from Best buy all on top of my credit card rewards. I never touch the video game although I'm the middle man.

[Syonyk]

That's a pretty nice arrangement too!

[Jack]

if you have writing skills,  so you have make money through Content writing works. Many websites serve the works online and pay you online in your bank account here is some of website :

Anybody else amused by the fact that this guy's post about writing skills is riddled with grammatical errors?

(I almost think he's a spammer, but those aren't referral links so I don't understand how he's planning to profit.)

[swick]

I wouldn't spend any amount for an online course, but I'm sure you can find plenty of people to spend money on about anything.

You should probably be smacked for spending $2,000 on an online course.  Nearly everything can be researched online nowadays for free.  My belief is that anything you can do to generate traffic will earn you money with ads.  You don't have to sell anything necessarily.

Yes, most information you can get for free now a days, but that is missing one of the strengths of (some) online courses. Most come with a "community" aspect that can quite literally be worth it's weight in gold. The chance to network with people in your field (or interest) of all skill levels and experiences and having the opportunity to build relationships and exchange ideas with people you would never get through to in RL is awesome. Especially for those who are more introverted.

I do think that offering courses - if you have a gift for teaching and content creation is a great way to go and one I am actively working on :)

[Mississippi Mudstache]

if you have writing skills,  so you have make money through Content writing works. Many websites serve the works online and pay you online in your bank account here is some of website :

Anybody else amused by the fact that this guy's post about writing skills is riddled with grammatical errors?

(I almost think he's a spammer, but those aren't referral links so I don't understand how he's planning to profit.)

I'm definitely not gonna click the link at the bottom of his replies.

[NoraLenderbee]

if you have writing skills,  so you have make money through Content writing works. Many websites serve the works online and pay you online in your bank account here is some of website :

Anybody else amused by the fact that this guy's post about writing skills is riddled with grammatical errors?

(I almost think he's a spammer, but those aren't referral links so I don't understand how he's planning to profit.)

This is a big reason why there is so much crap on the Internet. People start multiple blogs just as a means to get ad revenue. The blogs need "content," so they pay other people to generate reams of "content" that is basically a bunch of blather with some SEO tuning. The "writers" get some beer money (a dollar or less per article) in return for doing shitty, half-assed work. The blog owner keeps pumping out "content" to get clicks. And that is why when you google about, say, varieties of apples that grow in your climate zone, you get hundreds of hits on blogs that say, "Apples are red! But some are green! And yellow! An apple a day keeps the doctor away! Click here for the SHOCKING truth about apples!"

[Syonyk]

Wait, is that shocking truth about apples one weird trick that will trim a pound of belly fat a week?  I MUST KNOW!

[MonkeyJenga]

Live sex feeds can be quite lucrative.

Or so I've heard.

[Jack]

Live sex feeds can be quite lucrative.

Or so I've heard.

I think Bakari has a thread about that somewhere.

[marketnonsenses]

Online courses isnt a bad idea. If you do it for stuff like PMP where people need credits and have to pay for a course.

I think business to business courses would be where the money is. Company's have bigger training budgets than regular consumers. Ive worked for a few companies that pay tons to outside trainers for hardly anything.

[FarmerPete]

Online courses isnt a bad idea. If you do it for stuff like PMP where people need credits and have to pay for a course.

I think business to business courses would be where the money is. Company's have bigger training budgets than regular consumers. Ive worked for a few companies that pay tons to outside trainers for hardly anything.

My company paid a consulting company to present training.  Total cost was around $35k for 3 days of training.  The training content was basically cut and pasted from Technet articles.  Total waste of time and money.  We told our boss as much before hand.  He didn't care.  It wasn't his money.

[CopperTex]

My husband makes around 35-40k per year selling on Amazon, Ebay, and Etsy. He picks up stuff at garage sales and flea markets. Something he buys for a quarter, he sells for $10, $20, sometimes $70-$100. He really has an eye for it. The downside is our garage is stuffed to the brim with crap.

