I’m seeing an increase in on-line services that let users earn money from their efforts. Many people like the idea of supplementing their incomes by doing something that they enjoy. Some examples:
- eBay – become a retailer selling whatever you choose
- Professional blogging – e.g. ProBlogger, write about what you enjoy and earn money through sponsorship, Google Adsense and affiliate programmes (e.g. Amazon’s)
- iStockPhoto – submit your own photos and take a cut of sales of your images
- eLance – offer yourself as a freelancer, from software development to brochure design
Umair Haque links to a good example – a woman’s new career as The Virtual Rockefeller (via this), buying and developing real-estate inside the Second Life game (reportedly for a very nice salary).
Kyran and I are aiming to give our users the option of earning money from their knowledge inside ShowMeDo. More on that in the future.