How to Make Money Online: 34 Ways You Can Start Earning Today

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It’s no secret that increasing your income can unlock more opportunity in life. Everything from travel and vacations to bulking up your retirement account is easier if you have the cash available.

And to do that, some of the best opportunities are online.

Part of the appeal is you can do it from anywhere, thanks to WiFi connections on every corner. Whether you’re looking for a side hustle to supplement your income or want to make it your full-time gig, there are plenty of ways to make money online.

If this sounds good to you, you’re in the right place. Here is a huge list of ways to make money online.

1. Freelance Writing

Starting a freelance writing career is one of the best ways to make money online for free. Yes – I said for free.

All you need is a laptop, internet connection, and a desire to write quality content.

Becoming a recognized writer can take a little time, and you might not land a high-paying client right away. But don’t give up because freelance writing can be an excellent source of income. After all, businesses need someone to write blog posts, web content, and articles.

Whatever you like to write about – personal finance, weight loss, music, psychology, or automotive – someone is willing to pay you for writing it.

 

2. Get Paid to Proofread

Catching mistakes in a document you write yourself is difficult. That’s why many writers and business owners hire proofreaders.

If you love to read and are super-skilled at grammar and spelling, this is right up your alley.

Working as a proofreader can take many forms. For instance, sticking with a particular niche like websites or medical transcripts is an option.

Being your own boss with freelance proofreading or choosing to work as an employee for another company are both obtainable.

Sound interesting? Learn more at this free proofreading workshop!

3. Work as a Remote Employee

With all the ways to work online, have you thought about finding a job as a remote worker? Technology creates ample opportunities to do just about everything online, and companies hire remote staff all the time.

Working remotely is a reasonable solution for almost any situation. This possibility is sensible whether you’re looking for part-time or full-time work.

The business could require you to have a set schedule, so keep that in mind if flexibility is important to you.

FlexJobs is a good spot to find tons of remote work-from-home positions. Learn more here.

4. Make Money Watching Videos Online

Getting paid for watching videos online sounds like a dream come true. Though MyPoints is most well-known for making money with surveys, they have a variety of videos that pay, too.

If you don’t mind fashion, food, sports highlights, or travel topics, you could cash in on this opportunity. Watching videos could help you earn money while waiting in the checkout line, at your kid’s soccer practice, or while making dinner at home.

You can even earn a $5 signup bonus when click here to get started with MyPoints!

5. Start a Blog

Everywhere you look, you see articles promising easy income if you start a blog. Making money blogging isn’t as effortless as most people say it is, but it can produce big results if you invest the time.

A blog isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme. However, if you don’t mind putting in time and hard work, your site can pull in enough to supplement or even replace your income.

If you enjoy writing and think blogging may be for you, here’s our step-by-step guide to starting a blog. Enjoy!

6. Work as a Tutor

If you have a knack for teaching, consider taking your talents to the internet. This option is good for earning money in your spare time but can also be a full-time role.

Some tutoring sites, like VIPKid, will hire you to teach English as a second language. Others may pay you to tutor math, science, business, accounting, and more.

7. Become a Virtual Assistant

One of the best ways to make money from home is to become a virtual assistant. Setting your own hours is empowering and can help you work around family or other responsibilities. Plus, there’s a huge market for people in this role.

Companies can outsource everything from customer service and bookkeeping to social media and WordPress support to a VA.

What you do as a VA depends on your skills, but surely you possess abilities that a business would find valuable. Learn more about how to become a virtual assistant here.

8. Complete Online Surveys

Surveys solve the question of how to make money fast online. Answering questions this way won’t replace your income, but surveys present an awesome avenue to earn extra money on the side.

Tons of quality survey sites are out there. Signing up for more than one site is best. This will open up more options, ensuring you will always have a survey available to take. Use this HUGE list of the best survey sites to get started.

