Sit comfortably at home and watch the work from the sofa flush the euro into your own cash register. To make money on the World Wide Web of unlimited possibilities is the dream of many. Cope. Serious possibilities are sufficient.

But how to separate the wheat from the chaff here is another matter. Not infrequently, a method seems lucrative at first glance, but at second glance, it turns out that the time required is too high or you get into dubious circles – just have a look into your spam folder.

PC-Welt has taken a close look at the best methods and gives an assessment.

1. Affiliate Marketing: Get your readers to buy

Have you ever wondered why bloggers like to link to Amazon & Co. in their product reviews ? Not only is this a nice service, but many blogs live on these links. For both sides – blog and website operators as well as for their readers – this is a win-win situation. Because there is nothing against it, if you get a high-quality product a convenient way to buy immediately.

Affiliate marketing is the magic word – for e-shops, gyms and other institutions this is an increasingly interesting sales channel. The system behind it is very simple. You mention a product or service, link the purchase opportunity and receive a commission for this.

More and more Internet companies are offering so-called affiliate programs. After registering for such a program, the search for the desired product begins and you create an affiliate link, which you can install in forums, blogs or in a newsletter. As soon as someone buys a product via the link or completes a membership, it flushes the affiliate, so you, a commission in the cash. For example, Amazon’s revenue share is between three and ten percent of its value.

However, the whole thing is easier said than done. If you act too intrusively, it may deter readers and potential customers. Similarly, overly critical reporting may put off buying. In addition, you need a loyal community that follows you – ideally to a niche product or popular topic – that consumes your content and thus the link.

Important: Stay honest and objective in your coverage, do not talk well about a featured product, mercilessly list its weaknesses. Only then will your readers trust you – and sometimes even buy.

Tip: A blog can be set up today with various tools such as WordPress or a CMS with little know-how, cheap and in a short time.

➤ Watch the video course “Affiliate Marketing Insider Tactics” at Udemy

2. Get ready for more with high-quality content

Where we are currently on the subject of content: With news and blog posts on the Internet, today can usually get a nice extra income. Assuming your content is high quality and attractively written.

The possibilities, however, go far beyond the already mentioned affiliate marketing. For example, you can integrate banner ads that bring money per click or sponsor contributions from sponsors. In the latter variant, the blogger writes a marked as advertising contribution that meets the wishes of the customer. Here you should first clarify whether this fits in with the blog’s own philosophy and how much paid contributions your readers allow you.

Expertise on a popular topic can be packaged particularly well in so-called subscription models. For example, you can use beginner tutorials to reveal the first part of your tips and reveal the full know-how behind a paid area.   

Tip: The intake mix should be well considered, as too much advertising may reduce your credibility and expert status.

➤ View the Building Kit at Strato

3. Take a snap

An internet without pictures is unthinkable. Blogs, corporate pages and social media live on photos. But how come these to your pictures? Ordering a photographer is usually not only too expensive, it also takes too long. The solution: Stock Photography. Here, the photographer produces in stock and sells his image rights to image pools likeShutterstock , or fotolia, or istockphoto.

As soon as someone downloads the picture, the cash register rings. However, one should not be too optimistic here. Many motifs are already available a hundredfold and the probability of a download is low.

Tip: When it comes to licensing models, you should be careful: It is best to drive here with exclusive licenses, even if the cash register then only rings once.

4. Make money with programming

Writing, photography and programming – these are the three pillars of the Internet. Especially if you are proficient in programming, lucrative profit margins. Assuming you develop something that others download.

But in times of the cloud, we are no longer talking about software. Much more interesting is the business with themes and plugins. For example, WordPress lives from its modular approach – in other words, users love to be able to choose from a variety of interfaces and add functionality with just one click.

Whether it’s a crowdfunding or event management plugin, if you have identified a niche, you can upload it to theme and code marketplaces such as Themeforest or Envato , including beta testing . This little “Amazon” for WordPress is usually a more interesting sales channel than your own blog.

Tip: Look in the forums of Envato or wordpress.org what annoys the users of the previous solutions. And do not forget the usability!

➤ Watch the  video course “Programming” at Udemy

5. Earn money with your own online store

The stationary trade goes back, the Internet trade is booming. According to the e-commerce report of the Internet World Fair, online traders in 2015 made more than ever before with 41.7 billion euros. Ascending trend. The Germans particularly like to buy clothing and electronics on the Internet.

But again, occupy a niche if you can not score with the price-performance argument. Ideally, you also enrich your shop with less content, but this optimally matches the products sold. For example, if you sell fitness trackers, then you will attract your customers to your site with attractive Health & Sports topics. At the same time you also increase the SEO findability. And do not forget goodness seals . Trust elements are particularly important in e-business.

Tip: WordPress offers WooCommerce a powerful show system for lukewarm.

➤ Video course “eCommerce Empire” or alternatively how to create your own “online store” created by Udemy

6. YouTube as a source of revenue

You have no problem standing in public and like to hear yourself talk? Or make creative videos that go through the ceiling? Then perhaps YouTube is the right thing. The main source of revenue on YouTube is the video ad at the beginning of the clips. Here Google scoops off vigorously. The group retains 45 percent of the money, the remaining 55 percent land at the video producer. But the profit margin is low. Who wants to earn money here, needs many clicks. For 1,000 clicks, there is only a meager euro.

