For the last several years I’ve been using one method that brings me in a good amount of cash month after month. I live in a suburb outside of a major city. There are quite a few small businesses in my immediate area and for the most part, they don’t have a clue about advertising online. Many have used old html programs to build their sites and I doubt 1 in 100 know how to SEO optimize the sites the do have up. A good many are still using free webhosting services like Angelfire and BraveNet.

So what did I do? I built a local directory and sell advertising on it plus I make some money from Adsense and affiliate marketing. If you’d like to learn how to do this, then read how these guys build a local directory using WordPress.

Now I don’t follow their example to a ‘T’. That’s the beauty of the Internet, you can experiment with different strategies to see which one works best for you.

Once I have the site up and structured the way I want, I then start building links to the site and submitting it to a wide range of online directories. Once that is done, I then start hitting up local businesses to advertise on my site.

Why Local Small Businesses Can Be Your Ticket To Making Money Online

Times are tough. Especially now and many small businesses are looking for ways to increase sales. Now be forwarned, they will not throw money at your and your local directory just because you have one. You’ll have to show them the benefits of your site verses some “Web Design” company who raked them over the coals by charging them way to much for their crappy website!

This is why having your website ranking for some local terms will really pay off.

If you’re really lucky, you’ll find some small businesses that are looking to get online. These are generally easier sales that existing businesses who’ve been online for years.

Dentist, Attorney’s, Flower Shops and Home Service companies are some of the best to start with. Tha’ts because most of these are Mom and Pop businesses and they don’t like being out done by their competition. If Bob the Attorney see’s that Charlie the Attorney down the road advertised with you, chances are good that he’ll want to advertise with you as well.

I charge monthly fees on my website plus I have several layers of fees. Top of the page is the ‘Featured’ business and below these are the ‘Premium’ businesses. The rest on the page are the ‘Standard’ listings. I give the ‘Featured’ businesses space to write a short bio about their business. This helps sell these spots because they cost nearly double the amount as the ‘Premium’ space.

Diversify Your Local Online Business By Offering Other Services

I know people who are pulling down a lot of money by building these local directories. They also offer local businesses simple web site building, SEO and other online services. These can add up to some serious money over time as your business grows.

And all you have to do is treat your Clients well. Make sure your local directory ranks well for your local terms. If you have to spend some money to get it ranked, then do so! You will recoup this cost by keep your existing customers and gaining new ones.

You see, if you are serious about finding ways to make money fast online, there are a number of ways to do it. You don’t necessarily have to do it the way everyone else is telling you. Think outside the box for ways to make money online!

Back in the day when I was between jobs, I used Craigslist and Ebay to keep the wolf away from the door. It took a little effort, but we were able to pay our bills with the money I made from these two websites and even put some away for a rainy day.

Did I get filthy rich? No, not by any stretch of the imagination.

Can you do it? I see no reason you can’t! There are many others making money and I bet a lot of them are not technically inclined. One thing that really helped me get started right away was this Craiglist guide. It helped me discover ways of making money from these websites that I hadn’t thought about before.

Here’s how I make money fast online with Craigslist.

Make Money With Free Stuff From Craigslist

First off, I went each morning when I got up and checked out the Free section to see if there was anything of value I could pick up. I checked this several times a day when I was at home or near a Wi Fi spot. In some communities, you’ll have competition for this free stuff, so you’d better be quick!

If I did find something I thought I could resell, I immediately would try and contact the people and let them know I wanted it. Many people will hold it for you if you’ll just let them know you want it.

I usually try to have a route to pick as many items up as I can. Once I’ve picked up a few items, I’ll then list them on Craiglist for sale! If I think a certain item has more value than what I can get off of Craigslist, then I’ll list it on ebay.

Sell Your Own Services On Craiglist and Make Money Fast

Chances are real good that you have at least one skill you can do better than a lot of people. Maybe it’s writing, or computer programming or perhaps you’re a whiz with Excel, QuickBooks or another computer program.

Whatever your skill, there is a Service section toward the bottom of the page on Craigslist. People list all types of services in this section. I’ve seen everything fro Computer Repair to Escort services advertised here.

I have a friend who writes from home. Over the last year, she has used the Services section to advertise her business and has built a nice customer base from it. Now she’s back logged and has plenty of work and makes a comfortable living doing it.

Another person I know who can make money fast on the side repairing computers. His only advertising is also in the Services section. Now days he has to turn business down because he can’t get to his Customers fast enough. He has built up a good referral base and rarely advertises on Craigslist any longer.

Buy Low, Sell High

Besides the free section on Craigslist, you can search the other categories and look for bargains. Take these bargains and either relist them on Craigslist at a markeup or sell them on Ebay.

