Making Money Online for 2006

Copyright © 2005 East Tech LLC

It’s a new year but the same old question is asked over and over again. How can I make some extra money online? There are many ways to make money online but the bad news is there are many more ways to lose money. From scams to Ponzi schemes to pyramid schemes to flat out poor business models, so many online opportunities just flat out don’t deliver what they promise and take our hard earned money with them.

It also gets more difficult to pick the real opportunities from the frauds. Today anyone with a few bucks can have a professionally designed website, get it hosted and look like the best company and opportunity you’ve ever seen. Then in the bat of an eye, the company is gone, with your money, and starting the whole scam over again under a different name.

The good news however, is that you can limit your risk by performing some due diligence to see if the company or website you’re thinking of doing business is for real. One basic way is to open up a web browser, go to Google and search for the company name along with the word “scam”. If you start making hits, read some of the threads. If there are many people out there trashing the company, then stay far away from that opportunity.

Another way to check out a website, would be to use companies like NetworkSolutions and their WHOIS database. In their WHOIS directory, type in the name of the company you’re considering doing business with. See who their hosting provider is. Are they keeping much of their information private? If so, this could be a red flag. This is not always the case however since the world is full of people who like nothing more than to cause problems for web sites, most companies these days prefer to keep their information private.

Another great research tool to use is called Alexa. Alexa is a traffic research tool but can be used for much more than that. You can search on website URLs to see what the Alexa rating is for certain websites, what reviews, if any, have been written about the company and possibly the owner, address and phone numbers. Lots of nice little goodies you wouldn’t be able to find elsewhere.

There are also review type websites that profile certain online business opportunities. Try to stay away from the “Review Only” sites because in most cases, their only interest is to pump up any and all programs and add their affiliate links so they can make money from your signups. They could care less if the companies they profile are legitimate or whether they make money or not. The best sites to look for are the ones that not only profile these great opportunities, but have a personal investment in them as well. The web sites in which you can contact the webmaster and as him/her questions about everything they have on their site. If they don’t reply or they do not have first hand knowledge of a particular program they are promoting on their website, then find another site.

Last year was a great year to make money with the paid autosurf programs and 2006 is starting off the same way 2005 ended. With a huge bang! These are great opportunities and can generate a lot of money of you find the right programs and invest the right way. As with any opportunity, you need to follow some basic rules or you will lose your money. But if you take it slow, use common sense and diversify across a few programs, you will make money.

As with any investment, there is some level of risk. Don’t invest more than you can afford to lose and always start small and build up your accounts as you earn money in the programs. If you follow these simple recommendations, you will do very well for yourself. Also, don’t get attached to any one program. Even if one of the programs pays the best and seems like they will be around forever, please remember nothing lasts forever. Even the best run, well intentioned businesses can fail. Just remember to diversify and you’ll be fine.

Andrew Daigle is owner and creator of many websites including CashCurve at http://www.cashcurve.com, a free online business opportunities site, a Free Traffic Exchange at http://www.trumptraffic.com , DXInOne Free E-Currency Exchange Training Site http://www.dxout.com , Free Google AdWords Training at http://www.adwording.com

Original Making Money Online for 2006 article.