Online Business Ideas & Plans, Ways To Make Money Online

Ways to Make Money Online

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

it to a buyer.

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.