Make Money Online (Without Spending a Dime)

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.

Finance group Cattles climbs on debt reduction hopes

the finance group which recently withdrew its application for a banking licence, is in demand at the moment.

Shares in the company - which reports results at the end of this month - have climbed 2p to 18p, continuing their gradual recovery since the disappointment about the banking licence two weeks ago. The company had decided it was unlikely to be granted a licence - which would have given it access to retail funds - in the current financial climate, sending its shares sharply lower.

This morning Evolution Securities has issued a fairly upbeat note on the business, rating it a speculative buy and setting a 50p target. Analyst Hugo Mills said:

"The key issue is whether management have made any progress on the refinancing discussions for the £635m of syndicated bank loans due in 2009 (£500m in July and £135m in December) – management guidance is that they would look to achieve this by the end of the first quarter of 2009 but we expect them to give a strong indication of progress on the 26th February [with the results]. Our estimates look for around £300m to be refinanced and Cattles to generate £200m in cash by July 2009.

"We continue to believe it is more likely than not that Cattles will succeed in refinancing its 2009 debt since by restricting new business activity and focusing on cash generation, management has done as much as they can pay down debt while preserving the long term viability of the business."

Want to change your finance situation? Learn not to be impulsive!

I’ve been thinking a lot these past few days and as I catch up on emails and telephone conversations with friends in real life (not that you aren’t all friends, but I do have to remind myself lately that not everyone has a blog!) I’ve come to see a common thread between friends in significant debt, and I have 4 of them, and that is impulsivity! All four will openly discuss their debt with me (all are at least £30K in non-mortgage debt), 3/4 are American, between ages 38-42 and all have children. But one thing I find fascinating about our discussions is every time we have a discussion they have something new bought or planned. Here’s an example:

Friend A - Married, late 30’s, £45K of non-mortgage debt, plus mortgage (about 90% of the value of their home) stay at home mum, 2 children under 3. Our conversation last week, they bought new household appliances (theirs were on their last leg, apparently although still working!), a new mattress (as theirs was no good?!) and started renovations on their kitchen - it needs it apparently. And apparently the almost 3 year old needs to take tap and music lessons as she needs something to do.

Friend B - Married, late 30’s, £38K of non-mortgage debt, plus mortgage (negative equity), work full time, 3 children 7 and under, our conversation this weekend? Apparently they moved, switched jobs (not due to layoff or impending layoff, wanted something different), only can’t sell house or get renters, so now not paying mortgage, got 2 new cats and another dog, decided to breed the dog only couldn’t sell the puppies, so I believe they were being taken to a shelter.

Friend C - Late 30’s, £31K non-mortgage debt, plus mortgage (about 50% of value of the home as she bought it many years ago), 3 children ages 9 and under, work full time. Had another child (decided to and was expecting with a couple of weeks) and then told me they can’t afford the nursery fees on take home pay, so they go on the credit card each month as does the council tax!

Friend D - Early 40’s, married, £42K non-mortgage debt, no mortgage (they rent), 1 child age 4, mum works full time, dad works part time, got on a minimum payment plan for debt (consolidation) only pay the minimum. Our conversation this weekend? They bought a timeshare and she got the boots she needed, at £100.

I have news for anyone in debt, wanting to change their financial situation, those in desperate need of savings and anyone else. Stop with the impulsiveness!!!! If you want another child, then you need to plan for it. You need to work out whether you can afford maternity/paternity leave, whether you can afford nursery fees (if they need to go to nursery). I do not for a moment believe that children NEED to be as expensive as we make them. I parented children for almost a year and was amazed at what their friends had lavished on them. We had good old fashioned fun, we visited the library 1-2x a week, went to our local council run community centre for free or heavily subsidized programs, we went on nature walks, visited parks, had picnics outside, bought art materials and set to work outside. We had birthday parties with small groups of close friends, including “a Victorian tea party”. If you want to add to your family, you need to focus on getting out of debt, saving for those costs with are necessary (maternity leave, basic items etc) and make a plan! Children are such a blessing, but our actions as adults often make children seem like a burden. It is us who spends too much on babies, it is us who thinks giving a child everything is about finances, when actually often it is more about time, stability, love and simplicity.

