The Only Three Ways to Make Money Online

Sure, there are infinite methods of getting someone to pay you money online, but when you boil it all down there are only three different, wholly original ways to make money online. The three root business models.

First of all, you can sell something online. It could be a service or a product, perhaps even a non-physical token representing hope. Selling businesses and Franchises fall into this category, as does anything else at all that could be owned personally.

This business model goes back to the days when commerce was invented. Cavemen used this business model and it didn't change very much when adapted to the internet.

At the far end of the spectrum, the second way to make money online is by being a publisher of advertisements. If you have any possible form of content online, you can simply rent out the Ad Space beside it. Advertisers, most notably the Google AdSense program, make it very easy for you to make money from Ads that you display along with your content.

Ever since the first newspaper was mass marketed, Ad space has been sold. It is still very big business in the offline world, but with the invention of the Google AdSense program in 2003, the online format got a major popularity boost and today there are few websites NOT employing this tactic in some form. Even our daily eMails have been invaded by this business model, and before too long someone will figure out how to include advertisements along with everything else we say, including the spoken word.

It is interesting to note that business models 1 and 2 do not play nicely together on the same website. For instance, if you have a web page that sells something for $29.95, offering AdSense ads on the same page is probably not a good idea because some potential buyers might see the ads and exit your site through one of them before you make your sale. So instead of getting $29.95, you wind up with a small amount like 6 cents, or sometimes nothing at all because too many choices can scare people away.