The Internet Guide to Making Money Online

The idea of making money on the internet - and just maybe, making your computer pay for itself - is one that will quickly grab anyone's attention. If you do a simple Google search for money making you will get flooded with millions of results, however with a little common sense and some investigation, you will find that most are in fact NOT credible business or money making opportunities. The thing to keep in mind here, however is that many of these "money making opportunities" are actually scams where they will charge you a small "initial fee" of some sort in exchange for allowing you access to their database of job opportunities. In reality however, once you have paid the fee, you find out that you actually are not getting what you have paid for.

However, there is money to be made online! The catch is, you do have to work for it. One of the most important things to remember when looking at a money making opportunity is to check the source out thoroughly. Do they belong to the Better Business Bureau? If so, what kind of rating and reputation do they have with them? If they do belong to the bureau and do not have a good reputation with them, stay away from the site!

Many of these web sites will redirect you to a page telling you how to "sell others these money making secrets", but never actually tell you what they are. These sites are a type of online pyramid scam. When researching online money making or work at home opportunities exercise extreme caution. One good rule of thumb to remember is that if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is!

One of the few sites that actually does allow you to make money online (if you put forth the effort to write and rate) is Helium. This site allows you to write short articles for both their existing "channels" and topics, or create new topics and write articles for them. The articles are rated using a peer review system - this means that each time you write and publish an article here, you will also be expected to rate other's articles as well. This, will in turn, help your articles rise in ranking - and earn you more income. The income is small here, and it does take time to build up a decent one, but with a little effort it is worth the time. One really nice thing about this site is the fact that your articles will keep earning you a small income. The more articles you have here, the larger the income potential.

You can also earn a small amount with a Google Adsense account and either a web site or blog. The Adsense account is free to open, and it allows you to place Google ads that are relevant to the content of your site right on your web pages. You will earn a pay per click percentage each time someone clicks on your ads. Use caution, however, repeated clicking on the ads - or clicking them yourself - can cause your account with Google to be terminated, and you will not be able to get another one. This method will take time to build up to a decent income level as well, but if you keep your web site or blog filled with good current content, and update it regularly, you can build up an income from the ads.

Another site, writingup.com, will host a blog for you and place Adsense ads on your pages. This site requires you to have an Adsense account and shares the profits with you in return for directing the traffic to your blog and advertising for you. The ads are always present on your blog, however, part of the time the income from these ads goes to you (the owner of the blog), and part of the time the income goes to Writingup.com. The ads on your blog are divided 50% of the time they are yours - you get the income, 50% of the time they are Writing Up's - they get the income.

Bloggerparty.com also works similar to Writing Up, and requires you to have an Adsense account. They host the Adsense adds on your web site (sometimes theirs, sometimes yours) and drive traffic to your site, as well as advertise it for you in return for sharing the Adsense profits. Again, part of time the Adsense revenue goes to the blog, and the remaining time it goes to Bloggerparty.com. The percentage for this site is 50% of the time, the ads will be yours, and the other 50% of the time the ads will be Blogger Party's. If you place a blog on this site, you will have to share your Adsense revenue with the host.

A self publishing site that allows you to publish your work for free is lulu.com. For a small commission - which is not paid until AFTER your work sells - you can self-publish books, e-books, and most anything else that can be published. You can create professional looking results with little time, and no up-front expenses. They also advertise and sell your work directly off of their site. If you are looking for a way to publish some of your work, but don't want the hassle of going through a traditional publisher, or don't want the expense of most self publishing companies, this is a very good option.

One of the most important things to remember when looking at a money making opportunity is to check the source out thoroughly. Do they belong to the Better Business Bureau? If so, what kind of rating and reputation do they have with them? If they do belong to the bureau and do not have a good reputation with them, stay away from the site!

If they require YOU to PAY them to work for them, then look out. The chances of actually getting what you paid for in this case are slim. There are some exceptions to this rule, like purchasing a turn-key web site. This is not the sort of thing I am referring to here. I have seen many online work at home opportunities that require you not only join, but pay a yearly or monthly membership fee to receive access to their databases and job listings. I do not trust theses sites, as if they are referring you jobs, they are probably already getting a percentage of the pay, and they then charge you a membership fee on top of this.

If you are looking for a work at home, internet based money making business or web site, then I would recommend is that you remember the old faithful rule: "IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT USUALLY IS!" If you are not very careful and critical when looking for opportunities, you can easily get caught up in their promises to earn very large sums of money very quickly.....THERE ARE NO REAL GET RICH QUICK SITES. If you want to earn money on the internet, it can be done, but you will have to work for it and put some effort into it.

Just always remember to check any possible opportunities out carefully before signing up. Ask your friends and family if they have ever heard about the site, sometimes word of mouth and other people's experiences are the best way to tell the good from the bad. If you know someone who is actually making money from a site, then it is probably okay.