First Things First

You're going to get paid.

Maybe not today, maybe not a lot...but if you try out any of these services I'll be reviewing, with any seriousness, for any length of time, you will be paid out at some point in the next little while. It's a great feeling, someone just throwing money your way, and you'll need a good way to catch it.

Got a PayPal?

If you do, great! That and Amazon gift cards are the two main ways most of my online moneymaking services pay out. Make sure to use your PayPal email address when you sign up; many times the company will issue payment assuming you've used the same address. Sometimes you can specify your PayPal email in your account settings, but it's easier to just use the same address to avoid confusion.

If you aren't yet a PayPal account holder, not to worry. It's free to make an account and doesn't take very long. Here's what you'll need to do:

• Give some information just like you're opening up a bank account
• Link a payment card (lets you make purchases online, more about that below)
• Link a regular checking account so you can get your payments to your bank (they use excellent security to encrypt your information)

Head over to PayPal.com to get started. {Referral information: make a purchase of $5 or more using PayPal in the next 30 days and you get $5 back in your account! I also get $5 for bringing you on board.}

If you pay online using PayPal, using them as the intermediary means the online merchant never holds your payment card or bank information, which gives you a nice security boost. You can also get a PayPal.me address to receive money (since Bill in Accounting owes you that $20, why not make it easy for him to pay up?) just by giving someone your URL. You can even add a / and a number afterwards to request a certain amount. So you can send Bill a passive-aggressive email with the link "https://paypal.me/YourCustomURL/20" and he can click it to pay up using his preferred payment card.

You'll want this to be your first step so you don't have to wait to cash out. It makes things even easier if you fill out all the information PayPal asks for to make your profile 100%. You'll see it on your Dashboard if you have more to do. Getting 100% means you have a "verified" PayPal account, which keeps you from having to pay a penalty on your earnings with some services.

You can also get their mobile app from Google Play or the iTunes store and move money around on-the-go. Welcome to the next generation of online payments!