It may comes as a surprise, but sometimes the easiest way to make money on the web is to make sure that . . . you can actually make money on the web. This means that you have to set up your website so that people can actually pay you. While there are millions of complicated schemes and e-commerce engines (not to mention eBay), there are also some very simple options.

Formspring can help you create forms to securely collect on orders from your online customers. You create an order form at their site, then simply direct your users to the form (from your site). Your customers will complete the order form, and then be directed to make a payment using PayPal, which is integrated into the form setup.

Once you’ve taken the order and received payment, the form will return your customer to a thank-you page on your site. Using Formspring with PayPal costs as little as $12.50 per month. Why don’t you go ahead and let your customers buy directly from you?