A profitable cow for adventurers, the Internet is full of opportunities to make a quick buck. Although it is rarely considered a single source of income, the network can easily help you supplement it. However, the amount you earn depends on the time and effort invested. Scroll through these 20 options and find out which one works best for you.
Harpreet Singh | Print Edition: February 2011
A profitable cow for adventurers, the Internet is full of opportunities to make a quick buck. Although it is rarely considered a single source of income, the network can easily help you supplement it. However, the amount you earn depends on the time and effort invested. Scroll through these 20 options and find out which one works best for you.
Blogging
If you are a passionate bookcase writer and want to get published but can't find a way to do so, make every keystroke your way to fortune by writing your own blog. Starting a blog does not require extensive technical skills but it is important that you have experience in the field in which you write. This will attract visitors to your site. Building a large number of followers will enable you to generate profits by attracting advertisers, writing paid reviews, or receiving commissions to promote other people's products.
Paid Writing
If it's tough for you to keep a blog but still want to indulge your passion for writing, you can blog articles for other blogs or sites like Weblogs, Helium, or PayPerPost. Writing an ebook can also be a good option. E-books are free, with no cost to print and ship. If you have strong control over languages, you can become a transcription editor, as Webmasters will pay you to read articles, correct grammar mistakes, sentence fragments, and so on.
E-lessons / webinars
The demand for teachers is high and growing. So, if you love helping others learn, e-teaching might be your ticket. All you need to become an online teacher is expertise in your topic and a few free hours per week. TutorVista, Web Tutor, SmartThinking, and Tutor.com are some of the sites you can sign up for. If you gain a good reputation as a trainer, you can even conduct webinars or webinars. College and university students are willing to pay to enroll in a well-respected online educational program.
Partner / Distributor
For those who have the knack for selling, one of the best ways to make money online is to become an affiliate / distributor. An affiliate is someone who gets a commission for selling every product he promotes, either on his website or through any other medium like eBay. You don't have to own the product. You only need to register for the referral program with a company and start selling their products under your referral link. Companies like Commission Junction or Click Bank have a wide range of products.
Buy / Sell domains
Buying and selling domain names is another way to make money from home that requires very little investment or time. You can buy domains at their registration rates or even cheaper and trade them at a profit. However, always search on sites like sedo.co.uk, afternic.com, ebay.com, or other domain auction sites to get an estimate of the top selling names. The best way to find good listings is to use expired domain listings, which contain many expired names that have returned to the pool.
Freelance work for professionals
Freelancing is a great choice for professionals who are experts in their trades and know how to ensure customer satisfaction. Various project-oriented freelance work sites allow companies that need help describing their projects. Freelancers and small businesses submit bids, ideas, or proposals, from which buyers can choose what they find most appropriate. Websites like Elance cover everything from programming and writing to data entry and design, while RentACoder focuses on software programming.
Advertising
You can sell space on your website or blog for ads and you earn when your visitors click on these ads. Sorting and placing ads is free. The profitability of pay-per-click ads depends on the level of website traffic and, most importantly, on the click-through rate (CTR) and cost-per-click (CPC). Google AdSense is the most popular choice, while others are BidVertiser, Text Link Ads and Blogads. Live Banner and RSS feed are some of the other forms of online advertising.
GPT program
GPT or Get-pay-to sites are becoming increasingly popular among teens. You are paid to sign up for free websites and newsletters, play games, and fill out online surveys. These are suitable for people who do not have a skill set but want to earn extra money. Taking surveys online is simple - sign up for some legitimate and paid survey sites and answer questions. Topics range from shopping to politics. It may not help you earn a living, but you can make a decent living. Contests2win is a trusted GPT site.