45 Proven Ways to Make Money Online

Stephen Altrogge is a freelance writer located in Ashland, Ohio. He has been published in Entrepreneur, SUCCESS, Zapier, and numerous other large publications. He consumes too much caffeine on a daily basis.

Make Money Online

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So you want to make money online? Then I’ve got some great news for you. 

In years past, the only way to make money was to go to work, punch the clock, and work for the man. In other words, you could only make cash through your job.

You were limited by your physical location. If you wanted to make a few extra bucks, you had to find a second job.  No longer. The internet has fundamentally changed the way we earn money.

Now, you can start making money online in dozens, if not hundreds of ways without ever leaving your home - some just in your spare time.

If you’re the kind of person that gets a kick out of making cash while lounging in your PJs, now is a great time to be alive.  In this in-depth guide, we’re going to give you 45 proven, time-tested ways to really make money online.

No pyramid scams. These are all legitimate ways to earn real, hard cash online - and many of them just require an internet connection and your time.

You can learn how to make money online relatively quickly. But (and this is key), you have to be willing to put in the work.  This is not about easy money or get-rich-quick schemes.

If you want to get rich quick, go by a bunch of scratch lottery tickets and hope you get really lucky.  See, making money online isn’t about getting rich quick. Rather, it’s a strategic way of accumulating wealth.

But make no mistake: you need to do the work. There is lots of competition when it comes to making cash online and you must be willing to put in the time and effort to make it work. 

So, with that being said, are you ready to get started?  Let’s dive in to the money making ideas. 

We’ve listed these methods in decreasing order of difficulty. The easiest ways to make money online are listed first, with more difficult ways listed later.

Make Money Online Overview

1. Get Paid For Giving Your Opinion

Paid Online Surveys

Do you have lots of opinions about everything?  That’s good, because you can get paid for giving your opinion on a lot of different things.

Market research companies like to collect data on consumer spending habits and trends so that brands can understand how to more effectively market their products. 

How do they collect this data?  It’s often through online surveys/questionnaires, and they always need new people to participate in the surveys. 

I recommend starting out with Survey Junkie, who is one of the largest legit survey sites in the world.

You simply register, build you profile in less than five minutes, complete surveys, and start earning rewards. Rewards can be redeemed for PayPal payouts or gift cards. 

This is a fantastic way to get started making money. The bar to entry is extremely low and you can make money online while slumming it in your PJs. 

Will you be rolling around in hundred dollar bills? Probably not.

I mean, you’re taking surveys not selling diamonds. But small amounts add up over time, right?  As the saying goes, don’t despise the day of small beginnings. 

Best Survey Site

Survey Junkie icon

Free to Sign-up

Earn $2 to $75 (per survey)

Survey Junkie at a Glance:

Survey Junkie is an online rewards platform that offers cash back for taking a variety of surveys. You simply create a profile, start taking surveys, and then get rewarded. Rewards points can be redeemed for gift cards or PayPal payouts. 

2. Freelance Write Your Way To Riches

Freelance Writing

I’m going to let you in on a little secret: most people are pretty darn terrible at writing. 

Writing is one of those things that is hard to get good at. Which is a problem for most businesses because they all need to have things written:

  • Emails
  • Blog posts
  • Website copy
  • Sales pages
  • E-commerce Listings
  • Etc. 

If you’re good at writing, you can make seriously good money as a freelance writer.  And if you know where to look, you can find hundreds, if not thousands of freelance writing jobs. 

Best Freelancing Platform

Flexjobs icon

Free to Sign-up

Full & part time jobs

Flexjobs at a Glance:

Find the best remote, part-time, freelance, and other flexible jobs in 50+ career categories, all hand-screened for legitimacy. Find a Better Way to Work!

Best Writing Course

Elna Cain

Cost: $165

Lifetime Access

Write to 1k at a Glance:

WriteTo1k is an outstanding course that will teach you how to make your first $1,000 as a freelance writer in just a few weeks. Elna provides her course takers with a solid, easy to follow roadmap to landing that first $1k. 

3. Become An Affiliate Marketing Rockstar

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a really simple, effective way to make money online. Affiliate marketing is when you promote someone else’s products and then get a small portion of every sale.

In other words, if someone purchases a product through your promotion (usually a link), you get a small percentage of the profits. 

The best affiliate marketers in the world literally make hundreds of thousands of dollars. No joke. Generally speaking, there are two basic ways to make money online in affiliate marketing.

The first is to directly promote products through things like social media, email marketing, and paid advertising.  For example, you could run ads on Facebook to promote a particular product or service.

Or, if you have an email list, you could send promotional emails to it regarding a product or service.  The second way to make money in affiliate marketing is by starting a niche website and promoting products on your site.

For example, let’s say that you love sewing. You could write reviews of different sewing products on your website and include an affiliate link to those products.

Every time someone purchases one of the products through your link, you get a little bit of money.  Websites like Wirecutter make millions of dollars every year following this method of affiliate marketing. 

4. Blog Your Way To Big Bucks

Creating a Blog

Did you know that you can make SERIOUS money blogging? Yep.

Elite bloggers (yes, there is such a thing) earn thousands upon thousands of dollars every month. Where does this money come from?  Usually from a variety of sources. 

First, it often comes through affiliate marketing. The best bloggers are usually really good at affiliate marketing and make a big chunk of their change through it.

