how do i get started in making money with affiliate marketing ? and also what sites that aren’t SCAM !or get rich or night sites do you think i should go to ? what has helped you ?

Most Internet marketers understand that having mini sites is the fastest and easiest way to make money online. They don’t require a lot of time, energy, or money to set up, and once you’ve got one up and running, you can sit back and just collect money from all the sales you’re making.

At least… that’s how it’s supposed to be, right?

The truth is that mini sites really ARE easy to set up. They really DON’T require much time, energy, and money to set up. So why is it that so few people actually make money with their mini sites?

The answer is that they never learned how to actually turn their mini site into a profitable moneymaker that runs completely on autopilot. The good news is…

YOU’RE ABOUT TO LEARN HOW TO DO IT!

To discover what this review is about click on the link below….

http://www.minisiteprofitsexposed.com/?thankyou-page=18665

Here’s what this is all about: My colleague Michael Rasmussen has just released a brand new video course that will walk you through the process of creating a killer mini site from the ground up, and then he’ll also teach you how to actually start making money with it right away and into the future.

If you’ve been looking for help with monetizing your mini sites, then this is exactly what you need. The best part? The videos are FREE! I’ll tell you more about that later. First, let’s talk about the videos themselves.

OVERALL QUALITY

It’s important to note that these are online videos that you access from your web browser. Michael uses Camtasia Studio to create these videos, which is the premier software program for creating screen capture tutorials such as these.

The first thing I noticed when I hit the play button on the first video was the incredible production quality. These are NOT your ordinary screen capturevideos. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone make videos that are this high quality before.

He uses beautifully created graphics to pass his wisdom along to you, and the sound quality is the highest you will ever hear in an Internet marketingproduct. They sound like they were recorded in a professional studio.

Michael explained to me that he was sick and tired of seeing all the low quality videos out there, and so he set out to create something different in order to raise the bar in our industry. I think that, when you see Mini Site Profits Exposed for yourself, you’ll agree that he has succeeded.

Now let’s move onto…

THE ACTUAL VIDEOS

Here’s a brief summary of each video. Obviously it’s impossible to list every single thing here, but I want you to get a feel for what each one covered, and how well it covered it.

VIDEO 1 – INTRODUCTION

This videos introduces you to the entire course, as well as the teacher himself. You’ll learn what you can expect from the course, and why it’s structured the way it is.

Michael realizes that you may not have heard of him, and so he spends some time establishing his credibility with you by sharing some of his biggestsuccesses. It doesn’t come across as bragging at all. Michael explains that, in order for you to get value from the teachings, you need to have faith that theteacher actually knows what he’s talking about. By the end of this video, you will have no doubt.

By the way, this is a good lesson for all of us product developers. If you want people to accept you as an authority on any subject, you first need toestablish your credibility with the reader. That way he’s willing to relax, and trust that what you’re telling him is sound advice.

VIDEO 2 – THE BASICS

This video will introduce you to the basics of mini site marketing. This will set the foundation that all future learning will rest upon, so it’s important topay close attention to this one.

You’ll learn:

* What mini-sites are, and what makes them different from regular content sites.

* Which businesses they work well for… and which ones they don’t.

* The right mindset to have when it comes to creating mini sites as part of your online business strategy.

* And the different tools you need to get started.

This was a great video, and did an excellent job of kicking things off, and building the foundation for the rest of the course.

VIDEO 3 – SQUEEZE PAGES

This is probably one of the most useful videos of the entire course. Every Internet marketer needs to build an email list, but how do you do it? What is the best way to capture the most opt-ins?

The answer is ’squeeze pages’. This video will teach you:

* Why using a squeeze page is far superior to other opt-in methods.

* The single most important thing you must include at the top of your squeeze page to skyrocket your opt-in rate.

* The secret structure of a squeeze page, and why most marketers get it wrong (which costs them a LOT of money).

* The most important to include in your opt-in process that will make sure that people actually receive your email.

After watching this video, you’ll know everything you need to know to start building a massive opt-in list right away. This will probably be the first video that you ‘take action’ on. You’ll be so excited about the possibilities, that I guarantee you’ll go and create your own squeeze page right away.

VIDEO 4 – MINI SITE COPYWRITING – PART ONE

Nothing happens until the sales copy is written. Graphics alone will never sell a product, but sales copy alone WILL. This video begins to demystify themysterious process  of writing words that make people whip out their credit cards and buy.

Specifically, you’ll learn:

* Why you need to learn copywriting, even if you “hate to write”

* What a compelling offer looks like, and how to tell the difference.

* How to write an eyeball-grabbing headline that practically forces your readers to go through your entire page.

* A simple trick you can use in your opening to make your reader want to learn more.

There is no skill that is more important to your success than the ability to write killer sales copy. Make sure you pay extra attention to this video, aswell as…

VIDEO 5 – MINI SITE COPYWRITING – PART TWO

This video dives right into the individual components of a killer sales letter. You’ll learn how to create the “secret structure” of a mini site sales letterthat makes big money. Specifically, you’ll learn:

* How to create captivating body copy that draws your reader into the sales letter.

