I have been doing a lot of outsourcing lately and one interesting thing came to my mind. It is the difference you can see between bloggers and what they do for money.
The outsourcing I mentioned was me doing stuff for others, not paying others to do things for me 
I make most of the money this way and I have been doing it even before I started this blog.
My favorite is definitely making some cool CSS templates for static websites and helping people starting their online business. Although it takes the most time, I love doing it and I like the money coming from it.
Anyway, besides this, I was going through my list of places where I make money and doing some thinking. Not all bloggers will do this.
Some bloggers will think they are above this. They believe it is not worth doing things for others, unless it involves large amounts of money.
They like to talk, not about how much money they make (because they are assuming you think they make $10.000 a month), but how much they spend on their blog design, e-book design, or what ever usually costs a lot of money.
Well, I wanted to say that I am one of those people that doesn’t mind helping out for free or doing some small gig for $50.
Why would I think I am above that? I designed my static site and it is working for me, bringing in passive income. I always have some spare time on my hands, so why not make some extra cash using the knowledge I have.
You all know about Fiverr by now, I guess. Well, I can say that last summer, I put some gigs over there, and made $100 in short amount of time.
I need to sell about 4 Thesis themes to make $100. So why would I wait on that, when I can help someone and make some coins along the way.
Beginner bloggers usually don’t have much to invest and count every dollar they need to spend on their blog. It gets even more frustrating when the blog is not bringing any money.
If I had asked $1.000 for one of the websites I helped set up, not only the person probably would not be able to pay for it, but honestly, I would feel like a robber.
I know we need to value our time and work, but how about not overestimating yourself!?
Niche sites
I noticed some bloggers looking down on people building niche sites. Well, big boys and gals, let me tell you something – the money is in the niche sites and not blogs!
Then again, maybe you just don’t know how to do it… Have you thought about that!?
What are my online money sources?
So where did I make money online, for the last two years, besides Adsense and affiliate sales:
- website design
- HTML and CSS help
- article writing
- Squidoo lenses
- Squidoo lenses flipping
- Facebook pages and landing pages creating
- Twitter background creation
- coaching
- keyword research
- building niche sites and flipping them
- other ways I can’t even remember
Some of the “big” bloggers seem like they think they are getting dirty by doing some small jobs, they overprice their services, they overprice their books (fortunately I had never bought those) and they look down on “small” money.
But the money is not so small!
Post bullseye
If you are trying to make money online, don’t say no to small gigs or even helping out for free. You never know what that can bring you!
The first website design gig I did, I charged 5 times less than a company asked the person to pay. Guess what, I get more and more work from her, and the price is raising.
Related posts:
I have thought about doing some of the things that you have done, but time is not on my side, as I sometimes don’t have enough time to do the work on my blog as I would like.
I think that starting out, one shouldn’t charge too much, especially if they want to attract some opportunities. Once you have done some work, and others have got the word out on how well you have done, you may find that the jobs just keep coming (as you have seen), and then you may be able to charge more for your services.
When charging for services, there is a fine line. Most people will pay more for someone’s services if they know and trust that person. Word-of-mouth from other people can be a powerful way of getting the word out on what you can accomplish.
Paul, completely agreed
I do have to admit that I had time on my side from time to time, so not only could I take more work on me, but also had time to promote it a bit.
And I definitely think that we should keep the fees relatively low when we are starting. The worst thing I encounter is that I am not so business oriented, lol, so I feel bad charging some of my online friends.
But I guess I will learn, lol.
The way to be successful is to help other people become whole. By teaching the then this mean you will grow because they will spread the word about you..
“Black Seo Guy “Signing Off”
I just have one thing small thing to say.
I would hire you in a heartbeat and I think others should too. Not simply because of your expertise – which are clearly evident – but because of your personality, ethics and empathetic nature. It’s nice to know that you can put yourself in the shoes of a newbie (and others) and understand their limitations – both financial and other.
I deal with people I can relate to and who I think will relate to me. So don’t be surprised if I come knocking on your door one day soon
.
#thatisall
Bear hug to Monkey
Lol, I believe the thing you will be knocking on my door is to hire me to kick someone’s butt. If you don’t, I will find her myself… Just still under impression from our char yesterday!
I really appreciate the nice words and hope you noticed yourself in the image at the top!