Household items - the whole time I was in London full time I had no vacuum, yes none. Yes it was a lot of work to sweep those floors and sweep those floors and sweep those floors. But more than I needed a vacuum I needed an emergency fund. Same goes for a kettle - yes I went without a kettle. I went 12 months without a camera which was difficult, very difficult, but I don’t need a camera to survive! I don’t have a drying machine (fine by me as it is more eco friendly to hang clothes to dry anyways). My point is that we need to really really really see the difference between need and want. This has been such an important lesson for me. I’ve mentioned it before, because I also think it is about using the right language“our household appliance is on it’s last legs” could be changed to “our household appliance may be old but it is still working, so we are focusing on saving to replace it when necessary”. See the difference there? I’ve been told it would be a good idea for me to have a surgery (I’ve chosen my words carefully there many people would say need a surgery but I don’t believe it is a need because it won’t kill me not to have it, it will make my life easier if I have it, it will probably make me feel better about my health situation but those are not needs). It will cost me around £6,000 (it isn’t covered on the NHS). I can see why the surgery is a good idea. I could sit here and say “I can’t afford it”. But that wouldn’t be using the right language to use or the right value to teach myself. So instead I say “there is a surgery I would like to have, that right now I don’t have the money for, I plan to start saving for it and hope to eventually be able to have it“.

Moving, selling houses etc - unless you have to, you don’t jump jobs and areas without selling your house or being able to rent it out unless you can absolutely afford those mortgage payments for, I would say in this economy, a year. You don’t create chaos for your children, your marriage and your own life by making a decision to quit a job on a whim with no back up, move when you have to put your moving costs onto a credit card with no real plan or backup should things go wrong. You are risking the roof over your children’s heads doing this!!!

Pets- I love, uber love my kitty. I’d love a dog (I had one growing up, through my adolescence etc), I really really would. But you know what? Right now it isn’t in the budget. In order to have a dog not only do I need to be able to afford to feed it and take it to the vets, but I need money for when I go away, any potential health issues, insurances etc. In terms of the pecking order of finance, right now the priority is emergency fund, catching up on retirement savings (doing well so far, need to update on this!), then a house fund. There are so many ways I can spend time with dogs, by volunteering at the RSPCA or another animal shelter, volunteering with working dog charities and programs, helping walk friend’s dogs etc. For some people having a dog may be more important than a house fund, maybe some people can afford both, right now I’m choosing not to do this not saying I can’t afford to, simply because there are soo many changes in my life right now that I need to know I’m at the right time, place and financial situation to commit to a dog, not for a month or two, but for 10 years plus. When the time is right, I’ll make sure I have £500 in a pet fund, to ensure that if vet bills crop up I can handle them!

I guess the point of this long, rambling post is to remind myself and everyone to PLAN! Make a 1 year plan, a 2 year plan, 3, 4, 5 year plan. Where do you want to be and perhaps more importantly how are you going to get there? If you want children then how are you going to make that happen? So many people say “we’ll have a baby in 2 years” well are you willing to forgo things now in order to make that happen? Are you willing to quit eating out and save that £20 a week into a fund to top up your maternity leave? Have you figured out childcare costs and how you will afford them? If you know you’ll need (said cautiously) a new vacuum, bed, tv, camera, car….well what are you doing about it? Are you cutting back now to be able to buy it cash? Are you really really examining need vs. want? A tv isn’t a need, really it is a want. Sure it is nice to be able to put it on, but let’s be honest. When I went 7 weeks without a tv as I didn’t want to buy one until I had the money in the bank to pay for it, I never never said I need a tv, that meant I didn’t feel sorry for myself, I didn’t think I was going without, instead I admitted what I wanted and found a route to get it, through hard work, saving and a plan!

