Do you want to make money online?
Are you holding back because you don’t know where to start?
Well, worry no more. I’ve compiled the best 21+ ways you can make money online to get you started immediately.
Who can make money online?
No matter what part of the world you’re in, online opportunities are always on the overflow. That’s the beauty of making money online. Flexibility. You get to decide when to work, how to work and where to work.
This list will;
- Give you the best, lucrative, and well-researched channels of earning online.
- Side hustles and full time opportunities available to most countries.
We tried to curate the lists with worldwide availability in mind. But if it happens not to be in your country, hop on to the next idea, we have something for you too.
This list is not a get rich scheme. If you want to make a living from working online, you’ve got to work smart and consistently. And to keep trying. If that sounds like you,
Let’s dive in.
1) Research for Companies.
I have a friend who works in a small research firm. Not a scientist to those who are wondering. Their company performs business analysis of markets, competitors, consumer behavior, etc. Now, my friend has to be there physically in the office as it a day job. But guess what? You can do it from the comfort of your home. With your flexible hours and a cup of hot beverage if you like.
Ask Wonder
This company has made it possible for you. But a fair warning, it’s not easy getting in as they are through when it comes to applicants. (You’ve got to be qualified.)
First, you have to complete an application, a trial quiz/sample assignment, and have great writing and research skills. When you pass the drill you can start researching.
Research requests can be;
- Recommended products
- Competitive landscaping
- Explain a trend/phenomenon
- Determine the size of a market
- Gather statistics
#Tip 1
In your sample test, be detail-oriented, thorough in your research, and include multiple sources to back up your accuracy. You’d want to give your best as it’s a determinant of whether you get in or not.
Your research has to be reviewed by one of their reviews. Payment is $15- $18 depending on the complexity of needed research. You can withdraw your money every two weeks via PayPal.
On the run?
2) Be part of Crowdsourcing.
This is one of my favorite ways of making money online because you can literally do any task. A task can take anything from a few minutes to a few hours though some tasks may be actual projects that take days to complete. So where do you get a crowdsourcing job?
Clickworker
You sign up, create an account, and start finding small tasks you can complete. Tasks can include
- Correcting texts
- Searching and categorizing data
- Research/surveys
- Product description
- Photo capturing
- Audio recording/video.
Take your pick, payment is through PayPal.
Appen
Appen has a similar working concept as clickworker. But, a favorite feature of Appen is that they do not cut a commission from your earnings. How awesome is that?
Work can be classified as a micro-task, a project or survey, and data collection. See, only a few minutes of your time doing micro-tasks and you can earn money from it.
3) Search Engine Evaluation.
Even Google needs help occasionally. Here is how being a search engine evaluator works: Sometimes when we type a query on Google, we get results that well… don’t make sense or are not related to your search.
As a search engine evaluator, you’ll need to assess whether the queries and results Google gives are related, of quality and have user intent.
[click_to_tweet tweet=”Did you know you can make money online by working as search engine evaluator? This short post will tell you how among other ways of earning online.'” quote=”Learn how to start as a search engine evaluator.”]
So how does one start as a search engine evaluator?
You apply to companies that hire evaluators, complete a qualification test and start working. And no, you don’t have to be a techie guy that knows code and all.
These companies are usually looking for search engine evaluators.
- Appen
- Isoftstone
- Lionbridge
Outside that Cubicle has tips to help you get started as a search engine evaluator and start earning online.
4) Create and Sell gigs on Fiverr.
Fiverr is an online marketplace where content creators can create any type of gig and sell it to willing buyers. Anyone can create and anyone can buy. The least amount you can charge for a gig is $5. Fiverr has a huge market with a lot of willing buyers.
You can sell gigs in:
- Logo animation
- Voiceovers
- Illustrations
- Book covers
- Site customization
- Social media management.
Basically, you can sell anything on Fiverr. Even spiritual healing gigs. As long as you do your market research right, you will be making money on fiverr pretty quickly.
#Tip 2
Your content should be well written/designed and keyword focused. You want to be found when people search for what your offering. Ask gig buyers to leave a review because reviews work like magic. You stand a higher chance of selling more gigs if you have an impressive review from buyers.
Another way to make money off Fiverr is to resell the gigs promoted on the site. How do you make money online through fiverr?
You order a specific gig of choice, then you resell it to other clients at a higher price.
