Make A Living On The Internet

Everyone -- not just authors watching book sales decline -- is concerned about the economy, increased taxes, and cash flow growth. I've heard more than one person speculate about how to become an Internet entrepreneur.

We all hear that the Internet makes it possible to make a living if you can get online, but exactly how do people do that? They use their knowledge, skills, and passion to create a product or service that people will want to buy.

Earning On The Internet

Primarily, you sell Products -- real goods or services -- or you sell ad space through hosting ads and monetization. Or, you sell a combination of both. You can sell virtually anything from an oil painting or photograph or your service as a Virtual Assistant or as a book format specialist.

You can use many different points of sale to offer your products/services, for example eBay, websites that are themed marketplaces like Etsy for handcrafted goods, Elance for freelance anything, or CafePress for products incorporating your own design. The ones I just mentioned are the most well-known. There are many others. Of course, you can also use your own website or blog as an online storefront.

What To Sell

I'll talk about ads and monetization another time. For now, let's talk about goods and services. The sky is the limit. The most popular products are photographs, art, handcrafts, collectibles, and books (print copies that are new or used as well as ebooks). If you're an author, you already know about the indie publishing movement with ebooks, print books, and audiobooks.

Other Resources

For some of the most popular products or services, consider these websites.

Art -- Artbreak

Books, music, or other digital content -- UploadNSell and the stockphoto sites and stock music sites

Designs -- Redbubble

Niche specific -- like TaskRabbit that match consumers needing a specific task with someone who can do it

Photographs as Fine Art -- Fine Art America among others

Photographs, Graphic Designs, Video -- iStockPhoto, BigStockPhoto, Dreamstime, Shutterstock, etc.

Print Books -- CreateSpace, Lulu, Blurb, BookTango.

Services -- many freelance sites like Elance

Shopping Assistance -- Beso, etc.

Tutoring -- Smarthinking or Tutor

Virtual Assistant -- Elance, etc.

Takeaway Truth

Chances are there's a demand for just about any goods and services. Use the suggestions above and/or your favorite search engine to find those websites that assist you in selling what you have or what you know.