#Iloveyourhashtags
I most certainly saw the bear – that’s why my signature said Bear hug
lol
As for the butt-kickin’ – won’t be necessary hahaha
I practice the 5 P’s of Griddy LOL. Pretty good eh?
Peace
Politeness
Persuasiveness
Patience
Power of Please
Brankica, I was formulating a nice compliment in my head about how you relate so well with newbie bloggers and then I made the mistake of reading Griddy’s comment and realized that she has already beaten my to the punch….Dang that woman!
But I’ll just echo her sentiments here in saying that I love what you’re doing, as well as the wonderful perspective you have Brankica. You rock lady
.
Marcus
Marcus, thank you so much! I really appreciate those words because you are one of the bloggers that I keep on my “must read” list
And I love and respect your work.
As far as the Bear goes, she is just like that…she steals all the best thoughts from all the heads out there, lol.
Hey Brankica!
These are awesome practical and reasonable methods for generating income, but what I like more than that is that you enjoy and value making the most of them. I love that you’re not about making your money online in a way that is honest and enjoyable for you. It’s that mentality that is going to take you further and make you more money than MOST of the people pursing online entrepreneurship. You rock!
Totally blushing here
Thanks so much.
I guess I just feel like the first day I decided to build a site. My first ever investment was $300 for the SBI package, and although it pays itself back over and over, I can remember how hard it was to decide to do it. Not to mention when you are stuck and just have to get someone to do things for you, and they use every chance to get all your money, lol.
I have to say that I’ve been doing this for years and I will likely always work for others to some extent. My prices have gone up a bit since I started but I still keep them reasonable.
The majority of what I’ve done is writing obviously but I’ve done other things as well, such as writing review posts on one of my other blogs with links. That has been a big seller on Fiverr for me.
But I also outsource some stuff too. I just don’t spend loads of money one it. If you can learn to do it yourself you can save a lot of time.
Time and money, both. Cause I can only imagine how much would it cost me to pay for stuff I do myself.
Fiverr reviews with links are a great way to sell a lot of gigs, I had that gig too, but after the first one, I gave up on it cause I just couldn’t maintain all the blogs I had at the moment.
BlogDash is a place where you can submit your site to be approached by people that want reviews and stuff. I registered recently but haven’t got deeper into it.
I also decided to do paid reviews on this blog, if anyone decided to have one, and got an e-mail the other day about one product, but I will be very picky at what I review. Also, as everyone knows it will be a honest review
Anyway, I think working like we do, for others, is great, I just love doing it.
Hey Brankica!
You are an inspiration and its bloggers like you who inspire and motivate people to discover the writer in them and join the blogging community. The way you work is like 24/7 yet you always sound and look so calm. Keep it up! And Yes! monetizing blogs is a trend now but it was surprising to discover to what extend some bloggers can go and misuse their talent by deceiving others.
Hey Mel, thanks for such a nice comment. Yes, I can see a lot of bloggers deceiving others and I hope never to be perceived as one of those!
I juggle several clients, and a day job, so I know all too well what it means to not have time. I love the small jobs, because not only is it a great way to get to know each other, but it also allows me to demonstrate what I’m capable of, which could mean more business down the road.
And I don’t go all ape sh*t with the pricing either. My rate is $1 per minute, and for those small jobs that take only a few minutes, I’ll sometimes ignore the cost and just ask for a shout-out on Twitter or Facebook. They get what they want, I get a little advertising. It all works out very well sometimes.
The companies I used to work for billed me out for about $200 per hour, which in my book that’s called rape. But, the company had the best sales team you could ever want…lol *facepalm*
I know exactly what you mean. Some gigs are just not worth charging for, lol, and a shout out is maybe even better in some cases. You never know who might see it.
The company that you mention, with the best team, is charging a fair price for their service, probably. But what is really weird are bloggers charging even more for something that is just not worth so much money.
Ha, yeah. The true sign of greed is an over-priced product. Something that is rampant out there…
Hi Brankica,
I know it’s very easy for you as you know each of these things but really don’t know much about it but I have good knowledge about HTML and if anybody need any help about HTML then I usually help them out.
Hey Riya, you can always make some money by posting gigs on Fiverr, Justafive, Zeerk, oDesk. There are many other places to get some extra money. Sometimes it will bring way more than any affiliate sales
If you’re helping someone then you’re not losing anything instead you’re getting a friend who can help you near future and making your repo. By sharing your knowledge you’re enhancing it not losing it.
