Making Money Online: Fact or Fiction?

A simple search on some of the best known search engines confirms it: anybody can get rich within days, without any effort or knowledge whatsoever, just follow these easy-to-use instructions, pay $49.95 (which you'll make back in 5 minutes) and you'll be ready to buy your own island before you know it.

Don't start cheering yet and leave those bottles of champagne in the fridge for the time being, I've got some bad news: It doesn't work that way!!! Every sane person should realize by now that in order to make money, you need to put some effort to it. And no matter what people tell you, nobody is just gonna pay you because they like those cute dimples on your profile picture.

After doing drugs, cocooning and being gay, quitting your job and working from home seems to be the new hype. Unfortunately, a lot of people might get heavily disappointed when they look at their on-line income after a few months and realize that it's not exactly what they had hoped for. No second car, new boat or Playboy mansion, more likely a cup of coffee and a maybe even a slice of cake to go with it (if you've been busy).

From all the ways to make money, the following seem to be the most popular ones: writing, clicking, filling out surveys and the new wonder-word, dropshipping. For this article, I've limited my research to writing. It is by far my personal favorite, as you're only limited by your own creativity and time and it actually requires some sort of talent. It's really quite simple: the more time you put into it, the more money you can make.

Let's take a closer look at the positive and negative sides of some of the reader's favorites.

Associated Content.

What: you write articles that get published on their site.

Plus: nice easy on the eye and easy to use interface. Promotes interaction between writers. Has regular specials and claims, where writers are asked to write about a particular subject. Uses accumulated views, so an article written a few years ago can still generate money. Advanced payment available, albeit solely for US residents. Articles are put on-line straight away once you've been published 3 times.

Minus: payment per view is rather low. Creating a steady group of readers takes a lot of time and effort. Update of views and payment is not too accurate.

Helium.

What: same idea as Associated Content.

Plus: compares articles on the same subject, and pays according to the popularity. You can get money for comparing articles. Has a list of 'requested' articles for a fixed price (average of $40 if article is chosen).

Minus: reading articles on subjects you don't like can be tedious and you can only skip 10 times. Can take quite some time before your article gets published.

myLot.

What: you start a discussion on any subject you want, or react on ongoing discussions.

Plus: discussions are a lot shorter than full articles, so when you've got a few minutes to spare, it's still worth logging in. You get paid according to the popularity of the discussions you start, but also for your comments on other discussions or posting useful pictures. Everything you can come up with is suitable for publication. Interesting rating system (although nobody knows exactly what it does).

Minus: doesn't give the same satisfaction as writing articles. Besides that, no real downsides.

Blogging.

What: on-line diary for the more extroverted people.

Plus: you have total control over the content since it's your own side. Perfectly suited for Google Adsense.

Minus: takes some more effort to promote. Reading about personal issues might not interest the average reader.

If you're planning on writing on a regular base, check out these sites (and the many others that have similar deals) and experiment a bit until you find what suits you best. With all that's on offer, you're bound to find something.