Make Money Online (Without
Spending a Dime)
Even with no product and no
website, you can get paid for
what and who you know
From Arinze ,
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About: blogging home
business making money
online business ideas
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?, Bohire 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.
Related: Monetizing Your Blog
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.
Related: How to Really Make
Money on the Internet With an
Amazon.com Affiliate Site
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.
More About Making Money
Online
4 Elements of a Successful,
Profitable Website
How to Really Make Money on
the Internet With an
Amazon.com Affiliate Site
Business Ideas on a Budget
Make Money Online - Additional
Resources