The Monetizer's Money Makers

In the world of online money making it's good to have many options so that you can supplement and grow your income. In some cases, you can join a program, forget about it and come back to a nice surprise. Read below about several sites and offers that Monetizer uses and recommends to make money online:

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Google Adsense - The granddaddy of them all. Adsense allows you to match text or image ads to your site content and then pays you based on page impressions or clicks of ads. Also offers referral style ads for Firefox, Adwords, Adsense and custom search boxes for your site/blog.

Pros: Easy to implement and format according to your blog or site needs. Great reporting features allow you to track how different ads do on your blogs or sites. Adsense also offers referral programs for Firefox, Adwords, Adsense and now offers mobile and YouTube ads as well. Very versatile and usually the best moneymaker for many sites.

Cons: One recent gripe with Adsense is their payouts for clicks seem to be decreasing lately. Another complaint is how Google will terminate an account, not give you a reason for doing so and not pay you the money that has been earned. However, Adsense continues to be the popular ad choice and easy to implement. There are also many programs similar to Adsense you can run such as Yahoo, Azoogle Ads and MSN.

Apply for Google Adsense here.

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AuctionAds - This program gives you code to insert into your blog's HTML template and then displays advertisements for Ebay auctions on your site. The ads are based on keywords you enter, or based on AuctionAds communicating with your site and matching content. If you blog about digital cameras, set your AuctionAds to display those types of ads. Or type in "toys", "video games", "comic books" as your keyword. Sky's the limit here as to what keywords you use for ads.

Pros: Relatively simple to add these type ads into your site. It's free to join and everyone gets accepted with $25 in the account for a new sign up. Also easy to implement and match colors of the ads with your website. The ads are constantly changing (based on Ebay auctions that end), which is also nice as it can attract visitors who want to see what new auction is showing on your blog.

Cons: The minimum payout of $50 can be tough to reach, although you do start with $25 when you signup for a new account. Traffic is always the key to getting more sales. The other problem so far is a lack of good reporting features. It's tough to see what you're earning from referral sales versus your own, and even worse there does not seem to be any indication of your total accumulate earnings (over months of time). Finally, there have seemed to be a few times when the ads didn't display anything other than the box with colored borders (indicating maybe their site/server was down).

Sign up for AuctionAds here.

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Cash Crate - This is a site that pays you for completing various trial offer sign-ups, filling out up to 2 surveys a day at your leisure, shopping at any of their trusted retailers, or referring your friends to sign-up.

Pros: Minimum payout here for a month is $10, making it relatively easy to get some extra cash the following month. A check is sent around the 20th of the month after you earned $10. A decent 2 level referral program as well where you earn 20% and 10% of your referral's earnings, respectively, and $3 for anyone who makes it to the $10 payout.

Cons: The daily surveys can be tough to get approved for as well as time consuming, as they pay only 80 cents each. The sign up offers can also be tricky to navigate. Some require giving email, name, address and phone # which can lead to everyone's favorite, SPAM.

Signup for CashCrate here.

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Kontera - With Kontera you insert javascript code into your blog or site's HTML and Kontera then crawls/examines your site's content. Kontera will then turn certain words within your blog or site posts into clickable ad links. Should the links be clicked by visitors, you earn money for the clicks.

Pros - Able to be run with Adsense as a secondary income source (as long as you differentiate the two a bit). Very easy to integrate the Kontera code into your blog/site's code.

Cons - Getting accepted by them might take some time (until your blog's getting the traffic & rank they want). You also have to make sure the code doesn't turn your blog titles and headlines into ads, making things look strange. Click earnings are on the lower side. With a minimum $100 payout required, it can take a while to see a payment from Kontera. However, it remains a popular additional money maker to this day for many sites.

Apply for Kontera here.