Just remember when someone knocks at your door, or you walk into that electronic store/furniture store/salon, they are looking for someone, hopefully not someone like you, who will buy into myth that you need and deserve what they are selling, that it will make your life easier, make your image better and make you happier. And you know what? For most things it is an absolute lie! There is nothing like the contentment of knowing you have no debt and savings (even a small amount) behind you. Don’t get sucked in. Start with no spending days to train yourself in self-disciplin and change your financial picture as a result!!

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How To Recognise Internet Business Scams?

If you've been approached by someone or seen an ad somewhere, provide you a great work-from-home money-making opportunity, and you get very excited about you finally can quit your job.

Be aware that at least 99% of the internet business offers out there are scams - after all, if it was that easy to pay a few dollars and make thousands, wouldn't everybody be doing it by now? Here are the biggest scams out there, how to identify them, and how to avoid them.

The more informed you are about internet scams, the more confident you will be when searching for an online business. Take the upper hand and be in control of your business future before someone tries to take advantage of you. Lets bust some of the scam myths!

Here are some of the popular statements made by most of the internet frauds and the truth behind them:
Promising Overnight Wealth - These scams claim a system that will make money for you while you sleep. It sound like there is little work involved to obtaining this.

Hard work and much dedication to be able to achieve wealth, it's certainly possible. Most online businesses will take a little time to get up and running, but will be worth your effort in the end.

Turn your Computer into a Money Making Cash Machine! - Actually, there are a lot of statements that start off with this kind of sales pitch.

Be careful of a sales pitch that starts off this way, although the declaration itself could be true sometimes. Most online business opportunities sell the business itself. To the scammer they're making money off people paying them for what they say they will give you. They tend to sell the money making benefit. Usually, in that case, there really is no business- to you that is.

No money involved - Start your business absolutely free! - The scammers will push the fact that you can get a business going with absolutely no money in start -up fees.

The scammers scream the no money involved statement, and the main while they will turn around and ask you to pay them a certain amount for information on how to get a business started for free. Hmm... Aren't they contradicting themselves? There will be some costs to start up a business, but very rarely do they ever break the bank.

This one is similar to a lot of others plastered on the internet claiming is "Start Earning a Living from Typing at Home!" This statement tells you that you can start a business from home with your typing or in some cases, data entry skills.

Of course you can earn money typing or performing data entry from home, but not with these guys. You can find out how to do it -with your own research for Free! You're better off offering these services to clients yourself and avoid paying the scammers for the information on how to do it.

There are many more scam opportunities out there, but these will give you some ideas on how those frauds work and who they like to prey upon. Be aware of your options and don't be afraid to research any opportunity you don't feel comfortable with.

Good luck with your home based online business!

You Can Earn Extra Money Online

A Five Way Income Boost

Money is tight? If you need an income boost or perhaps just a bit of additional cash on a steady basis, you can earn extra money online using one or more of these methods.

1. Write Articles for Websites

There is a virtually insatiable need for good writers and writing on the world wide web. If you can write tight, clear prose, then this opportunity could be tailor-made for you. Blogs, which are like company diaries, are updated with short 250 to 400 word posts daily, and often several times a day. You get paid per blog post so the money can accumulate rather quickly each month if you're writing fifteen or twenty blog posts each week.

2. Auction Off Hot-Ticket Items

A quick check on the internet at sites like Amazon.com, Clickbank.com and Ebay will turn up an extensive list of wanted and high-demand items which you can then turn around and offer for sale in a number of ways. To auction off a high-demand item such as a hard-to-find book, record, poster, postcard, photo or other object, register with the site. Then upload a digital photograph or scanned image of the item for sale, set a minimum bid figure and wait for the bids to come in.

