So it turns out that the internet is good for more than just porn and video games – you can make money off it too! Think of the internet as a giant country called Imagination land. By playing your cards right, you can make some easy money online doing things you’re already doing. Here are some ideas to start you off:
1. Website
Building
If the internet is a country, then websites are like real
estates. I’m hoping by now you have a general understanding that real estate are
valuable in the physical world – digital real estate work the same way. By
building a website, you’re creating your own plot of online “land.”
You can fill this land with whatever you want, but you have
to promote it through social media (and anywhere else you can think of) for
this to be successful. When you build traffic to your land, you can sell people
whatever you have to offer. In order to build a website, you need a host (i.e GoDaddy), a template (i.e WordPress),
and content.
The first two parts are easy to find, and content is only as
difficult as you make it. You can post blogs, items for sale, pictures, videos,
or whatever you want. Opening up your own website gives you the potential to
make money from the avenues I’m going to mention.
2. B2B Marketing
An online business model I love is utilized by Get
VoIP, an affiliate marketer based in New
York. Get VoIP acts as an agent for business communication providers. They
maintain updated listings of VoIP providers, including ratings, comparisons,
consumer reviews, in-depth knowledge of market and end-user trends, and expert
opinions from business professionals on a variety of topics related to business
consumers. By not only keeping abreast of news, but providing detailed analysis
of products being offered, Get VoIP is able to generate traffic to their site
and increase their clout with businesses.
The more online clout you have as a business, the more money
you’ll make. If you’re known for making lasting connections (as is the case
with Get VoIP above), then you’ll have no issues building your online brand.
You’ll be recognized in your community and begin to build a buzz in your
industry. Tracking your numbers (how many people view your site, click each ad,
and make a purchase from that click) gives you the leverage to expand this part
of your business, enabling you to continue building your online reputation.
If that sounds like too much technical information for you,
there is an easy button – Google’s advertising platform is as simple as signing
up, enabling (on Blogger) or pasting a small code on your website, and allowing
the advertisements to automatically roll in. The problem with this program is
that you don’t get any commissions – and you don’t get to control the ad
content. This is useful for some, but powerful users will want something a
little more robust.
Amazon has an Associates program for site owners and
bloggers. They offer a search tool to find the right products and services from
their site and a variety of ad styles to display on your site, including
text-based and banner images (digital billboards) like this:
Each item purchased through your Amazon links
give you a commission. It doesn't take high volume traffic to achieve results,
either. I began making money with the program when I only had 1,000 hits per
month on my site. They can apply your earnings to your Amazon account balance,
issue you a check, or direct deposit into your bank account. If you love
Amazon, you’ll love their associate’s program.
Amazon and Google are far from your
only options for online advertising. Rakuten Link share is a great place to
search for other affiliates for your ads. Through their program, you can get
customized ad links, email links, and banner ads for Starbucks, Wal-Mart,
iTunes, and a slew of other popular brands. With this program, you can also
find smaller companies, regional or specialized brands, and more. I run a
combination of Google, Amazon, and Rakuten’s programs, and my monthly income is
approximately $150 from these programs. It’s not a lot of money, but it’s also
not a lot of work for residual (it means recurring…since the ads are
permanent…) income.
6.
Company Referral Programs
Speaking of the benefits of
permanent ads, banners and links aren’t the only ways to earn a little bit of
dough off your online endeavors. By having a website, you gain the power of
emailing companies to ask them for things. I have no shame in letting the yoga
company whose mat I’m looking into purchasing know that I have a blog and write
for yoga publications – it sometimes gets me discounts.
Other times, I gain a valuable
business contact in PR, advertising, or other aspects of corporate sales.
Sometimes I just get a free drink. Either way, money in and of itself is
worthless. Ditch the middle man and use the internet to barter what you have
and can do for what you need.
7. Klout
If you have a social media account,
try out Klout. The company tracks your social media usage, determines how big
and what type of audience you draw based on the subject matter of your updates
and posts. Using this information, you’re qualified to receive free items,
tickets, etc. Check their website often to find ways of earning free stuff by
doing what you’re already doing online…boring the rest of us…
8.
