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As 2021 ebbs to a close, it's come to that time of the year when I feel compelled to do a review of my 2021 online business, looking back at what worked and what didn't.
The most significant event of 2021 for me, was the death of my beloved Dad. Given that he was aged 98, I shouldn't have been surprised. But he just seemed bullet-proof and losing him has knocked my world sidewise.
I owe everything to Mum (RIP 2014) and Dad, and going on without them will be tough / impossible. But they would both expect me to pick up the pieces and continue with ‘work'.
Here's a picture of them at a family Christmas event in happier times. We have more recent pictures, of course, but I know they'd prefer to be remembered like this – in their prime.
So you may not be surprised to learn that the review of my 2021 online business contains quite a void of work online. My profitable offline businesses flourished, and there was work to do sorting out Dad's Estate. Those tasks literally demanded my attention, so the business of making money online largely went by the wayside.
But luckily work I had done in previous years continued to bear fruit.
My Blog In 2021
My blog was kept active by several guest writers, but mainly by the generous activities of Ryan Biddulph the extremely hard-working and successful blogger at BloggingFromParadise.com
Do check out his books on blogging. In a world where so many “fake it 'til they make it”, Ryan is the real deal – and a brilliant caring human being too.
As a writer I picked up some paid work from Intellifluence – I can report that they paid out promptly, so – given that it's free to register, no harm in giving it a try if you'd like to get paid to write.
I also started writing on Medium.com – but as I just got going Dad died so my contributions have been few and far between. Here is one article I wrote which explains why I no longer create blogs for others.
I enjoy writing, and writing at Medium started bringing me in a few coppers until lack of time put paid to it. Put some efforts into it, and you can earn a decent income. Learn more here another way you can get paid to write.
My Share Club Continues To Flourish
With a change of name to VC Crowd, my share club continues to bring in a steady income from membership fees I referred when I first joined in 2018. Almost every one of the people who joined are still happy members, watching the progress of profitable start-ups that one day may hit the big time.
Recruiting is optional, so don't imagine you'll be expected to hit targets or anything boring like that. I'm largely a passive member now, but if you're interested in the club as an alternative saving or earning method, I can offer you the chance to win shares if you join on my recommendation. Click here to learn about VC Crowd and the shares in the portfolio.
Other Online Business Results
My original online activities stemmed from seeing clients for nutritional therapy, and to recommend nutritional products and services. This had been dwindling over the years as clients were reluctant to pay hard cash when they could just ‘Google It' – however unwise that may be.
COVID-19 finally put paid to seeing clients so I joined a business selling nutritional products, but had a bad reaction to the them. Not their fault! But obviously I couldn't recommend something I've had a bad reaction to, no matter how much other users love them.
So I have committed to learning online marketing and passing my new found skills on to others.
Avoiding Online Scams
Some of my time was wasted by testing what turned out to be online scams. This involved buying several tools that promised much but delivered nothing but wasted my time and – it has to be said – caused anger:
- At myself for being duped yet again, and
- At the heartless marketers who peddle these tools to innocents abroad, looking to earn extra money online.
COVID-19 brought a new wave of innocents to the ‘extra income online' party, and many people who needed an extra income after losing their job were parted from huge sums of money on promises they could become Internet Coaches selling outdated training and courses.
I've been “teaching myself online marketing” for years (to try and get my nutrition business online) and I'm here to tell you it is not easy. It's HARD – as fast as you think you have mastered one skill, it changes.
There's no magic money tree – if there was one I would have found it by now!
A Scam-free Zone To Learn Internet Marketing
However – a couple of years ago I found a Facebook group where affiliate marketers were being trained, for free, to sell products recommended by one very successful marketer.
Yes, he wants you to sell his products (no selling = no profits). BUT he's training you and giving you an amazing amount of free tools and training to do it with.
These are skills that – once mastered – you can use to market any online business of your own.
I joined the group and started building a team of affiliates who wanted to learn internet marketing, and even while I was inactive over 2021 I found that small commissions were coming in, from work I had done in 2020 to build that team. (It's a 2-level affiliate program, so as my team members earn commissions, I do too.)
What is remarkable about this group is that as well as expert marketers making commissions, complete newcomers who have never made a cent online are now having success. You'll see proof within the group. And if people get ‘stuck' the community will rally round and help.
In 2021 the training is free and can remain free as long as you want, and you can earn more commissions just by following the free training without ever making a purchase.
For those who decide to take their business to the next level there are paid memberships that give you access to more tools and higher commissions, but you can stay a free member for as long as you like.
Having seen the improvements in the back-office since I originally joined, I have taken a paid membership, which includes coaching.
But that's optional.
Please watch a replay of one of our trainings that explains the whole system and shows you proof of earnings within the group. Click here to learn how to make commissions over and over again with no personal selling.
