Making Money Online With The iPad

Eventually I plan on throwing off the dock lines and cruising about for an extended period of time. So, one of the major factors in doing this project is discovering how to generate an income while sailing around the world. Because of its size and versatility, I have chosen the Apple iPad as my main media source while living aboard my sailboat. I'm a bit of an Apple fanatic (I admit). I use the iPad for everything from watching movies on Netflix to writing this blog post you're reading right now. But, I also plan on making a portion of my mobile income through making money online with the iPad.

I'm going to highlight for you some of the ways you can make money using the iPad through different websites in order to create a passive income to supplement paying the bills. My whole philosophy revolves around simplifying life in order to create a higher quality of life and achieve my dreams before the age of 65. In order to do this, you have to be creative with all the resources you have available. For me, that means turning the hours I plan to spend sailing and lounging around on the deck of my small sailboat into money making time.

So lets go over a few of the ways I have discovered to make money online with my iPad ...

Pay Per Word Content Farms

There are a ton of websites out there that you can write content for and get paid directly for your work. Unfortunately, some of them don't work well with the iPad. But the one that I have found that pays decent, constantly, and is compatible with the iPad is Textbroker.Com.

Textbroker is a place for clients to post assignments that anyone qualified can fill. Most of these orders are for web content for various websites, blogs, and marketing. The client provides an outline and other requirements (like key-word density). After you accept an order, you have a set amount of time in which to finish the order, normally a day or two. After you have completed the order, you submit it and, once accepted by the client, the money is deposited into your account. Twice a month you can request the money in your account be transferred to your paypal account. So far I have received 3 payments from Textbroker, so I can testify that it does indeed pay what promised.

I normally write just one assignment a day, normally around 400 words, and it takes less than half an hour with an average payout of about $3.00. Now, I know what you're saying ... that's less than minimum wage. However, it adds up. Writing on there for just 1 hour a day generates about $180 a month, and for me that is enough to cover my moorage and electric bill. And it only takes an hour a day ...

There are some other contact farms out there, but the few others that I have looked into require you to download software to your computer ... making it not compatible with the iPad. However, Textbroker is done entirely from their web browser and is completely compatible with the iPad!

A great app to have if you're going to try writing for content farms is Pages (a word processing doc for iPad). Pages will allow you to write, edit, and refine your work before copy and pasting it into the Textbroker web browser and hitting the "submit" button.

You might also want to invest in a wireless keyboard for the iPad. Pretty much any bluetooth enabled keyboard will do the trick, but the one I use is the Apple Wireless Keyboard and it works great.

Blogs and Adsense

If you have something interesting to talk about, then you might as well blog about it! Once you have a regular readership, you can monetize your blog and make a few bucks a month off of it. And the iPad is GREAT for blogging. I use Blogger.Com for my blog and the only complaint that I have is that it is difficult to adjust the layout of your blog using their interface and the iPad. I have had to resort to using a computer to change around any of the actual blog's layout.

However, for just typing up posts, replying to comments, and posting images, the iPad is perfect. I use an app called Blogpress to do all of my blogging on. Making money on your blog can take some time. At the time of writing this post, my blog

In Search Of The Sea

has been in existence for over 3 years. Now, I only started really seriously blogging about 9 months ago, and so far my blog has only made about $80 total, but in the past 9 months I have seen a growing increase in the amount of money the blog brings in ... albeit it is measured by cents.

However, Google Adsense isn't the only way you can make money on your blog...

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a simple means of promoting other peoples products on your blog or website and earn a commission for every sale made through your website. You don't have to do anything other than post a link to their product on your website with a unique tracking referral. If someone buys the product after clicking on your link, you get a commission for it.

The two affiliates that I have made money with so far have been ClickBank.com and Amazon. So lets talk a little bit about them ...

ClickBank is a haven for online marketers and vendors. Thousands of products are listed online and all you have to do is sign up, search for products related to your website, create a "hop link" (which Clickbank does automatically) and then insert that hop link in an appropriate place on your website. The only downside that I have discovered so far is that you can't "copy and paste" the hop link with the iPad. For some reason the option just won't pop up when you try to highlight the text. So, in order to use ClickBank with the iPad I do have to manually write down and they retype the hop link in order for it to work.

Amazon is a bit easier. In fact, there are widgets you can just copy and paste right into your blog once you are an Amazon Affiliate. You can either pick out specific products to promote through amazon, or simply type in some keywords and Amazon will automatically generate products for you.

Become an Amazon Affiliate is easy ... all you have to do is go to their website and sign up!

CafePress Products

This is one that I haven't directly tried yet, but am looking forward to! On CafePress you create graphics for t-shirts, mugs, water bottles, and hundreds of other products. Then you determine what products you want featured and anytime someone orders a product with your design on it, you get a commission for the product. You can even set up your own storefront and link to it directly from your blog ... in essence creating a marketplace for your own website!

I plan on creating nautical and simple living themed merchandise to be used on CafePress. The iPad has numerous graphic design apps available that are more than adequate in creating .jpegs ready for download. Unfortunately, the CafePress website doesn't support uploading from the iPad yet ... so you'll have to mail your creation to yourself and then upload them from a computer at some later date (this is the ONLY reason why I haven't done this yet ... I need better access to an actual computer ...)

More Ways To Make Money With The iPad To Come

So far that has been the extent of my experimenting with making money online with the iPad. I don't expect that I'll ever be able to make enough money with the iPad in order to sustain myself ... but hey, every little bit helps! And besides, I love writing and the iPad is an amazing tool in helping me get my voice out there while I'm underway.

These are just a few ways that I have made money with the iPad onboard

Aramis

so far. I'm sure there are many more. As I discover new ways of generating online income with the iPad, I'll be sure to let you know!

Until Next Time
~Adam

S/V Aramis