The stock market, with the advent of online discount brokerages, is a good (albeit risky) way for seasoned traders to make money online. Unfortunately, in order to trade, you have to have:
- A good amount of capital
- Deep knowledge of the market and trading in general
- A healthy appetite for risk
Since many people lack one or more of the above, it’s hard to trade stocks effectively and profitably for much of the population. Fortunately, you can make money online in more ways than trading stocks, mutual funds, options, commodities, or other assets.
Here, I’ll outline a few common ways you can actual make money off the wonders of the modern-day Internet.
Blogging
Are you a good writer? If so, there is a world of opportunity out there for you through, among other things, blogging.
Blogs are everywhere. They not only provide useful information, but also attract users to websites- thus driving in revenue from web traffic and advertisements – and also build up the authority of the blogger and the company he or she represents. That indirectly brings in revenue as more customers begin to read these blogs regularly.
For these reasons, companies have begun to invest in blogs more than ever before. If you are a good writer and can write clearly, correctly, and captivatingly, then you are a good candidate to be a blogger. There are several websites online that you can use to find blogging work. Or, you could start your own about something you feel passionate about and create a website with advertisements to give you money based off how many people view your blog. Some great blogs that give advice on blogging include problogger.net, mattsmarketingblog.com and copyblogger.com.
Internet Marketing
Another way is to create a website and use it as a hub for internet marketing, which is a catch-all phrase used to describe the process of attracting visitors to a website, thus allowing you to profit.
One way is to place advertisements on your website that pay based on impression (the number of people who view it) or per click (based on the number of people who actually click the ad). Google AdSense is the most popular internet marketing program out there today that pays you based on clicks or impressions.
You can also do affiliate marketing with your website; this is when you join affiliate programs of retailers and distributors and place links on your website so your visitors can buy their products. For every product you sell through your website, you receive a commission.
To attract people to your website, you’ll have to take advantage of multiple marketing channels, such as social media marketing, search engine optimization, email campaigns, and other methods. The best solution is to start with a topic you are passionate or knowledgeable about and create a useful, informative, and relevant website based on it. Then, as you build up your network, you’ll gain more revenue.
Drop shipping is another term used with affiliate marketing that describes how the distributor ships goods on your behalf that are sold from your website, and you handle the customer and the money. Your profit is in the difference between how much you sell the product for and the discounted price you pay to purchase the products from the distributor.
EBay
Believe it or not, eBay is still a very viable way to make money online. The whole idea is simple: You take items that you either already own or find elsewhere (usually in garage sales, estate sales, auctions, etc.) and sell them on eBay through your account. You can either allow your customers to buy them direct for a certain fee, or allow them to bid on your product through an auction.
Selling successfully on eBay means you have to have a good idea of what things are worth, and have to know how to describe and market your product in an attractive manner. But, there are countless numbers of people who have earned a significant amount of money off eBay over the 17 years it has been in existence.
In 2011, eBay brought in $11.6 billion in revenue, which gives you an idea of just how popular the company is even today.
Share Your Opinion and Referrals
Another way to make money is to share your opinion and give referrals.
There are tons of websites that will pay you to take product surveys for either themselves or their clients. This is a way to conduct market research, so companies are willing to pay cash for people who take 15-30 minutes out of their day to answer questions and provide an opinion. Sometimes you have to fall into a certain demographic (i.e. you have to be a woman between the ages of 30 and 50) to qualify, but often that isn’t the case.
Furthermore, you can get paid to refer people you know to recruiters who are looking for candidates to fill certain jobs. Recruiters are willing to pay considerably for this; you can earn anywhere from $50 to several thousand dollars per referral. It also works for products; if you get someone you know to buy a certain product or service, you can get a fee or commission from the referral.
Search online for ways to make money on the Internet. But, be careful: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Making money takes work, but possibilities are definitely out there for the taking.
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