* Bullets that force your reader to keep reading the whole page, and makes them insanely curious and want to buy your product.

* How to take the risk off people’s shoulders, so they’ll feel safe buying from you.

* How to craft your ‘call to action’, and get people to whip out their credit cards and buy immediately.

* The secrets of writing a killer P.S. that helps seal the deal, and flip your prospect into a buyer instantly.

This video covered a surprising amount of detail, especially considering that this course is not specifically about copywriting. Michael Rasmussen isdefinitely someone who overdelivers in his educational products.

VIDEO 6 – HOW TO AUTOMATE THE DELIVERY OF YOUR INFOPRODUCT

Unless you want to be chained to your computer, you must learn how to put your mini sites on autopilot. The only thing you should be doing is driving traffic, and letting the site itself do all the work, including the work of instantly delivering the product to the customer.

This video will walk you through the process of automating your product delivery, so you can just relax, and collect the money. The best part is… onceyou have this automated system set up, you never have to touch it again.

VIDEO 7 – HOW TO “GROW” YOUR SALE

This video is guaranteed to be an eye opener for almost everyone who watches it, even the experienced marketers. Michael dives into some of the most effective ‘upselling’ techniques that I’ve ever seen.

Nowhere else on the Internet have I seen such a thorough tutorial on how to increase the ’size’ of your orders. You’ll learn:

* The psychology of ‘upselling’, and how to use it make your customer spend even more money with you. The best part? He’ll think it was his idea!

* The absolute best time to upsell your customer. This one will surprise you when you realize how much money you’ve been leaving on the table by skipping this step.

* 5 simple techniques to increase your profit by up to 100%.

If you’ve already got a mini site that’s up and running, this video will make a big difference for you right away. Use any of these ‘plug and profit’strategies to increase your income literally overnight!

VIDEO 8 – CREATING AN AFFILIATE SALES FORCE

If there’s one thing I’ve noticed that all successful marketers have in common, it’s that they have a great affiliate program. They create a program that allows other people to make good money by promoting their products, and they get to just sit back and relax, while everyone else is doing the hard work of promoting FOR them.

If you’ve ever dreamed of having an army of motivated sales people working hard to make you money, then you’re going to love this video. Michael will teach you:

* What an affiliate program is, and how to set one up very quickly.

* Exactly what tools you need to give your affiliates (most people miss the mark here, so pay extra attention to this part).

* Why merely having an affiliate program is NOT enough to convince people to sign up, and what you can do instead to have people eagerly trying to become one of your affiliates.

* How to motivate affiliates to sell for you.

VIDEO 9 – MINI SITE MISTAKES TO AVOID

Let’s face it… it’s not enough to explain what you should do. You also need to know what mistakes you should avoid. Michael has already made these costly mistakes, but you don’t have to. You’ll learn:

- Why people do judge a book by its cover… and how to capitalize on that for your mini-site.

- The single biggest reason people don’t buy from a mini site, and how you can apply this ‘instant fix’.

- The single biggest thing that will kill your mini-site (it’s not what you think, and making this mistake is a surefire way to drain money from yourbank account FAST!)

- Two list building mistakes that’ll cripple your long-term profits.

VIDEO 10 – SECRETS OF CREATING A PRODUCT FUNNEL

This video will walk you through the process of designing a product line that will make you a TON of money. There’s a lot more to it than you’d think,which is why this important concept (which was taken from direct marketing) gets it’s own video.

After watching this video, you’ll understand why you can’t just have a single front end product, and you’ll know exactly what to do in order to get your customer to keep buying more and more expensive products from you… completely on autopilot!

This video is a MUST for any serious marketer who wants to make a lot of money from their online business.

VIDEO 11 – OUTSOURCING SECRETS FOR WORKING LESS, AND MAKING MORE

The title of this video says it all. You’ll learn all of Michael’s secrets for getting top notch freelancers to help you create your mini site empire in record time.

Let’s face it, you can’t be an expert at everything that mini sites require. For example, it’s really tough to be a top notch graphic designer, while alsomastering HTML, and then becoming a killer copywriter, on top of also creating the product itself.

And the list goes on and on. If you want to be efficient, and begin making money as fast as possible, outsourcing is the secret to making ithappen. This video will show you exactly what to do, as well as some common (and very expensive) pitfalls to avoid.

VIDEO 12 – OUTSOURCING SECRETS FOR WORKING LESS, AND MAKING MORE

Let’s face it… it doesn’t matter how great your mini site is if you don’t get any traffic coming to it. Getting traffic can be one of the most confusing and mysterious parts of making money online IF you don’t get the proper education.

Thankfully, Michael really dives in, and gives you a lightning fast education in this area. Specifically, you’ll learn:

* How to use Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising to get targeted traffic fast.

