Thursday, 5 May 2022

Start work as a Freelancer (part 2)

Buy From Alibaba

Alibaba is a Chinese eCommerce store that matches Chinese suppliers with buyers all over the world. Prices are extremely cheap, providing the possibility of large profits. However, with the potential profits comes more risk. As you are dealing with suppliers in China, if the quality of the product that arrives isn’t up to standard there is little that you can do about it.

Products also have to be bought in bulk and shipped across the world, and customs tax needs to be paid. That said, Alibaba provides both the possibility of arbitrage or white labeling products, which can then be sold on Amazon or elsewhere.

Create Your Own WooCommerce Store

Once you have decided what type of product you are going to sell, you need to decide where to sell them. Selling merchandise on Amazon or eBay isn’t your only option. Creating your own eCommerce store is another way to promote your products and generate sales. Once you have decided what you are going to sell, whether it is white labeled products, your own designs, or other people’s merchandise, you can set up an eCommerce website to display these products.

WooCommerce is arguably the best WordPress eCommerce plugin for turning your website into an online store. Features include automated online payments, affiliate marketing support, product management, and much more.

Create an eCommerce Store with Shopify

Shopify is another great option if you are wanting to create your own eCommerce store. Shopify is arguably easier to set up than WooCommerce but will give you less control over your storefront and cost you more long-term. However, if you have little to no experience in creating websites or using WordPress, or you are working on a very tight time schedule, then Shopify may be the perfect eCommerce platform for you.

Many Shopify website owners will buy products on Alibaba Express and populate their sites with those products.

Sell on Etsy

If you are a creative type, then you could make money online by designing and selling crafty products on Etsy. Etsy sells a range of beautiful and original items from independent suppliers. Categories range from jewelry, clothes, and accessories, to art, collectibles, and vintage. So if you have some stunning crafty creations, Etsy is the perfect platform from which to sell.

Resources: Etsy Alternatives how to sell your items beyond Etsy.

Niche Affiliate Amazon eCommerce Store

A niche affiliate site often presents like an eCommerce store. To get started with an affiliate site, choose your niche then display products with pictures, descriptions, and prices, just as you would on an online store. However, when visitors click the ‘buy’ button, they will be taken directly to Amazon, to make the purchase. You then make an affiliate fee for sending the traffic to Amazon but have none of the packaging hassle, or initial financial output creating or buying the products.

Resources: Affiliate Marketing

Dropshipping

Dropshipping is another great ‘hands-off’ way to sell products. Firstly you will need to find businesses that sell products in your niche that offer a dropshipping service. Then you will need to create a website promoting and selling the products. When you make a sale, you take the payment on your site, and then the manufacturer ships the goods to the buyer. The profit comes from charging a higher rate than the manufacturer, and if you are selling a high number of products this can quickly add up to a healthy revenue. It can be very easy to start a Dropshipping Business.

Merch By Amazon

Merch by Amazon is another service offered by Amazon that will enable you to make money online without any initial outlay. To get started you need to create an account with Merch by Amazon. Then simply design some T-shirt logos or slogans, and upload them to your Merch account. You will need to choose a T-shirt type, color, and price, and Amazon will create product pages for each T-shirt. When someone makes a purchase, Amazon takes care of production and shipping. And you are paid a royalty for your design.

Printing Fulfillment Services

There are numerous printing companies that will print your designs onto not just T-shirts, but also hoodies, hats, posters, cushions, bags, and phone cases, to name a few items. These businesses also offer fulfillment services. This means that you promote the merchandise on your own site and once you sell a product the printing company will not only print your design but also send the item directly to the buyer. So all you have to do is concentrate on the marketing and selling of your products, and the fulfillment company will take care of the rest.

Selling digital products can be just as successful as selling physical products. Graphics, software, eBooks, design elements, sound effects, songs, and videos are just a few types of digital products that are in popular demand. So if you can turn your hand to creating digital products, let’s have a look at how you can make money online from this skill.

Create Your Own Digital eCommerce Store

Setting up a digital download store can be a great way to make money online from your digital assets, charging visitors a fee to download each digital product. Easy Digital Downloads is a popular WordPress plugin that will enable you to turn your website into a complete eCommerce solution for selling digital downloads.

Sell eBooks on Amazon

Ebooks can be relatively easy to write. Couple that with Amazon, a perfect platform to sell your eBook on, and you could be looking at earning an income through your writing. Once you join up with Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing scheme, you can self-publish your eBook in less than five minutes.

If your writing skills aren’t up to scratch don’t let that stop you. Find a capable freelance writer to produce the book for you. The only downside to this is the initial outlay of paying the writer, but this should be recouped in time once the eBook starts selling.

Self Publish Paperbacks on Amazon

As well as selling your eBooks, Amazon can also create paperback copies of your book. CreateSpace, an Amazon-owned company, will help you self-publish your book. A relatively straightforward process, you must upload your work to CreateSpace and submit it for review. Your book will then be displayed on Amazon, printed on demand, and shipped by CreateSpace when purchased. And you can collect up to 70% royalties for each book sold.

Resources: [easyazon_link identifier=”B01277905E” locale=”US” tag=”makeawebsitehub-20″]How to write a book (book)[/easyazon_link]

Create and Sell Design Elements on Envato

If you have graphic design skills then you could make money online by creating and selling your own design elements, like templates, fonts, graphics, and other assets. This is a great way to earn extra money and build up a portfolio of work, which could lead to you picking up freelance graphic design jobs. Websites like Envato Elements pay you a fee per element sold, which can become quite profitable if your work is popular.

Sell Your Photos Online

If you are a professional photographer or have a real flair for photography, then selling your images on other sites could be an idea. This could be done alongside your own photography site, as it is a good way to help get your work viewed by a wider audience. There are numerous stock image websites to contribute to, but choosing a popular high-end site like Shutterstock should ensure your photographs make you some money.

Build a Premium App

If you have a good idea for an app, and the skills to create it, then producing your own premium app can be profitable. However, with so many free apps available, it may be hard to convince people to pay. If you want to go down the premium app route, consider having a basic free version to encourage people to download the app in the first place. You can then provide the option of upgrading to a premium plan once users realize how useful the app is.

