Types of services. How to make a free online service bring money Clients do not know what recurring payments are

The problem of monetizing web projects is still relevant, despite the fact that Internet business has existed for a long time and successfully. Together with users of the Quora service, we will try to answer the question of how to make money on a free online service.

Despite the fact that models for monetizing web projects seem to have been tested and proven effective, the problem of making money in the Internet business is relevant and acute. Especially when it comes to content projects and online services.

Even a large audience does not guarantee success for a web service, as recently demonstrated by The Old Reader service, which could not withstand the influx of users and announced its closure.

Users of the Quora service have identified several of the most typical ways to make money from free web services. Many of these models have been successfully tested by the largest companies from which you should learn how to make money.

"Freemium" model

The Freemium model is usually called a classic for most web services. This model is the most tested and has demonstrated its effectiveness more often than others. Freemium involves offering customers a free product (such as a program or game) with limited functionality or capabilities.

For a fee, the user receives the “missing” functionality. Most SaaS products use this model.

Limited trial period

This model does not work for all products, but it has also proven to be effective. Initially, the product is offered free of charge, so to speak, “to try” for a limited period of time. After the expiration of the established period, in order to continue working with the product or service, the user must switch to a paid model of mutual settlements.

For example, 37 Signals offers a free 30-day trial for most of its products.

Companies that want to make money from advertising need to know as much as possible about their customers and deliver relevant and targeted advertising to them. This is how Facebook and Google make money.

Sponsorship model

In the event that the service indirectly helps the authorities and/or large companies, it is quite possible to use a sponsorship model; in other words, you can try to contact an interested organization for support. This scheme finances one of the largest startups operating in the MOOC education market - the project, sponsored by the Gates Foundation and Google.

Wikipedia model

The essence of this model is to collect donations from users. Many WordPress plugins, open source programs and applications, and Wikipedia use this model.

Model Gillette

Printers and razors from the famous company are sold at reduced prices, since the main and long-term profit will be provided by replaceable cartridges or blades. A printer or machine will be useless if its owner does not spend money on another highly profitable additional product from the manufacturer.

On the Internet, for example, you can create a cloud service that will allow you to create and edit documents for free, but in order to copy the finished file to your local computer, you will need to pay or subscribe.

Open source model

This model consists of providing a free product with the expectation of receiving money from its support, configuration, customization and installation. Most open source software works on this model.

Fees for exceeding free limits

This model is similar to the Freemium model. Users are provided with a full-fledged product for free, in which the volume (scale) of its use is limited - for example, data storage space (as in Dropbox), or the number of downloads. To use the product to the extent of his needs, the client has to pay.

Zynga model

Making a profit from the sale of virtual products or opening new levels within a free game.

Model "Credit card"

In this model, the product is made free for one party (consumers), and through network effects, revenue comes from the other party (sellers). A similar model is already used by Facebook, Yelp and other online services.

Additional sales/cross-sells (Up-sell/Cross-sell)

Offering a free product in order to promote a premium product in the same segment. For example, a financial website might offer a free stock quote information service, but offer analytical reports and financial planning tools for a fee.

Brand creation

The free service can be used to create a brand, image, information field, which will then allow you to sell premium products (related or not directly to the free product).

Affiliate (partner) marketing

Sell to Google By building a large user base, you can ensure that it can attract a major buyer such as Microsoft or Google. They, in turn, could use it to sell their premium products/services. Many companies such as Freebase and Powerset have found their niche in this area.

Make a free service a contribution to the success of your next business

If you haven't been able to get any of your previous free products to make money, use them to build your personal brand and increase your popularity in hopes of securing funding for your next startup.

If a business cannot be called purely altruistic, it means that there is something in it that can be sold for money. As the saying goes: “If you don't pay, you are not a customer, but you are a product.”

Most company managers and advertising producers have no idea about the number of sites on which video content can be posted. YouTube is just one of the most famous, but there are dozens of others of varying quality levels besides it. What follows is a selection of the best paid video sharing services, listing the main features of each of them - their content requirements, their prices, as well as data on the admission of commercial materials.

