Make Money Online


Image courtesy of Paladin27

Image courtesy of Paladin27

Have you ever wanted to make income on the side but just didn’t know how? Well, it turns out that there are a lot of ways to make money just by spending some time on your computer! Many of these methods are so easy it is hard to believe someone is willing to pay you to do it. This page will show you some of the ways you can make money online. Many of these I have tried myself and I can vouch that they actually pay you. Of course, if anyone does have any problems with these suggestions, please let me know. I want to make sure I only provide accurate, helpful information to my readers. Enjoy!

Make Money Completing Searches

  1. Swagbucks. One of the easiest and most popular ways to make money by searching is to use Swagbucks. Using Swagbucks is pretty much the easiest thing in the world. Whenever you want to search via a search engine, do your search through Swagbucks and you will earn points that you can redeem for gift cards and other prizes. Personally, I added the Firefox Swagbucks toolbar to myweb browser and now I can access Swagbucks from the top right corner of my window. Swagbucks is powered by Google, so you still get very good search results. Basically, you get paid for doing something you already do! Why wouldn’t you use Swagbucks? To read more about Swagbucks, check out my review.
  2. iRazoo. Another search and win site is iRazoo. IRazoo is similar to Swagbucks; however, it also includes a social component. You can vote on which sites you like and dislike to earn more points. I have not used iRazoo myself, but I have heard from others that it works; however, it is not as lucrative as Swagbucks. Check it out and let me know if you like it or not.
  3. Other Sites. There are other similar search and win sites, such as Blingo and Winzy. I encourage you to check these sites out. I do not have any experience with these sites, but I have heard that people like them.


Search & Win

Make Money Taking Surveys

  1. Lightspeed Consumer Panel–My favorite survey site that I use is Lightspeed Consumer Panel. The reason I like it so much is that they send frequent survey invitations that are worth a substantial number of points. This gives you a pretty good earning potential. The only thing I do not like about this site is that the surveys often take at least 20 minutes and are somewhat repetitive. To sign up for Lightspeed, you will have to find a special referral link. These change locations but can be found through simple Google (or Swagbucks) searches.
  2. Survey Savvy. Another great survey site that I use is Survey Savvy. I personally enjoy Survey Savvy’s surveys more than Lightspeed’s, although I do not receive as many invitations from this site. The great thing about Survey Savvy is that you can refer new users and make money on the surveys they take as well! In fact, you can make money on the surveys your referrals’ referrals make. This makes it easier to make money without as much effort. I would recommend this site to anyone.
  3. My Survey. A third survey site that I use is My Survey. What I like the most about My Survey is that the surveys tend to be very short and enjoyable. It is a little more difficult to accumulate points, but the surveys are so short that it is worth it. My Survey also has a referral program that lets you invite new members and receive points.
  4. Other Sites. There are many, many other survey sites on the internet, some of them very respectable. A great place to research different survey sites is the Survival Guide to Online Surveys. There, you can read reviews and comments about a great number of survey sites. I will try to add my own thoughts about more of them here as I try out more of them.
    Banner Ad

Make Money Viewing Ads

  1. YouData. Okay, this is seriously the easiest money I have ever made. I absolutely, positively LOVE YouData. YouData pays you to click on ads. That is it. All you have to do is click on the ad (it will open a website in a new window when you do) and you get paid. You get paid about $0.15 per ad that you view and no matter how much money you have accumulated, you get paid EACH WEEK via Paypal. You can also get paid a small amount for referring others. Now, you are obviously not going to get rich through YouData. However, it is really like stealing money. It takes a few seconds and you get paid. I will certainly take it. They have not missed a week paying me yet. I would recommend them to anyone. To learn more about YouData, check out my review.

Make Money Selling Things

  1. Ebay. The easiest way to make money selling things online is to use Ebay. Although you do have to pay small fees to list items, your auctions will appear to more people than any other site can offer. You can choose auction-style listings, buy-it-now listings, or a combination of both. I personally sold on Ebay all last summer and did pretty decently. You can read all about my experience in my article, How I Made Selling on Ebay Work.
  2. Craigslist. Another option for selling items online is to use Craigslist. The advantage to using Craigslist is that there are no seller fees. This means that you are not out any money if your item does not sell. The disadvantage, however, is that your item will only be viewable by people who live in the same area as you. This makes it very difficult if you live in a rural area. Also, you cannot list anything in an auction style. This, however, may be a great option for items that you do not want to ship but want someone to come pick up.
  3. Half.com. The easiest way to sell textbooks on the internet is to use Half.com. This site is the most popular site for buying used textbooks. I know that I buy most of my textbooks from this site each semester for a fraction of the cost at my college bookstore.
  4. Amazon. Another great place to sell used textbooks as well as pretty much anything else is to use Amazon Make Money Online. I know that I have gotten some great deals there!
  5. Your Own Website. You can, of course, set up your own website to sell your own items. I am not aware of the details of how to go about doing this, but some people have been pretty successful with it.

