Due to the advances in technology and easy access to the internet, businesses are rapidly growing online. Consumers are also a very important factor in this new trend. As a business owner, your goal is to position yourself in front of your target audience.

Whether its mystery shopping, selling on eBay, or creating a blog, there are plenty of ways to add a little cash to your bank account!

Here are five ways to boost your income online:

1. Connect with mystery shopping networks. With mystery shopping, not only can you be paid for shopping, but you can also be reimbursed for your meal expenditures in restaurants when you conduct “shops” in restaurants and fast food places.

• Your funds may be reimbursed if you’re completing shops in hair salons, pet shops, and various other businesses. Thus, you get free services plus a few bucks extra when you mystery-shop.
• Mystery shopping requires you to have sharp observation, listening, and attention skills as you’ll be asked to complete online questionnaires after you do a shop.
• Mystery shopping companies are paid by various businesses to get usable, specific details about how their staff members are treating customers.
• To find competent mystery shopping websites, use your search engine to explore.
• Two reputable sites where you can apply to be a mystery shopper are Market Force and Shoppers’ Critique International.
• Who knows, you just might get a free lunch tomorrow simply for offering your opinion about your restaurant experience!

2. Sell items on eBay or Amazon . If you’re internet and tech-savvy, try selling some of your stuff you don’t want or need any more online. You can also make extra income from buying and re-selling items from various websites.

• You’ll need a good digital camera and knowledge about how to upload your pictures to whatever website you’re using to post your pictures and text descriptions of what you want to sell.
• But be ready, you’ll need packing materials, envelopes or boxes to mail your items to the highest bidder.
• If you’ve run a small business before, you can most likely handle the online “business” of buying and re-selling items to earn extra income.

3. Advertise your skills. If you have special talents and skills, consider putting yourself out there in cyberspace.

• Although there’s a number of ways to reach your client base on the internet, one of the cheapest and quickest ways to do it is on Craigslist.
• You can advertise on Craigslist today and get calls tomorrow, depending on the size of your local area. The closer you live to bigger cities, the quicker you can access your market base and make some extra income using Craigslist.

4. Start a blog and include Google Adsense or another advertising account. Adbrite and Publisher Network will also pay you for clicks on your blogs. Some advertisers pay for page views instead of clicks.

• Starting and maintaining a blog can be a lot of work, depending on how you set it up, so reserve some time in your schedule several days each week for making new posts, answering readers’ queries, and maintaining your blog.
• You can also sell products or services on your blog – either your own or another product for which you receive commissions from your sales. For example, Clickbank.com, Commission Junction, and many others offer many products that you could recommend to your readers. Search for websites that pay commissions and sign up for an affiliate account.
• Over time, your blog site visitors will build in number, which will boost your income.

5. Sell your photographs. The amateur photography business is booming online.

• Sites like Imagekind and Photo Stock Plus will lead you through the steps to post your photographs online. An abundance of such photography sites exist, so examine several of them and their terms before deciding to post your snapshots on one or two of them.
• Keep in mind that some of these sites charge you simply to post your photos while others don’t.
• Of course, a percentage of your “sold” price will go to the website you choose.

Using the Internet to boost your income can be very lucrative. Try out some of these ideas today to enjoy a more profitable tomorrow!