How to make money online

Do you want to make money online ? If you are reading this, given the title of the article, then the answer is probably yes! There are a number of ways to do so, but it’s important to choose the right method in order to maximise your earning potential. In this short article, I’ll review some of the more common ways of generating money online, before concluding with the way that has worked best for me!

The easier something is to do, the more people will do it, and the lower prices will drop. This is especially the case when competition is global, and when people where the cost of living is lower are able to compete with people in the West. That’s why completing small tasks online is not a very effective way to earning money . That said, it is a valid way. Try websites like Mechanical Turk where you can do small tasks for small amounts of money. Alternatively, look at completing surveys or offers.

You can also complete larger tasks, writing articles like this one (I outsource them sometimes myself!) or completing other work, especially if you have good programming or IT skills. Sites to check out include Elance, Freelancer and textbroker. The price can vary from extremely poor to very good – depending on your level of skill you have, who you are working for – and your ability to market yourself!

Blogging is an incredibly popular way of getting started. People are driven by the examples of Problogger and Shoemoney. While these blogs are incredibly successful, not only do they have incredible talent, they were also lucky enough to get going early in the game. While it is possible to earn money blogging, especially if you choose a niche area or have indirect ways of making money (such as identifying yourself as an expert!) it is not as easy as it seems!

And finally we come to my favourite method of generating money online – e-stores. Once you have your own e-stores (and with advances in e-commerce software they are a doodle to set up) you can really see the dollars roll in. And once you have a customer, and their email address (and of course, their permission to use their email address!) you can continue selling to them – again and again and again! All statistics show that it is far, far cheaper to sell than to an existing customer than it is to a new customer.

Are you interested in starting your own e-commerce store? Then make sure to check out John Thompson’s Big Commerce.