Build a Free App

Free apps have more chance of being downloaded and can be monetized through selling advertising space on the app itself. However, if you want businesses to pay to advertise on your app you will have to be able to prove a high number of downloads. So make sure you are prepared to put in the effort to promote your app once it is created.

Create and Sell a SAAS

Creating Software as a Service (SAAS) and charging people to use it can be a good money earner. Charge your customers a one-off fee to access the tool you have created, or monthly recurring payment. A useful and popular SAAS can expect a high return, so if you have the programming skills for such a task it may be well worth the cash rewards.

Design Themes

If you are a confident web developer then designing your own themes is an obvious path to follow if you are looking to make money online. ThemeForest sells a wide assortment of developer themes, including themes for WordPress, Shopify, Weebly, and Tumblr, to name a few. Once you have created your theme, get it accepted onto the ThemeForest marketplace and make money each time it sells.

Develop WordPress Plugins

Leading on from designing themes, you may want to try your hand at creating WordPress plugins. To increase sales it is worth creating both a free and pro version of each plugin. Free plugins can be added to the WordPress Repository, so your plugin reaches a wide audience. Users can then upgrade to the pro version to access advanced features.

Create and Sell Websites

Successful websites can sell for a lot of money. Websites like Flippa provide a platform to showcase websites to interested buyers. If you are skilled at putting websites together and know how to drive traffic and build a following, then creating and selling websites might be an effective way for you to make money online.

Re-sell Web Hosting

Re-selling web hosting will enable you to make money hosting your own client’s websites. Large hosting companies like HostGator allow you to white label their hosting services. You could start your own hosting business or, if you are a web designer, include hosting into your web design packages. And the best of it is the hosting companies take care of the hosting for you, so all you need to worry about is selling.

Become A Twitch Streamer

Making money from streaming on Twitch is definitely a thing! There’s a captive audience waiting for you on Twitch. tv. Twitch Streamers, like Youtubers, make money through ad revenue and subscriptions to their Twitch channels. People like Ninja ( aka Richard Tyler Blevins) are making money hand over fist on Twitch these days – just by playing video games. He makes over $500k a month from his channel and other various sponsorship deals.

Become a YouTube Vlogger

Famous YouTube vloggers have followings in the hundreds and thousands and have become celebrities in their own right. And through advertising on their videos, they have made big bucks. Popular YouTube vloggers can be paid by companies to promote their websites, products, and services.

Becoming a vlogger is very easy. Simply sign up with YouTube, create your own YouTube channel, and start making and posting videos. The harder part is deciding what to vlog about, and then promoting your channel and growing your audience.

Allow Advertising on Your YouTube Videos

If your YouTube channel has received over 10,000 views then you can begin to make money from your videos through advertising. YouTube places relevant ads on your videos, which in turn, if clicked on, will earn you money. To get started with this, simply sign up with Google AdSense and YouTube will take care of the rest.

Be an Instagram Influencer

Similar to a YouTube vlogger, if you have a large or engaged following on Instagram then you could become an Instagram Influencer. You will be paid to promote products in your photos, from wearing certain clothes to action shots of you using particular merchandise. As your Instagram following grows, you may start out simply receiving freebies in return for a picture of you with the item in the shot. However, for those with followings running into millions, you can expect large payments to display products in your pictures. Use sites like Hype Factory to help connect you with companies prepared to pay for your influence.

Brand Ambassador

Many big businesses are looking for social media influencers to become long-term ambassadors for their brands. This would involve you working closely with one particular band, and promoting their clothes, products, and services. You may also be restricted from promoting other brands, so check out the small print before agreeing to any long-term agreements.

Promote Your Own Products

If you have your own eCommerce store, social media is the perfect platform to showcase your products. Demonstrate your products in use and tell your social following why they need to buy your merchandise. Most social media channels allow you to add ‘buy’ buttons to your pages, allowing your followers to easily click through to your site and make a purchase.

Advertise Affiliate Links

Posting pictures of products and their affiliate links on your social media channels is another way to make money online through social media. Link to Amazon or to other affiliate program’s websites to make a fee from any purchases your social media followers make.

Advertise Affiliate Products

A popular tactic to make money on social media is to pay for advertising affiliate products. Create ads for particular affiliate products that are big sellers and have a high yield. Then target these ads at specific custom audiences to ensure your ads are viewed by those who will have an interest in the product you are promoting. If viewers click through your advert to the product page and make a purchase then you will earn an affiliate fee.

This is a slightly risky strategy as you have to pay upfront for adverts with no guarantee of sales. However, advertising is a quick and easy way of reaching your target audience. And, by using affiliate programs, you don’t have to deal with any physical products yourself.

List items for Sale on Facebook

If you have second-hand items to sell, or in fact your own products that you have created or white labeled, then you can sell them through Facebook. Post your products on some of Facebook’s many selling pages, and people can then view your goods and message you about payment and pickup.

Buy & Sell CryptoCurrency

Cryptocurrency or digital currency is the next big thing in currency trading. It’s a digital asset that is used as a method to pay for things, that aren’t run by a government or institution. Bitcoin is the most well-known digital currency and was trading at $200 per Bitcoin back in 2013. Now it is around $60k per Bitcoin!!

If you want to try your hand at Crypto trading then sign up for Binance, the biggest and best crypto exchange.

Teach online

Sharing your passion and skills by teaching online is yet another way to make money online. Sites like Skillshare are always looking for teachers to create courses and support their students online. And Skillshare’s top teachers make up to $40000 a year.

Expert Mentoring

If you are an expert in your particular field of business you can earn high fees for your advice. Clarity is a business website for startups and entrepreneurs. Sign up with Clarity as a mentor and then make money online by conversing with customers.

Become a Life Coach

If you have an interest in helping others then you might want to become a life coach. There are numerous winson edu you can complete to give you the necessary qualifications and experience to become a successful life coach. You can then start promoting your life coaching services online and picking up clients.

Create Virtual Events

If you have a background in marketing and a passion for a particular niche, then organizing a virtual event may be just up your street. A virtual event could span a day or longer. Individual live sessions would be run by experts in the field. And conference features would include live question and answer sessions, forums, and plenty of free giveaways. Visitors to the virtual event would pay to attend, so the more effective your promotion of the event the more money you would make.

