Make Money

In today’s wired world, it’s not unusual for people to earn a living online. After all, doesn’t Mark Zuckerberg—the Facebook Wunderkind—make his millions online? OK, so maybe you’re not the second coming of Bill Gates, but a lack of programming ability doesn’t exclude you from using the web to earn some extra cash.

Options for Writers

Pay Per Word Services

If you’re a decent writer, you can earn a nice side income with companies like Textbroker, Constant Content and Demand Studios. They’ll pay you, per word or per article, to write web content. For the services mentioned, all you have to do is sign up and submit a short writing sample (in the case of Demand Studios, you must also provide a resume). If your composition is at a high school level or above, you’ll most likely be accepted.

Online Residual Income Streams for Writers

Outfits like Associated Content and Triond offer authors the opportunity to earn passive income online. While these types of sites each operate a little differently, the basic premise is that writers submit articles on any topic they wish, and pay is dependent on page views.

Options for Artists

Sell Your Photos

If you’re an amateur or aspiring photographer, there are dozens of stock photography sites, like iStockPhoto and 123 Royalty Free, to which you can submit work. Depending on which service you choose, there are different requirements; but in most cases, you’re able to set your own prices.

Sell Your Work Online

Etsy is the leading online retailer for vintage and one-of-a-kind fashions. If you’re the next Harry Winston or Stella McCartney, get a profile set up on Etsy, tout suite! Sites like Café Press are also beneficial for artists, as you can start selling your own t-shirts, mugs, etc. Why not create a line of signature design products?

Options for Everyone

Set Up an E-Bay Store

You don’t have to know how to code to set up an E-bay storefront. Simply go to the website, sign up and follow their step-by-step instructions. In no time flat, you’re online, 24-7 garage sale will be up and running. If you want to expand beyond an eBay store, you can try opening up your own website. There are many options available for building your own website for business or e-commerce purposes., Intuit would be just one example.

Google AdSense

Do you have a blog or website? An easy way to monetize your site is to slap some Google ads on it. If your website is not well trafficked, the money won’t be great; but if you have a decent amount of hits, you’ll be surprised at how much money a few well placed Google ads can generate.

Affiliate Marketing

Most established companies maintain an affiliate marketing program. Essentially, affiliate marketing is when a company pays you for any business generated through a link from your site. There are unlimited amounts of ways to take advantage of affiliate marketing; a popular route is to set up a niche online shopping mall—each product becomes an affiliate link!

All these different methods of making extra income are great for making money. However, don’t get carried away and forget to file your taxes for this income. Just in case you missed the deadline or forgot, you can file a tax extension online. No matter what, make sure you don’t get in trouble with the IRS.

The most important thing to remember when developing an online money making strategy is that it’s not going to happen overnight. Online hustling is hard work; but if you keep plugging away, one day you might just wake up and realize, “Hey, I’m at a point where I can finally quit my day job!”