They typically promote a variety of products and services so that they’re not dependent upon a single one. Second, bloggers earn money online through advertising. Most big bloggers get thousands, if not millions of visitors every month to their own website.

If they have ads on their blog, they get paid based on how many people see the ads. The more people see the ads, the more they get paid. 

Third, bloggers often make money through sponsorships. Brands will often pay them to promote their products and services in the form of sponsored posts.

Top tier bloggers can charge a serious amount of money for these sponsored posts.  When it comes to making money blogging, the key is consistency plus value.

You have to build an audience, which takes time.  If you can consistently provide high value blog posts to your readers again and again, you’ll definitely build an audience who will come back to your site again and again. 

Best Blogging Course

Launch Your Blog Course

Cost: $97

Lifetime Access

Launch Your Blog Biz at a Glance:

Do you love writing? Then blogging might be the perfect way for you to make money online. If you’re ready to start making serious cash through blogging, you should consider taking the Launch Your Blog Biz course. It’ll guide you step-by-step through each step of creating and launching your blog. Setting up a blog can feel a little bit complicated if you’ve never done it before. This course makes it dead simple.

5. Trade Stocks In Your PJs

Trading Stocks

When most people think about buying stocks, they imagine holding onto them for a long time.  You know, buy a stock, let it grow in value, and then sell it years later.

It’s probably how your grandpa bought and sold stocks back in his day.  And while this is certainly a viable option, it takes quite a while to make money that way. 

If you want to make money more quickly through stock trading, you should consider becoming a day trader.  Day trading involves buying and selling stocks within a single day.

You make money based on the price movement of the stock and whether you’ve decided to sell it when the price goes up or down.  Now, to be clear, being a day trader typically requires in-depth analysis of stocks, as well as the ability to not panic at the ups and downs of the market.

You have to be smart and have a cool head if you’re going to be a day trader. You also will probably need to use a variety of stock analysis online tools as well.

If you’ve got these things, then day trading may be your golden ticket.

6. Become A YouTube Influencer

Youtube Influencer
  • Do you have a knack for video?
  • Can you consistently create entertaining or educational videos?
  • Are you great in front of the camera?
  • Do you have decent video editing skills?

Then you should start a YouTube channel. Can you make decent money through YouTube? You sure can.  There are two primary ways to make money online through YouTube. The first is through advertising.

Once you get to 1,000 subscribers on your channel, you can add Google AdSense ads to the beginning and middle of your videos.

If your video is over 10 minutes you can insert “Mid-Roll” ads where you can choose where to place the ad throughout the video.

Every time someone sees one of these ads, you get a small amount of money. The second way you can make money through YouTube is by getting sponsors.

If you have a big enough audience, brands will want to pay you to promote their products on your channel. You can charge a hefty fee for every sponsorship, and this money can add up quickly. 

When it comes to making money through YouTube, it almost always is a numbers game.  The more people watch your videos, the more money you make.

To get more views, you typically need a lot of subscribers. To get a lot of subscribers, you need to consistently create great content. 

Don’t be discouraged if you’re not making good money when you first start out on YouTube. It takes time, effort, and consistency to build a YouTube audience.

Stick with it over the long run and it will stick with you. 

7. Create The Next Powerhouse Podcast

Podcaster

If you haven’t noticed, podcasts are big right now. Really big. It’s estimated that around 32% of the American population listens to at least one podcast every month.

That’s a huge number of people, and it doesn’t even include the rest of the world.  The biggest podcasters make hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars through their podcasts. Yep.

Podcasting really can be that lucrative. And even if you don’t make it to the top tier of the podcast world, you can still make a healthy income through your podcast. 

How do you make money through a podcast?  There are a variety of ways, but the primary way is through sponsorships. 

If your podcasts attracts a large enough audience, companies will willingly pay you handsome sums to promote their products on your podcast. 

But it doesn’t have to stop at sponsorships. You can also make money by selling merchandise (t-shirts, hoodies, etc.), doing crowdfunding, getting monthly supporters, and much more.

If you build a big enough audience, you should have no trouble generating a significant amount of money through your podcast.

Recommended Course

Power-up Podcasting

Price: $799

Lifetime Access

Power-up Podcasting at a Glance:

The process of starting and building a highly successful podcast can feel daunting. Intimidating even. There’s a fair amount you have to do, including getting sound gear, booking guests, and building your audience. If you want to create the next big podcast, I highly recommend Pat Flynn’s course Power Up Podcasting. It will guide you every step of the way in creating an amazing podcast. 

8. Make That Kindle Cash Flow

Creating a Kindle Book
  • Have you always wanted to write a book?
  • Do you have the next great American novel in you?
  • Do you fancy yourself a modern day Ernest Hemingway?

Then you should consider writing a book and publishing it on the Amazon Kindle platform.  Millions of people read Kindle books every single day, and yours could be the next big hit. 

With the Kindle Direct Program, you get paid a significant portion of every sale (depending on the price of your book).

They make it incredibly easy to upload a manuscript and cover and publish your book on Amazon. You literally can have a book for sale in the Amazon store in just a day or two. 

If you need help designing a cover, there are a few really simple options. You could hire someone through Fiverr or 99Designs

Or, if you fancy yourself a designer, you could use a software like Canva to design your cover. They have numerous cover templates available, making it easy to design a professional looking cover in just a few minutes.