Paid and enterprise platforms

Many free platforms don't give you full control over your content. Especially if you are not an ordinary user, but have a corporate account that belongs to your company or your production. It is in such cases that we recommend that you use the services of paid services. The only (but significant) drawback of all such services is their price, which sometimes reaches hundreds of dollars per month. But at the same time, you get first-class service and full control over the content, as well as many additional tools.

SproutVideo is an excellent corporate video hosting solution that offers a variety of features aimed at business clients. Here we can note security and privacy, the ability to use an SSL channel, already formed white lists of domain names, the ability to download and play videos in HD format, the ability to play videos on mobile devices, edit the appearance of the video player and, of course, the ability to embed videos - fragments for website pages. The statistics function will clearly display information about the number of video views, where the video was viewed from, you can determine the most popular videos, and also find out where your videos are used on the Internet.

Additional information:

* Cost: from $10 to $750 per month, depending on the size of the bandwidth and the amount of disk space. There is also a free trial version (which, however, will also cost you $1).

Viddler is a service for posting videos related to business, educational institutions and non-profit organizations. The service offers three tariff plans, depending on your requirements (it should also be noted that there is an editable corporate plan). Viddler allows you to post videos in HD format, allows you to embed the player into the pages of your website, and also play videos via mobile devices. There is also an independent advertising network that will allow you to generate income using your own videos, and it is also worth noting the ability to sell access to video files, which facilitates the creation of personalized mailings - both of these functions are available in the Business plan.

Additional information:

* Cost: from $50 per month for the Pro plan, from $100 per month for the Business plan (discounts are also provided for representatives of educational institutions and non-profit organizations).

*Commercial content: allowed

Google Video for Business is part of the Google Apps suite of applications. The tool is optimized for internal corporate networks. The service is a private, secure video file exchanger that greatly facilitates the process of distributing training videos within the company. The service can be accessed from anywhere. It works great on PC, MAC and Linux.

Additional information:

*Cost: Included with Google Apps for $5/month or $50/year.
* Content restrictions: no instructions on the site
*Commercial content: allowed

iPlayerHD is an excellent business service for posting high-quality videos. There are no advertisements, there is a DRM streaming option, you can independently determine whether this or that video can be embedded in website pages (or select domains on which the video can be embedded). In addition, it is worth noting that the service allows you to upload videos of any length. Statistics will also be available to you. The service system automatically detects the type of device from which the video is being played, so you don’t need to worry about mobile users. Among other things, you can eliminate the possibility of transcoding your videos.

Additional information:

* Cost: $30/month or $300/year. A 30-day trial is available.
* Content restrictions: no instructions on the site
*Commercial content: allowed

Framesocket is a paid service for developers designed to host videos. The service offers you an API that can greatly facilitate the download process (as well as the ability to download a bootloader for installation on your PC), easily design a video player, edit channels, and organize compatibility with mobile devices. The API also offers tools for automatically generating target audiences. You can “collect” videos from an infinite number of users and sources, and then securely host or store them in the Framesocket system.

Additional information:

* Cost: $25/month (including 5GB of disk space with the option to purchase additional space at a rate of $0.50/GB)
* Content restrictions: no instructions on the site
*Commercial content: allowed

23 Video is a paid video hosting service aimed at enterprise commercial content with intensive playback mode. Plans include 1TB of traffic per month with the option to purchase additional data. You will be able to upload an unlimited number of videos, register an unlimited number of users, and it is also worth noting the fact that the downloaded video is not limited in duration. You will have full control over the appearance of the video player and you can also get your own fully editable video website along with the domain. It also provides powerful statistics tools, as well as a variety of promotional tools (including the ability to create a subscription via email, podcasting, iTunes or AppleTV). In addition, all downloaded videos can also be automatically posted on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Google Video.

Additional information:

* Cost: $675/month + $250 for the purchase of each subsequent TB of traffic
* Content restrictions: no instructions on the site
*Commercial content: allowed

Vzaar is a professional, powerful video platform that is extremely easy to use. It includes a video player with the ability to edit colors, borders, overlay logos and texts, place links to videos, subtitles and much more. The videos are posted in high definition and are fully compatible with the iPhone. You will be able to manage privacy settings, domain settings and many others. The service also allows you to play videos automatically and even loop them. Vzaar also offers eBay integration tools, the ability to get video embed codes (including HTTPS embed codes), and Google Analytics and Mail Chimp integrations.