Buying and Selling Domains

Buying and selling domains can be extremely profitable, with a single domain earning you thousands. However, this is a long game, and you may be waiting years for someone who is prepared to pay big money for one of your domains.

Day Trading

Day trading is a very popular method of trading. However, to enter into this line of business you will need to have some upfront capital. And if you want to be successful you will need to do some research into what is involved. I recommend you sign up to Etoro to learn what to do and begin trading.

Forex

Instead of trading stocks or commodities, another option is to trade in currencies. Forex, also known as Foreign Exchange or Currency Trading, is the largest market in the world. If you haven’t dabbled in trading before, start small, and remember don’t risk more money than you can afford to lose.

Become a Bank

If you have spare cash sitting in your bank account and already have the capital to invest, then you could consider becoming a bank. Zopa is a peer-to-peer platform that will lend your money to others wanting to take a loan. You make interest on the money lent, which is paid back in monthly repayments.

Matched Betting – No Risk ( If you do it properly! )

Matched Betting (not available in the USA) enables you to gamble (nearly) risk-free. I say nearly as there is always room for error! It involves placing bets on all outcomes of an event, using free online bets given out by the Bookies. Although it may take a while to get your head around the concept, Matched Betting can make a substantial addition to your monthly income. Matched betting is the number one biggest and most popular way to make money online in the UK.

Enter Competitions

There are numerous online competition websites displaying thousands of competitions for you to enter. These competitions could win you prizes, gift cards, holidays, and cold hard cash. Spend time each day finding and entering competitions. The more you enter, the better your chances of winning.

Fill Out Surveys

Filling out surveys for cash can quickly amount to a tidy monthly payout. Sites like Gold Opinions reward survey completion with gifts, cashback, vouchers, e-Cards, money, and much more.

Simply signup and start answering questions. This is an ideal money-making hack for those wanting to fill a few minutes of their spare time making extra cash.

Get Paid to Review Music

Slice the Pie is a review site that will pay you for every review you post. Leave feedback on tracks, artists, clothes, and more, to help brands make decisions on what works for their audience.

Get Paid to Watch Videos

Swagbucks is another type of ‘get-money-to’ website. Although Swagbucks offers a number of ways to make money, getting paid to watch videos is amongst its easiest gigs. Simply sign up with Swagbucks, then watch and rate videos to earn points and cash. These points can be redeemed for cash back (through PayPal) or through gift cards.

Type up Audios

If you are a fast typer then getting paid to type up audio tracks may be for you. Take Note Typing is always looking for transcribers who can work from home typing up scripts. An excellent home job option.

Work on Amazon Mechanical Turk

Amazon Mechanical Turk has thousands of tasks available for you to choose from. Select the jobs you want to complete and work on them from home in your own time. Pay is low, but can quickly add up over time.

What is Amazon Mechanical Turk?
It’s a service that enables you to make money online by undertaking small, paid microtasks. The tasks that you can expect to do is stuff like rating an Amazon search result, spelling checking, proofreading a listing, basic translating, etc.

Become a Clickworker

Similar to Amazon Mechanical Turk, ClickWorker offers a number of online jobs for those looking to make money online to pop up their income. You can select the job that interests you, from correcting text to participating in online surveys, and then complete the work whenever is convenient for you.

Test Websites and Apps

If you have a decent understanding of what makes a good website from a user-experience perspective, then your knowledge and opinions could earn you money.

The website user-testing will pay you $10 for every website or app you review. Simply sign up and then start reviewing. Each review should take 20 minutes, and you will need to complete a set of tasks whilst on the app or website.

Most sites like usertesting.com pay ~$10 per 20 minutes, or ~$30 per hour, which is awesome for just looking at a website and giving your honest opinion.

Sell old cell phones

Nowadays, cell phones go out of fashion and function every 2 to 4 years. Trading up your smartphone for the newer model seems to be the thing to do. With this fast-growing trend, there’s an opportunity for you to make some extra cash by selling your phone and maybe buying old phones for cheap from friends and family and flipping them on a site called Gazelle. Gazelle is a new cell phone selling platform that will pay you either cash or gift cards for your old cell phone.

By using this platform, there’s the opportunity of turning “cell phone flipping” into a small part-time business if you’re able to consistently get your hands of cheap secondhand mobile phones. Note that Gazelle will only pay you for smartphones that work. Not old Nokia 3210s and very old models.

Start work as a Freelancer (part 1)

Write for Blogs

With so many blogs needing content, website owners are crying out for writers to produce interesting blog posts on a regular basis. Writing blog posts varies greatly in pay, from $5 to $250 for 1000 words. If you are serious about becoming a freelance writer, pick a niche and become an expert on this subject.

Some subjects are much better paid than others, so although you may love the idea of writing about travel (badly paid) a better bet would be a niche like finance (much higher rates of pay). Check out the pro blogger job board for high-paid freelance writing jobs – other places to look might be Textbroker or you can look at the “gigs” section on Craigslist.

Copywriting

Writing copy for websites is another great freelancing option for those who have a way with words. Copywriting can involve writing the text for websites, press releases, promotional offline materials including leaflets and brochures, and any other professional text for businesses. While writing blog posts is well paid it won’t make you as much money as writing copy for sales pages. However, clients can be fussier, as they want the highest quality writing for the forefront of their website or advertising campaigns. Many freelance writers offer both copywriting and blog writing among their services. This can be a good way to juggle regular but lower paid clients (blogging) with the higher paid but ad-hoc project-based copy work.

Virtual Assistant

I have 3 VAs. I couldn’t function without them. It doesn’t matter how big or how small a business is, they all need help running their day-to-day administrative tasks. Virtual assistants perform a variety of tasks that a traditional assistant or secretary would normally do, including making travel arrangements, paying bills, or managing expense reimbursements. I use them to upload content, optimize images, brief writers, etc.

Virtual assistants typically work from home or wherever there’s an available Wi-Fi connection. online jobs like VAs are becoming hugely popular, due to its flexible working hours. They regularly interact with clients by phone, email, or Skype on behalf of their boss.

How much can a virtual assistant actually make? It usually depends on their level of expertise and overall experience.