9. Showcase Your Language Skills

Teach a Language
  • Can you speak a second language?
  • Maybe even a third language?

Are you a regular ol’ polyglot, able to articulate nouns and verbs and adjectives in numerous languages? If so, you should consider teaching a language online. 

There are many people out there who want to learn another language but don’t have someone to teach them.  They don’t want to rely solely on Rosetta Stone or Duolingo to learn a language.

They want to talk to a real, flesh-and-blood human.  That’s where you come in. You can make money online teaching languages to other people.

And you don’t always have to have a certification to teach another language either. Some platforms require certification to teach the languages, while others don’t. 

10. Find People’s Spelling Errors As A Proofreader

Become a Proofreader

If you’re a grammar aficionado, then proofreading may be the perfect way for you to make money online.  Every day, people and businesses around the world create thousands of documents.

These documents need to be professional.  They can’t have spelling errors or grammar goofs. They need the touch of a grammar god. 

If you’re obsessed with making sure every period is perfect and that every spelling is correct, you can help these people out.

You can make money as a professional proofreader. Other people may find your passion for grammar a bit strange, but you can turn it into cold, hard cash as a proofreader.

If you’re good with a red pen and can spot a grammar mistake a mile away, then you should consider going into the proofreading business. 

Recommended Course

General Proofreading Course

Price: $497

Lifetime Access

Proofread Anywhere at a Glance: 

If you’re like most people, you probably don’t know where to get started when it comes to proofreading. How do you find clients? What technical skills do you need? How can you start making money quickly? I recommend the Proofread Anywhere course for those who are wanting to get started with proofreading. They will guide you through both general proofreading and transcript proofreading, giving you everything you need to start making income quickly.

11. Sell Your Golden Voice

Make Voiceovers
  • Have you ever thought about how audiobooks get made?
  • Or how commercials get voiceovers?
  • Or how explainer and how-to videos (popular on YouTube) are narrated?

In each case, a person with a smooth, sonorous voice must read and record the script.  The reality is that every year, thousands of videos are made which need narration.

You can tap into this market, especially if you have a particularly melodious voice.  You can use your silky smooth voice to make it rain. 

If you love to hear yourself talk (or just like to read various scripts), you should consider getting into the voiceover business.  It’s a great way to make money online. 

12. Get Paid To Watch Movies & Online Videos

Paid to Watch Movies

Okay, let’s be honest. Who wouldn’t want to get paid for watching movies and online videos?  I mean, you already spend plenty of time binging on Netflix, right?

You just powered through every episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. at a record pace. Why not binge on some other videos and actually get PAID to do it? 

That’s where Swagbucks comes in (yep, same Swagbucks). Turns out they’re not just about doing online surveys. You can also get paid to watch different videos, movies, news programs, etc. For each video you watch, you earn points.

The points can be redeemed for a PayPal payout or gift cards. 

Recommended Resource

SwagBucks icon

Free to Join

Free Gift Cards & Cash

SwagBucks at a Glance: 

To get started earning money watching videos, head on over to Swagbucks and sign up. You’ll get $10 just for signing up. You can’t beat free money, right?

13. Become A High-Powered Virtual Assistant

Become a Virtual Assistant

These days, more and more people are using virtual assistants to help them take care of a variety of tasks.  This is especially the case as businesses cut back budgets, forcing them to look for alternative ways of doing things.

If you’ve got a knack for organization, are good at getting things done, and are efficient, you might want to consider diving headlong into the virtual assistant world. 

What sorts of tasks might you complete as a virtual assistant?

Really, it depends on your employer. You may find yourself doing simple tasks such as data entry. Or you might respond to emails on behalf of your employer.

Or you might even do things like purchase gifts for your employer to give to others.  Anything that can be done through a laptop is fair game when it comes to a virtual assistant. 

Best VA Platform

Flexjobs icon

Free to Sign-up

Full & Part time jobs

FlexJobs at a Glance: 

When it comes to finding jobs as a virtual assistant, I recommend FlexJobs. FlexJobs lists thousands of remote jobs, both part-time and full-time. You can definitely find something that fits your schedule and capacity on this site. 

14. Tutor Your Heart Out

Become a Tutor

Some people absolutely LOVE teaching others. They love the feeling of getting to help someone learn something new.  They love seeing the light in a person’s face when they make a new discovery.

They love helping a person become the best version of themselves.  You can do all these things and make money online as an online tutor.

If you’ve got specialized knowledge in any field, whether that’s mathematics, English, chemistry, physics, or any other field, you can make money by sharing that knowledge with others.

You can help those who want to learn what you’ve already learned.

Whether it’s high-school students, college students, or just someone who wants to learn something new, you can make a difference in people’s lives as an online tutor and make good money doing it. 

15. Sell Your Gorgeous Stock Photos

Sell Stock Photos

If you’re a photo junkie, always snapping away on your phone or camera, then you may want to consider selling your photos on a stock photography websites.

This is great way to make money online and can generate considerable passive income for you if you do it the right way. It works like this.

You upload your photos to a stock photo site, making them available for people to download.  Whenever someone downloads a photo of yours, you get a small licensing fee.

The more of your photos that get downloaded, the more money you make.  Making money through stock photos is a numbers game. If you only have a few photos available, you probably won’t make money.

However, if you have hundreds, or even thousands of photos available, the small licensing fees will start to add up.  So don’t settle for just a few photos.

