Can you make money online for free?

Guest Post by Chris Johnson

There are a lot of paid programs out there that you can try out to make money online, but many of them end up badly. While reviewing a forum on such oportunities, I checked into some of the programs they mentioned. The disproportionate amount of screens appologizing for the program closing, it was never their intent to have any one lose money, etc was staggering.

So, can it be done for free? That depends on how much work you want to put into it. Sites like Helium.com, Hubpages, and Squidoo will pay you for writing articles and pages about what you know, and some will pay you to play games like Moola.com and uVme. You can also try blogging for money by writing reviews at places like Blogvertise. Or if you have talent with a camera, try your hand at Shutterstock.com. There are plenty of free resources out there, but the trade off is that it takes longer.

This is where the number one skill of any webpreneur comes into play. Patience. If you expect to start a venture and within a week be rolling in the dough, think again. It takes time to build your blog or website’s reputation up through networking at places like Blogcatalog, Linkshare, and Linkreferral. Many social networks also help in spreading the word, but as they are SOCIAL networks, you need to participate and show the rest of the community that you take it seriously.

Some paid services will be unavoidable. You will probably need a domain name, and some advertising is necessary. But GoDaddy.com is fairly inexpensive, and sites like ScratchBack allow you to spend a small amount of money, called “tips”, to appear in another blogger’s “Top Spots”. They can also pay you for the same privilege. Adwords is also a possibility, but you’ll probably want to wait untill your readership will justify the expense. Just remember, persistence and patience are the most important tools that you possess. Keep at it and you will realize the benefits.

Chris Johnson is a regular Joe, living in West Virginia, who dreams of making money online without spending money to do it. If you’d like to follow along with his quest, check out www.thechrisjohnsonproject.com.