Everyone always wants to know how you can make money online, especially if you’re in debt and trying to clear it.
Every penny counts, so here goes: my mini guide, complete with notes and personal experiences.
MAIN WAYS TO MAKE MONEY ONLINE
- Surveys
- Swagbucks
- Freelance
- Write an e-book
- Sell your stuff
- Make stuff and sell it
- Start a blog
DO NOT FORGET TO REPORT ANY INCOME YOU MAKE TO YOUR TAX AGENCY.
SURVEYS
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Probably the easiest and quickest way to make money online is to sign up for surveys. You usually start by filling out this long questionnaire about yourself, then based on your answers, companies send you surveys to fill out targeted to your demographic.
You receive these surveys by email and you should turn them around in a short amount of time to show commitment.
You can sign up for these companies and fill out surveys to get paid.
Survey Bounty has all of the major survey companies listed by country, so you can go down the list and sign up for all of them one by one.
I’ve tried the survey thing and found it very, VERY time-consuming for the amount of money being paid out. That being said, if you are dedicated and committed to getting ANY amount of money, and you have the time to do it — why not?
Just be forewarned that it isn’t just a page or two. Sometimes these things run pages long, and if you can’t sit down to read the questions, click on the buttons or answer the questions and get the job done in half an hour uninterrupted then this is not for you.
SWAGBUCKS
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The basic idea is that you use Swagbucks to search the way you’d normally search with let’s say, Google, and for each search you make, there’s a chance for you to earn something called swagbucks. As you build up a wealth of swagbucks, you can trade them in for gift certificates and even cash.
For instance, 700 Swagbucks gets you $5 USD deposited into your Paypal account.
You can also win prizes of points if you pay attention to Swagbucks codes and so on, so the points actually rack up pretty quickly.
What I liked is I didn’t have to do much except search on there. For me, it was better than filling out pages and pages of surveys.
My scoop on Swagbucks can be located here.
If you want to sign up for it, you can start by registering with my referral ID here and they’ll start you off with a couple of Swagbucks to get the ball rolling.
FREELANCE YOUR SKILLS
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If you have programming, design, drawing, or writing skills, freelancing is for you.
You can bid on projects, sell your photographs and design for other people. A lot of these sites might also charge you a membership fee each month, and/or take a commission on your paid work.
A lot of it is writing, but not always.
- Elance
- Guru
- Freelancer
- OzLance: Australia & New Zealand market
- ScriptLance: Programming
- Journalism Jobs: Writing
- iFreelance
- Helium
- Suite101
- Craig’s List: Sell all sorts of skills, not just writing, design or programming; how about handyman skills?
- Getty Images: Photographs
- Flickr: Photographs
- iStockPhoto: Photographs
- Corbis: Photographs
I freelance on Investopedia. I have to tell you that even doing that is a bit like blogging.
You still have to grow a thick skin with all the nasty comments and emails that come through, but it is a bit more flexible than having a blog.
That being said, they probably never would have hired me had they not seen my blog to begin with, so it is a bit of a catch-22 to get the gig in the first place.
WRITE AN E-BOOK/GUIDE
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A lot of BLOGGERS do this once they have a successful blog in their niche, but who’s to say you can’t write your own e-book and just sell it?
E-Junkie allows you to market your book on other bloggers’ sites, by giving them a commission for every book they sell for you.
You can also sell your e-book on Amazon by doing the following:
- You own the copyright to the book and no one else (company or individual) does.
- You need an International Standard Book Number (ISBN). You can buy one online or multiple ISBNs.
- Start an account with MobiPocket and convert your ebook into their format
- Find your target market: who are you writing for?
- What do people want to read? What are their problems and your solution?
- How are you going to market it? With a blog? Website? How will people trust your words?
- If you blog, people will naturally want to read your book based on your blog
- Reviews. You need big names to review your book so other people will buy it.
- How are you going to sell it? Affiliate programs like E-Junkie, Amazon, direct?
