Cloud mining = you need to start with your own money to fund your account and let the service do the mining for you. It is a good way to familiarize yourself with mining but you won't get a lot of profit in it.

As for the other methods, there are numerous ways to earn btc. You can sell your skills and service to other people and in turn, ask for btc as payment. You can also enroll in a signature campaign here in btt and earn some money and at the same time, learn things about bitcoins yourself.

Good luck.