Additional information:

* Cost: from $29 to $499/month depending on bandwidth, number of videos and optional channels for iOS.
* Content restrictions: it is prohibited to post uninteresting content, as well as offensive or obscene (including pornography)
*Commercial content: allowed

Brightcove offers you an enterprise-grade video hosting platform that also provides live video streaming, Youtube synchronization, and other promotional tools. There is also an opportunity to monetize your channel and place advertisements. It is also worth noting the presence of statistics generation tools and integration options. The service provides 15 video player design templates from which you can choose the most suitable one. In addition, all these templates can be edited. The platform's well-thought-out system allows you to play both Flash and HTML5 videos, eliminating the need to use different players and supplement site pages with additional code.

Additional information:

* Cost: from 99$ to 499$/month
* Content restrictions: It is prohibited to post videos of a pornographic nature, as well as videos containing elements of violence, humiliation, insults, slander and anything that may violate the law.
*Commercial content: allowed

Vimeo Pro is the paid version of the Vimeo service. Videos uploaded under the Pro plan will not appear on the regular Vimeo page, so you will be able to upload commercial content. The plan provides 50GB of disk space and an unlimited number of plays on the site, as well as 250,000 plays of embedded videos hosted outside the service (it is possible to purchase additional space and plays), without restrictions on duration and traffic. All videos can be downloaded in the highest quality (Full 1080p) and will play perfectly on mobile devices, tablets and connected TVs. The client of this tariff plan receives Vimeo Universal Player and HTML5 support.

Additional information:

* Cost: $199 per year

*Commercial content: allowed

Oculu offers unlimited commercial video uploading, although you may encounter some limitations depending on the plan you choose. The service is incredibly easy to use, as you will be presented with a special settings panel for each individual video. Oculu provides a variety of video embedding options (including standard embedding methods, overlays, and video that opens in a separate window with the rest of the content obscured), as well as tools to manage and optimize your video campaigns.

Additional information:

* Cost: from 19$ to 245$/month
*Content restrictions: There are no guidelines on the site.
*Commercial content: allowed

Ooyala greatly simplifies the process of managing video content on most CMSs, including WordPress, ExpressionEngine, Drupal and others. The service automatically transcodes your videos to various formats and resolutions, allowing you to play your videos on a variety of different devices and displays. You can design the player according to your own preferences. This is achieved through fully editable video player templates that can be worked with using Silverlight, Flash and HTML5. Ooyala also offers a special API for integration with third-party CMS, as well as for multi-downloading and importing content (including content from the Youtube video service). The platform works with Flash Access Digital Rights Management and supports custom metadata. Full synchronization with YouTube, Facebook and iTunes, as well as other services, is possible.

Additional information:

* Cost: from $500/month
*Content restrictions: There are no guidelines on the site.
*Commercial content: allowed

Additional information:

* Cost: not specified, free trial available.
* Content restrictions: It is prohibited to post videos of a pornographic nature, as well as videos containing elements of violence, humiliation, insults, slander and anything that may violate the law.
*Commercial content: allowed

Limelight Networks brings you the Limelight Video Platform, which provides flexible tools for publishing, managing, analyzing and monetizing your video content. You can manage an entire online video stream using Limelight, or individual parts as needed. The service offers a very convenient method for managing metadata, integration with an existing CMS, analytics, and built-in search for videos. It is also worth noting the availability of free technical support, subscriptions and much more.

Additional information:

* Cost: not specified
*Content restrictions: There are no guidelines on the site.
*Commercial content: allowed

GravityLab Multimedia offers you many different tariff plans for hosting video content, which will further allow you to broadcast videos on screens of any devices and resolutions. All videos play very quickly (with the exception of just having to wait a bit for buffering). The service works with Windows Media, Quicktime and MP4 formats, as well as streaming playback in Flash, with the ability to stop the video or rewind it. The creators do not require you to commit to an annual agreement, so you can cancel the service at any time.

Additional information:

* Cost: from 19.99$/month to 420$/month
*Content restrictions: There are no guidelines on the site.
*Commercial content: allowed

Here I give an overview of some Internet services and a little theory on their creation. More specific information is yet to come.

Lyrical digression.

