Hi ,

I feel a bit hesitant writing a "make money online" letter, given how saturated the internet is with this kind of content. — And most of it usually leads to a dead end. However, I promised to deliver value to the tribe, and value I will deliver. In this letter, I will share with you 5 tools that I have used to make money over the Internet.

First, let me emphasize that I have always been a hustler, as you may have noticed from my previous writings. These are not just cases of "I saw someone use them and they made money..." These are first-hand, personal experiences of mine that can still be replicated today. Some of these tools I used 3-4 years ago, and I didn't stop using them because they stopped working for me, but because I outgrew them. Nevertheless, some of these tools are still integrated into my workflow and contribute to my earnings to this day.

To make replication even more realistic for you, I'll include the prices I charged when I used these tools. Let's get started! 🚀

1. Canva

Everyone knows Canva right? The most simplified graphic design tool on the planet. But not everyone knows how to use it. The trick is to use templates. Brands and businesses will always need graphic designs, so there’s always a market for this. Selling Canva designs held me together before I got my first online job. Depending on complexity, I would sell flyer designs for $10 to $15 to foreign clients, and N5,000 to N10,000 to Nigerian clients. I also sold custom template packs for around N25,000 to N35,000 for a pack of 6 designs. Here’s a Canva tutorial you can use.

2. CapCut

CapCut is a free and easy-to-use video editing tool that many upcoming YouTubers use to edit their videos. It is a more sophisticated version of the tool I used, which was YouCut, to edit videos for a Nigerian brand's social media channel in 2020. Unfortunately, I didn't get to set the price on that one. I was paid N5,000 for short videos (1 to 5 minutes) and N15,000 for long videos (10 to 30 minutes long). However, based on industry standards, that's a ridiculously cheap rate, which is why I prefer to work with foreign brands. Here's a CapCut tutorial that you can follow.

3. Zoho Mail

This one saved me from Sapa in 2021. While Google's pricing starts at $72/year for one business email (for example, hi@vikijonson.com), Zoho offers 5 secure business emails per domain name at $0/year. Small businesses often jump at offers like this, but many people don't know how to configure their domain to an SMTP service provider. That's where you come in: you can set up free business emails for any business using their domain in 30 minutes or less and charge them for it. I charged $50 (equivalent to N32,500) to set up one email account and $100 (equivalent to N65,000) to set up 5 emails. I still do this from time to time but at higher rates. Here’s how to set up Zoho emails.

4. Carrd

Carrd is a web design tool that enables you to quickly and easily build beautiful landing pages. In 2019, I used Carrd to build landing pages before I learned how to use WordPress. I charged $100 (equivalent to N50,000 then) for this service.

Carrd is free to use, but you need to upgrade to at least the $9/year plan to link a domain name to your landing pages. Ideally, you should include this fee in the client’s bill. Here’s how to build landing pages with Carrd.

5. WordHero

I discovered this tool in 2021. Although it is not a free tool, a free alternative is Chat-GPT. Before Chat-GPT launched, I used WordHero extensively to write articles and website copies. In one project, I wrote ten articles for a healthcare company's blog. They paid me $40 per article, which amounted to $400 in total (equivalent to N300,000).

I’m still offering my top 100 Chat-GPT prompts to the Digital Discourse tribe members for free. Check the footer of this email for more details.

It's important to note that the number of tools you use is not what determines how much money you can make. Rather, it's the quality of work you produce using these tools that counts. That's why it's important to invest time in learning — watch the tutorial videos — and practicing on dummy projects before offering these skills as paid services.

I included the prices I charged to give you an idea of what is obtainable. Feel free to use my pricing as a reference, — you can even charge more — but don't charge less than what you deserve, as this might negatively affect the perception of your service.

Talk next week,

Viki 💜