Each year, around Thanksgiving and Christmas, people World Over are faced with the daunting task of coming up with the extra cash needed to pay for gifts and presents.

Now with the shape of the economy the way it is, it's become increasingly tempting to find ways to work online and make money, be this through paid surveys, eBay or affiliate marketing.

By far, the best way to work online and make money fast, with or without a website, a list or product of your own, is through affiliate marketing, and I'll explain why in a short while.

As interesting as that may sound, where and how do you even start?

With so much information floating on the internet, you may have burnt deep holes in your investments with work online and make money fast scams, and lost all faith in the so called hype, not to mention that you would probably need a science or accounting degree just to understand how to navigate through the clatter of information on PPC advertising on Google and Yahoo etc.

However, with a little bit of patience and research, you can work online and make money without losing your shirt or trading your "Everybody loves Raymond" DVD set for a grain of knowledge from ebooks floating around on the Internet.

First remember, to work online and make money is not an event; it's a process that requires patience, perseverance and nurturing.

Just because you've signed up for a work online and make money fast affiliate program, does not make you a guru in teaching the same information to some else.

Most work online and make money affiliate programs require you to have a website, a list and that you spend a substantial investment in PPC advertising anyway and, if you're new to the field of online marketing, then this is not the course for you to take.

Like I said earlier, there is a way to make money online and to start seeing a substantial increase in your bank account in under one week!

When all's been said and done, all the information taught about how to work online and make money is the same...different product or service, but the foundation's all the same!

Here's my best strategy to this conundrum; Pay Per Lead affiliate programs!

Pay per lead affiliate programs refer to where you solicit a specific action from your target audience without the need for them to buy anything!

That action can be to fill a form, like applying for a credit card, payday loan advance, car loan, anything that requires someone to sign up, the company you're promoting for will do the rest! Their job's to close the deal, all you need do is refer someone...it's that easy!

But, how do you find such pay per lead companies?

The first place to look for them is on Commission Junction...

There are a lot of pay per lead programs out there, but I'm giving you a head start here, the rest's now up to you to start using the search engines to uncover a lot of Advertisers willing pay you a commission for referring a customer to their site.

And the best part of this is, you do not need to have a website!

If that last statement went over your head, here it is again, you can work online and make money fast without a website and without spending a dime!

Sound too far fetched?

Consider this, you sign up for a Pay per lead account, find programs willing to pay you a good commission, and you then research for keywords that relate to the market you've chosen!

The best way to start here is to type specific keywords in your favorite search engine and see how many sponsored ads appear to the right of your organic search results...what do the ads look like, are they optimized for the keywords you've typed to bring up the results?

You really don't even need to invest in a keyword tool; Google has a snazzy keyword tool that now comes with actual search results and the competition for each keyword.

I digress...

Once you've done your keyword research, head on to high trafficked sites and some forums related to your field of interest.

How do you find high traffic sites?
Alexa silly! Remember, we're trying NOT to use a dime here!

Spend time researching these sites before you rush headlong into spamming them.

Sound easy? Betcha, it is easy and, before you know it, you've got traffic to your affiliate link!

Whilst this is not the best way for long term income generation, it is by far the easiest and most cost effective way to work online and make money fast!

Go out there, it's silly season time again, you can work online and make money free, starting today.

Stop procrastinating and telling yourself you know these concepts...why aren't you making money online then?

Pace yourself and set a goal to raise about a grand before year end, that's a highly achievable goal.

If you can make your first buck, which most Internet Marketers will tell you is probably the most difficult to do, then you can bet your chances of making more money online in the long run are great, if you cannot raise at least a hundred bucks, chances are you still need to spend time understanding what internet marketing is all about.

To your internet marketing success.