Take loads of high-quality photos and then upload them to your profile. 

16. Sell Your Expert Advice As A Coach Or Consultant

Online Consultant

If you’re an expert in a particular subject, you can begin selling your expertise in the form of coaching or consulting. For example, let’s say you’re an expert at fitness. You could offer fitness coaching.

Or if you’re a retirement tax specialist, you could offer consulting to those thinking about retirement. Or you could offer executive coaching if you have lots of experience in management.

You get the point.  When it comes to coaching, you’re teaching people to be the best versions of themselves.

How to improve their skills, beat the competition, become a better person, etc.  Coaching and consulting really is a rewarding way to make money online because you get to see people transform.

You get to help people overcome their biggest challenges and toughest obstacles. 

17. Get Crafty On Etsy

Sell Your Crafts
  • Are you crafty?
  • Are people always complimenting you for the different things that you make?

Then you should consider setting up an Etsy store and selling your crafts online. It can be a great way to monetize your hobby.

You can make money selling the crafts you’re already in the habit of making!  Etsy is a huge marketplace, with millions of people buying and selling items on it every month.

They have a particular focus on artisan and vintage items.  Items that are unique or handmade. Items that can’t be found in big box stores like Wal-Mart.

If this sounds like you, Etsy could be your ticket to making money online. 

18. Get Cash For Using Your Phone

Make Money With Apps

Did you know that the Nielsen Company will pay you just for using your phone?  It’s true. You simply download their app and let it run on your phone in the background.

After that, you simply go about your online business as normal, surfing the web, playing games, and watching your favorite YouTube videos. 

They will pay you $50 per year for using the app, as well as enter you in sweepstakes in which you can win thousands of dollars. 

Why do they pay you?  Because they collect anonymous (that’s important) data from your phone. They use this anonymous data for things like market research. 

19. Sweat Your Way To Money

Make Money Exercising

You know you need to exercise. You know you should be getting into shape. But you just need some motivation!

How does straight up money sound for motivation?  Because you can actually make money online by working out. It’s true. 

There are two specific ways you can make some cash simply by exercising. The first is by using the app Sweatcoin.

With Sweatcoin, you simply install the app on your phone and then let it track your exercise data (like steps). They share your exercise data with partner companies and you get paid either by PayPal payouts or gift cards. 

HealthyWage  allows you to take part in weight loss competitions which have cash prizes for the winners. If you win a competition, you can take home a serious chunk of change.

HealthyWage App

HealthyWage App

Free to download

Win up to $10,000

HealthyWage app at a Glance: 

Earn up to $10,000 cash with weight loss challenges and contests. Make weight loss fun with cash prizes. To get started with HealthyWage, download the iOS or Google Play app and follow the instructions to enter your first weight loss competition. 

20. Earn Up To $60/hr As A Virtual Bookkeeper

Virtual Bookkeeper

Every business needs someone to keep the books. But here’s the thing. Many businesses can’t afford to pay for a full-time bookkeeper.  That’s where you come in.

If you have accounting skills, know a thing or two about debits and credits, and can deal with expense reports, you can make good money as a virtual bookkeeper. 

What kind of good money?  We’re talking up to $60/hour. You read that right. 

Recommended Course

Bookkeeper Business Launch

Price: $2,999

Lifetime Access

Bookkeeper Business Launch at a Glance: 

Not sure where to get started when it comes to being a virtual bookkeeper? Then let me recommend Bookkeeper Business Launch. This training will guide you through the necessary steps to building a sustainable bookkeeping business. 

21. Get Paid To Have Fun as a Brand Ambassador

Brand Ambassador

Have you heard of brand ambassadors?  Even if you haven’t, you’ve surely seen them. When a company takes part in a big event (like SXSW or Coachella), they need to have people to represent their brand.

To do things like hand out free swag and talk to people. To engage with the masses and put the brand’s best foot forward. Where do these brand ambassadors come from?

They’re people just like you, of course.  It turns out that you can get paid really well to be a brand ambassador at events across the United States and even around the world.

Some brand ambassadors make as much as $100/hr.  If traveling around and representing brands sounds like a boatload of fun to you, you should definitely consider being a brand ambassador.

22. Be An Online Juror

Online Juror
  • Do you love watching court television?
  • Is Judge Judy your hero?
  • Do you get a kick out of following legal proceedings?

Then you should consider being an e-juror.  You can actually get paid to participate in mock trials and legal focus groups. These trials and groups help lawyers know how actual juries will respond to particular court cases, which then helps them get ready for trials. 

The mock trials and focus groups usually take about 35 minutes, and you get somewhere between $5-$10 for your time.  No, the pay isn’t amazing, but if you enjoy legal proceedings then this can be a great way to make money online.

Plus, small amounts add up, right? 

23. Sell Your Expertise on JustAnswer

Become an Expert

People constantly need answers from experts. From doctors, lawyers, vets, mechanics, and even relationships. JustAnswer exists to connect people with experts who can answer their questions. 

For example, let’s say you have a question about your car. Through JustAnswer, you can get your questions answered by an actual mechanic.

Really useful, right? 

If you have expertise in a particular area, you can make money online by answering questions on JustAnswer.

You answer them from the comfort of your home, through your computer. If you enjoy helping people solve problems, this can be an outstanding way to make money online. 

