How To Make Money Online From Home
Do you want to learn how to make money online from home but don’t know where to start? Perhaps you’ve done some searching, but everything sounds like a gimmick. How can you tell which options are legit and which are straight up scams?
The important thing to know is you’re not alone. “Gig” work and side hustles are becoming increasingly popular ways to earn extra cash to supplement your day job – or even replace your day job!
The second thing to know is there are lots of real, awesome, and legitimate ways to make money online. You’ve come to the right place. We’ve done the research for you and put together a list of 14 legitimate ways to make money online from home. Keep reading to find your path to financial freedom.
1 Freelance Work
Don’t shy away from this one just because you think you don’t have a skill set. You’d be surprised by the wide range of jobs people are willing to hire out for. You also don’t need a website or any kind of business model. All you need to do is sign up and create at account at any of these 100% legit gig-listing sites:
If you have a skill set in mind that you want to utilize, you can start accepting jobs right away (i.e. graphic design, writing, programming, etc.) If not, take a moment to browse all the possibilities. You’re bound to find a good fit for you.
2 Website & App Tester
Sign up for UserTesting.com and get paid to test various websites and apps. You have to take a quick test to see if you qualify, but once you’re approved, you can start making money in as little as one week.
3 Start Dropshipping
Dropshipping is a very popular and convenient business model. To put it simply, you build an ecommerce website (Shopify makes it easy), list products that are made by a third party wholesaler (like AliExpress), and sell them for a profit.
The wholesaler handles all the legwork making and shipping the product. You just run your online store and choose the type of products you want to sell. You can use this business model to make passive income in your spare time, or with a little advertising and effort, you can turn it into a full-time hustle.
4 Start Print On Demand (POD)
Print On Demand is similar to Dropshipping in that you start an online store and sell products that someone else (a wholesaler) makes and ships for you. The difference here is that POD is all about putting your unique graphic designs on Tshirts, coffee mugs, tote bags, etc. You can design the graphics yourself or hire a graphic designer. Either way, you choose what to sell and run the store. Check out Printify for great POD options.
5 Amazon’s Mechanical Turk
MTurk is Amazon’s list of available “micro” jobs. These simple tasks don’t often pay much (think cents not dollars) but they’re ridiculously easy to do. You can usually accomplish several of the tasks in your spare time. Commonly listed tasks include things like completing surveys, verifying addresses and phone numbers, transcribing documents, and so on.
6 Create an Online Course
Do you have a skill set or talent for something awesome and want to teach that skill set to others? You can create an online course and sell it on Udemy. Beware, the initial creation of the course can be time consuming depending on the subject and material, but once you set it up, you can use it over and over again, selling and teaching to new interested students for years to come.
7 Sell Items on Etsy
If you like to make jewelry, artwork, pottery, embroidery, stickers, anything really, then you can sell those goods on Etsy; the go-to website for people who want to buy unique handmade items. Fair warning, while you can make really good money on Etsy with a great product, there can also be a bit of a learning curve. You’ll need to find your niche audience and learn how to advertise your product to them. In that respect, this isn’t a “fast cash” option. However, selling products on Etsy does have the potential to become a full-time business for entrepreneurs. There are lots of great videos and articles on the web that can teach how to take your Etsy store to the next level.
8 Become an Influencer
If you have a blog, YouTube channel, Twitch channel, Instagram account, or any other form of social media that gets major traffic, you can monetize it. YouTube only requires 1,000 subscribers to monetize. Instagram content creators are in high demand by brands looking to promote their products. Click here to learn how to make money on Instagram, TikTok, Twitch, or YouTube.
Note that making money via social media is slow and time consuming. You need a very healthy following and even then it’s often difficult.
9 Create A New App
Don’t pass over this option just because you don’t know how to program! As long as you have a great idea for an app, you can hire a developer through sites like Toptal to make it for you. Once the app is complete, you can sell it via the Google Play Store and get paid every time someone downloads the app.
10 Translation Work
Get paid to translate documents, websites, and more. You’ll need to be fluent in two or more languages first, but if that’s you, making money as a translator is pretty easy due to the low amount of competition. Get started with any of the job listing sites below:
11 Online Tutoring
If you’re good at subjects like science, English, or mathematics you could make a good living as an online tutor. While having a teaching degree and experience will help, it’s not required. Get started with any of these online tutoring sites:
12 Become a Virtual Assistant
With small businesses and entrepreneurs rising in popularity comes the need for administrative assistants. But not everyone needs or wants an assistant in the office. Remote virtual assistants do the same tasks but from the comfort of their home. You can find opportunities for virtual assistant jobs in a wide range of fields by signing up with job listing sites like Virtual Office Temps or Indeed.
13 Manage Social Media Accounts
If you have a flair for social media, why not get paid to manage social media accounts for small businesses? Every business today knows how vital social media is to raise awareness about their service or product. But not every business is good at it and many don’t want to be bothered with the time it takes to make content and build up a following. That’s where you come in!
14 Become a Proofreader
If you like to read and have a good grasp on grammar, you can get paid to proofread all kinds of content. From car manuals to restaurant menus to fiction novels. Look for proofreading jobs on Fiverr or Upwork. Or, to break into the fiction space, check the websites of your favorite publishing houses for availability.
Final Thoughts
While there are lots of legitimate and fun ways to make money online from home, the truth is there are just as many scams. How can you tell what’s real and what’s fake? One really great rule of thumb is never pay for a job. None of the job listing sites we mentioned above require a fee to sign up. If someone asks you for a fee or asks for your personal bank information, run!
When in doubt, Google the company and/or ask around on social media. If you find any complaints online, read them and take them to heart. Never take chances on a company with a bad reputation.
While all of the sites linked in this article are 100% legit and safe to use, the best long term strategy is to build relationships through word of mouth and create your own clientele so that you can eventually move away from gig lists and start your own business.
Did you enjoy learning how to make money online from home? Was this post helpful? Let us know below in the comments.
Want more? Check out How To Make Money Online For Beginners.