Write Industry Papers

If you have a background in a specific field, you may find there is a demand for writing industry papers in your area of expertise. For example, there are often adverts for doctors, lawyers, nutritionists, and business experts from particular niches, to write white papers on different subject areas. These are well-paid jobs that you will need to stake your reputation on, but that can often be worked on from the comfort of your own home.

Editing

If you are a fast reader and have a good grasp of grammar and language then editing may be a good freelance role for you. Editing is a great way to quickly make money online, and there are always editing jobs available on freelance job sites. And the best part? Editor’s usually get paid per word, so the faster you can check through work the more money you will make per hour.

Website Design

If you have an eye for design and some experience in creating websites, then you could offer your services as a freelance web designer. You will need to create your own stylish website and have a few other projects that you can show potential clients to demonstrate your skills. You will also need to initially spend time emailing businesses to promote your services and find work.

Web design consists of mainly project-based jobs. However, you can offer ongoing maintenance for a monthly fee, which can be a good way to guarantee regular pay. Web design fees also differ greatly. So you will need to make the decision whether to target small businesses or compete for large clients with bigger budgets.

Tools & Resources: I’ve written a pretty comprehensive guide on the best web design software that covers both free and premium software packages. If you’re serious about becoming a web designer, then I recommend purchasing the full Adobe Creative Cloud Suite. At $49.99 per month, this is probably a bargain considering what you can achieve with this set of tools.

Landing Page Design

A spin-off for web designers is to offer a landing page creation service. Well-optimized landing pages can be the difference between a successful and a failing business. And, as creating the perfect landing page isn’t easy, this is a service many businesses are prepared to pay for. I know people who are earning 6 figures per year and all they do is create landing pages for businesses. There’s serious money to be made.

With online software such as (ClickFunnels ), (Optinmonster), or (Sumome), landing page creation is extremely easy to do, which makes this method of making money online a real possibility.

Tools & Resources

ClickFunnels is offering new customers a 14 days trial to use their extremely easy-to-use landing page/sales funnel design platform.

Sign up for a 7-day free trial with optinmonster to get a taste of how easy it is to create high converting landing pages that you can potentially sell to your new clients.

Graphic Design

There are many freelance options for graphic designers who are looking to make money online. Designing layouts and graphics for promotional material, corporate reports, magazines, or book covers, are all tasks that businesses are looking for online freelancers to complete. Due to its flexible nature, graphic design possibilities can range from one-off projects to ongoing work with regular clients.

Tools & Resources: Envato Elements has thousands of graphic elements and templates that you can use for graphic design client work, and can save you so much time and effort. Rather than creating your own graphics from scratch, you can use pre-designed elements and customize them to make them unique to you.

Create Logos

Logos are a crucial part of any business, and a talented graphic designer that can produce eye-catching logos will be in great demand. Although there are many graphic design jobs advertised on freelance websites, pitching your services to businesses will enable you to command a better price for your work.

Tools & Resources:

Did you know that there are logo-generating services that you can use for free? I’ve written about them all over on my Best Free Logo Generators guide.

Produce Infographics

Infographics are currently an extremely popular type of media. An infographic showing information or data in an interesting and fun way can help engage an audience and generate numerous likes and shares. As infographics take more time to create than just simply uploading an image, busy website owners are prepared to pay for custom infographics. And don’t worry, an infographic can be created using simple design software such as Canva. So extensive graphic design skills are not necessary, just a creative eye.

Computer Programming

If you have previous experience as a computer programmer or have skills in this field, then there is plenty of work you can pick up as a freelancer. If lack of confidence is holding you back, then Free Code Camp is an excellent way to get your foot in the coding door. This organization provides free courses where you will build real-life apps and programs, giving you experience and plenty to add to your CV.

Tools & Resources: For the best coding tutorials and online courses check out Treehouse. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial to see if it’s for you. I’ve completed many tutorials on Treehouse over the years, and I can 100% recommend their courses.

App Development

With apps being constantly developed, competent app developers are in high demand. Again, if you have the experience or skills to create successful apps then this could be something you could end up working on as a full-time freelancer. Check out adverts for developers on Toptal, a higher-paying jobs site for experienced freelancers wanting to make money online.

Online PA

If you have experience as a personal assistant, secretary, admin assistant, or something in a similar field, then becoming an online PA may be a great role for you. Many professionals want someone to help organize their business and personal affairs. Jobs could include sending emails, managing financial affairs, booking flights, and arranging day-to-day activities. If you are interested in this line of work there are many PA agencies that are crying out for reliable assistants.

Social Marketing Manager

Another strategy to make money online is to become a social marketing manager. Being present on social media is key for any business that wants to attract new customers, promote its products and grow its following. However, constantly posting, liking, and commenting on numerous social media channels is extremely time-consuming. More and more businesses are recruiting social media managers to run and organize all their social media. And to save money, social media employees are often employed as online freelancers.

A social marketing manager could be asked to complete any tasks that are social media-related. This could include scheduling all social media posts, running competitions, creating ad campaigns, and much more, which can easily be done with Social media management tools such as Sendible, Hootsuite, or even these Instagram schedulers.

Social media isn’t rocket science, so if you have an interest in this area of work, start small and work your way up. Once you have the experience in running social media projects, you can start to advertise yourself as an expert in the ‘social media field. Small business owners don’t have the time nor the expertise to grow their own social media following, so this is an area where you can capitalize.

Resources: Dotcom Secrets ebook A great free resource that I’ve used to understand how to build traffic to my websites is, which is 100% FREE to download.

Online SEO

Offering specific online SEO services is also another online freelancer role that businesses are crying out for. If you know how to improve a website’s SEO by doing keyword research, creating content that can rank in Search Engines, adding metadata/schema to posts and pages, and building backlinks to a domain, to name a few tasks, then this could be a great line of work for you.

Fiverr

Using Fiverr is a great way to pick up work. Once you have signed up you can advertise your services. Fiver allows you to create your own gigs, whether you are offering web design, digital marketing, writing, or something else. You can choose how much you want to charge (it can be more than a fiver) and people will then contact you if they are interested in working with you. Fiverr will not only help you get experience if you are just starting off as a freelancer, but it will also help you earn some extra cash.