When I was making money with Craigslist and Ebay, I would look these areas over good for a bargain. If I saw something way undervalued, I’d go and pick it up quick.

Many times people just need a quick buck or want to get rid of something fast. Sometimes, they just don’t know what they have.

I once bought a Ham Radio amplifier off of a woman on Craigslist for $25. I had no idea exactly how much it was really worth, but  I knew it was worth more than $25!

The thing was heavy and she just had it laying around. She wasn’t even sure how she came about it.

I cleaned it up a little, took pictures of it and posted it on Ebay. I ran it for a 7 day auction and at the end, it fetched $311.97! Another time I bought an old beat up pickup on Craigslist for$325. It didn’t run but I thought I knew what the problem was. I towed it home, put a new distributer cap on it ($45), cleaned it up a little and sold it for $950 in the local paper a few days later.

One innovative man I saw posting on Craigslist was advertising that he would come and pick up any of your junk for free and haul it off. Of course, he would resell most of the stuff! When I called and asked him how that was working out, he told me it was a Goldmine!

“You wouldn’t believe what people throw away!” he said.

How’s that for thinking outside the box. People call HIM to come and get their stuff to sell!

Making money fast with Craigslist can be a golden opportunity for you if you need extra cash. There have been many people turning this into a full time income with just a little effort. There’s no reason you can’t do the same.

In some smaller cities, the opportunities may be fewer, but use your creative thinking to maximize your efforts in these areas. This way, you can build up a customer base of people that know you and will give you first picks of stuff they want to get rid of or sell. If they know they can call on you to buy something from them for a quick buck, you’ll be their go to guy when they need extra cash. This will allow you to make money fast with little effort!

Not a bad investment!

I’ve made money in a similiar fashion with Craigslist for quite a while.

Can you really earn money online fast? Sure. Will it be easy? No. But it can be done. I and others like me do it all the time.

If you’ll just make yourself sit down for 5 to 8 hours per week, you can start earning money online in a short amount of time just by following a few simple but effective rules.

First, you must stay focused. If you go out chasing the latest ‘Make Money Online’ scheme, then you’re going to fail. Stay with what works and keep doing what works. Sounds simple huh? Well, it’s easier said than done for most folks. Just keep doing what makes you money and ignore all the other crap that distracts you. When you can Master this, then you’ll be on your way to making a steady income from the Internet.

The next step in how to earn money online fast is to set goals. There are so many people out there who start with one project on the Internet, get it halfway done and then go off doing something else. See rule #1 above. When you take the time to sit down and right down your goals and how you will achieve them, you’ll start to see all your efforts pay off. Things that are important will get done. As you accomplish one goal, mark it off and set another goal, maybe raise the mark so to speak. Eventually this will come second nature to you and you’ll find that the money soon follows.

The next thing you should do if you’re serious about earning money online fast is to pick a niche. Take the time to search out a niche that has a good number of people searching for answers. More so, choose a niche that has people who are desperate or rabid about something they do.

Have you ever met a Gamer? Many are addicted to gaming while others are just plan Nuts over playing games online. They will stop at nothing to win or get an advantage over their competition. These type of people are ripe for a good product or service that helps them win or get an edge over their competitors. The same thing can be said for Gamblers.

Find that niche that has rabid enthusiest in it, develop a product or service to sell them and watch the money come in. When done correctly, you’ll be thinking that this is the easiest money you every made.

This is truly one of the secrets to making money. These types of people will pay a lot of money if they believe something will help them get an edge.

Learn how to drive organic search traffic to your pitch page. Your pitch page could be a blog that is made up of only a few pages. Heck, it could only be a page or two. What matters is that it’s optimized for the search engines. If you ever want to be successful at Internet Marketing, you need to learn this one thing before all others.

Organic search traffic converts better than any other type. Too many times you people run out, build a blog and start chasing Social Traffic. While Social Traffic may be easy to get, it doesn’t convert well. Most of these people are just looking for entertainment or information. They’re not looking to open up their wallets and pull out the money. To earn money online fast, you have to get those people who are begging to give someone money if they can find a product or service that solves a problem for them. It’s these type of people who click ads and buy things online, not the Social Users.

And that’s about all there is to earning money fast online. Pick a product that has desperate or rabid followers, stay with it and herd hordes of organic traffic to it. Sounds simple enough right? Well it is, kinda. The trick as I stated before is sticking with the program. If you meet the needs of these people, they will gladly give you their money.

Sure, you’re going to run into a niche now and then that is dead for whatever reason. It happens to the best of us. But keep that website around and start another one. Just remember to follow the basic guidelines I set out for you above. Stay focused, find a desperate niche and drive organic traffic to it by using Search Engines. You’ll soon see how to earn money online fast, probably faster than you ever thought could happen!