The Facts About Earning Money Online

Home Entrepreneurs

In October 2009, Businessweek Magazine reported that more than half of all business in America were home-based, and about 6.6 million provided more than half of the total household income for the owners. These businesses employed more than 13 million people in 2008, while venture-backed companies only employed 12.1 million.

Work for Others at Home

Rat Race Rebellion, an online job resource co-founded by CNN Internet Fraud and Safety Expert Chris Durst, notes that many well-known companies offer legitimate work from home opportunities. Aetna Insurance has a Telework Program that hires work-at-home employees for call center work and a variety of other jobs. Demand Studios hires people to write and edit articles on a wide variety of topics. An educational background and/or professional experience in virtually any field will qualify competent writers, even if they have no professional writing experience. Rat Race Rebellion lists opportunities for dozens of other specialty areas, from home court reporting to home translation to home teaching jobs.

Google

Web developers can sign up for Google's Adsense program and make money from advertising on their sites. To make significant profits with Adsense, you need to upload quality content consistently, working in a niche market, and you must understand the ins and outs of search engine optimization. Google also hires people for various work-at-home jobs, including--believe it or not--web surfing. As a part-time Ads Quality Rater, you would be responsible for analyzing the quality of websites all over the Internet to help Google establish its search rankings.

Scams

The Ad Quality job requires a Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience and verifiable knowledge of the Internet. This distinguishes it from what Scambusters--a nonprofit Internet watchdog group--calls 'Know Nothing, Do Nothing' scams. Any make-money-online offer that says you don't need to know about the Internet or even use a computer is a scam. Scambusters advises that you never pay for an opportunity to work from home and that you research the business making the offer before investing yourself in it.

Reporting Fraud

While it may be embarrassing if you find yourself a victim of an online scam, it's important that you report it so that others don't suffer the same fate. The Internet Crime Complaint Center combines the resources of the FBI, the National White Crime Collar Center and the Bureau of Justice Assistance to track down a wide range of Internet scams. You can file a complaint at its website.

How to Create a Facebook Ad

1. Sign in to Facebook. If you do not have an account, create one by visiting Facebook's home page.

2. Click 'More' from the left side of the page. A new menu will appear, with various links. Click 'Ads.' Click 'Billing' from the left side of the page and click 'Funding Source' under 'Billing.' Click 'Add a funding source' to add a payment method for your ad.

3. Click 'Campaigns and Ads' on the left side of the page, then click the green 'Create an Ad' button at the top right of the page. The ad setup page will appear.

4. Choose the destination of the ad, which is where users who click the ad will be taken. For example, select 'External URL' and then type the desired URL in the 'External URL' text box to link your ad to that site.

5. Create a title and body for the ad in the respective text boxes. The body can only contain 135 characters, so focus on grabbing the reader's attention and telling him why he should click your ad.

6. Click 'Choose File' next to 'Image' to upload an image that will serve as the face of your ad. If the image is a word or phrase, make sure the font is large enough for the reader to see. Look at the 'Preview' box and adjust the look of the ad, if you wish.

7. Fill in the targeting information under the 'Targeting' section. The targeting details determine who your ad reaches. For example, if you select women ages 24 to 30 with interests in family and music, your ad will only reach the people who fall in that demographic and have those interests. Targeting is vital to the performance of your ad. You don't want to target senior citizens for a product that appeals to 21-year-olds.

8. Complete the 'Campaigns, Pricing and Scheduling' section. For this section, you must enter the campaign name, your budget and your bid. You also must select if you wish to run the campaign continuously and whether you want to pay per click or per impression. It's almost always better to pay per click, as that will give you enough data on whether the ad is enticing enough for people to click on or not. By paying per impression, you pay regardless if people click on your ad or not.

9. Click 'Place Order.' Facebook will review the ad and approve it. Approval time varies but typically takes no longer than five to 10 hours.

How to Disclose You're Being Paid to Blog

1. Write your paid blog post for the sponsoring company. Be honest in your endorsement and maintain the integrity of your blog when writing.

2. Include, at the top or bottom of your paid post, that a company paid you to write that specific post. The FTC requires this disclosure on all paid blog posts so your readers know of the relationship you have with the company.

3. Indicate the company name and the product in your disclosure, but not the amount paid you. If you wrote about the product or company without compensation, disclose this as well so readers know it's your personal opinion.

How to Make Money, Clicking Ads

Click Ads Yourself

1. Sign up at one or more websites that pay you to click ads. New websites appear frequently, so search online or ask friends for recommendations. Some options include ClixSense, Neobux and WordLinx (see Resources).

2. Read the section of the website that describes how to earn. Some websites limit the number of ads you can click, pay you extra if you sign up for an offer after clicking the website or pay you for getting other people to sign up.

3. Log in to the website daily and click on the available ads to earn money.

4. Tell people about the program if you can earn for referrals. Motivating your referrals to also click ads regularly will increase your earnings.

5. Request a payout when you have reached the amount required to get paid.

Post Ads

6. Create a blog or other type of website with steady readership. Writing about something you are passionate about is the best way to attract readers.

