There are basically two ways to make money with your website. The first, and most common, way is by advertising other website's that require surfers to pay for access. The second is by having a site that requires surfers to pay for access. They each have their advantages and disadvantages.

Advertising other websites that require surfers to pay for access is the least expensive and easiest of the two ways to make money with your website. You basically refer surfers from your website to another website where the surfer signs up for membership or another service. This method requires the least amount of investment in terms of money out of your pocket.

Simply put, you create a website and have a method of referring surfers to companies that are willing to pay for the referrals. These companies are most commonly referred to as sponsors. There are many different types of sponsorships offered by companies. Some examples include:

• Per Sign Up
  Pays whenever a surfer joins the sponsors site. It's a one time payment. It can pay up to $75 per sign up.
• Partnership
  Pays a percentage of what the surfer pays whenever they pay for membership to the site. It pays each and every time the surfer renews their membership. It can pay up to 60 % of what the surfer is paying. Payout is usually in the $9.95 to $15.95 range.
• Raw
  Pays each time a surfer clicks on a link to the sponsor. If the same surfer clicks on a link twice, you'll get paid twice. Payout is usually in the $0.003 - $0.05 cent range.
• Unique
  Pays each time a “unique” surfer clicks on a link to the sponsor. Unique if defined as a surfer that hasn't been to the sponsor from you or anyone else for a specified period of time. If the same surfer clicks on a link twice, you'll get paid once. Payout is usually in the $0.01 - $0.50 cent range.
• Email
  Pays per verified email address. A surfer enters their email address and the sponsor sends a confirming email. When the surfer responds to the email from the surfer, you get paid.
• Blind links
  Blind links – You can put whatever misleading text you want (as long as it follows individual sponsors terms and conditions) to get the surfer to click on the link to the sponsor.
• Per Impression
  You get paid according to how many times the sponsors advertisement gets seen on your page.
• Commission
  You earn a percentage based on how much a surfer spends at a sponsor site. This is typically a sex store or videotapes type sponsorship site.

We'll discuss these programs in more detail a little later, but for the time being just remember that they are many different ways to make money by referring surfers to sponsors. On some programs you can make as much as $45 a sign up even though the surfer might not even need to pay initially to join the sponsors site. This is because they will make up the difference when the surfers membership renews every month over a period of many months.

Your website should be designed with the referral concept in mind. Your website should offer the surfer a reason to visit it but also a reason to sign up at a sponsors site. So, you don't want to offer too much free stuff so that your surfer never has a reason to sign up somewhere else. You are essentially a salesperson selling other sites that will pay you based on your results. As you gain more experience with the Internet, you'll learn how to fine tune your selling techniques.