Start earning money online today without risking a dime by Rob Dickson Everyone knows the saying 'It takes money to make money.' This old and wise phrase still holds true today.......... to an extent. When it comes to starting an online business, you usually have to put up at least some money, even if it is a small amount. However, thanks to the modern wonder that is the internet, there are ways to earn money online without risking a cent. The most common method of earning money online without risking any money of your own is through affiliate programs. Thousands of websites have an affiliate program, and 99% of them are free to sign up. When you sign up, you will get your own link that you can promote however you wish. When someone who entered the site through your link purchases a product, you earn a commission, ranging from 5% to as much as 55% of the cost of the product. You have become a virtual sales rep for the company, without any deadlines to meet or pressure to sell anything. Promoting your affiliate links may be tricky to do without spending money, but it is possible. You can always tell family and friends about the products and services you are representing. In addition, you can get a free website and email address from several sources, and use that to promote your links (NOTE: Sending unsolicited SPAM mail is illegal, and will get you cut from affiliate programs). Posting to message boards is usually free, and there are many other free methods of advertising available online. One of the best methods I have found is using a 'Chain Box' like HitTrafficker. With good promotion, you can eventually have a huge base of people coming to your site. Another way to promote your affiliate links is on Pay-Per-Click search engines like Overture.com, where you bid a certain amount (usually a few cents) for every time someone clicks on your link. The higher the bid, the higher your placement on the results list. You can save tons of money this way, because you only get charged for when someone visits your link. You are paying a very small amount for good targeted traffic. They wouldn't have clicked on your link, if they didn't want your service. I highly reccommend using Overture's service. Registering your own domain costs money, but it is actually surprisingly inexpensive. In addition, this allows you to promote a more legitimate-looking website, with fewer restrictions on content. You can also choose the domain name, which gives you the ultimate in legitimacy. You can now promote http://www.Your-Domain.com/, send emails from an account with that domain (sales@Your-Domain.com), and have a name that people will remember. It doesn't get any better than that. Register your domain name at Register.com, and get cheap web hosting from Host$ave or iPowerWeb. The bottom line is that the better your content, the less you will have to promote. People tend to find the best sites through word of mouth, links from another site, or from an article they read about the site. If your site is good, people will find it. Providing quality information for the world of the internet is the best way to end up on top of the game. -ds