Have you spent countless hours trawling the internet for get rich quick schemes? You've probably come across many articles claiming that they have the secrets to making vast amounts of money in a matter of minutes. The truth is that these schemes are not as simple as they're made out to be. They usually have some catch that means it's virtually impossible to achieve. Don't be disheartened by this, there are ways of making money online. With the use of a computer and internet access, and little or no start up fees, you can be making money in no time at all.

These five money making ideas can be applied with no start up costs; I believe this is essential for newcomers earning online. Not all of these ideas will appeal to everyone and before putting money in to something, it's a good idea to have a go and see if it works for you.

Blogging

Writing a blog is an excellent way to get started earning online. It's surprisingly simple to get started and there are many cost free platforms to choose from to host your blog.

If you're new to blogging, sites such as blogger.com and blog.co.uk are an excellent way to get started for free.

The trick to making money from your blog is getting people to look at it. The more traffic you attract to your blog the better the potential for generating an income from it.

Generating money from your blog is as easy as placing a few content relevant ads on your page. The most popular form of advertising is PPC (pay per click). Programs such as Google AdSense and Yahoo Publisher Network (YPN) will provide PPC advertising on your blog at no extra cost.

Stock Photography

Making money with stock photography is very straight forward. If you've got an eye for a great shot and a half decent camera (4 mega pixels and above) you can upload your photos and the stock photography site does the rest.

There are many uses for all sorts of images; web design, advertising, books, magazines, the list goes on.... This creates a high demand from many sources for a stock of images.

Stock photography agencies such as shutterstock.com and dreamstime.com stock pile photographs and images of many categories to supply this demand.

How much you earn from your images is set by the agent. In most cases you will be paid a percentage of what the agent agrees with the client.

Read the 'Starting a Career in Stock Photography guide' to get the best out of Stock Photography sites.

Online surveys

Online surveys can be a very effective way of earning extra income. Although time consuming and relatively dull this type of online work involves very little effort after some initial research.

There are plenty of market research companies looking for your opinion on many subjects from government opinion to product awareness.

Unless taking surveys is your dream job and you work at it full time, a realistic earning potential is about $200 a month, working a couple of hours a day.

You get paid for each survey you complete ranging from $1 to $5 and in some cases up to $10 some survey sites will also offer incentives and prize draw entries for completed surveys.

When signing up to a survey site it's a good idea start with the big name sites such as YouGov and Globaltestmarket. These sites are free to join and you'll find many that are. Some sites charge a joining fee, but I recommend sticking to the free membership sites until you're experienced in the field of surveys.

Social Networking

There's a new breed of social networking site that think you should get paid for your contribution to online communities!

If you're already a member of social networking sites like Facebook, Bebo or MySpace, you will already be familiar with the social networking concept.These sites are great for catching up with old school friends and work buddies. And also great for making new friends.

Networking sites such as Yuwie and ZenZuu believe that a proportion of revenue made from social networking sites should be shared out between the users.The share of this revenue is decided by the amount of views accumulated on your pages. The more you keep people interested in your content the more you make. You can also make money by referring others and you even get a percentage of what they earn!

Online Poker

For the inexperienced player poker can be a high risk gamble, much like many of the other games you might find in the online casino. Poker can also be highly profitable if played with skill and discipline.

There are plenty of players who make a good supplementary income as a hobby and many professionals earning a good income out of it.

There are a few sites out there which offer free starting bankrolls without any real money deposit. Poker communities such as PokerStrategy.com offer a free $50 starting capital and free tutorials to get you started.

Texas Holdem is by far the most popular variation of poker, there are plenty of to get you started.