9. Use a Robo-advisor

Robo-advisors are an awesome option to make money online. Since earning money this way requires investing some of your own cash, it isn’t exactly free. Still, getting started won’t take much.

Opening an account with a robo-advisor like M1 Finance only takes a few minutes. Then, these platforms provide a hands-off way to put your money to work for you.

10. Real Estate Crowdfunding

Buying a house to rent requires a significant investment of time and money. Instead, consider making money with an online real estate platform like Fundrise.

With Fundrise, you won’t get woken up by a tenant in the middle of the night. And, since you won’t have physical access to the property, there’s no need to provide upkeep and maintenance. Best of all, it only takes $500 to get started!

You’ll get all the benefits of real estate investment with none of the hassle. Plus, it can turn into a very nice passive income stream if you keep at it.

Get started with Fundrise here.

11. Sell Your Unwanted Stuff

Selling stuff you don’t want any more sounds like a daunting task. A garage sale is so much work! #amiright? Luckily, listing your items for sale online can smooth out the process.

If you’re wondering how to make money fast online, this might be what you’re looking for.

Take eBay, for example. The site has been around for ages, but it’s not old-fashioned. The online platform is a $2.6 billion business you can tap into.

Textbooks often have a fantastic resale value. Several sites dedicate their services to selling textbooks and can increase the money you earn.

Old cell phones can even make money online! Gazelle is an online marketplace that lets you sell used phones and other electronics you might have lying around the house.

12. Rent Items to Others

If you can’t part with your belongings, consider renting them instead. Tools, furniture, clothing, a spare room, camping equipment, or your entire house are all viable options for renting. Heck, you can even rent out your motorhome if you want to!

Sound crazy? You might be surprised.

Most people don’t want to spend their hard-earned cash buying something they’ll only use once. Renting it comes at a much lower cost and without a lot of commitment.

Online platforms, such as Airbnb, Style Lend, or Fat Llama are all excellent choices. For even more control, start your own rental business to make money online.

13. Open an Online Drop Shipping Business

This is perfect if you want to open an online store without the hassle of inventory.

With drop shipping, you set up a website to sell products you don’t own. Instead of keeping track of products, you partner with drop shipping companies to manage the inventory for you.

While the companies take care of fulfilling and shipping orders, your focus can be on marketing, customer support, and day-to-day operations of your online business.

14. Get Cash Back and Rewards with a Credit Card

Earning cash back and rewards using a credit card is easy-peasy. Applying for a new card online could put $250 or more in your pocket as a sign-up bonus. From there, you use the card to buy what you normally would and watch as the cash back rewards add up.

Some cards offer 5% back on categories like groceries, gas, or restaurant purchases, and the rewards can add up. For instance, the average American spends $7,729 a year on groceries – that equals $386 in cash back without doing extra work.

15. Create an Online Course

From gardening and cooking to taxes and computer programming, people love to learn new things. If you have an expertise in something, consider creating an online course to share it with the world.

Create an outline of what you want to include and begin creating your content. The role doesn’t require anything fancy – something as simple as a Google document, PDF, slideshow, or video presentation will get the job done.

Building a course can help others grow their knowledge while creating a passive income stream for you. Check out Teachable and start building your course right away!

16. Open a High-Yield Savings Account

If your cash is sitting in a local bank, you could be leaving money on the table. One great way to make your money work harder is to open a high-yield savings account.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) reports the national interest rate is 0.10%. While something is better than nothing, when you’re only earning one-tenth of one percent, what’s the point?

Online savings accounts can earn around 2.50% or more. With that kind of return, moving your money to a high-yield savings account makes a ton of sense.

Personally, we love and use CIT Bank for our high-yield savings needs. They offer a great savings building account, and we highly recommend it. Read our review here.

17. Make Money with Peer-to-Peer Lending

This is more of an investment, but peer-to-peer lending lets you earn money from home. You don’t need a lot of money to start and it can help you on your journey to increase your income.