Basically, you need to tell and teach people what they want to learn and read about. This is not as easy as it seems.
Nada. This is probably why I’m not an internet millionaire.
If I were to write a book, it’d probably be about money and/or minimalism, but I just feel like there’s SO MUCH information available already that I’d just be another small little voice in a sea of strong, super popular ones.
I guess I don’t see the value in being another person talking about personal finance, debt or living simply. *shrug*
I’m mulling over doing this but I don’t want to subject people to crap just because I don’t have a clear vision.
SELL YOUR STUFF
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Got stuff lying around? One person’s trash could be another person’s treasure.
Where you can sell stuff, and even gift cards you don’t want any more:
- eBay
- Craig’s List
- Kijiji (Canada)
- Cardswap: Sell your gift cards online or buy deals
- Amazon Marketplace: Sell your books or anything else you can think of
I wrote a post on how to do it properly: FB`S GUIDE TO SELLING ONLINE.
It takes time to photograph everything, write a description, handle the sales, package the items, ship it and follow up.
It`s a lot of setup in the beginning but it`s easy once everything is done.
MAKE STUFF AND SELL IT
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Are you a hands-on person? Make stuff and sell it.
This can be anything from baking (really, I`ve seen it), to crafts, clothing, jewellery, custom creations, shoes.. you name it.
If you can make it, you can sell it.
Places to sell your creations:
- eBay
- Etsy
- Craig’s List
- Kijiji (Canada)
- On your own blog or website
I am not crafty whatsoever, but I do enjoy buying things on Etsy. I appreciate that the people on there are independents and I really enjoy supporting artisans. Plus, the stuff is beautiful and rare in the sense that I generally don`t see anyone else wearing the same things as I do.
The only thing I am not keen on buying on Etsy is really the clothes. I know they are custom made to fit me, but I still feel uneasy without having tried any of it on beforehand.
Hence why I stick to things, rather than clothes. Just something to think about.
Speaking of blogs and websites, the very last way you can make money online is to start a blog.
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When I was 18 I tried doing surveys but I never got paid. In the late 90s everyone thought they could make money online which led to the dot-com bubble, my bf a programmer says that a lot of people put up investments on dot-com companies that failed. It seems to be very hard to make 100% of someone’s income online.
I only know of maybe 10 bloggers that do that (independent, individual bloggers, not companies), and they have tens of thousands of readers.
Ok, Swagbucks not currently opened to Quebec residents. Thats sucks soooooo bad!
I emailed you π
Great post! I'm going to try the Swagbucks thing. I do a LOT of online searches so I might as well make them pay a bit.
I recently started freelancing for wiseGEEK.com and make a little extra money that way. I would reiterate what you said re taxes; a lot of freelance employers do NOT withhold tax, and especially if you're doing independent projects rather than working for a site like I do, you will want to keep very good records of your income.
I opened a savings account just for taxes and I take 20% out of my pay and put it in there. When it comes time to pay the taxes, I'll have money to do so. (It's 20% right now because I haven't figured out exactly what needs to come out or what tax bracket it puts me in yet. I'll get that taken care of when I do my taxes. I plan to have professional help with it so I don't get slammed later on.)
Great info. Never heard of Swagbucks, so I signed up to see what happens π
Unfortunately, because I work in marketing, I'm not qualified for most of the surveys and they kick me out. Poo… π
I\’d consider it a blessing, to be honest π
I tried the surveys thing a few years ago but my inbox became flooded with surveys and junk mail, I never got paid either, so I just figured they were all scams trying to get your personal information. Trying to make money online sounds like a second job. I wish there was an easier way to make money.
So wait you get only $5 for 700 Swagbucks? That's too little of a return.
Ditto. $5 for 700 swagbucks is a low return but it\’s one of those \”not a huge moneymaker, but it brings in something\”
most people use it for gift cards. You can get amazon gift cards for 300 swagbucks and so on.
