Thanks to the internet, it’s possible to make extra cash without even leaving your home. Whether you want a full-time income or a little extra cash, there are many options if know where to look. No matter where your skills lie, you are going to find a job you can do from home. Let’s take a look at thirty ways to make money online so you can find one that’s right for you.
Heads up: This article was commissioned as a part of the Adam Rush Project. It was an experiment I did a few years ago to see if having books written by ghostwriters would be commercially viable. It wasn't. That said, the following article was written by someone else and not yet edited to my standards. I hope to find time to rewrite it myself in the future, but for now, read with caution.
1. Selling on eBay
The average person has so many items around their home that they don’t use or don’t need any more. Go through your belongings and search for items that would have a better home with somebody else. Put these items on the popular auction site eBay and you might be surprised what they sell for. You can even turn it into a business by buying items cheap at yard sales and reselling them online.
2. Upload YouTube videos
Some people make a lot of money by uploading videos and making money off the ad revenue on YouTube. Think of something you enjoy doing and use it to create content. You could vlog about beauty, gardening, or even your daily life if you have a big personality. When you get enough views, you can work with Google Adsense or even promote products on your channel to make money.
3. Publish your own kindle book
If you love to write but getting published is only a dream, why not self-publish? Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing platform allows you to do just that. It’s easy to do and you will get money for everyone who purchases your writing. While you might not make a huge amount of money, it only takes one person to notice your potential and you could become the next J.K. Rowling.
4. Sell handmade crafts
If you love to create things by hand, there is still a very big market out there for that kind of thing! Etsy is a great place to start your own little online shop selling handmade items. It’s a popular site, so if you have great products that stand out from the crowd, you will soon see the money coming in.
5. Do surveys for money
You can get paid to give your opinion with survey websites. It’s a simple task that anyone can do. While you won’t get rich answering questions about your utility providers and giving opinions on new products, every little bit helps. There are many survey sites out there. Two I recommend are Swagbucks and LifePoints.
6. Buy domain names
You can buy a domain name for as little as $10-$20, but you could end up making a big profit further down the line if you find an investor who wants to buy the name from you. Choose wisely on the domain names you buy and you could well be in luck.
7. Become a tutor
If you are knowledgeable in a particular area of expertise (such as mathematics, English, science, etc.) use that to your advantage. There are so many people out there looking for tutors to help them get better at certain subjects. In addition to making money, it is such a self of achievement to know you are doing something good.
8. Start a blog
If you have a way with words, why not become a blogger to draw in an audience/earn money? You can blog about literally any subject you can think of and you will find people who want to read it. You make money from blogging with advertising and affiliate marketing.
9. Testing websites
Companies will pay you to test their websites, report any bugs and give general feedback on the user interface. UserTesting is a great website that will pay you $10 to test a site and record your findings. It usually takes around 20 minutes per site, so you can make $30 an hour if there are enough to test!
10. Data entry
If you are a fast typer, take advantage of these skills by doing data entry at home. Check out sites like CraigsList to find data entry jobs online to make extra cash. You don’t need no extra skills to do this, just speedy fingers!
11. Do small tasks
Amazon Mechanical Turk (more commonly known as MTurk) is a website that allows you to do small tasks for money. This could be finding out some information from a website or commenting on a blog. These are super simple and you can get rewarded with gift cards or cash.
12. Make money online through affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is a growing business that can help bring in big dollars with experience. You simply advertise other peoples’ products and get a certain amount of commission if people use your link to purchase the item. This is easiest to do if you have a blog, although you will need to do further research into the matter.
13. Build an app
If you are good with technology, why not build an app/software and sell it for a profit? You don’t even need to know coding to build an app nowadays. There are many websites that can help you including Udemy.
14. Become a virtual assistant
If you want an office type job but from home, it’s completely possible to do this. There are many professionals out there looking for assistants on websites like Upwork or Freelancer, so check them out and see what you can find.
