Telecommuters Guide

How to Make Money Working Online: Earn Money Using the Web and Your Computer

You can make money working online from home. There are a lot of ways to earn money working online using your computer. Some will charge you for the information to learn how to do this. It’s up to you whether you pay for information that someone took the time to research and get together or if you search it out yourself. Some people consider it unethical to pay for information. But one has to wonder if they would work for free and not expect pay for what they do.

Just as a bookstore will charge you for the book you purchase from a bookstore (they don’t just give away the books with the information in them), likewise a company or individual will likely charge for information they compile. As the internet has grown by leaps and bounds, there is an abundance of information to be found on just about any topic you can think of. It’s mind boggling! Here’s where you come in, and how you can make money using the web and your personal PC.

First and foremost, you will need an email address, preferably one with a professional ring to it. You can find free email addresses with AOL.com and Google’s Gmail, although with Gmail you still need an invite. Those are fairly easy to get though if you know someone with Gmail who will send you an invite for the free email account. Yahoo.com and MSN’s Hotmail.com also offer free email services.

A website to do business online is almost a must have necessity today. While you can do okay without a site, the potential to earn is dramatically increased if you have a website that you can send customers to. GoDaddy.com is one of the best places to register domain names. GoDaddy.com also offers web hosting for your site at a great price. Another good web host company is HostNexus.com. Once your domain is up and running, and your site is build, you can apply to affiliate programs and post their advertisements on your site.

Affiliates are people who promote the products or ads for other people, and get paid a percentage or flat amount per click, per lead, or per sale. Affiliate ads are the online web equivalent of magazine or newspaper advertising. Instead of being in a magazine or newspaper, the ads are on your site and you are getting paid.

Affiliate marketing programs can bring in a lot of money per month for you. Some of the more popular affiliate marketing companies are CJ.com, DirectLeads.com, ClickBank.com, ValueClickMedia.com, ROIRocket.com, FineClicks.com, and FabJobs.com. You should never pay to join an affiliate program! They pay you!

One of the best ways to earn money online is by writing and selling ebooks. Topics for the ebooks can be on anything that you have knowledge about or can research and write on. These can range from recipe ebooks to parenting and childcare, to repairing your home and gardening. The choices you can write about are as endless as what you know and the amount of time you are willing to invest in researching a topic. You can either upload the ebooks to your site for instant download upon purchase or email orders as an attachment.

Another way to make money using the web is to sell products that you either make or buy wholesale. Buying wholesale and reselling gives you a nice profit on popular items such as computers, dvd players, digital cameras, ipods, mp3 players, etc.

Designer items are very popular and can bring in a spectacular amount of money per item. If you make crafts or sew, make jewelry, do woodwork or painting, chances are you can fetch a nice price on something that cost you very little to make or produce. People are always looking for something that not everyone else has. Fads are great and sell, but one of a kind items are rare and more profitable for you.

The best shopping cart is with PayPal.com because it’s not only free, it’s super easy to use. You simply use their site to make a payment button or link to put on your site, and you have instant payment for products.

These are only a a few money making tips and ideas. Using all or a combination of these ideas, or coming up with more of your own, can lead to a nice paycheck that doesn’t take a lot of of effort or your time.

Posted in Articles, Freelance Writing, Paid Surveys, Work at Home Jobs, Working the Web, Affiliate Marketing | No Comments »

Finding Freelance Web Writing Jobs

If you’ve decided that working as a WAHM writer is the best work at home job opportunity for you, then you’ll need to figure out how to get writing assignments. Fortunately, when you work as a web writer there is no shortage of job opportunities. It all depends on where you look and how much research you are willing to do.

Web writing can break down into several different categories. Before you begin looking for work, you’ll have to decide whether or not you want to get credit for your writing. If you insist on byline, you may have difficulty finding a lot of paying jobs. Byline jobs are out there if you look. However, the most money to be made is from working as a web ghostwriter.

Many Wahms find success with ghostwriting. When you work as a freelance ghostwriter you provide writing services for clients who will then use the work as their own. Ghostwriting as a wahm is a lucrative opportunity, especially when you focus on web writing. For the most part, the Internet is a text and image based platform. Companies and individuals who run websites constantly need text to make their websites attractive to visitors. Since writing is something that a lot of people would rather not do, this leaves plenty of opportunities for people who love to write.

Web writing Wahms need only an Internet connection, e-mail address and word processing program to get started. Your own website is not necessary, but it adds a touch of professionalism to your writing business. However, when you are first starting out you can get plenty of work without having a website.

There are several different categories of web writing. When you see the term “content writing” you will normally be providing text for an existing or new website. Your writing will have to be engaging and clear for website visitors. Article writers concentrate on providing articles for websites, newsletters and blogs. Generally, articles for the web are between 400 and 800 words each. Any more than that is difficult for readers to sit through while looking at a computer screen. Copywriters are challenged with putting readers in the mood to buy. They write copy for Internet sales letters and marketing sites. Ebook ghostwriters provide clients with full-length books on a variety of topics.

Wahms who write need to be professional in their online presence. This means spell-checking all writing, including emails to clients. It is also a good idea to get an email address that is specifically used for your writing. A personal e-mail address with a goofy handle will make you appear unprofessional. Your first and last name or a combination thereof is a good choice for your web writing e-mail address.

Writing for the Internet has a few differences from writing essays in school or writing for print magazines. Readers online have short attention spans, and you’ll need to keep your sentences short and your paragraphs clear.

The other difference is the use of “keywords” in certain writing assignments. Keywords are words that have been selected by your client to be used in the article. These words have been selected because they are Internet search terms and your client wants their website to show up for those search terms. Keyword articles will require you to use the word or phrase a certain number of times in the article. Sometimes it can be difficult to use the words without making it sound forced. Experienced web writers have developed ways to make the keywords flow naturally into their articles.

Once you’ve gotten a few web writing assignments under your belt, you can decide what type of web writing suits you best. You can find work on writing message boards, freelance writing job sites and classified ad sites like craigslist. Whenever you apply for a job, make sure to include your contact information and a few well-selected writing samples.

Posted in Articles, Freelance Writing, Working the Web | No Comments »