DISCLAIMER: This article is intended for non-US writers. If you live in the US, and you stumbled across Associated Content, you should just stay here and see if you like it. I chose to post this on Associated Content in regards to it being a neutral ground for non-US users.
A couple of months ago I decided to start the saga of making money online. To be honest, at first it seemed pretty easy. But I was soon diving into a lot of scam sites pretending to make you rich overnight. Obviously, these were not going to give you a penny, instead they would collect your personal data and send it over to diverse spammers and other dubious people to benefit from your naivety.
However, there are a lot of sites out there that actually pay you. So how do you separate the liars?
First of all, look around the site. If any picture resembling a rain of money falling over a couple of persons, then the site is a scam. No serious site would ever display such images. Ever.
Second, before making an account, read the Terms of Use. If you find anything suspicious in there, move away. Any legit site gives the users basic rights you would see in a usual company/firm/workplace in real world.
Third (this is more for techy guys) look at how the site is built. If it gives the impression it was made on the hurry in Dreamweaver, you should suspect some sort of scam. The layout of the site should also be professional, use a decent color theme, and usually should be written in ASPX (you can tell that by looking at the extension of the page in the address bar).
If the site goes past these criteria, you should do some background research about the site. If the site has been online for a couple of years, then it should be reliable. User reviews can also be useful, although you will never find only positive comments, there are always guys saying something negative but that is a good sign. If you find only negative comments, then you should stay away.
The most reliable way of making money online is...
...writing. That is right. Writing is the best way of actually making money online. Surveys, paid-to-click and other stuff like that are not reliable. If you find a good site (read on) that pays you for your article, a single one should make more money than paid-to-click or surveys will ever do.
You need to understand that you will never get rich overnight, unless you rob a bank (and that usually happens during the day), and anything that does not involve your effort will never give you enough money. Sure, you can make a dollar or two, but that's about it.
There are two types of writing sites. Ones that give you money from traffic on your pages and another that gives you upfront payment for each article you publish. You would prefer to get to write for a site that offers upfront payment.
Requirements
-Decent English skills, the ability to write comprehensive and fluid articles
-A paypal account, which you can create here www.paypal.com
-A lot of patience
Writing sites to avoid
Helium
This site is probably the worst for making money through writing. They have a mafia organization running around, randomly banning new writers by charging them with plagiarism if you pick up too many articles from the marketplace (the ones offering up-front payment) and getting to the minimum threshold for withdraw (25$) takes a couple of years through revenue share.
Demand Studios
These guys will freeze your account of any little grammatical error. This is just a little too much,, especially if you are a new writer.
Sites you should write for
Associated Content
You may ask yourself why; although this site has little to offer for non-US writers, it is a great place to start writing and polish your skills. The editors here will give you tips to improve your writing step by step. Once you have a couple of articles here, move up to the next site.
Factoidz
This is the first place where you will earn money. This site has higher standards than Associated Content, but you will gain money through both upfront and revenue share (page traffic) although the amount in tiny unless you have hundreds of articles.
The point is, both Associated Content and Factoidz will help make a name for yourself in the writer world. When you are confident you are ready for real money making, move on to the next site. You will continue to earn money from Factoidz for the rest of your (or Factoidz's) life. Pays through PayPal at the end of each month.
Bright Hub
This site pays between 10 and 15$ per article published through editors. Getting into bright hub is not easy. You will need to apply for a writer position in one of the channels, and wait for your submission to be approved. This is where your Factoidz and Associated Content CV will pay off. They are far more likely to accept someone with writing experience than someone who is completely new. Bright Hub is something completely different from both Factoidz and Associated Content, but it is safe to pay you the money you've earned by the 15th of each month though PayPal.
Remember, you will not be able to get rich overnight, but as time passes, you will gain reputation on the Bright Hub company (yes it is a company) and more rewarding articles will be made available to you.
Hopefully, this will spare you a lot of trouble and a lot of spam emails in your accounts.
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