Getting paid to write articles and collecting ad revenue from a blog aren’t the only ways you can earn extra cash online; you can make money with affiliate programs very easily!
If you’ve never heard of affiliate programs before, that’s okay. Basically, an affiliate program is a way for you to make money from recommending someone else’s product to a potential customer. When the person buys the product, you get a commission.
Here’s an example, to show you what can be done with this. A few weeks ago a new Sony portable game system called the PSP G0 was about to be released, so I created an affiliate link for the product from Amazon.com. Two game systems sold, netting me a total commission of just over $20. Not a huge pile of money, but not bad for 10 minutes of work!
Creating affiliate links is as easy as signing up with whatever company has products you want to promote (assuming they have an affiliate program of course) and then sharing the links they provide. Any time someone buys a product through your link, you get a commission. You can promote these links in many ways, such as:
- Your blog or website
- Paid ads such as Google AdWords
- Classified ads
No matter what you want to promote, there’s a good chance there’s an affiliate program just right for you. Probably the best one to get started with is Amazon.com, as they have a wide range of products that many people are interested in, as well as being a very well known and trusted online merchant. You can sign up for the Amazon affiliate program and get started referring people today. It’s free to sign up, and doesn’t cost anything to promote the links.
Another great resource for finding affiliate programs to promote, is Share-a-Sale. There are thousands of merchants on this site, all free to join. You can search by keyword to look for products you’re interested in, and then apply to those programs. You’ll need to fill out your profile so the merchants can see your website, as some require approval before letting you in to their program. Join Share-A-Sale and you can get started within minutes. Each merchant has a variety of text links, coupons, and image banners for you to use, and the system is very easy to learn. This has proven to be a consistent income source for me.
Finally, another popular affiliate program for people just starting out is Clickbank. This website offers digital products on a variety of topics, with payouts ranging from a few dollars to around $100. This program is also free to join, and promoting a merchant/product is as simple as creating a link and sharing it with people. Take a look at the products Clickbank offers, and sign up to start making money with them!
Links:
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Blogging was once a relatively unknown form of writing & journalism, but now it’s extremely common now, and many people make a full time living as a blogger. If you have information to share, have a passion for sharing your opinion and can spend a few minutes each day writing, then you can make money online blogging.
Setting up a blog is quite easy, and you can generally get started writing within an hour or 2 even with the most complicated type of blog. The two main types of blogs that you’ll need to consider are self-hosted and third-party hosted blogs. This website is an example of a self-hosted blog, whereas this site is a third-party hosted blog. Each type has its own benefits, but unless you’re comfortable with computers or are friends with someone who is, you may want to stick with a third-party solution as they do almost all of the setup for you.
The 2 best free blogging platforms for third-party blogs are:
Each of these sites allows fairly easy setup, and you get get started right away. The disadvantage of these sites is the lack of flexibility that self-hosted blogs offer, such as plugins, custom themes, and integration with social media services like Twitter and Facebook. If you decide you want to go with a self-hosted option, you’ll need 2 things to get started:
- A domain name (ie Yourname.com)
- Web hosting
GoDaddy.com is an excellent choice for a domain name, they have reliable service and some of the best pricing available with domains costing as little as $9/year. Well worth it!
There are several options available for web hosting as well, most charge between $5 and $9 per month, which is a fantastic deal. Here are some of the sites I’ve used:
There are many tutorials available online about how to set up Wordpress on your website, most hosts have an installation service called Fantastico which offers a one-click install for most common website software including Wordpress. This makes it incredibly easy to set up a blog; all you need to do is type in the title of the blog and a couple of other options, and you’re ready to go.
Once you have a blog set up, you can customize it with different Themes and Plugins. One of the most common means of monetizing a blog is Google AdSense. It’s easy to set up whether you’re using Blogger or a self-hosted blog, and is one of the easiest ways to make money online. The service will display ads related to the content on your blog, and you get paid every time someone clicks an ad. You can sign up for AdSense here. Another common means of monetizing a blog is what’s known as affiliate marketing, which I’ll cover in another article soon.
Start writing! Typical blog posts are between 250 and 1,000 words long, and may include links, photos, lists, and of course plain text. Don’t be sloppy, but you can write casually as with informal emails. This depends on the type of blog however; a blog about hobby fishing will be more suited to casual writing than one about financial matters.
Traffic may be slow at first, but you can help this by adding your website to social bookmarking websites, such as the ones down below this article. A well-crafted blog can become a solid income producer, as well as letting you proudly refer to yourself as a professional blogger.
