Making Money Online: A Guide For The Absolute Beginner, Part 1

Introduction

Why is this guide here? Well, a few months ago, I realized for the first time that a medical condition from which I suffer was not going to get better very quickly. I couldn’t work, and still can’t. So, being a geek, I decided to look for opportunities to earn a little extra cash online. Very quickly, I found that making money online is one of the most infuriating, aggravating and downright disappointing things I have ever had the misfortune to try.

Like a lot of people, I’m battered every day by a flood of spam email claiming that it’s possible to earn thousands of dollars every week for doing two hours’ work. Being a cynic, I never believed that - I mean, if it was so easy, there’d be millions of people doing it, not just a few, right? - but I figured there must be some way of earning. It took me a while and a lot of bad experiences, bad advice and bad choices, but eventually I managed to hone down the list of potential revenue-earners, find some good places to earn and people from whom to learn.

This guide is an attempt to pass on some of that very basic knowledge. If I can help newcomers by cutting down the time it takes them to understand the options, to avoid a few bad choices and to get them pointed to some possible solutions, I’ll be happy.

Oh, yes, one other thing - there’s a lesson I learned right at the start, which is so important that I will mention it here: do not pay for anything up-front without serious research. Do not believe the promises. Keep your money. There’s a very good chance that almost exactly the same information or service is available elsewhere and that they will pay you rather than charge you. If you really, really need something particular that an up-front payment may provide, make darned sure you’ll get what you want before coughing up the cash!

What’s in this guide

Look anywhere on the Internet and the chances are you’ll come across someone asking how to make money online or offering the opportunity to earn money working from home with your computer. There are thousands of web sites dedicated to earning online, with more and more appearing every day. Surely with all these people offering ways to make thousands of dollars every week there must be some truth to the myth of online earning?

This guide is intended to act as a primer for newly-arrived hopefuls: for those people who are just starting to look into making money online and need some help with the terminology, the pitfalls, the possibilities and the people. It does not include links to pay-sites or specific earning strategies. It is not a definitive step-by-step guide to earning millions. It is not even complete, since the online earning market changes all the time. What it is, however, is a way to jump-start your online career: maybe it’ll save you a day or two of research, maybe a week; maybe all it will do is give you the vocabulary. In any case, hopefully it’ll save you asking some of the most basic questions and looking like a total noob!

To begin, the essentials: you will need an Internet connection, obviously; you will need an email address to use for registrations and so on; you will need a PayPal or AlertPay account to receive your earnings (though some will pay by check); you may need a credit card, although it’s not required. I would personally suggest having a separate email for all online earning, with a separate online persona and password. Do not – I repeat, do not – use your PayPal or AlertPay email address and password anywhere else. That’s just inviting trouble.

Now, let’s look at some of the different ways to make money online. It’s impossible to cover them all, since some entrepreneur will come along and invent a new one as soon as the definitive list is created, but at present I’ll cover four main categories of online earning - clickers, participation, work and marketing.

Part Two: Clickers and Participation

Part Three: Work and Marketing

Part Four: The People We Meet, Traffic, Resources and Final Thoughts