Create Your Own Agency

Once you have made a name for yourself as a successful freelancer in your field, quite quickly you will find that you are inundated with too much work to manage. So why not consider taking on other virtual employees and turning your one-person show into an agency.

Creating your own blog can be a very effective way of topping up your monthly income. Or, for those lucky few who have blogs that really take off, it can become your main paycheck. But what are the key ways to make money from a blog?

Google AdSense

Signing up with Google AdSense will enable you to make money from advertising on your blog. Google AdSense will place relevant ads around your site, and if your site visitors click on these ads, you will earn a fee. Although each click only amounts to a small change, if your blog has high levels of traffic and lots of page views this will quickly amount to a reasonable sum.

Banner Adverts

Creating space for banner ads on your website is another way to generate revenue from adverts. However, for this type of advertising, you will need to contact businesses directly and ask them if they would like to advertise on your website. The upside is that you can charge a set amount, or even a recurring monthly fee, to businesses to promote their services on your site. Using a WordPress plugin like AdSanity is an effective way to manage this type of advertising.

Paid Guest Posts

If you have a well-known and popular website then you can charge other bloggers to guest post on your blog. Paid articles will not only make you money, they will also save you time creating your own blog posts, and provide interesting and varied content for your audience

Paid Reviews

Again, if your blog has a large reader base, then businesses may be interested in paying you to review their services or products. Not only will you get a free trial using whatever these businesses are selling, but you will also get a fee for writing them a review and posting it to your site. Paid reviews (and other paid and sponsored content) can be big money, so advertise this service on your contact page to generate business.

Affiliate Marketing with Amazon

One of the most successful ways of monetizing your blog is through Affiliate Marketing with Amazon. This involves adding links from your site to products on Amazon and then promoting those products in your blog’s content. If one of your visitors clicks through to Amazon and makes a purchase then you will receive a percentage of the sale.

To get started with Amazon affiliate marketing you will need to sign up with Amazon Affiliates. Then subtly market products on your site that are relevant to your niche and will be of interest to your audience. Make sure you only endorse high-quality products. If your visitors make a purchase on your recommendation but are not impressed with the item, you could quickly lose followers.

Tools & Resources:
The best affiliate marketing course bar none –Making Sense Of Affiliate Marketing.

Affiliate Marketing Using Other Providers

Although affiliate marketing is extremely easy to set up with Amazon, plenty of other businesses and websites also offer this service. Find products or services specific to your site’s niche and then check out their contact page, or contact them directly, to see if they offer affiliate marketing programs.

Although having to contact each business directly can be time-consuming, often independent vendors can have much better affiliate fees than Amazon and generate a larger profit. There is also an extremely useful WordPress plugin, Thirsty Affiliates, that will also help you manage and organize your affiliate links.

Run Webinars

Running and charging for webinars can be a great way to build a following in your niche, demonstrate that you are an expert in your field, and make a profit. Hosting a webinar can be hard work. They need to first be promoted, provide original and valuable information, and include interactive elements so your audience can ask questions and engage with your topic. However, once you have built up a large blog following, each webinar can be extremely profitable.

Webinars On Air is a powerful webinar tool that will enable you to create professional webinars for your viewers. Harnessing the power of Google Hangouts, this all-in-one solution will take care of all the technical aspects of hosting a webinar, including payments. Also have a look at our guide to the best webinar software, both free and paid options.

Offer Paid Courses

Creating and selling courses on your blog can be a successful way to make money online. The course itself should be relevant to your blog, and based on a topic that will benefit your audience. Although it may take time to create the course in the first instance, once completed, you can then repeatedly make money from the course each time you sell it.

LearnDash is a WordPress plugin that will enable you to create professional and interesting online courses. Break courses into separate scheduled lessons, design quizzes, and even award certificates.
Teachable is another easy way to offer online courses without having to own a website. You can also recruit affiliates to help you promote your courses.

Charge to View Content

If your blog holds useful or sought-after information, you should consider charging visitors to view this specific content. WPMU DEV has a Pay Per View plugin that gives you the ability to charge visitors a one-off fee or subscription to access particular pages, posts, or media.

Turn Your Blog into a Membership Site

Once your blog starts receiving high volumes of traffic then it may be feasible to turn it into a full-blown membership site. A membership site usually keeps all content hidden from the general public, insisting that people sign up to access the website’s posts and pages.

MemberPress is a feature-rich plugin that will enable you to turn your WordPress blog into a fully functional membership site. Depending on how you want to run your membership site, you could have a mixture of free and premium membership plans. Premium plans could include no adverts, free downloads, access to extra content, membership forums, and much more. You can use payment services like PayPal or Stripe which can easily plugin to your website. However, it is important to remember that if people are going to pay to view your content then it must be high quality. Otherwise, your members won’t renew their subscriptions when the time comes.

Write and Sell an eBook

Writing an eBook and selling it on your blog can be a great money maker. Your eBook should be directly relevant to your blog’s content so you can sell your book to your existing audience. Creating a recipe eBook for a food blog or an eBook full of training plans to complement your fitness site are just a couple of examples that have the potential to sell.

There’s a great tool called Sqribble.com that generates ebooks for you, without the need for you to do any writing whatsoever!!!

The promotion of a product like an eBook on your website is as important as the content of the eBook itself. Use a conversion/sales tool like click funnels to advertise your eBook on-site through pop-ups or on a hello bar, and create specific optimized landing pages to help increase sales.

Host Podcasts

Creating podcasts can be an effective way to grow your following and reach a new audience, especially if you post them on iTunes. However, with iTunes offering hundreds of thousands of podcasts for free, charging your audience to listen to them isn’t really feasible. So how can you make money through podcasting?

Getting businesses to advertise on your podcast, either at the beginning or end or both is a great way to create revenue through podcasts. Most businesses won’t be keen to advertise on your podcast until you can prove a large number of listeners. Therefore, it is unlikely you will be able to start out from the get-go with sponsors. But once you accumulate regular listeners or a high number of downloads from iTunes, you can start to sell advertising space on your podcasts.

