Online money by Erick smart
There are
a lot of articles out there that had really explained how you can make money
online but does it really pays.
Most of
them have really put in more effort in convincing the internet money seekers.
But it is possible to make money online. I mean, the people selling all of
those millionaire pitches are making money, right?
But let me
tell you this, there are lot of opportunities out there to make money in an
online business but how will you find the right and most trusted ones to dig
into?
Most of
them require a lot of work and sometimes a lot of dedication before seeing a
return on your time. But if you really want to make money online, work
from home or turn an idea into a business, you can do it. You can
even earn money with apps if you
don’t want to venture all the way to the computer.
I’m going
to tell you about all kinds of legitimate ways to make money online.
Since we are talking about legitimate jobs, you’ve got to be…well,
legitimate. Many of these options are real jobs that require you to put
in hours if you want to get paid. They also require real work. Here are
some tips for actually getting the job:
- Be committed to your work. Yes, you’re applying for an online job. Yes, you
can do the work in your underwear, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a “real
job”. You must treat it as such or they aren’t going to treat you as a
serious candidate. You aren’t the only one who wants to work in their
underwear. In fact, the competition online is likely higher than it is in
your local area.
- Be professional. When you submit a résumé, don’t type it in ALL
CAPS and please don’t avoid the caps lock like the plague. Know how to
use it without looking incompetent. Write in complete sentences with
proper grammar. Of course, there will be exceptions, but even with the
exceptions, you must keep it professional. You’re establishing a business
partner relationship.so beware.
- Give some, but not all. Whether you’re providing writing samples, a
photography portfolio or links to your work, give them enough examples to
get the idea, but not so many that they don’t even know where to start.
And while we’re on the topic, give them some of your background
information, but don’t tell them your life story.
- Go through your work before submitting. Make sure everything you send to a company, whether a
résumé, an email or a portfolio, is good to go. Double check your grammar
and wording, and for God’s sake use spell check! This is especially
important when it comes to the company’s name. Don’t spell their name wrong
and be sure to type it how they type it (e.g.Amason instead Amazon).
1.
Websites That Pay
Let’s go
ahead and get this out of the way. There are all kinds of websites that will
pay you for various things, such as shopping, taking surveys or testing products.
No, I’m not getting paid to promote any of these and no, these websites
won’t make you a millionaire, but they are great for earning some extra
cash. I’ll leave out the scams.
Here are
some legitimate websites that pays;
- Swagbucks – Swagbucks is great for earning some extra cash. You
can do a variety of things to make money, from taking surveys to using
their search engine. You won’t get rich, but you will earn a few bucks. If
you have the time to spend, you can spend it earning some extra
cash, instead of surfing the web.
- InboxDollars – InboxDollars is similar to Swagbucks, since you’re
going to be taking surveys, shopping, etc., so if you want to maximize
your return, sign up with both websites. They also offer a search engine
that pays you (like Swagbucks) and you get $5 just for signing up.
I won’t continue to list survey sites one after another down the
list, but if you want to get paid to take surveys, also check out GlobalTestMarket, E-Poll Surveys and Survey Club.
- Project Payday – Project Payday is one of those sites that has
testimonials of people who have earned thousands of dollars by getting
paid to get trial offers. I’m not saying you’ll earn thousands, but it is
legit and you can earn some extra cash. They assume that by paying you to
do a free trial, you’ll either like the product and purchase it, or
forget to cancel the trial and get charged for it. If you can keep track
and cancel before you get charged (if you don’t want the product), then
this is a great site for making some money.
- User Testing – User Testing pays $10 a pop for testing
websites. A test usually takes about 15-20 minutes. The purpose is for a
website owner to watch someone, who is new to their site, try to navigate
it. The value that the site owner gets by watching an actual user experience
is worth a ton, but $10 isn’t a bad pay-out.
- Fiverr
– Fiverr is a great place to make a few bucks or spend a few bucks if you
need some of the services people offer. Basically, everything is $5. You
either pay $5 or charge $5. They call them “gigs.” You can offer your
services however you choose. If you sell art and you’re fine selling
pieces for $5 each, that’s a gig. If you’re a graphic designer and you
want to offer your services for $10/hour, simply offer a 30 minute gig.
