With the job market the way it is, each of us is looking at every opportunity to provide additional income. Many of you have lost your job or fear losing it; some of you have just graduated and are looking for that first full-time employment opportunity. Still, others of you are looking for a summer job or some part-time work to earn extra cash.

If you search for opportunities to make money, sooner or later you will discover Google’s AdSense. There are many similar opportunities out there, but AdSense is one of the largest and best known. It is also very easy to configure and costs nothing to join. Once you start reading about AdSense you will see the Google ads on many of the web sites you frequent. More than likely you have also clicked on some of the more interesting of the ads and even purchased a product from one of the advertisers.

If you create a website or even several websites you will learn a few things. First, that when someone clicks on your ad you will actually make money! It might not seem like a lot at first, but if you can grow the number of visitors to your websites and your content draws new visitors, the amount of money you can make will grow. You will also learn that it takes a lot of hard work, patience, and persistence to produce and maintain excellent content that will keep both old and new guests coming back. You might get lucky with the right type of content and grow very quickly; most likely it will be a slow and at times painful process. If you make the commitment and put in the effort, you can expect much better results.

Here are some steps to get you started with making money with AdSense:

1. Read about it.

Visit Google.com/AdSense to create an account, learn about creating ads, and understanding the program. Also search for other articles about AdSense to learn more.

2. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Trust your instincts. You will likely find numerous websites that contain books, start-up kits, article generation software, and guaranteed methods to make money from AdSense. In most cases the website selling the product is making the money, not you. If you are still tempted than try some of them, but remember you have been warned.

3. Which sites do you enjoy most?

Think of the sites you like to visit. Are they usually the same ones, or do you like to surf to find new sites on whatever topic interests you at the moment? Create a site similar to the ones you most enjoy, and make sure it is a topic you will enjoy writing fresh content for your website.

4. Which sites have made money?

There are plenty of sites that say they have make millions with a kit they sell for $29,99. Believe them only if you want. For better information go to http://websiteoutlook.com and type in the name of any website. It will provide you with an estimate of the value of the website, based on the number of hits over time. You will find some websites worth hundreds or thousands of dollars, and several in the millions (Google and eBay come to mind). I have found this to be one of the best motivators, as you can see which sites are making money based on hits and which ones are not. You can also track your website from the time it doesn’t show up until its value slowly grows (or shrinks if you don’t put the time into it).

5. Start small

Start small with just AdSense, and expand your advertising as your site grows and you learn your own formula for success.

If you are going through some tough times it is a great way to focus your energy. Once you find your formula you can expand to multiple websites and increase the number of ads you host. The best part about it: you can work from home and the sky is the limit!