Free to Sign-up

Quick payments

JustAnswer at a Glance: 

To get started with JustAnswer, head on over to their Offer Services page and begin the application. You’ll have to select a category of expertise, as well as a specialty. You’ll be required to submit personal info, work history, education, and professional credentials. Once you’re approved by JustAnswer, you can begin getting paid to answer people’s questions.

24. Transcribe Your Way To Online Cash

Make Money Transcribing

A transcriptionist listens to audio or video files and then transcribes the spoken word into written content.  Every day, thousands of people need to have things transcribed. Doctors need to have patient notes transcribed.

Lawyers need to have case notes transcribed. Executives need to have conference calls transcribed. And as video continues to explode, the need for subtitles is increasing. 

Simply put, there is a great demand for transcription services.  You can tap into this need and make good money by offering transcription services.

And if you’re good at it, you can make up to $30/hr doing it. 

Recommended Course

transcribeanywhere

Price: $127

Lifetime Access

Transcribeanywhere at a Glance: 

How do you get started in transcription? That’s the question you’re asking, right? Because it sounds great. Let me recommend the Transcribe Anywhere courses. These courses will teach both principles of general transcription as well as legal transcription, giving you everything you need to start making money by transcribing. 

25. Become A Product Testing Genius

Become a Product Tester

Product testing is a fundamental part of the marketing process for companies.  Before a company pours millions of dollars into marketing a product, they want to know that it’s going to be well-received by the marketplace.

They want to know what consumers think about particular products or services.  And so they use focus groups to test products and services. You can earn money by participating in these focus groups.

You simply share your opinion on particular products or services that you’re already using and then get paid for doing so.  You don’t have to leave your home, or even put on pants for that matter. 

26. Build An Amazing Career With A Remote Company

Working Remotely

More and more, companies are hiring remote employees. In other words, they’re hiring employees who live in a different location than the office itself.

For example, a company in California may hire a programmer who lives in Boston. 

Communication technologies like video conference calls and Slack make it simple for a person to be part of a company without being physically present in the office. 

These days, you can build an amazing career working as a remote employee.  And yes, many companies that hire remote employees still offer full-time benefits, such as health insurance and paid vacation. 

Best Jobs Platform

Flexjobs icon

Free to Join

Full & Part time jobs

Flexjobs at a Glance: 

Does the idea of being a full-time or part-time remote employee appeal to you? Then you better get started looking for remote jobs. I recommend you check out Flexjobs and see if any of the listing fit your skillset. 

27. Do Micro-Jobs On Amazon Mechanical Turk

Amazon Mechanical Turk

When you think of Amazon, you probably think of purchasing products through their website, right?  But Amazon is much bigger than that. One part of the Amazon empire is what is called “Mechanical Turk”. 

Mechanical Turk is a marketplace where individuals can pay to have small tasks done.

These tasks are typically pretty mundane, such as data evaluation, checking the right spelling on search terms, categorizing the tone of an article, rating search results, or even basic translating. 

If you don’t mind doing these kinds of tasks, you can sign up with Mechanical Turk to take part in these tasks.

Mechanical Turk

Amazon Mechanical Turk logo

Free to Join

Full & Part time jobs

Amazon Mechanical Turk at a Glance: 

To get started with Mechanical Turk, head on over to their website and sign up. From there you can start taking on tasks and making money.

28. Sell Your Beautiful Artwork

Sell Your Artwork

If you’re an artist then you’ve got a very easy, straightforward way to make money online: sell your designs.  Yes, you should sell your actual paintings/drawings. This is obvious. But you can go much further than that.

You can also put your designs on things like throw pillows, tapestries, comforters, and wall coverings and then sell those things as well. 

Selling art online is, in some ways, similar to selling stock photos. The more designs you have available, the more money you’ll make.

So be consistent in creating new artwork to sell. 

29. Become A T-Shirt Design Master

Make Money Designing T-Shirts

In years past, designing and selling t-shirts was a laborious process. You had to take a design to a screen printer, have them print the t-shirts, and then you had to manage the inventory. 

No longer. Now there are many companies who let you upload designs and then they’ll print the t-shirts on demand.  You don’t have to manage any inventory.

You simply promote your t-shirt and then take a cut of every sale.  There are numerous stories of people making thousands and thousands of dollars selling custom designed t-shirts online.

You could be the next big story!  If you’ve got a knack for design and fashion, you could make good money selling t-shirts online. 

30. Get Cash Back For Shopping

Cash Back Shopping Sites

You already do a fair amount of shopping online, right?  So you might as well get paid to it. Or not exactly paid. More like, you should get money back. 

That’s where Rakuten (formerly eBates) comes in.  Here’s how it works. Rakuten is an affiliate of more than 2,000 stores, including big ones like Amazon and Macy’s. 

You shop online through Rakuten, and for every purchase you make, you get cash back.  For some stores you can get double digit percentages in cash back (i.e. over 10%).

If you really want to save money, you can stack coupon codes on top of the cash back you through Rakuten.  Payouts are through PayPal, and you get $10 just for signing up. It’s hard to beat, right?

31. Get Paid For Being Part of Research

Get Paid for Doing Research

I know, I know. When you see the word “research”, you think of being a human guinea pig in some sort of crazy scientist study.

Thankfully, this is nothing like that, although you can probably make some serious cash if you’re willing to subject yourself to crazy tests (which I DON’T recommend). 