Brankica,
Actually I think this is a smart business model. I figure that you better be selling a service or a product. And you have filled that criteria with your “For Hire” and your niche sites.
We have a property management business. We started out by taking on small jobs. It worked great for years. We made good money. Life changes and we needed to pare that business down. The chance to take on 2 big jobs came along and we grabbed them. It would never have happened if we had not been willing to help out the little guy.
Exactly, Sheila. I mean we all have to start somewhere. And no matter how much people want to think that blogging alone will bring them enough income to leave their jobs, it rarely happens. It does, but there are so many things you need to do to come to that level.
So I am pretty satisfied taking there small steps.
Hi Brankica,
I’m not advocating poverty but the correlation between happiness and money isn’t that strong (of course we all need a certain amount to live on). So I focus on what’s required for my happiness. And if you understand a few basics about money (saving on a regular basis, the power of compound interest and some basic investment skills) you will make out just fine over the long haul.
Riley
I know that money is not related with happiness.
I spent a year working as a police trainer for the UN in Africa. I had more money than I could ever want, I had no need for that much, but that was the salary. And I didn’t like one bit of it. I was thousands and thousands kilometers from my family and all I wanted was to be able to see them more. So money definitely does not equal happiness.
Hi Brankica,
Loved the honesty of this post. I don’t know if it’s me but I have been cutting down on a lot of my blogs in my reader and suddenly I feel everyone is honest online.:)
I think when it comes to services and fees, yes fees are important in the decision making for any service. Then in the end I believe great clients hire you because of who you are and Brankica, your generosity and support online says tons about your character.
Have a great week
Hey John, thanks for the awesome comment. I really hope people see me as I am, and I love being helpful. And about the honesty part, I just think you chose the blogs you read well, lol.
Hope you have a great week as well!
I don’t mind earning some coins by providing simple web-related services from watermarking photos
to full-on niche site creation. So Brankica if you see any small gigs going astray, send them my way!
It’s even a good thing that the ‘big cats’ leave these fiverr gigs for us to handle don’t you think?
Lol, I sure do.
I used to do web design myself. It’s a fun craft. The most I ever charged was $55 to do a site of an organization. You’re bound to get more work (therefore more bucks) if you stay on the light side. It makes perfect sense to me.
I’m with you on this one Brankica. Niche sites makes more money than blogs. For example, my top AdSense performer is no where close to my main blog.
I also had a gig (still have) on Fiverr and it did bring in some good $, but for some reason it only lasted for a very short period of time. Found out later that “others” were offering the same but with a twist
I’m curious about another source you mention, which is building niche sites and flipping them. Do you actually build them from scratch or do you buy them, ready made. You know, those that have potential and all it needs is a little “remodeling”
Are you using Flippa to flip your sites?
Hey any Fiverr gig that is successful gets copied right away. For example I used to have one that was successful and someone added the same one, except they were delivering two things instead of one like me. But I do refuse a lot of work.
For example, I used to have a landing page over there, stating I will code a page, but they people started asking for me to design it so it would be “wow” and what not. I told everyone that I will code what ever idea they have, but I am not gonna spend hours thinking about someone else’s design for 5$.
When it comes to niche sites, what I actually did most, was build Site Build It site, my first website that I still have is built with them, and sell it after it starts getting traffic. And with their tools it is very easy to do. I pay $300 a year for everything (they give you more than 5.000$ worth of tools) and it is very easy to score high rankings with SE.
The point is that even after the person buys the site, if they don’t mess up what has already been done on it, they will keep getting more and more traffic.
I haven’t used Flippa, I would usually post on Forums and sell it directly to a person that is interested. Especially that SBI has a Forum for that.
I hear ya. That was the twist I was talking about. I was selling as spaces for 5 days on 2 high traffic websites, and somebody started to offer the same gig for 10 days and on three sites. Bam there goes my gig….
As with SBI, I have heard a lot about it but believe it or not, I have yet to find the time (lame excuse), to get familiar with it. I was curious about your site flipping because I also flip sites, but on Flippa. Some are successful, some are not… oh well
I actually have one that I am trying to sell. Well, I planned to, but didn’t get the chance to work on it. It only has like 7 pages, but the domain is one year old and believe it or not, with 7 pages gets a few visitors from Google. That is the power of SBI. But the niche is really great, and the keywords are researched so that is the value I guess. Along with the site design, lol. This is the only one I hadn’t had the time to work on, so I am not sure if I will manage to sell it.