EBay
If you have anything you want to sell, then EBay
is the place you need to seriously consider doing it first. Personally I’m not
a fan of the site because of the work it takes to build up a reputation. If
you’re willing to grind through that process, you’ll be rewarded with many
privileges – people have gotten rich selling books about how they got rich
selling everything on EBay
If you start getting too big for EBay or decide
you want to try a different flavor, Amazon has a marketplace as well. I prefer
using Amazon because I can depend on their shipping, have a Prime account, and
trust their reviews (overall, not usually singularly, although occasionally
that as well).
The difference between Amazon and EBay is that EBay (though
still filled with new items) is seen as a used marketplace between individual
parties, whereas Amazon (which is filled with offers for new and used
merchandise from the 3rd parties) is viewed as a Wal-Mart-type
superstore. As a consumer, this difference leads me to use Amazon, so it only
makes sense to target on my own demographic.
10. Etsy
If you’re crafty (and I mean that in more than one way, wink
wink), you’ll enjoy Etsy. Handcrafted items are the bread and butter here.
Plenty of people make decent side money on the site, which is basically an EBay
for crafters and artists. Set up a sellers account with Etsy, and you’ll be
asked to set up your virtual storefront and put up at least 5 goods for sale.
Once you have this down, you’ll be a budding Etsy
entrepreneur. Provide great quality to your customers, and they’ll often
return. Many people are willing to pay a premium for quality handmade designs.
Etsy (like EBay and Amazon) takes a cut off the top for selling items through
their site. PayPal takes another cut, and you have to be careful with taxes on
all income, so be diligent while building your online business.
Craigslist is the modern equivalent of the
classified ads that dominated the days of newspapers. These quick ads are easy
to navigate and use, and they’re geographically linked. Whether you’re selling
something or offering a service.
Posting ads on Craigslist is technically easy, but people
often have fears about posting their personal information on the site. I
communicate mostly through email when doing business on Craigslist, and I’ve
never run into any issues. I’ve never been ripped off, nor have I been murdered
or raped for using the site. It takes common sense, so use your best judgment,
but don’t assume someone is a thief just because of their preferred
communication method. For an extra bonus, google “funny Craigslist ads” to see
some delightful examples of guerilla and grassroots marketing.
Maybe what you need is a job. It doesn’t matter which job
search site you prefer using (even Craigslist) – Indeed tracks them all, and
then some. You can find jobs posted on company websites, through temp agencies,
and more at Indeed. If money is something you really need, Indeed is most
definitely the place you want to visit to browse career opportunities.
13. Elance
Where Indeed excels at finding job postings across the web
and acting as a search crawler for employment, maybe a full-fledged career is
too big of a commitment at this point in your life. Elance is a site to find
freelance work of all types. I’ve used it for quick writing, editing,
copywriting, resume building, and other odd jobs and temp gigs. The experience
has been great.
Elance offers a wide array of technical, data entry,
accounting, and other freelance and temp gigs. If you’re just looking for
something short and sweet, log in, input and showcase your marketable skills,
and begin searching through their job database, using any parameters you
desire. Once you submit a bid, you’ll receive an acceptance or denial – you may
get a few rejections, but don’t sweat it. Negotiate the terms of your bid, and
get to work. You have money to make.
14. Mturk
If you’ve heard of crowdsourcing (and even if you haven’t),
Amazon’s Mechanical Turk program is a great place to get involved. Much like at
Elance, you input your info and skills. You then are able to search for
different menial tasks ranging from identifying inappropriate web content to
transcribing audio recordings to basic data entry work.
Just like at any other job, the more work you do, and the
better your quality, the more opportunities you’ll have to make money. The
payouts are often small, and your payment is received in Amazon credit, but
Mturk is a great place to make mindless money while veg’ing on the couch
watching TV.
LinkedIn is a social media site for professionals. This
isn’t a direct way to make money, but it’s a great way to connect to your
current and potential peers, customers, clients, vendors, and more here. You’ll
build a reputation and get in the loop on important developments in your chosen
career path and/or industry. One day an old college buddy may hit you up for a
dream job you never considered at the exact moment you are looking for a new
vocation. Whether you like it or not, keeping your LinkedIn profile current is
a great way to get surprised with new work opportunities out the blue.