* 3 ways to get targeted traffic without spending a dime.

* 2 ways to leverage the experience and contacts of other people to explode your traffic.

* 3 traffic strategies to avoid like the plague!

By the time you’re done with this video, you’ll know what to do right away to begin driving targeted visitors to your mini site.

    Wow, you get all those videos for free? Click below or copy and paste the link into your browser to check out the Mini Site Profits Exposed course for yourself:

http://www.minisiteprofitsexposed.com/?thankyou-page=18665

DELUXE VIDEOS

Mini Site Profits Exposed comes with 12 videos, and has more content than most 300 dollar home study courses. And did I mention that it’s free?

If you decide that you want to continue your education, and get the biggest possible advantage, you can also upgrade to the deluxe course for a small fee.The deluxe course contains four full-length videos that each cover one advanced topic in great detail.

Here’s a breakdown of each video:

VIDEO 13 – DESIGNING A KILLER BACK END THAT RUNS COMPLETELY ON AUTOPILOT

VIDEO 13 – DESIGNING A KILLER BACK END THAT RUNS COMPLETELY ON AUTOPILOT

This deluxe video could easily be a whole course in itself. It walks you though the entire process of setting up a back end that is completely automatedusing an autoresponder system.

You’ll learn how to set up your autoresponder to automatically remove a person from your prospect list after he buys, and then insert him into your customer list. This is where your new autoresponder sequence will start promoting your back end products automatically.

Bottom line… if you want to make the big bucks like all the Internet marketing gurus, you need to create a back end that works hard for you while you’re out creating new mini sites and developing new products.This video will show you how.

VIDEO 14 – LIST BUILDING SECRETS

In this deluxe video, Michael will walk you through some of his best tactics for growing a massive list from your mini site. He’ll not only teach you what to add to your mini site, but he’ll also show you what you must REMOVE from your mini site in order to get the most possible subscribers.

Building a list is about SO much more than just offering a free newsletter. In fact, Michael shows you five different things you can offer your readers toget them to instantly give you their name and email.

You’ll also learn the best places to actually put the opt-in email form on your mini site. You’ll also learn about pop ups and tell-a-friend scripts, as well as abunch of other incredible tactics for growing your list.

I have a hunch that you’ll find yourself referring to this video over and over again.

VIDEO 15 – MARKETING ACTIVITIES THAT MAKE YOU MONEY

When you think about all the ’stuff’ you can do to drive traffic to your site, it’s hard to know what you should focus on first. This video will walk youthrough the four most important marketing activities you can do to drive traffic to your mini site.

Once you master these four, you’ll never have to wonder what you should do when you start a new mini site. You’ll have an easy-to-follow road map fordriving tons of targeted prospects to your site, so you can begin making money ASAP!

VIDEO 16 – MAKE MAXIMUM PROFITS FROM YOUR MINI SITE

In this final deluxe video, Michael will reveal his best kept secrets for squeezing maximum profit out of any mini site. These are techniques that you have NOT seen before, so you’ll want to pay extra close attention to this one.

Think about it… if you’re going to put the time in, and set up a mini site the proper way (like Michael shows you in these videos), then it only makes sense that you’d want to make the most amount of money possible from it.

In this video, you’ll learn:

- How changing one sentence on your mini site could double your profits easily.

- How to instantly increase the dollar amount of your average order (which puts more money into your pocket).

- The one thing you must add to your ‘download page’ that will instantly increase your income (with no extra work, once this thing is put into place).

- How to turn your actual product into a money making machine!

CONCLUSION

Whew! That was a lot of information, and I hope it helped you decide to check out Michael Rasmussen’s Mini Site Profits Exposed video course. Remember the course is absolutely free, so you have nothing to lose.

Michael believes that it’s important for him to prove himself to you before he ever asks you to buy anything from him. He wants to show you that he will deliver you the absolute best education available anywhere, and he’ll gladly do it for free… just to win you over!

So go ahead and check out Mini Site Profits Exposed right now, and see what all the fuss is about. I highly recommend that you upgrade to the deluxe course as well. Here’s the URL:

http://www.minisiteprofitsexposed.com/?thankyou-page=18665  

Warmly,Karl Foxley

Keyword:

Making Money Online: Untold secrets

I still remember it vividly. It was way back in 1996 that I was introduced to the internet and I was hooked immediately. Here was a completely different world where the opportunities were endless. Almost instantly, I got a gut feeling that hidden in this virtual world were several ways to make money. And I started the quest. However, it was a long time before I actually started to make money online. Blame it on circumstances or bad judgement but I was only able to generate substantial income after 7 years of scourging the internet. I have tired it all from PPC advertising to the more recent google adsense. The result is hardcore on job experience that cannot be matched by any number of tips or techniques. Yes, I can say confidently that of all the popular money making methods online, only a few really work. You might just be surprised at some of the names and methods that are disclosed in this article. I have heard these reactions a hundred times, ‘Oh…does this really work?’ So here is the cream of the lot, the best of the best of the best money making methods online.