When I talk about research, I’m talking a company asking you questions and getting your opinion about things. They use your opinion to help them make informed decisions about all sorts of things (marketing, politics, you name it). See, not crazy or scary, right? 

The good news is that you can make decent cash by participating in this research. In fact, with companies like Respondent, you can make as much as $140/hr. 

That’s a lot of dough. 

32. Become An Instagram Influencer

Instagram Influencer

Here’s a big statistic to make you say, “Wow!”. Instagram has over 1 billion active monthly users. That is an insanely huge audience.

Now, more than ever, companies are seeing Instagram as a great place to connect with potential customers.

Companies know that Millennials in particular favor Instagram, and they are seeking to use the platform as a way to reach that particular audience. 

If you have a big following on Instagram, many companies will pay you to promote and endorse their products.  If you’re willing to promote a product through one of your photos or videos, you can make decent money. 

Now, granted, the bigger your audience the more you can charge for sponsorships and endorsements.  So if you want to become an Instagram influencer, you would be wise to start focusing on building your audience. 

33. Live The Dropship Lifestyle

Dropshipping

Dropshipping is a unique spin on the typical ecommerce store. With a normal ecommerce store, you maintain and manage all the inventory yourself.

You have to store all the products somewhere and when someone purchases from you, you physically package and send the product.  When inventory runs low, you have to restock it. You get the point. 

With drop shipping, you function as an ecommerce middle man. It works like this. 

  • Step #1: You find a product being sold by someone else
  • Step #2: You list that product on your own ecommerce site for a higher price.
  • Step #3: When someone purchases from you, you pass that order on to the original seller. You keep the markup amount and the original seller handles all the elements of packaging and shipping the product. 

The big difference between dropshipping and standard e-commerce is that with dropshipping you never touch the product. You simply pass orders on to the original seller. 

In some ways, you could say that it’s e-commerce without all the hassles of dealing with inventory.

Your primary focus is on promoting the products and you don’t have to worry about storing, packing, or shipping them - plus you can largely work your own hours. 

If you’re good at promoting products online, you can make big bucks with dropshipping.  The best dropshippers make thousands of dollars every month.

34. Turn Your Knowledge Into A Powerful Online Course

Create an Online Course

The online learning market is absolutely huge. Every year, billions of dollars are spent by people who take online classes. If you have specialized knowledge, you can tap into this market by turning your knowledge into an online course. 

For example, let’s say you’re a fitness instructor. You could create an online fitness course.  Or let’s say you’ve published several books and know what it takes to get a book published.

You could create a course that teaches people how to write and publish a book.  Or maybe you make big bucks reselling things on eBay. You could create a course where you teach people your secrets. 

Are you starting to get the picture?

When it comes to creating an online course, you’re only limited by your imagination. If you’ve got any sort of specialized knowledge, you can turn it into a course and sell it. 

Once you create your course, you’ll need to promote it.

There are many ways to promote a course, including:

  • Social media
  • Your email list
  • Blogging
  • Affiliate marketing
  • Guest blogging

Some online course platforms, such as Teachable, will do some of the promotional work for you. 

Best Course Platform

Teachable icon

Get Started for Free

Easy to Use

Teachable at a Glance:

Create and sell beautiful online courses with the platform used by the best online entrepreneurs to sell $300m+ to over 18 million students worldwide. Create your course today on Teachable.

Recommended Course

Six Figure Blogger

Price: $297

Lifetime Access

Six Figure Blogger at a Glance:

When it comes to creating online courses, I recommend that people take at least two trainings. The first is Six-Figure Blogger. While this course does focus some on blogging, it also teaches you EXACTLY how to sell digital products and services, which is what you’ll be doing with your online course. The training this course provides is invaluable. 

35. Become A Digital Marketing Ninja

Digital Marketing Ninja

Now, more than ever, businesses need digital marketing services.

They need:

  • Online Advertisements
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
  • Copywriting
  • Website Design
  • Public Relations
  • And many other services

If you can offer any of these services, you can get clients who will pay you handsomely.  For example, the top SEO companies charge thousands of dollars per month to clients to help them get better rankings in Google.

The top copywriters can also make thousands per month writing for clients.  You can offer your skills both online and to local businesses.

If you’re looking for digital marketing jobs online, one great place to start is Flexjobs.  You can find thousands of jobs posted there for almost every type of digital marketing. 

36. Start An E-commerce Empire

Launch an Ecommerce Store

Ecommerce is a billion dollar market. Now, more than ever, people are buying things online, including things they never would have previously, like groceries. 

In the past, setting up an ecommerce store was a really difficult endeavor, usually requiring you to hire a web development business to create a website for you.

That’s no longer the case. Thanks to platforms like Shopify, you can literally get an ecommerce store up and running in an hour or less. 

Did you catch that?

If you’ve got a product to sell, you can literally build an ecommerce store in under an hour. Pretty awesome, right? 

There are three basic ways you can sell products online. 

Create physical products - If you know what you’re doing, you can create your own physical products that you absolutely know people will love. Then you can sell those products through your online store. An example of this is Michael Hyatt’s Full Focus Planner. He created the journal and sells it through his own online store. He is responsible for all the inventory, packaging, shipping, etc.

