Making money online used to pretty much require you to have your own Web
site, products to sell and some marketing savvy. But a new generation
of dot-coms have arisen that will pay you for what you know and who you
know without you having to be a web designer or a marketing genius.
But it's hard to tell hype from the real deal. I did a search on
"make money online" and "making money online", and much of the
information out there is just promoting various infoproducts, mostly
about Internet marketing. I see why people sometimes ask, "Is anyone
making money online besides Internet marketing experts?"
So I put together a list of business opportunities with legitimate companies that:
- Pay cash, not just points towards rewards or a chance to win money
- Don't require you to have your own Web domain or your own products
- Don't involve any hard-selling
- Aren't just promoting more Internet marketing
- Give a good return on your time investment
In the interest of objectivity, none of the links below are affiliate links, and none of them have paid or provided any other consideration for their presence here. These are legitimate companies with business models that allow you to get paid for a wide range of activities.
Help friends find better jobs.
Sites like ReferEarns, Zyoin, Who Do You Know For Dough?, and WiseStepp
connect employers with prospective employees, many of whom are already
employed and not actively job-hunting, via networking - the people who
know these qualified candidates. Rewards for referring a candidate who
gets hired range from $50 on up to several thousand dollars - not chump
change. If you know a lot of job-seekers (and who doesn't these days?),
this is a great way to break into the recruiting business with no
overhead.
Connect suppliers with buyers.
Referral fees are a common practice in business, but they haven't
been used much in online networking sites because there was no way to
track them. Sites like Salesconx, InnerSell and uRefer
now provide that. Vendors set the referral fees they're willing to pay
(and for what), and when the transaction happens, you get paid. uRefer
also allows merchants to set up referral programs for introductions and
meetings, as well as transactions.
Write.
A growing number of sites will pay for your articles or blog posts. Associated Content and Helium
will "pay for performance" based on page views for just about anything
you want to write about. Articles on specific topics they're looking for
can earn direct payments up to about $200. The rates are probably low
for established writers, but if you're trying to break into the field
and have time on your hands, they're a great way to start. Also, a lot
of companies are looking for part-time bloggers. They may pay per post
or on a steady contract. Our Weblogs Guide posts blogging jobs weekly in the forum.
Start your own blog.
You don't have to have your own Web site, or install blogging software, or even figure out how to set up the advertising. At Blogger
you can set up a blog for free in less than five minutes without
knowing a thing about web design, and Blogger even automates setting up
Google AdSense so you can make money off your blog by displaying ads and
getting paid when people click on the ads. To make even more money from
it, set up an affiliate program (see below) for books, music, etc., and
insert your affiliate links whenever you refer to those items. You'll
have to get a lot of traffic to become a six-figure blogger, but pick an interesting topic, write well, tell all your friends, and you're off to a good start.
Create topical resource hubs.
Are you an expert on a particular niche topic? Can you put together
an overview of the topic and assemble some of the best resources on the
topic from around the web? Then you can create topical hubs and get paid
through sites like Squidoo, HugPages and Google Knol.
Payments are based on a combination of ad revenue and affiliate fees.
You'll get higher rates doing it on your own, but these sites have a
built-in supply of traffic and tools to make content creation easier.
Advertise other people's products.
If you already have a Web site or a blog, look for vendors that offer
related but non-competing products and see if they have an affiliate
program. Stick to familiar products and brands - they're easier to sell.
To promote those products:
- Place simple text or graphical ads in appropriate places on your site
- Include links to purchase products you review or recommend in a blog, discussion forum or mailing list you control
- Create a dedicated sales page or Web site to promote a particular product
They all work - it just depends on how much time you have to spend
on it and your level of expertise with Web design and marketing.
Microstock photography.
You don't have to be a professional photographer to sell your photos
for money. People are constantly in need of stock photography for
websites, presentations, brochures and so on, and are willing to pay for
the right image. People generally search for images on stock
photography sites by keywords, not by photographer, so you have the same
chance as anyone else of having your image picked. Just be careful that
you don't have images of trademarked brands, copyrighted art or
people's faces that are readily identifiable (unless you have a model
release), but just about anything else is fair game, and I promise -
you'd be amazed what people need pictures of, so don't make any
assumptions. If it's a decent photo, upload it. Some sites to get you
started include Fotolia, ShutterStock, Dreamstime and iStockphoto. The great thing about this is that it's truly "set it and forget it".
The above list is by no means comprehensive, but it highlights some
of the new and interesting ways to make money online without investing
any money, without having a product of your own, and without having
expert sales and marketing skills. Most of all, unlike taking surveys or
getting paid to read e-mail, the potential return on your time
investment is substantial.
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