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Starting from nothing is easier than the internet makes it look, and the reason it looks hard is that there is too much advice. If you are working out how to make money online as a retiree with no experience, the most useful step is to decide what you will not look at yet. This article gives you one path, and a short list of things to ignore for now.
Why starting online feels harder than it is
Most of the confusion comes from volume. Search for ways to earn online and you will find hundreds of methods, dozens of tools, and a new “essential” platform every week. None of them is essential on day one.
A beginner needs a place to sign up, a way to learn, and one method to practise. Everything else can wait: learning several social networks, comparing software, buying courses. You can come back to any of it after a month of steady practice.
Pick one expert to follow, and ignore the wild claims
Choose one teacher or program and stay with it for the whole four weeks. Switching between guides is what makes people feel they are failing, because each guide uses different words and a different order of steps.
Be wary of anyone who promises a specific income, a short timeline, or “effortless” results. Nobody can promise those to a stranger, and honest teachers do not try. A good guide shows you what to do, in what order, and tells you plainly that results vary and take time.
The path below uses the free ClickBank Profit Club account as the one place to learn. Following it means you only ever have one set of instructions to follow.
Resist all efforts of other marketers to follow their system. Apart from the totally unrealistic claims you will come across, everyone, largely, teaches the same topics! I have chosen the ClickBank Profit Club because you can start free and earn free.
You can open a free account at the ClickBank Profit Club (here) to make commissions as a free member.
I chose this training because John Thornhill, the creator, doesn’t talk the talk. He has walked the walk. He is an ex-factory worker from the UK who figured out how to make money on ClickBank. And now he teaches others how to do the same.
Since 2004, he has helped over 3,000 people start their online business. And those students (including me) have gone on to generate more than $23 million in sales.
You can open a free account here.
Why ClickBank?
Because
1) You can open a merchant account free of charge – it’s a well-known and well-respected affiliate network
2) The CBPC site owner (John Thornhill) has earned multi-millions of dollars using ClickBank, so he has good contacts there and knows his way around the site
3) John has created all the training and follow-up emails for you. There is no-one who will do more to get your online business set up for you.
4) Most weeks he runs a live training / Q&A session. Replays are available, but the members who get the most out of the site are those who attend live and get their questions answered live.
5) You’re not restricted to digital products. Once you understand the method, you can apply the training to sell to real people who are ready to pay real money to solve real-world problems across many different topics. For instance: dating, insomnia, relationships. You can look at some of the niches available in this free quiz.
What you already own is enough
You do not need new equipment. A phone or a laptop you already use, an internet connection, and an email address are enough to begin. Set aside about thirty minutes, two or three times a week, at a time you are rested and not rushed.
A notebook helps. Write down your login details and notes from each training, so you never have to hunt around to find where you left off.
Week one: set up a free ClickBankProfit Club account
Sign up with an email address you check regularly, save your password somewhere safe, and open the training area.
Follow the steps to get set up. Especially watch the orientation video.
Commit to watching for regular emails from john@johnthornhill.com and from me joy@joyhealey.com
Finishing the sign-up and finding your way around counts as a complete week.
Week two: choose one traffic source and commit to it for a month
Traffic means the people who see what you share. The training describes several traffic sources, which are different ways of getting people to look. Your task this week is to read through them and choose one.
Pick the one that sounds least intimidating to you, not the one that sounds most impressive. A method you will actually do twice a week beats a better one you avoid.
Then commit to that source for a full month. Weeks three and four are simply more of the same: follow the training for that one source, do one small piece of it each session, and write down what you did. Resist the urge to add a second source. Changing methods every few days is the most common reason beginners learn nothing from their own effort.
What can go wrong, and how to stay safe
Online income has real risks, and knowing them early keeps you calm. The main ones are paying for things you do not need, trusting claims that sound too good, and sharing personal information carelessly. The article on risks to your online income covers them in more detail.
A few habits protect you from most problems:
- You can get started for free, but you’ll pay for it with time. You can go faster by spending a few dollars. That’s how a proper business functions most efficiently: paying to get things done faster. (Jeff Bezos doesn’t pack boxes or drive Amazon vans.)
- Decide how much (if anything!) you are willing to spend, look over what’s available and don’t exceed the budget you set. Most of the offers are one-off costs, and you’re probably better to spend your budget on those, rather than on repeat items.
- Never share bank passwords or full card details by email or message. The Club won’t ask you for passwords.
- If someone pressures you to decide quickly, stop and wait a day.
- Ask a trusted friend or family member to look over anything that confuses you. Look inside the Club Community and see the proof for yourself that members are earning their first commissions. (Your free membership lets you join the community and gives you access to support.)
- The support tab takes you right to the site owner and his team. You can also get help from me (here on Facebook), and the community of other CBPC members are all happy to help, We all remember what it was like to start from zero.
You should also expect that earning nothing in the first month is normal. The four weeks are for learning one method and practising it, and any income would be a bonus on top of that.
When you want to spend nothing yet
If you would rather not spend anything until you are sure this suits you, you can set up everything you need at no cost. The guide on building a business without paying for software lists free options, so you can try the whole path with a zero budget.
Your next step
Open the free account today here and do the week-one task this week: sign up, save your login, and watch the first video and lesson.
One note for full honesty: any tool or program I recommend on this site may be an affiliate link, which means I could earn a commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you. I only point you to things that fit a beginner starting calmly, and you are always free to look around first.
