5 Money-Making and Saving Web Sites for 2010
The new year is fast approaching, and with it come new bills and expenses. Even if you are stably employed, you may still be looking for ways to make some additional income. What can you do to make some extra cash, short of taking a part-time job? Well, there are several online sites that discuss ways to make money online (and offline) without taking on another job. Here is a list of my top 5 money-making web sites:
Joe and Steve are the co-creators of I’ve Tried That, a blog dedicated to examining online money-making programs such as Niche Blitzkrieg, Blog Mastermind, and more. Joe and Steve don’t just report on these online programs, however- they actually try them out. As the site claims: "we lose money so you don’t have to". Some of the noteworthy areas of I’ve Tried That are: the Free Directory of Online Money Making Opportunities, where one can read about all kinds of online work such as freelance writing, data entry, blogging, surveys, etc. I found out about a great freelance writing site called Textbroker while perusing this site, and have made some very good money from writing.
Another major focus of I’ve Tried That is its almost daily expose of online scams. Through its posts to Known Scams, I’ve Tried That has discussed and exposed countless scam sites, from the Surefire Money Maker System to the Google Data Entry scam sites. If you are wondering about any kind of online money-making site, the chances are good that I’ve Tried That has already reported on that site.
One of the best things about I’ve Tried That is its free eBook, entitled The Complete Guide to Telecommuting. All you have to do is provide your e-mail address, and this 45-page gem will be delivered to your inbox. I received my copy months ago, and it helped me immensely by providing work-at-home advice, freelance work sites, and lots more.
This blog site is the product of a very successful book by the same name, and both the blog and the book are the products of Tim Ferriss, a world-traveler/30-year-old retiree/entrepreneur. Tim’s philosophy on work is very simple: why work the standard 9-to-5 daily grind for the next 30-50 years when you can streamline your life, outsource the grunt work, and set up passive income sources that will set you free to do anything you want and go anywhere you please?
While it does help to read Ferriss’ book first in order to understand what the web site is about, that doesn’t mean that one can’t learn a thing or two from the web site alone. One of the gold nuggets of the site is its blog, which details how you can make extra money, learn valuable skills in very little time (e.g., how to learn any language in 3 months), and just change your thought processes on how your life can (and should) be lived.
Much like the book, The 4-Hour Workweek web site provides numerous web (and other) resources for getting started on what it calls "lifestyle design". There are resources provided for outsourcing, for inventing and marketing products, for offshore banking, for telecommuting, and everything else that you will need in order to free yourself of your current work-related drudgery and start living the life you always dreamed of.
ShoeMoney, started by Jeremy Schoemaker, is an Internet Marketing blog that covers many different aspects of making money online. Whether you are looking to make money through affiliate marketing, Google AdSense, blogging, selling ad space, etc.- ShoeMoney has got you covered.
Although the ShoeMoney site tries to obtain monthly fee-paying subscribers, it gives a ton of information out for free too. You can sign up to the site and obtain a 13-part series via e-mail about improving your marketing techniques and making more money as a result. There are also many free video tutorials littered throughout the site, where Jeremy provides numerous marketing tips you may not have thought about (e.g., instead of having a 3rd party advertisers like Google AdSense cut into your profits, contact the merchants directly and work out an advertising deal with them).
Pat Flynn, the creator of the Smart Passive Income blog, went from being laid-off and unemployed to making a decent income by blogging. Now he shares his tips and tricks for making an online income in such posts as
51 Blogging and Online Marketing Tips for the New Year, 3 Types of Affiliate Marketing Explained, And The One I Profit From, and A Little Known Way To Increase Your Product Sales. Pat also offers a handy (and completely free!) 10-part guide to creating and marketing your own eBook on his E-Book How To site. You know that the eBook guide is good because, to a large extent, Pat makes a significant part of his own earnings through his own niche eBook.
For those of you who might be wondering about the actual dollar earnings that keep Flynn afloat, all the accounting is provided on a site entitled My Income Reports. Flynn keeps no odd secrets to himself, providing clear-cut and logical explanations (and hard numbers) on how he earns his online income.
Money Saving Parent is the creation of Lisa and Bryan Carey. This site offers may useful tips for saving money, better budgeting, and frugal living. Coupon and free sample sites are also listed. On an environmental note, Money Saving Parent provides ways to save money by making "green" choices.
The Money Saving Tips site is quite useful, providing advice on everything from frugal tub and tile cleaner to how to talk to your spouse or partner about money. One of my favorite articles is How I Saved $300 Each Month: Money Saving Tips to Eliminate Stress and Expenses from Your Budget. There is also a blog site that offers additional money saving tips, product discounts, and more.
So, there you have it- my top 5 picks for money-making and money-saving web sites. I hope these sites help you in terms of making money and cutting down your debt in the new year.
The information presented is top notch. I’ve been doing some research on the topic and this post answered several questions.