Is ‘Make Money Online’ A Pyramid Scheme?
Spoiler Alert: No. And yes. Avoid get-rich-quick scams and discover a bona fide way to make money online that I’ve been using for more than 8 years…
Are there legit ways to make money in the real world?
Yes.
Do scammers try to sell useless products in the real world?
Yes.
Well, guess what?
The same applies online.
Selling dreams, baby!
The idea of making money online is a dream for many people…
The dream of freedom from drudgery.
The dream of freedom from annoying bosses.
The dream of freedom from annoying coworkers.
The dream of freedom from the daily commute.
The problem with dreams is you’ll always find a long line of ne’er-do-wells, queuing up to drain dreamers of money, usually with promises of a Lambo and Lambrini lifestyle.
They give the whole online marketplace a bad name.
Which leads to naysayers…
I hear so many people saying it’s impossible to make money online. “It’s all one big, fat pyramid scheme,” they cry.
Pharoah ‘nuff… (Dad jokes are ‘in’ this season)
But honestly — it isn’t a pyramid scheme. You can make money online.
How am I so sure?
I’ve made a full-time living writing online for eight straight years now.
Actually, I do more than just write. I…
Help business-people solve problems.
The main problem I solve for people is how to get their content noticed online.
Sounds simple. And it is. It’s simple, but it’s not easy — if that makes sense.
It’s a simple premise, but a lot goes into creating content that catches attention and converts.
But if you can master the art, it turns out people will pay good money for creative ways to successfully sell stuff.
And writers tend to be pretty good at doing just that…
Who knew? 🤷
Dismantling the ‘make money online’ pyramid
There are three types of people who believe and spread the pyramid scheme myth.
They are:
- People who try to make money online, but don’t stick around long enough. They don’t get rich quick. They’re disillusioned. They invent a conspiracy theory. They make a tinfoil hat. They rage against the machine… You get the picture.
- People who follow the advice of an ego-bro who posts fabulous selfies in front of a loaned lambo (or these days, uses an AI-generated image). He built a big following of sycophants on X and now thinks he’s a marketing genius. Inevitably, it ends in tears for Mr Malcolm Smith who posts selfies wearing a yellow anorak, standing in front of his Volvo. Malcolm asks for the $7k back he spent on online courses and coaching. Mr ego-bro says no.
- People who heard a goo-roo on Twitface or Xbook say that making money online is impossible, so it must be true. This type laps up every idea bouncing around their echo chamber without a single critical thought troubling their blissful little noggin.
Okay, maybe I’m being overly harsh.
But don’t get me wrong — it’s not that I dislike these people. They’re just sadly misguided.
I blame platforms like X and Facebook where the blind lead the blind.
What they really need is someone to take them by the hand and lead them into the light. Someone to show them that…
Making money online is possible!
Yep. It’s possible. But it ain’t easy.
And you won’t get Rick’s quiche. Sorry, rich quick.
If you’re the proud owner of a decent Mk1 human brain, as I’m sure you are if you’re reading this, then YOU 100% CAN make money online.
I’ve been doing it for years — quietly plugging away in the background, helping other people build their businesses.
Now I’m stepping out of the shadows to share a thing or two I’ve learned along the way.
Why should you care?
For starters, writing to make money online gives you a great lifestyle.
Okay, as dad to three young girls, my “lifestyle” is more tea-parties and tutus than Porsches and pina-coladas — but I wouldn’t trade it for the world!
One of the main benefits — being able to spend more quality time with my kids.
I also get to indulge my hobbies and interests — like writing fiction and tinkling the ol’ Joanna. (For non-Brits: the ol’ Joanna is rhyming slang for a piano, not a barmaid at the local pub — just to clarify).
My work is also enjoyable.
It’s low-stress (which I like) and I get to set my own schedule.
I’m in the enviable position of being able to pick and choose projects, as I’ve worked hard over the years to build a good reputation.
I spend my days writing for companies that develop exciting tech.
Companies like ElevenLabs, a client of mine developed an AI engine that turns text into human-sounding speech. They were recently valued at more than $1 billion, even though they only started up two years ago!
Another retainer client of mine is O3 Smart who are big players in smart manufacturing tech.
I’m not sharing this to brag, but rather to illustrate a point…
Why do these people keep hiring me?
Because I help them solve problems.
And as I said earlier, the best way to consistently make money online is to solve people’s problems.
I’m going to say it one more time, in case you didn’t quite get it:
The best way to consistently make money online is to SOLVE PEOPLE’S PROBLEMS!!!
Businesses are made up of people. People who have problems.
I’ll give you an example.
My contact at ElevenLabs needed some user guides on how to use their new widget that automatically narrates blog posts. So I worked out how to do it and wrote about it.
Another long-term client asked me to create a survey, send it out, analyse the results, then write reports about the data. It’s something I’d never done before, but I worked out how to do it and delivered a good job. They were delighted.
For O3 Smart, I write (and my partner designs) a white paper and several blog posts monthly to market their smart factory software. I also run their LinkedIn account.
These clients pay me good money to do these things for them.
Why?
Because they trust me. Whether they’re conscious of it or not, they don’t see me as ‘just’ a writer.
They see me as a problem solver.
The long and short of it is — you can make money online as a writer, but there are three things you need to get good at:
- identifying the types of problems people have,
- positioning yourself to take advantage of those opportunities,
- and delivering consistently good work to build your reputation.
It ain’t rocket science, but it ain’t a walk in the park either.
The prize is freedom.
Freedom from the nine-to-five. Freedom from a life of KPIs. Freedom from a cubicle. Freedom from bossy bosses.
The price is hard work and uncertainty (especially in the early days of freelancing)…
From where I’m sitting (in my comfy and cozy home office) — it’s a price worth paying.
Get started — solve your first problem
If you’re a decent writer and you’re willing to put in some time and effort, you can make it as a freelance writer and make money online.
Put it this way — it’s much more likely to work than trying to get lucky and go viral on X or Medium — which doesn’t guarantee you any income even if it happens.
The first problem you need to solve is how to get started.
How do you land your first client? How do you position yourself? How do you get noticed in a sea of talent?
Good news!
I’m going to answer all those questions and more in my new newsletter — starting in May.
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