Online Income (full time focus)

[thriftyc]

Hi all,

I was laid off, but so close to FI - its hard to get the motivation to go work for the man again.

I know that there are many many people making a full-time income online.  This site is a good example.   

If one spends 40 hours a week trying to build online businesses, the chances of success should go up dramatically.

I may give this a go.

Thoughts on difficulty/chances of success?

[GrowingTheGreen]

If you truly dedicate 40 hours a week to it and are consistent, I think you have a moderate chance of success. This is assuming you're creating both good content and content that people find useful.

How long can you survive without income?  It will probably take you over a year of hard work before you're making $1k a month.

[GrowingTheGreen]

Then you'll never find out unless you try :)

Many have succeeded. Many more have failed. You'll have to find out for yourself which group you fit in.

[undercover]

Let me put this into perspective.

One out of every nine people's focus in this world is not starving.

Over half of the world doesn't even have access to the Internet. The fact that you do is complete chance.

Over 80% of the world lives on less than $10 a day. That's less than $3,650 a year. You live on much more than this and don't even have to work.

Does it really matter whether you're successful at an online venture or not? Do you really have anything to lose? Why are you scared of failing when the worse case scenario is you go back to your cushy life? What do you have to lose? Why are you asking a simple question when you aleady know the answer is much more complex? I'm not just asking you, I'm asking anyone reading this. Everything around us is so damn amazing yet we're crippled by fear of failing! Most people will never get the chance to do the things that our pampered asses get.

I'm not trying to be an ass - just putting things into perspective. People stress over things they think they can or can't do but don't realize how amazing they have it. None of this is an attempt to make you or anyone else feel guilty - just saying take advantage of this great ridiculously fucking amazing life.

All that said, anyone is capable of making money online. There are so many ways to make money online. Anyone can answer phone calls and give basic support (paid hourly). Not everyone can start a successful blog I admit, though I think that's largely due to a lack of effort than actual capability. Does anyone ever "start" a successful anything? No, they start an idea and nurture that idea until it is successful. Most people don't have the tenacity to pour lots and lots of time into something that they think won't pay off. And that's due to an illogical, but crippling, fear of failure; and also worrying about money rather than enjoying the activity itself. Don't let the "few have succeeded/many have failed" fallacy dominate your mentality. Actual statistics about failed/successful online ventures don't exist. It's very likely that most people fail, but how hard were they really trying? I don't think you can fail with the right mentality and motivation, regardless of what you're doing.

[Mr.Tako]

It's very likely that most people fail, but how hard were they really trying? I don't think you can fail with the right mentality and motivation, regardless of what you're doing.

I couldn't agree more.  For every 1 blog that is a success, there are 1000 that were not.  Why are the numbers so bad?  Startup costs are so low 'on the net', anybody can try...and everybody does!  To the point that there is TONs of cruft out there...most of it *has* to be ignored.

Creating quality content that isn't just marketing spam, that's much harder to produce.  Readers can see through all the affiliate marketing.  They know when you're dialing-it-in vs. putting in a real effort.  Can you do that for years without income?  To build a real audience you'll need to.

For most, I think getting past that multi-year hump without an income is the hardest part for most people.

[OutOfTheAbyss]

I don't know about just starting a blog for personal interest, but I can tell you that you can make money online only. I left a CFO job when the CEO made it clear that I was expected to do something illegal. We mutually agreed to part ways, and I was forced into doing my own thing without any preparation. I found that I could get paid $35-$100 per article/blog on fairly interesting subjects. What I learned was that having a niche (in my case, healthcare IT, revenue cycle, medical writing, or healthcare administration) pays very well for freelance writing. (If you want to write about makeup or fashion or recipes, then you can expect to compete with people charging $0.05 for an hour of work). I used freelance sites and built a portfolio, and now I get $45-100 per blog. To start out and build my portfolio, I charged $20-25/hr. If you have credentials like a masters degree, it helps.

This is decent part time income for blogging. My suggestion is to write for someone else and see if you develop a following. If you have a specialization, all the better for having income. I hear you on working for the man.

[GrowingTheGreen]

I think it's important to differentiate between having a blog and writing for others.  I agree with you 100% that freelance writing can bring in decent money.  You provided a great insight on finding a niche and sticking to it.  The "popular" and non-specialized fields pay very little due to competition from overseas countries.  This is how I was able to get a decent logo for only $5 on Fiverr!

OP seems to be talking more about starting his own blog and not writing for others.  This takes a much longer time to earn income from.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

You might try exploring multiple different avenues--writing for others as well as writing your own blog. I have a gig writing trivia questions for pub quizzes, for example.

[backyardfeast]

The common experience I see with successful blogs is that they do *become* a full time job.  In other words, taking the time to get the blog consistently paying is one task that's a full time job, but then you are also a full time blogger! 

This may seem obvious!:)  But the point is that if I were "on the cusp" of FI, I wouldn't be working hard to set myself up in a new full time job.  I'd either be signing up for the easiest job I could find that would allow me to just coast for the little while I had left, OR I'd be thinking about how I want to spend my time in ER, and finding something in that vein to pay me the little bit I needed as I transitioned.

If that's blogging, then...go for it!  But otherwise, you're basically spending a year as an entrepreneur until the business starts to pay, and then when it starts to pay...you've got a job.

[PeachFuzzInVA]

Making money online is easy. Amazon has 90,000,000 unique monthly visitors in the U.S. alone. If you can make $1 off of .0001% of those, you're making $9,000/month. It's harder to fail than it is to succeed as a 3P seller on there.

[randymarsh]

I've some success selling on Amazon. I hit up thrift stores along with typical retailers like Target, buy things that are selling for more online, profit. Some people make 6 figures doing this. One of the odd things I make money on are VHS tapes. I routinely find them at the thrift store for 99 cents (brand new) and have sold them for anywhere from $10-$80.

Others are getting products manufactured in China and they sell them as their own. Those silicone baking mats are a good example. Find a supplier, put your logo on it, sell on Amazon. Most rubber/plastic items like this can be bought for less than 50 cents a piece. If you have the capital, you could set your sights on something with a higher cost to enter. Say a product that costs you $30/unit from China, but you can sell for $200.

[fetch321]

Getting products from china -- selling.  Was thinking about doing this myself among other things, but was wondering about liability.

Say you do shoes, just to take an example, and some kid falls down the steps and breaks neck because of the product, is that going to be a legal nightmare?

[randymarsh]

Getting products from china -- selling.  Was thinking about doing this myself among other things, but was wondering about liability.

Say you do shoes, just to take an example, and some kid falls down the steps and breaks neck because of the product, is that going to be a legal nightmare?

IANAL, but I would stay away from items that have liability potential. You mentioned clothing and I'd stay away from that not so much for liability but because of competition/knock offs.

A better product would be those silicone baking mats. Liability is low because it's literally just a sheet of rubber. Reputable suppliers will provide proof that they're using "food safe" materials. Do all this through an LLC to further reduce liability.