Making Money Online. Minus the Middleman.

Open a Banking Acct Online.
I have been meaning to blog "Online Business" for awhile. It's something I know quite a bit about and if anything at least I can get my 2 cents in and maybe save somebody from wasting a bunch of time. I've tried some of the more common things everyone finds when they first set out to make money on the internet. Things like surveys, data processing, emailing, etc. I'm not saying these things are an entire waste of time, but if you're smart you can use them as stepping stones. They aren't things to devote any real energy, because for the most part they are just going to be sad to say...a waste of time. That said I won't bother listing any links of any of these sites. There is already enough stuff to find on this topic and they all pretty much lead back to the same places. What I will concentrate on is how to use these things to you're advantage by developing a get in get out quick strategy, and where to go from there. The only reason I even suggest possibly using these things is to generate just enough money to open an online banking account and verify yourself with Paypal. You can't expect to make any money if you can't get paid. The easiest way to do this is by completing a few surveys or something and open a secure card acct. The one I have used now for over a year with no trouble is Accountnow.net It has a Checking Card they will mail to anyone with a SSI number and U.S. Address. And of course Money to open an account. This method I will demonstrate is a bit catch 22 but I assure you it works like a charm. Once you get the money into Paypal you need to get it out. When you sign up for your Card Acct. you'll get a routing number, and acct ID. If you deposit $25 from Paypal it will technically "Open" the account for you. They will send you a card you can use in any ATM. After everything is open you can turn around and verify the account. Paypal makes 2 tiny deposits you tell them the amounts and you are verified. Now you have a ton of options. You can now use the existing card account to open a side account for accepting other people's credit cards online. This link will take you to one I found, but I encourage you to shop around. There are always new deals and things that become available. A good place to find other current "viable" options is paypalsucks.com.
Carve Diem, Making Money.
Now comes the time to quit doing surveys and move on to bigger and better things. What to consider doing for a living online is as diverse an answer as in real life. And just like real life a college education is one key to success. The cool thing is there are free places online to get this education, and you are already at the best place to find it. I have lots of info up on this topic, so feel free and help yourself! There are many directions to head in, what I can suggest is teaching yourself Programming or Web design and then finding jobs through one of the Freelance sites. Or of course you can start your own Web Design company also, but this won't happen overnight.

Setting up and running a little side business selling something can work too. Try a few different things and see what develops on it's own. The number one thing in making money on a site that's selling something is to sell something ANYTHING that nobody else is selling. Put some thought into it, and try it. The thing is try and find something you don't have to kill yourself over trying to promote. The less amount of people selling whatever it is you're selling the better. To help another thing you can think about whatever it is your local area is famous for, and the use your location to your advantage. If you live in Florida sell alligator heads. Something oddball not everybody else is selling that uses your geographic location as a selling factor also. People like buying things from the area that has the best of them. Selling Cheeses and Sausages might be a good idea if you lived in Wisconsin. Think about something which you have a good supply at a discount price. Do you know anyone that works somewhere that can get you a deal on something ? These are just some things to mill over when developing an online business. If you want to test the waters w/o much effort maybe try Cafepress, it let's you put your own designs or images on something and then gives you the web space to sell the stuff you create. There are lots of other things for free online that can help you get any business started. Stuff like a mail service that gives you an address in the U.S. to receive packages and mail. The best thing though is K-7 and the free telephone voice messaging and FAX service they offer. All these things and more can be found on Concisefreeware.com.
Hosting and Development.
Once you know what it is you want to sell you need a host to put up your site. I'll just assume you want to do it for free to start with. You can always buy a real host account later down the road. Brinkster offers free Hosting without any ads at all, and are really good about it. They even give great 24-7 Skype support. If you don't know html there are 2 acct levels with a Web Building editor. It's quite easy to figure out, and you should be able to build a nice site in an afternoon's time. When you need graphics for the site such as your Headers and banners you'll love this site. Flammingtext is the best way to produce high quality graphics on your own. Okay now the site is up and you have to get it out there. I use this tool below that finds directories and submits the site for me, granted you have to fill all the crap out yourself. This can be tedius, but it's a necessary evil of the game. Make sure that you've crossed paths with the major search engines for submission. Using Directory Submission Manager 123promotion.co.uk though should have taken care of this. After submitting your site URL go find forums related in some way to what the product is and put links to it up. If you really want to be a wise guy you can promote it in 3rd person. Talk about how great this product is blah blah blah, and give the link.
Well there it is there.