Blogging and Ad sense

Both of these are reasonably new methods and boy, haven’t they come to the fore with a bang! The best part about blogs is that there is no tried and tested formula for success. As long as you are creative and have the right content, your blog will attract visitors and once you have traffic to your blog, there is nothing as good as adsense to get you some money. The combination is pure dynamite. Put in the right content, stay updated frequently and stick to your style. For example, while you might be a good writer about entertainment, sports might not be an area of expertise for you. Do not attempt to foray into something that you are not sure of. Stick to the basics and you will make money.

Affiliate marketing

If you thought that you needed to own your own business to sell it online, then you are wrong. There are hundreds of people who can use your website to sell their stuff and this is what affiliate marketing is all about. Once again, there are hundreds of opportunities and affiliate networks out there that pay you in several ways. Cost per Click and Cost per Impression are some of the methods that have diminished over time. The more popular ones are Cost per Sale and Cost per Mille. Believe me, with the right amount of planning this is a business that can grow at breakneck speed. And the best part is that you can work from home. You are your own boss, no time constraints, irregular work hours etc.

E-Bay

If there is something that has revolutionized the way you make money online, then it is eBay. Believe me; you can sell anything under the sun on eBay. From your old sneakers to your latest cell phone, everything can fetch a good price. There is a diamond necklace sold every 4 minutes over here. A motorcycle is sold every 9 minutes. What are you waiting for? If you still haven’t tapped into this virtual goldmine, then it still isn’t late. The guides and tutorials on eBay are self explanatory and give you good information about how to get started as a seller.

Freelancing

As I said before, it doesn’t really take all the skills in the world to make money. All that it takes is some smart thinking and the ability to manage the business. There are several websites where you can bid for work like web designing, programming, article writing, blogging and much more. Once you get the project you can outsource it to other freelancers for a much lesser price of course. The difference is the money that you make by just outsourcing the work and acting as a middle person. In the process, you will learn a lot of new skills like negotiation, employee management and will have a team of freelance professionals under your belt.

Virtual real estate is becoming more and more lucrative as the “overnight successes” (spam sites) are disappearing due to search engines “sand boxing” all new sites and de-listing spammers. Do not take the building up of an AdSense empire lightly as it is quite a serious and tedious matter to be handled with much determination, hard work and responsibility.Owning a website in the virtual real estate allows a business, organization or individual to reach their target audience, to talk to innumerable people, to market product globally or made ones voice heard. To create a website, there are two essential steps to be taken. Again, all it takes is knowing the niche publishing industry and the tactics for creating and marketing content rich niche sites and a little patience.Adsense EmpireBuilding an AdSense empire will not happen overnight. The first thing you must understand when building your virtual real estate empire is to make sure that you are building good sites with quality content and are using white hat SEO techniques.Having the most appropriate keyword is the winning factor in a business involved with Google AdSense Ads. Sometimes the keyword or keyword phrase that works best for you is found after a lot of experimentation with trial and error methods; and it remains a continuous process. Using some software could make the keyword selection an automated process saving you much valuable time. But using the best software irrespective of installation costs would pay dividends in the long run.Despite the popular fallacy among many that one should stick to high paying keywords when building a website with Google AdSense Ads, the use of not so high priced keywords have been observed to actually generate the highest income from such AdSense programs.Adsense Empire SoftwareTo make a nice AdSense income month after month you need to make many niche web sites to create your own virtual real estate empire. Now building these sites can take a lot of time and effort. Now most of us to do not have the time or technical experience to make all of these web sites.For example, you might build a website under the topic of ‘computers’.  The mistake many people make is to create only one site dedicated to computers. It is to your advantage to publish numerous websites related to computers. When building an AdSense website, say on the topic of ‘Computers’, you will stand to maximize your earnings more by publishing a larger number of websites under sub keywords pertaining to different categories under computers such as laptops, computer accessories like keyboards, and computer peripherals like hard drives, etc., rather than from a single website dedicated to the single keyword, ‘computers’. There are several products on the Internet specifically designed to help you learn about all of the manual things you will need to do in the SiteBuilder to get better rankings.

The basic optimization techniques are the same as with any other website but the manual application required is unique to Site Builder Elite. I guess that’s why you need to study the proper tutorials to be successful.

Everyone could use some extra money, particularly in hard times. Perhaps the bills were a little more than you’d expected this month, or maybe you’re trying to raise some starter cash for your own internet startup or business. As the first article in an ongoing series, here are ten handy ideas to bring in some extra money.

Blood banks will often pay $20-$40, up to twice a week.

