5 Ways to Make Money on the Internet

I, like many others, work a 45-hour week in an office. More specifically, in an over-sized cubicle. Let's be honest, most of us that live in a cubicle are always looking for a way out, and since I've been an Internet geek for so long, I decided that I want my piece of the Internet-money pie!

There are several different methods and strategies to attain this level of cubicle freedom, but as most of you know, there are some more common methods that work better than others. I will list five common strategies to make money on the internet, and a brief description of each.

1. Blogging. I had to list this as my first choice, due to the fact that it is the method I am using to make extra money each month. Blogging has exploded over the last couple of years, and the momentum and influence of weblogs is rapidly growing each day. With this popularity, money follows very closely. There have been quite a few successful bloggers that have emerged in the last few years. Ones that I think of off the top of my head are Darren Rowse over at Problogger.net, then there is Steve Pavlina who you can find at stevepavlina.com, and last but not least, John Chow pops into my mind. Of course there are many more, but these are the ones I follow on a more regular basis. They have each inspired me in different ways, and if they only knew the impact they had on my life, they would be shocked! The amount of motivation I receive from these blogs is unmeasurable, and I hope they are around for a long time to come. My goal is to eventually be on the same tier that they are, but that will be extremely hard to do, as they will continue to grow as well. With a little Google searching, you can find out how much these guys pull in each month. The results will shock, and amaze you, I promise. Keep in mind they work hard at maintaing their blogs, but the rewards are unbelievable. If I can even come close to success like this, I will be satisfied.

2. Ebay. What a revolution. Ebay has also changed the way we shop and think. It amazes me that when I want to buy something for my car, computer, or closet, the first place I think of checking is Ebay! Back in the day, you would surf the Sunday ads in the paper for the best deals. Not anymore! Check Ebay! The best thing about Ebay in my mind is the ability to make money off of it. I've sold the most simple, common items and made money off of them. Even if it's just a few bucks here and there, it all adds up pretty quick. Now I think learning to sell on Ebay is a learned skill that takes some time, but if you are eager to get started, a quick Google search for "Make money with Ebay" will return several hundred million results. I can't recommend anyone, because I taught myself, but my best advice is to just practice. A cool idea to get started is to take $50 to WalMart and spend it in the clearance isle. Pick out some really marked down items that you think will sell, and try selling them. You will be amazed at the fact that you'll make money on them nearly every time. I'll stop with this one now, as it's starting to sound like an e-book.

3. Affiliate Marketing. Probably a cornerstone of the best way to make money online. Quite a few folks have made millions upon millions utilizing affiliate marketing techniques. Affiliate marketing is basically when you partner with someone who has a product or service, and when you refer them customers, you get a cut of the sale. When people set up websites devoted to this, successful ones will never have to work again. Residual incomes for the rest of their lives. There are many ways to start selling products for someone, and depending on what you want to sell, you can check out a few places. A couple that come to mind are Commission Junction and ClickBank. Again, I'm going to assume that since you're reading this post, that you are familiar with searching Google. Perform a search such as "how to make money as an affiliate", and you'll have more information than you could read in 5 lifetimes. I should note that affiliate marketing is often tied in with other methods of making money on the internet.

4. Virtual Assistant. Now this might not be the most exciting way to pull in an online income, but due to special circumstances or other reasons, working from home in a support role for a small business can keep you quite busy! You see, small and large companies world wide are often searching for "virtual" workers that play many different roles. It's a win-win situation for both parties involved. You can make upwards of $20/hr doing things that a regular assistant can do from a computer and internet connection and the company saves money because they often pay you as an independent contractor which means they don't have to pay for benefits. If you have the capacity to work from home, benefits probably don't mean much to you as your spouse or other family member already has you covered. Once again, a simple search for "virtual assistant jobs" will leave you with plenty of leads. Be leery of the ones you have to pay for, as they are often scams. The best and most honest ones can be found on regular employment search sites like Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com

5. Online Store. Last but not least is another of the most common techniques to make money on the internet. Do you own a craft or antique store? Or any kind of store for that matter? If you don't have a website that offers your goods or services online, you will most likely go out of business within the next 5 years. Without a web presence, you are doomed to fail. I know when I want something, the first place I look is online and I'm not the only one who thinks like this. As a matter of fact, I would be willing to bet that at least 50% of the world thinks the same way. That's a lot of potential business that I wouldn't want to miss! Don't worry though, it's not too late. Setting up an e-commerce website these days is too easy. Most web hosts like Godaddy.com offer a step by step website building tool that requires nothing more than pointing and clicking and the prices are very cheap. If this is still too difficult for you, try enlisting the help of a friend, or even a college student looking for a little extra cash. Start by posting an ad on Craigslist.org in the "computer gigs" section. Offer a fair budget for the project, and I promise you'll have more calls than you can shake a stick at. Anyhow, selling your product online can quickly put you "in the black", and you'll be glad you did it.

I hope you've enjoyed these five common ways to make money on the internet. I've personally tried all of these methods in the past, and they will all work for you with a little passion and dedication put forth. More and more people these days are pulling in part-time and even full-time incomes from the internet.

Why shouldn't you?