Your personal experiences really hit. Thanks for sharing.
You\’re welcome!
"FB`S PERSONAL EXPERIENCE: Nada. This is probably why I’m not an internet millionaire." Bahaha! That made me snort my coffee out. LOL!
Great listing; I love how you added your personal experience with each of the suggestions. This was a very helpful post.
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Thanks Jessica π
I guess I am not going to say no to millions made on the internet, but I am far too lazy/interested in this as a hobby to force it to happen.
I wish i had the patience for the surveys and the like. I also tried being ChaCha online answerer. it's all just too many hassles for not enough reward…
Ditto. Seems like a lot of work for nothing. And sometimes they don\’t pay you in money, or until there\’s a minimum — only in points!
Humm. I have done the survey thing, and its ok… but not ideal for the same reason's as listed above. I'll try the swagbucks though it might not hold my interest for long. Some I hadn't thought about so thanks for opening my eyes to them. π
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Great resources. I have never given Swagbucks a chance but feel like I should take the time to figure it out.
Thanks for the advice!
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Nice list.
Just in case anyone cares, I'll summarize my experiences making money online:
1. Surveys- I lost interest in after about the third one. It's annoying when you spend time answering the questions at the beginning of the survey and it tells you you're not a match for it.
2. Swagbucks- I totally made $10 on Paypal by using Swagbucks for a few months. I stopped because the results just weren't as good as Google.
3. Freelance- When I was a mortgage broker I used to write stuff for the local newspaper. They didn't pay me but I did make a few thousand bucks on deals from people who liked what I wrote in the paper.
4. E-book- Once my influence is big enough, I totally will. It'll be filled with all sorts of bad jokes and you suckers will buy a million of them.
5. Sell your stuff- I made over $500 one year by buying old video games at yard sales and reselling them on Ebay. There is all sorts of stuff you can do that with.
6. Make stuff and sell it- Creativity is for chumps
7. Blogging- Maybe I'll wait until next time to post my response too…
That was a giant waste of the last 5 minutes of my life.
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Did you have to be rude?!
LOL but you wrote the comment anyway.
I find swag bucks to slow to gain money! I only have about 250 swag bucks…and it's unpredictable when Swag Bucks will reward me for searching. I guess the way to go is with referrals π
I rather use my Air Miles toolbar where you get get up to 30 air miles a month. At least if I do that for three months, I get enough air miles for a gift card or Money Sense magazine subscription π
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Thanks for the scoop. It seems making money on the internet is not that easy.
At least I didn't pay $200 for this seminar. π
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I definitely just signed up for Swagbucks, using your referall! That sounds like a hell of a deal, and I search using Google like 15 times a day. Thanks!
I do surveys sometimes too, I use webperspectives.ca it's pretty good. But yeah some of them can take forever to do and isn't always worth it but if I find time I do a couple. The only thing that sucks about it is that they will offer you a survey but then after asking the first 3 questions it comes up saying "Sorry you haven't qualified for this survey." :
Very good information here. Is freelancing really as "free" as it sounds? If I were to do anything on this list, I'd freelance, but I really don't like the idea of having deadlines and requirements just to make a few bucks. I love the flexibility of doing whatever I want, whenever I want on my blog.
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It\’s free if you don\’t consider that you\’re using just your brain. There\’s only a potential for making money if you use your skills. I freelance in my real job and have no overhead. No employees, no products, just services that I\’m representing just by using my skills.
Wow thanks! Every time I search things on swagbucks I don't get any extra bucks π
Your right about the surveys – they can take awhile & only pay out like $2, but if your in a bind, it works!
Great resources.
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The facebook pages and the twitter hints are really good at helping rack up the points.
What an awesome resource! I put this in my bookmarks folder for later use. I'm thinking about two different businesses, both of which would be run online, and this should be a big help!
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Well a business run online is different in the sense that there\’s more to it than just selling or buying stuff π Glad it helped