Are you interested in earning money online? Are you wondering how you can make your first buck on the internet?
Trying to figure out how to make your first buck online will lead you to many get rich quick schemes and a plethora of useless sites. This is why I wanted to compile a colossal list with input from successful internet entrepreneurs on how they made their first buck online. This ginormous list covers every possible way you can start off with making money online. You’ll be fairly surprised to find out how some of your favorite bloggers got started.
How did pro bloggers make their first dollar on the internet?
What’s a pro blogger/internet entrepreneur? These are individuals that earn their livelihood solely on the internet. Let’s look at how these pros started off with making money online:
Baker of Man Vs Debt: I made my first dollar online by writing a blog post reviewing a guide by Chris Guillebeau. I sold two copies through my affiliate link, which I think paid me out about $55.
@patflynn: Sold baseball cards on eBay, if that counts. Really though, it was greenexamacademy.com, just adding adsense to a site that already had a lot of traffic, thanks to all the content I had previously published on it. 2 dollars and 60 cents the first day, never looked back.
Jeremy of Gen X Finance: I think I made my first dollar online back in 1997 or ’98 or so selling a few CDs on eBay. Not a very exciting story.
Mike of Oblivious Investor: I sold my first book in September 2007. $30.46 of income that month.
Flexo of Consumerism Commentary: My first time making money online was through consulting to my professors in college in 1995 who wanted “home pages.”
How did some of my blogging peers make their first buck online?
I reached out to my fellow bloggers to see how they first earned a buck online. These are all bloggers that are either already earning an amazing income off the internet or in the process of doing so. Let’s see where they started:
Kristoph of Smashing Entrepreneur: As a startup consultant, I started a blog community and started interacting with my readers. I browsed a reader’s website and noticed she had a great business concept, but certain elements of her website/marketing was driving customers away and I told her that. She came back and asked for my rate, assuming I did consulting services. That was the first way I started generating money online with that site. Don’t underestimate the power of connecting with individuals.
Ron of The Wisdom Journal: I made my first dollar online by selling a text link ad on my blog (something I no longer do) … unless you count selling junk on eBay!
Kyle of Amateur Asset Allocator: I put up the Spanish site back in 2005 (I think). I only monetized with adsense at first. I think I probably made $2 the entire first 6 months. Then I forgot about it for another two years and when I looked again I magically had search traffic and was earning close to $100 every month.
Peter of Bible Money Matters: my first online income had to be from selling things on ebay. For a while there i had a booming business selling things for family and friends via my ebay account, taking a cut of the earnings.. That had to be back around 1998-1999 or so?
Patrick of Cash Money Life: Selling items on Ebay. Can’t remember what it was, but it must have been around 2003.
Niel of Wealth Pilgrim: January 15,2010 – $1.03 — first click on Adsense.
Echo of Boomer and Echo: August 12th, 2010: $1.03 first click on AdSense.
Pat of Compounding Returns: First money I made was from staff writing. After that, on my own site I started getting offers for a few paid reviews here and there. Hoping for my first Adsense check here this month.
No Debt MBA: The first money i made online was through a paid survey site. After two months I got a check in the mail for $10. As a high school kid I didn’t have a checking account so my parents were pretty puzzled when I asked them to cash it for me.
FSFYA: The first cash money I made online came from suggesting a free online stock trading account. I was very excited when I got my check for $25! I have more money waiting for me but I have to hit the threshold to have it paid out, waiting on Adsense.
Jackie of Money Crush: I made my first money on line by referring someone to ING. I was so excited to have “free money” just appear in my account.
A few extras. I got a few more entries past the original 23:
KNS Financial: The first time I made money online was through someone advertising on my site. This happened twice during the first 8 months. Then I became a staff writer – which was my first steady income.
Buy Like Buffet: Staff writing was the way for me as well. I wrote for other sites for income until my site became a money maker.
Kay Lynn of Bucksome Boomer: The first money I made online was by selling something on Ebay. The first money i made from my blog was from the BlogHer ad network. I was so thrilled with the fact I could actually make money from my blog that I didn’t cash it for a few weeks.
Suba of Wealth Informatics: Mine was ad sense from my blog. I still have a copy of that check 
Tight Fisted Miser: My first money online was from eBay. My first blogging income was from a company called PayPerPost. A lot of bloggers worked with them back when they started but I don’t think they are a good deal for bloggers anymore.
How did you first make money online? (from Twitter):
@frugaldad: I made my first buck writing articles for a content directory back in 2006-2007. Then it occurred to me…hey, I could build my own site.
@canadianfinance: I made my first buck online back in 2001 with a $10/month ad placement for a local nightclub on my site back when I used to DJ
@jjeffrose: My first buck was earned online was with Google Adsense. It took me about 4 months to receive my 1st payout but I was super excited!
@mgip: Played in first-person shooter games tournaments. I used to play professionally for fun and the reward money just came about when my team won.
@financialsamura: Someone just contacted me out of the blue and asked to do business. I never went searching for money. They just found me.
@sustainlifeblog: Selling blog ads.
@budgetsaresexy: Adsense. Though it took 6 months for me to actually *get* it! Haha… had to reach their limit or whatever.
How did I make my first buck online?
I really can’t remember my first buck to be honest. I actually started a few sites back in 1999 when I was in grade 8.
I’ve always been a huge wrestling fan. I started my own wrestling site in the summer of 1999, titled, “Millenium Wrestling.” Yes I did eventually find out that I spelled the name wrong. The site picked up traffic over time and slowly got more popular. I used to love checking the hit counter at the bottom of the page. I never knew anything about making money off a site or putting up advertising. I eventually hit high school and totally forgot about my online projects.
The first time I made a buck online I believe was through AllAdvantage. This was one of those sites where you got paid to surf the web. The problem was that I never received this money. I forget what the holdup was. I believe I got some excuse about how they didn’t send checks to Canada.
I made my triumphant return to running a site in November of 2008 when I started Studenomics. I finally made my first buck online in late-2008 when an advertiser contacted me and offered me $20 for a text link. I got the money in my Paypal account and was eager to transfer it over to my bank account. Unfortunately, I spent the money on eBay before I could ever see it.
What are some great resources for making money online?
Now that we know how many different amazing people earned their first buck online, let’s look at some great resources for making money online (the legit way– you can always make a sex tape with a celebrity on your own):
Building a Kick Ass Product in Two Weeks @ Think Traffic.
Free is Not a Business Model @ Ridiculously Extraordinary.
How to Make Money on the Internet @ Chris Guillebeau.
Running Multiple Blogs, Earning 6 Figures, Working Less Than 40 Hours – A How To Guide To Financial Freedom @ The Financial Blogger.
The Hardest Part of Getting a Business Off The Ground @ Studenomics.
Self-Employment: A Year Later @ PT Money.
Realistic Expectations For Making Money Through Blogging @ Consumerism Commentary.
Sell It Now — how to make hundreds of dollars in 37 minutes @ IWTYTBR.
How did you make your first buck online? How do you plan on making your first or next dollar off the internet?