If you have web site, you can make money from hosting advertisements with links to other web sites. The more popular your site is, the more money you'll make.

Pros: Free to join. Fairly easy to place ads on blogs, etc., if you don't have a web site of your own.

Cons: The types of ads appear automatically, according to the content of your web page. Therefore, if your page sells widgets, the ads will be for your competitors who also sell widgets.

Comments: Once you've done the work of integrating the HTML code for the ads into your web pages, this is the closest you can get to earning "money for nothing". You can see examples of the ads at the foot of this page.

Affiliate programs are a web-based marketing practice in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate's marketing efforts.

Pros: Free to join. Fairly easy to post affiliate links on blogs, fora, etc.

Cons: Basic technical knowledge required to create web page/site. Competing against product supplier and other affiliates.

Comments: Takes a long time to get going, as it is difficult to attract visitors to a web site without a knowledge of search engine optimisation (SEO) and/or pay-per-click (PPC) techniques. Once it does start paying, however, it runs itself, until interest in the product or service wanes. Merchants are sometimes slow to pay, and, if their tracking system is unreliable, you may not be paid at all.

Browsing web sites in return for cash, paid to you by an agency which provides the technology for you to do so. The owners of the web sites you view hope that you will be interested in what they offer and buy from them. There is a minimum time limit for viewing each web site before you earn the reward. Sometimes you can earn also from referrals you make, when those people sign up through you, and view web sites. (See also 'surfing'.)

Rewards are sometimes something other than cash; e.g., visitors are sent to your web site. These agencies are known as traffic exchanges.

Pros: Free to join. No effort required except to display web sites on your computer for a few seconds.

Cons: None.

Comments: The pay is very small, only a few cents per site. You cannot spend all day doing this, as the agency controls when sites are available for viewing. You may receive an e‑mail to notify you, or you log in ad lib to check. A minimum amount must be earned before you are paid.

Reading e‑mails for cash is similar to browsing (q.v.), in that you are sent a few e‑mails per day from advertisers. They contain a link to the advertiser's web site, which you must visit.
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E‑mail lists are generally accepted as being the key to Internet success. "Spamming" (sending unsolicited e‑mails) is illegal, and is the bane of Internet users. "Opt-in" e‑mail lists, however, are legal, because the addressees have wilfully "opted in" to receive e‑mails from you. The success value of e‑mail lists is indicated by the abundance of "free" "get-rich-quick" offers which ask only for your e‑mail address to find out what it is they're offering. (It is advisable to be as wary of these as of those which ask for money before telling you their "secret". See the 'Beware' page for details.)

Pros: You have a ready market for your products or services. The recipients know you and trust you. If you have an e‑mail list and a good product or service, it is difficult not to make money on the Internet. E‑mail lists are valuable items in themselves, and are often sold for high prices.

Cons: Expensive to buy ready-made. Very slow and tedious to build yourself.

Comments: A categorised e‑mail list is by far the best. Then you can choose the recipients most likely to buy from you. Sending the same e‑mail to all addressees on your list, regardless of their interest in your product or service, might be considered as spam by some, and they may opt out of your list.

Internet franchises allow you to trade with a branded product or service as part of a group of independent businesses. The brand owner provides support in various forms, depending on the type of business.

Pros: Within certain bounds, you are your own boss of a ready-made business. You should be able to turn to the franchiser if you need advice. You almost always have the benefit of image marketing and technology taken care of by the brand owner.

Cons: Can be expensive to buy into. Some specify a target which must be met in order to retain the franchise.

Comments: You are running a business, and therefore must bear the responsibility and pressure to make it succeed. If you can cope with this, a franchise can be very rewarding.

Gambling is exactly that. You may win; you may lose; and it's usually the latter, because mathematics prevail. In games of pure luck the odds are always in favour of the "house", and therefore you must lose in the long term. Gambling at casinos is therefore not a viable way to make money on the Internet, and none of the so-called "systems" works. If any did, why should a stranger tell you about them?
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Playing games requiring skill is a different matter. If you are good at poker, backgammon, hearts, or any other game of skill, you can join a "room" at one or more of the many web sites offering such games.