5) Research, write, market and sell an E-book.
When it comes to writing an e-book, research is essential if people are to buy your book. Readers want an expert to guide them through something and if you are knowledgeable in a certain niche, an e-book will help you earn money online, passively.
E-books in non-fiction (I.e. teaching people how to do something) will sell more compared to fictional e-books.
So, let’s go over the steps that will get you started on writing an e-book.
- Choose a lucrative well-researched topic that solves a need.
- Design the chapters and subheaders in a flowing easy to read method.
- Use visual content in different points of the e-book to grab and retain the reader’s attention.
- Before launching an E-book, start a group or community through a social media platform, email, or a blog. This will ensure that you’ll have a ready to buy audience. And the word of mouth, reviews, and social share will skyrocket your e-book sales.
- Offer discounts to first pre-order buyers and run contests. This is an enticing lead magnet to motivate readers to buy your e-book.
- Promote on social media, run Facebook ads, and ask for reviews to boost credibility and entice more buyers.
These are the top websites where you can sell your e-book.
1) Kindle direct publishing.
2) Lulu
3) Kobo Writing Life
4) E-junkie
5) Scribd.
6) Become a freelance writer and make money online.
Freelance writing is a lucrative online job that many have turned into a full-time job. Some freelance writers working earn a six-figure salary.
As a freelance writer, you can specialize in different types of freelance writing.
- Business writing
In this type of freelance writing, you write articles for businesses. It can be website content, magazines, whitepapers, emails, or publications.
- Blogging.
A simplified example is what you are reading right now. One can blog for their own website or be contracted to blog for another website. It’s easy to start and scale up as long as you keep up to date with the latest trends in the blogging world.
- Copywriting
It’s a type of content writing that helps business owners and websites sell their services through the leads that the written content generates. It can include: About us pages, product description, advertisement copy and lead pages writing. Freelance writing jobs can be found in sites such as:
- Upwork
- Fiverr
- Writers department
- Constant content
- Freelancer
- Iwriter
- Scripted
- Guru
Want to get started as a freelancer?
Check out Walter Akolo and Elna Cain. Their awesome content and tips helped me get started as a freelance writer.
7) Start as a Virtual Assistant
Virtual assistants help busy entrepreneurs get all their work done and not miss out on important issues. A VA can work from anywhere in the world which makes VA a flexible way of making money online whether as a side hustle or a full-time job.
Typically a VA performs tasks such as Marketing, promoting books, creating posts for guest blogging, writing follow up emails, managing social media platforms, and any other task a client will need. If you choose the VA path, make sure to boost up your skills through online courses.
Here’s a guide to aid you in the quest to becoming a virtual assistant
- Pitch a clear plan for the service you will offer.
It is best if you offer a service in which you are skilled. Maybe you are good at blogging, social media marketing, or e-commerce marketing.
Leverage on these skills and use your past expertise to land your first client. I never said it was easy, but constant dedication, improving your skills, and upward determination will land you your first client.
- List the services which you can offer.
Create a good relationship with your first client. Their reference may land you another gig. There are so many services you can offer and you need to be updated on the innovations cropping up in the business world to ensure your skills are a good match.
Against each service, show the duration, price, and payment details. A client testimonial is a great advantage.
- Create a website/ portfolio
Create and optimize your service page to make it easier for clients to discover you. You can include in details, who you are
*What packages you offer.
*Industry you are conversant in.
*Current rates and payment details.
*Current and past clients.
As a VA, you set the price of your services. Add an extra fee to your fixed prices to cater for taxes and sick days.
I’d recommend learning more about becoming a VA from Kayla Sloan and The VA handbook. Great actionable tips to get you started.
8) Offer Transcription Services.
Transcription is an easy way of making money online as you only have to convert audio into written content. To earn more as a transcriptionist, choose a specialization in either medical or legal transcription fields because they pay higher rates.
TranscribeMe
There are a ton of transcription sites out there but I would recommend transcribeme for beginners. The sign up process is easy and upfront and the online training will give you a detailed heads up of what to expect.
TranscribeMe has micro-tasks that take 1-2 minutes to work on. Perfect for beginners.
To get started on TranscribeMe, you will need to sign up, go through their training, take an exam, and start transcribing audios. All for free.
9) Online Tutoring
Online tutoring is fairly tough to get into because most tutoring sites need qualifications before you start tutoring. However, hope is not lost. These are 3 places you can tutor online.