Purchase goods from another seller - If you don’t want to create your own products (which can be pretty difficult), you can purchase goods from another seller and then sell them at a markup. You’re still responsible for managing your inventory, packaging orders, shipping the goods, etc. 

Dropship products - We won’t go into depth about this one since we talked about it above. With this model, you focus exclusively on selling and let the supplier handle inventory, packaging, and shipping. 

If you don’t want to set up your own ecommerce store, you can still build an ecommerce empire.  You just have to use already established platforms like eBay and Amazon. 

One advantage of using these platforms is that you get to tap into the huge audience that already uses them. Millions of people use Amazon and eBay every month, and by selling on those platforms, you get access to that audience. 

Best eCommerce Platform

Shopify icon

Free trial

Store design templates

Shopify at a Glance:

Are you ready to start building your ecommerce empire? As I mentioned above, I recommend the Shopify platform for creating your e-commerce store. They make it incredibly easy to build your site, list products, handle payments, etc. Shopify charges a set amount every month depending on the package you choose, plus a small fee for every purchase. Overall, the costs are negligible compared to what you get. 

37. Build The Next Amazing App

Build a Mobile App

There is an absolutely MASSIVE demand for apps, both on the computer and on mobile devices.  As proof, look no further than Slack, which is valued at over a billion dollars after just a few years.

If you can create an outstanding app that solves a problem, meets a need, or simply entertains people, you can make really good money.  Developing apps is a great way to make money online. 

There are two basic ways to develop an app:

Hire someone to create it - Let’s say you have an amazing idea for the next awesome app. You know that it’s a million-dollar idea but you just don’t have the technical chops to develop it. That’s okay. You can simply hire someone to develop it for you. This will probably cost you a fair amount of money to make it happen, so you may need to raise money. 

Develop the app yourself - If you’ve got the technical skills, you don’t need to hire someone to develop your app. You can do all the work yourself. This is a much cheaper option, puts you in total control of the process, and ensures that you retain all the rights to the app you create.

38. Become An Email Newsletter Tycoon

Email Marketing

Email newsletters, far from fading into obscurity, are actually becoming more popular.  The simple truth is that people are having trouble keeping up with the amount of information produced every day. 

News comes at such a rapid rate that it’s really difficult to separate the signal from the noise.  Email newsletters that concisely and effectively summarize news in a particular industry can be hugely valuable to industry insiders. 

For example, The Hustle, which focuses on the tech and business world, has over a million subscribers. They make money through sponsorships, affiliate links, and hosting a yearly conference.

The Skimm, which summarizes the news more generally, also has a huge audience and makes money through a subscription model. 

Simply put, if you can gather information and then present it in an easily digestible and understandable way, you can create an awesome email newsletter.

And if you can create an awesome email newsletter and build an audience, then you can start making money from it. 

Best Autoresponder

Convertkit icon

Free trial

Easy to use

Convertkit at a Glance:

If you want to start an email newsletter, you’ll need an email marketing software to deliver the newsletter to your subscribers. I recommend starting with Convertkit. This software makes it easy to create the newsletters, manage contacts, etc. Most of them charge by the number of contacts you have.

39. Launch The Next Killer Startup

Launching a Startup

Uber. AirBnB. Casper. Instacart. All of these are startups that have massively disrupted a particular industry and made millions (if not billions) of dollars.

The simple truth is that if you want to make money online, one of the best ways to make a LOT of money is by creating a startup. 

If you can create an online company or tool that solves a big problem or huge need, you can make significant amounts of cash.  You can also get infusions of cash from investors (although you’ll need to pay that back at some point). 

But creating a startup isn’t easy by any means. First, you have to offer a unique solution. You need to be able to solve a problem in a way that no one else does. 

Then you need to validate the idea. In other words, you need to ensure that there is a real, actual demand for you product.  You need to build a Minimum Viable Product and then get feedback on your product from real people. 

Finally, you need to actually start making money. You need to actually turn a profit eventually.  Yes, you can infuse cash into your startup from your savings or from investors, but there comes a point where you need to start making real money. 

As you can see, creating a startup is no small endeavor. It requires significant amounts of time and effort and money.  You have to be willing to keep working hard even when it seems like you’re not making much progress.

But if you can do it, you can make really good money from your startup. 

Recommended Book

Zero to One Book

Price: $16.00

Over 2,000+ reviews

Zero to One at a Glance:

Peter Thiel is a legendary investor in Silicon Valley and has seen what it takes to build a successful startup. He knows how to find great ideas and then turn those ideas into reality. If you’re interested in building a startup, I recommend his book Zero To One.

40. License Your Music

License Your Music

Are you a musician? Are you constantly creating music?

Then you should consider licensing your music. With the explosion of video and podcasts, there is an ever increasing demand for background music, and you can tap into this market. 

Licensing music works in a similar way to licensing photos. You upload music files to a music licensing website. Then people download a copy of your music for use in whatever project they’re working on.

Every time someone downloads a copy of your music, you get a small licensing fee.  As with photos, the more music you have available for download, the more money you’ll probably make.

If you only have one or two tracks available, you simply won’t make much money unless they’re hugely popular.

However, if you have a hundred tracks available and each track gets downloaded several times per month, your money will start to add up. 

41. Invest With A Robo-Advisor

What is a Robo Advisor

Sometimes the simplest way to make money online is to put your existing money to work for you.  In years past, having your investments managed by a person was expensive and was usually an option only available to the wealthy.

