Can a Person Really Make Money? Online? From Home?

Now you're thinking, "If you give your graphics away for free, how do you make money online?" How can anyone really make money from home--by giving their work away for free. Sounds all wrong, I know. But the internet has changed the old business models that we've used for eons. These changes are HUGE in their implications for small businesses, primarily because of the accessibility to even the smallest business.

It's really quite simple. As the internet has become more and more popular, huge online businesses like Amazon, Ebay, Google, etc. and even some not so large ones--that you would still recognize--discovered that the best way to advertize online is not by shoving annoying pop up ads and spam emails at people. The best way to earn business is by delivering great products or services and getting their happy customers to tell their friends. Makes sense, doesn't it? It's just human nature. When we go see a movie that we really like, we tell our friends. When we find a great deal, we talk about it. When we try a product that we are happy with, we let others know. And our friends--who know us and trust us already (usually ;-) take our advice much more readily than a stranger trying to peddle something. Successful online companies have figured this out and designed a way to encourage you and me to tell others about them.

They created affiliate marketing.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept of affiliate marketing...

Affiliate marketing is basically high tech "word of mouth" advertising. Now you're thinking, "If you're not spamming, then how can 'word of mouth' advertising work--online? Where people don't even see each other, let alone meet face to face?"

The answer is: TECHNOLOGY

A website is a lot like a big bulletin board. Bear with me ... where you can just post all the things you'd like to tell your friends. And they can come take a look whenever they feel like it...

"I liked this movie, I like that product, I use such and such to make my life better..." You get the idea.

Obviously the big online companies I talked about know this. So, naturally, they love to make people who have websites...happy. Specifically, happy with THEM. Through our online "bulletin board" we are able to tell a huge number of people about their product or service or whatever--quickly, easily and honestly. So... what makes people with websites (or people...in general) HAPPY with a company or service? That's an easy one...

MONEY

So, now that you have a basic understanding of how affiliate marketing works, you are starting to see how I am able to make money while giving things away for free. It's really a nice way to make some extra cash. I get to offer my visitors something they are looking for free , and I make money for telling them about the products that allow me to do so. And here's the best part... I get to do it all from home, in my spare time, usually in my pajamas. I am a stay at home mom of five beautiful kids. Yes, you read that right...5 kids. So, you can imagine how limited my "spare time" is (and why I am usually working in my pajamas ;-)

My children are my life's work, my biggest blessings, my biggest challenge, and my biggest financial burden all rolled into one. So, you can imagine a few years back I began looking for a way to bring in some extra income while staying home with my kids... Click here to read the story of how I became a WAHM--Work At Home Mom.