If they need two hours of graphic design, they pay you $20, or $10/hour
by buying four gigs.
- IZEA –
IZEA works in addition to a blog or on its own. You get paid to blog,
tweet, take photos and take videos. The pay is mostly based on your
following, so if you want to make money with your tweets, you’ll need to
grow you Twitter following. Likewise, if you want to make money
with blogs, you’ll need substantial blog traffic (more on blogging
below).
2.
Freelance Writing
Freelance
writing is one of the most popular ways to earn money online. Many successful
freelancers can earn an average of 50 cents to a dollar per word. Some are
earning twice that!
Of course,
it doesn’t start out like that. You’ve got to build your portfolio and your
résumé. If you’re interested in writing, I’m sure you know this. If you’re not
interested in writing, I wouldn’t recommend traveling down this road just for
the money.
It takes
dedication and time, though it can be highly profitable if it’s what you love.
Assuming it is what you love, let’s talk about making money with it.
Before you
decide to start reaching out to all of these freelance writing companies, you
need to have a web presence. You need a blog (in my humble blogger opinion, of
course).
Or you
could just have an online portfolio. Even a LinkedIn profile works to get started. When
you’re ready to start, here are 150 resources
to help you write better, faster and more persuasively.
Now for
what you’ve all been waiting for; once you’re ready to actually start making
money, here are 10 websites you can start with:
- Listverse – Listverse pays $100 for each accepted post. The
article must be a list, it must be at least 1,500 words and you must
include at least 10 things. Other than that, you can get pretty creative
with it.
- TopTenz – TopTenz pays $50 for each accepted post. Again, the
article has to be in a list format and it must be at least 1,500 words,
with few exceptions. They post often so your chances of getting accepted
are fairly high.
- A List Apart – A List Apart pays $200 for each accepted post.
They’re not first on the list, because they tend to publish less
articles, which means you have a smaller chance of getting accepted. Same
guidelines as above, 1,500 word minimum.
- International
Living – International Living pays
$75 for each accepted post. They are mostly looking for travel
experiences from countries you have visited. For this site, it’s more
about your experience than your writing ability.
- FundsforWriters – FundsforWriters pays $50 for each accepted post.
They are looking for articles about writing and making money with it.
They only accept articles between 500-600 words, but they want you to make
each word count.
- Uxbooth – Uxbooth pays $100 for each accepted post. They do
tend to take four to eight weeks to accept and post articles, so
don’t count on this being a quick money maker. They take so long, because
they pair with editors to only publish amazing content.
- iWriter – iWriter pays up to $15 for each accepted post. That
may seem small, but they aren’t as strict as many of the others above and
they also allow you to pick exactly what you write. You can write as many
or as few articles as you want.
- Textbroker – Textbroker pays up to five cents per word, if
you’re a 5-star writer. You’ll start by submitting a short sample article
and you will most likely start as a 3-star writer, but you can work your
way up by writing more and writing great content.
- Matador Network – Matador Network pays up to $60 for each accepted
post, but standard pay is around $20-$25. They don’t really focus on a
minimum word count, but they have a maximum count of 1,500 words.
- The Penny Hoarder – The Penny Hoarder pays up to $800 (rarely),
depending upon the number of page views you receive. The pay starts at
$100 for 50,000 page views, so this isn’t a guaranteed paid article, but
it can potentially be highly rewarding.
There’s no
doubt that you can make money with freelance writing, but it’s a process. Once
you start building your portfolio and your writing skills, you can start making
some serious money. If you’re not an experienced writer, expect to put some
time in before you really start to see some dough.
3.
Sell Your Stuff
Ever since
the idea of online auctions came into existence, the online selling market has
been on the rise. Many are interested, but don’t know how to get started. There
are still all kinds of ways to make money by selling online, whether you’re
selling what you already have or buying and selling like a store. Before we get
started, here are a few general tips when selling anything online:
- Get a PayPal account. If you don’t have a PayPal
account, you’ll want to get one if you’re doing business online. It’s the
standard in online business for receiving payment and paying others.