The lion's share of authors of articles about making money on the Internet talk about how to create an information product and then distribute it online. It would be a stretch to call this a business. The quality of these same “information goods” leaves much to be desired, and the methods of distribution are more like “selling something absolutely useless to everyone.”

Often, the authors offer an affiliate system for distributing these “super-useful” products. Many newcomers who dream of working on the Internet fall for colorful “temptations” that promise to easily receive fabulous incomes by paying only once for the goods. True, after making an entry fee into the affiliate system, they understand that it was a veiled financial pyramid and only its organizers themselves will be able to make money in it. After this, many are disappointed in the possibilities of making money on the Internet and they have a strong impression that there are only scammers on the Internet and it is impossible to earn money honestly on the Internet.

I in no way want to say that all affiliate programs are a dishonest way to make money. On the contrary, it is a fairly effective way to distribute goods online. BUT! I condemn people who produce low-quality information products, trying to sell them for exorbitant amounts of money. And today this is a big problem for the network.

Why am I writing about this? In the last few months, I have become especially intensely interested in e-commerce and looking for articles on this topic. To my surprise, more than ninety percent of these articles were about “information goods.” And what was especially striking, mainly, were the translations of “bourgeois” authors, or the articles of our Internet space figures, altered in their own way. I don’t think it’s worth saying that the American experience needs to be applied quite carefully everywhere, including the Internet. After all, no one has yet canceled the fundamental difference between our mentalities. What works “there” does not work here. But that's not what this is about.

I was struck by the “narrowness” of the topics of these articles. After all, online business is as diverse and multifaceted as offline business. This situation needs to be corrected, so in today’s episode I will talk about the field of e-services – i.e. about Internet services.

Introduction.

No one will argue that the “trick of the day” of offline business is services. In addition to the fact that this is an extremely profitable business, it has now spread to almost all areas of activity. The Internet is no exception here and provides unique opportunities to occupy very promising and profitable niches.

The bulk of services on the Internet are represented by services – paid and free. Since in my newsletter we are talking about business, we will only consider paid services here. On the other hand, most free services eventually “dream” of becoming paid, but at the stage of creation and testing they can be used without payment. And this is quite normal practice.

Types of services.

It is perhaps not possible at the moment to give a clear classification of all e-services. This market is just emerging, and every day dozens and hundreds of completely different sites appearing that provide certain services.

Below I will give examples of online services that are quite indicative for those who are thinking about operating in this area. I chose the examples absolutely arbitrarily, and you can continue this list yourself.

These services are widespread on the Internet thanks to their affiliate programs and do not need any special introduction. The bulk of their services are free, but additional features (moving the profile to the top of the ratings, voice greeting, ...) are activated only after payment.

This strategy has proven its effectiveness and now dating services are extremely popular.

The system for organizing the affiliate program is also interesting: the partner gets at his disposal a fully customizable website with an already populated database of participants. All work on database moderation is undertaken by the service organizer. The partner receives part of the profit from ordering paid services on his website.

An example of such a site on my project “Crimean Portal”: www.love.crimea-gu.ru

System for buying and selling links. You can find many of these on the Internet, but now I want to look at the SAPE project. This is a young but intensively developing project.

This service provides the opportunity to buy and sell links from all pages of websites automatically. It allows you to quickly select and buy the necessary links for the optimizer, and also quickly sell these links to the site owner.

For their services, service owners receive 10% of the payment amount. The service has an affiliate program to attract referrals, which made it possible to spread information about it very quickly.

Internet site address: www.sape.ru

Another service for optimizers, this time quite old - 1PS. This service allows you to automatically register a site in 2500+ directories, which greatly facilitates the work of link managers. The system created by the project programmers can be quickly supplemented with new catalogs. At the time of writing, 351,300 sites were registered through 1PS. At the same time, many sites were re-registered through the service, so this figure can be safely multiplied by 2.

And since this service receives money for each site registered in it, it is easy to understand that this is a fairly successful project.

Website address: www.1ps.ru

Here I want to look at the WebMoney payment system. The system does not need any introduction, because it is used by millions of people around the world.

After registering, the user receives a wallet account in the system for free. Further, when the owner of the wallet sends a payment, 0.8% is transferred from the payment amount to the system. This is the main part of WebMoney's income.

