Making Money Online And Coming Away From The Standard Nine To Five

Julie Starr • July 30, 2020



Years ago to earn an income, it meant you went out to work each day. You worked from nine till five and then you went home. That happened five days a week. You took home a paycheck, and that was that. Some people are still happy with this traditional method of working, but with recent changes in the world, and people having to diversify the way they operate such as allowing employees, perhaps like yourself to work from home or to change the way a business operates, it has opened up a whole new world of opportunity. 

As technology has advanced and the digital world has taken over, the opportunities for earning an income have changed a little. Many people can now consider;y work for themselves and from their homes to earn a living. Sure, you can still go out to earn a crust, but more and more people are considering money-making ventures online. It could give you that work and home life balance that you crave, or maybe even enable you to have greater flexibility with the way your day operates. So are there real big bucks to be made? With that question in mind, here are some of the ways you could earn some money online. 

Making more use of social media profiles

Social media is huge. There is no shying away from that. First, there were some of the major platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The introduction of Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Youtube to name a few. All of which can provide huge money-making opportunities for engaging profiles. There will be brands and companies that are keen to collaborate with individuals with excellent social media profiles. But sometimes it can be difficult to build up a following, especially on platforms like Instagram or Facebook. Which is why it may be worth it to consider other strategies to increase your following. In the long term, the investment could pay off. 

Social media is a great way to earn some money for the things that you share, the products that you may review, and many people have gone on to become an ‘influencer’ and earn big money.  There are many ways to make money from using affiliate links or even content monetization allowing followers to purchase from your brand and earn money without directing them to other retailers.  There have been huge rises in this line of work, and while it can feel like a saturated market, you have your own unique selling point. You. So work on what you might want to do and share and just start. Who knows where it might take you. 

A blog can be a money maker

It seems like everyone has a blog these days. But, while many monetize their blogs it is only a small percentage that earns huge amounts of money from their blogs . So how do they do that? With hard work and determination. It’s possible for anyone to have a successful blog. Advertising income through brand collaborations. Or being commissioned to write articles is just some of the ways you can. Other options include using affiliate links. While success may not happen overnight, with careful planning your blog could be a moneymaker. 

Blogs are a great way to flex your creative skills as you not only need to think about the visual aspects of the blog but also the content that you share. When it comes to some of that hard work mentioned, it is about thinking of keywords and ensuring that your blog is organically shown in search engine results, so that you get the website traffic generator that so many brands will be looking for. It is important as well to consider other avenues that a blog will enable you to monetize. Coaching courses, memberships, an e-commerce store selling goods. These are just some of the things successful bloggers have gone on to do to enhance and diversify their original blog business. 

Create a video blog

Youtube is a big one. Making videos for your own channel and allowing advertising to take place. As your subscribers increase so does your opportunity to earn. Brands are looking to work with real people these days and video is one of the ways that they want to reach out to new and potential customers. Much like a blog, it does take a lot of work and dedication to build up the reputation of your channel. But some people prefer the video editing options that YouTube can give them. When it comes to making your video blog stand out, you will need to consider how professional it looks. A thumbnail before the video starts, decent captions throughout the video to make it inclusive and considering things like YouTube end screen templates to ensure that you give your viewer a call to action to check out other videos or visit social media or online websites. A video blog, much like a blog, can enable you to not only make money with advertisements, but also things such as affiliate marketing, and even using YouTube ads for revenue.

Consider other online ventures

There are other online ventures to consider and many people who work from home have many different income streams to enable them to create a wage that they can comfortably live on. If you are just working for yourself, you may want to think about diverting income streams so that if one option isn’t making as much money as it had done the previous month, you have other revenue options that can pick up the slack and vice versa. Here are a few of the ones to consider:

  • Mystery shopping – Mystery shopping can take place online these days. You can get the option to mystery shop websites and make purchases, handle online conversations and communications, and then review feedback. Mystery shopping can also take place outside of the home, so you can click on the job online and then perform it within the deadline. This can not only give you a fee for the job but also money towards meals and products if the job requires purchases. 
  • Website testing – More companies want people to test out their websites and report back on how easy it is to use. It can be big business. 
  • Matched betting – this is another tax-free option to earn some income and there is a lot of information out there about it to help you get started with it. 
  • Filling out online surveys – last of all there are website platforms that will ask you to fill out online surveys and the money can vary from a couple of dollars for a few minutes’ work to ongoing surveys that will give you consistent revenue. 