3. Enroll Yourself in Affiliate Marketing Programs

Undoubtedly, affiliate marketing is one of the fastest, easiest and most profitable ways to earn extra money online. You don't need to be a technical whiz or computer programmer to profit. You don't even need a website. It has to be one of the lowest-cost ways known to profit online. Go to an online product site or internet marketing site like clickbank.com or amazon.com for starters. Choose an item, course, e-book or program that interests you. Sign up as an affilite by following the instructions given. Promote the product or service in as many ways as you can. For each sale you gnerate, you will receive a percentage. That's it.

4. Advertise and Sell Your Own Information Products

Are you especially knowledgeable in any particular area? I'm willing to bet you are. Convert that expertise and skill into a way you can earn extra money online. Create your own information products such as videos, CDs, audio recordings, and e-books. The cost of doing so is minimal. You potential profits however, can be astronomical when compared to preparation, production and costs. You can produce an audio recording or short video in one day and have them for sale online the very same week with no problem.

5. Rent Mailing Lists to Companies and Individuals

Companies of all types are constantly looking to expand their client base and add more customers for their products. You can compile and rent out an extensive list of the names and information of people interested in a particular field, or who live in a specific geographical region or other demographic. The cost to compile such lists is low, sometimes free. Charge a fee for companies to rent out the list for one-time use. Repeat multiple times for added income.

Many other methods to earn extra money online are available, you just need to be creative in looking for and identifying them.

How Internet Articles Can Earn You Money

In recent years, Web 2.0 turned from a source of entertainment to a money-making opportunity. Consider online writing portals such as Associated Content or Helium where you actually receive payment for every Internet article you write. In fact, many of these sites are so lucrative there are actually people making a full-time income from them.

So, how does the pay work among these networks? It depends on which one you join. Associated Content pays for your Internet articles on two levels. First, there’s the upfront payment, if they think your Internet articles are likely to drive traffic. Second, there’s the page view payment, where you earn money based on how much traffic your articles bring.

Then there are sites like Helium or Ehow where your articles earn money from ad revenue. These sites tend to be more difficult to work with, because your articles must receive a lot of traffic before you see any money. However, on the same token, many of these sites have high Google rankings, so if you keep working with them it’s possible you could actually earn more than what you would with Associated Content.

A third type of network works through Adsense revenue-sharing. HubPages is a prominent example. Basically, all of your Internet articles contain your Adsense code. This means that if someone clicks on one of the ads, your articles will earn a percentage of that site’s Adsense revenue. HubPages offers one of the most generous percentages, as they will pay you 60% of their traffic. This is not bad considering their high pr can get your articles indexed in a matter of minutes.

Finally, there are sites such as Daily Article or Constant Content where you can actually sell your Internet articles as private label content. And, unlike all of the other sites mentioned in this article, with these networks, you earn an upfront payment for your work. You can also charge whatever you want. This could range from a few cents to over $100… or even more. Just be aware that the more you charge, the less attractive your article will be for Internet marketers. Remember, their goal is to get Internet articles for as cheap as possible. And considering that they themselves are taking a gamble with affiliate marketing, it’s understandable why they may have trouble paying $200 for a 500-word article.

In conclusion, thanks to the innovations of Web 2.0, virtually anyone can benefit from Internet articles. Whether you are a housewife needing extra money to watch the kids, a student who needs to pay their way through school or even a professional writer interested in making easy money in between gigs, online writing portals are the perfect solution for meeting your needs. All you have to do is create keyword-optimized Internet articles that have decent information. They don’t have to be award-winning essays, but they should make readers feel as if they have learned something new. If you are unsure how to write these types of Internet articles, look at what’s already popular.

Internet Home Base Business The New Way To Earn More Money

One of the most popular ventures in earning money today is through an internet home base business. It provides you not just with wider opportunities in making money; you also get exposed to a bigger target market, as your business is not trapped within geographic boundaries. Thus, if you are looking for a way to get more profit and become rich faster, then pursuing an internet business is the way to go.

