I'll just run through a quick list of some solid ways to generate income on the web:

1. Build a web site that offers a valuable service, and run AdSense on it.
   

2. Build a web site with high Page Rank (PR) and Alexa rank, and sell Text Link Ads on it.
3. Build a decent web site or blog and sell it.
4. Start a blog and sign up with pay-to-blog programs. Each paid post will get you around $5 at the least, and much more if your blog has good traffic, subscriber numbers, PR, Alexa rank, and Technorati authority.
5. Get paid to write content for other web sites, blogs, and eBook sellers.
6. Write your own eBook and sell it.
7. Sign up with an affiliate program like Amazon or ClickBank and advertise their products.
8. Buy domain names with proven traffic and park them with a site like Sedo that pays you for every click an ad on your page gets.
9. Sell your stuff on eBay.
10. Sell your web design or coding skills on a job-by-job basis.

    Bonus:

11. Trade stocks or currencies (Forex) online.

If you've got a web site, you can make money with Amazon.

When Amazon.com started out, books were their main focus. The appeal was you could find pretty much any book in the world through Amazon. It was a good deal. So good, in fact, that Amazon decided to branch out. They started to offer other, non-book items. Amazon was trustworthy, careful, and professional; business continued to be great. So they kept branching out farther and farther, until they became the powerhouse we know them as today. You can order nearly any product online through Amazon.com.

"Well, that's great," you might think. "I can do the same with eBay." True. And eBay is often the place to find that super rare item that Amazon just doesn't carry. But the difference between Amazon and eBay is trust.

When you buy through Amazon, you buy through a company that has proven it will uphold its end of the bargain. When you buy through eBay, you're often buying from a new seller each time. Many transactions on eBay are person-to-person. So there's no corporate history of good business there. All you know is how the seller treated their previous customers, and maybe how they handled a previous transaction with you. There's a big difference between eBay and Amazon.

Many people feel much safer dealing with Amazon. Personally, if something I want to order is on Amazon, I don't have to worry about eBay. The great thing about Amazon is that the prices are usually better than you'd find in stores. There's a decent discount that you'll find on most products that is highly appealing. And most orders over $25 can be shipped free.

So Amazon is great. How can you make money with them? By becoming an affiliate.

Lots of sites out there like to have ordinary people like us push their products to others. "Hey, Joe, why not buy through these guys?" Joe takes your advice, and you get a referral commission. You get a percentage of a sale that you made happen. Being an affiliate marketer (selling other people's products) can be a great way to make money online. You don't handle the goods, you simply deal in ideas. It's your job to make your product sound so great that your visitors just can't stand not buying it.

What really helps smooth things over with a potential buyer is when they can trust the company you're recommending. You can sell them on the best product in the world, but if they don't have faith in the seller, you won't get a commission. That's what is so good about Amazon. They've already proven to most people that they can be trusted.

The basic Amazon Affiliate process is this: You sign up, get approved, and then gain access to a part of Amazon where you can create links and widgets advertising Amazon products. You put those links and widgets on your web site. If someone clicks one of your links or widgets, they'll be taken to the Amazon site through your referral link. That creates a 24 hour window. If within that window the customer buys an item, you will receive a 4% referral fee. That means that if they purchase a $100 item, you'll be credited with $4. Once a purchase is made, the 24 hour window closes. If the customer adds an item to their shopping cart, but doesn't buy it, you'll still receive the referral fee once they buy it, as long as it happens within 90 days. If the customer goes through your link to Amazon, leaves, and then clicks on someone else's referral link, your 24 hour window will close.

You can earn a higher % referral fee (up to 8.5%) if you refer lots of customers to buy. There are other products you can earn even higher percentages on. Right now referring Kindle products (the Kindle is Amazon's new $399 ebook reader) will earn you 10%. Amazonmp3's will get you 20%.

So, let's go through the signup process.

Go to Amazon.com, and scroll down to the bottom of the screen. You should see this:

Click the Join Associates link.

Click the Click Here link.

You can use the same email and password for your customer account with Amazon, or you can create a separate account specifically for your use as an Associate. Assuming you already have a customer account, and will be using it for Associate purposes to, you'll be brought to the following page.

Fill in all the information, agree to the terms, click continue, and you should see this:

"You can start making money today by adding links to your Web site or creating an aStore now! You choose the links you want, we create the HTML for you, and you paste the HTML into your site."

Once you've got access, you can begin to familiarize yourself with all the different options for creating referral links. There are simple, classic links, and some newer flashier ones. My advice would be to try each one. You may find that some fit the theme of your site better than others. Most of the widgets are highly customizable. Blending (making new links, widgets, etc. look like they belong) is usually a good idea.

Be sure not to post anything like, "Sponsored by Amazon" on your web site. I once read about a site that did that. A visitor emailed Amazon complaining about that site. They were shocked that Amazon would sponser them, because they didn't feel the content featured there was morally upright. Technically, no site is sponsored by Amazon just because it uses their affiliate links. Amazon decided to sever their agreement with that site. No more referral commissions for them. Don't make the same mistake.

