If the internet is a mall then we all agree that it’s a very humongous mall. As of the latest survey for July 26, 2010 around 9:46 am, wiki answers gives us approximately 1,474,822,045 of the world’s population goes online every day. Wow, that’s a lot isn’t it? That’s how big your potential market is.

Like so many who goes online to browse I hate the walk around. I prefer the simpler walk through, I’m a busy guy myself who has other sites to visit like those super funny gags on Youtube, hehehe, so funny. So let me breakdown the avenues that could make you some real money on the internet.

If you’re into Photography then you can sell,

Pictures or photographs

You don’t have to be an expert to sell your pictures. There are a number of websites where you can post your images to and if they are really good pictures you are bound to sell a copy. They don’t even have to be award winning shots either, some images or photographs are sold as stock photos because they can be a part of something else, ex. background images like a nice wall or a clear summer’s day at the beach or the park can get you paid. Anything goes with selling photos, you will never know who will need an image of your cute dog or that grungy close up texture of your peeling wall paint, or a shot of someone eating their favorite burger unless you post it up for sale. But the quality has to be there. Be sure to check your focus and perspective.

Do read the guidelines of your image hosting provider/reseller, to know what images they need and what images are not allowed before you start uploading those classic self portraits that makes you look so damn cool.

Where to go
• 123rf.com
• crestock.com
• shutterstock.com
• istockphoto.com

Related reads for selling photographs
• Selling Photos Online
• How to Sell Stock Photos Online
• How to Make Money Selling Stock Photos Online

I hear you are more into graphic design? Then you can sell,

Digital art

If you don’t know digital art, then I guess this is not for you, (but do read on you might pick up something valuable). Digital art is any artistic work or practice that uses digital technology. Let’s say you are conceptually savvy and you’ve been doodleling on your parents walls long before you learned to walk. One day you discovered how to use image enhancing/editing application softwares like “Photoshop” or it’s open sourced cousins like “Gimp” then check this out. Just like photographs vector illustrations are also in demand. It’s uber cool if you can sell a copy of your original artwork as art, but swirly’s and silhouettes can also get you some dough. These types of illustrations are also used for backgrounds of conceptual designs from web to print, like posters, brochures, banners and t-shirts. Also if you are good with logo or brand design then you should definitely go with this.

Where to go
• 123rf.com
• crestock.com
• shutterstock.com
• istockphoto.com

“This is not a mistake the photo resellers also dabbles in the vector image trade”

But wait, there’s more…

• graphicriver.com
• deviantart.com
• graphicleftovers.com
• vectorstock.com

Related reads for selling vector art
• How to Make Money With Vector Art
• Do you want to earn money selling vector images?
• 40+ Places to Sell Your Designs Online

T-shirt designs

Since we are on the subject of designs, tshirt designs are also getting a piece of the web money making action, and just like photography and vector illustrations tshirt designs can give you a continous flow of income depending on how well you do your stuff.

Where to go

• cafepress.com
• redbubble.com
• spreadshirt.com

Related reads for selling tShirts
• How to sell your custom t-shirts online and make money!
• So You Want to Earn Money Online and Work For Yourself?
• How to Break into T-Shirt Design

How about turning your thoughts into reading material,

Writing

So you hate carrying a heavy and expensive camera and the only software app you can operate is your document writer/editor. Fear not because article writing is also in the list of profitable things you can do online. You can sell your articles and write-ups. If you’re a techie you can also do product reviews or write tutorials.

Where to go
• associatedcontent.com
• constant-content.com

“Do an online search for websites that pay’s for articles or tutorials like, psd.tutsplus.com“

Related reads for selling articles and write-ups
• How to Earn Money with Online Writing
• How to Write and Sell Articles to Websites and Magazines
• Writing for Money – How to Make Money Writing
• Earn Money Online Writing Articles

Blogging

Since you’re a writer another thing you can do is set up a blog and if you’re good enough to get regular traffic then ad placement is another money maker that just keeps on giving. All you need is some relevant content that a lot of people could associate with and they keep coming back for more. If you need help setting up a blog or a self hosted website on a free host then simply refer to How to set-up a free website on a free web-host for newbies.

Where to go
• Google’s adsense
• buysellads.com

These are some online money makers that a noob like me would be very interested with. If you’re a web designer you have the advantage of putting up your own site, and sell your stuff so you don’t have to pay commission fees. But the competition is pretty stiff and you would need to learn how to drive some serious traffic to your website, before you get involved with ad placements, like buysellads.com but it doesn’t stop there. You could also hook up with affiliate programs.

