In these tough times of job losses, foreclosures and rampant unemployment, many are looking for ways to make money online. Unfortunately, many offers of help to make money are scams, asking for money upfront in order to “help you achieve your dream”.

Do not fall for these, I’m about to show you a way at no cost whatsoever, and best of all, you don’t need to know anything about FTP,HTTP or any other programming knowledge.

Just nine months ago I discovered Hub Pages, and this is what I want to make you aware of.

To help you better understand what I’m talking about and to get the maximum help from this post, why not take a quick peek at two of my Hub Page blogs. This is my highest ranked blog, and this is my lowest ranked blog.

Take a good look around each site, and hopefully you will notice there is lots going on here. It may look impressive with how the page is laid out, but Hub Pages automates most of the layout and links for you following your selection of which modules to include in your hub.

Choose modules for text, adding YouTube video, Newscasts, comments, eBay, Amazon, photos, and rss feeds. You can also add a poll module and a comments box. You can omit any module you wish, and duplicate any of the modules several times if required.

Let me clarify that by directing you back to my highest ranked blog where you will see the text is broken up into five separate text modules, three Amazon modules, I’ve added five videos, there’s a photo slide show, a news rss feed and a comments box. I could have added eBay modules too, but its best not to over-commercialise I think, and besides, you need to balance the page to make it pleasing to the eye.

Every module can be positioned where you want it on the page by dragging and dropping from the box on the right when you are in edit mode, then clicking on the re-order box.

This is maybe a good time to explain how money is made from your hub.

In the site, you need to enrol as an affiliate of Google ad-sense, Amazon, eBay, Kontera and Analytics. You are given an affiliate code for each of them which you enter into the box for affiliate settings. You only need to do this once then forget about it as Hub Pages takes care of it now.

So working from the top and across the page of my hub page on Blue Springs, Orlando, Florida, you will see a number. This is an assessment by Hub Pages of the relevance of the article. Compare this to a percentage mark you may get for an essay at school. The more interesting the hub and the more pleasing the layout, the higher the mark.

Immediately under the title will be some Google ads if you have opted in to these. The position of these ads appears to be fixed by default. (A word of warning here, never ever click on Google ads on your own pages. You will be severely punished!)

Under this panel of ads will be your opening paragraph. Keep this to about five lines, outlining what your hub is about, including your main keywords.

To the right of your opening text will be a light blue panel with your membership details, the RSS feed, a link to join your fan club and your avatar or photo if you uploaded one. In the corner of this box is a number which reflects your good standing on Hub Pages.

Now you can consider adding either an Amazon or eBay capsule to compliment the wording of your opening paragraph. You have the choice of adding from 1 to 6 links in eBay, these are automatically selected by eBay from the wording you place in the capsule. Amazon lets you add from 1 to 10 links, and you are given the choice here either to let Amazon choose the links dependent like eBay on your keywords, or choose the products to offer yourself by placing the ASIN number in each line.

In my example hub Blue Springs Orlando Florida, I have placed an Amazon box with just 3 products of my own choosing. To the right of the Amazon capsule I’ve added my own video of Blue Springs, but you can add any suitable YouTube video you can find.

Below these 2 capsules are another 2 Google ads, but your visitor can search for more ads by using the < > arrows.

I’ve repeated this format for the rest of the page, and I hope you can agree that the page is well balanced. The boxes on the right are positioned there by default, and include more Google ads, related hubs by others, related questions and answers, then a list of all of the keywords you have chosen and added to describe your hub.

If you have added a news hub, I always think this is best placed near to the bottom above your comment box. You have the choice of the number of news articles to list here, and these are selected and added automatically for you dependant on the keywords you choose to include.

The page is finished off with more Google ads.

There is much more to Hub Pages than what I’ve mentioned here, but I hope by now you will be on information overload with what I’ve already listed above.

The important thing now is to sign up and just get on with it, learning as you go, always experimenting with better ways to display your hub, and keep coming back to it to add more relevant text. Hopefully, this will result in your hub mark rising, as well as your income.

Another warning, income from each hub might take upwards of 4 to 6 months to start, but if you add new hubs as often as you can, join the forums and write well enough to interest other hubbers to join your fan club, you can only grow to become a respected Hubber.

If you cannot think of something significant to write a hub about, draw on your life’s experiences with occupations, hobbies and sports you are knowledgable about. You will see from my profile page the variety of subjects I’ve written hubs about, and below the list of links you will see all of my hubs itemised with links to every one, and below these is a list of the hubs by other hubbers I have subscribed to. By subscribing to these, I get notified automatically every time these hubbers publish a new hub.

I hope this helps you along the way to start to receive income from blogging, and if you care to comment or need to ask a question to clarify anything, I promise I will always give you a response.

If you take this on, why not include a friend or group of friends to join you, then you are accountable to someone, and you can spur each other on to make more and better hubs. There’s room for everyone, so this idea is worthy of serious consideration. Why not forward this post on to others now, and get a quick start along your own road to riches?