This blog just took too much time last few months.
I haven’t used Flippa just because I always try to avoid the extra costs if I am not sure I am gonna get the money back, and sometimes I get direct offers that are pretty good and that I say yes to, straight away
Hi Brankica,
It’s very interesting to learn how you are making money online. You’re definitively doing the right thing.
I believe that there is another way to look at what you are doing, and that’s a long term strategy. When you are doing small things for cheap, it will eventually lead to bigger projects and more money.
For instance, I always believe that the first approach to a new customer should be free or very cheap. This way they will learn and understand that they can trust you and that the quality of your work is brilliant. When they understand this, they’ll start hiring you for bigger projects.
That’s why I love the 30 days free trials for software before I have to buy… I always end up buying software I enjoy. It’s the same with people
- Jens
I definitely agree with you and I can already see nice results from the exact same strategy
It’s so funny; I always have these awesome comments start building in my head, and then I read everyone else’s comment who got here before me, and they all say everything that I had wanted to say. They even say it better, most times. =)
But still, it’s a comfort to know that you are there in case people need you, and for you it’s more about helping and serving others rather than just trying to rake in tons of dough.
On the other hand, you are definitely the caliber to be making huge money if you wanted! The knowledge is there, and the great way you have with people. Add that to your caring and your empathy, and the very tender human side of you will win out over tons of other candidates.
Every time. =)
Delena
Hey Delena, thanks for the lovely words. I know what you mean about the comments, but you can write here, what ever you like, even if someone said it already.
I really like helping when I can, and although I can’t help everyone all the time I enjoy those moments when someone genuinely is happy cause you did something for them
Hey Brankica,
Here I go again, being able to relate to what you are saying and doing.
I’ve been helping people online for free for quite some time now and finally decided to actually charge a little for some of my services. I can only do so much for free myself and everyone I speak with tells me I should start charging so I’m stepping outside my box and here I go. Already have 3 customers lined up so I’m thrilled about that.
Glad to know what other talents lurk beneath that witty persona of yours. You better watch out because I just might be hiring you too. We’ll be sure to keep you plenty busy…
Best to you,
Adrienne
I am not at all worried about you trying to hire me cause for weeks now I am thinking that what ever two of us start it will turn out to be a project that will rock some booties, lol
Brankica,
I completely agree and I myself can add to the proof. Whenever I do stuff for free or a dead cheap affordable price, I get a lot of appreciation and more gigs later on. Not to mention the power of word of mouth advertising, friends’ friends become my clients.
I don’t think that it is “bad” to offer a “cheap” price. Overdelivering is always good and makes you reputable. After all I would like to be called a “nice” person, rather than a “rich” person, while at the same time I can pay my bills and lead a comfortable life.
Cheers,
Jane.
You read my mind
Hi Brankica,
I think what you’re doing is amazing – you set a good role model for new bloggers who may need a bit of online guidance and even advanced bloggers who aren’t reaching out as much as they should be.
Every time I visit here I’m constantly amazed at how nice, helpful, and genuine you are, both to your readers and others in the blogging community. It’s truly admirable – and I can only say, keep up the awesome work.
Your willingness to help others is why you have such a loyal following. You increase trust with your actions, and don’t think these actions go unnoticed – because they don’t. And sooner or later, you’re going to be rewarded BIG time for your generosity and the friendships you create.
I look forward to watching, sharing, and growing with you in your incredible journey over the months to come.
Christina
Christina, thank you so much for these nice words. It really means the world to me. That is exactly what I would like for people to think about me and I will try to keep going this way.
Brankica (Is that short for Branka?)
Hello! Grateful I found your blog. (I thank John Falchetto, Griddy, Marcus Sheridan and gina Dietrich for leading me to you), Great post!
As a relative newbie, I appreciate the honesty of your post.
I think doing what you love and staying true to yourself is of utmost importance. And ignore that the big bloggers may think the job is too “small”. It is all about networking sometimes which goes a long way!
My blog offers FREE health care advice and I hope I can keep it that way. It was started as a passion and to brand myself. Of course I would like to make money on it as well!
I have followed a variety of internet business bloggers and sometimes the hype and sales pitches are too much. We won’t even mention one academy that is all Sell, Sell, Sell! or another seller of outsourcing that is downright racist!
