6 Ways to Make Money in 2013

2013 is a new year, and new year’s historically bring the potential for dramatic change and renewal in millions of lives throughout the world. With this new year, consumers are making resolutions and adjustments in their lives and counting on the promise that this year will be better than all the year’s previously. While2013 may bring several promises for positive change, there is one change that simply cannot be promised: the change in the current economy. Yes, there are many who believe that 2013 will be a turnaround year for this economy, but the economy cannot change overnight.

For consumers who need to take their financial situation into their own hands and protect themselves from budget cuts, personnel cuts, or a tenuous financial future, making money online may be a great opportunity. Online money making ventures have become more evolved and more reliable in the past decade. With new online businesses popping up every day and new online freelance forums offering quick and simple job opportunities, it may be possible to generate a substantial secondary or even a primary income through the Internet. Understanding the best online money-making opportunities for 2013 will help you begin to create a profitable and sustainable income in the new year. This definitive guide to making money online will give you the tools and tips you need to get started.

There are hundreds of articles online about the best money-making ventures for 2013. This featured article at Fox.com by Kim Komando is a great example of the wealth of opportunity available this year. Here are some of the tips that Komando suggests as well as a few other opportunities that can be found online.

Online Arts and Crafts

Art and craft sales used to be limited to community events and special craft fairs. Crafters who specialized in these items were forced to lug their wares from event to event, setting up tents, marketing with signage, and relying on uncontrollable conditions such as weather and craft fair visitors to make a profit. With the Internet, this is no longer necessary. Online craft stores and arts stores allow creative people to sell their products online. Etsy.com is one of the most popular online stores for handmade items. You can post your goods online, use some basic marketing and SEO strategies to gain global attention, and start making a profit by selling your creations from the comfort of your own home.

Licensing Photos Online

If you’re not a crafter but you have a knack for the creative, consider putting your aesthetic vision to work by licensing your photography online. Professional photographs come with professional-grade price tags. Businesses that need simple stock photos for their websites are often forced to pay top dollar for the rights to post an image online. Common photograph subjects include people, cultures, landmarks, nature scenes, flowers, animals, signs, and abstract art. If you’ve developed a portfolio of photographs, you can post these photographs online and license them out to various users. You’ll get paid a small sum for each photograph that is downloaded, and your work will appear across the web.

Virtual Assistants

Virtual assistantship is another great way to make money online. Businesses that must pay for assistants, secretaries, and telecommunication specialists in house often shell out major bucks for high quality professionals. Businesses have been affected by the negative economy, though, and many companies are looking at virtual assistants as a way to cut costs. As a virtual assistant, you’ll be in charge of data entry, file management and organization, scheduling, e-mail response, customer service, and even answering a business’s phone, but you’ll be able to accomplish all of this from the comfort of your own home. Online opportunities for virtual assistants abound online, so you can search public forums to connect with the business that can benefit most from your unique skill set.

Freelance Writing

Freelance writing has been an online money-making opportunity for years, but this line of freelance work is expected to grow exponentially in the next few years. As search engine optimization comes to rely more on high quality content rather than keyword-stuffed articles, the value of the services of a high quality and effective writer will skyrocket. If you can craft engaging articles that are informative, humorous, interesting, and popular, you’ll be able to write your own ticket as a freelance writer. You can use websites such as Elance and oDesk to connect with businesses that are in need of your skills. Develop a portfolio of high quality articles and post them to your personal profile to begin attracting the attention of SEO companies and marketers.

Freelance Design

Freelance design services are another great way to make some extra money online. Because visuals are so important to the marketing efforts of a successful company, individuals who are capable of designing stunning websites, creating effective and eye-catching logos, or illustrating helpful and informative infographics will easily find work in 2013. You can use freelance forums such as Elance to start connecting with companies in need of design services, or you can post ready-made logos to sites such as Etsy.

Monetize a Website

One of the most effective ways to make real money in 2013 involves the monetization of a website. Website monetization, however, is a long and grueling process. To begin, you’ll have to create a website that gets a great deal of page views each day. Once your website starts attracting visitors, you can sell products or services to your visitors or get companies and businesses to sponsor your site with advertisements.

2013 is potentially the biggest year for online money-making ventures yet. With the world of search engine optimization continuing to develop and expand, the services of freelancers will become more and more important. The presence of online marketplaces such as Etsy and Facebook Marketplace allow crafty and creative individuals to sell their creations to a larger customer base. The Internet is the perfect vehicle for communication and connection, and you can use these connections to start earning money online.