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Squidoo - A site where you basically are given your own webspace/page to create a "lens" page. The page is about any topic you choose and you can add all sorts of content to inform, illustrate and present your topic to the world. Ways to earn money are by Adsense ads run by Squidoo on your page(s). You earn a share in any clicks made on your lens page for Adsense as well as the overall Adsense pool that Squidoo earns (based on how good your page ranks, etc). You also earn if you decide to promote and display various Money Maker products on your page (from Amazon, Ebay, iTunes, etc). Should someone go through your product link and make a buy, you earn royalties/commissions.

Pros - A great way to not only promote your site, cause or blog for free, but also provides ways to earn a bit of extra income. The customization of your Squidoo page is relatively simple and offers a lot of room for flexibility and creativity. Also you can make as many pages on as many different topics as you choose to.

Cons - Earnings tend to be on the lower side and many people would recommend making money with Adsense on your own site or blog where you'd take 100% profits. The same would go for using Amazon Affiliates and Auction Ads on your own sites versus using these types of money makers on Squidoo.

Sign up for Squidoo here.

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Other money makers of interest:


Associated Content - Get paid for writing both exclusive and non-exclusive articles, submitting original videos and more! To date the Monetizer has made well over $100 using this site in just a month's time. You could upload older blog entries as non-exclusive articles and make anywhere from $3 up per article. The site will also offer you unique paid opportunities to write articles, should you choose to accept!

Monetize your Website or Blog with BidVertiser - Another ad program similar to Google Adsense. Bidvertiser also provides you a way to buy links for your own site or blog and have them run on other sites. Offering $20 as a signup for new accounts.

Clickbank or Commission Junction - Two popular affiliate programs that will pay you. Clickbank offers e-books, downloads and sign-ups and gives rather large percentage commissions on your sales. You create "hoplinks" which you promote via your blog or website. Should a visitor click through and buy the product, you get paid! Commission Junction offers a TON of reputable and well-known companies such as Apple, Buy.com, Hot Topic, Disney and WWE! You can get paid by promoting various products, should someone buy through your link, or even if they sign up for free offers!

DealDotCom - This is an affiliate program where you earn commissions of 35% on item sales (on the 1st level) for the life of the program. They offer people daily products that help with SEO, marketing, web design and more. Great referral program and some great daily deals to take advantage of. For example, recently they offered a package of 1000 button graphics/animations for sites, for just $17. They also were selling an e-book for $7.95 where you would also own the book's resale rights (think Ebay).

Gather - social media site where you submit your own articles, images and videos. You earn points for giving and receiving comments, joining groups and referring new signups. Gather rewards you with the option to cash in your points for gift cards to places like Borders, Brookstones, Home Depot and Omaha Steaks. Also, should you achieve 3,000 pts in a calendar month, you may be invited to be a part of Gather's "cash earning" program on the site.

- With PayPerPost you get paid to write blog posts. Submit your blog for approval, and once you're in you can then select from relevant classified ads to blog about. Earn anywhere from $5 to $200 for a post.


WidgetBucks- This is the new kid on the block (Oct 2007). It looks like Auction Ads, works like Adsense. The best of both worlds. It displays rotating product ads related to your category choice. Clicks pay you. Category choices and color schemes are somewhat limited depending on the niche of your blog or site. Some bloggers and site owners have reported fantastic earnings from this program to date. Right now Widgetbucks is giving new sign-ups $25 in their account, so you're halfway to the $50 payout!

Yuwie - Often overlooked by Monetizer, but some claim if you put in the groundwork, you can build up a solid network of referral friends, which can lead to thousands of dollars a month in income. This one has been said to be gaining in popularity, however little is heard about it in comparison to heavyweights Facebook and Myspace.

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The above ideas should easily give you at least a few ways to earn some money online and start to grow your income. You don't necessarily need an all out website with hosting to be accepted or use some of the above (AuctionAds, Cash Crate, Yuwie, etc) Give a few a try but keep in mind certain programs above don't like to be displayed with other ad programs. If you believe it's an issue be sure to consult the ad program Terms of Service or email their customer support.