- Take good pictures. Some of the options below don’t require you to
actually take the picture and sell the product, but for the ones that do,
make sure you take a clear picture that makes your product stand out from
the others. If you’re going to be taking a lot of pictures, set up
a small “studio-like” area in your home with a backdrop and proper
lighting to really make your pictures come across as professional. And of
course, you’ll want a good camera too.
- Be honest.
If you’re selling used items, be honest about every dent, scratch,
blemish, etc.. This will reduce many issues you could run into
and keep your reviews positive.
- Do good business. Plain and simple. Whether you’re selling on a
small site or opening an online store, your customer service matters.
You’ll want to get those positive reviews and make a good name for
yourself. Respond to questions, concerns and complaints. Offer a
guarantee if available.
Follow
those guidelines and you will do well in online sales. When you’re ready to
start selling, here’s where you go:
- Amazon – Have you heard of FBA? It stands for “Fulfilled by
Amazon” and it’s getting pretty popular. Basically, you buy products (in
bulk is best) and ship them to Amazon for them to store. When your
products sell, Amazon packs them up, ships them out and sends you the
money (after taking their cut). There are people making a full-time
living from FBA, while others just do it for some extra money.
- CraigsList – Some things don’t ship very well. Other things may
make you feel uncomfortable to sell to someone across the country.
Anytime you’re selling a large item or something you just don’t want to
ship, Craigslist is a great place to go. It’s simple to list your item
(again, take good pictures!). If you don’t like the idea of putting your
phone number out there, the interested individual can send you a message
to your inbox without even getting your email address.
- eBay –
Of course you can’t read an article about making money online that
doesn’t mention eBay. You can start an eBay store and get serious about
it or you can just sell some stuff to declutter your home. Either way,
I’ve made my fair share from selling on eBay and it’s still a popular way
to earn money. If you decide to start an actual eBay store, you’ll want
to find a drop-ship business like Doba that will store and ship items straight to your
customers so you don’t have to deal with an inventory.
- Etsy –
If you like to create arts and crafts, you can sell them on Etsy.It’s
completely free to open an Etsy store. You simply sign up, post pictures
of your creations and starting selling. You can choose your payment
option, but PayPal is generally the easiest. Etsy makes it easy to sell
and keep track of your inventory. There is a small listing fee and they
take 3.5% of every sale you make.
- Facebook – Facebook swap shops are great for selling things
locally. It’s like CraigsList, but a little easier. You simply search for
swap shops in your area and ask to join the group. Once you’re in, take a
picture of the item, write a quick description with the price and post
it. It doesn’t get much easier than that. You can generally expect to get
about what you would get at a yard sale, maybe a little more.
4.
Blogging
Hey look,
an article about making money online that doesn’t mention blogging. . . oh
wait, here it is.
First off,
I’m a blogger so it seems wrong not to mention it, but more importantly, it’s a
legitimate way to make money. It’s quite possibly the least straight-forward
way on this list, but it’s very doable and it’s also quite possibly the funnest
way on this list. I love blogging and I know hundreds of bloggers who feel the
same. So let’s talk about making money blogging and what it really means.
Blogging
is something that requires patience, persistence and discipline. It may mean
writing everyday for over a year before you really start to see any money from
it. There are exceptions to the rule, but from my dealings with other bloggers,
it seems to be pretty common to spend one or even two years building your blog,
your brand and your authority, before making any serious amount of money.
Some
people argue that you can make money without a lot of traffic and while that is
true in some circumstances, you will generally need a lot of website traffic to
start earning from a blog and that takes a while. Once you’ve reached that point,
here are the primary ways to monetize your blog and start earning:
- Advertising
– This is definitely the most old-school way of earning money with a
blog. It’s also starting to become the least common way. You can sell
advertising spots directly on your site or you can sign up with a company
like Google AdSense or Media.net. Either way, you won’t see a whole lot of money from
ads until your views are well into the thousands each day.
