If you are looking for the best ways to make money in 2012, listed below are the things I personally use. Most of them are FREE and require no fees at all. Others might require you to make a purchase.

1) CashCrate (100% free method) – I got paid $1,091.99 dollars in January 2012 and I have posted a short video of that check at my CashCrate Review. I am now making checks like that at CashCrate every month. This is absolutely one of the best ways to get started making money if you have nothing or don’t want to invest any money right away. (13 years and older for this so it is a great part time job for teens and ways for teens to make money!)

2) Send Earnings (100% free method) This is a great way to make money if you don’t want to invest anything. (Please see the copy of the check I just got which proves they do pay – Send Earnings Check) As seen on the Good Morning America TV show, members get paid to do things like take surveys, play games online, read emails, and other things. You get a $5.00 bonus for signing up and it is always free. They pay by check and will never ask you for money.

Are you looking for a legitimate way to build a full time income stream? Listed below is the one membership site that I belong to and can recommend from personal experience.

1) The Keyword Academy (100% free first month) – If you want an honest, legitimate program that will teach you how to work from home making money online this is the place to go. This is where you can learn how to start a home business without the usual BS that seems to go with most eBooks and systems. I have been a member for over three years and you will be taught how to build websites and generate a long term income from them. Absolutely no risk to you as the first month is free – please read my Keyword Academy Review for more information.

A Blog Can Be An Extension Of Your Resume

A blog is where you have the ability to not only tell people who you are but also to show them too. I have a friend who is a gifted writer intensely interested in politics. He has written for a college newspaper, interned at radio stations, and been the president of the College Republicans at a major US college. During that time he has probably written hundreds of articles outlining his beliefs and many of them have been published somewhere. Although not a politician now, there may be a day when he is interested in entering that realm in some capacity.

My friend does not have a web site or blog and I think that is a major mistake on his part. He should have everything he has ever written, or at least all his best stuff,  up on a blog. Not only will it help to preserve all his work but someday he may be able to use it as part of his resume. In the future he may want to get more involved with politics which he loves so much and if that were to happen, he could point anyone, including prospective employers, to his blog to get a first hand look at who he is and what he stands for. After reading his blog, any employer would not only know how well my friend writes, but he would also learn much about his character. I see a blog being an investment in his future.

Internet Marketers Need Blogs Too

Anyone attempting to make money online needs a blog as well. There are many ways to make money on the Internet but sooner or later you are going to need to join some affiliate networks. Two networks that I know will need to see some “proof” of who you are and what you can do are Neverblue and Market Leverage. Both of these networks will want to see a website or two of yours and they will need to call you on the telephone and speak with you before you can be accepted. They don’t just accept anyone and you need to show some experience before you will be let in. Google has also made it harder to get accepted for Adsense and many people with only free Blogger blogs have been rejected lately. (although for Google there is some confusion as to whether they are requiring you to have more than just free Blogger blogs or whether you need to have something older than 6 months)

This website (DayJobNuker.com) was good enough to get me accepted into all three of those affiliate networks and it serves as my online “resume”. Of course it is not a real resume and doesn’t tell you too much about me but it does give anyone who stops by some idea of my writing style and that I have had an online presence for almost two years now. It helps establish credibility when I go to sign up for things or ask favors from someone.

I believe anyone seriously interested in making money online should start a flagship blog. I can’t believe that at one time I was thinking about selling this site. What a colossal mistake that would have been and I am very thankful I decided against it.

If you have already been laid off or lost your job, the situation is even worse. In fact it might already be to late for you to think of too many alternatives that wll get you by. But now is the time for people to start taking hold of their own lives and begin making their own good fortune. Now is the time to get off the couch, stop feeling sorry for yourself, and begin to look at what you have to offer that you can turn into a job or a side job. There are many different ways to make money both online and offline and now is the time to take the initiative.

People Can Do Extraordinary Things

Sometimes it take the worst situations to bring out the best in people. You see this all the time at car accidents, fires, during earthquakes, and any time lives are in danger. Regular people, at a moments notice, turn into heroes as they try to rescue people or keep the injured alive. People who start the day just as they do any other day end up switching into a crises gear they didn’t even know they had. Everyday people, when put to the test with their backs against the wall, come through and do some amazing things. We last saw that with the plane crash in the Hudson river and the pilot saving all lives on board.

Turn Your Lemons Into Lemon Meringue Pie

If you are having a tough time right now because of all the economic turmoil, use this as a jump start to making a better life for yourself. Look into the other options you might have to bring in money or start a business. Take this bad situation and turn it into good. Maybe you have always been too busy or too complacent to look into all your alternatives. Well now you have the time and you need to make the effort.

I guarantee you there will be stories, when this is all past us, of how this person or that person turned their dire situation into something positive. There will be success stories coming from people who will tell you that losing their job was the best thing that ever happened to them because it allowed them to find something better. There will be people who make this the turning point of their lives.

Don’t Expect It To Be Easy

Whatever you do, it will not be easy and you should not expect it to be. Starting a business, making money, making job contacts, finding real work from home jobs, or finding a way to get by when it seems impossible are all things that are not easy and never will be. Those looking for an easy way out are going to fail and be left behind. But those who take initiative, work hard, are resourceful, and never give up are going to be the ones that make it through and shine on the other side.