People often overlook this, but it’s a good way to make money providing a desperately-needed service. Donating blood is traditionally done through the Red Cross on a volunteer basis, but many blood collection services will compensate donors for between $20 and $40 per donation… and donors can often donate twice a week. It’s a good way to help out both you and your fellow man. You’ll want to check in your Yellow Pages for blood banks and hospitals local to your area, and call around. Be aware that California does not allow financial compensation for blood, and seems to insist that doing the good deed of providing blood cannot involve enlightened self-interest in any way. Also take note that the FDA has forbidden people who it considers to be at a high risk of HIV from donating at any price whatsoever, and would-be donors who admit to having had male-male sexual intercourse since 1977 are rejected on the basis that they “might have been exposed to HIV” – despite the fact that being at risk is not limited to any one sexual orientation. I haven’t spoken with any blood bank staff who agree with this policy, but they all seem to perpetuate it through their enforcement of it regardless. For many who find that desperate financial times require considering unconventional sources of raising money – particularly students, although increasingly anyone in the middle-class – donating blood on a paid basis is an approach that works.

If you donate, you will want to be sure to eat immediately beforehand and to drink lots of water – to replace that lost fluid. Donating too often can cause temporary physical weakness and exhaustion, and if it’s done in the same place too frequently without enough time to rest up it can result in some scarring of veins around the withdrawl area. Rotating sites and giving your veins a chance to rest up is generally a good idea.

Donating bone marrow like this can make you $450 in a few hours.

While it hasn’t yet gained as much noteriety as donating blood, many college students are finding that they can donate their bone marrow for quick cash. Over six thousand people seek bone marrow transplants each day, desperate for the marrow that could save their lives. A recipient can only accept marrow that matches their marrow type, and so the potential for donors decreases significantly for any one recipient bent on finding that matching donor. And donors aren’t in high supply… yet. That won’t be the case soon as this approach continues to grow in popularity.

Most people tend to think that donating bone marrow requires surgery, and this used to be the case. Today, it’s done with a needle and an incision that’s so small it doesn’t even require stitches. Nor does it require a hospital stay – donors frequently drive themselves to their appointment, and drive themselves back home afterwards. Within seven to fourteen days, they’re back to normal. Bone marrow generally goes for:

Additionally, white blood cells can be donated for about $350 in a procedure that lasts approximately five hours. A longer process, involving daily injections to raise the white blood cell counts, takes three to four days and pays $750. Lidocain, a topical anasthaetic, is used to numb the pain of injection on the skin, although this does not affect the pain that occurs when the marrow is actually drawn out of the bone. One donor, a college student, described it as hurting “really frickin bad”. He also described the pain as increasing with each withdrawal on a given day. Since 25 cubic centimeters of marrow are drawn into each syringe, there are two marrow draws each, from either side of the pelvic bone. General anaesthetic is available at the discretion of the doctor overseeing the process, and the donor maintains communication with the doctor throughout the procedure regarding the level of pain he is currently experiencing.

While certainly not the most pleasant means of raising money, marrow donation is one of the few legal means of raising over $100 dollars an hour over four hours. In increasingly desperate economic conditions more people are turning less-orthodox methods of making money, and the idea hasn’t yet become as prevalently-known as blood donation.

Appallingly, many facilities who perform the procedures for bone marrow donation do not make that information widely-known, in order to prevent financially-desperate and, in their view, health-suspect donors, from donating marrow. This includes one facility I spoke with which had recently been documented as financially compensating a marrow donor in an article describing the procedure. They replied matter-of-factly that they do not compensate their donors, although the donor himself wrote his own article in a firsthand account, providing more information and even pictures of the procedure. Evidently, facilities take the view that it is better to let some people in dire financial situations die from being rejected from the procedure, than risk accepting donors who might be “at risk”… which, from the position of other authorities such as the FDA, is both unrealistic and subjectively-defined. Be aware of this problem if you attempt to donate bone marrow.

Using online resources like Craigslist and GenieTown is simple – it’s designed to be.

Easier and more painless than these are doing odd jobs in your local area. Painting jobs, for example, can be very lucrative in a short span of time. Construction sites also need manpower, and many pay well. Folks who are advancing in years and finding it more difficult to do yardwork also often need assistance, and often receive significant retirement money from the government, resulting in levels of disposable income that are disproportionate to the rest of society. Some of them even require live-in care, not only to take care of them physically but also to attend to needs such as mere cooking and housekeeping. A live-in caretaking job can often be arranged that will eliminate rent expenses while providing a small amount of income for the caregiver at the same time. In-home caregiving is the fastest-growing job in America as many citizens reach retirement age, and in fact more Americans are retiring than are working. A live-in caregiving job can be ideal for people who also work online, since they can be on-site for the majority of the time.

All of these jobs and many more can be found in your local area through online sources like GenieTown and Craigslist. It’s worth keeping an eye out for, and Craigslist even has an RSS feed for each of its areas, so keeping up with it is easy, right from your desktop if you’d prefer. Checking the classified ads in your local newspaper might be worthwhile as well.

People on the streets are often motivated, and simply lack opportunities to apply their potential.

