There is a saying that goes "Don't put all your eggs in one basket". To my understanding, this means that one should not risk losing everything at one time. This English idiom has been applied to many scenarios in the world of investments, stocks and trading. However, I like to apply this idiom to making a living. You see, no matter how secure a job may appear to be, there is almost always the risk of you losing it, either as the result of an economic tragedy or some other unforeseen circumstance. Furthermore, not every employee is able to make ends meet.

Unbeknown to most, there are people out there who have more than one basket. More specifically, these people have found a way to earn an extra source of income. Here are 3 ways you can earn extra income online:

1) Blogging and Google AdSense
I once read of a teenage girl who made big money on the Internet just by having ads on her website. Her website offered free stuff so she was only earning income from ads. If she could do it, so can you. If you already have a website, or if you know how to create one from scratch and how to host it, you may sign up for Google AdSense and place some ads on your website. If you are a complete Internet newbie and know nothing about creating websites, then I would recommend you creating a blog on Blogger. Blogger provides simple step-by-step instructions and you can create your own blog in no time. Both Blogger and Google AdSense are free to use.

2) Completing Surveys
Many companies are willing to pay their target market for providing them with opinions. The reason behind this is that companies want to know what their customers and prospects want. Also, these companies want to offer products that have a competitive edge over their rival's products. Knowing what their target market think or feel about their current product will no doubt aid their efforts in research and development. To start out, conduct an online search on paid online survey companies.

3) Affiliate Marketing
This is the online version of commission-based selling. Basically, affiliate marketing means that you get paid to sell somebody's product. Usually these products are virtual products like ebooks and software. Many merchants have affiliate programs because they can leverage on other people to help spread word about their products. If you are interested in being an affiliate, a good place to start looking for merchants would be ClickBank's marketplace.

So there you have it. 3 ways you can earn extra income on the Internet. The advantage of the 3 methods mentioned above is that you can start with one method and add on others as you progress. Supposing you chose to start with blogging and Google AdSense, when you feel that it is time to expand, you may venture into affiliate marketing or completing paid surveys. The more baskets you have, the more eggs you can carry, and the lesser eggs you will lose in the event that one of your baskets break.