7. Sign up for an affiliate program with Google, Amazon or another site that pays you each time someone clicks on its ad on your site.

8. Post the affiliate program ads on your website or blog.

9. Encourage your readers to purchase specific products through your affiliate links. To be successful at this, the products usually must be ones that you have personal experience with and find genuinely useful and a good value.

How to Make $3,000 a Month in Passive Income

1. Choose the method, or methods, of how you would like to make a passive income. Affiliate sales are commissions on products, usually downloadable, paid to you when a sale is made through your affiliate code. Click per action, CPA, is cash paid when a visitor to your site performs a certain action such as completing a form, providing contact information or signing up for a service. The difference between affiliate sales and CPA is you don't have to make a sale for CPA. Advertising income is earned when a visitor to your site clicks on an advertisement. Set goals for each of the methods that total $100 per day. You might decide that $10 per day in advertising revenue, $25 in CPA and $65 in affiliate sales commissions is doable.

2. Select the products you wish to promote. Find affiliate products through Clickbank, Commission Junction, Amazon.com, or search by brand name +affiliate. Companies such as Groupon or Angie's List have affiliate programs as well. Ensure the product has a nice size payout. If the commission is only $10 you'll have to sell 300 products a month, or 10 a day to make $3,000 per month. If the commission is $25 per sale, you only have to sell four per day to make your number.

3. Monetize your website with Google AdSense. Research keyword phrases that relate to your selected method and products you wish to promote. Google AdSense keyword tool tells you how many searches were made for a keyword phrase and the competition for that keyword phrase from advertisers. You can find out what the cost per click is for the phrase on the Google AdSense traffic estimator. That is what the advertiser pays. That pay is split between Google and you. You don't have be an advertiser to use the tool. Keyword phrase selection is important. The search engines will place you higher on the search results page, that means more visitors and a higher potential to earn your $3,000 per month.

4. Register a domain that includes your main keyword phrase. For example if you've selected a weight loss product you might want to register 'www.loseweightfast.com' or 'www.tipstoloseweightfast.com' if you're promoting a book on homemade dog food, your domain might be 'www.healthyhomemadedogfood.com.'

5. Find a Web host company. Set up your website or blog. For newcomers to Internet marketing a blog is less of a hassle than a static website. Fantastico is a program on most control panels at your Web host. In Fantastisco, select a blog platform. With a click of your mouse your blog will be set up on your domain. Write blog posts that include your keyword phrase in the title of the post and once in each paragraph. The blog posts should have your affiliate links to the products you're promoting and your CPA links.

6. Promote your website or blog by submitting it to the main search engines. Write articles about the topic of your website or blog. Include a link to your blog using your keyword phrase as the text. Submit the articles to directories. This sets up backlinks pointing to your website.

7. Use other methods of traffic generation such as pinging your website or blog, setting up a network of free sites such as HubPages, Xanga, Weebly and Squidoo and posting on discussion forums with your keyword phrase linking back to your blog. The more targeted visitors to your site, the higher the probability you'll make $100 a day.

How to Get Paid to Embed YouTube Videos

1. Sign in to your YouTube account.

2. Visit youtube.com/partners and click 'Apply Now.'

3. Read the advisory notice and click 'Apply Anyway.'

4. Fill out the form with your name, contact information and information about your video content, such as your industry and the frequency at which you create new videos. Click 'Review Application.'

5. Agree to the terms and conditions if you receive a notice from YouTube that it approved your application. You will begin generating revenue when viewers click the ads in the videos you create and embed.

How to Make a Blog Website for Free

1. Register for a free email address. Gmail.com, Yahoo.com and Hotmail.com are just a few services that provide free email. Choose an appropriate name, preferably one that reflects your desired webpage title. It is important to choose a secure password that includes at least eight letters---both capital and lowercase---and one or more numbers. 'Yourblogname123' or 'Password123' are too obvious. A more secure choice is something like 'SuperMomma5150.'

2. Select a blog website that reflects your interests. Register your blog name using your new email address. Follow the directions on the website, step by step, in choosing a template and formatting your blog. An important step is choosing who can view and comment on the blog. You can limit the viewers or leave it open to anyone who happens upon it.

3. Write in your blog. As time goes on, depending on the type of blog, you can add advertising, pictures, search boxes and more.

4. Sign up with social networking sites to publicize your blog. Websites like Facebook.com, LinkedIn.com, Twitter.com and Xanga.com are popular places to chat and discuss your personal interests, such as your blog. In addition, look for other blogs focused on your personal interests and provide links to them on your own blog. Read and comment on the posts. Interact with other bloggers. Then they will click on your link and read your blog.

5. Add your blog to Google. If you want to reach a wider audience, go to www.google.com and clicking on the link 'About Google,' then 'Submit your content to Google'; and finally, under 'Web,' click on 'Add Your URL.' Insert the URL (the web address) for your blog. Other search engines have similar processes. Maintaining a blog, especially one intended to provide extra income, requires quality writing and dedicated efforts to attract readers.