Affiliate programs

How it works

Affiliate programs are marketing strategies of some websites to increase memberships and traffic. Once you register to them they will give you a reference code that links back to their site. Some affiliates pays per click and some per sign-up. That means they will pay you when someone uses your link to get to their website.

Related article

Affiliate Marketing Is A Number One Online Business

My affiliate sites
• justhost.com – web / domain hosting provider
• neobux.com – PTC or paid to click programs that also pays to refer new members
• ad.ly – a twitter based ad publisher

That’s a wrap!

Before we roll out the credits I would just like to add that the brilliant guys who built psd.tutsplus made a series of web sites that could open up a new can of worms with making money online which they call Envato or the Envato marketplace from website templates and flash animations to music samples and 3D works even video after effects and what programmers do in their sleep, coding and scripting. So go check them out and see what they have that fits your skill sets that will eventually give you the power to buy your friends coffee. (Uhurmmn, clears throat then winks)

Well that is all there is to it my friends, wasn’t it short and sweet? I’m pretty sure I’ve only uncovered the tip of the iceberg. But as a noob I’d like to start with the easy ones. I’m not saying it will be a breeze, remember the golden rule “if it’s too good to be true it probably is” so don’t quit your day job or stop looking if you’re on sabbatical like me *wink, wink. In the end it’s not how you find opportunities to earn that’s important it’s your willingness to find opportunities, always keep an open mind and weigh things that could be good or bad for you. Until next posting, rakenrol!

“Aside from life changing comments and flattering link-backs, donations are now being accepted. THANK YOU!“

Aside from hardware issues, or computer virus issues, basic programming syntax or debugging problems the question of “How do I set up a (free) website?” pops up on a regular basis. They are posted by students who are doing some project for their school or from start up business owners who would like to venture online.

This is a play by play of how to do this for anyone interested with little or no experience with setting up a website. But before we proceed I would like everyone to know that this tutorial will not touch on the subject of how to create a website from scratch.

If you want to get started with HTML first,

Related readings that could help:

• The Essentials of Creating a Website
• How to Build a Web Site from Scratch with No Experience
• How to Make a Website
• How to Create a Simple Web Page With HTML

Setting up a website for free

When setting up a website for free there are limitations of course or no one would be in the business of providing web and domain hosting which is like a virtual real estate, so before we begin we must answer the question.

What’s the purpose of your website?

Since were talking about free websites with no cash out whatsoever, what do you need it for?

1. School project
2. Personal project
3. A small business (selling your stuff, stuff you created from your spare time, etc.)
4. You want a website for your dog, your cat, or your goldfish.
5. Or you just want to practice and see how the big boys do it.

I did mention small businesses and if you’re just starting out, a free site could do the trick but don’t forget that there will be limitations. But still this will get you by until you can afford to put up a real site. OK, Once you have all the resources and write ups let’s start with the easiest.

A blogsite

Blogsites are free and most if not all of them are free hosted as well, so you generally have 2 for 2 here, a free web site and a host. They come with easy to follow set up instructions and you get to choose from a lot of different themes to skin your website. After you set it up your good to go, it supports image uploads and video uploads too. If you generate enough following you can even use it to earn some money having ads placed on your blog.

I’m giving you two options because we don’t need to complicate it, www.blogger.com (a.k.a. blogspot) and wordpress.com not to be confused with wordpress.org which is a stand alone blog platform it’s also open source which means it’s free, more powerful and customizable than the other two I mentioned simple and easy to use but it requires a web server (host). It also provides a range of useful extensions/plugins which makes customizing more easier. But some intermediate back-end coding is required.

blogger.com a.k.a. blogspot

Rate of Difficulty: Easy to Moderate

This blogger service was acquired by Google in 2003 (from Pyra Labs – the company that coined the word Blog, creating the service Blogger) so chances are if you have a Gmail account then your one step closer to your Blogger account because Google allows you to use your Gmail for other products that they have (like adsense, analytics, etc.) You can always sign up for a new one because it’s uber easy to do and it’s free.

So for blogger.com

Go to the website

blogger.com, click on the big orange button that says create a blog.

Step 1

Fill out all the necessary details.

Step 2

The fun part, naming your first website, don’t worry if you haven’t thought this one through you can rename this anytime you want, but don’t wait too long because if you are able to get subscribers early renaming your site will confuse them and you may lose the traffic.

Step 3

Choosing a template, learn what template matches your blogsite you can experiment with this until you find the right one.