The trick to make the most money is once you've got your affiliate links all set up, drive as much traffic to your site as possible. The more people who encounter your links, the more who will click, and the more who will buy.

Good luck, and happy Amazonian trails.

On my browser's toolbar, I've bookmarked all of these sites in one folder, seeing as how they tend to come in handy fairly often. Some much more so than others. I had assumed that most other web surfers were similarly aware of these great sites, since they're so useful in finding practically whatever you have in mind. But today the thought occurred to me that there are probably a few people who aren't familiar with one or two (or more) of these helpful resources. So, without further ado, I present THE LIST:

1. Google – The mother of all Search Engines. My favorite part is that most pages are cached, so if the site is currently down or has undergone a major change, you can still see what came up in the results, with all your search terms highlighted.
2. Wikipedia – The user-generated online encyclopedia of everything. Some say that the "truth" found here is only what everybody agrees upon. And that's probably correct. But for most subjects, Wikipedia is a simple, dependable resource that can inform and educate in a hurry.
3. YouTube – Now owned by Google, YouTube is where to search for video clips from shows, movies, the news, and everywhere else. Eyewitness reports are often quickly uploaded to YouTube, so if a news story didn't provide the live footage you wanted, YouTube just might have it. It's also a decent place to find the occasional song, as some users upload whole tracks with album covers as the visual.
4. Dictionary.com – Much easier than using a conventional dictionary, as it's not heavy and you don't have to flip through page after page! Just type in your word or phrase, and even if you don't get the spelling right, you'll usually find just what you're looking for.
5. Thesaurus.com – Sister site of Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com comes in major handy when you need to find another word for something. You'll never have to use, apply, or expend the same word twice.
6. IMDb – The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has detailed files on all movies, past, present, and even future! Who's that actor? Were there any goofs? When's the sequel? Just go to IMDb. There's even a forum and special features for registered users.
7. Internet Archive – Featuring the WayBack Machine, which keeps a record of every incarnation of a web page since that page's creation. You can go back in time and see the earliest form of pretty much any site. It can be extremely helpful when a page isn't currently available or no longer exists. Check out an early archive of Google. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
8. Acronym Finder – The next time you see a strange abbreviation, you can quickly and easily find out what it means. Pretty much every conceivable meaning of each acronym is listed, so all you need to do is find the one that fits the context.
9. Amazon.com – You can buy almost anything online, and Amazon.com is a great place to do it. They used to be mostly focused on books, but in recent times have broadened their horizons tremendously. Now they sell pretty much everything! Not only are the prices low, but free shipping is offered in many cases. One of the best features is the Customer Reviews section for each product. The next time you hear about a hot new item and need to find out the pros and cons from real users, just go to Amazon.com.
10. eBay – Here you can brave rapidly-growing world of consumer-to-consumer sales. Shopping eBay is riskier than Amazon, but there's definite potential to find some really great deals. What's more, some products that aren't listed at Amazon can be found at eBay. It's a great resource when you need to learn about a hard-to-find item or a mystery object.
11. Dogpile – A search engine that compiles results from Google, Yahoo, Live Search, and Ask. I used to use it until I found that it didn't offer the same caching of pages that Google provides. But Dogpile does have an "Audio Search" option that is supremely helpful. Whether you're searching for a clip of a radio interview, a song, or a sound effect, Dogpile's Audio Search is usually pretty helpful. It may take some time to find an audio link that works, but once you do, it's usually well worth it. And if you run out of options, you might try plugging the bogus links into the Internet Archive. The audio file may just be saved there.
12. Urban Dictionary – Dictionary.com is fine for "normal" speech, but what about all those new slang terms? Urban Dictionary is basically a WikiDictionary, where users add and define new words and phrases. The next time you hear a strange word that sounds like it was born yesterday, you can look it up at the Urban Dictionary.
13. OldVersion.com – This site features downloads of previously-released versions of popular software, including instant messengers, file-sharing platforms, web browsers, file unzippers, and graphics programs. When the new version isn't as good as the old one, or is too expensive, you can usually get the old one for free at OldVersion.com.
14. Alta Vista Babel Fish Translation – This is a killer resource that allows you to translate a block of text or an entire web page from one major language to another. The results aren't always word-perfect, but they'll usually provide you with enough information to understand what was written. The whole-page translation feature is amazing. If you're ever searching for something and it looks like you've found it, but it's written in a foreign language, you can clarify things with Alta Vista Babel Fish.
15. Google Blog Search – I just learned about this today. You can search for blogs that are written about or contain information on specific topics. Instead of just using Google to find out what websites are saying, you can use Google Blog Search to find out what people are saying on their blogs. So if you want a more down-to-earth take on something, this could be the site for you.

That's it! These are what I believe to be the top 15 online search resources. The internet has incredible informative power, if you know where to look. I hope I mentioned at least a couple of sites that you weren't fully aware of. Happy digital trails!