How to Make Money Online Outside of PPC Marketing

We all know there are a lot of ways to make money online, and one of the most preferred ways to make money is through pay per click marketing. However, what if you don’t want to learn pay per click marketing or have the funds to provide for a campaign budget? People are on the internet for one of two reasons… they either want to find something (product, purchase information), or want to be entertained (videos, news, celebrity blogs).

Here are a just a few new ideas on how you can start making money online, without relying on paid search.

1.) Start a Free Stuff Web Site
Years ago when I first started making money online, I ran a few free stuff web sites and newsletters. To this day, thousands of people are still search for “free stuff” daily, and web sites are cashing in. Provide your web site visitors with the latest freebies and promotions available, while offering free/trial CPA offers in the process. You can also build up your web site by offering a daily newsletter or a forum for other members to list new freebies on the web.
(Example Site: TheFreeSite.com – One of the largest and oldest free stuff resource web sites)

2.) Contest & Sweepstakes
In addition to running a free stuff web site, I also had plenty of contest and sweepstakes web sites. If you are more interested in cash prizes, games and lotteries, this may be the niche area for you. Just like in the “free stuff” market, you can offer CPA offers to your web site visitors.
(Example Site: ContestBlogger.com – A large resource site for Online Contests, Sweepstakes and Free Stuff)

3.) Get Paid to Complete Offers (Incentived)
There are many sites out there that have the concept of “get paid to….”. Usually the concept it to take surveys, but there is also a whole market for cash prizes and rewards. These type of networks are a lot like the email/zip offers, but usually have the option to complete more or less offers and not limiting you to specific prizes. There is a new site called ThisSiteIsForReal.com, and all they do is list a ton of CPA offers, and pay users a small percentage for completing them. Whatever they don’t pay to the person completing the offer, they profit from.
(Example Site: MyPoints.com – Get paid to complete offers)

4.) Running a Niche Product Content Blog
Blogs are one of the easiest ways to setup a new web site, which can focus on individual products or services. For instance, PepperJamNetwork has a ton of affiliate programs for well known products that aren’t available on other networks, one of them being the AeroGarden. If you were to create a blog based on growing a garden or on vegetables and herbs… you can easily target this blog towards the sales of AeroGarden. Based on your blog content, you would receive free search traffic and people interested in the product. This same process can be done for almost any product or service available.
(Example Site: WeViews.TV – a blog that reviews individual products)

5.) High Traffic Content Web Sites
Reference back to the top post this blog post and how I said people are online to either find something or be entertained… in either case, you can be the resource for what they need! If you can provide a content service or something that brings people back to your site often, you have a winner. Instead of trying to sell a service or product, you can focus on selling advertising to your web site or blog. The repeat traffic to your web site will only increase with time and so will your ad dollars.
(Example: CollegeHumor.com – Funny Videos, Pictures & Content)

6.) Create an Online Store
Provide to the people that are searching to make purchases online, by creating your own web store. It’s easy enough to setup a store with Yahoo, or many of the other providers out there. Your main focus is to find what you can sell and how you will do it. I recommend and prefer the concept of drop shipping, I would never want to hold inventory in-house. If you are able to find quality products through a drop shipper, all you need to do is process the sales and bring new buyers to your web site.
(Example Site: WorldWideBrands.com – Resource for Finding DropShippers and Products to Sell)

These are just a few of the different ways that you can start making money online, without relying on, or having to master pay per click marketing. If you are still stuck for an idea, think about what web sites you currently use, and how you could make them better. In addition to finding a profitable business, make sure it is one that you have an interest in… otherwise it will just become another annoying job, like what everyone else has!

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29 Comments

    1. Cross linking and advertising with other sites in the same niche area. You can also buy spots in their newsletters to build up your own lists.

  2. Great post Zac! I don't think that some affiliate marketers realize there are more ways to make money other than PPC. With a content site, it takes a while to create the site and get a lot of content on it. It requires a lot of hard work and dedication but will pay off in the long run!

    1. I agree, its a lot of pain and dedication required to build high content websites. Only people who have full patience can get the fruits of it in the future.

  3. I've been earning passive income doing #5 for the past 10 years now. Accidentally got into it when I was 13 with a video game cheats/walkthrough site I put up. Some of the sites I started back then are getting thousands of hits right now. By the time I went to college I was making just enough to pay as I went. Played a bit with it on the side and now I monetized that one and have new startup websites going. Very fun way to make a living. Just takes some a lot of initial time investment and continued learning/tweaking as time goes on. It of course was a gateway into marketing and web php/sql programming too.

  5. Nice post. With a lot of MMO blogs talking about affiliate marketing, PPC, etc, people start to get the idea it IS the only way to make money, which isn't true.

  6. good post. i have a bunch of niche content blogs that make me money.

  8. I make money with #1, not a lot, but it is on auto-pilot, and i just sit back and do nothing.

    Incentive sites are an excellent way to make money. I keep telling myself I need to start another one (sold my first), but CPA keeps getting in the way.

    1. How do you guys track your incentive payouts? Custom SID per person? Do you pay out using gifts or PayPal?

  9. Zac, thanks very much for the shout-out for Contest Blogger! We really appreciate it.

    1. While i would not agree with you fully, freebies cannot be a substitute for content, I can see how a site that offers freebies etc can be really popular.

  14. I am thinking to build an online handicraft store but still considering the provider.

  16. Currently I'm only running #1, #4, #6, the best result is from #4 😉

  18. I was considering doing that CPA on those types of sites a while back but now I have a few projects that take priority over that.

    Also, what ever happened to your contest and sweepstakes type blogs/sites? Do you still have them?

    Jay

  19. Earning money online is as limitless as your imagination. I'm working on #4 and #5 but I would like to get my hands dirty on #6. It's a great compilation. Nice post, Zac. 🙂

  20. Great post Zac pay per click can be very lucrative vut it can also empty out your wallet, or purse faster than an armed robbery if you do not do it right. I prefer organic seo yeah it takes a while especially if you are in a tough niche but the rewards can be plentiful and best of all free.
    My recent post Learn SEO Online Basic Training Course for Beginners

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