Here are some ideas Yahoo Answers suggests on how you can push through with an internet business:

First, you can set up your own site. By setting up your own site, you can then promote marketing campaigns for various businesses that their products and services promoted all over the internet community. Also known as affiliate marketing programs, you can earn money through commissions and referrals especially when people click on the ads posted on your site.

Another good internet home base business is providing technical services. If you are not a fan of affiliate marketing, then you can establish a service-oriented online business site wherein you are the one who provides certain services to your prospective clients. Some online entrepreneurs make money by offering technical services such as web design, content generation, and bulk promotional strategies like posting on chats, forums and sites (just like Yahoo Answers). These tasks are relatively easy and offer good pay, though they can be boring since they consume a lot of time to accomplish.

You can also start a home internet business by providing email marketing services. Similar to telemarketing, you will be given a long list of email addresses to which you will send letters to, promoting your client’s business. A lot of companies are in need of manpower to do this task, as the letters should not look spammy (in order to pass through spam filters), thus you can take advantage of this work opportunity and do it right at your own home.

Aside from these online work opportunities, you can start a home internet business by getting paid to write. Some companies hire people to write reviews about the products and services they offer to capture the interest of their target audiences. You do not necessarily need an online business site, just a blog where you can post these reviews, or you may subscribe to article submission sites and have your articles featured in those pages.

If you are looking for more ways to start a business online, you can post questions at Yahoo Answers and see if other internet users can help you out with your endeavor. It is quite recommended to reach out in the internet community especially if you want to start your own internet home base business, since the people here are knowledgeable in the things you would need in order to succeed. You can even make partnerships with these people for your business to prosper. Having an online business site naturally helps a lot, as you get to have your own space to inform your audiences about your goods and services. Why not create your own site now and start earning money? This might be your ticket to success.

Top 10 Internet Home Business Ideas You Can Start and Run in Your Underwear

With over 300,000 “Internet Home Business” related searches on the internet every month, it’s safe to say that there is a lot of demand for information on how to make money on the internet. Sadly, this also means that there are a lot of shady characters preying on this group of people.

I knew someone who fell for one of these once - they taught him how to make money online, and then all he did was sell seminars - on how to make money online. The fact that he had never actually made any money online was beside the point… I guess. Not surprisingly, I’m not a big supporter of his business.

Can anyone make money online? I do believe so. But not everyone WILL make money online, because as I have said before, making money on the internet takes a long time to learn, and most people give up because it can be extremely frustrating.

My one piece of advice for starting an internet home business is this :: Don’t expect to make any real money for 365 days (or so!) . Although I will add that service-based businesses tend to bring in revenue faster, I would still allow for a full year to replace your outside-the-home salary.

The good news about this industry is that as long as you are willing to put in the hours (days… weeks…. months….. ) to learn the ropes, you can bootstrap your business with extremely little money, generally speaking. Some businesses take more to start than others. I’ve probably directly invested less than $3000 getting this blog up and running, and now revenue is increasing at about a 125-140% pace every month after being in business for 16 months.

So, where do you start from here? Some general rules of thumb:

1. Pre-packaged programs only work as much as you can customize it and make it unique and your own. Even then, techniques that work for one niche won’t work in all niches.
2. Be wary of any “system” that promises instant results (especially anything that sounds like a get-rich-quick scheme!)
3. Knowing the basics of html, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), social media, website marketing and traditional marketing and sales are a must.
4. Every business is made stronger by specializing in a tight niche. Know your audience and stick to it.

Unless you have a brilliant tech idea that makes venture capitalists drool, you need to determine where your strengths are and which business model you plan on following (and you don’t need this list). I have run three home-based businesses in my life, all of which leveraged my current skill set as the foundation for building the business.

Look over the following list and single out the ones in which you have at least some experience. You probably won’t have all of the skills necessary, so don’t let that stop you! All you have to do is work hard and be willing to learn.