How To Make Money Online

If you have financial goals, then you should know how there are only two ways to meet them.  One option is to cut back on expenses, and the other one is to make more money.

The second option can be more exciting because there are a lot of ways to leverage technology for a side hustle and find creative ways to make some extra cash.

It’s a great way to earn extra money.  So read on to discover our top picked ways to make money online to save up for a mortgage faster, or even replace your full-time income down the road.

1. Take Surveys

Yes, you can earn cash and gift cards by freelancing and taking online surveys. Survey sites like Swagbucks offer points for surveys taken and videos watched.

You can spend a short amount of time online each day, taking a survey here and there. You can then cash in those points to get cashback or gift cards at your favorite retailers. That’s a great way to earn money and save on purchases that you’re planning to make anyway.

2. Start Blogging

Blogging is a wonderful way to share a passion and make money. Blogging does take hard work, but it’s worth it when you realize you’re helping people solve a problem.

You might help them start a garden, be a photographer, or market a business. You have to be diligent in writing content regularly and driving traffic to your site through Google and social media sites. 

Bloggers have to stand out from the crowd, so they’ll have a YouTube channel, podcast, Instagram account, and maybe become an influencer.

If you get enough traffic and build up an audience, you can sign up for ad networks like Mediavine or Google Adsense so you can earn extra cash on your blog through advertising.

3. Create an Online Course

An online course can be another way bloggers can leverage their audience. If you don’t have a blog but have an idea for a course and some spare time, you can still produce it and sell it online. You can use a course site, such as SkillShare and Udemy, to sell your courses.

In order to sell your online course on your blog, you want to make sure that you have a solid audience and an email list to sell to.

The great thing about creating an online course is that it can become a source of passive income. You create the course, update it as needed and let the sales roll in.

4. Become an Affiliate Marketer on Amazon

Did you know that there’s a third way to make money from blogging? Affiliate marketing is a creative way to make money because you’re selling other people’s products instead of your own.

There are countless review sites dedicated to different niches, from grills to sneakers to camera equipment.

The content provides high-quality information to readers and within those reviews are affiliate links. These links go to sites that sell that product. Meaning, if someone clicks on the link and makes a purchase, you get a commission from the sale.

Most retail sites have some form of affiliate marketing, and Amazon is among the most popular affiliate programs.

5. Join the Gig Economy

If you have skills that you can use to help businesses, you can join the gig economy. The gig economy has exploded in recent years, with an estimated 36% of U.S. workers participating in the gig economy.

There are companies that hire independent contractors to drive people from place to place through Uber, deliver groceries, and provide valuable services.

Sites like Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, Fiverr and Upwork have allowed freelance writers, IT professionals, graphic designers, and marketing consultants to find side gigs and projects to work on. You do the work, and you’re usually paid via PayPal.

Companies can benefit from the gig economy because they don’t have to hire people full-time for short term projects.

6. Start an Online Business

If you think the gig economy is a good fit for you, you might want to take the next step and start your own business as a freelancer.

This is a good fit for people that have expertise in an area. For example, if you are an accountant, you can start your own accounting business. Another option for an online business is to do social media or graphic design work for companies.

The beauty of starting a business that you can do online is that you can work from anywhere and you control the amount of money you make. You can get your clients on Fiverr and Upwork as well as your own local networks. 

7. Sell Products Online

Another way to get some extra cash and make money online is to sell products. Sites like Amazon, eBay, Wal-Mart, and Etsy welcome third-party sellers.

If you have handmade goods and crafts that you can turn into cash, one option is to sell them on Etsy.

You can sell products on other sites using a drop shipping method of business which allows you to post products online, and then sell them on Amazon, eBay, and other e-commerce sites. 

You send the orders to a dropshipping company that can fulfill the orders and ships them to customers.

Another option is to set up a Shopify account and buy a domain name to set up your own website. You can set up an online store to sell your products. 

8. Become a Virtual Assistant

There are millions of small business owners that are drowning in things to do. You can help them by taking over some of those tasks.

Virtual assistants can do anything from taking care of scheduling, social media posts, writing content, managing appointments, and responding to emails for their clients. This is a great side hustle because you can take on as much work as you want, allowing you to work full-time or part-time. 

9. Rent Space on Airbnb

Do you have a spare bedroom that’s not being used? You can turn that extra space into a side income by renting on a short-term basis.

Airbnb is an online platform that gives vacationers a place to stay without spending too much money on a hotel room. For owners, it’s a source of extra income that can be used towards meeting financial goals.

Creative Ways to Make Money Online

There’s no doubt that technology or even access to a smartphone has changed the job market. There are more opportunities to add an income stream and earn a lot of money to put towards a down payment or other financial goals.

There are countless creative ways to make money online from data entry and taking surveys to freelance writing to share your passion projects on a blog. All you need is an internet connection and some spare time to make money online and increase your bank account.