Peer-to-peer lending is an opportunity to earn interest from letting others borrow your money. To make it as painless as possible, use a P2P website to invest with and they will take care of the details for you, lowering your risk and making this an easy and affordable way to build your portfolio.

18. Become a Graphic Designer

People with a knack for art could earn money online as a graphic designer. With sites like Fiverr allowing you to list your services, getting started in digital art is easier than you think.

Your skills in Photoshop, CorelDRAW, or Canva could pay off. As a graphic designer, you can sell website design, social media images, logos, or even make business forms.

19. Start a Podcast

Similar to blogging, starting a podcast is a great side hustle that can grow into a full-time wage if you want it to. This option is fabulous if you’re better at talking than writing.

Invest in a low-cost microphone that connects to your Android or iPhone to improve audio quality without breaking the bank. But to start, there’s no shame in using your smartphone to record the audio.

20. Get Paid to Be Healthy

Healthy living in a world of fast-food and instant gratification can be a challenge. Lucky for you, there’s an app for that.

Whether you want to lose weight, exercise more, or clean up your diet, plenty of apps exist that will pay you to get healthy.

You deposit a fixed amount to join a bet with a group of other people. If you succeed, you can win more than you put in. If you don’t meet your goal, you lose the money entirely.

21. Online Travel Consultant

You might think being an online travel consultant is an outdated idea. Don’t most people use Expedia or Airbnb to make their plans?

The reality is travel consultants are in high demand. Rather than investing time to research destinations, many travelers would rather pay you to do the work for them.

This opportunity is there if you have wanderlust and want to share your love of travel to help others get the most out of their trip.

22. Sell Photos

Cameras and smartphones capture the best moments in life. If you’re able to take a decent photo, your pictures can help you make money online for free.

Sites like 123rf, EyeEm, and Scoopshot give you a platform to sell photos you take. You don’t need special training. And selling your pics could turn into a fantastic income stream.

23. Write an Ebook

Writing an ebook isn’t rocket science. If you know a topic well and want to start fresh or have a collection of published works to compile into an ebook, the process might not take as long as you think.

Some writers finish their creation in only a week, while others take up to a year or more. Either way, one thing is certain: If you don’t start, you’ll never know.

Ebooks can be a superb passive income stream, although gaining traction and building revenue may not happen overnight. Publishing your finished product on Amazon is simple and can get your product in front of millions of Kindle owners to download.

24. Become an Online Coach

If your friends and family come to you for advice, you might make a great online coach.

Life brings plenty of struggles, and everyone can use a helping hand now and then. Talking with people and understanding their dreams, goals, and ambitions is a great way to help them overcome roadblocks to their success.

No matter what you’re an expert in – business, weight loss, fitness, finances, parenting, or productivity – if you love helping people, this is how to earn money online.

25. Create Videos on YouTube

Some people are naturals in front of the camera. YouTube can create the opportunity to make your dreams of becoming a star come true.

Producing videos from your smartphone is a piece of cake and posting them on YouTube is free.

To make money on YouTube, build up your subscribers to create cash flow from showing ads or partnering with companies to promote their products.

Super Chat is another way to earn money when viewers pay to highlight their message during a live chat broadcast.

26. Transcribe Video and Audio Recordings

Becoming a transcriptionist is a flexible profession that can generate a nice online income. Your typing speed should be top-notch, though, since most gigs pay based on how much content you produce.

Doctors, lawyers, courts, YouTubers, and bloggers are a few examples of clients you could work for. Keep in mind some states require specific certification to type court transcripts, but that isn’t always the case.

If you want to learn more about becoming a transcriptionist and how to market yourself, check out Transcribe Anywhere.

27. Test Search Engines

Search engine testing is big business. Companies place a lot of importance on where their website ranks in search engine results.

This makes sense – when was the last time you clicked to view page five of your Google search?

Because businesses value these results, companies like UserTesting hire people like you to test sites.