Make Money Completing Bank and Credit Card Offers

  1. ING Direct. ING Direct offers the most popular bank offer on the internet. If you sign up through a referral link and deposit at least $250 into their Orange Savings Account, you will get a $25 bonus! Then, you have the opportunity to refer people yourself (and offer them the same $25 bonus you got). For every person you refer, you get an additional $10 bonus (up to a 10 referral maximum). This means that you can get a total $125 bonus from ING Direct! I signed up through a referral link myself and I got my $25 bonus! Luckily for you, I still have all ten of my referral links, so you can access the $25 bonus directly from my site through the links below. When you click on the link, check at the top of the page to make sure it does not say that it is expired (none of them are right now, but once someone opens an account through that link, it becomes expired).
    https://banking.ingdirect.com/savings/set_promo_cookie.vm?t=%a8%9c%c0%c1%c7%c2%c2%bc%c0%c1%c3%bd%c0%c0%c7%bf%ba%bf%bd%f3%c3%be%bb
    https://banking.ingdirect.com/savings/set_promo_cookie.vm?t=%9f%97%bb%bc%c2%bd%bd%b7%bb%bc%ee%be%b8%bb%bb%c2%ba%b5%ba%b8%be%b9%b5
    https://banking.ingdirect.com/savings/set_promo_cookie.vm?t=%a8%47%6b%6c%72%6d%6d%67%6b%6c%6e%68%6b%6b%72%6a%65%6a%68%9e%6e%69%67
    https://banking.ingdirect.com/savings/set_promo_cookie.vm?t=%aa%84%a8%a9%af%aa%aa%a4%a8%a9%ab%a5%a8%a8%af%a7%a2%a7%a5%ab%a6%db%a5
    https://banking.ingdirect.com/savings/set_promo_cookie.vm?t=%9f%68%8c%8d%93%8e%8e%88%8c%8d%bf%8f%89%8c%8c%93%8b%86%8b%89%8f%8a%8a
    https://banking.ingdirect.com/savings/set_promo_cookie.vm?t=%a1%63%87%88%8e%89%89%83%87%88%8a%84%ba%87%87%8e%86%81%86%84%8a%85%86
    https://banking.ingdirect.com/savings/set_promo_cookie.vm?t=%a8%47%6b%6c%72%6d%6d%67%6b%6c%6e%68%6b%6b%72%6a%65%6a%68%9e%6e%69%6b
    https://banking.ingdirect.com/savings/set_promo_cookie.vm?t=%9c%a1%c5%c6%cc%c7%c7%f8%c1%c5%c6%c8%c2%c5%c5%cc%c4%bf%c4%c2%c8%c3%c6
    https://banking.ingdirect.com/savings/set_promo_cookie.vm?t=%9d%3f%63%64%6a%65%65%5f%96%63%64%66%60%63%63%6a%62%5d%62%60%66%61%65
    https://banking.ingdirect.com/savings/set_promo_cookie.vm?t=%99%71%95%96%c8%9c%97%97%91%95%96%98%92%95%95%9c%94%8f%94%92%98%93%98
  2. Discover Card. Currently, the Discover More Card is offering a nice little cash back promotion. You can Get $50 Cash Back Bonus with the Discover® More Card! You only get the bonus if you sign up through this link and spend $500 on your credit card (the $500 does NOT need to be in one purchase). My husband and I decided to sign up for the Discover More card not too long ago and we love it! It features rotating categories that offer 5% cashback. These categories are usually everyday categories, like gas, clothing, groceries, travel, and more! You can also earn between 5% and 20% cash back on certain online purchases and you can redeem your cashback for giftcards worth more than your actual value of cashback (for example, you can redeem a $25 gift card for $20). To read more about why we chose this card, see my article The Search for the Perfect Credit Card.
  3. Chase Freedom. Right now, the Chase Freedom Card is offering a $50 dollar bonus after your first purchase. I also have a Chase Freedom card and I love it. However, the rewards have changed since I opened my card. They now offer 1% cash back on all purchase and 3X the cash back on bonus offers throughout the year. Still worth it, although what I get is better.
  4. Offers from Other Banks and Credit Cards. Many other banks and credit cards offer bonuses and cash back. Perform a Google search to find some, and also watch out for ads from your local banks. I know Chase at one time was offering a $100 bonus for new checking accounts! Some people have become experts at making money off of these offers. They sign up for the required amount of time for the offer, and then cancel their account. The key to doing this is to make sure the bank does a “soft pull” instead of a “hard pull”. If they do a “soft pull”, they do not check your credit report and your credit is not affected. A “hard pull”, on the other hand, means that they do check your credit report and your credit will be slightly hurt by this. You can always ask the bank to see which type of pull they do. Good luck finding offers!


