How to Create an Online Empire that Pays Your Rent

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• May 4, 2011
• By Greg Rollett
• 6 Comments

If you have been working in some facet online, you have seen plenty of ads, emails, blogs, newsletters and sales letters proclaiming to make millions online, just by pressing a button. You know, like the big, red easy button seen in the Staples commercials. Oh, and it gets better. They will sell it to you today for only $37.

Yes, everything on the Internet costs $37 (little known fact).

And then you have big “guru” types selling big boxes of stuff in upwards of $2,000. All with the promise to bring freedom and Scrooge McDuck money bags into your life.

Most of you can see through the hype, but still more of you will dismiss the Internet as a true sales vehicle because of these off-putting products. You will fail to recognize that you can add value to customers and clients by selling them stuff they want online.

And you don’t need any magical powers to do it. Many of you are right now, building the foundation of a very successful online business and don’t have any idea that you are indeed doing just that. Some of you are building an audience to gain the attention of HR managers at amazing companies, others are building their portfolio in the hopes of freelancing or joining a cutting edge firm and others still are just connecting with like minded peers, conversing online and building a rather large network that will listen to your every call.

So, how do you go from blogger, or portfolio pursuer to rent-paying online entrepreneur?

The first step is to decide on the online business model you want to create. There are a million and one ways to make a buck online, and each can seem enticing and has its own positive and negative qualities. Some of the most popular models include:

• Advertising based (get paid by advertisers based on traffic or clicks on ads)
• Product based (sell your own products)
• Affiliate based (get paid for recommending products)
• Pay per post model (get paid to write posts about specific subjects)
• Coaching or consulting (use your blog/website as lead generation for your coaching or consulting services)
• eCommerce (sell products online through a shopping cart and fulfill orders)
• Dropshipping (sell products without dealing with shipping and inventory)

Again, each model has highs and lows. I am going to assume that you want to have the optimal lifestyle while generating this rent paying income. Who wants to work 20 hours a day? You want to create a business that grows organically over time and leverages technology to take yourself out of the business and enjoy life. At least that’s what I wanted and it is what I built over the last few years.

So, the models that best fit that scenario, in my opinion, are the product- and affiliate-based models.

Now that we have the business model down, we need to decide how we can do one thing and one thing only: provide value to our audience. If you can do this one thing, you will be rewarded. This is the magic power, or the obstacle many people fear when trying to make money online. They make it about how much money they can make and not how much value they can provide.

The secret to rent-paying income (and greater income levels that rival rock stars) is to help someone achieve something that they want to achieve. Fill a need in their life. Be the answer to their problems.

In order to be the solution, you need to assess your skills, knowledge and the things that you can provide to help people. Generally this question is answered by one of two things depending on where you are with your own personal branding.

1. What do people come to you seeking to know? What advice are you always giving to friends or family? This is a great way to see your strengths and where you already provide value in the lives of others. Do you help friends going through trouble in relationships? Do you teach your buddies how to surf or snowboard? Are you the person that throws all the bridal showers or parties for your group?

I bet you do more than you realize.

2. What is your personal brand and what are the desired results of becoming that person? For a few years I used my personal brand to become the go-to guy in the music marketing space. I leveraged this status to create products, services and a dedicated mailing list that was able to get the answers they needed to progress in their own music career.

If you are developing your personal brand, how can you take that brand and help more people? That is the answer for those more advanced looking for an outlet.

Taking This Business Model and Your Skills And Paying Your Rent

If you are interested in taking the affiliate marketing and product based business models, and using your brand and skills to help pay your rent and develop an online empire, I encourage you to join me on Thursday, May 19th for a special webinar just for Brazen Careerist members. I will be going over parts of my business model and giving you a blueprint to start taking small actions that will help you make that ever elusive “money online.”

Register here.

Over the past 4 years, Greg Rollett has created his own online empire that has expanded from selling Hammocks and Bird Feeders online to growing the largest information product business in the music industry and creating the New Music Economy System. He is now looking to help entrepreneurs break free and join the New Rich, creating affiliate and information-based businesses. His new DVD, the 3 Internet Marketing Secrets of the New Rich is available now. Click here to learn more.

You can learn more about Greg on his blog, Living Radically Ambitious.

We look forward to seeing you on this live webinar, followed by Network Roulette, on Thursday, May 19, at 8pm EST.  Three lucky participants will win free lifetime access to Greg’s Ambitious Profits Members Area to further develop your online business. Register here now.

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