Online income does not have to be difficult. It does not even need to be full-time. Nor do you have to do or sell anything "special" to make it. I was making money with a very basic online services business when I was 14-16, by accident.
Here's how.
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(1/11)
I took a few basic web design classes around 2000-2001, when I was about 10. I was reasonably talented, my teachers and parents encouraged me to attend a summer camp. I got better and better, and back then, there was no "plug and play" Wordpress-like solution.
(2/11)
In those days, Microsoft Frontpage and Adobe Dreamweaver were the big programs most people used. And you HAD to have some basic HTML coding knowledge to get things "right". I built a portfolio site, and my friends and family had it.
(3/11)
When I was 14, I got an internship at a local computer shop. One project that I did for them (for free) was design a brand-new website for them. I got to link my portfolio at the bottom of the site. And they let me speak to customers about it + pass out biz cards.
(4/11)
Then, my dad's friend asked me to design a website for his vacation home. These were the days of "VRBO", and having your own website to link from the ad really made you stand out. They paid me like $1,500 (a lot for a teenager in the early 2000s).
(5/11)
Then I moved to another computer shop in town, and did their website, too (for free). They too let me link my portfolio and discuss it with customers if it came up. So then I had several solid pieces in my portfolio. And things just kept going.
(6/11)
I went to a small high school, and eventually even designed a new school website. Word got around. Some parents of my classmates hired me. The portfolio grew more and more. Some of them even paid me monthly to host the sites on my existing hosting plans.
(7/11)
Overall, I probably made around $10-15k from this business between ages 14-16. ~10ish projects total. Eventually that second shop hired me on, I had a legit "job", so I sort of just stopped doing websites. I was never "searching" for the business, it just me.
(8/11)
Was it a ton of money? Naw. But it was decent pocket change for a teenager. In hindsight, I do wish I'd continued with it and grown it throughout college (or skipped college altogether). It really was simple. And it WORKED.
(9/11)
It doesn't have to be hard to earn a bit of income if you're just starting. Simply: 1. Find a service you can provide 2. Find your first customers 3. Over-deliver the service 4. Try to find a way to charge monthly to maintain the initial purchase
(10/11)
Use friends and family if possible for the first clients, ask for referrals. You can easily do this and find your first few clients while in school, or while working a 9-5. Couple hrs/day MAX. //
END (11/11)