15. Participate in a focus group
There are many chances to partake in focus groups online, where you chat with others and share your opinions on different subjects. Often these groups pay quite well for a short amount of time and can be quite interesting.
16. Become a pet sitter/babysitter
While looking after a child or pet itself isn’t done online, you can use the internet to find jobs like these. If you want to work in the care field, I recommend joining care.com, to find vacancies in your area. This website has made becoming a pet sitter/babysitter so much easier to do.
17. Sell your photos
If you are pretty good behind a lens, why not sell your photographs to websites such as iStockPhoto? This site looks for quite basic images that have been captured at just the right angle or have something special about them. If your work gets many downloads, you will earn even more money.
18. Rent out your parking space
This is quite an interesting way to make money online but it’s easy to do, especially if you live in a busy area where people struggle to park their vehicle. Use the app JustPark to literally rent out your parking space when you are not using it.
19. Create/sell customized t-shirts
There is always demand for customized t shirts with funny/cool slogans. You can design your very own shirt easily on the website TeeSpring and sell it for a profit. Not only could you discover the next big thing in terms of style, the creation process is easy AND fun!
20. Sell your talents
We all are good at different things, so why not promote and sell your talents on websites such as Fiverr? On Fiverr, you advertise what you can do for five dollars (or more) and people will pay for your services. This could include writing a small blog entry, converting an audio file to paper or even recording an original birthday rap.
21. Creating websites with Google Adsense
If you know how to create a website, do so in different niches and use Google Adsense to make money from these sites. This might sound complicated but once you figure out what you are doing, you can make money online even as you sleep. Discover more about Google Adsense online to figure out if it’s right for you.
22. Become a content writer
There are many clients out there, that are looking to pay writers to write articles for their blog/website. If you enjoy writing and can dedicate a lot of time to it, websites like iWriter, Zerys, and Upwork are definitely worth checking out.
23. Sell your Instagram photos
If you love to take photos on Instagram and they seem to get a lot of interest, why not make money off these photos? InstaPrints can help you turn your social media posts into cash if they are good enough so check the website out today.
24. Get paid to watch advertisements
Yes, you read that correctly – you can get paid to sit in front of your computer screen and watch advertisements. Sites like NeoBux and ySense feature ads and when you click on them, you earn money. While a few cents an ad isn’t a lot, it soon ads up if you use the sites regularly every day. It’s really easy to keep these sites on in the background as you go about your day and click an ad, when you see a new one appear.
25. Become a translator
If you know more than one language and are very skilled in translating between different languages, why not become a translator? This is much demand for this job because high quality translators can be quite hard to come by. Check out Upwork to find translation jobs and show off the skills you have.
26. Make money through investment
If you have a little money to put into something in order to make bigger profits, investment might be the right money making method for you. The internet makes investment a lot easier than what it used to be and I recommend checking out Robinhood if you want to get started.
27. Create a digital product
If you have an idea for a digital product whether that be a self help guide, an audiobook or something else entirely, create this product to make money online. Websites like ClickBank are great for selling your creation and if your product gets enough interest from customers, you could make a lot of money and a good reputation.
28. Selling old electronics
Have an old iPhone? Or a laptop that is years old? Don’t throw away these items, especially if they are from the big brands. You can make money from old electronics with companies that are looking to recycle them. Gazelle and Usell are two websites that will buy these goods from you but be sure to check out what they are worth first on Nextworth.
29. Play some games
Being paid to play games sounds too good to be true but it isn’t! InboxDollars is a great website that allows you to do a number of things for rewards. This includes playing your favorite games which you can play for fun or to compete with others for money.
Conclusion
Providing you put in the effort, it’s entirely possible to make money online by utilizing your skills. Being your own boss is something that appeals to many and there are way more options out there than what people realize. Your standard 9-5 jobs are fading away and that’s largely due to the fact that people are discovering other ways to make money. Find what you are good at, start today and you will soon start making significant money from the comfort of your own home.