Chegg Tutors
For you to sign up and be accepted as a tutor on Chegg, you must be enrolled in a 4-year university program during the time of application and validate this using an ID card or unofficial transcript.
Payment is $20/hour and is made through PayPal.
Studypool
This is a little different than other tutoring sites. Tutors bid on questions posted by students who need help with assignments.
Udemy
Tutoring on Udemy is in the form of creating courses and selling them on Udemy for a price. Students buy the course and you earn each time someone purchases your course. Udemy is flexible as you can create a course on any topic as long as it is a niche in demand.
10) Sell College Notes online.
How about making money from something you do almost daily?
Selling your notes!
Simple and easy at no extra cost. And the good thing about it is that there’s a ready market place to buy and sell notes for college students. The sign up process is super easy and you’re paid through PayPal. These are the top places to sell your notes online.
Nexus notes
Nexus notes is one of the top online market places for college notes sellers and buyers. You have to sign up with your email, set a password and you are ready to start posting notes for sale.
They even have a list of most of the universities in the world to make the process easier for you. Typed notes will sell better than handwritten as they are clearer and cleaner. For every sale you make, you’ll receive a 50% commission through PayPal.
Notesgen
This site provides more flexibility in what you can sell. Students can share their presentations, lab results, case studies, study guides, and notes with others in exchange for some cash. Notesgen will pay you a 60% commission for every sale.
11) Sell stock images online
Hundreds of thousands if not millions of people use stock images for business, websites, blogs, and creative DIYs. That goes without saying that indeed there is a market for stock photos. Competition is high and so are the number of websites/companies that accept stock photos.
What you need is a good quality camera, creativity and an eye for detail to notice and understand the trends in stock photography. And if you already have some photos lying around in your drive you can start selling them here:
Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock is one of the largest stock markets there is. With highly competitive rates, this is a good place to start selling for any stock photographer. They pay a 33% commission for photos/vectors and 35% for videos.
500Px
You will earn a 60% royalties when your photos are accepted to 500px for photos licensed exclusively.
Alamy
Alamy pays a commission of 50% for exclusive rights and 40% for non-exclusive license rights. Also, students will get 100% commision on sold images. for two years since signup.
Shutterstock
As one of the most popular stock photography sites, Shutterstock is a good place to sell your photos as millions of buyers are already available.
You will be paid depending on the number of downloads an image has gained. When you keep the copyright or license non-exclusively, you are paid 30% of the sales made.
12) Start a Social Media Management Business.
While this type of work may require some background experience in social media marketing, a short online course such as this one can help you gain insights, experience, and learn the trade of social media marketing.
Work as a social media manager may entail:
- Creating and scheduling posts on different social media platforms.
- Interact with the page followers and replying to their comments.
- Monitoring campaigns and analyzing the campaign metrics.
- Building the audience of a business.
Digital Marketing institute has an insightful guide to help you become a social media marketer.
13) Make money from Bug Bounty- A program by Facebook
Facebook Bug Bounty program gives the app’s users a chance to report bug issues and earn a reward. Of course, this is not an everyday online money making idea.
But in all sense, a minimum of $500 is not too shabby. However, Facebook makes it clear that particularly low-risk security issues will most likely not qualify for a bounty.
So if you’ve got a knack for identifying bugs and other security issues in apps and websites, check out the Bug Bounty program.
14) Start affiliate marketing today
Is there that one particular product that makes your life easier by saving time, increasing your productivity, or teaching you something new? Then yes, that’s something awesome to start with. The products can be physical, services, or informational.
Physical products include the everyday items that you use but compared to information and service affiliate programs, products pay relatively lower commissions.
Information products are products created by authors, marketers or products that provide ultimate guides or a particular know-how. Information products have a higher commission as they usually have a higher price.
They already have a sales campaign making it easier to sell them especially when they are made by reputable thought-leaders in an industry.
Service products are relatively easier to market because every niche has services that they use. The commission will vary depending on what service you are promoting.
Best affiliate marketing programs in 2020.
Amazon has thousands of niches on its space making it the ideal affiliate program. When a user clicks on your referral link, you earn a commission even if they did not buy the product you were promoting.
But, one disadvantage of Amazon Associate is that their cookie life only lasts for 24 hours only. You won’t get a dime after these hours elapse. Still, Amazon is popular and diverse enough to make money.
