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Making Money Inderectly - The OPS Model

In a prevous article we looked at the APS Model, which talks about making money online directly. In this posting we will look at the OPS model which is about making money indirectly. In this model, there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but it will take awhile to get there. The good news is that you can earn more money eventually by focusing on OPS. The bad news is that it will take awhile to get there.

So what is OPS? It stands for Opportunity, Promotion, and Skill Buidling. With this model, the aim it to do things things for free at first, and then try to monetize later. First and foremost, you grow your audience and you do this by offering free content. The idea is to create content and develop a big following and then monetize that following eventually my promoting a product or service or by selling ads (as we talking about in the APS model).

The nice thing about the OPS model is there is little pressure to get revenue right off the bat. That aim is grow an audience and develop a following so you can serve them better in the future. In the tech world of start-ups, this is often the most common beginning for companies thinking big. Think of some of the biggest names on the Internet: Google, Yahoo, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube. All of these companies started out by offereing free services that they used to develop a large following and then monetize much later down the line. This method is part of the freemium model, in which companies offer something for free to gain customers for a later time.

For teachers just starting out, the OPS model is ideally the best way to go. At frist, teachers can focus on creating content that meets their students needs. Over time, as their content develops and their audience grows, they can think

Opportunity

By creating a site or online presence, a teacher can serve not only their students but teachers and learners beyond their classroom as well. As a teacher's online presence grows, so does their name recogniztion and sense of authority. This can lead to future jobs, publication offers, or the chance to work with others in the future. Creating free content for others to access works sort of like an internship. There is no pay at the beginning, the work being done gets notices and can lead to empoyment opportunites in the future.

Promotion

By developing an audience online, you also gain the chance to promote yourself or products in the future. When first starting out, many teachers will still be developing their skills and finding their way, so there is no rush to monetize their efforts immediately. The promotion angle is done very effective in the entertainment world. Think of all the actors and movie stars who appear on talk shows and TV programs. The usually do appearances for free because the promotion will lead people to see thier movies or buy their books later. In the Internet world. blogs and podcasts use this approach often by building an audience with free content which they can marke to later.

Skill Building

The last factor, skill building, is all about getting in your reps in and developing your skill set. Like the singers doing small venues or the ball player playing in a local league, the object is to develop your craft. As they say, practice makes perfect, so teachers just starting out online might want to focus on reps and not revunue in order to develop in to hot commodity. The increase in skill could be writing better content or cooler code. Increased skill equates to higher value, which means more money down the road.