The Top 5 (Classy) Ways to Earn Extra Money on the Internet

As a professional (and of course I take liberty when using that term) how could I leverage the Internet and the billions being transacted on the Internet to make some extra money. I am not about to start selling my kids clothes on eBay nor am I going to start selling online courses to my friends and family. Clearly, I missed out on the opportunity to buy and park domains names – just imagine how much has been made by those smart individuals. If I was more technical I would have set up an offshore development company a few years ago and rode that train – but I didn’t. So what could a regular guy like me do to capitalize on the Internet’s money making opportunities – without being subject to federal investigation by Elliot Spitzer someone else?

Here are my top 5 (classy) ways to earn extra money using the Internet.

1. Take a survey – probably the easiest of the bunch, there are a number of companies that will offer you up to companies to take survey and actual pay you (cash and incentives) for taking surveys. Payment is usually in the form of a company check that is mailed to you via postal mail, usually within a few weeks. But more and more companies are starting to use online payment processors such as PayPal - which is great because it means that you’ll usually receive your reward much faster. The Survey Club presents the compensation details before each survey and you could decide if you want to participate or not.
   
   
2. Candidate referrals – you know someone that might be perfect for a new job, why not get paid for it. Check out Zubka for potential opportunities. On this site, companies post their job openings and the referral fee they are willing to pay for a successful referral. Fees are in the thousands are dollars as it is generally a percentage of the targeted salary (just like a recruiters commission). I saw this morning fees ranging from $2,000 to $7,000 for referring candidates. If you have a strong network of people why not go thru the Zubka site and see if you have any potential matches.
   
   
3. Blogging – it’s no secret that any blogger can make money. Setting a blog is easy and free, especially with simple platforms like BlogSpot and Word Press. As long as you’re writing about interesting, compelling things, you’re guaranteed at least a bit of traffic to your blog on a regular basis. With traffic, come the opportunities to monetize traffic – many popular bloggers are making hundreds, if not thousands of dollars a month just by blogging about the things that they’re interested in. Google Adwords is a great place to start.
   
   
4. Expert yourself – while freelancing is certainly open to just about everyone with a skill in demand, it could be quite trying to find clients and the time to consult. But what about spending an hour or so every now and then. Do you have knowledge or an expertise that someone would want? There are expert networks such as Gerson Lehrman and Bitwine they will compensate you for providing your advice to another party. Of course someone has to be willing to pay you for your time but thanks to the Internet these folks are getting aggregated to make your opportunity for consulting fees even greater.
   
   
5. Monetize your relationships – similar to the expert networks, there is a growing opportunity to leverage and monetize your business relationships. Just like Zubka will pay you for referral potential candidates, companies such as Salesconx (self promotion) will compensate you for introducing your business relationships to potential buyers. Fees vary depending on the type of transaction from a $25 appointment with a decision maker to a $2,500 success fee for a consummated deal. Didn’t your client just tell you they were looking to replace their telephone system or evaluate a new public relationship firm? Those relationships are worth real money on Salesconx.

While the Internet is crawling with MLM, get rich quick gimmicks and online courses to get rich quick MLM and gimmicks there are a handful of reputable and high class ways to earn some extra money leveraging the Internet. I don’t think you’ll retire on any one of these methods but earning an extra $1,550 in 5 days (see my next Blog) leveraging ones relationships doesn’t sound too shabby either.