Creativity

There are hundreds, thousands, and hundreds of thousands of blueprints for earning money online - some with more rigid plans than others. Many are one-sided - full of up-sells, poorly written, over most peoples' heads - others are outright scams and impossible for almost anyone but their creator to follow. Even really good blueprints for making money online can seem overwhelming to those who have just entered the world of "making money online."

Most people have been involved in "brick and mortar" projects, 9-5 office work, factory and assembly line and other types of "standard off-line jobs" their whole lives. The Internet hasn't been on common use for all that long. Most Internet users HAVE DAY JOBS that are nothing like the more abstract Internet environment. Needless to say, real world and internet environment world differ greatly and there is a learning curve for almost all people using the web who hope to make money via the online environments.

Most 9-5 and Brick and Mortar type skills aren't needed in online environments, however, there are skills that are transferable from one environment to another. The same goes for factory/assembly and office environments.

It takes creativity to find out which offline skills you possess that will transfer well to working in an online environment.

As well - even though there are tools considered "Online Standard Tools For Online Money Making and Marketing," nobody says you have to use them all ONLY in a "standard" way.

For example, some social sites have blogs in their software. If you can't afford hosting and a domain, ask yourself if you have an account somewhere that contains "space" where you can promote. Be careful not to get "spammy" and make sure you are following site Terms of Service for whatever you want to promote and then GET BUSY utilizing whatever tools are at your disposal for free.

Examples of "portal" type spaces online:
Ning sites
Google/Pages, blogs, G+, etc
APSense (blogs, traffic exchange, rev/feature pages)
Weebly (sites, blogs, some community features)
Webs .com (sites, blogs, some community features)

These aren't "Pro" tools, but many have "Pro Account" options that will give you more features/options, space, ability to promote online. None of the big GURU marketers is likely to "like," "thumbsup," or "share" your Ning or ApSense pages but if your content is CONSISTENT, OF GOOD QUALITY, and APPROPRIATE, you will get the attention of people who are interested in consistently appropriate, good quality content.

Be creative in how you use the space that is available for free - meaning PROVIDE QUALITY - not spamming, junk, questionable programs or questionable claims on programs you THINK will bring in riches but have not become a millionaire with as of yet!

Post non-linked content often, let whatever communities you share space in become aware of your small and larger successes. Log in often, share nicely, visit other peoples' pages and get involved in DISCOURSE - not just one-way commenting. Also... look around for useful tools, sites, etc., that you can creatively work into your "set" of money making tools.

Rule of Thumb: If you are NOT CERTAIN that you'll log in and use a site at least on a WEEKLY basis or twice per week - SKIP IT... don't join or use it. (I'm saying this as someone who still has a couple of dozen sites to "remove" myself from - sites I joined before learning why this rule of thumb is important).

Most marketers say you need your own hosting/webspace, domain, autoresponder, products and a few other things in order to successfully make money online. For the most part, I believe this is true - but people have to start SOMEWHERE closer to the "Free sections" sometimes in order to learn what to do with their paid hosting, domains, autoresponder and other tools.

Don't let any marketers bully, shame or ridicule you into PAID SERVICES of any kind until you know enough about how marketing online, tools and services WORK.

By being creative with the tools and services you find online, you can learn a lot, even promote A LOT before moving to a next step of using paid items.