Today’s economic downturn has pushed many people to look at different avenues and ways to make money. Gone are the days when people could rely on good old-fashioned hard work to make money. With the ever-expanding Internet there are thousands of ways to make money online, some legitimate, while some are absolute scams. Some will claim there are 101 ways to make money online while others boast 500 ways to make money. No matter how many ways there are, the bottom line if you are hell bent on making money online is to find a sure fire method to make money. What better way than to make it by not spending a dime.

How to know a scam from a legitimate business idea

To discern a scam from what’s genuine is not easy, especially if you are a newbie. There are plenty of sharks out there ready to sniff you out and claim your last dime, so be warned and beware. Research well and discuss your options with your friends if they are into online money making ideas. A genuine site will not typically ask you to pay any money. However, they may not want to part with their knowledge without charging a fee for what they genuinely have to offer.

Numerous ways you can earn on the Internet

If you are a “work-at-home mom”, the gurus claim you can start a lucrative home based business using your computer with over hundreds of business ideas and opportunities. Some will claim that affiliate marketing is the way to go, while others will sell e-books quite successfully. Multi Level Marketing also known by its acronym MLM is another one of many internet money making ideas. However, there are doubts as to whether these aren’t just another pyramid type scheme. Google Adsense is quite a moneymaker and worth looking into.

Make money by social networking

At one time or another you have probably gotten yourself registered in at least one social networking site. Now, more and more people have realized that a social network is a wonderful way to direct traffic to their websites where they either earn by selling a product or someone else’s product as an affiliate marketer. It’s like pointing the way to a lost person on a highway, only the highway we speak of here is the Internet. More people are using Twitter in this respect and it has grown to be quite popular in a very short amount of time.

Blogging your way to success

Google ads are embedded into most blogging sites; the more popular the blog site, the more Google will place ads. By becoming a Google Adsense member you can build an income stream through Google ads. There is usually the chance that visitors who read the blogs will read the ads as well. Blogging is a great way to earning money, especially when you are able to write creatively. This enables you to create an audience, which means traffic is drawn to the blogging site. The visitors who read the ads will generate income, which will be credited to your Adsense account.