Make Money On The Internet Slowly But Steadily

How many times have you thought how nice it would be to make money without lifting a finger? And how many times have you seen online ads promising you can do just that? The fact is, no matter what you do, the amount of money you earn on any venture is usually determined by the effort you put in.

The sites or online ads promising you thousands of dollars a day are either lying, or selling you a system that scams or rips off others -- most often they're trying to sell you a system that teaches you how to sell others a system to make money.

Fortunately, you can make money on the Internet -- without cheating anybody, and without paying anybody a dime.

I won't be buying a mansion or a private island in the Bahamas any time soon, but I am generating consistent income online -- and I'm not paying anyone for advice or consulting... and I'm not paying any website hosting fees. I'm doing it using a basic, easy-to-implement system that anyone with an Internet connection can use.

First of all, you need to pick a topic you know a lot about... or a topic you're passionate about. If you're passionate and knowledgeable, even better!

Secondly, you need to pick an area that other people are interested in. It doesn't necessarily have to be a large group either. In fact, a smaller group of people with a very strong interest is better than a huge group who barely cares.

For the purposes of this article, let's say we're crazy about garden gnomes.

Right now there are thousands (millions?) of blogs out there, and most of them are being ignored -- because no one really wants to know what you had for breakfast today, or how you feel about your job. So how is a blog going to help you earn money? Because you're going to talk to a specific group of people about what matters to them. After all, people only read what interests them.

There are lots of free sites for setting up your blog. Personally, I prefer Blogger, also referred to as Blogspot. Blogger is associated with Google and, even though I can't prove it, I think it helps get you listed faster on Google searches.

Blogger will host your Blog for free... it's easy to sign up... and easy to use.

When you create your blog, you'll be able to choose the website name as WhateverNameYouChoose.Blogspot.com. The technical description of your blog is a sub-domain -- because WhateverNameYouChoose is hosted on Blogspot.com.

Don't get cute or fancy with your blog name. Keep it simple and straightforward and try to use something people will include in their Google Searches. GardenGnomes.Blogspot.com is way better than LittleGreenLawnMen.Blogspot.com.

Although most blogs are used as a platform for spouting opinions, yours will be designed as a reference site for other Gnome lovers. Start adding posts/articles that will appeal to them. For example: Where to find free gnomes, How to clean a garden gnome, Organizing your gnome collection. Again, don't get fancy or artsy with your post/article names -- Google will use the name of the article to help determine search results.

Keep your articles concise, but don't be afraid to let your personality show through -- you're a real person, writing to real people. An opinion here and there is fine, but remember, you want to be seen as a source of useful information.

Remember, you can't get something for nothing! That's why you need to post an article or two to get started.

Once you have a reason for people to visit, you can take advantage of their visits by adding Google AdSense to your blog. Blogger makes this incredibly easy from their template page. You'll also need to create an AdSense account which is also quite simple.

AdSense will place ads on your blog that people can see and, if they choose, click on. AdSense pays you based on how many people see the ads, and how many ads are clicked. There's now way to calculate how much views and clicks are worth (Google keeps that a secret so no one can cheat the system -- as the scammers claim they can do), but the more people visiting your blog, the more money you generate.

The best part is that the Google ads are targeted based on your content. So if you're writing about gnomes, any gnome ads Google has will be added to your blog, increasing the likelihood that people will click on the ads.

Clicks are worth more than views, but note that Google doesn't allow you to encourage people to click on ads, and they monitor clicking patterns. If you, or anyone else, tries to generate income with repeated clicks, Google will figure it out and ban you.

Forums are your secret weapon for generating and increasing traffic to your blog. Forums are specific parts of websites that let user post questions or comments that are answered or commented on by others. They're gathering spots for enthusiasts -- the same enthusiasts you want visiting your blog.

So find all the Gnome websites you can with a forum section, and sign up as a member. Every forum I've ever visited has always had free membership, so again, there's no cost to you.

The first thing you need to do is create a signature. Most forums let you include a web address as part of your signature and your web address will -- naturally -- be your blog site. You can also add a description -- something like "the Internet's only blog dedicated to Garden Gnomes". As always, straightforward is better than cute.

Then start posting on the forum. Make sure you're adding relevant and useful information.

Every time you post, your link will be on display for other forum users. Just as importantly, your link is visible to Google the next time it visits the forum site. Google will see your link, (and see that it's on a site relevant to your blog's content, which is good) and follow it to your blog. The more links you have from other websites (that are relevant to your blog) the better Google thinks of you.

Google AdSense generates revenue, but you won't be buying yourself diamond necklaces any time soon. It takes time to build up steady traffic. But think about this... you know have a stream of of potential customers you can potentially sell to. In this case, you have people who might buy garden gnomes, garden gnome books, garden gnome make-up, or garden gnome what have you.

You can now use your blog to sell products to these highly interested people? I know what you're thinking. "I can't afford to stock inventory and run a mail-order business from home." You don't have to. Other people will do it for you.

Amazon is a good example. Their site explains the process of becoming an associate quite clearly, and there are a number of articles on the web about it, so I won't cover it here. In short, you can link to a custom online store where you pick the products and get paid a commission on sales.

Remember, you're not going to be rolling in money overnight with the above system -- but you will make money, without breaking any laws or going against your morals or ethics.

Most of the time, the revenue streams you create are permanent, and increase the profitability over time. For example, if you design a shirt and it makes you $2 when it sells, that's kind of neat. If you eventually sell 100 of them, never having to invest more effort, it becomes a $200 shirt -- not a bad profit.