The flexibility is huge, and this job can work around your schedule. Plus, odds are you’ll be testing websites from the comfort of your home.

28. Online Arbitrage

Buying low and selling high is all the rage these days. From houses to storage units, arbitrage makes for entertaining television.

But flipping items isn’t just for people on TV. To make money online, you could peruse Facebook groups and re-sell sites to score the best bargains. Then, list your goods online to sell at a profit.

You can take this offline, too. Hit the neighborhood garage sales and thrift stores to help you find good deals to resell online.

If you can spot a discount a mile away, online arbitrage can help you bring in the dough.

29. Corporate Workshops

Similar to creating an online course or ebook, putting together a corporate workshop is another online money-making opportunity. Businesses are always on the lookout for valuable content for their employees, and they’ll pay top dollar for quality training to educate their workforce.

Corporate experience helps when producing your workshop. As long as you possess a deep understanding and can package the information uniquely, you’re likely to find a buyer.

Reach out to your existing network to promote yourself. Don’t forget about advertising on LinkedIn to reach a larger audience of relevant companies.

30. Use Cash Back Sites for Shopping

Cash back shopping sites exist for almost every product you’d want to buy. Making money online for free has never been easier.

If you’re making the purchase anyway, why not get cash back?

Some apps or sites take more effort than others. Before you become too invested in a particular platform, make sure it doesn’t cramp your style. For instance, if you think scanning coupons grocery receipts takes too much time, Ibotta is not the right choice for you.

Plenty of other options exist, and you’re sure to find one that can pay you back with cash when you use it. Our favorite is Rakuten.

31. Sell Your Skills with Fiverr

If you haven’t heard, Fiverr is the world’s largest online marketplace for freelance gigs. Computer skills, budgeting, voice-overs, graphic design, and social media experts are just a few choices to make money with Fiverr.

The platform lets you make a quick $5 by performing a service or offering your skills, though earning a lot more than that is common.

Packaging an option with fewer features and pricing it at $5 is smart, but don’t stop there. The more value you offer, the higher your price can be. Start creating and you could build a decent side income for yourself.

32. Sell T-shirts Online

People love t-shirts – they make great gifts and can be funny, serious, or commemorate a special event.

The key to hitting the jackpot with selling t-shirts online is to pick a specialty and create eye-catching designs.

If you love t-shirts and aren’t artistically inclined, you can still find success. Hiring a freelance designer is a great idea to help develop graphics, slogans, and layouts for your shirts.

33. Buy and Sell Domains

For the more technical-minded, buying and selling domain names can be a great way to cash in online. Known as domain flipping, it has the same concept as the house flipping shows you see on television. Instead of houses, you buy domains and sell them for profit.

Think the idea is foolish? The popular web hosting site Bluehost reports the average domain costs $10 to $15. Browsing through domain listings at Flippa.com shows them selling for $1,350 to more than $10,000.

34. Get Paid to Surf the Web

As a more low-key method to earn money fast online, consider Swagbucks. Earning cash to surf the web requires a minimum commitment on your part but can deliver a decent amount of money.

By signing up for Swagbucks, your endless internet searches are finally worth something. You’ll earn points by making a few changes to your daily habits – like using their Yahoo! backed search engine as your default when searching the web.

When redeeming those points, you can pick from rewards like gift cards to your favorite restaurants or stores. You’ll even get a $5 bonus when you complete your account setup.

Get started with Swagbucks here.

Ready to Make Money Online?

If you thought making money online or working from home was impossible, the time has come to think again. Everything from online surveys to starting a business as a freelance writer, graphic designer, or online t-shirt seller can help you rake it in. Anyone can do it, and that’s just one reason it’s so great!

Don’t put off the chance to chase your dreams. To build a life of flexibility, get started with one of these online money-making options and see the possibilities unfold.

Do you make money online? Tell us what you’re doing in the comments below!