Now, however, technology is making investing more accessible to everyone.  Instead of having to rely on humans to manage your funds, you can invest money with a company and allow complex computer algorithms (a.k.a. “Robo advisors”) to manage your funds.

These robo advisors can handle almost every aspect of the investing process, from building your portfolio to rebalancing it to tax-loss harvesting. 

This dramatically reduces the cost of investing and having your funds managed by an expert.  You can still get a good return on your investments without having to pay the expensive fees traditionally associated with an investment firm. 

Best Robo Advisor

Betterment Logo

Fees: .25% /year

Account Minimum: $0

Betterment at a Glance:

Betterment has no minimum amount required to invest, has fees as low as 0.25-0.40%, and doesn’t require any knowledge of investing in order to get started. To get started, you answer a few questions about your investment objectives and it will build you a personalized portfolio. You can easily set up automatic deposits from your savings or checking account to ensure that your account keeps growing. 

42. Get Free Money With A High-Yield Savings Account

High Yield Savings Account

Savings accounts at traditional banks usually offer miserably low interest rates.  We’re talking in the range of 0.10%. These rates are so low that you can’t really make any interest on your savings, even if you have a substantial amount saved. 

However, in recent years, online banks have come on the scene, offering much higher interest rates.  Because they have much lower overhead costs (fewer branches, employees, etc.), they can afford to offer much higher interest rates on their savings accounts. 

By investing money in a high-yield savings account, you can put your money to work for you, earning an interest rate that is normally associated with CDs.

Best High Yield Savings

Betterment Logo

Earn up 2.44% APY

No monthly fees

Betterment Everyday at a Glance: 

With a Betterment Everyday account, you can earn up to 2.11% on your money. ATM fees are reimbursed. Both the savings account and the checking account have no monthly fees and no minimum balance. There are no overdraft fees with the checking account. 

43. Lend Money To Make Money

Peer to Peer Lending

Traditionally, lending has been restricted to only banks. Normal folks like you and I couldn’t get in on the lending game unless we were loan sharks, which isn’t a path I recommend. 

That has changed in recent years with the advent of peer-to-peer lending (P2P lending).  P2P lending marketplaces bring together those who have money to lend with those who need to borrow. 

Those who lend money can get a decent return on their investment, just like traditional banking institutions.  If you’ve got some spare money to lend others, you can make a decent return through P2P lending.

Best Peer to Peer Marketplace

Prosper Icon

Fees: 1%/year

Min. Investment: $25

Royalty Exchange at a Glance:  

Got some extra cash burning a hole in your pocket? Ready to start making a good return through P2P lending? Then I recommend using two services. First, I recommend Prosper. Prosper is a P2P lending platform that allows you to build a custom portfolio by choosing individual loans or using their auto-invest tool. Returns are deposited monthly to your Prosper account. 

44. Make That Crypto Money

Crypto Trading

You’ve undoubtedly heard of cryptocurrency. You may not get exactly how it works, but you’ve probably heard of Bitcoin, which is the most popular cryptocurrency. 

And the good news is that you don’t even need to know exactly how cryptocurrency works in order to make money with it. See, most cryptocurrencies behave like stocks in some ways.

The price goes up and down depending on a variety of factors.  If you can purchase a cryptocurrency at a lower price and then sell it at a higher price, you can make a profit. 

Not too confusing, right?  Buy low, sell high. Just like stocks. 

Best Crypto Exchange

Coinbase logo

Fees: 1.49% per trade

Account Minimum: $0

Coinbase at a Glance:  

If you’re going to buy and sell cryptocurrency, you’ll need a platform which allows you to do that. It’s not like you can just go down to the grocery store and pick up some cryptocurrency. Coinbase is my preferred platform for trading cryptocurrency. It makes it simple to trade cryptocurrency. 

45. Buy A Cash Producing Website

Purchasing a Website

We’ve already talked about how you can create your own cash producing website. But here’s the thing. 

It takes quite a bit of time and effort to build a website that produces a steady influx of cash. What if there were a way to shortcut the entire process while still getting a website that generated steady cash flow? 

Thankfully, there is. There are a variety of platforms which allow you to purchase cash-producing websites directly from their owners.

These are sites which have a proven track record of generating money and have been in operation long enough to give you confidence that they’ll keep producing money. 

Some of these sites make money through affiliate links. Others make money by high traffic amounts and advertisements.  Still others are e-commerce sites that sell products.

The common denominator is that they all make money. 

Recommended Platform

Flippa icon

Free to sign-up

Access to 1,000's of listings

Flippa at a Glance:  

If you’re interested in purchasing a cash-producing website, I recommend Flippa. It sites has a large number of websites available for purchase at a wide range of prices. When purchasing a website, always be sure to do a significant amount of research on it to ensure that you know what you’re getting into. 

Now It's Time to Start Making Some Moolah!

There has never been a better time to make money online. With billions of people using the internet every single day, you can be sure that you can find a way to make money that fits with both your desires and personality. 

As you can see from the list above, there are so many different ways you can make a legitimate income.  Some of them require more work than others, but all of them have been proven over time. 

So don’t wait any longer to get started making money. Your future awaits!

Stephen Altrogge is a freelance writer located in Ashland, Ohio. He has been published in Entrepreneur, SUCCESS, Zapier, and numerous other large publications. He consumes too much caffeine on a daily basis.

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