All these little options add up and can help you to steady your income online as you navigate some of your bigger prospects and keep the income topped up as and when you need it. 

Starting up an online business with a website

Last of all, there is the obvious option of earning money online and that is to create an online business and start reading, selling or offering up online services . This means creating a website and marketing your product and service online only. It enables you to not have as many set-up costs as it would if you had a shop or business premises, and the cost of setting up a business online is cheaper than other avenues you could explore. Buying products to sell, or sourcing them to be manufactured can also be done through online communication. After the current pandemic we have just gone through, many people have had no alternative than to shop online. It was becoming more and popular anyway but as people have had no choice, the online world for making purchases and starting up new businesses is a fast market right now. Online shopping can be anything from big purchases of furniture to food and clothes. The options are endless and there is money to be made.

So what’s the verdict?

Having only just covered a small indication on how you can make money online I think the answer is it can be very lucrative. Making money online gives you great flexibility in terms of what you can do and how you can earn your money. You no longer have that one option and instead could try a few different ways to increase your money-making potential. One big focus is always going to be ideal, for example starting a blog or a business, but then having smaller income streams can help you to top up the money that you earn online. So many people have done this and found that they not only feel passion for the work they do, but the work-life balance gives them options for flexibility in their life. If you have the time, the patience and the know-how making money online could be an easy income for you.  As a reminder, keep sustainability in mind when building your business.  Business sustainability is a win-win for growing your business and supporting the environment. 

Let’s hope this has inspired you to look into alternative ways to boost your disposable income or to even replace your income with a job online and to start working for yourself in different ways. Who wants the standard nine to five these days anyway?

 

Transforming Sustainability Communications for Greater Impact

By Julie Starr • January 20, 2025
In an era where stakeholders demand transparency and impact, effective sustainability communications are critical to building trust and demonstrating accountability. The Reporting Matters 2024: Changing Gears in Sustainability Reporting report by WBCSD highlights practices that are particularly relevant as we prepare for 2025. At Taiga Company, we believe these strategies—when applied thoughtfully—can empower businesses to communicate their sustainability efforts more effectively. Here are four key takeaways to focus on: 1. Integrate Storytelling with Data Combining compelling narratives with robust data brings your sustainability initiatives to life. Case studies, real-world examples, and context help transform numbers into relatable stories that resonate with stakeholders. Balancing quantitative metrics with qualitative insights ensures your message is both credible and engaging. Takeaway for 2025: Consider how you can use storytelling to make your impact more tangible. For example, instead of just reporting a percentage reduction in emissions, share the initiatives and innovations behind that achievement. 2. Leverage Digital and Visual Tools Sustainability reports are evolving beyond text-heavy formats. Digital tools like interactive microsites, infographics, and videos make your content more accessible and engaging. These formats not only simplify complex metrics but also expand your reach across diverse stakeholder groups. Takeaway for 2025: Explore how digital and visual tools can enhance your communication strategy. A well-designed infographic or a brief video could communicate your impact more effectively than lengthy paragraphs. 3. Engage Stakeholders Actively Stakeholder engagement is no longer a one-way street. Building two-way communication channels —where stakeholders can provide feedback or ask questions—enhances trust and demonstrates your commitment to transparency. Highlighting partnerships and collaborative efforts also showcases a broader ecosystem approach to sustainability. Takeaway for 2025: Develop communication strategies that prioritize stakeholder inclusivity. This could mean hosting feedback sessions, incorporating stakeholder concerns into your reports, or highlighting stories from collaborators and impacted communities. 4. Embed Sustainability in Broader Corporate Strategy Sustainability is not a side project—it should be central to your corporate identity and decision-making processes. Demonstrating how sustainability aligns with financial performance and long-term goals ensures your communications reflect its strategic importance. Takeaway for 2025: Ensure that sustainability isn’t siloed in your organization. Use your communications to illustrate how sustainability drives innovation, resilience, and competitive advantage. Preparing for 2025 As expectations for transparency and impact continue to rise, sustainability communications must evolve to meet the moment. By focusing on storytelling, leveraging digital tools, fostering engagement, and integrating sustainability into broader business strategies, organizations can craft messages that resonate deeply with stakeholders. At Taiga Company, we’re here to help you navigate this evolving landscape. Whether it’s enhancing your storytelling, exploring innovative formats, or aligning your sustainability initiatives with strategic goals, let’s make 2025 the year your communications truly shine.

