How To Make Extra Money Online – An Interview With Jeremy From Modest Money

Earning extra income online has been one of the top ways I’ve gone about improving my finances.  In fact, I’ve earned over $30,000 online thus far.

However as great as that is I thought I would go a step further and interview others who are earning extra money online to get their point of view.

This is something I plan to do on a monthly basis and this month I will be asking Jeremy from Modest Money five questions on earning extra money online.  So check out this awesome interview now.

Q1: What inspired you to start Modest Money?

After promoting various financial products through affiliate websites for several years, I’ve maintained a strong interest in finances. The problem was that I wasn’t being disciplined with my own finances.

So when my affiliate websites got penalized by Google, I jumped at the chance to start a finance blog. Ok so maybe I was just looking for a different way to make money online, but it turned out to be just the push I needed to improve my finances.

Hearing the sum that another finance blog had recently sold for was pretty good motivation. I knew that if I played my cards right, it could bring in some nice side income and possibly grow into a substantial sale down the road.

Q2: What are some of the different methods you are using to earn extra income with your website?

My blog isn’t make a lot of money yet, but it is gradually building up. I have been trying to develop multiple sources of income through Modest Money though. The easiest is direct advertising.

When a blog is established enough, advertisers inevitably start contacting you looking to promote their companies. That isn’t the most stable website income source though. So I’m trying to grow affiliate income as that is how the bigger blogs really rake in the money.

On my blog I also offer various contractor services that I can provide myself or that I can outsource. With my advertiser contacts I make some extra money by helping them get ads on other blogs too.

Q3: I see that you are doing a lot of affiliate marketing with Modest Money, what tactics are you specifically using to promote affiliate products?

Although I’ve done affiliate marketing for years now, I’m finding that promoting affiliates on a blog is a different game. In the past I’d create a niche site where the majority of traffic was specifically looking for a certain product.

That tended to be a much easier sell. So on my blog I started by creating reviews of various affiliate products hoping to get some targeted traffic landing on those pages via search engines. That looks like it will take time despite the SEO strength that I’ve managed to build.

Besides the reviews I’ve got some comparison type pages, site-wide banners and some more discrete product mentions. Then I have a newsletter setup with some affiliate promotion, but I admit to being a total amateur when it comes to e-mail marketing.

One other thing I’ve tried but didn’t pursue enough is youtube videos for product reviews. I think there was some potential there, but it fell flat mostly because I wasn’t creating the videos myself and putting full effort into it.

Q4: What has earning this extra money allowed you to do?

For me it’s helped in a lot of different ways. Since I work in a rather unstable industry, having some side income to fall back upon is a real blessing.

I don’t need to get too stressed out if I ever lose my job since I can simply start putting more effort into my side business and have no problems. One day it might even grow into a full time job on its own. In the meantime, it sure is nice to have the side income on top of what I earn at my day job.

Due to this extra income, I was able to put a down-payment on a condo and get engaged last year. I expect even bigger things to come.

Q5: What is one specific piece of advice you would give to those who are looking to earn extra money online today?

One piece of advice? Hmmm…in one word…PATIENCE.

People seem to think that online income is something that can be created overnight. That’s pretty much never the case though. If you don’t already have specific marketing or technical skills, it will likely take even longer.

It is possible for anyone that puts in the time and effort though. The money won’t come in right away, but if you keep at it and keep learning more, it is inevitable. Your first project very well could crash and burn.

That just means it’s a learning experience to have an idea of what to do differently next time. Learn from what works from others instead of trying to recreate the wheel. Although you shouldn’t copy them step for step, you don’t have to get so caught up trying to come up with some completely unique angle. Their exact strategy might not work well with your individual skill set anyway. You need to figure out what works best for you.

Wrapping Up

To wrap up I completely agree with Jeremy, earning extra income online is not an overnight success thing.  It takes a lot of  hard work and patience.

Think of it kind of like growing a garden.  It takes a lot of nurturing  and care but over time it can yield some great results.   I know this first hand as well when I started my first blog in 2008.

In my first year online I didn’t earn much but by the end of 2009 I was earning $100 a month consistently and by the end of 2010 I was earning a $1000 a month consistently.

When it comes down to it earning extra money online is a long term strategy but it can be a very rewarding one at that.

Have You Ever Considered Earning Extra Money Online?  Share your thoughts and comments below.