ALT-2 Top Websites to Make Money Online
I have managed to eke out an existence writing articles on the internet for two years now. Although I am far from an expert on how to make my millions with the Internet, I have found that, with hard work and dedication, it is entirely possible to make a living using some of the sites out there.
There are a number of sites available that can allow you to make money online. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
LISTING SITES
There are a variety of sites whose chief function is simply to provide a list of paying clients for writing and other types of freelance work. More basic sites include www.online-writing-jobs.com and www.craigslist.org. While the former seems to have a more reliable series of clients, it is often hard to avoid scams on the latter. Always try to ensure that the work you are doing will be paid for. Ask for contact details and payment rates in your query email. If the email looks dodgy or unprofessional, ignore it. Other listings sites are more specific. www.elance.com is a listings site you pay for. Although the work is very reliable, in my experience it was difficult to find decent paying work on here, although Indian and Eastern writers who can undercut Western markets tended to feature more prominently. It is fairly expensive to join and, in my case, did not offer decent value for money. However, it may be useful for more experienced writers and there certainly seemed to be a lot of work available on there. Other enthusiastic blog owners research where freelance work is available. Beboauthor and Freelancewriting all offer lists of material. Scouring blogs for information will definitely give you some leads. Using a specific search engine such as Technorati (for blogs) or DMoz (for higher quality content) may prove more useful than Google in trawling through the masses of information available.
REVENUE SHARING SITES
Some sites operate by dividing royalties between the freelance writer of the article and the company themselves. You are currently on such a site. Helium is an innovative site and as a relatively easy and fun way of making money. The advantage of this site is that articles that you write are cumulative; although they do not earn a great deal, their effects are consistent, and revenue will continue to be generated as long as you online. Other sites operate on a flat fee basis. Reviewstream and Associated Content offer a fixed payment scheme per review. Reviewstream is poorly set up, and only pays after $50 has been reached. It is hard work writing so many reviews, and they seem to bank on the fact that most writers will give up before they reach the $50 mark. Also, while there is a large availability of work, sometimes you will be assigned a difficult product to review. While I wouldn't touch Reviewstream, if you love reviewing products, then that's definitely the site.
Because Helium and Associated Content generate revenue based on per-click and per-view results, the more people who visit your pages, the better. Try to utilise viral promotional tactics to draw people to your site.
MARKET SURVEYS
There are a number of sites available which pay you to answer questionnaires about yourself. While most of these sites do not pay exceptionally well, if you love filling in marketing questionnaires, it may prove to be a relatively easy and painless way of making a little bit of money online.
ACADEMIC RESEARCH
There are a number of websites which pay writers to write independent research for individual clients. While these usually require large amounts of research and a relatively high overall writing quality, the pay is often very good, and work is relatively consistent. The best sites are UK Essays, Custom Essays and Manuscript Services. Although other sites exist, many of them are unreliable with their payments and many are scams. Make sure you do your research into the companies involved!
Overall, while there are no easy routes to success (at least not as far as I know!), with hard work, dedication and skill it is possible to make a decent living through online work. The important thing is to spend a lot of time researching job opportunities, promoting your sites and making sure that you look around constantly. Be careful with scam sites: always look for an address or look up information about the company on the internet. Good luck!