That’s one reason why many creators also work with product placements. This advertising deal with the marketing department or sales department of a company can be fulfilled in various ways on YouTube. Either the Youtuber directs his camera at the product to be marketed or he goes to a sponsored event. Also popular are video games that are played before your release and tend to be rated “positive”.

Tip: Also in the video descriptions advertising links can be fade in, which brings us back to the topic of affiliate marketing

➤ Watch  Video Course “Make Money With Youtube” at Udemy

7. Become Guerrilla Blogger for SEO Optimizer

A top positioning at Google decides significantly on the success and failure of a website. Therefore, the profession of SEO Optimizer has been formed. In hardly any other occupational field should so many charlatans be on the road as here (Measure Keyword Density, Buzzword Bingo). And hardly anywhere else should so many truisms be spread (“write good content”). But you can certainly benefit from the hype surrounding SEO optimization: Get involved as a backlink setter. Then you scour forums and social media platforms for a fee and link to your customers’ websites. But beware: The moderators do not like it when you link contentless articles.

8. Sell goods on eBay or Amazon

To sell goods on the Internet you do not necessarily have to open your own shop. With portals like eBay and Amazon you can not only buy products, but also sell them. It is particularly convenient to sell products that already exist on Amazon. Because in this case you do not need your own pictures and descriptions, but you can use the product pages of Amazon. To do this, click on “Sell on Amazon” on the respective page.

Make sure that you can also be rated as a seller on Amazon and eBay , and therefore should have the best possible rating. For this you should always ship the products in the condition described by you and pack well. Other merchants who also sell your product may undercut the price . Therefore, you should regularly check in your seller account if you are still on the upper echelons. If you buy cheap goods from others, you may be able to sell them more expensive. Of course this requires some salesmanship. Bargains for products can be found for example in our price comparison. If you shop there products cheap, you can resell them through your shop at a premium.

If you sell on eBay, you need to create product images and descriptions yourself. Caution: Do not steal the pictures from others or from the manufacturer, otherwise it will be quickly expensive because of the image rights.

9. Sell your own books – eBooks or printed copies

With self-publishing, you can sell your own books quickly and easily on various portals, such as neobooks. You will receive one payment per copy sold. You can also publish eBooks on Amazon. Everything you need is provided by Amazon. If your customers buy books from Amazon, you will also receive a commission. To familiarize yourself with the topic, read the Self Publisher Bible page . Here you will find all the information you need to publish your own books. On Facebook there are groups that also deal with the topic. Not only can you sell ebooks along the way, you can also sell printed books. Again, Amazon and sites like the Self Publisher Bible help.

10. For the discerning: day trading – share trading over the Internet

If you have some starting capital, you can earn money with day trading. With this concept you buy stocks and other securities and sell them back within a day with profit. Even short sales are possible. Here you then borrow a share and sell it. If the stock falls, buy it back cheap and cancel the profit. All you need is a stock portfolio, stock prices in real time and, of course, a lot of experience in securities. You can trade various securities worldwide via the Internet. But beware: There are enormous risks in some businesses. Read the topic if you are interested in stocks and securities trading. Find on the internetVarious pages on which you can inform yourself about the topic.

➤ View Trader account for new customers at Consorsbank

11. Become a product tester

As a product tester, you receive products from companies. You must test the products at home and then rate them. Of course you should have the appropriate training and experience to test a product. You also need to be able to describe the product well in the reviews. They must therefore be able to express themselves understandably, be able to process information well and quickly and have sufficient expertise for each product. Search for the term “product tester”. In addition to numerous portals on which you can register, many large companies such as DM or Microsoft are looking for product testers.

12. Participate in online surveys

If you take part in online surveys, in many cases you will receive a payment. That’s because the surveys provide companies with information that helps them to improve their products. Search the Internet for the term “online surveys”. In the results you will find many portals where you can register for surveys. A well-known example of this isToluna. You log in to the portal, enter information in which areas you know your way and off you go. They do not always get money, but vouchers for well-known dealers, such as H & M, IKEA or others.

13. Open bank accounts and get money

Some banks, such as Commerzbank and Norisbank, pay high premiums when they open an account with them. Often you get the money immediately upon opening. Sometimes you only have to transfer a few euros back and forth for several months, or recommend the account. On well-known bargain portals like DealDoktor Receive regular information on when a bank pays premiums, for example, to open an account. Here you can also see which conditions the opening is linked to. Anyone who has a little patience can quickly and easily skim off up to several hundred euros.

Check the conditions before closing an account. At Commerzbank, for example, 1200 euros per month have to be credited to the newly opened account.

➤ Open a free current account with Norisbank even without a minimum deposit

Conclusion

A business model can now be launched faster than ever in the network. The basis of solutions out of the box, for example in the form of modular and free content management systems such as WordPress, are becoming increasingly popular. It is more important, however, to rely on the right strategy. 

Dubious offers such as Paidmailer, in which the prospective customers for read advertising e-mails get money or with paid start pages, which promise per page call sometimes not even a cent, are for the ton. Here the time expenditure is in no relation to the yield.

Strict therefore your gray cells. Especially if you have expertise in a sought after area, today there are good platforms to get started relatively quickly.