The Internet has been a great economic equalizer, offering many entrepreneurs the opportunity to create niche businesses and to pursue their own fortunes with little risk. There is potential to earn income online that ranges from a few dollars a month to millions over a lifetime. Unfortunately, building any business that leads to earning potential in the hundreds of thousands, or millions, will take time and persistence. Fortunately, there are many ways to earn extra income while you are working on your million-dollar idea. Here are just 20 ways (of hundreds) that you can start to make money online now:
PPC and CPM Advertising
Pay-per-click and cost-per-mile (pay per impression) advertising are two of the most profitable ways to make revenue with your blog or website. The more traffic your site gets, the more clicks you are likely to get with your advertising, which translates into higher earnings for you. Some of the most popular programs are:
• Chitkita
Text Links
These sponsored links appear as hyperlinked text in your blog posts and Web content. Advertisers pay according to clicks or a commission on ad sales. Some popular programs include:
Affiliate Marketing
Companies like Amazon offer affiliate programs in which you display targeted ads on your blog or Web site and then earn a commission on the sales that are generated through those links.
and others offer information about the variety of affiliate programs that are available.
Product Reviews
Many companies are willing to pay you for your opinion — and to then share it with others. You will often get to keep the product you review, but can also receive payment for your review. You are required to disclose the sponsorship of your review, however.
and Smorty are two of the more popular paid reviewsites.
Sponsored Posts
Companies and other bloggers are also willing to pay you to write posts about products, brands, or services. These are more extensive than product reviews, and they can pay hundreds of dollars to a blogger with a lot of traffic.
Freelance Writing
There are dozens of sites that are designed to connect freelance writers and those looking for content. You can bid on projects through sites like elance (https://www.elance.com/), or you can provide content directly for sites like About.com or eHow.com. There are endless opportunities to work as a paid blogger or freelance ghostwriter online.
Job Postings
Leading job sites like Indeed.com and Simply Hired pay bloggers and site owners to include targeted job listings on their sites. The more niche your blog, the better your opportunity for getting more job ads and more revenue.
Paid Surveys
You don’t have to have a blog to get paid for your opinion. There are many sites that will pay you to take surveys and give your feedback about companies, services, and personal preferences. Some popular sites include Vizu and Smorty.
E-Books
You can write a “book” of anywhere from 20 pages to hundreds of pages, either a non-fiction guide on a topic of interest or a fictional story. You can sell e-books through your own site or through online sellers like Amazon.
Product Sales
Are you crafty? Do you have a knack for re-selling? There are dozens of online marketplaces for what you have to sell. Amazon, eBay, and Overstock all offer sellers a place for their new or used goods. Etsy allows artists and crafters to sell their handmade wares. Or you can create your own site with a storefront and offer direct sales.
Drop Shipping
If you have a knack for sales but don’t have the product, you can try drop shipping. You sign up with a wholesaler to sell their products through your own site or catalog. You sell the product and the wholesaler ships it. You make the profit but don’t have to keep stock on hand or worry about shipping it.
Services
If you are looking for ways to make money online, chances are that you have some sort of marketable skill, such as programming, Web design, writing, or illustration. Create a personal portfolio site and sell your services through freelance Web sites like elance. You can also offering consulting services on these markets.
Domain Sales
Like buying real estate, you can buy domain names (Internet real estate) then sell them for a profit. The trick is to use services that will help you snap up popular sites once they expire, or to have a knack for picking out hot domain names based on top keywords.
Domain Parking
While you’re waiting to flip your domain, you can still make money on it without developing it by parking it and selling advertising. When someone visits your url, they will see a number of ads targeted to the domain’s keywords. If they click the links, you will earn revenue.
Stock Photography
If you have a decent camera and can take a picture that’s not blurry, you can make money. Every website and blog needs good images, and the stock of publicly licensed free images can be limiting. Take pictures of everyday objects and load them onto stock photography sites like iStock Photo. Web masters can then buy your photos for use on their sites.
Your success with any of these endeavors will, of course, depend in large part on your own persistence and skill. However, even absolute beginners can find some success with these common methods for making money online.