It is possible to start earning money online without any investment. There are plenty of programs out there that have been created to teach you how to do this. Free and Powerful is a great one. Free and Powerful will teach you techniques that are effective in social marketing. You can start without spending a dime. You are limited only to the number of people who join social networking sites and are interested in making money. That includes millions of people. However, there are people that will never hear about your opportunity because they aren't participating in social media sites such as facebook, twitter, myspace and youtube.

Not everyone on the internet is willing to subject themselves to social media. The older generation shops online, but many of them still prefer to interact with the more traditional methods of communication and would rather not be bothered to find out someone has "poked" them on facebook. Some people would rather just open do an internet search, find what they are looking for and move on. They don't want to waste time interacting and building relationships online.

These people are much more likely to convert to sales through article marketing. Article marketing provides readers with valuable knowledge. If you are able to connect with someone through your writing, they might check out a website that is in your author's signature and buy something. This is not likely something that will happen overnight, so be wary of get rich quick schemes.

If you don't have a product to sell, you can become an affiliate online. An affiliate is nothing more than a salesman that earns a commission by referring people through a link. Affiliate marketing is everywhere. You can find it on twitter, facebook fan pages, craigslist, and myspace are all places loaded with affiliates trying to earn a buck. If there is a product or service that you find useful, why not become an affiliate? You will make a small commission when you write about it and post your link to the site.  If it is something that you truly use and think others will benefit from it, your testimonial will go a long way towards a sale. 

If you have serious cash, you can start your own online store. PMI education contacted me the other day after I signed up for Google's starter kit. They spent an hour buildling a relationship of trust with me to try to sell me on the idea of paying $15,000 for them to help me learn how to start my own business online. That was a little more than I wanted to spend on a project to which I am not entirely committed.  I'm still mastering the penny pincher techniques.