A Beginner’s Guide to Making Money Online

You’re stuck at home and running out of things to do. Money’s tight, but with the unemployment rate so high right now, it’s tough to find a job. You have a computer and an internet connection, and you hear of people making money online, but you have no idea what these people do, or how you can do the same thing.

If you’re looking for some of the easiest possible solutions so that you can simply get started earning money online, then you’re definitely in the right place. There are many ways to make money online, but I’m going to keep it simple here and give you a beginner’s guide to making money online.

These are just a few ways to get started working online, but these ideas are easy, and they are all a great way to find your niche and a great way for a beginner to explore the world of online money making.

Make Money Taking Surveys

Taking surveys to make money is one of the easiest ways to make money online. There are various sites that will pay you to take surveys. In return, you get paid via check, PayPal, direct deposit, or gift cards, depending on the company you work for.

This is not only one of the easiest ways to make money online, but it requires the least amount of resources on your part. The only thing that you need to make money by taking surveys is a computer and internet access. If you have those two things, you’re good to go.

Here are some of the companies you can check out if you’re interested in taking surveys:

Survey Junkie – This is a very popular website for survey takers. You simply create a profile to get surveys that cater to your interests, and then you earn points for every survey you take. When you reach 1,000 points, you can cash your points in to earn $10 paid through your PayPal account, or e-Giftcards.

Opinion Outpost – You take surveys of various things from surveys about electronics to what you had for breakfast. You earn points for every survey that you take, which you can then cash in for gift cards or redeem for cash through PayPal.

InboxDollars – Inbox Dollars does things a little different in that they pay cash for every survey instead of points. They offer you $5 to start, and pay you for each survey. Most surveys pay between $0.25 – $5.00, and they match surveys that are relevant to you. They also offer additional ways to make money by participating in follow-up studies or focus groups.

Sell Your Stuff Online

You decided that you were taking up skiing. You bought all the latest gear, and you were on your way to becoming a pro. After several attempts, you realized that you hate the cold, the skis are too much to handle, and if you never go again, you’ll be just fine with that decision.

Since then, you’ve had all this great gear sitting around the house collecting dust. Now is a great time to sell it.

But you’ve never been skiing, what to do then? Surely you’ve purchased something that you’ve never used. A dress two sizes too small that was on sale, and you swore you’d lose the weight to fit in it, a blender you’ve used only once, clothes that your kids outgrew before they could even wear them more than a couple of times…whatever it is you have around the house that you never use, but would be worth something to someone else, sell it.

There are different platforms on the internet where you can sell your items, but since this is a beginner’s guide, I’m going to stick with two of the easiest places to sell your items.

eBay – One of the most popular places to buy and sell online is eBay. You simply write up a description of what you want to sell, upload some pictures, decide on how much you want to sell it for, and then list it.

If you know how much you want for the item, and know how much it’s worth, you can list your item as “Buy It Now”. If you have something for sale that you’re not quite sure how much it’s worth, you can list it at auction and let others bid it up to what it’s worth. There may not be any bidders at one time, so just make sure you mark your item at the minimum price you would want for it so you won’t lose money or kick yourself later for selling it too cheap.

Craigslist – Craigslist is a good place to sell larger items that are too cumbersome to mail, such as those skis we were talking about. Take a couple of pictures, write a description and upload your item. You can choose your local area to list, or nearby areas that you feel wouldn’t be too far for someone to travel for the item that you’re selling.

No matter which way you decide to sell online, you will need to put in a little work. You will have to write a description, and take pictures good enough that a buyer can see exactly what they will be buying.

Some research will also be required in order to get an idea of how much to charge for something, as well as to see if what you have to sell is worth selling.

You will also need to be aware of scammers. Don’t ever accept a check from someone that is written for more than what you are asking for the item. Scammers will tell you to cash the check and then pay them back the difference, when in fact their check isn’t good, and you’re not only out the money you gave them back, but most likely your bank will charge a fee for the bad check.

When selling on Craigslist, always make sure that you meet in a public place. Many police stations have an area for people to meet who buy and sell. These areas are normally well-lit areas with security cameras.

Become an Affiliate Marketer

For someone who’s never tried making money online, affiliate marketing may sound rather advanced for a beginner, and for some people, it may be. If you’re willing to step out of your comfort zone just a little though, it can be an incredible opportunity.

Have you ever wanted to own your own website, where you could blog about whatever you wanted to? Maybe you already own a blog, but never thought about how you could make money from it. If either of these ideas sound good to you, then you should look into affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing is simply leading people to a particular product that they are in need of. When those people purchase the product, you get a commission.

Affiliate marketing isn’t for everyone. It takes consistent effort, and it’s not as easy as answering a few questions and earning points.

Just like selling online, there are many different venues to teach you about affiliate marketing. You will be able to find all kinds of training in Google’s search results.

Like selling online, there are also people out there trying to scam others. I don’t recommend paying anyone money until you know what you are getting.

You will need a website, and a company to host your website, so there is an upfront financial investment if you decide to go this route.

If this sound interesting to you, there is a place that you can find out more. Wealthy Affiliate gives you access to their site for one week free of charge. They will lay everything out for you in the easiest way to understand. They will even let you build a website and host that website for you for no charge.

They will never ask you for a credit card unless you decide that you want to join. If you do become serious about affiliate marketing and decide that it’s for you, you will have to invest in a website and hosting. There are plenty of place on the internet to obtain these if you decide that Wealthy Affiliate is not for you.

Get Started

Now that you have a few ideas, get started. Pick one of the three ideas listed and give it a go. If one doesn’t work for you, then give another one a try. You may find exactly what you’ve been looking for, and enjoy making money online, which is why you stumbled upon this post in the first place.

If you’ve tried all three of these suggestions, and still don’t feel like any of them are for you, then explore further. After trying these things, you’ll be more comfortable searching the internet, and finding something that works for you.

Whatever you decide to do, get started. Pick a website mentioned above and check it out. Do it now, while you’re thinking about it, as Horace said,