How to Start Making Money Online Even if You're Broke!

If you want to add a stream of online income or completely replace your 9-5 job, you have good news. I've updated this post for 2017 and it's easier than ever to get started. It may not seem that way as it often feels like a challenge and sometimes it feels like the world is completely against you. Most things you find either end up being some type of MLM or cost tens of thousands of dollars to start. Then when you find an affordable alternative you find out how many hidden costs and upsells there are once you get started. The reason why I know better than most people how much it sucks to be broke and the need to make money online is because I was in that exact situation just a few years ago when I had less than a $1,000 in my bank and was only making $200 a month, while watching my savings dwindle.

Sometimes I wake up and think maybe I just got lucky? It seems pretty impossible that less than 3 years ago I dreamt about being able to make $600 a month just so I could pay rent on the cheapest apartment and scrape by. Now I make more money than my doctor and lawyer friends back in California and best of all, I do it from my laptop. I now know that with the correct strategy, business model and motivation, making money online is possible for anyone willing to put in the work. In this post I'm going to share with you exactly how to start making money online even if you're completely broke. With all of the new tools 2017 gives us, there's really no excuse not to get started today.

Things that Don't Work: (if you're broke)

When you're broke and struggling to get started, it is super important to get on the right system or business model as soon as possible so you don't completely run out of savings. If you don't have more than $2,000 in savings, here are a few common systems that may be fantastic for other people but won't work for you.

The confusing part is everything listed below may be excellent ways to make money and are often talked about by people who are already successful, but will be a waste of time in your situation. Keep these things in mind to do in the future and bookmark this page but don't start on any of these just yet. If you want to know more about each system, I've included links podcast interviews for each method.

Amazon FBA: 

Selling on Amazon requires a minimum of $3,000 but most likely closer to $10,000 as you'll have to factor in importing goods, buying inventory, giving away free review products, and advertising to get you to the front page of Amazon's search results. You'll also need to reinvest your first 3-6 months worth of profit into buying more stock so most people don't actually start getting paid for closer to a year.

However the upside is huge as I have multiple friends who have built six figure FBA businesses. Listen to the FBA Empire interview, the interview with Ryan Daniel Moran, or the latest episode with Cory Michael for info on how they built large Amazon businesses using FBA.

Biggest Expenses for FBA:

Stock: $3,000-$10,000

Reviews: $1,000-$2,000

Advertising: $300-$500

Total Costs to Start: $10,000 +/-
Average Time to Profit: 4-6 Months 

Interviews with successful FBA owners: 

   

Drop Shipping: 

It really sucks needing to put dropshipping under this category as things that don't work if you're broke because it's what I started with and it has been the most straightforward system to follow that has delivered consistent results in a reasonable amount of time. The reason why I really like dropshipping is because it allows you to sell physical products without pre purchasing inventory. 

The reason why I like physical products is because when you are new to business, it's a lot easier to know how to sell a piece of furniture and know the value of it than a digital product or service that price could vary all over the place. If you weren't broke, it would be the business model I would recomend to start with for most people.

Why it Won't Work: 

To be completely honest, drop shipping is complicated, as is starting any physical products business whether it be a restaurant, shoe store or supermarket. There are a lot of little questions that will come up and hold most people back who don't have an MBA, previous business experience or access to a course like Anton's Dropship Course. The good news however is aside from education there aren't many more expenses to start since there is no inventory to buy, there isn't' much else to spend money on to set it up. 

I've met a few people like Archie Jeter in episode 62 has built a successful drop shipping store without being a part of the course so it's possible. But the reason why I wouldn't' recommend it is because the other 99.9% of people who didn't work an an ecommerce company in the past who try doing it without a course has given up, burnt all of their friend and mentor bridges by wasting people's time asking a million questions and has have wasted a lot of time going down the wrong path following the wrong path.

Biggest Expenses for Dropshipping:

Anton's Course: $1,497 - $2,997

Shopify Hosting: $29 a month

Advertising: $200-$300

Looking to start anyways? Here's all of my dropshipping discounts in PDF.

Total Costs to Start: $2,000

Average Time to Profit: 2-3 months

Interviews with successful Dropshippers: 

  

Things that Do Work: (even if you're broke)

Here's what you've been waiting for. What can you realistically do to make enjoy money online and continue traveling or living in another country even if you don't have any money to start? Remember, all of these take hard work, dedication and the willingness to put in the effort.

Freelancing:

Working on someone else's already successful business or providing services to them is a great way to start your location independent lifestyle. You can start by working from home then as soon as you make $600 a month or so, you can afford to live in a place like Chiang Mai, Thailand and either scale up your freelancing gigs by outsourcing the grunt work to others, start charging more money, or create templates to make your life easier. 

I know a lot of people who make $500-$1,500 a month working on places like Upwork or even Fiverr. Popular freelance gigs besides web development include translations, writing articles/blog posts, graphic design and editing of all sorts plus, pretty much whatever else you can think of. 

Marion now makes over $3,000 online and started out recording voice overs in her French accent on Fiverr. George and Jackie make a full time living as a proof reader.  Stephan from episode 19 has been working as a freelancer for over 3 years now and is still traveling the world and around Thailand. 

