I recently began my quest for a new source of income. I haven't been in the workforce for some years as I was a stay-at-home mom since just after my husband and I got married. We raised five wonderful and successful children, and I devoted my life to nurturing and guiding them as they grew up, matured, and ventured out on their own. This year, our youngest left for college, flying all the way across the country to attend a school she was super excited about. She also left her computer behind. Time to make some money!
So, I turned to my trusty and reliable educational platform - YouTube. There, I learned about the vast array of ways to make money online. I began my research, exploring everything from Print On Demand to making money by playing games or watching videos. There was a plethora of videos on various ways to make money online, and I dove in headfirst. Over the next few days, I sorted through the content on YouTube and started a rough draft of my game plan.
I soon discovered that there were more options than I had expected. You could sell AI-printed t-shirts or mugs, or even just the digital file of the print. You could make money from talking to people who are just learning English or get paid to tutor people online looking for a little extra guidance. I learned about online jobs for various tasks such as training AI, proofreading, and writing blog posts like this one. Initially, I struggled to find where I fit into this vast online world. I thought about designing t-shirts, and I'll share that experience in a blog post soon. I also tried playing games for money, making a little bit, if you consider forty cents a little bit. Soon, this making-money-from-home gig started to get complicated.
After much research and a personal assessment of my skill set, I decided to try affiliate marketing. I continued my research, focusing solely on affiliate marketing. I found numerous videos on the subject and started devouring them. In a matter of days, I immersed myself in learning about affiliate marketing. Various characters with their unique spin on affiliate marketing and making money in general caught my attention. I found a few channels I liked and continued to consume their content. Every video boasted about the amazing success they were having and the ease of achieving that success.
There were videos showcasing accounts making hundreds and thousands of dollars, sometimes even tens of thousands! Most walked me through the steps of creating an account, finding and signing up for the products I would be selling, and finally, how to market those products and funnel traffic to them. I couldn't believe it! I had finally found something that anyone with a little spare time and no particular skill set could do. And it paid well! I was ready.
I jumped in with both feet, opening accounts and following the advice and instructions from the various YouTube videos I had watched. I began by opening an account on a popular affiliate website. Then, I had to open another account on a different site for the same marketing site and link them. However, the instructions for linking accounts were vague, even after searching several sites for the info I needed. Finally, I finished opening and setting up the accounts I needed to get started.
Now, time to get paid! But wait. Now, I need to add a bank account to the site before I can proceed. Did I really want to link my personal checking account to this endeavor? And why didn't any of the videos mention this? Undaunted, I decided to open a new checking account tied solely to this business I was creating. Ok finally, time to get down to business. Wait. You need an autoresponder to be successful. Alright, no one mentioned that either. What even is an autoresponder, I wondered? Welp, back to research again. I quickly learned what an autoresponder was and why I needed one.
I also want to mention that every step along the way wanted to sell me a subscription. Every. Single. Step. With the overturning of net neutrality, every platform can now sell you services piecemeal, sort of like an online à la carte. This was way more complicated than I had been informed. Complicated, and expensive. I wanted to make money, but here I am, signing up for various subscriptions and watching my earnings quickly fly away.
Stay tuned as I chronicle my experience and learn the ins and outs of making money from home.
~Kakes
Disclaimer: This post was edited with the assistance of generative AI.
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