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If we are serious about the business of wanting to make money online without investing anything beforehand - and I mean real money, not pennies - we have to first of all realise two things and learn some very important up-front lessons. For every genuine site that will pay as promised, there are at least 999 scammers. Also, just like in any other walk of life, unless you are very, very lucky, making money online takes hard work - and lots of it.

This article is a "how to" one, not a "what to avoid" one but before we embark on the road to success, please allow me a moment to blow some myths out of the water.

Paid to click sites, survey sites and all of those sites which promise great wealth for little work are either scammers or robbers - every single one of them. They either don't pay as promised, don't operate as promised or pay you an equivalent - if you sit down and work it out - of around ten cents an hour for your time. If this is the sort of income you are looking to generate online, fine - there is no point reading any further. If, however, you want more, read on.

Let us begin with the obvious and that is Helium, the site upon which you are reading this article. I would have no hesitation whatsoever about naming Helium as the most reliable income generating site on the Web. Others certainly have more potential but with Helium, there are fewer ifs, buts and maybes and more likelihood of a decent payout every month.

Helium pays its writer in several ways. Royalties are paid on articles, quality writers can earn stars through an in-house rating scheme and receive up-front payments, weekly competitions are held for cash and the "Marketplace" allows writers to write to titles which publishers are looking for in the hope of being chosen and paid. It is entirely conceivable to actually earn a living on Helium alone if you have enough time and are a good enough writer.

Squidoo and Hub Pages are Web 2.0 sites which allow the individual to build pages on the Web constructed from a series of modules. The pages can be on any subject of the person's choice - within the law, of course! - and the text of the article can be supplemented with such as Amazon and eBay modules, selling products for commission. Squidoo pays its best performing members on a tiered level from the monthly AdSense pool while Hub Pages allows members to use their own Google AdSense account.

Cafepress is a site which allows people to build their own online store. It features all sorts of products from t-shirts to mugs, to clocks and lots more. The store owner simply downloads their design, sets their mark-up or profit margin and Cafepress produces and ships the items to order. Squidoo even has a special Cafepress module which allows the writer to promote and sell these items on their Squidoo site, or "Lens" as such are called.

Clickbank is a site with which I have known only moderate success but as, like all the above, it is totally free, it is worth exploring as an option. Again, it is a site where we are selling products on our other pages but these ones are digital downloads, or e-books. They have thousands of different products in very varied categories so the chances of finding one on your topic are good. Sales commission is high so even one sale is a boost to income.

It is vital of course that we do not forget the requirement to promote the sites that we have now created. Link from your Squidoo pages to your relevant Hub Pages and vice versa. Include links (up to three) on your "About Me" page on Helium. Start a Blogger Blog and write about your subject, promoting your pages elsewhere. Join the social bookmarking sites and do likewise. This part is an ongoing process - don't neglect it or forget about it or your income will dry up.

I'm sorry if I have shattered your illusions about making money easily online without investing - but isn't it better that you find out now and not six wasted months down the line?

Learn more about this author, Gordon Hamilton.
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