ALT-1 Easy Ways to Make Money Online
"Easy Money" a generic and loose term for what we perceive to be the reward of money for very little work or input, and a term widely used in marketing ploys all over the internet to seduce people into the belief they can make fast money sat on their backsides. In truth, very few of these schemes are reputable, and many ask for some form of collateral input from the outset, despite promoting their simplicity and earning potential. Any form of investment you consider making towards any venture should be evaluated before action, and definitely more so in relation to these "get rich quick" schemes.
Is there such thing as Easy Money?
An arguable question if you relate it to actual earning possibilities, and quite honestly it depends upon your skills and knowledge, as well as your industry. Budding entrepreneurs have utilized the internet to suit their business requirements, as well as finding new niche markets, and devising concepts which have proved successful, however, they have done so after research, education and/ or experience within a certain field or industry. It is still quite rare for an individual, inexperienced within a sector, to develop a successful money-making business online that will net them millions and set them up for life.
There are many interesting, varied, and realistic ways of making relatively easy money online, however most do still require a degree of effort and persistence in order to be successful. The internet has paved the way for many budding and aspiring writers to put forth their talent and carve a freelance career, writing articles, short stories, blogs and reports. Opportunities vary from marketing and advertising, to journalism and fiction, and although competition is tough, many people have been discovered by national and international companies from their online creative writing submissions and blogs, leading to successful careers. For the aspiring among us, we utilize sites such as Helium, Ciao and DooYoo to write factual and/ or personal reviews regarding products, services and experiences that may influence others purchasing and shopping decisions. Dependent upon commitment, writing quality and dedication, we can expect to earn anything from £5-£100 per month if we submit articles regularly and remain active community members. As with most review writing sites, some of us are recognized for our quality and earn additional incentives/ bonuses, or with the likes of Helium here, have the opportunity of writing for higher paid articles, and enjoy increased earning potential.
Online auctions have contributed to the online retail boom, namely the likes of Ebay, one of the first public auction sites taking classified selling to a whole new level. Gone are the days of just listing in the ads section of papers, and having to travel to view a potential purchase. Now, consumers can view, click and buy from the comfort of their own homes, as well as being able to photograph and sell their own items within a matter of minutes. As with most classified and auction type selling, there are fees involved, however these are not payable until you do sell your item, or in the case of regular users, at the end of the month. The attraction is the fact there is no up-front fee, and set up is so simple, yet so secure, users are safe in the knowledge their financial details are not being leaked to potential fraudsters. Recent tighter controls and user security advancements have now made it safer and more regulated than before, providing buyer and seller protection throughout the transaction, including after sales support. Additionally there are few limitations as to what you can sell on the sites, although recent moves have been made to ensure that the likes of the sale of live animals as well as human organs are disallowed!
Surveys, once a purely telephone, shopping center and doorstep based method of generating feedback from the public, has now become one of the biggest advancements online, in terms of marketing development. Many of us are no doubt familiar with sales calls and survey calls, disrupting us at all hours of the day, enquiring whether we have a few minutes spare to answer topical questions. While it still occurs, these types of surveys seem to have decreased in number, with many companies in favor of using the internet to gauge opinions and statistics. Since the late 1990's, a host of specialist survey sites have established themselves online, namely Ciao, Toluna and Greenfield Online, as well as hundreds more. These sites specialize in paying users to undertake surveys from a variety of brands and companies worldwide, and can pay from as little as 10p to £50.00 for participation, although the latter amount is very rare, and usually payable for participation studies over a longer period.
Gambling, while not a guaranteed money-maker, has enabled more people to enjoy the risks and wins associated with casino, betting and lottery style competitions. Consumers are enticed by bingo and sports betting sites who promise to double your money if you stake a minimum amount of £10.00, as well as the incentive of better and more up-to-date odds than on the "high street". Bingo sites offer many freebie incentives to first-time players, as well as daily happy-hours where tickets cost as little as 1p. With that kind of stake, and the prizes ranging from around £7 upwards, many see these as possible money-making opportunities.
Cash-back sites are a relatively recent phenomenon which reward consumers in either points, cash or vouchers for shopping with many well known companies. Everyone from supermarkets to energy providers are recognizing cash-back sites as a way of generating new custom and increasing sales, by offering percentage cash-backs as well as online discounts as incentives. Cash-sites are very easy to use, and require minimal personal information in order to use them. Again, earning potential is dependent upon your usage and many have no-purchase cash-back offers which include clicking links (daily clicks), participating in free trials (such as music downloads and film rentals) and entering competitions to earn cash. Whilst most of these no purchase offers pay in relatively small amounts, persistence can net you around £10 upwards per month if you do them on a daily basis. In terms of cash back for purchases, users simply find their usual retailer through the search field then click through to the usual retailer site. The cash back website tracks the whole transaction, and you can expect to earn anything from 1% upward cash back on your purchase. Recent developments and competition amongst cash back websites have led to the likes of mobile phone, energy, credit card and broadband providers utilizing them to entice consumers to switch, upgrade and renew contracts, paying anything in the region of £10-£200 for doing so. Quite tidy sums when you consider these incentives were few and far between ten years ago, and also lower your annual bill in the long-term.
PTC or Pay to Click sites have been around for a while now, as well as others that pay you to surf the internet. The idea is as simple as it sounds. Companies pay you to click, and/ or surf the internet. While this is another relatively easy, money-making tool, it is not without it's issues, the first and foremost being it is monotonous and boring. The second being that the payment amounts are tiny, and I'm talking in the region of 0.1 to 1p per click in most instances. Quite easy to deduce that it would take a serious number of clicks to generate anything resembling a decent amount, and for all the effort, as well as the annoying pop-ups and banner ads, it's hardly worth it. Couple that with the fact that many of the click-sites seem to be dodgy, unregulated sites that host all manner of ad-ware and spy-ware, just waiting for an unsuspecting user to find them, and it's obvious why most leave well alone.
Online retail, perhaps the best of all my previous suggestions can be one great money maker depending on your product or concept, as well as your knowledge and collateral. In many instances it is free to set up an e-commerce shop online, and the initial outlay starts with the purchase of a domain name and web hosting. Seems cheap enough, but then you have to take into consideration how you will market your product and generate custom, which obviously takes advertising and marketing. Clever internet entrepreneurs use a multitude of channels, which include social networking sites, search engines and ad-word style campaigns. These do require capital though as it is relatively hard to find free and effective ways to advertise. Having mentioned the likes of Ebay, it is also worthy to mention that they, along with Amazon and Facebook now feature various types of online stores which can be easily set-up, and aren't too expensive in terms of fees. Your products are marketed across the site, and in many instances, discounts can be obtained as they market through search engines and social networking sites for you.
So, while there are some simple methods of earning, none are without the requirement of effort, persistence or patience. Earning potential depends upon all of these, and the benefits and rewards are, as with any earning method, only as great as the time and effort you put in.
