How Can You Make Money on the Internet?

How to Make Money on the Internet
I am not happy with the options we have for making money on the Internet.  It should be simple but instead it's complicated.  What bothers me is that every month -- every month -- I read a news story about someone who made it rich on the Internet.  And they are usually kids.  These stories make me feel like I have missed opportunities.  But I know, when I dig deeper into the facts, what I will find.  There is always someone who helped the "lucky" opportunistic millionaire.  I have never read a story about a true self-made Internet millionaire.  They don't exist.  The people with the best networks of contacts are the ones who succeed.

And where does that leave the rest of us?  Struggling to pay our bills month to month just like always.  It doesn't matter how many billionaires and millionaires there are.  There are 7 billion people on this planet who will never succeed at becoming independently wealthy.  I just want the ability to stop worrying about my bills and my retirement.  Is that too much to ask?

I know I don't spend much time on this site.  You should be thinking, "Girl, why don't you blog more?"  Real life, honey!  Real life!  I hate all these mommy bloggers who supposedly get rich.  I don't know any real-life mommy bloggers.  They are a rare breed.  And I'll tell you something else.  A lot of those ladies find it's not the life they want to live.  Here are three eye-opening true stories about mommy bloggers:
These poor ladies put their lives online and ruined them.  I don't want that.  If I'm going to make money on the Internet it won't be as a "mommy blogger".  And I hate that phrase anyway.  Whoever came up with it had to be a man.

There are ways to make money if you have some money.  I read about them all the time.  I'm so disgusted with myself for not saving more when I was younger.  I always had to buy the best clothes, the best things in life.  Why do we make such stupid choices when we are young?

Well before I get into another rant, let me share some ideas for making money on the Internet.  I have been giving this a lot of thought this year.  But if I do any of these things you won't see them on this Website.

Earn Money Through Web Ads

Oh, honey, how I hate this one.  You know the game.  Just put some ads on your site and you'll start earning cash.  I don't know why I keep the Amazon ads at the bottom of this page.  I just do.  It takes less time and effort to leave them there than it does to overthink how I could monetize this blog.

You'll find a lot of people arguing about how good the advertising networks are.  Let me share a secret with you.  In my day job I work with people who use these networks.  They don't pay much.  Here is what a friend of mine told me about her experiences with some advertising networks.

Google AdSense - This is the big one.  Everyone starts with AdSense but there are some caveats.  To start, you must have a bank account.  No bank account, no AdSense account.

Gloria says for about every 10,000 page views you'll make about $25.  Honey, my  eyes rolled up in the back of my head.  10,000 page views for $25?  Seriously?  So if I want to make $5000 a month I'll need 2 million page views.

Gloria said you can make more money if you choose the right topic but I'm not going to blog about Mesothelioma.  I'm too depressed as it is.

Amazon Associates - This is the program you see at the bottom of my page.  Honestly, I just keep it there for those days when I ask my friends to buy something.  I make a few dollars each month thanks to my friends.  And my mom.  God bless you, mom.  I love you.

Gloria says there is big money to be made with Amazon but you have to review a lot of products.  I don't know how to review something I haven't bought.  So if I have to buy the damn thing first, how much money am I going to make from the review?  Oh, the dilemma!

Content.Ad - I never heard of these people until Gloria mentioned them.  They are like Taboola and Outbrain.  You can make about $3.50 per 10,000 page views she says.  But this can also vary.

Don't waste your time on Chitika.  I don't know if they were ever any good but there are a lot of uber-positive reviews about Chitika.  It turns out those bloggers were trying to earn referrals.  Gloria says everyone she knows who has tried to use Chitika never made any money.  They never even got paid what little they were owed.

Earn Money Through Affiliate Ads

This is very similar to working with Amazon.  Amazon is easier to use than the affiliate networks.  And you can sell so many things with Amazon.

Gloria's husband Greg makes about $1000 a month through gambling affiliate programs but he says it's a lot of hard work.  There are so many people trying to make money from gambling.  And the banks are very wary of cashing checks.  He says more affiliate programs are paying in Bitcoin and that means the affiliates are losing money before they can sell off their Bitcoin.  And some of the casinos burn the affiliate marketers.  They "detag" players so the affiliates don't get paid.  Greg is looking for something else to do.

There are third-part networks like ClickBank, CJ Affiliate, and more.  I have tried them all and they are a waste of time.  You cannot be a casual blogger and make money with these.

Earn Money through Retail Sales

If you have the goods you can sell them on the Internet.  Sooner or later you'll try this.  Most people begin by selling their junk on eBay.  You know, old collectibles that your mom and grandmother thought would be worth money one day.  It turns out everyone's grandmother thought this would be a great idea, so now we all have cheap junk we cannot sell on eBay.

You can try setting up a store where you drop ship goods to people.  Gloria knows a few folks who make $50-200 a month doing this.  I guess Internet drop-shipping is the new multi-level marketing pyramid scheme.

If you really want to sell products like a retailer you'll need to get a wholesale supply somewhere.  Then you can set up in the Amazon marketplace.  If you don't like that deal there are Sears, Target, and Walmart.  They all have third-party marketplaces.

More Way to Learn How to Make Money

As you can see I am not an expert in this.  But I do read a lot and here are a few Websites that share some interesting ideas.  Maybe one of them will help you.

Top Ten Topia: 10 Top Microinvesting Services for People with No Money
Zanyish: How Do People Make Money on the Internet?