As the costs of college go up and the economy continues to wade through it's current malaise you are wondering what to do? Can you make the budget stretch or achieve your goals for those kids heading off to college? You may not have to, they may do it themselves. The internet, something that your kids have grown up with and know better than we can ever know, may be the answer. Here are 3 ways to make money Teenagers can do now, and create an automated income.

The first opportunity is to launch an Affiliate Marketing career. Affiliate programs are free to join and offer commissions for any sales generated by the affiliate through their marketing efforts. Have your teen find products that they feel are popular with their intended market and join the Affiliate Program for that product. They can build Squidoo lenses (a free service) to promote their product and place their Affiliate link. Then go out to blogs and social networking sites and invite folks to try out the selected product. They can also run FREE ads at places like USFreeAds.

The second opportunity is to create their own product. Let them turn the hours of play on Runescape or World of Warcraft into money. Have them write an e-book guide, or make a video, offering secrets and tips on how to better play and enjoy their chosen game. Register the finished product with an Affiliate Network (like ClickBank) and launch their guide, charging a fee for the product. All you need is a word processing program or video software, a website (as little as $10 a month with domain), and an auto-responder.

The third opportunity is to write articles for folks that are engaged in internet marketing. They could join a site like Elance and write articles like this one for others for a fee. Your teenager can review available jobs on many of these sites and bid on jobs. When they are selected to perform, they merely write the necessary article(s) and send it to the buyer. Upon receipt, the buyer will send the money via Pay Pal, transaction complete. There is a lot of work in article writing and web design and our kids know this stuff a lot better than anybody over the age of 40.

The internet and internet marketing are changing the dynamics of the world economy. Each year more and more commerce is being transacted over the internet and those that choose to play in this arena will benefit in the future economy. Help your kids learn to be self reliant and nurture their entrepreneurial spirit. Any of the above methods are proven ways to make money online and free yourself from the grind of a 9 to 5 JOB.

The economy of the past is slipping by us and the old days of finding a position with a "good" company and staying until retirement died with our parents. Our children will need to know much more about business than we did focusing on creating value and marketing themselves for both jobs and their own businesses. By choosing to market products on the internet our kids will be able to select the products and services they are interested in and passionate about and make money pursuing their dreams.

Good luck