Leading the Pack: Proven Strategies to Elevate Your Company to the Top

By Julie Starr • December 30, 2024
It starts with understanding what is happening in your industry, so you can be a leader. This includes studying current market trends and identifying stakeholders and their strategies. Understanding where your business fits in the marketplace will give you a way to claim it. When you stay abreast of industry trends and consumer preferences, you can better forecast changes to help make your business more adaptable. 1) Crafting a Clear Vision The first ingredient for a winning organization is fundamentally to have a well-defined vision ; — This is the guiding star that keeps teams aligned, and drives innovation and resilience in tough times. Leaders craft a compelling vision, which paints the picture of how they see their company evolving in the future and why it matters — its purpose that both employees and stakeholders will align with. Begin with the end in mind—Identify your company's core values and what you uniquely contribute to create a vision. This vision is much more than just profits; it also includes a focus on quality, customer service, and making a difference in society. Involve the right people in shaping this vision to make sure it reflects a shared ideal and is realistic. Drive the vision clearly and regularly across all levels of an organization. Bring it to life through storytelling to illustrate how each position makes direct contributions toward achieving the larger mission. Culminate in embedding the vision into what some call common operating procedures, its presence felt at even a level of day-to-day decision-making within strategies and actions along with performance metrics. A vision, well-articulated and written in a compelling way can inspire your team to work differently than the competition and maintain momentum for years to come. It is the plan that takes ambition out to walk and places a company at the vanguard of its industry. 2) Prioritizing Innovation To remain competitive and at the front of the pack Innovation is a key focus for all businesses demanding new ideas, thoughts & ways. In the world of constantly changing marketplaces, innovation makes sure that your business is not just adjusted to change but responsible for it as well. To take your enterprise up a notch, innovation needs to be the one core principle that trickles through every pore in your company. This begins with creating a culture where creativity and risk-taking are welcome. Give permission and means to employees of all levels who wish to try out new things without being afraid of failing. This kind of openness accelerates involvement and reveals white space for breakthrough progress. Leadership support: Leadership weighs in by encouraging new ways of thinking; providing resources, and celebrating successes as well as failures from which to learn. Making innovation one of your strategic priorities requires an ongoing commitment to researching solutions, developing technology, and training human resources. Listen to the industry and customers to see what is needed next. Similarly, collaboration —whether internally with other professional areas or externally with partnering organizations casually called "open innovation"— amplifies the possibilities to discover new opportunities by contrasting different viewpoints and knowledge from professionals specialized in diverse sectors. Ultimately, make sure to measure and iterate on your innovations. Develops metrics for tracking the effectiveness of new initiatives and ensure they best align with company goals. Making innovation a strategic imperative your company distinguishes itself as an industry leader which is preparing to survive disruption and take advantage of opportunities for ongoing high performance. 3) How to Create a Powerful Brand Identity In a saturated market, you need a strong brand identity. The brand you create should reflect what your company stands for in terms of values, mission, and unique selling propositions. You need to be able to maintain consistency, on your website and social media platforms even down customer interactions It increases brand loyalty and improves the trustworthiness of your business. 4) Providing World-Class Customer Service To see the customer satisfied and happy is key to growth. Outstanding customer service results in repeat business and word-of-mouth recommendations. Pay close attention to their complaints, respond quickly, and go above the call of duty to make your customers happy. Satisfied customers are the champions of your brand and can help build loyalty. 5) Leveraging Technology Today, in a rapidly moving business world to become an industry leader, your competitors would need technology. Technology catalyzes innovation , efficiency, and customer satisfaction. So first things first, find relevant technologies that match your business goals. From automation to artificial intelligence or advanced analytics, the proper utilities can automate processes cut costs, and make data-driven business decisions a snap. Adopt data-driven approaches to get a detailed understanding of your customers and the market shifts while ensuring that you operate with accuracy, helping your business be more predictive. In addition, a technology-first approach really improves customer engagement. Gain loyalty with an engaging digital application and custom journeys. Make an investment internally in tools to facilitate collaboration, agility , and workforce productivity so your team can remain relevant in a compressed technology landscape. Technology adoption for success in the modern Needless to say technology is changing fast and the only way we can keep up with this change is by thinking ahead. Keep your team up-to-date with the latest emerging technologies and industry innovations. Work WITH specialists to get the solution implemented and scaled correctly. 