When I was nearing retirement I realized that Social Security would not be enough to afford me the lifestyle I was accustomed to while I was working.

While I did have other sources of investment income I set out to do some research on how other people were making money to supplement their retirement incomes.

There are many ways that retirees can work part time starting home-based businesses but a lot of those seemed to benefit the person providing the so called extra income more than I.

Here are a couple of ways I make passive (not having to do it full time everyday) income online. Plus I’ve added some links in blue to help you get started.

Time To Advertise

I started my first web site back in 1998 and it had grown to about a couple thousand visitors per day. I had always resisted advertising on the site because lack of advertising is something that set it apart from competing sites.

Principles be damned I finally made the decision to begin advertising on my web site.

How I Make Money Blogging About Business

If you don’t have a web site then I suggest setting up a blog and write about things you know. I write about business.

Don’t give me that — if you can speak English — you can write it and someone somewhere wants to read it.

If you can use MS Word you can create a weblog. I use BlogSpot a web site that’s free to use and is tied to Google Adwords and Google Adsense that I’ll cover below.

Here are some common blog mistakes you don’t want to make.

How I Make Money Podcasting About Business

If you listen to my weekly radio show you know I do a weekly Podcast. It’s nice to have all the cool radio stuff to make a professional sounding podcast.

Don’t worry you can make a podcast just as good at home for way less.

A decent podcasting microphone will run around $100 or less. For the actual recording and editing you can download Audicity — a free computer recording and editing program. Jacobus uses this option for recording his weekly shows.

YouTube is full of videos that will show you how to use it.

How I Make Money With Web Site Ads

I decided to use Google AdSense since they were a reputable company and I could pick and choose the types of ads that would be shown on my site.

Also it’s pretty user friendly.

And being Google — my site would rise in popularity because it’s in both Google and the advertiser’s best interest to find the right customers for my web pages where the ads are located and make them more accessible.

I originally signed up with Adsense in 2010 – Can you tell from the graph below when I actually started putting up ads?

That's an extra $300.00 per month raise over the past 30 months and that's just from one source.

The best thing? — those ads will continue to produce income with no additional effort on my part. As the web site grows and the YouTube podcast grow that income will increase year over year.

 

Screen Shot by Tom Egelhoff
Screen Shot by Tom Egelhoff
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How I Make Money Doing Surveys

If you're spending time online you might as well get paid for it. You could make $50-$100 a month answering online surveys.

I don't make much doing this because I'm the wrong demographic. A kind way of saying I'm too old.

But if you're between 18-54 you are the people they are looking for and will pay you to answer questions. The one I use most is Opinion Outpost but there are many more.

Check it out.

Some Final Thoughts

Full disclosure — I don’t make any money off any of the above links if you click on them.

There are many more ways to make money online than just the ones above.

There is plenty of info on YouTube on how to do all these things and more so become a student. Figure out what you know and the best ways to get it to those who are willing to check you out and learn what you know.

If you’re excited about something the Internet is a cheap and easy way to spread that excitement to others.

You will make money and while it doesn’t happen overnight the best part is you can try it without breaking the bank. If you find the right topic you will be found.

Do what you love and the money will follow.

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