Step 4

You’re done you can begin populating your brand new website, write something about your pet’s habits, your favorite food or watering hole, where to get stuff for free, sell your art, do whatever you want with it. Just like any new toy start having fun and play with it, learn to navigate around your new blogger account.

Echoes of a Xzykho

My first blogsite which happens to be a blogger account has been up since 2006 I try to write there every now and then, I’ve learned a lot from it and it’s a good training ground for writing about almost anything, and if you’re keen on HTML and CSS then you can also try practicing around your themes layout. (Note: Make sure you back up the original template codes before you start hacking away.)

I will not go into details with activating a wordpress.com blog not because I don’t recommend it but only because the procedure is almost the same and I’m sure you guys are smart enough to figure this one out by yourself. What I’m going to show you is something more powerful than a regular free blog. I’m going to show you how to set up your static website or a wordpress.org template on a freehost.

This is only for those who have a website ready and would like to put it up on the web, and also for those who would like to give wordpress a try.

Using your own website files or a wordpress platform

Rate of Difficulty: Moderate to Heavy

Step 1

First thing you need to do is register for a free host at kwikphp.com or 000webhost.com don’t worry I am not affiliated with either of this 2 host sites. I’m not asking you to get your site hosted here too, I however have tried kwikphp.com to put up my test online portfolios so I’m just extending to all of you that they are cool and a good friend of mine recommended 000webhost.com and says it’s way much better. But before you sign up make sure to make your own comparison and pick the one that suits you best.

Step 2

Once registered you will need a free FTP client (File Transfer Protocol) this will allow you to have a direct line of communication from the client (your local machine) to the server (your host). I recommend you download Filezilla another open source software solution or a plugin for your Mozilla Firefox browser called Fire FTP this one is like an add on to your browser while Filezilla is an application you need to install locally.

Optional

Last thing you will need is optional just in case you want to try wordpress then I suggest you download the latest version.

When you get everything up and running it’s time to configure your FTP client to connect to your web host.

Details you will need from the host:

• Host name – or FTP Server
• User Name
• Password

Your hosting company should send you these details via email but if you did not receive one you can log-in to your account and look for the FTP management tab or page. Open your FTP client if you are on Filezilla enter the required details then choose “Quickconnect”, if you’re using Fire FTP click on the “create account” drop down menu and enter your account details.

Once connected you will be looking at two boxes that looks like your folder directory one would be your local machine and the other will be the server directory. Look for the directory folder named “htdocs” or “public_html” different servers have different root directory names but it’s usually these two, if you can’t find it then look it up on the help section or ask an admin.

Open the public directory, then on your local machine side locate the folder of your website, make sure you have an index page then just drag your files from your local folder to your server folder and wait, another method would be to high-lite the files you want to upload then right click to see your options you will see an option to upload just click on it and wait. When its all done type in your domain name on your favorite browser and enjoy. Since its free you don’t have the luxury to have your own personal domain name usually it’s a subdomain using your username then the servers domain name i.e. xzykho.kwikphp.com

For a wordpress blog it’s almost basically the same process except with a wordpress blog platform you will need to configure your wp-config-sample.php by opening it in a text editor, dreamweaver would be perfect, but a notepad can also work.

Look for the following. (Usually found at the beginning)

// ** MySQL settings – You can get this info from your web host ** //

/** The name of the database for WordPress */

define(‘DB_NAME’, ‘putyourdbnamehere’);

/** MySQL database username */

define(‘DB_USER’, ‘usernamehere’);

/** MySQL database password */

define(‘DB_PASSWORD’, ‘yourpasswordhere’);

/** MySQL hostname */

define(‘DB_HOST’, ‘localhost’); – this part is optional sometimes you just leave it alone but if it doesn’t work look for it in your C-panel.

replace all requirements with your account details then save the file as wp-config.php (without -sample). Then you are ready to upload it to your host. Once everything is in run the wordpress installation script by accesing wp-admin/install.php in your browser of choice. This means if you put your files in the root directory you should have http://www.xzykho.kwikphp.com/wp-admin/install.php and it’s all fool proof from there. If you run into some issues be sure to check out Famous 5-Minute Install from wordpress.org

More comprehensive reading

WordPress Installation

Well that’s all there is to it…

Compare a Free site vs. a Paid site

Here you will get an idea from some people about the difference of having a free website against a paid web site.

• Make Your Own Website – Free Vs Paid Website Editors For Professional Use
• Free vs. Paid Website Hosting
• Want to Create a Free Website?