6) Fostering Employee Engagement You need to invest in your employees. Active, driven teams are typically a more productive and innovative team that is invested in achieving organizational objectives. Create an encouraging workspace — Celebrate wins, provide growth opportunities, and encourage communication open. Employees who are happy tend to be employees that work more effectively in a company. 7) Expanding Your Network Networking for the journey to reach your company at the top level is a need you are not talking about which is required as part of Business Strategy. Building a solid network opens up pathways for partnership, creativity, and scalability leading your business to be an industry leader. Start by building relationships in your niche. Take part in conferences, trade shows, and networking events to link with peers influencers, and potential partners. Such interactions often result in mutual benefit with contributions to shared resources, partnership, and insight. Your network should not only consist of the most direct people in your industry. Interact: with related professionals, academia, and even  emerging markets. New viewpoints on business puzzles can emerge through varied professional networks. Thwart idleness using online channels and interacting with a larger part of the professional community, for instance, most people on LinkedIn will accept your connection request so use that to keep contacts through time. 8) Delivering High Quality and Reliability Consistency in delivering state-of-the-art products and services is a must. You have to be able to convince the customers they can trust you and your company when it comes to fulfilling their expectations. There are industries like manufacturing that include specialized solutions such as metal plating services in their offers to demonstrate knowledge and dependability, requiring these types of industry having a good position in the minds of customers. 9) Adapting to Market Changes Two of the key traits necessary to lead firms successfully are flexibility and adaptability. Track market behaviors and be ready to adjust your tactics as needed. By embracing change, and seeing it as an avenue for growth rather than an obstacle- companies are far better equipped to survive in dynamic environments. 10) Emphasizing Sustainability Sustainability is not just a trendy buzzword anymore… it's becoming increasingly relevant to the way organizations must manage themselves. Business that promotes the environment and community, not only make a better world but also attract informed customers. In your operations, embody the sustainable practices you preach, and do not be afraid to trumpet how green-friendly they are. 11) Investing in Marketing and PR A strong marketing and public relations effort is key to increasing your company's visibility while establishing credibility. Create an integrated marketing plan (digital advertising, social media engagement, and thought leadership content) Having a powerful online presence combined with all the positive media exposure can go a long way in how your brand is perceived. 12) Performance Metrics Monitoring As you keep moving forward, it is vital to ensure that your company remains on the ball. Progress to your end goal and hopefully areas of improvement will be identified using key performance indicators (KPIs) Having data will help you make the right adjustments based on reality without having to rely on them as much, which keeps even more momentum. 13) Continuous Improvement Continuous improvement is the foundation for sustained success in leading the pack. It involves fostering a culture of learning, regularly assessing performance, and refining processes. Encourage feedback, embrace change, and invest in employee development. By consistently seeking ways to enhance efficiency, quality, and innovation, your company stays agile and competitive. This commitment to ongoing growth ensures long-term excellence and positions your business as an industry leader. In conclusion, rising to the highest of your company means a thoughtful blend of innovation, flexibility, and presenting execution. Understanding your market, building a strong brand, and investing in both employees and customers can make you the pioneer of an industry. Be it using the latest technology or providing metal plating services , keep your immediate goal as value – and get solutions. When you have this vision and a hunger to get better, your company will lead the pack — but more importantly other companies (and people) will want to follow in its footsteps.
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