Have fun blogging!
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The goal of this website is to help you earn an extra $500 before the Christmas holidays, but what do you do with the money once you’ve got it? Popular how-to website Lifehacker.com has a great spreadsheet for tracking your holiday spending, as well as who’s getting what gift to make your shopping easy and organized.
Holiday Gift Planning Checklist from Lifehacker.com
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Chances are there’s a topic that you know more about than 90% of the general population. Perhaps it’s a hobby or skill, a particular technique for performing a task in a new and efficient way, or even something you accomplished that others may want to attempt but might not know how to. You can earn cash fast by writing articles on these subjects!
There are several websites that will pay you for writing short articles, typically a few dollars up front for each article they accept, but some also offer continuing revenue based on the number of people who read the article. For a service like this, you can substantially boost your earnings by sending traffic to the article.
People often wonder what they should write about, and the best answer is to write what you know. Use your knowledge about a particular topic to base articles on, whether it’s a skill or a specific experience. If you’re an expert with computer software like Photoshop, you can write about specific techniques for that program. People always want to know how to do things, how-to articles are some of the most popular articles on the internet, regardless of the topic. If you’re not an expert with a particular skill, you can also write about hobbies or personal experiences. For example:
If you’re a knitter, you might write about how to do a particular type of project, how to find the best prices on wool, or types of projects that sell best at craft fairs. Or maybe you hiked up Mt. Kilimanjaro last summer; you can write about how you planned the trip, what supplies you needed and which ones you wish you’d left behind, how you planned the trip, etc.
Articles for these sites are typically between 400 and 1,000 words, although requirements for each site will vary. Some sites will accept any article, and others require editorial approval before your application is accepted. Take a look at several sites, see their payment structure, submission guidelines, and read some of the published articles to find the best match for you.
Here are some sites you can write articles for:
Happy writing!
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If you’re like most people in this part of the world, you have gadgets hiding in your house. Kitchen gadgets you received as a gift, or bought from an infomercial, or saw in a store and just had to get it. And chances are, most of those things are tucked away in cupboards and closets, gathering dust. It doesn’t have to be that way though, you can sell those items online. It’s easier than you think!
Internet auction site eBay makes it easy to sell your items to a global marketplace. Items that wouldn’t be of interest to anyone in your local community might be a highly sought after vintage collectors item to someone else. I knew someone who took their old 1970s hi-fi system out of their garage, cleaned it up, and listed it on eBay. Seven days later it sold to a vintage audio collector for around $200! Vintage electronics, especially video games, and kitchen gadgets are always popular sellers online. Other good things to check is comic books, good condition toys and action figures, old plates and cups, clothing, jewelery and coins.
The easiest way to see what’s selling on eBay is to search for the item(s) you might want to sell. In any item search, you can click “Completed Items” in the left column to see finished actions. Amounts listed in green are ones that sold.. this can give you a good idea of what is successfully selling, and how much the items are going for. You can use this search tool to determine the price of your items and to get ideas for descriptions. Be descriptive, and don’t forget to take lots of good quality photos!
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We’re well into autumn here in North America, and that means the leaves are falling from the trees, plants are dying off, and homes need to be prepared for winter. Opportunities abound for casual yardwork such as mowing lawns, raking leaves, trimming plants, and winter home preparation such as cleaning & storing patio furniture.
If you have access to common yard tools such as a lawnmower, trimmer, rake, wheelbarrow and clippers, you can offer your services to neighbors or other people in your community. You might not have much luck finding work with families who have children living at home, so ask around or advertise in areas without young children. Seniors and professional couples are your best bet, but don’t rule out anyone without asking.
Adults can easily make $50 in a weekend from just a few referrals, children would probably be limited to friends and neighbors but there is definitely money to be made. Yardwork will be a viable means to make extra money for at least the next month.
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Welcome to Earn Holiday Cash, a free resource to help you earn some extra money for the Christmas holidays! With the troubled financial times we’ve been having, everyone could use a little extra money as we near the holiday season.
I’m going to show you how to make a bit of extra cash to make this holiday season wonderful for you and your loved ones. I’ll be sharing my best tips and ideas for simple businesses that you can start in your spare time, inexpensive gifts that you can make and sell, and even some neat ways to make money on the internet. It doesn’t matter if you’re 5 or 55.. there’s something here for everybody.
There’s just over 70 days until Christmas, let’s get started!
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