As one of the longest in business Affiliate program, shareasale affiliates has a pool of merchants from diverse niches. This means that there will be a product or service for you to promote and earn from. They have digital payout options, something other affiliate programs such as Amazon lack.
This is a leading online market operating in some African countries including Kenya. It pays an 13% commission on the promoted products. Promoters can use text links, product feeds and banners to drive potential buyers to Jumia’s website.
Location Rebel has an awesome starter guide if you’d love to get started with affiliate marketing.
15) Website Testing
Website developer’s goal is to ensure that the website they just launched or are planning to launch has the best user experience, offers value, and is easy to navigate.
Webmasters then contract other user testing websites and place their order for the website to be tested by a user and gauge the website’s user-friendliness.
Most of these websites offer an easy to sign up for the process. You test a site, give your feedback either in writing or video and, get paid. The sites below all payout through PayPal.
User Testing
- Sign up with your email
- Take a sample test
- Start testing websites to earn.
- To qualify, you must be 18+, fluent in English, have a laptop/PC/iPod/iPhone/Tab, and a screen recorder.
The duration of testing will range from 10-20 minutes depending on the type of test you are doing. Here are some tests User Testing offers; Websites, apps, prototypes, and campaigns. Pay starts at $10.
TryMyUI
TryMyUI is a site that pays $ 4 for each 20 minutes test, through PayPal. The tests are either done through a video or a short written review wrap-up survey.
Before a review is accepted, it must be accepted by graders. So make your time count by leaving honest and insightful feedback. Payment is every Friday.
Enroll
Enroll offers more flexibility compared to others as it lets you do the test either on your phone, tab, or desktop. For every test you complete, you earn a badge that is redeemable through PayPal. You’ll have to take a sample test before getting a real test.
Enroll will ask you for your name details, birth date, income and level of schooling to link you up with testing that you qualify for.
16) Online Surveys
Online surveys are great side hustles to pursue when you have time in your hands. It’s hard to make it your full-time income (Nearly impossible if you ask me.) But a great way to make money on the side while commuting or during breaks.
Lifepoints
Life Point is a worldwide survey company. Their surveys include; mobile surveys, Apps, product testing and diary surveys. They pay through PayPal and their customer support is great judging by the awesome reviews at Trustpilot.
Survey Savvy
Survey savvy is also a great side hustle for people interested in surveying different products and answering questions genuinely. They pay via checks (In USD).
One thing that makes them stand out is the regular contests they hold for their sign up users. Survey savvy has a two-tiered referral program known as savvy connect.
You add an extension of the savvy connect on your device and you will receive checks when you search. Users with Savvy connect extension get special surveys as stated on Survey Savvy’s website.
I pos I say
This survey company has 5000+ clients in many countries which mean more surveys to people who want them. The surveys focus on the Ad and entertainment industries. Their payment is made through visa-prepaid cards, PayPal, and iTunes codes.
17) Music Review
Well, this is one fun way of making money. Listening to never aired before music while earning some cash on the side is not so bad. Here are the sites where you can do just that.
We Localize
The signup process for We Localize is simple and straight forward. You only have to watch a demo video, sign up, receive an invite to transcribe, download the app then start. For each song you transcribe you could earn up to $4
Radio Earn
This site offers two ways to make money by listening to music. You either listen to it yourself or integrate the API key with your website and let your website visitors listen. It’s completely free to integrate with your website. Radio earn has a referral program and pays a 10% rate for each referral.
HitPredictor
For every 10 songs you review, you get $5 redeemable as an Amazon gift card. HitPredictor also has a referral program.
18) Web search to get paid.
Making money online can be as easy as doing a web search on Google and getting paid for it. Of course, you will need to download an app or install a browser extension for this to work out. These are the top apps and extensions that pay you to search Google.
Qmee.com
To start, you have to install their free browser extension. An ad will pop up on the side of your browser window and when you click it, you get paid. Pay starts at $4-$6 cents. A small amount that can add up pretty quickly with all the searches you do daily.
19) Sell creative Designs on Creative market.
For creatives, Creative Market gives you a ready market base to sell your designs online. You can sell fonts, Graphics, product mockups, templates, and photos in this market place. What’s more, you get to keep 70% of your sales.
20) Open an Etsy shop and earn.