While you’re looking through the ads for people in your area who want services anyway, consider that there are people in dire circumstances whose work potential remains untapped – people who are homeless. Contrary to popular belief, many of those on the street desperately want to work, but do not have access to resources, like the internet or the ability to make phone calls, that are necessary to arrange it. Acting as a go-between for people on the street and painters or construction crews who need the manpower can be prosperous for all involved. Earning a finder’s fee, or a percentage, from connecting them together yourself can be a mutually-beneficial relationship. You may even consider creating a housecleaning service using primarily homeless manpower to staff it, and advertising it for free in your local area on Craigslist. Or a carwash. These people could use the money, and have huge amounts of manpower collectively that is just going to waste because they cannot apply it effectively. You, however, can. Make money while creating something that will provide a constructive approach to solving the homeless problem in your area, and you will have two bites at the cherry. You will also have access to a resource, untapped manpower, that most people seeking ways to make money – and who are to some extent competing with you in the market – have not even considered. This will put you ahead of the game.

You can make some quick cash being paid to post on forums.

You’ve probably considered writing on a site like HubPages because you can write, because you enjoy writing, and because you’d like to get paid for it. In addition to paid articles from sites like HubPages, Helium and Triond, and even paid letter-writing sites like LetterRep and paid product review sites like epinions and ReviewStream, paid forum posting is a particularly interesting concept from a writer’s perspective. The basis for forum posting is that with new websites springing up on a constant basis – and many wilting away to nothing just as quickly – it becomes difficult for the creators of those websites and forums to build a base of users. It’s the ghost town phenomenon – and few will be inclined to join and return to a forum that has no users or activity yet. With no-one joining, this problem dashes the hopes of a typical website forum to get started. Forum creators all over the net with less-than-earthshattering premises for their websites and forums have started to pay people to start the ball rolling, through “pay per post” sites. These sites register new users, allow them to select a paying forum to post on, and collects commission for partnering writers willing to post with forum owners who need the activity to keep their sites alive. PostingDirect is one such site, and offers an advancing scale of 10 to 65 cents per post (depending on the user’s feedback from previous jobs), for jobs consisting of 10 or 20 posts. These forum posts are not meant to be timeless works of literary skill, and naturally aren’t expected to be as long as HubPages articles by any means. They are meant to inspire conversation and dialogue on inactive forums. The prospect of earning $1.30 for two short forum posts is certainly an attractive one, and the concept can get even better when combined with the next tip.

You can earn ad revenue – and referral money – sharing links on GemStorm.

If you’ve used sites like HubPages for a bit, you know that you can make money writing articles like this one online. But wouldn’t it be nice to make money by turning people onto a cool website you’ve discovered, or that music video? As of this April, GemStorm has gone into public beta. There you can post a link to a website, game, video or just about anything else and, like HubPages, it will share Google AdSense revenue with you 50/50. This means that you can put your bookmarks to work, and they can be working for you just as your HubPages articles do – without the writing articles part! What’s more, when you refer someone to GemStorm, you’ll be getting 10% of their revenue as well… which means you can be paid just for spreading the word.

It works like this: You sign up for your GemStorm account. You enter your Google AdSense account number, just like with HubPages. And then you submit a few choice bookmarks. When other GemStorm users see them, they’ll check them out and bump them up if they like them. When enough users bump up a submission it’ll hit the front page of the site… where even more users will see it. The more users that see your submission, the greater the liklihood that someone will click on the Google ads. And that’s easy money.

GemStorm also lets you create interest groups, either public or private, invite-only. This allows you to post links just for your friends, co-workers, or any small group. Links posted there will be seen by people who share that interest – meaning people who are more likely to click on the relevant Google ads.

Because it’s just starting, few people have heard of GemStorm… yet. That means there’s plenty of new territory to develop there, and it’s easy to make referral revenue because the people you talk to about it won’t have heard of it yet. And making money quickly and easily is something we’re all interested in.

No matter how good a concept, it’s wasted if nobody can hear about it.

Consider this: If you write articles online you’re probably on HubPages, and perhaps Helium and Triond as well. You may even write paid posts on forums, as described above. You spend a lot of time writing, and your writing will be seen by many on the internet. What an opportunity for paid promotion, no?

I’m not advising that you compromise the value of your writing in order to make a few bucks; quite the opposite, in fact. Your work will reach many people, and until recently the only major intentional ad campaigns have been from big corporations through big media. As a result, people have become overly-familiar with big brands like McDonald’s, because they have bought up a disproporationate amount of publicity. The internet is beginning to change all that and speaking frankly, it’s certainly about time.

Not only is the internet producing more startups, websites, and forums more rapidly than society ever has before, it’s also producing more good ideas than ever before because there’s a faster flow of communication and anyone with a good idea can build a website to get it started. The problem today isn’t getting it started, it’s keeping it alive.

