The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Editorial Ash Nallawalla ash@melbpc.org.au |
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There is money to be made on the Web (for little people, that is). I didn't believe it but I do now. There are possibly more scams there than real schemes, or some of them are reasonable schemes that are taken up by inexperienced people who then think they were scammed. There are real schemes too and some are within your reach.
Make Money Fast
One of the oldest Internet scams I saw over ten years ago was the "Make Money Fast" (MMF) newsgroup posts that were sometimes relayed as e-mails. They were the old chain letters that asked you to send a "dollar bill" (it sometimes translated to five Aussie Dollars) to each of five names on the list. They promised you untold wealth if everyone played by the rules. I haven't seen them for a while, either because the players all became rich and have gone to live in Byron Bay or Lorne, or they have moved on to easier scams.
For instance, some of those "Nigerian" scams are now apparently coming from people in Western nations. There is some twisted logic that says that poor grammar in those messages makes them more convincing. Let me move on to the legitimate ways of making money on the Web.
Google AdSense
If you are a user of that fine search engine, Google, you will have seen advertisements on the right. They are known as AdWords and each time you click one of them, the advertiser typically pays between US$0.05 and US$50 to Google. Most of the clicks are closer to $1 each, in case you are wondering how expensive it is for an advertiser. The more expensive clicks occur in highly competitive industries such as US class-action or personal injury lawyers.
In addition to displaying AdWords on the search results pages, Google has a network of partners who display, say, 3-4 "sponsored results" before showing the "free" search results. Additionally, and this is where you and I come in, the ads are shown on Web pages that meet certain criteria. The official details can be seen at http://www.google.com/adwords and http://www.google.com/adsense. You are wondering by now how this knowledge can help you make money.
You must have a Web site with topical, informative content. It can't be a personal page or one on a domain that you don't own, such as Geocities or melbpc.org.au. For example, you might have a site dedicated to prostate cancer, or digital cameras, or home renovations, or programming. If your application to AdSense is approved, you are given some Javascript code to place on your pages. This code displays AdWords on your pages and you are paid a healthy commission by Google for every click on your page. Before you think about it, the answer is "no". If you click the ads on your own pages, you will lose your earnings and be booted out.
Under the terms of the AdSense agreement I cannot say how much I earn but it more than pays for my Web hosting and leaves me with something that is non-trivial. In previous years I have dabbled in affiliate programs where I didn't even reach the minimum needed to get paid. I have a single Amazon affiliate link that barely generates enough commission to buy a book, but AdSense is a breath of fresh air.
I display AdSense ads on five or six of my pages at the most, so I cannot retire on my AdSense income. I know of people who run busy, technical or specialist topic forums and they have such ads on thousands of pages. It would not surprise me if they do not need any other source of income. When I look around Melb PC's members I am convinced that hundreds of you have the knowledge to write a few pages of specialist content. If you don't know how to create a Web site, Melb PC runs courses from time to time or you can buy a book on the subject. Domains and hosting are very cheap, don't bother applying for AdSense if you use a free site.
There is an unfortunate side to AdSense - plagiarism. My popular article on search engine optimisation has AdSense and other ads next to it. It was copied by someone who put his own AdSense code on the copy. I complained to Google under the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Amendment (DMCA). Initially they were very quick to remove the search result for the other site. The culprit then placed abbreviated copies at two other domains but Google did not remove the search results and I have not seen a penny for any AdSense commission he has earnt by displaying my article. To read about this, search for "google optimization tips" (with quotes and the "iz" spelling) and see the link to http://chillingeffects.org. The copy is now offline, but the Google result is still visible at press time.
Reprinted from the February 2004 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
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