Create a Video Series to Sell

Creating a video series and selling it as a digital download on your blog, much like an eBook, can be another great seller. A video course, teaching viewers a specific skill or how to achieve a particular activity, may well resonate with your audience. If you are going to go down this route then your videos need to be as professional as possible so you should consider investing in some video and lighting equipment, as well as editing software.

Sell Advertising on Your Videos

You may decide to create free videos as extra content for your blog, and not sell them at all. If this is the case then you can still make money from these videos by selling advertising space on them (in the same way as discussed for monetizing podcasts). Once you have high volumes of traffic visiting your blog, and watching your videos, you can charge businesses to advertise at the beginning of your videos. Use website’s like Izea to help you connect with companies willing to pay to advertise on your blog.

Display a Services Page

If you offer freelance services or have a physical services business, then creating a blog is a must. On your blog, you can write about the services you offer and how they will benefit your clients. Importantly you can add a ‘Services’ page, outlining the services you provide, what they include, and any other important information potential clients may need. This is an effective way to promote your services, generate leads, and increase your revenue.

If you are keen to start your own blog or website, then choosing the type of website and niche are possibly the most important decisions you can make. So let’s have a look at some of the different types of websites and blogs that can be extremely profitable.

Coupons Website

Running a coupon website can be very lucrative. Find a coupon niche, select a WordPress coupon theme, and then display relevant coupons on your site. When your audience uses the coupon codes or discount links, you will earn an affiliate cut, for example, you could set up a site dedicated to iHerb Coupons or add a page to your website with web hosting promo codes. Coupon websites are quite high maintenance as they need to be constantly updated with new offers. However, if you build up an engaged audience and allow them to post coupons and discounts they have found themselves, then quite quickly your workload will reduce

Travel Blog

Travel blogging is a hard industry to break into. However, the rewards can be worth it, and let’s face it, who doesn’t want to be paid for traveling around the world! There are numerous ways to monetize a travel blog, but affiliate marketing should predominantly be your focus. On your blog, promote hotels, tours, equipment hire services, flights, and anything else travel-related. Then take a cut of the proceeds as your audience books their holidays based on your recommendations.

Fitness Site

A fitness site can have numerous revenue streams. Create healthy eating plans and recipes and lock them away as premium content. Promote and sell a fitness training course, eBook, or a series of videos. Or advertise your own personal fitness services on your site.

Food Blog

Creating your own food blog, will not only be fun but done well it should also be profitable. Link your site to affiliate cooking products, sell your food photos, create and sell your own physical cookbook, or launch a cooking app. Equally, you could turn your cooking blog into a membership site. You would then share all your content, including recipes, how-to videos, food photographs, and much more, with only your paid-up members.

Membership Site

Although mentioned briefly earlier, membership sites are worth revisiting as they provide many ways to generate revenue. A Membership site doesn’t have to start with a blog. There are in fact numerous types of sites that are membership sites from the get-go, with no blog in sight.

When creating a membership site, always offer different plans and pricing tiers to appeal to your different categories of audience. Access to specific types of content is then dependent on the plan selected by a member. Membership fees can be a one-off payment or a repeat subscription. And you can even sell products on your membership site to boost your income.

Directory Site

Running a directory site can be a time-consuming business, but if you choose the right niche, it can be very profitable. Directory sites can be monetized by charging businesses to display their listings on your site. Listings can be paid for on a recurring monthly basis, giving you a nice regular passive income

Equally, you can charge businesses to ‘claim’ their listing, a method used by many large directory sites like Google Business and Yelp. This involves companies paying to upgrade their listing and adding information such as their web address, social media links, images, and more. Other revenue streams include charging for ad space, adding affiliate links, and even charging for services and products on your directory site.

Jobs Board Website

Creating a jobs board website can be another profitable venture. The ‘jobs’ field can be quite saturated, so it is important to find a niche that is still crying out for a jobs board website. Monetize this type of site by charging businesses to list their jobs on your site. Those searching for jobs could also be charged a fee to access the higher-paying job adverts.

Photography Site

If you are a budding photographer and would like to be paid for your craft then you should consider setting up your own photography website. This is a great way to not only promote your services as a photographer but also to sell your images. You can charge visitors a fee to download your images. Or, if you’d rather, turn your site into a paid membership site, with free downloads of all images for paying subscribers.

Lifestyle Blog

Lifestyle blogging is a popular trend at the moment and a great option for those passionate about sharing their lives online. If you enjoy posting on social media, taking selfies, and discussing what you’ve been up to with your followers, then your next step may well be setting up a lifestyle blog.

A lifestyle blogger writes about their everyday life, hobbies, and interests. From fashion, beauty tips, and male grooming, to food, restaurants, and travel, anything that you experience can be blogged about. And famous lifestyle bloggers can make big bucks. Once you have built up a following, there are many ways to make a profit. Add affiliate links to your website, promote sponsored services, create your own product range, and much more.

Parenting Blog

Once you’ve had children, many parents find themselves caught in the trap of needing to work but wanting to stay home with their kids. Creating your own parenting blog can not only be a way to make some money, but it can also help you connect with other parents and make sense of those crazy sleepless early parenting years (it does get easier don’t worry!)

Both mum and dad blogs have become very popular in recent years, often with bloggers creating best-selling books based on their blog’s content. The baby business is also a multi-million-dollar industry, and influential bloggers can be well reimbursed for discussing and subtly promoting different products.

Multi-Vendor MarketPlace

Multi-vendor marketplaces, like ThemeForest, can be very successful. Chose a niche and create a vendor website for it. Your marketplace could be anything, from a platform for local artists to sell their work on, to an online digital product store. Once set up, invite people in that industry to sell their products on your site. You take a percentage of their profits when items sell.

Dating Site

Dating sites and apps are extremely popular and have become more and more niche as the industry develops. They can also be very profitable, as there are many ways to monetize them. You can charge a joining fee, provide premium subscriptions, or make money from advertising on your site. White label Dating provides a pre-built dating platform for your project. You simply choose the niche and branding for your new dating site. Once your website goes live, you just need to promote it, manage the users, and collect the earnings.

