Extra income

Everyone could use a bit of extra income, and there are some excellent opportunities available online - if you know where too look. Before I started earning money with freelance writing online I spent several months doing research and learning which systems would work best for me. Now I successfully earn a part-time income from working online, and know that it is possible even though the Internet is filled with scams and opportunities that promise hundreds and only pay pennies or nothing at all. So how do you earn money online and never have to spend a dime?

Associated Content

Associated Content has been the best freelance writing opportunity for me since I started working part-time from home. They offer the best of both worlds - upfront payments and PPC (pay per click) opportunities. On average you can earn between $3 to $5 per article, but this can vary based on the quality of the article. Once you have written for a period of time, and proven you can write quality articles some higher paying opportunities can become available. Also, because of the upfront payment system, you can earn money freelance writing immediately rather than having to wait for your PPC earnings (also called passive income) to build up.

Helium

Originally Helium offered PPC opportunities only, but recently that has changed - in fact they have made a number of changes that have improved the quality of the site. They now offer upfront payments in addition to PPC, but the upfront payments are not nearly as lucrative as Associated Content. Upfront payments start at 50 cents and can go as high as $2.50, based on the number of articles and writing starts you have. Also, they hold contests and have a marketplace looking for specific freelance articles giving you a chance to earn more per article. It takes a bit of effort to earn money on Helium compared to other sites, but once you start and gain a bit of momentum it can be a worthwhile opportunity. And like Associated Content, your earnings are immediate making it easy to reach their minimum payout of $25.

eHow
When I started with eHow I was a bit skeptical on how much you could earn on advertising PPC only, especially if you only have a few articles. On average a how-to article will earn between $1 to $5 a month, with some earning nothin g and others exceeding the average. This is another site where it takes some time to earn income - because you are earning a passive income rather than getting upfront payments. However, this does have an advantage. Passive income will earn you income without any additional work - and will continue to earn income from month to month. So ever though you may not see a large monetary reward immediately, after a few months of effort your hard work will pay off.

Hubpages

Allows you to determine if you want to earn income for posting articles or "hubs." Hubpages lets you choose to earn with Adsense, Amazon, Ebay, and other options. Similar to eHow, it will take some time for your hubs to gain momentum - the best rule of thumb to follow is the more hubs, and the higher the quality, the better. Once you have some hubs going, average earnings can be from $20 to $50 a month. Some do earn more but the highest earners have hundreds of hubs written, and write high quality hubs - it is possible to earn a lot of money with this site with the best earning $1000 or more a month. However it will take a longer time for your efforts to show in your account, but if you are willing to work hard your efforts will show.

Today

Gives a take on freelance writing by paying you to start a blog, and as most bloggers know if you start a blog yourself it can take months to earn your first dollar. Today pay you $1 per 100 word post (you are allowed only one paid post a day) with the opportunity to earn more, once they evaluate your blog each month. Now, $1 per post doesn't seem like much but if you write one post a day you will earn your $50 payout in 2 months, and they work on a PPC system as well. And if you write quality posts and get a pay increase in a month then it may take less than 2 months to earn your payout. It is a slower way to earn income, but compared to writing for other freelance writing sites which require a minimum of a 400 word post or article, your writing time will be significantly less.