WebMoney is another example of a successful e-service. Payment volumes in just one day amount to $10+ million, and the daily number of registrations is 4000+.

Service address: http://webmoney.ru

Perhaps this overview list of Internet services is enough to understand that you can earn very decent money on the Internet in the field of e-services. Moreover, this list can be continued for a long time.

Creating a service.

Like any type of business, creating a service must begin with the formation of an idea, which must then develop into a clearly formulated action plan. The further success of the project will depend on the quality and prospects of the idea.

There shouldn’t be any problems with ideas either: these can be training or consulting services, all kinds of service and information portals,... I’m ready to discuss your thoughts and ideas at the E-Businessmen Club (http://www.crimea-gu.ru/talk/ viewforum.php?f=17) I don’t think it’s worth saying that you should be well versed in your chosen field of activity and working in it should be enjoyable. Otherwise, the chances of project success drop sharply.

As for the technical implementation of the project, there are options. You can write the project yourself. But this is only if you have knowledge and skills in programming. Otherwise, you can hire a programmer or use ready-made solutions, if they exist. Naturally, what the programmer writes will be much more flexible and closer to your requirements, so I recommend leaning toward this option.

That's all for today. This issue turned out to be a review, but I am ready to discuss this topic in more depth and specialized. Write a letter with your questions. I am ready to discuss any questions and proposals related to Internet business.

I also remind you that there is a section on the forum that I called “E-Commerce Club”. After completing a simple registration, you can become a member of this club and receive information and advice from like-minded people. I invite everyone!

Finally, the day has come, and you are thinking or have already decided to create your own blog. You already have a huge number of topics and ideas in your head about how and what to write about, but you don’t have the slightest idea about where to create a blog or create a personal page. Don't be discouraged - nowadays it's easy and fast. Read on for this article with my recommendations.

What is a blog and the goals of its creation

An online blog is a place where everyone can express their thoughts in any accessible form. The blog has become a diary of the twenty-first century, having acquired electronic form from paper, which has greatly expanded the range of human capabilities.

When choosing a place to create a blog, it is very important to consider what it will be intended for.

The main goals of creating a blog:

Traditional use or blog “for the soul”. Here a person can write whatever comes to his mind on a variety of topics. The most common of them: travel, vacation, personal life, work, home, garden, vegetable garden, beauty secrets, cars, fashion and many others. You can share your thoughts, experiences, knowledge with the whole world, and, if you wish, you can remain absolutely anonymous.

Earnings and advertising. For example, your blog could be about a specific product or company. Accordingly, it should be designed for the target audience and posted on sites more relevant to this topic, etc. If your goal is to earn as much money as possible, then the main task will be to promote your blog and attract visitors - the more popular it is, the more income it will bring.

Criteria for creation

If the goal is clearly defined, then it's time to establish the criteria that are important to you while creating a blog.

One of the most important criteria is payment. There are a million different paid and free opportunities for blogging, so here, as they say, the master is the master. If you don’t want to pay, your option is free blog hosting, these include LiveJournal and liveinternet and blogger.com from Google. Let's talk more about this below. It’s one thing if you decide to simply express your thoughts and share your plans and dreams with like-minded people, but it’s quite another thing if a blog is created to attract income. If you have serious intentions in terms of work and earnings, then I would recommend that you fork out some money.

The reasons for being afraid to pay for a blog are also different. For example, a person decided to start this business for the first time and is afraid that he will not succeed, or he will get tired of it in a month, or he is afraid to transfer money to nowhere. There are quite a lot of different free hosting services available for you, which are used by thousands of people around the world. Including me too.

What do you need

Hosting is a service that allows you to place a resource on a web server, or provides hosting of someone else’s web server on your site.

Free services:

Google is one of those that provides free blogging services. The most famous of them is Blogger.com. Initially, the service did not belong to Google, but was released by Pyra Labs back in 1999. But already in 2003 it became part of Google. Today it is the most famous service with powerful and reliable servers, and is also very easy to use. A blog can be created in literally three minutes, and the advantage is that its appearance can be easily customized. If you choose it, be prepared for your blog to have a third-level domain ending in blogspot.com. This is common for free services.