Will look forward to your next post!
Best,
Rajka
Rajka, dobrodosla
Brankica je u mom slucaju ime, ne nadimak 
Welcome to my blog and I am grateful to my favorite bunch for bringing you here
I agree with you on everything you wrote here and it is time for us “small” ones to break the spell and enjoy our work without always looking up to the wrong ones, lol.
Fala ti puno! I hope I spelled this right as a 1st generation gal.
Hi Brankica
Was I asleep or doing my homework??!! I missed this post…yikes. Have just read through all the comments and now I am crying.
I realised some time ago what an amazingly generous human being you are and now I read this post. Just confirms what I already know about you…..and it’s such a privilege to call you my friend.
Doesn’t surprise me at all that you continue to help others just as you have helped and continue to help me grow my business. And all those newbies you help who don’t have a big budget will be forever thankful they too have bumped into you in the blogosphere.
You will continue to grow your followers and connect with all the right people…..by just being you. Thanks friend for all you do to make this journey so enjoyable. You’re simply the best.
Patricia Perth Australia
And now you making me cry
I am glad you read it and liked it and you are always excused and forgiven because I know exactly how busy you are with what you are doing. As a matter of fact, I wish I did it as you are doing it when I started that thing. Can’t wait for the big launch, LOL.
Anyway, I know you know what I am like even without this post and I am really proud to have you as a friend too!
Hey Brankica,
A quick question what is the difference between niche sites and blogs?
If you mean blogs like this one, it is kinda blog about blogging, where you can read about tips related to blogging, how to write better, what tools to use, traffic generation, social media, etc.
Niche sites are those that have a narrow topic, for example, “children birthday parties” where you write about everything related to the topic. This can be even narrower, so the topic would be “birthday parties for children age 3 to 7″. The narrower the niche (if it is profitable and searched for, of course) the more targeted traffic you will get, because with niche sites, most of your traffic will come from Search engines. Basically, it is a site about a specific product, theme, etc.
For example, one of my niche sites gets 85% of traffic from search engines.
Now a niche site can be a blog too, like having a blog about “birthday parties for children age 3 to 7″ but this is more of a question, what platform are you going to use. I prefer having static sites for niche sites because of the layout and because I don’t have to work on them as much as I have to on blogs.
Its confusing for me now though was clear a bit before,ok can we have posts in niche site?Its a one page site I guess like you said static.am I right?or can we have a shopping blog or ecommerce blog?not right?I guess that bird caring site was yours about which you gave an example on any of your post somewhere regarding yahoo answers
Niche site can have hundreds of pages. It is just a site that is focused on one thing, to put it in simple words.
Here are some really interesting ideas I ran into, that people built niche sites on:
kids birthday parties
puppies
guinea pigs
cleats
running shoes
baby clothes
living with small breast (I swear this exists and it is a money making site)
The main difference is that when you go here to my home page you see my last posts in chronological order (that is the WP blog default) but when you go to a static niche site, it has a home page that is like a portal to other pages.
Here is a perfect example of a niche site: http://www.anguilla-beaches.com/
I’ve struggled with this myself as a graphic designer, web designer and illustrator. Because I love my job, it’s easy for me to give it away for free (or cheap). But ultimately what you’re communicating to clients and to yourself is, “My talent is worth nothing.”
People tend to value the things they pay for more than the things that are free. I tripled my freelance rate to what I felt was unreasonably high at first (robbery, as you say), but as people continued to pay me, hire me, and praise me, I realized that I’m worth the rate, and my skills are worth paying for.
So my lesson was in learning not to underestimate myself.
Torre, I agree with you. This post was published a few months ago and since, I have raised most of my prices. On the other hand there are always those who overestimate themselves and those are the ones that are robbing people, charging piles of money and not delivering results.
Is your blog you linked to the one where you show your stuff? Would love to see it!
Good to hear! I often believe that the people who make the money are not the most talented, but those with the most determination and chutzpa. So you’re right – many people overestimate themselves. Just tune into American Idol to see how many people think they’ve ‘got it’ when they clearly don’t! Ha.
I don’t have a design / illustration website at the moment as I took time off my business to write a book (travel memoir). If you check out the blog post ‘My problem with big decisions’ you’ll see some of my graphic design at the bottom of the page (book covers).