So what are the best revenue models for websites? When I started looking to the internet as a means of earning a living I looked at, and tried, several of these business models.
Best Revenue Models For Websites – The Website Advert Model
One of the first methods I tried was by using Google’s adsense advert model. By placing code provided by Google on your blogs and websites, Google cleverly converts the code to adverts which specifically fits the niche market of your website. When people click on the adverts you make a small commission.
Good Points
The good point about this is that you don’t need to promote any product on your site and you can blog about almost anything because you don’t need a related affiliate product to sell, in order to make your website pay. Also some tiny niche markets have little in the way of products to sell so it fits perfectly if you want to create a niche website but have nothing to promote.
Bad Points
You are going to need an awful lot of traffic to your site in order to make this a viable business. This will depend on your niche of course. A big niche such as Forex Marketing will pay much more per click of an advert than say a tiny niche like garden supplies or potato harvesting. However, the bigger niches which pay more per click are that much more competitive, and as such they are much harder to rank on Google. Because you earn so little from each click this makes paid advertising a very unlikely option.
Best Revenue Models For Websites – Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing allows anyone with a laptop or home computer to start making money from the internet by sending traffic to products and services. This can be done through a website or various other means such as online advertising, landing pages and email marketing. Some products can offer a high commission of up to 50% of the sale price of a product. Others offer a smaller commission but will track other sales from their website for up to 30 days. Amazon has a similar policy so if your visitor purchases a lot of other items, you still get the credit for it for up to a certain time period.
Good Points
The good points of affiliate marketing are that almost anyone can do this through a simple blog. Earn up to 50% of the sale value of an item even though you don’t have to offer any customer service, speak to anyone, post anything out or hold any stock. You can also sell multiple items through a single website. You can build an email list of thousands and sell multiple products through a single email.
Bad Points
There are a lot of people doing this and it is hard to rank a new affiliate website on Google to get free traffic. You need to be creative and find a good untapped niche if you want to use organic traffic methods. Paid advertising is expensive and it takes time to find a profitable niche or set up a profitable advertising campaign. Building a list also takes time and can be expensive to do.
Best Revenue Models For Websites – Subscription Services/Memberships
Selling subscription services in conjunction with affiliate marketing is a great way to make the affiliate model much more reliable. Selling a single product only makes a single commission. However, by selling many subscription products you can earn month after month from each individual sale. By selling multiple times, you can create a reliable monthly income on top of your initial sales.
Good Points
As mentioned this is a great way to make an affiliate marketing website much more profitable. By earning a monthly commission from previous sales it makes the affiliate model much more viable for the long term.
Bad Points
Not all subscription services offer monthly commissions. Check before you start promoting. You need to keep your customers as members or they will unsubscribe and you will lose your monthly commissions. You need to promote a good subscription service which offers value month after month.
Best Revenue Models For Websites – High Ticket Commissions
High ticket commissions offer affiliates the opportunity to sell higher than average priced products and services. By selling affiliate products which are 10 or 20 times the price of average products, you earn more commission per sale. Given all other things being equal, the same amount of work produces greater levels of income.
Good Points
By selling a $1000 product at 50% commission you earn $500. For the same work you could also sell a $100 product and only earn $50. High ticket products can therefore give you more leverage in your business and also allow you a greater advertising spend. Advertising smaller value items is more difficult because it takes longer to recoup advertising costs. Given that online advertising is becoming more expensive over time, it makes sense to sell higher value items as an affiliate marketer.
Bad Points
Finding your customers and your target market can be more difficult. More people are likely to have $100 to spend on a product than $1000 so your market is therefore smaller.
Best Revenue Models For Websites -Â Multi Level Marketing
Multi level marketing is the same as network marketing. You build a team which makes sales and you benefit from the sales of your team. Depending on your level in a company you can earn 5-10% of your teams sales. By building a huge team you can earn passive income over time from the continuing sales of your team. See best passive income opportunities.
Good Points
Once you have built a team and helped them to make sales you can benefit from those sales which you don’t personally make. This can mean a passive income providing you have put the work in upfront. It is a good way to leverage your efforts through marketing since you can reach more people through a team.
Bad Points
You can’t make money in this way unless you ‘buy’ into a franchise in some companies. You need to build a team first and teach them to make sales, otherwise you won’t make any commission in this way. This can be a lot of work and team members can always leave before they make any sales.
Best Revenue Models For Websites – Memberships + High Ticket + Multi level Marketing
By successfully combining many of the best revenue models for websites, you can take advantage of a different online business model. By selling memberships and high ticket products you can benefit from the added leverage to your business of high commission and monthly earnings from memberships. In addition, by joining as a ‘franchise owner’ you can also take advantage of the multi level marketing option.
Good Points
This is a great business model which lets you sell memberships and high ticket products and also take advantage of bonus sales from your team. It makes an internet business much more viable. You can also earn while you learn from this training platform.
Bad Points
To take advantage of the higher ticket commissions you need to join at a higher level of membership which is at a greater cost. To take advantage of the ‘franchise’ multi level marketing opportunity you also need to join as a founder member. However there are various levels which offer this opportunity. See The Six Figure Mentors Compensation Plan.
Learn more about the company which offers affiliate memberships sales, high ticket commissions and a multi level marketing opportunity. Click here for more details and to access video series which explains more.