Another Google product is a social network Plus.Google.com. Despite the fact that this is still not a service, it is in no way inferior to them. Although it does not have as many text formatting functions, the network is created for communication, which will attract the attention of many more people to you. By the way, I’m there too, add me to the circles.

The next one of the most famous and popular services is Livejournal.com or as it is simply called LiveJournal. Here you can also purchase a paid account, but even this does not give you the right to the domain. By the way, it will also not be higher than the third level, as in all similar services.

Equally popular is WordPress.com, where you can run both paid and free blogs. Here you can get a second-level domain, but it will already be paid.

LiveInternet.ru- or, as people say, just a lyre. This is a fairly simple service, known for collecting statistics for websites. Most often, it is used simply as a “diary” in which people share their news and thoughts. You won’t make much money there, and the abundance of advertising sometimes discourages you from going there.

Twitter. A well-known and very popular service for microblogging among young people (as well as celebrities, stars, politicians). The length of messages here is strictly limited.

Well, for those who like to take pictures of themselves, of course instagram.com.

I am on all these networks, come and add me as a friend.

Pros of free services

No fee;
A blog is created in minutes;
Anyone can use it, even without deep knowledge of programming;
Easy to find in search engines.

Disadvantages of free services

You won't make a lot of money here;
Hosting sets clear restrictions on the use of your blog, that is, you will not be able to do everything you want;
The user receives a third-level domain;
Outside users trust sites with free services much less.

Where to create a paid blog

If you decide to spend money and create your own hosting, then there is nothing difficult about it. By the way, don’t be afraid of the word “paid”; it’s not as expensive as you think.

Where can I get a domain and hosting?

No blog can exist without a domain name and hosting. We register the domain in REG.RU. The hosting that I have encountered and recommend to everyone is Timeweb.ru for beginners and firstvds when you realize that blogging is for you and traffic starts to grow. You can transfer your sites from hosting, but hosting, in search of the best one for you, is not difficult.

Also popular among paid hosting services are majordomo.ru And Best-Hoster.ru.

Majordomo.ru is a paid hosting provider that is now developing very rapidly. In Russia, it is already one of the five most popular due to its excellent operational support and its rich functionality. The fee for such hosting can be quite small, from 99 rubles per month, and reach up to 450 rubles. Accordingly, the range of services provided varies slightly. The popular hosting Best-Hoster.ru is also designed for the varying solvency of its clients; the more you are willing to pay, the more disk space you are given. Take a look at these options and many others. Those that I personally recommend are written above.

Important features of paid hosting:

If you use paid hosting, you have the opportunity to create a subdomain for your blog.
Paid hosting has unlimited traffic.
All paid services support PHP and MySQL databases.
Paid hosting can provide the client with additional functions to improve the functioning of the blog (various scripts, etc.), so the user does not even need to delve into the intricacies of programming.

When choosing a domain, it is important to consider the audience you are going to work for. For example, if the audience is Russian, then it would be better to choose.ru. Popular for the West are addresses that end in .com and .net. To simplify the complex procedure of choosing a domain name for a website, come up with it in advance. You will also need to provide your passport information and assign the DNS server to your hosting. How to do this and what it is, read my article about it.

Which engines are most convenient to use?

DataLife Engine is a paid engine that is very popular among bloggers. You can simply get acquainted with its capabilities and it will immediately become clear whether it is worth using. It is very convenient that you can create almost any web page on its CMS, and when you understand the basic level, you can download additional modules.

I had a website about Forex on this engine, I didn’t really like DLE.
For beginners, I recommend using WordPress, it is easy to use and literally anyone can figure out how it works. In this article, read how to make a website on WordPress.

Joomla is an engine used by professionals, despite the fact that it is not the best in terms of functionality, and I personally don’t like it either.

Pros of paid services

If you work properly, you can make money from them.
You can do anything from your page, both stylistically and functionally.
Second level domain.
The site does not depend on third-party resources.

Disadvantages of paid services

Long creation time.
Payment.
To build a website you need certain knowledge.
In the first months of site development, it will not be in first place in search engines.

A beginner can create his own blog either on a paid or free basis, it all depends on what goals he puts into creating it. But remember, the main thing in a blog is what it says, not where it is located.

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