Make Money Online

Make Money Shopping (Sort of)

  1. Ebates. The easiest way to earn cash back on your online purchases is to use Ebates. Ebates will pay you a certain percentage of cash back at many different online retailers. This site has the most retailers out of all the cash back sites! All you have to do to earn the cashback is follow the link to the retailer on the Ebates site. Then, if you make a purchase, you get the cash back! It really is that simple. Plus, if you have a rewards credit card that pays you 3%, you still get that 3%. So, if Ebates offered 7% cash back for a particular rebate, and you used your rewards credit card, you would get a total of 10% cash back! You even get a $5 bonus just for signing up. Why wouldn’t you use Ebates?
  2. Cashbaq. My second favorite site to Ebates is Cashbaq. It is almost the exact same as Ebates, you even still get the $5 bonus for signing up! I try to check this site, Ebates, and FatWallet to see which one offers the best cash back percentage for the store I am going to buy from.
  3. FatWallet. This site is similar to Ebates and Cashbaq, but is slightly different. FatWallet offers cash back, coupons, and discussion forums to find great deals. I find it a little more cluttered than the first two sites, but it is definitely worth checking out to find great deals!

Make Money Blogging

  1. There are many ways to make money blogging. Some bloggers are so successful, they are able to blog full-time. The best online guide I have ever seen to making money through blogging was on ChristianPF.com, How to Make Money With a Blog. Blogging is a lot of work, but if you keep at it, you can be quite successful.

Make Money Affiliate Marketing

  1. Commission Junction. One of the best sites for finding affiliate companies is Commission Junction. There, you can apply for affiliate programs for many different companies and your earnings will all go through the Commision Junction website. It is really the most convenient way to do affiliate marketing.
  2. Affiliate for Individual Companies. You can also look up affiliate programs for companies not associated with Commission Junction. For example, many web hosting platforms, such as Lunarpages (the host I use), offer affiliate programs. Look around at your favorite websites to see if they offer affiliate programs. You can see an example affliliate banner link below:

    lunarpages 468x60 pink Make Money Online

Make Money Freelance Writing

  1. Elance. By far my favorite site for finding freelance writing jobs is Elance. There, you can create a profile and bid on different projects listed by a large number of employers. There are so many jobs on this site! Make sure to check it out.
  2. Online Writing Jobs. Another site for freelance writing is Online Writing Jobs. I have not used this site personally, but I have seen some recommendations for it.
  3. Writing Bids. Writing Bids is another site similar to Online Writing Jobs. Again, I have not used this site personally, but it seems credible.
  4. FreelanceWriting.com. Your one-stop resource for freelance writing is freelancewriting.com. There, you can find even more websites with freelance writing jobs. You can also learn more about freelance writing in general and talk with others on the discussion forums.

Make Money Online

Make Money Completing Online Offers

  1. IDeal. Okay, so this is definitely not something I have tried, but other people go on and on about how great it is. Basically, IDeal will pay you large amounts (such as a $500 Visa gift card) for completing online offers. These offers cost a little bit of money, but in the end you make a large profit. I am a little wary about this, because I don’t really trust things that require me to spend money to make money, but other bloggers have even posted pictures of the gift cards they received afterwards, so supposedly it works. If you are interested in this, check out these useful IDeal Instructions posted by another blogger.

Make Money Entering Giveaways

  1. Blog Giveaways. Many blogs feature giveaways that allow you to enter just by commenting on the article. For many of them, you can also earn additional entries for many different things. These giveaways are nice because there are fewer entrants than giveaways offered through companies, so you have a higher chance of winning! I have personally won two books through giveaways already! Keep an eye out on your favorite blogs to see when giveaways are posted.

Disclaimer: Independent Beginnings is an affiliate marketer for LunarPages, Elance, ING Direct, and MySurvey. Additional, Independent Beginnings may receive reward points or cash prizes for referrals to many of the companies on this page. Independent Beginnings is a strong supporter and believer of each of these companies and only recommends trusted sources.

Similar Posts:

  • Share/Bookmark