Pros: A fun way to make money with your computer.

Cons: A cash deposit is required as your stake. Very time-consuming.

Comments: As long as you play against humans, you can win, provided, of course, that your skill is greater than theirs. Players' skill levels are determined by sophisticated software on the sites, based on their history of wins and losses, and are visible to all players. Therefore you can choose your opponents. If your skill level is higher than theirs, however, they may not accept your challenge.

Multi-level marketing (MLM) has been much maligned as its principles underly illegal pyramid schemes and chain letters. When used legally, however, (i.e., when there is an ultimate customer for the product or service, who does not purchase it merely to sell on to someone else,) MLM works well, and many people are making money from the system while their morals remain intact.

Basically, you buy a product at a discounted price, and you sell it on to someone else at a slightly higher price. That person sells it on to another buyer at a slightly higher price, who sells it to the eventual consumer at the market price. If this sounds familiar, it's the age-old, accepted importer-distributor-wholesaler-retailer-consumer chain with another name -- MLM.

The product does not need to be tangible. E‑books and software often come with reseller rights, and you don't have to wrap and post them. Some software even grants rebranding rights. E‑books can be very informative. Cheap software, however, can be of poor quality or even useless, but software bundles almost always contain at least one item which alone justifies the price.

A common variation is that you purchase a product or service at the market price, and you are paid a commission by the seller when you sell it on. Because of your initial outlay, commissions are often high.

Pros: You're selling a ready-made product or service. If anything goes wrong with it, you can pass the query back to your supplier. For computer-based goods or services you receive payments almost always instantly.

Cons: Payment in advance for the product or service is required..

Comments: There is a huge raft of MLM schemes, some of which have been going for decades. Ensure that there is a product or service and an end-customer who can buy it at not more than the market price; otherwise the scheme is probably illegal. Generally, look for the highest return-on-investment (ROI) ratio. Do the maths!

Niche marketing is selling something which nobody else sells, or which very few people sell. This is the way in which many people have made their fortune on the Web. The theory is that there is always a market for anything, no matter how abstruse or absurd it is. People have sold things successfully on the Web which they could not possibly make a living from on dry land.

Pros: It is relatively easy to achieve a high position in search engine results, because there is little competition for your product or service.

Cons: A knowledge of Internet marketing is required. If you have your own web site, it must be designed, built and optimised to attract visitors.

Comments: Although your own web site is the ideal way to go, you can use one of the auction sites or shop hosting sites, where all the technology is provided for you.

Some manufacturers supply a limited number of products to be tested by members of the public. You can apply through an on-line agency to test such products, which are usually delivered to your home.

Pros: Free products. Possibly a cash prize draw entry.

Cons: You are required to divulge many personal details and agree to a contract.

Comments: Doesn't make money, but you save money by not having to buy the products.

Get your own shopping mall! This is easier than it sounds. There are a few sophisticated web sites which enable you to have your own web page as a portal to an on-line shopping mall. Not only can you do your own shopping there and get rebates, but, if you promote your shopping mall, you can earn commissions on the purchases made by your visitors.

Pros: Free and quick to join. Fairly easy to post links to your shopping mall on blogs, fora, etc. All the technology is taken care of by the host site. Advice is usually at hand if you need it.

Cons: None.

Comments: A very easy way to make money. All you need to do is promote the web address of your shopping mall page. If you make no money, you won't have lost any either.

Some of the lesser-known search engines offer cash or other rewards if you click on the links in them. You also earn when someone signs up for the scheme through your membership page. Unfortunately a method was developed which circumvented the required process in the form of a browser which clicked on links automatically. This meant that you could leave it running while your computer was on, and you'd be earning. Needless to say, the entire scheme collapsed. Full details can be seen at PayPerClickMoneyMaker.com.

The concept of an automatic browser survived, however, and you can now go 'browsing' (q.v.) without having to click on anything. The web sites roll through the automatic browser every 20 seconds or so, and your earnings increase all the while.

