Last week we looked at the Internet as a remarkable resource for successfully marketing products and services. With millions of possible customers, the income-generating potential of having an online presence is priceless. If you learn how to use simple but effective mediums such as websites, blogs, and audio and video podcasts, it’s feasible to earn extra money.

But what if you don’t already have a product or service to offer? Is it still possible to generate money on the Internet starting out with nothing?

The surprising answer is Yes! The wonderful thing about the Internet is that it brings together people with diverse interests and needs in one immense marketplace. If you learn how to figure out what people are interested in and what they would like to buy, then you can supply it for a profit. There are free websites that can give an insight on what people are searching for or talking about online.

So how do you turn the Internet into your money-making machine? Here are just a few methods:

E-books

One way to develop a product to answer people’s questions or tell your story is by publishing a book that can be downloaded, called an e-book. E-books remove the hassle of inventory and can be accessed worldwide with minimal cost to you. Even if you think your writing skills leave a lot to be desired, you can compile information provided by other sources to make a marketable book.

Here’s an example of someone who used his hobby to make a huge income: An iguana lover thought that might have something to offer to other iguana owners, but he wasn’t sure what that could be. He set up a website which offered people a free book about iguanas if they shared with him what they wanted to know about the animal. (Note: the book didn’t exist yet). He used the questions he received to write an e-book that promised to reveal the ‘secrets of raising healthy iguanas.’

Advertising & Referrals

Another way of making money with nothing down is to promote or sell other people’s products and services on your own website. There are companies which will pay you if you encourage others to buy products on their website. For example, Amazon has an affiliate programme which offers you a percentage of the price of goods sold to people who clicked on Amazon.com from your site, and Google Adsense sets up those little ads that are commonplace on many websites. Other sites like InnerSell.com allow you to make money from referring leads to companies looking for customers.

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Social networking

Social networking websites can offer huge potential for making money. A social network is simply an assembly of individuals into a specific group based on shared interests. Some of the popular online networks include MySpace, Hi5, and Facebook. These sites can bring tremendous exposure to products or services targeting the particular social group.

Let’s look at Facebook.com which began in 2004 as a network of Harvard college alumni. It rapidly expanded to all universities and now anyone can join. Today with over 42 million members, it was reported that Microsoft offered US$500m for five percent ownership of the site. In Jamaica we have social networks that focus on cars, music, and anything Jamaican. These websites offer their developers the opportunity to make money from advertising and other joint ventures targeted to their membership.

If you’re still unsure that you have what it takes to make money on the web, ponder this story of Stephen Pierce who became an Internet multi-millionaire by accident: As a troubled African-American teenager, Pierce was expelled from high school in the tenth grade. He got involved in the wrong company and eventually ended up being shot (he still has the bullet imbedded in him to prove it). Falling on hard times, he was homeless and penniless and moved in with a friend.

Pierce borrowed his friend’s computer and started to surf the Internet, where he became fascinated in the financial trade reports of the commodities market. Through trial and error, he developed a way to predict the direction of the market with surprising accuracy. He started sharing his predictions with a few people via email, and soon his listing of interested people grew. One day someone asked him to put his predictions on a website. Pierce didn’t have money to pay someone to do it, but eventually learnt how to do a very basic site.

One day, one of his free subscribers offered to pay him US$5,000 to teach him how he picked his trades. After looking back at the performance of his predictions over the years, Pierce realized that people could have earned hundreds of thousands by following his advice. He quickly learned how use this ability and the reach of the Internet to make a huge fortune. Today his multi-million dollar company teaches people strategies how to build wealth through cyberspace.

You might have a message or product that could solve problems for thousands of people. Use the wonder of the Internet to share it with the world!