How does someone with a tremendously cool product or service that no-one’s heard of promote it to people? People who don’t know about it won’t search for it. AdSense only works as a sometimes thing for new services, as the new terms for what they’re doing haven’t yet spread. If people don’t hear about the idea, however good it is, it dies off through neglect. And few startups can pay conventional media to promote their sites, products, or services. How many people would love them, if only they heard about them?

And here you are, spending your time writing anyway. What an opportunity for a partnership, no? You could learn about new up-and-comers with great ideas in your field of interest, and you could mention them in your posts and articles because they deserve to be mentioned, and people will want to use them. Many of these starter ventures have affiliate and referral programs, so when you spread the word successfully you get compensated in some way. Usually, it’s monetarily. Other times, it can be for perks or status within that site or community. But if it’s a good service – and I don’t mean the latest designer prescription knockoffs, but a worthwhile service – then you’re providing additional value with your articles and posts, and spreading the word to people who need it to people who need to hear about it. And you’re earning income from doing it. All the benefits of viral marketing, but planned and intentional. Planned viral marketing that works for everyone.

This is really just a matter of taking whatever motive you have for your writing, and dovetailing it nicely with another agenda – making money. You’ve already done this, if you’ve written a Hub and put ads on it. You can do it further by overlaying another agenda – promoting companies for referral bonuses, on top of that strategy, provided that you do it in a way that doesn’t conflict with your other agendas. This means not compromising the quality of your writing by hyping the latest gimmicks instead of providing your readers with worthwhile information. But done correctly, it can actually be harmonized with those other objectives. For example, when people need to hear about a new idea in a field you’re interested in, and you know of a new product, website or service in that area, people will be better off for having been presented with that information through your writing. You will have provided them with something of value. The fact that it’s also a form of advertising does not diminish that. It has become a misperception that advertising must only serve the goals of the advertiser; in a functional world, someone would only do something that had value both to themselves and to the rest of the world. This is simply enlightened self-interest. It’s a beautiful concept, and more importantly it’s a concept that works for once, so I’d love to see it flourish in the world. So, ads aren’t necessarily bad – provided that they contribute value, as they should. It’s time to start spreading that idea itself, particularly in a world that tries to cram McDonald’s food down our throat whether it’s healthy for us or not, and tries to convince us that’s all advertising can be.

While we’re on the subject, it’s worthwhile to note that we can also intentionally dovetail our writing with another agenda that isn’t monetarily-based. We can use it to promote and reinforce positive social agendas by sneaking them into our writing where they’re appropriate. In other words, we can promote not only products, websites and services, but approaches to a better world by increasing awareness and prominence of better alternatives. We have a media that tells us that fast food is normal, and that enlightened self-interest isn’t. This is wrong, and it’s the recipe for something that doesn’t work. And now, for the first time, we can do something about that. We can promote social change through our work. We can champion causes. We can inspire action. We can share great ideas and solutions upon which that action can be based. We can marry our writing with the agenda of creating a better world, and in the process help to bring it about.

There are many affiliate and referral programs out there. I personally prefer to use clixGalore, because I’ve found larger networks like Commission Junction to be slow and unconcerned with the needs of their users. clixGalore is small enough to take their users seriously, and large enough to have an extensive network of affiliated merchants to choose from. If you know of other good affiliate programs, feel free to share them in the Comments area of this Hub. I’m sure Hub authors can put them to good use.

Offering your services to your readers with paid consultations can be a win-win for both of you.

While you’re writing online articles and posts, changing the world and promoting great new goods and services that are out there… have you considered promoting your own?

You’re presumably writing about your own areas of expertise. Your readers are obviously interested in that area, which is why they’re reading. They’re usually not as knowledgable about the subject as you are, and they’re gleaning what they can from what you’ve written. They are, in all liklihood, attempting to apply that information to their own lives and situations in some way, and must try to customize it to fit their needs. Traditionally, it hasn’t been possible for them to go to a webpage and read up on something, and get answers specific to their own situation. But all of that changes with HubPages.

Part of the beauty of HubPages is that it has the ability to connect readers with knowledgable people in any field of interest. Unlike Google searches and Wikipedia entries, readers can click the Contact link and send the writer e-mail. Why not put that to good use, and offer your readers the benefit of your knowledge, advice and experience by offering them paid consultations? Whether what you know about is fashion, business, computers or construction, you can write articles based on your areas of skill and knowledge – presumably that’s what you’re already doing – and offer consultations by phone, VOIP, or over internet chat. Your reader can ask direct questions relevant to their situation, and get answers immediately. It allows them to get the exact solution they need, like a kind of Magic Internet Oracle. And it pays a lot more than promoting someone else’s services through AdSense.

Like AdSense, though, it’s cumulative. With several Hubs providing information about things in your skill area, and offering your consulting services as well, more people are going to read your Hubs each day. Each time someone reads a Hub that also offers your consulting services, it’s an opportunity for them to request them – right to your e-mail Inbox. Imagine a few months or years down the road, getting up in the morning, checking your Inbox and having a stack of consultation requests waiting for you to schedule them and call them. They’d all be things in your own area of expertise, so one day you might be giving phone consultations for fashion accessorizing and pet grooming tips, and the next you’d be telling people how to pull cable through their walls to wire their house for broadband, and telling others how to get their own website going. Sharing your experience and knowledge in an area by phone, and being able to do it for a living.