Interviews with successful freelancers: 

    

Total Costs to Start: $0

Average Time to Profit: 2-3 weeks

Ebay Arbitrage:

I used to think "dropshipping" from places like amazon or home depot to ebay was stupid. I still don't think it's a real, long term, sustainable business but recently I've realized how great of a starting point it is for people starting out, especially if they're broke. The reason why I recommend it to a lot of people is because I know the importance of making your first sale online and how much even making $100 adds to your confidence. 

I'd rather see everyone making just a few hundred bucks online but starting today than waiting 4-6 months researching something else or saving up to start another business or take a more expensive course. Also selling on ebay is possible anywhere where Paypal is accepted which is pretty much every country in the world. The main reason why I advise most people starting out to start with the ebay route is because you can make your first sale within 1-2 weeks instead of waiting months. 

The game plan wouldn't be to sell on Ebay forever, my recommendation would be to start today, prove to yourself you can follow directions, overcome obstacles and actually do the work necessary to make your first couple of sales, then use your first $1,000 or so to join something like Anton's course and start building a real, sustainable business.

Biggest Expenses for Ebay Arbitrage:

David Vu's Course: $50

No Other Fees to Start. 

Total Costs to Start: $50

Average Time to Profit: 1-2 weeks

Interviews with ebay store owners: 

  

Sell Your Crap:

When I first decided to move to Thailand in 2008 I didn't have any money. So I sold my crap. I had a house full of kitchen crap I didn't use, tons of clothes, a second hand car that was paid off, furniture, DVDs, a playstation, you name it. The best way to have money in savings is to not buy crap you don't need in the first place, the second best way is to offload the crap you already have.

You can also combine this technique with David Vu's ebay arbitrage to make even more. Watch Gary Vaynerchuk explain how to do it below. (by this way if you haven't noticed, this post has been updated for 2017)

Other Ways to Make Money:

A few years ago, I honestly thought it was impossible to make a full time living online, or at least thought it was impossible for me. I didn't have any programming skills, didn't know how to make a website or even know what ecommerce was. I was reluctant to pay for ebooks or digital courses as I assumed they were all scams or wastes of money as there is so much free information on line.

Fast forward 3 years, I now make over $100,000 a year online and have done so pretty much all self educated through reading books I've purchased or courses i've signed up for. I've also had the pleasure of interviewing over one hundred location independent entrepreneurs who all make a living online while traveling the world. I know it works. I am 100% sure it is possible and probable to make money online and anyone who says it isn't is wasting their lives and yours being a pessimist. 

If you listen to the Travel Like a Boss Podcast you'll know that people are making money from:

• Doing skype consults and blood test reviews
• Creating online courses / medical school test prep
• Doing online consultations and x ray reviews as a Dentist
• Podcast editing 
• Photography
• Videography
• Video or Photo Editing
• Health Advice Marketing
• Affiliate Marketing
• Piano Lessons
• Online Fitness Courses
• Selling Physical Products
• Accounting for Expats
• Creating Board Games
• Manufacturing Bicycle Wheels
• Selling BitCoins
• Creating Supplement Companies
• Creating Men's Grooming Products
• Currency Trading
• Building Apps
• Real Estate Lead Generation
• Writing Ebooks
• Kindle Publishing
• Launching Kickstarter Campaigns
• Travel Blogging
• and wayyy more

The reason why I don't recommend the above methods for getting started with online business if you're broke or just a beginner isn't that they don't work...they just take more time, money or resources than you might have right now when starting out.

My goal is for every person following my blog, podcast, and journey to be successful or at least have the best chance at being successful. I love meeting location independent entrepreneurs that I've helped out along the way, as they make the best friendships, traveling buddies and business partners.    

Dinner after our weekly Digital Nomads & Coffee Meetup

How to Get Started:

The fact that you're even reading this far down shows that you just skipped through everything you needed to get started making money online without taking action. Here's the thing about starting a business, they all suck and they all take a ton of work. There's no magic bullet, super secret easy method or path without downsides or difficulties.

Every single person I've ever met who makes a full time living online has overcome challenges, and none of them think the business model they follow is perfect. You just need to fucking do the work. I will personally vouch that everything I mentioned and recommended above works, you just need to put in the effort to make it work for you. People lie to themselves all of the time. Numerous people tell me that they are special and they have special circumstances that prevent them from being successful. Not being a dick, I just nod my head as that's what they want to hear, they want to hear poor them, it's not your fault. 

But here's the truth, they don't' want it bad enough, they aren't willing to try, they aren't willing to fail, they aren't willing to put in the work. They feel entitled to get everything for free, to have others do the work for them, while they bitch and complain about life and hardships. These are the same people that say they can't afford to buy an online course or purchase an ebook yet I see them out drinking beers every other night. Fuck those people. Don't be one of them. Go make it happen then come back and do some more. Be exceptional, work twice as hard as everyone else, and I promise you'll be successful beyond your wildest imagination. 

Warm Regards,

Johnny FD

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