The idea of making money online is attractive to many,
primarily because of the benefits it offers. Two main incentives
are motivational factors here: Thelucrative potential of
the internet as well as thepersonal freedom that comes
with working without a fixed schedule or geographic location.
One doesn’t need to suffer through monotonous day jobs
which offer poor returns for the time invested.
Indeed, why make $7 an hour selling coffee behind a counter
when you can easily earn the same amount by spending
10 minutes to write an article on your blog?
Even if you’re not looking to work full-time at home,
the internet offers a viable source of money which can help
to supplement your regular income.
A basic search on Google will reveal many ways to make money online
and most of the websites listed in the search results pages
all seem to focus on the same methods of making money.
I thought it’ll be a good idea to categorize and compile a list
of the online money making methods available so that future
visitors to Dosh Dosh will have a reference point which provides
them with all information they need.
This list uses a rather broad categorization, which I believe covers
most of the ways to make money online. More methods and
examples of how to make money online will be added to this list,
which can be considered a work in progress.
1. Set up a Blog or Website for Profit
One of the best ways to make money online is to create a
website or blog which allows you to earn money from the
display of advertisements or the sale of products and services.There are many different types of money making blogs which
will help you to make money and you’ll need to pick a model
that suits your interests, schedule and skill levels. A simple
no frills blog will allow you to easily pull in at least several
hundred dollars in a month through the use of
paid blogging websites alone.
For more information, check out Dosh Dosh’s archive of articles
on how to make money blogging. Apart from blogs, other
websites can easily help you to generate passive income as well.
These can range from e-commerce websites, social communities
and information portals to basic landing pages for affiliate
programs.
2. Learn about Affiliate Marketing and The Art of Selling
This involves promoting a specific product or service and
earning commissionswhenever the referred user makes
a purchase based on your recommendations.Affiliate marketing is a big and profitable industry that covers
a wide spectrum of topics and fields. If you’ve got an interest
in fitness, you can make money promoting fitness videos or
courses. In terms of fashion wear, you can earn commissions
by recommending friends to clothing or
t-shirt companies with affiliate programs.
The amount of money you make depends on what you are
selling. Done correctly, affiliate marketing is one of the most
powerful ways to make money from the web.Amazon,
Commission Junction and ClickBank are three of the biggest
affiliate marketplaces you can use if you’re branching out into
affiliate marketing.
3. Start an Online Business
Starting your own online business or company allows you to
make money off the provision of specific services or products
you may have. Some examples of popular online trades
include web design, copywriting and internet marketing.It isn’t difficult to start a business. It’s all about hiring the
right people or having enough knowledge and connections
within a specific industry. You should do some in depth
research before you decide to settle on a specific niche for
your business.Entrepreneur.com has a good collection of tips
on how to start an online business.
4. Try Out Domaining and the Online Real Estate Trade
This is the business of buying, selling, developing and
making money from domain names. A domainer purchases
many domain names and sells them to interested buyers.
This is similar to real estate investing offline and domainers
also make money by developing websites and reselling
This practice is known assite flipping and can make you
a tidy sum of money if you know how to build an attractive
and profitable website. For a rough estimate of how
much money you can earn from site flipping, check out the
SitePoint Marketplace to browse through the collection
of websites for sale.
5. Participate in Get-Paid-to Websites
There are hundreds of websites out there which you pay
you to read emails, do surveys, sign up for trial subscriptions
and surf the web. Websites that pay you to complete offers
are worth examining because they usually include affiliate
programs with recurring commissions to be earned.The benefit of get paid to websites is that you don’t need to
have your own website or any personal skills at all.
The downside is that there are a lot of get-paid-to scams
around and finding websites that are legitimate can be fairly
difficult. Scam.com is a forum you should visit to learn if the
get-paid-to website you’re interested in actually pays its
members.
There are also several Web 2.0 or social media websites out
there that will pay you to participate in their community.
This collection of social media websites usually operate via
a revenue-sharing system, which allows you to earn a share
of the overall ad revenue. How much you earn depends on
how much your submitted article, video or image is viewed.
6. Find a Virtual Job or Make Use of Your Expertise
Not only limited to data entry jobs, online jobs in
the new economy include virtual assistants, gold farmers,
online life coaching and support for open source software.
Mini consultation networks like Bitwine and Ether allow
you to easily set up shop and offer advice on specific topics
through the web.Most of these virtual jobs involve direct communication
through electronic mediums like internet telephony,
instant messengers and emails. Which means that all you
need to get started is a home computer with an steady
internet connection.
If you are an expert in a specific topic, you can offer consultation
via websites like Jyveor Just Answers. Other skill or knowledge
based vocations also include participation in online competitions
in areas such as photography, writing, designing and
even gaming.
7. Freelance and Work on a Contract Basis Online
If you have a skill such as web design, programming or
copywriting you can offer your services online in exchange
for money. Traditional freelancing jobs include transcription,
proofreading, translation services on top of the ones already
mentioned above.Online marketplaces that you can use to offer your services
include Guru.com andElance. One of the best ways to find
freelance jobs is to visit webmaster forumsbecause webmasters
usually require a variety of web-based services, which range
from programming and content writing to design work.
If you’re focusing on writing if don’t own your own blog, you
can still make some money by registering for websites which
will pay for your content. Another alternative is get paid to
write for other blogs either as a staff or guest writer.
8. Create Your Own Product and Sell it
Products you can create include website templates, sound
clips or even your own ebook. Websites like Lulu allow you
to easily develop and sell your own collection of electronic
products like calenders, brochures, artwork, images and
ebooks.If your specialty is images and photography, citizen journalism
websites like Spymediaand Citizen Image will pay for your
images. You can also try using Shutterstock, the most established
and lucrative micro-stock photography website. Illustrators
and videographers are also welcome at Shutterstock.
This also ties in with the concept of creating your
online business, which will allow you to sell the products
you create or own without resorting to a third party website
which will usually take a commission of the sale.
9. Get Involved in the Online Retail Trade
Ebay and Craigslist are the two of the most popular websites
you can use if you are planning to get into the online retail
trade. You can purchase products from either website to
sell to the other.Alternatively, you can specialize use site-specific methods of
participating in the online retail trade. For example,
Ebay dropshipping and arbitrage is a method whereby
you’llwith offline retailers or exporters in other countries,
or buy from one seller and sell to another.
