I am in a creative mode just now, trying to think of “the next big thing” and I have come to the conclusion that the way to make money these days online is to make something for free, give it away for free, get hundreds of thousands of users and sell it to a company who will go on to monetise it. Seems all pretty simple, or is it!

Well the problem is with anything you do for free it will ultimately cost you and if it’s really popular, it will really cost you. Take Twitter it’s as simple as they get idea wise but it taps in to what people want to do, express views to their friends and anyone that will listen to them in an easy way that accessible on the move, a kind of mass text message system where everyone you know can join in the conversation and it’s currently free.

The thing is Twitter costs millions to run for free, in fact I think it’s something nuts like $92 million has been invested in Twitter so far, could be more. I say nuts because as far as I can tell it’s not made a penny, however I hear in Japan its Advert supported so maybe that’s something we will all see down the line.

Anyway what I am getting at is the right free service could make you very rich, so that’s what I been thinking about. What could I build while we are in a recession that people with money will be interested in getting a slice of when we come out the recession (and if it’s really good even before that happens).

So get thinking, and think Global. I far too often have been thinking and acting local (aka UK) but it time to get Global. Don’t worry if you can’t do design or programming, most of the best ideas online are by people who couldn’t upload a web page let alone program a complex system.

p.s. I never posted this on my Affiliate Blog, why? Because Affiliate Marketing is great but not the only way to make money online and some times you just need to build it and worry about the money making down the line.