- Affiliates
– There are many affiliate networks, such as FlexOffers and CJ Affiliate that allow you to promote other people’s products and
services. You simply put a link or a banner on your page and then you get
a percentage if someone clicks through and buys the product/service.
You’ll want to select products that are specifically within your blog’s
category.This is an effective way to earn money once you have the traffic
coming to your blog.
- Membership
– Many people have created a paid membership area on their blog. This is
typically for exclusive content that you can only access in the “member’s
area.” If you have a really great idea on what to include, this can be a
great idea. You’ll have to create something that can’t easily be
accessed around the web.
- Products
– You can create your own product, such as an ebook or computer software.
You would then use your blog as a promotion tool to get people to buy
your product. As long as you create a legitimate product with a whole lot
of value, you should be able to get some buyers, but like everything else
with a blog, you’ll need the traffic to get the sells.
- Services
– You can offer a paid service, such as life coaching, blog coaching,
goal setting or financial planning. Just be sure to investigate all the
legal implications and make sure you’re not claiming to be a professional
if you’re not one. With a service like this, you’re basically using your
blog to sell yourself. You’ll need to convince people that you’re worth
buying and then be able to back up your claims once they purchase your
service.
- Sponsored/paid posts – Many blogs publish sponsored and paid posts.
Sponsored posts are basically just posts about a specific brand, product
or service. A company will pay you to publish an article about it. It’s
similar with other paid posts as well. Your basically selling the spot
for the article on your site. If you decide to take this route, you’ll
want to build your traffic before you will get many offers.
- Subscription
– If you think of something valuable (newsletter, online magazine,
etc.) that you can consistently offer on a certain basis (weekly,
monthly, etc.), you may want to offer a subscription service. This could
be a fee charged each time your product is sent out or on a monthly
basis. Either way, this has to be something that your customers can only
get by subscribing to your website.
- Videos
– This could be an entire section on it’s own. Many people have made
money by creating YouTube videos. Evan of EvanTube is a kid and he has made
millions by creating reviews of
products that other kids his age would use. It’s not easy to get views
into the millions, but once you do, you’ll start seeing some cash come
in. Many bloggers have completely turned to videos to get their point
across by starting a video blog.
If you’re
truly interested in becoming a blogger, start by looking through the archives
of ProBlogger,
Copyblogger
and Boost Blog Traffic. Then go read through all the free guides over at Quick Sprout. It may
take you a year to complete those tasks alone, but it will be worth it. You’ll
practically have a MBA in blogging.
5.
Work-at-Home Companies
Finally,
there are some companies that will hire you to work from the comfort of
your own home. If you’re interested in working for someone else, while still
making your own schedule and deciding where to work from, here are a few
companies that will let you do just that:
- CrowdSource – CrowdSource offers many types of jobs from
“microtask” jobs to larger writing and editing jobs. You decide how much
you work and you can do most of it right at your computer.
- Demand Studios – Demand Studios is hiring all kinds of creative
professionals, from writer to filmmakers. The pay isn’t amazing, but it’s
competitive for a work-at-home job.
- Fast Chart – Fast Chart allows you to work from home as a
medical transcriptionist. There are some requirments and qualifications
listed on the page, but if you meet them, you’ll make competitive pay for
the industry. You’ll also be able to set your own schedule since you’ll
be working from home.
- Leap Force – Leap Force is one way that Google rates websites
for search engine ranking. If you’re hired, you make decent money
(usually over $11/hour), you set your own schedule and it can be pretty
fun to view and rank websites.
- Liveops – Liveops is a call center that allows you to work
from home. Once your set up to take the calls, you can begin making a
weekly schedule and working from home. The pay is generally close to
$10/hour, but you can earn more with commissions.
- SpeakWrite – SpeakWrite will pay you up to $15/hour to
transcribe information. You set your own schedule and work from home.
Now you’ve
got many different options to start earning online. If you saw something that
really interests you, try it out and learn more about it. If you’re really
wanting to make a full-time income online, you need to be dedicated to learning
how to do what you want to do. There are tons of free resources out there. You
just have to search for them!