What you’re actually doing is adding value to your Hubs, by offering your readers an option for individually-tailored solutions to their own situation. You’re finding new ways to offer value to people, and as a result you’re finding new ways to provide value to yourself as well. Everybody comes out a winner.

Before taking pictures for eBay sales, consider putting on some clothes.

You’re looking around for ways to make cash, and if you’re like most people you have a ton of stuff that you don’t actually use, cluttering up your living space. Too much stuff on one hand, and not enough cash on the other. Take a good look around your place at the stuff you have. How much of it do you actually use? Could you bear to part with any of it by selling it? If it’s in your life and it’s not working for you… get rid of it. (If it’s a spouse, I suggest trying counselling first.)

Putting stuff up for sale on eBay is easy. You take a digital camera (chances are a friend has one) and you snap a few shots of what it is you’re selling, all on its own. You put the image on your computer, sign into your eBay account, and upload the sucker when you put it up for sale. People who want your stuff will bid and outbid each other for it, and you’ll make more and more money. They’ll pay the shipping and handling, so don’t worry about it.

You can also have a traditional yard sale. These can be fun, but you don’t usually get much for them. You also have the added responsibility of sitting outside all day making sure you’re available, and that your stuff doesn’t get stolen. Freecycle is one alternative option, if you just want to get rid of the thing. You won’t make any money out of it, but like putting an item up for free on Craigslist’s free stuff you’re practically guaranteed to get rid of it. Some of my readers mentioned Freecycle and yard sale as options, and I wanted to include them here because having options is always a good thing.

Personally though, I’m more for selling off your extra stuff online. You can easily turn your clutter into cash this way, because odds are someone wants the stuff you don’t want anymore. Instead of a piled-up mess around your home, you can have money in the bank. Ah, how sweet it is.

Letting valuable resources like aluminum cans go to waste is money down the drain.

People usually overlook this option, particularly if they’re not currently recycling or are giving it away to the city for pickup. But what you have is worth something, even if it’s just the cans your soda came in. Tossing it into a separate bag when you throw it away and taking it to a recyclery every so often can not only bring you a fair chunk of cash, it can also reduce what you pay for your trash pickup. It naturally reduces your environmental impact as well, so it’s an approach that’s good for everyone.

Establish an area in your kitchen – a closet, perhaps, or under the sink – and have a place to put your metal, glass, paper and plastic. Think of how much that will reduce your trash output right there. You just throw them in there instead of the trash, and put full bags somewhere else and replace them. Once in a while, you take it all down to your local recyclery and they pay you per pound. Just be sure that your recyclables don’t have food matter on them, because that can gum up a whole load when they try to recycle it – and so many recycleries have had to become choosy about what they take. I have a housemate, for example, who always tries to recycle his pizza boxes. I cannot seem to get it into his head that cardboard with melted cheese and grease on it cannot be recycled. The same goes for frozen dinner packages – run them through the dishwasher first, or just rinse them off briefly after you’re done eating.

A lot of cities offer free recycling pickup. My, what a magnanimous gesture on their part! For free, they will pick up material from me that has value. Until they start deducting the value from my trash bill – or until I have the power that they do to implement my own taxes – I need that money far more than they do. So do you.

With a knowledge of programming, you can be paid well online.

If you know how to program or how to create webpages, there are plenty of places online that will allow you to do that for money on a freelance basis. And if you don’t know how to code, W3Schools will happily teach you online for free at your own pace. They have free online tutorials for essentially any web coding environment, and other sites offer the same thing for programming languages like C, Python, and so on. W3Schools makes its money only if you want to get certification for what you’ve learned. Once you’ve learned something, you can pay them about $60 and take their exam, consisting of 60 multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes. When you pass it, they will send you your certification. If you don’t, you have the option of paying again to take the exam again. As long as you have a working knowledge of the coding language you’ve learned, you can go on freelance coding sites and make offers on projects that are out there. PHP-Freelancers and PHPjobs.com, for example, are just a couple of the sites for PHP programmers. Additionally, GetAFreelancer.com has not only coding jobs, but paid proofreading and article writing as well. Jobs tend to range from simple $5 and $10 tasks, medium tasks for $100 – $200, and even large projects for $1,000 to $5,000. You can make money online rather easily, by learning how to program and doing it for those who need it. It’s an ideal telecommuting job, and can be combined with live-in caregiving at the same time. This can be a great way to make money, particularly interspersed with article-writing and paid posting. The online world provides a wealth of new options out there, just waiting for you to find ways to integrate them into your life.

Discover the second part in this series, Ten More Quick Ways to Make Money. This one can easily change your life!