Need Money: How I Make Money Online

Note: Some of the links provided are affiliate links to services and websites I use to monetize my websites.

I have had this blog for several years and the number one question that comes up frequently in the "real world" is "Do you really make money online?". The answer is emphatically, Yes!

You can too. I have spent years messing around with this stuff and am happy to share what I have learned with anyone willing to listen. There is such a large market out there for information that anyone can make money online.

In this first part, let me tell you who sends me checks each month. In the next segment, I will tell you how I earn those checks. And finally, I will try and go over all the little things I do each week to keep traffic coming my way, as well as other odd bits and pieces.

So, here is the list of companies which I make money from each month.

Adsense - This is Google's advertising program which anyone can join. Adsense are those little ads you see on almost every website (including this one).

Adsense generates billions of dollars in revenue for Google, but also for publishers who put them on their sites. When a visitor clicks an ad, the publisher gets part of the money the advertiser paid to Google to be part of the network.

To get started, you need a website or a blog like this one. You need to produce some original content and have something for the ad code to "read" as the ads are based upon the content of the page. Write about making money online and ads related to money products are shown.

There are two tricks to making money with AdSense. The first trick is traffic. You need lots of traffic to your website to make money. A site with five or ten views a day will not make any money. Your site will need 200-300 views a day to make a few bucks at best.

Second, you need original content which makes money. A blog about your random thoughts about things makes no money at all. Whereas a website about high dollar things like credit cards, money, debt, insurance and others makes good money. AdSense loves those sites as advertisers pay good money to get their ads placed.

There are rules to using Adsense (like don't click your own ads!), but the program is easy to follow. Google pays Adsense earnings after they reach $100.00 and only once a month. But earnings accumulate until you reach the payout mark so you won't lose any money, unless you break the rules of course.

What can you make on AdSense? Most publishers make the $100 minimum with average traffic. But with growing traffic and readers, some publishers make over a $1000 a month with AdSense.

The secret is to start small. Create one or two websites, join Adsense, place the ad code and work on getting traffic to your site. Keep your site current and relevant and the revenue will grow slowly.

Clickbank - Clickbank is a retailer of electronic products; ebooks and guides. It is easy to join and is a great way to offer products visitors to your blog or website want to buy and read.

To work with Clickbank, you can either have a website with advertisements for their products or use Pay Per Click (PPC) ads to advertise their products or send product suggestions to an email list of subscribers.

When a buyer buys a product, you get a portion of the revenue. Sometimes this can be as much as 60% of the sale. Clickbank pays every two weeks by check when the $100 minimum has been reached.

What you make with Clickbank? The sky is the limit. While it is relatively easy to make the $100 minimum, there are many top publishers who make thousands of dollars easily with Clickbank.

What is neat about Clickbank vs Adsense or other advertising networks is the amount publishers earn with one sale. Whereas a great ad click may pay $1 - 3.00, a single Clickbank sale may earn $30 or 40.00. Every little bit is nice, but big money quicly is nicer!

PayDotCom - PayDotCom is another retailer of electronic products. Again, like Clickbank, it is easy to join and sellers can use a website, email list or PPC to sell products online.

PayDotCom pays monthly in most cases, over PayPal only. That means you get the money at the beginning of the next month deposited directly into your PayPal account.

What can you make with PayDotCom? PayDotCom is a reliable way to make $100 - 200 a month with enough traffic. It all depends upon site traffic and visitors.

What is good about PDC is many of the products are low cost, less than $10.00, and they sell fast. What is bad is that PDC pays the month after the sale and some product creators are slow to pay. Publishers have to track down their revenue themselves and sometimes that can be a pain.

Amazon - Amazon is the grand daddy of affiliate marketing on the Internet. Anyone can join and it is simple to use. Join the Amazon Associates program and get links, pictures and text for different products which work with your website. I have blogs which sell something on Amazon everyday.

Amazon pays out different amounts based upon the product. In most cases, the payout is a percentage of 4% or so. Some electronics have a fixed commission at $25 while some big ticket items have a higher payout. Amazon pays when a $25 amount has been reached in the sellers account and they make payments directly to a bank account or by check.

What can you make with Amazon? Amazon is tougher to make big money from because the pay out is smaller. However, like eBay, some online marketers make good money with Amazon every month.

Cashcrate - Cashcrate is just plain fun. Take surveys and make .50 to 2.00 a pop. A survey may be only 3 or 4 questions tops and you make some quick money.

What's more is you can refer some friends to Cashcrat and make some more money while they complete offers. CasCrate is a fun way to make an extra 20 a week online.

What can you make with Cashcrate? Complete one of two surveys a day and you can make $80 - 100 a month easily.

Commission Junction - CJ is the best place to find affiliate products to sell for almost any niche. Clothing, cell phones, legal services, credit cards, jewelry, you name it and CJ has an affiliate program.

Once approved, CJ allows publishers to apply for different affiliate programs. Some programs have instant approval, others have a manual process. There are usually strict guidelines to selling most products. But CJ has a great interface which provides lots of picture and text links for resellers which helps the web novice.

The only drawback about CJ is payments can sometimes take a few months before they are issued. Also, some of the best products and programs are only available to professional websites with lots of proven, measurable traffic. But CJ is worth trying because of the variety of merchandise.

So, what do you do with all of these great affiliate programs? How can you start making money? That will be the next part of Making Money Online coming soon.