[Bstarr]

I've been thinking about this for the last few months... There is something in my industry that requires a certification, which I acquire online and pay $250.  The gold standard for the credential requires classroom time and there are a great number of impostors out there. I gladly give my $250 to an impostor because the classroom time in my industry is almost impossible to accommodate.  So then I thought, Why don't I become an impostor and people like me will send me $250 for taking an online test and sending them a card in the mail? It's a flooded market so it would really be about search engine optimization.  I should talk to my brother.  Just posting this is maxing out my knowledge of computers :)

[lise]

I have paid for online courses because continuing education is a requirement for a certification I have (PMP).  The course needs to be approved by PMI though but some of them have been so crappy and they still manage to get approved.  I just shop around for the cheapest one I can find online as this is way way cheaper than classroom equivalent and I can just quickly scan through the screens and pass the course.  I can see the course providers making money because so many people are just doing it for the credits, and not the educational worth so I am willing to pay something just to keep up with my certification. 

[Joshin]

if you have writing skills,  so you have make money through Content writing works. Many websites serve the works online and pay you online in your bank account here is some of website :

Anybody else amused by the fact that this guy's post about writing skills is riddled with grammatical errors?

(I almost think he's a spammer, but those aren't referral links so I don't understand how he's planning to profit.)

This is a big reason why there is so much crap on the Internet. People start multiple blogs just as a means to get ad revenue. The blogs need "content," so they pay other people to generate reams of "content" that is basically a bunch of blather with some SEO tuning. The "writers" get some beer money (a dollar or less per article) in return for doing shitty, half-assed work. The blog owner keeps pumping out "content" to get clicks. And that is why when you google about, say, varieties of apples that grow in your climate zone, you get hundreds of hits on blogs that say, "Apples are red! But some are green! And yellow! An apple a day keeps the doctor away! Click here for the SHOCKING truth about apples!"

I clicked the dude's link -- it's a scammy content creation site, or writing mill. Chances are anyone who tried to sign up would find their SSN or Paypal info stolen, or would end up writing content and never getting paid.

Fortunately, content writing has entered a new era in the last few years. The last few Google slap-downs have knocked most of those "Appels our grene" sites off the first few pages (unless, of course, they PAY Google to be there). I've been making a killing the last few years fixing webpages for client's that fell for the SEO, content spinning fallacy. These are mainly brick and mortar businesses that tried to use SEO techniques to bring in more local traffic through their website. They pay me MUCH more than $1 to fix things ;)

Ad-supported content creation works exceptionally well, and no one really minds if you are offering true value with the content. For site visitors, the ads must be secondary to the content. So go ahead and create an in depth site about growing apples, and make it the one stop resource for all home orchard knowledge. THEN, add in your ads and affiliate links to Amazon and Gardener's Supply. The internet isn't filled with useless shit, and you're making money. Win-win.

[Tami1982]

I have paid for online courses because continuing education is a requirement for a certification I have (PMP).  The course needs to be approved by PMI though but some of them have been so crappy and they still manage to get approved.  I just shop around for the cheapest one I can find online as this is way way cheaper than classroom equivalent and I can just quickly scan through the screens and pass the course.  I can see the course providers making money because so many people are just doing it for the credits, and not the educational worth so I am willing to pay something just to keep up with my certification.

There is something similar to what you say in existence.  Service dog certificates/accreditation.  Legally, there is no such thing, but you create a website, send someone a certificate/card/id badge - they pay you $50-$200 for something they think means something, but is completely unnecessary.  It's quite a racket.   

[PeachFuzzInVA]

I sell on Amazon/Ebay. Put about 10-20 hours a month into it. Most months I make aounrd $2,000 from it. Most days I sit at my day job and wonder why I don't just quit and do the online sales thing full time.

I've done a fair amount of eBay sales, and made decent money. But mostly I'm just selling stuff that I bought/made/received as a gift and no longer use. Only on the rare occasion have I bought things with the express purpose of re-selling. It would be unsustainable as a business model, because I'll eventually run out of stuff to sell. Also, I haven't found the time/profit ratio to be especially compelling. So I'm curious: What exactly are you selling?

Mostly retail/online arbitrage. Some wholesale. There's a huge learning curve, but once you get over that, it's nothing to walk into a store for an hour, spend $500, and walk out with enough to make $700 profit.

[arebelspy]

Mostly retail/online arbitrage. Some wholesale. There's a huge learning curve, but once you get over that, it's nothing to walk into a store for an hour, spend $500, and walk out with enough to make $700 profit.

What product category?

[PeachFuzzInVA]

Beauty, health & personal care, grocery, toys, home goods with an emphasis on the first 3. I stay away from clothing, accessories, tools. Think of products that people have to buy over and over again.