Let's face it. Making money online is becoming more and more difficult. Several years ago, there were less websites, nowadays millions more have come online. People are finding that venturing online can be a lucrative avenue. But even though you have competition, you can still make some money online. According to Internet World Stats, the growth of Internet users has sky-rocketed from 24.7% to 362.3% for the year 2000-2009 which is a massive increase. Even though more and more markets are becoming saturated, you can still take advantage of them due to the constant increase of the Internet market.

There are several ways you can make money online. Here are 2 most popular ways.

Affiliate Programs

Affiliate programs are one of the fastest ways to start making money because you just need to refer people to the merchant site and get a commission once a sale is made. There is also no need for you to deal with customer service. You don't need any product inventory as well incase it's hard goods or if it's an info product like a digital ebook or software, you don't need to bother creating it. You just drive traffic to the merchant site. The rest is taken care of by the latter. One of the most rewarding things being an affiliate is freedom. You also don't need employees, less overheads, no inventory, no shipping, hence you can just focus more time in promoting your affiliate business. One of the drawbacks is you only earn a percentage of the sale, so it's wise to choose which products to promote and those that offer higher commissions.

Selling Your Own Products

Having your own products whether it's hard goods or digital goods is one of the best ways to make money online and usually, you can get more success. You can get loads of affiliates promoting your products either on websites, via email marketing, so that's free marketing for you. You only pay them when they make a sale. You also have more control over your business, you can change things and make it more profitable. The advantage is you get the full amount of the sale as compared to affiliate programs. Some of the drawbacks are it takes time to create your own products and requires good knowledge in your field. You might need to hire employees when your business starts to grow. You also have more overheads, possible inventory to keep if it's hard goods and you need to have a shipping system in place.

Competition has emerged fast in the online industry but you can still get a share of the pie. Build a business around something you are passionate about and making money online will become more realistic and lucrative for you.