Make Money Online Free!

If you're frantically searching for a way to make money online, chances are you don't have a lot, if any, money to invest. Most home business opportunities have an up-front investment, and many online money making schemes are scams.

Luckily, there are legitimate FREE ways for you to make money online. One way is to become an affiliate and set up a blog promoting a product or service.

A Free Blog

Let's start off with the blog side of things. There are a few different sites that offer free blogs: WordPress and Blogger are just 2 of them. Personally, I recommend Blogger, only because it offers more features for you to make money.

Choosing a Niche for Your Blog

Is there a topic you are exceptionally passionate about? Remember, making money online is possible, but you have to work at it. In this case, one of the things you're going to have to do on a regular basis is write blog entries. This will be a lot easier to do if you are interested in the topic.

So what are your hobbies? What do you like to do? Are you an avid reader? Create a blog about your favorite books. If you like making things, start a craft blog. If you're a gardener, start a gardening blog. The trick is to find a topic that you truly enjoy.

Another option is to pick one product or service that you are particularly impressed with. Then you can see if they have an affiliate program, and start a blog around that product or service. Remember, however, that it's your reputation on the line, so make sure you don't blindly recommend products or services; do so only if you have personal experience with it.

Choosing a Name for Your Blog

Once you've chosen a blog platform and a topic, you will need a descriptive name for your blog. Try to choose something that has to do with what you're blogging about. Don't just name it "Susan's blog". If you're doing a gardening blog, you could name it "Susan's Gardening Tips" or something like that.

Most blogging platforms give you a subdomain, so it will look like this: "yourdomain.blogspot.com". If you're offering garden tips, name it something like "susansgardeningtips.blogspot.com". Your Blog name & domain name should be the same. In other words, if the Title at the top of your blog is going to be "Susan's Gardening Tips" use that as the subdomain as well.

Finding an Affiliate Program

So far, you have chosen your blog platform, your niche, and your blog's name. And, you haven't spent a single dime! :-)

Now it's time to find an affiliate product or service to promote. There are many places to find affiliate programs: Amazon, Commission Junction, Google Affiliates, Clickbank, etc. Research to see what programs they have available in your niche. You can search by topic, keywords, product name or company name.

Alternatively, if you have a favorite product, company or service, you can contact them to see if they offer an affiliate program. Express to them how much you love their product, and often you can work something out.

The Hard Work Begins

Once you've got this far, it's time to choose a design and write some content. That's the easy part. After your blog is created and you have some content, it's time to work on SEO. You need to get your site out there so you get visitors; and that means you need links. Let me know if you have any questions; I'll be glad to help!