Level 1 • Module 1 • Lesson 1
What You Will Learn
Many beginners hear the words “make money online” before anyone explains the work they must do.
This lesson will explain what honest online income means. You will learn that people earn it by learning useful skills and doing useful work honestly and well.
After this lesson, you should be able to:
- explain honest online income in simple words;
- name several kinds of useful online work;
- explain why people pay someone to do useful work online;
- understand that online income does not come by itself;
- understand that no one can promise that you will earn money;
- write down your honest reason for learning how to earn money online.
The Lesson
Online Income Is Still Real Work
People earn online income by doing useful work or running a business through the internet.
The internet changes how people find those who need their work, send the work, receive orders, and get paid. However, the person still needs skill and effort. The work must also be honest, useful, and done well.
A teacher who teaches through video calls still prepares lessons. A writer who publishes helpful articles still studies the subject, writes, checks, and improves each article.
Always Ask Where the Money Comes From
A beginner should ask:
“Who is paying, and why are they paying?”
In honest work, someone pays because they receive useful work, a product, or a service. The person paying may be a customer, employer, advertiser, company, or other business.
If no one can clearly explain where the money comes from, stop. Check that way of earning money carefully before you pay or invite anyone else to join.
What Value Means
Value means something that is truly useful to another person.
It may teach a skill, answer a question, save time, or make something easier to understand. It may also help someone make a better choice, provide a useful service, or solve a problem.
Something can be useful even when it is simple. For example, a clear article may teach a new worker how to arrange the documents needed for a job. That article provides value.
There Are Several Honest Ways to Earn Online
People can earn honest online income in different ways. For example, they may:
- do paid work for clients online;
- work online for an employer;
- create useful things that people can download or use online;
- teach people online;
- help a business by doing work through the internet;
- publish helpful articles, videos, or guides;
- tell people honestly about useful affiliate products.
In the MMOBT Learning System, you will build a useful website as your main project. The website will help you arrange helpful information in one place. Later, it may also support more than one honest way of earning money online.
No One Can Promise That You Will Earn Money
A website, course, tool, or way of earning money cannot honestly promise that a beginner will earn a certain amount by a certain date.
How much a person earns depends on many things. These include how useful the work is, how well and how often the person works, what people need, company rules, and the costs involved. It may also depend on how many other people are offering similar work.
MMOBT will teach and guide learners honestly. It cannot promise that anyone will earn money.
A Nigerian Example
Bola works in a school in Ibadan. She wants another way to earn money, but she keeps her job while she learns.
Many parents ask how they can help their children read at home. Bola begins learning how to build a useful website that answers their questions.
She knows that this work may take time. She does not expect money to come by itself.
A Better Way to Think
Weak thinking:
I will join any website or company that promises quick money. I believe earning money online is easier than other work.
Better thinking:
I will learn how to do useful online work that helps people. I will continue doing the work and duties I already have. I will carefully check every new way of earning money.
Read More
These MMOBT articles explain what beginners should know before they start and why they should not rush:
- What Beginners Should Know Before Starting Affiliate Marketing
- Why Beginners Should Not Rush in Affiliate Marketing
Practical Action
Take a notebook or use your phone. Write down your answers to these questions:
- Why do I want to learn how to earn money online?
- What useful work would I like to learn?
- How could that work help another person?
- Who may pay me for that work, and why?
- What work or duties must I continue doing while I learn?
Write honest answers. Do not write what you think other people want to hear.
Check Your Understanding
Answer these questions in your own words. You may look back at the lesson when you need to.
- What does honest online income mean?
- Why should you ask who is paying and why they are paying?
- Name two kinds of useful work that people can do online.
- Why can no one promise that you will earn money from a website, course, tool, or other way of earning money?
- What should you do when no one can clearly explain where the money comes from?
Next Lesson
In Lesson 2, you will learn why quick-money thinking can harm beginners. You will also learn what to expect when you begin.