Selling products or services on the internet can be a very profitable venture. You may want to create your own products and eCommerce store or sell other people’s goods through a range of different online platforms. So let’s take a look at some of the different ways to make money online through selling…

Selling on eBay

If you are really short on cash and need some immediate funds then you should start by looking around your house. Clear out your cupboards and find any items lying around that you don’t need or haven’t used for a while. Then sell them on eBay. Just because they are gathering dust in your cupboards, doesn’t mean someone else won’t snap them up. Simply sign up with eBay, list your products, and then, as they are sold, send them off to the buyers.

Sell Using the eBay Valet Service

If you don’t have time to waste creating listings and promoting your products on eBay, then you should consider using eBays valet service. Simply drop off the products you are selling at an eBay drop-off center and then let eBay’s experienced valets do the selling. When your items sell you will get up to 80% of the profits.

Retail Arbitrage

If you have nothing of value to sell from home then retail arbitrage might be a better option for you. Many people partake in arbitrage to earn a little extra money, and for some, it has even become their full-time job. Retail arbitrage is the buying of goods at a low price and then selling them on a different platform at a higher price. Sales in shops provide ideal opportunities to pick up products for next to nothing. These can then be sold on eBay or Amazon for higher amounts, making you a nice profit.

Amazon FBA

Have you ever thought about selling your own product on Amazon? Did you know that you can send products to Amazon to sell for you? This is called Amazon FBA.

If you find the right products to sell via Amazon, this type of business can be highly lucrative. I know a guy pulling in close to $80,000 per month profit on just 4 or 5 products that he sourced from China.

Amazon offers a service called Fulfilment by Amazon, which can be extremely useful for arbitrage sellers, or others selling their own products. If you opt for FBA, Amazon will store, pick, pack and deliver your products. That means you can scale your arbitrage business quickly as you don’t have to store products in your own home or waste time with postage.

FBA stars is an easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide to starting a successful Amazon FBA business. The whole course is presented by Vik JC, a full-time Amazon FBA pro who guides you through every single step to becoming your own boss and making 5 figures from Amazon FBA.

Create Your Own Product

Many people fancy themselves as designers. If you have a unique idea for a new product then it may be time to get it designed. This can be a long process involving prototypes, discussions with factories, package design, and much more. However, the profits once the product is on the market could be substantial. And remember, with Amazon FBA, your products can all be stored and shipped by Amazon, giving you time to think up your next invention.

White Label Products

White labeling products involve purchasing pre-made products from a supplier and then adding your own labeling and branding. Products could range from candles to gym equipment or even tea, but all will come without labels, allowing you to create your own new range of merchandise. Most suppliers will advertise the fact they offer white labeled goods on their websites, so pick your niche and then find the right supplier and product for you. Once labeled, products can be sold via sites like eBay and Amazon, or from your own eCommerce store.

(Data Splitting) Deepfakes Technolog Topic 2

Data Splitting

What is data splitting?

Data splitting is when data is divided into two or more subsets. Typically, with a two-part split, one part is used to evaluate or test the data and the other to train the model.

Data splitting is an important aspect of data science, particularly for creating models based on data. This technique helps ensure the creation of data models and processes that use data models -- such as machine learning -- are accurate.

How data splitting works

In a basic two-part data split, the training data set is used to train and develop models. Training sets are commonly used to estimate different parameters or to compare different model performances.

The testing data set is used after the training is done. The training and test data are compared to check that the final model works correctly. With machine learning, data is commonly split into three or more sets. With three sets, the additional set is the dev set, which is used to change learning process parameters.

There is no set guideline or metric for how the data should be split; it may depend on the size of the original data pool or the number of predictors in a predictive model. Organizations and data modelers may choose to separate split data based on data sampling methods, such as the following three methods:

Random sampling. This data sampling method protects the data modeling process from bias toward different possible data characteristics. However, random splitting may have issues regarding the uneven distribution of data.

Stratified random sampling. This method selects data samples at random within specific parameters. It ensures the data is correctly distributed in training and test sets.

Nonrandom sampling. This approach is typically used when data modelers want the most recent data as the test set.

Common data splitting uses

Ways that data splitting is used include the following:

Data modeling uses data splitting to train models. An example of this is in regression testing modeling, where a developer uses a model to predict a system's response when operated with made-up values. Using this set of values, the developer would select a portion of that data to act as the training data. Then, they would compare those results against the test data put through the regression model. This gives the developer a sense that the model is accurate.
Machine learning also uses data splitting to train models. Training data is added to the model to update its training phase parameters. After the training phase is finished, the data from the test set is measured against how the model handles new observations.

Cryptographic splitting is a different process from the uses of data splitting mentioned above. It is a technique used to secure data over a computer network. Cryptographic splitting is meant to protect systems from security breaches and involves encrypting data, splitting the encrypted data into smaller pieces, and storing those pieces in different storage locations. The data is further encrypted when stored in its new location.

Data splitting in machine learning

In machine learning, data splitting is typically done to avoid overfitting. That is an instance where a machine learning model fits its training data too well and fails to reliably fit additional data.

The original data in a machine learning model is typically taken and split into three or four sets. The three sets commonly used are the training set, the dev set, and the testing set:

The training set is the portion of data used to train the model. The model should observe and learn from the training set, optimizing any of its parameters.
The dev set is a data set of examples used to change learning process parameters. It is also called cross-validation or model validation.
The testing set is the portion of data that is tested in the final model and is compared against the previous sets of data. The testing set acts as an evaluation of the final model and algorithm.

Wednesday, 4 May 2022

Deepfakes Technolog Topic 1

How Deepfakes work

Deepfake content is created by using two competing AI algorithms -- one is called the generator and the other is called the discriminator. The generator, which creates the phony multimedia content, asks the discriminator to determine whether the content is real or artificial.

Together, the generator and discriminator form something called a generative adversarial network. Each time the discriminator accurately identifies content as being fabricated, it provides the generator with valuable information about how to improve the next deepfake.

The first step in establishing a GAN is to identify the desired output and create a training dataset for the generator. Once the generator begins creating an acceptable level of output, video clips can be fed to the discriminator.

As the generator gets better at creating fake video clips, the discriminator gets better at spotting them. Conversely, as the discriminator gets better at spotting fake videos, the generator gets better at creating them.