If you have any questions about this post feel free to post your inquiries and comments and I will try to get back to you as soon as I can. And if you find this tutorial helpful or interesting help me spread the word by clicking on the social bookmarking button “Sharing is Sexy!” and share it with you friends on the social bookmark networks provided.

Must read for night photography

• 10 ways to improve your night photography
• Digital night photography tips
• Three Photography Myths About Nighttime Photography
• Night photography Tutorial by =ehlo
• Smashing Magazines – 60 Beautiful Examples Of Night Photography

Here is a collection of 30 photos that I hope will inspire newbies like me to not loose hope with night time photography, and continue practicing and sharing your work to rest of the community.

The first camera I’ve actually owned was a Yashica FX-3 a manual SLR that I bought from a second hand store a long time ago. I got it real cheap because it was a fixer-upper. Nothing major, mostly aesthetics since it was probably sitting at the super store of cool finds for quite some time. I did learn a lot from that camera, basic things mostly, ISO, aperture, shutter settings and how to focus and take a shot without making your subject lose their pose or smile and stuff like that, very basic but the most important skills you will need in your photo shooting arsenal, having said that this article will not be touching that subject but do read on.

There are some downside to owning a manual SLR as a beginner, for one thing you’ll never know which shot is a bust until you get them developed and that will cost you, then it’s also quite expensive to arm yourself with enough film negatives that you will need to practice. In the advent of digital photography I ventured into scanning my pictures to be digitized copies which is not a good idea to be excited about, the quality was very very bad and resizing a scanned picture will not produce quality prints so might as well forget about that bright idea. Investing in a digital camera is a must these days especially if you’re active online, it could be social network sites (where you exchange wacky pictures with family and friends) that keeps you busy, or you are the owner of multiple blog islets (that features anything under, even around the sun) you may even be the brains behind your own personal website, whatever the case may be each one would occasionally require the aid of a visual stimulant that would help convey your erratic thoughts to your visitors.

Suggested reading for beginners

• Mosly Lisa’s – 10 New Years Resolutions Every Photographer should make
• Photo tuts+ – The Beginner’s Guide to Creating a Photoblog: Part 1
• Digital Photgraphy School – Digital Photography Tips for Beginners

OK so let’s get down to business, I’m not expecting anyone to have a high-end DSLR but kudos to you if you happen to have such an equipment, what I would like to mention at this stage is that to be effective you would need your own basic instincts as well to get the shots that you would be proud of. So grab your camera phones and your digital point and shoots (loose the DSLR’s for awhile) and lets go on a photo-walk.

If you’re not busy or tired try to go on occasional photo-walks

Our good friend wikipedia.com (please donate when you can) describes photo-walking as the act of walking with a camera for the main purpose of taking pictures of things that the photographer may find interesting. There are tons of subjects you can use for your theme of the day or go wild without any and just shoot whatever passes in front of your lens. Whatever you decide here are a few tips on how to get some interesting shots out of ordinary things.

Lines, shapes and patterns

Question, can you overlook a photography subject that’s present in architecture and nature? You can’t, but most beginners probably will and may possibly ignore them, try to see lines that would raise an interest whenever you go out. If you get really good at this you can even sell this stuff as patterns to designers.

Using the 2 mega pixel camera of the Nokia E63 I captured these images in front of a corporate office building.

Perspectives

Looking from a different angle is always interesting, sometimes all it takes is to see the world from a fresh set of eyes to appreciate its beautiful simplicity. Going real low on the ground produces some cool perspectives, as it is with viewing from the top (birds eye view).

With the Sony Cybershot its easy to get these unconventional shots.

Colors

They’re everywhere and just like the air we breath colors can be so naturally forgotten as the main subject to take in photography. Look for colors that pops out from the rest of the scene, don’t be afraid to mix and match.

We picked the Nikon D-90 because of the way it interprets real colors.

Portraits

This is difficult to get without asking permission from your soon to be subject so if you’re a bit shy talking to strangers a good lens will do you good (paparazzi style). You can also start practicing with your friends and families or practice on yourself, all you need is a tripod or anything you can put your camera on top of (make sure it’s stable), a camera timer or remote. And keep in mind that the more natural the expression the more dramatic the end result will come out.

Well that’s all I have for now

I just want to cap this off by mentioning that post photo-shoot enhancements are very common these days it’s a big help to maximize your images that gives them character and that extra “Bada-bim, Bada-boom”. Given that all these technological advancements are within your reach I still suggest that as a beginner make time and get to know the manual settings through and through and not to rely on image enhancement applications just yet. And most importantly always see ordinary things from an extraordinary point of view.