A more conventional approach to earning a living online

I have a friend who keeps trying to drive that very thing into my head. I think I better start listening. :)

I've lost count of the number of sites I see that think you can make money on the internet just by sticking a few banners or 125x125's on your site and nothing else.

Finding something that someone will pay you to do is the way forward. In my, and my wife's, case our problem is getting the time to let people know what we can do but we are working on it :)

You can make more then just money with odd jobs on the internet, my wife loves books, she now reviews them and posts her reviews online. She doesn't get paid for most of them but she gets a ton of free books. And in tune this has saved the family allot of money. Great post.

I also have nothing against folks trying to make some money from their blogs but you have put your finger on the very reason why I do not advertise on my site. To monetize a blog properly does take a lot of work and of course a lot of time. Someone still working a day job is going to find it very difficult to really make a success of it. Maybe one day when I am ready to retire I will give it a shot.

Free lancing is also a great idea but this takes even more hard work and dedication. I have tried this but had to give up because of the problems South Africans have with PayPal and other such like organizations. We can spend money via these guys but we cannot receive any funds. I am not sure why but apparently it has something to do with the policies of our government with regards to receiving money from outside our borders.

Politics just seems to find its way into everything.

The click me ads are never going to make big money cause they have had their time and now it's gone. People don't even look at the ads any more. Sidebar content may as well not exist unless it is something personal. I do find people notice my flickr badge which shows photos I have taken. But, the rest of the stuff on my sidebar may as well just be there for me. Which, most of it is.

I used to think the best way to use the Internet was the traditional way, the Information highway. But the highway is clogged up with billboards and you can't always find the highway through the signage.

Freelancing is great. If you can do that. I freelance but do not find the Internet useful in this. No one ever found my resume online except those who came to spam my email. So, not exceptionally useful.

These days I think the best way for a company/ business to use the Internet is to give information about themselves, offer sales/ coupons and such. But, don't hope people will find you. Bring the people to your site. Offer the link on business cards, flyers, and so on. The Internet can be information storage. The highway is just a traffic jam now.

Good article, Ben. I've been freelance writing on the side for close to two years now. I've made about a third of my full time salary doing side projects online. My blog hasn't made me a lot of money, but I have referred prospective clients to it and got the job afterwards. I think it definitely helps in marketing myself.

Of course, it's my profession and I love doing it, but it's probably not for everybody. Like you said though, there's always opportunities for making money online, like Ebay, domain resellers, affiliates, and other stuff.

I'm so conflicted because I know you can't get something for doing nothing but I still want it to happen. What's a lazy girl to do?

Am still looking for ways to monetise my site (oh yeah...) but currently enjoying the conversations that I have with my commentators. In fact, I look forward to posting everyday.

Well, maybe I should get down to writing more useful and 'searchable' stuff for future post. :)

I don't make huge money online, but I have made almost 2k dollars since January. To me it's a game where I learn as I go. Better to earn real dollars than warcraft gold. There is a lot to learn, it takes time, and there are no shortcuts. You can't download an ebook or program and suddenly make money online, despite the scammers and their desire to sell you their mentor services. It takes work, even if that work is writing articles that attract readers.

Thanks for the positive feedback, everyone. The thing that stands out the most is that it takes time. There is no get rich quick scheme. Choosing an appropriate niche, writing great content, offering something that readers can't get elsewhere, ... there are some many things that contribute to a site's success. But I think there's a lot more to it than just throwing some ads on the page.