ALT-24 Make Money Online
Since the inception of home computing, there have been people trying to use the internet to make money online. More and more people see it as a way to get rich or at least make a living without having to leave the comfort of their living room. It’s a very attractive prospect really, no more commuting through traffic day in and day out. Think of the money you would save in gas alone. Just get out of bed in the morning, grab a cup of coffee and sit down in front of the computer to bring home the bacon. What could be easier?Well, as it turns out, making money online isn't all that hard. There are some really easy ways to make money online and anyone can use them to pick up some extra cash, but making a living or getting rich isn’t quite as easy as some of the programs hyped online will have you believe. Just remember as you search for internet income, there are no “get rich quick” programs that actually work. However, with some time, effort and perseverance, one can make a decent amount of money online.PTC - The easiest ways, or the ones that take the least amount of effort to do, are unfortunately the ones that have the least amount of earning potential, but if you want easy, it doesn’t get any easier than PTC or “paid to click”. Once you sign up, you will get emails with advertisers links or you will go to the program site and click on advertisers links and get paid a small amount of money for each link clicked and site viewed. You will only get paid one or two cents per click which isn’t much but then again, all you are doing is clicking a link and visiting a website, so there’s not much effort involved.You can also make more with these programs by recruiting others to join and you’ll make an even smaller amount per click for their activity as well as your own. Some people get into this in a big way, joining many sites and recruiting others into their “downline”. The downside to these programs is that you won’t make much money for the time spent doing them but you will be able to pick up a few extra dollars per month for next to no effort. You can increase your earnings somewhat by building up a sizable downline if they stay active in the program every month.SURVEYS - You can also get paid for taking surveys and they pay better than PTC. Paid survey sites will pay you for filling out surveys online and there are plenty of sites that are free to join so don’t fall for the programs that ask you for a fee to sign up. Depending on the program, they may pay a cash amount per survey or they may pay with a point system that converts to cash. If they use a point system, be sure and check the conversion rate to see how much you are actually getting paid. It could vary and sometimes only amounts to $2 or $3 per hour but some surveys pay at a rate equivalent to $8 or $10 per hour or more. Some programs are better than others. Some of the ones I belong to vary the amount per survey. I usually only do the ones that pay better for my time.CASH BACK SHOPPING - While this isn’t really a way to make money, it’s a good way to get discounts on the products you buy online. The way it works is that you go to the programs site and click on a link to the online merchant you want to buy from. When you make a purchase, the cash back program pays you a percentage of the money you spent at that merchant's site. When you accumulate a certain amount, you get the money paid to you.Some programs incorporate PTC, paid surveys and cash back shopping into one program which is an advantage because it gives you multiple ways to build up earnings in one program instead of several. Most of the programs have a minimum payout level which is the amount you must build up in your account before you can actually get issued a check or money transfer. If you have multiple ways to earn in one program, you can reach the payout sooner and actually get the cash in hand more often.AUCTIONS - A lot of people have gotten into this money maker by accident. They start an ebay account to get rid of the stuff cluttering the garage or attic and then after that stuff is all gone, they are having so much fun with the auctions, they start buying other stuff at garage sales just to have more stuff to put up for auction. It’s possible to sell just about anything through online auction sites like eBay and others. If you have a supply of products, selling on eBay is one of the easiest ways to market online. They take care of the money handling so you don’t have to worry about accepting online payments or credit cards. As long as you provide the product as advertised and ship it in a timely manner, you can maintain a good rating and have a successful business. The amount you can make is pretty much unlimited. A friend of mine invested a little money in designer watches and jewelry which he then sold on eBay, make a little over $40,000 over the course of 6 months or so. Not a bad income at all.AFFILIATE PROGRAMS - The term “affiliate program” is applied to many different types of programs on the net. There are many of them and they vary a lot as far as how they are set up, the products or services they offer and how much money you can make with them. Basically, you work as an independent contractor for the company and market whatever it is that they offer. When you make a sale, you earn a percentage of the sale price. When you look at any of these programs, make sure you evaluate the product and the price at which it’s being offered. Ask yourself if it’s something you would buy. If not, you won’t be successful selling it to anyone else. A lot of these programs promise big bucks, but it doesn’t matter how much the profit margin is or how much they promise, if the product isn’t in demand, you will not make money. Many of them also make you pay a fee to join. This is a warning sign that the product doesn’t really sell and they need “membership” fees to make money instead of simply making money from profit on sales. They “sell” the program and make money with the join fees only.Even with a good product line, online marketing with these programs isn’t as easy as they make it sound so I always recommend that you find a program that is free to join and try your hand at it. If you do ok, then run with it and find other good programs and products to sell. If you don't do so well, then you're not out anything but your time. Some people are better at selling than others, so it’s not for everybody.YOUR OWN WEBSITE - I want to talk a little about having your own website because, as I do, it’s a good way to offer whatever it is you are selling online. If you have your own products or are working affiliate programs and selling other peoples products, having your own domain name and website lets you offer everything in one place and it affords you the most freedom and control over your content. You can market with the affiliate programs site or free webspace but you are subject to the rules and conditions of others. If you have your own site, you can lay it out as you please and have whatever content you please. You can even sell adspace if you want to. It just increases the avenues of revenue available and you can register your own domain name and set up web hosting for a basic site for under $100 per year so it’s not that expensive.WRITING - For anyone with any level of writing ability, there is a way to make money with it online and there are many different ways to do it, including blogging, article writing, technical writing, pay per post and others.Blogging is growing in popularity by leaps and bounds and is an excellent way for even the most novice writer to put content online. There are many sites such as Google's Blogger that will let you set up a blog for free and you can monetize your blog with Google ads and other content to make money with it. Once you set up your blog, just start writing and you’re on your way.Article writing for sites like Helium, Associated Content and others is an excellent way for more seasoned writers to capitalize on their writing ability. Some sites will pay you a percentage of site revenues based on page views of your articles while others pay you a set fee per article up front. Some sites, usually the ones that pay up front, will have somewhat more stringent writing requirements. Your article would have to be reviewed and approved before you would get paid.Pay per post sites are set up like discussion boards or forums and they pay users a set amount per post. It’s not very much but if you are active and write short but quality posts, you can make it worth your while. Participating in discussion forums is actually quite engaging too so it’s well worth your time if you enjoy it as well as make money from it.Technical writing will require some expertise and a somewhat more refined writing ability than the average person, but with a little training, one can become qualified to find work in the field. Technical writers are needed to write training manuals, operating manuals, product descriptions, etc. and many companies use freelance technical writers who write from home and submit their content over the internet for a pre-agreed fee.There are many more ways to use the internet to make money but these are the most common and easiest for the average person to use to earn at least a little, and hopefully a lot, online. Give one or even all of them a try and you might just find yourself to be a successful internet entrepreneur.
