Sundar is a clerk in a nationalized bank. He was free from 5 pm to 9 pm every day till a few months ago as he did not have any friends and was not interested in socializing with people. A perfect candidate for doing online business! He used to spend a minimum of 4 hours a day browsing the Internet just because he does not know what else to do.

I wrote an article about making money through free offers and coupons in Money Spinners column recently. “I understood the concept well. Still I feel it is above my head. Can you please give me a stripped down version of the same concept? I want something as simple as copying and pasting. I am contented in earning Rs.3,000 extra pocket money,” said Sundar.

“I am glad that the article inspired you. Can you tell me whatever you know about coupons?” I asked Sundar. He replied, “I will tell you what I read in Encyclopedia. In marketing a coupon is a ticket or document that can be exchanged for a financial discount or rebate when purchasing a product. Customarily, coupons are issued by manufacturers of consumer packaged goods or by retailers, to be used in retail stores as a part of sales promotions. They are often widely distributed through mail, magazines, newspapers, the Internet, and mobile devices such as cell phones. Internet coupons have become popular recently, because there is no postal cost. Mobile coupons have emerged as a new and green alternative as no printing is required whatsoever. Mobile coupons as a method of coupon redemption are gaining in popularity as more consumers utilize their mobile devices for uses beyond voice.”

“What are Internet coupons?” I asked. He replied, “Online retailers often refer to Internet Coupons as "coupon codes," "promotional codes," "promotion codes," "discount codes," "key codes," "promo codes," "shopping codes," "voucher codes" or "source codes." Internet coupons typically provide for reduced cost or free shipping, a specific dollar or percentage discount, or some other offer to encourage consumers to purchase specific products or to purchase from specific retailers. Manufacturers and retailers also consider Internet Coupons to be those that resemble traditional "offline" coupons, but can be printed from a user's computer and redeemed in-store.”

“Excellent. There are hundreds of websites that post Internet coupons. Every day visit these websites, collect coupons that are current, legal and valid and post them on your websites. Simultaneously promote your website. You will make money,” I told him.

“Is making money that easy?” he asked. I said, “In theory yes and in practice no. Unless you come up with fresh working coupons every day, visitors will not come back to your site. Repeat traffic is the silver key to online income. Unless you are an online business person, you will never understand how difficult it is to update a website every day.”

“Can you give me some tips on running this project?” Sundar asked. Though there are hundreds of types of coupons, it is better to concentrate on coupons for Internet related online services such as domain names registration and web hosting services. Though there are many ways to make money, I think online ads and commission sharing methods will work for you. Online ads are those contextual ads and banners ads from companies like Google. The other way is to become affiliate of online service providers and get your special coupons. Ask your visitors to use your coupons, buy the service, and email you the bill and proof of payment. Based on this information you can find out from your affiliate account how much commission you have earned on this particular customer account. You can split the commission between you and him. For example, if an online service provider offers you $100 commission, tell your customer that you’ll give him $50 on receipt of the proof. You are happy because you make a cool $50 and the customer is happy because he makes $50 that he would not have received had he signed up directly. Hundreds of web entrepreneurs are doing it. You too can do it. It is easy because it does not involve writing or creating, original, readable content. But remember you will not be able to make big money through this method unless you automate the process.”

“I understand. I’m just looking for some pocket money without any investment,” said Sundar with a big smile.

Do I have to add that Sundar is running a blog and making Rs.2,000 a month? It is not big money. If he works hard and automates his business, he can even make Rs.20,000 a month. But he is a happy-go-lucky guy.