With 20 million buyers, Etsy is a great platform to sell handmade items and vintage goods in your shop. To start, you need to register and confirm your registration, Open your shop, choose the shop’s name and start listing your products. One of the top benefits of Etsy is that you set your product price.
You have to pay$0.20 for each product listed and a5% fee for the sales you make. Additionally, to promote your handcrafts, you can pay for ad listing on Etsy for a fee that exposes your listing to more views which equals more sales.
If you want to pursue selling on Etsy, Read this complete guide to know the do’s and don’ts of starting a shop on Etsy.
21) Online Peer to Peer Lending
The Fintech industry has been revolutionizing since 2005 making it easier for lenders and borrowers to transact online with no banks between them. This is a profitable niche to make money from in 2020 as more platforms evolve, bringing with them high-interest rates for lenders and affordable ones for borrowers. Want to start investing in peer to peer lending? These are the top apps/websites to begin.
Ubapesa
This is a Kenyan peer to peer lending app that makes lending easier. To start. Download the Ubapesa app from Google play store, launch the app, add money to your wallet, and start lending. Lenders have the option of choosing borrows whom to lend money based on their credit score.
As a lender, you will earn 55.25% of the interest from the loan.
Mintos
Want to lend money internationally, Mintos is the website for you. The peer to peer lending platform operates in more than 66 countries in the world. It has jam-packed features that benefit lenders who’ve invested in Mintos.
The loan terms are between 1-72 months with 12.07% average returns on your loans. And you can get back your money anytime even if the loan has not reached maturity. Plus starting as an investor (lender) only requires 10 Euros.
If you really, really want to make a living out of working online, then this last method is the easiest and most profound way.
Why?
Because it gives you numerous ways to monetize and work online as a full-time job. Here it goes.
22) Start a niche website.
A website will pave way for you to make money online. That is if you start it the right way with the best information, research and a vision plan.
Niche websites are easier to monetize as you will drive a targeted type of traffic to your site, this warrants high conversion in your monetization plans. There are many CMS out there but WordPress is the best CMS you can bargain for.
WordPress Beginner is a must-read for anyone who has chosen to start a website on WordPress. It has hundreds of tutorials that will help you choose the best domain name, hosting providers, the must-have plugins, and even monetization.
For SEO, Neil Patel and Brian Dean of Backlinko have information on all that you will need to know as a website beginner.
Let’s explore some ways you can monetize your blog/website.
- Affiliate marketing.
With the load of traffic that a website brings, affiliate marketing is made more effective and worthwhile. Every niche has different affiliate programs you can tap into and even promote complementary products that are not directly related to your niche but still relevant to what you’re writing about.
Ex: Maybe you’re a blogger in the tech software niche. As part of the affiliate products you promote, you can choose a software as a service product.
The complimentary, not directly related product can be a book on how to boost creativity when solving problems. This may benefit readers who are coming up with softwares that solve problems yet it’s not directly related to the software industry.
- Create content for paid members only.
You probably know Medium. And you know that they have a paid membership option for readers that enables them to access exclusive content for members only. This is a great example of paid membership as a way to monetize a website, and you can try it out for your WordPress site, too.
- Create and sell e-books and online courses.
As long as you are offering value to your readers or teaching them something new they want to learn, e-books and courses are a great way to drive revenue to your site. Bloggers in the digital marketing and blogging niche have particularly taken advantage of this monetization formula.
Readers don’t want babble. Just make sure to offer value at its best.
- Build a directory page.
Directories are an awesome way to make money off your blog when compared to ads and banners. One, they are not annoying and destructive as Google Ads. Two and most importantly, they are a benefit to your audience. Directories can be in the form of job boards, Events, or a paid business directory.
EX: Problogger has a job directory that lists freelance jobs available for its users.
- Offer services
A website will enable you to offer services such as design, content writing, coding, app development, coaching, and any other service that you are skilled in.
Now you can start earning online.
In the simplest terms possible, there are 22 ways you can make money online as a beginner.
Will it be easy?
Not really. At times, you have to try different ways and formulas until you hit the mark. You can do it. Start making money online through any of the ways above that will work for you.
Which method are you willing to try out and which one has worked for you.
And if you want to improve your online working skills, check out these online learning platforms to give you a boost in the skills needed to make money online.
Do you have a friend or family who would benefit from this post? Please share and help them take more control of their finances.