Pros: Free to join. No effort required except to log in and start the automatic browser.

Cons: The automatic browser positions itself at full size on top of other open browser windows whenever the next web site is displayed. You must either look at it, switch manually to another window, or go away and eat lunch, (but see 'Comments' below.) Programs other than browsers are not affected. The computer performance overhead slows down your other activities and increases bandwidth usage.

Comments: If you use a tabbed browser, you can run the automatic browser in a tabbed window, and it will not encroach on other browser windows. If the automatic browser stops rotating the sites, click in the browser's 'History' list on any of the previous sites which did rotate. The pay is small, only about 50 to 75 cents per surfing hour, but the return on effort is extremely high. The more advertisers' sites you click on manually to visit, the higher will be your hourly rate. A minimum amount must be earned before you are paid.

Surveys are carried out, usually by agencies, for companies wanting information from or about users or prospective users of their product or service. Rewards are often something other than cash, such as points for goods.

Pros: Free to join.

Cons: You are required to divulge many personal details. Very time-consuming for little reward, but that is subjective; If you have much spare time and no other income, then you may consider it worth your while.

Comments: Surveys are plentiful; You could do this full-time. Do not expect to earn more than $3 to $5 per hour with those which offer cash. A minimum amount must be earned before you are paid.

Tell-A-Friend links are popular on web pages, and let you send a simple message automatically to one or more people whom you know by e‑mail. Your message, if any, is always accompanied by a message about the web site, to encourage your friend to visit it. In the past there has never been any reward for doing this.

A new Tell-A-Friend concept is now emerging, however, whereby you can earn cash. They are extremely rare, and, if you can find a good one, latch onto it and don't let go. It uses the viral marketing (q.v.) principle to generate the cash from which you are paid, but remains legal by providing a product or service and, importantly, by limiting the scheme in some way, perhaps by the number of participants or by time.

Pros: Payment is instant, using an on-line payment service provider. You are not limited to e‑mail to tell your friends; You can recommend the web site by word of mouth, an ad in your local shop, flyers, etc.

Cons: An initial payment is required, albeit small, but you always get some item in return, which is worth at least what you have paid. Some effort is needed to promote the web site providing the service.

Comments: The initial payment is recouped very quickly by your successful recommendations, defined as the people to whom you recommend the site joing the scheme. The bonus payments, which can be disproportionately large, come from the people to whom they recommend the site successfully. It is in your interest, therefore, to encourage your friends to recommend the site.

Viral marketing is a mathematical phenomenon. Although the "viral" principle underlies illegal pyramid schemes and chain letters, when used legally (i.e., when there are no losers), it works extremely well. Most often viral marketing is used, as its name suggests, to promote a product or service.

Pros: Free to join.

Cons: None.

Comments: No money to be made directly, otherwise it would probably be illegal. Join viral marketing schemes if you have a web site with a product or service to sell. Then you will make the money.

If there is a topic about which you are knowledgable, consider freelance writing. You don't need to be a literary genius to make money from writing articles or reviews. Although grammar and spelling must be correct, of course, you can always get an expert proof-reader to check and correct them for you. You do, however, need to be, or appear to be, an expert in something. It could be a hobby or your favourite holiday destination. The more unusual the subject is, the more likely it is that your article will be found on the Web. Do you know a lot about early '60s V8s? Have you been island-hopping in the South Seas? Find a "niche" and write about it. Magazines and other clients will pay you.

Pros: Your web site(s) and/or blog can be very simple. You will earn passive income if you accept advertising (q.v.) on them.

Cons: Writing for money can be hard work, (but see 'Comments' below.)

Comments: Because you're writing as a private person, rather than as a trade, you don't need your own web site; one of the freebies would suffice. Starting with a few blogs is a good way to test the waters. If you're not an expert on any subject at all, there are tools to let you seem as though you are. They also let you produce authoritative articles in minutes, if you have no time to create your own from scratch. (Click 'Success List' below.)