If you’re an experienced nanny or babysitter, Care.com is
the place you want to make money. By listing yourself on the Craigslist of
Childcare, you’ll broaden your reach and increase your odds of finding the
right gig at the right time. You can be pickier with what kids you watch when
you have the reputation and traffic to pull in more customers. Join Care.com
and start making money by investing in the future of our youth.
17. ThePirateBay
I support bootlegging – I don’t see it as being immoral or
unethical in any way. I used to bootleg quite a bit in my youth, and I still do
on occasion today (although not yet today in particular, I more meant “in the
present”). If you want to hustle for your money, do what you must, baby.
Download some software, music, movies, or other assorted digital goodness here
and start slangin. It’s not an easy life, but sometimes you gotta do what you
gotta do.
18. iTunes
If you’re a musician, writer, artist, tech nerd,
pundit, or can produce any type of audio, video, or text worth consuming, you
may be able to sell some stuff in Apple’s flagship iTunes store. By selling
your work here, you’re able to stand next to the marketing clout of big
business. You can make a healthy living off the iTunes store, and there’s no
better time than now
If you have a business, you want to get listed on Yelp! You
may not use the software, but some people do, and they use it religiously (and
I don’t mean they’ll kill you over it). By listing your business on Yelp!,
you’re putting yourself on the map. From here, you also need to start using
Yelp! Write reviews of places you go. It’ll be worth it in the long run.
Soon, you’ll have a dozen or so reviews under your belt and
can hire yourself out as a Yelp! reviewer. There are ethical and moral
questions to doing this, but the title of this piece is “ways to make money,”
not “ethical ways to make money,” and I am a former Bank of America/Countrywide
employee, so what’d you expect?
Another seemingly free site you can make money from is
Wikipedia. People who say it’s easy to edit Wikipedia have clearly never tried
editing Wikipedia – it’s a pain. Thankfully it’s a pain for companies as well,
so many of them are willing to pay editors to assist them in the editing
process. You’ll become a bounty hunter in a way, choosing your own lines to
cross and keep. If editing is something you like to do, and you’re willing to
put in the work it takes to learn Wikipedia’s dispute process, roll up your
sleeves and try this one out.
I make the bulk of my money from blogging. In addition to
the advertising revenue streams mentioned above, I also receive flat rate
payments for blogging from various blogs throughout the web. I’m paid to write
as a whistleblower, financial analyst, reviewer, commentator, and more. Writing
for other sites builds traffic to my personal blog. The traffic for this blog
gives me clout to present to advertisers.
To create your own blog, you don’t even need a web domain.
You can start a completely free blog on either WordPress or Blogger. Each of
these sites has its ups and downs, but you can’t beat the price. You generally
want to keep blog posts between 150-500 words until you have a few dozen under
your belt. Links between your blog posts encourage people to stay on your blog
once they find it, increasing traffic. Once your blog is up, promote it on
social media for the greatest effect.
22. Kickstarter
If you have a passion project, Kickstarter may be exactly what
you need to get it off the ground. Celebs like Zach Braff and Melissa Joan Hart
have used this site in attempts to fund their movie projects. Some crack
dealers in Canada inspired a “crackstarter” campaign from Gawker for pictures
of the Toronto mayor smoking crack with them. All you need is a dream, a goal,
a budget, and a great pitch to convince people to come to the site and donate
to your Kickstarter campaign. Panhandling isn’t dead – it’s gone digital…
23. Extreme Couponing
If you’ve never heard of extreme couponing, check out this
lifehack on the subject.
Once you’re versed on the idea, what you have to do is a bit difficult at
first, but it’s a great way to both save and make money: go to hip2save.com and
get a feel for the types of deals that are out there (both online and in the
physical world). Once you’re comfortable with the process, start searching for
the best deals in grocery, retail, and online shopping. After a month or two of
extreme couponing, you’ll have enough cleaning, hygiene, and food supplies
stocked up to save a noticeable amount of money. Now maybe you don’t need to
make as much…?
24. Social Media
No matter what you do to make money online, promote it on
your social media accounts. You have a base of people who are already
interested in you and have a vested interest in your brand – why would you not
want to take advantage of that? By promoting yourself and your projects on your
social media accounts, you’re greatly increasing the chances of people actually
giving you money in exchange for your goods and services. Stop being shy and
get out there.
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