Until recently, video content has been more difficult to alter in any substantial way. Because deepfakes are created through AI, however, they don't require the considerable skill that it would take to create a realistic video otherwise. Unfortunately, this means that just about anyone can create a deepfake to promote their chosen agenda. For example, a deepfake could be used to spread false information via a presidential candidate. Microsoft, however, has worked on an AI-powered deepfake detection software for this purpose. The tool can automatically analyze videos and photos to provide a confidence score that the media has been manipulated.

Another possible danger deepfakes introduce is that people will take such videos at face value, and after realizing it’s fake, people will stop trusting in the validity of any video content at all.

What is artificial general intelligence (AGI)?

Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is the representation of generalized human cognitive abilities in software so that, faced with an unfamiliar task, the AGI system could find a solution. The intention of an AGI system is to perform any task that a human being is capable of.

Definitions of AGI vary because experts from different fields define human intelligence from different perspectives. Computer scientists often define human intelligence in terms of being able to achieve goals. Psychologists, on the other hand, often define general intelligence in terms of adaptability or survival.

AGI is considered to be strong artificial intelligence (AI). Strong AI contrasts with weak or narrow AI which is the application of artificial intelligence to specific tasks or problems. and self-driving cars are examples of narrow artificial intelligence.

What can artificial general intelligence do?

AGI in computer science is an intelligent system with comprehensive or complete knowledge and cognitive computing capabilities. As of right now, no true AGI systems exist; they remain the stuff of science fiction. The performance of these systems is indistinguishable from that of a human, at least in those terms. However, the broad intellectual capacities of AGI would exceed human capacities because of its ability to access and process huge data sets at incredible speeds.

True AGI should be capable of executing human-level tasks and abilities that no existing computer can achieve. Today, AI can perform many tasks but not at the level of success that would categorize them as human or general intelligence.

An AGI system should have the following abilities:

abstract thinking
background knowledge
common sense
cause and effect
Transfer learning
Practical examples of AGI capabilities include the following five:

Creativity. An AGI system would theoretically be able to read and comprehend human-generated code and improve it.
Sensory perception. AGI would excel at color recognition, which is a subjective kind of perception. It would also be able to perceive depth and three dimensions in static images.
Fine motor skills. An example of this includes grabbing a set of keys from a pocket, which involves a level of imaginative perception.
Natural language understanding (NLU). Understanding human language is highly context-dependent. AGI systems would possess a level of intuition that would enable NLU .
Navigation. The existing Global Positioning System (GPS) can pinpoint a geographic location. Once fully developed, AGI would be able to project movement through physical spaces better than existing systems.

AI researchers also anticipate that AGI systems will possess higher-level capabilities, such as being able to do the following:

handle various types of learning and learning algorithms;

create fixed structures for all tasks

understand symbol systems;

use different kinds of knowledge;

understand belief systems; and

engage in metacognition and make use of metacognitive knowledge

AGI vs. AI: What's the difference?

AGI should theoretically be able to perform any task that a human can and exhibit a range of intelligence in different areas. Its performance should be as good as or better than humans at solving problems in most areas of intelligence.

In contrast, weak AI excels at completing specific tasks or types of problems. Many existing AI systems use a combination of machine learning, deep learning, reinforcement learning, and natural language processing for self-improving and solving specific types of problems. However, these technologies do not approach the cumulative ability of the human brain.

customer service chatbots ;
voice assistants like Siri and Alexa;
recommendation engines such as those Google, Netflix, and Spotify use;
marketing platforms used to gather business intelligence and customer sentiment ;
facial recognition applications.

Examples of artificial general intelligence

True AGI systems are not on the market yet. However, examples exist of narrow artificial intelligence systems that approximate or even exceed human abilities in certain areas. Artificial intelligence research is focused on these systems and what might be possible with AGI in the future.

Here are some examples of that system.

IBM's Watson. Watson and other supercomputers are capable of calculations that the average computer can't handle. They combine their immense computing power with AI to carry out previously impossible science and engineering tasks, such as modeling the Big Bang theory of the birth of the universe or the human brain.
Expert systems. These systems are AI-based ones that mimic human judgement. They can recommend medicine based on patient data and predict molecular structure.
Self-driving cars. These are able to recognize other vehicles, people, and objects in the road and adhere to driving rules and regulations

ROSS Intelligence. ROSS is a legal expert system that is also called the "Al attorney." It can mine data from about 1 billion text documents, analyze the information and provide precise responses to complicated questions in less than three seconds.
AlphaGo. This is another example of narrow intelligence that excels at a specific type of problem-solving.AlphaGo is a computer program that can play the board game Go. Go is a complex game that is difficult for humans to master. In 2016, AlphaGo beat the world champion Lee Sedol in a five-game match.
Language model Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3. GPT-3 is a program that can automatically generate human language. In some cases, the text is indistinguishable from the human output, but the output is often flawed. The technology is consistently able to emulate general human intelligence.
Music AIs. Dadabots is an AI algorithm that, given a body of existing music, can generate a stream of its own approximation of that music.

If AGI was applied to some of the preceding examples, it could improve their functionality. For example, self-driving cars require a human to be present to handle decision-making in ambiguous situations. The same is true for music-making algorithms, language models, and legal systems. These areas include tasks that AI can automate but also ones that require a higher level of abstraction and human intelligence.

What is the future of AGI?

Many experts are skeptical that AGI will ever be possible. Others question whether it is even desirable.

English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author Stephen Hawking warned of the dangers in a 2014 interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. "The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race," he said. "It would take off on its own and redesign itself at an ever-increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete and would be superseded."

However, some AI experts expect the continued development of AGI. In an interview at the 2017 South by Southwest Conference, inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil predicted computers will achieve human levels of intelligence by 2029.

The Church-Turing thesis, developed by Alan Turing and Alonzo Church in 1936, is another perspective that supports the eventual development of AGI. It states that, given an infinite amount of time and memory, any problem can be solved using an algorithm. Which cognitive science algorithm will be is up for debate. Some say neural networks show the most promise, while others believe in a combination of neural networks and rule-based systems

Another potential initiative comes from neuroscience: neuromorphic computing, which uses artificial neurons and synapses to replicate the biological framework and functioning of the human brain.