How To Make Money Online: A Complete Guide

Introduction

Money makes the world go around, or at least that’s what they say. At the very minimum, money is needed for survival, plus getting to do all of the fun things that make life worth living. Of course, one thing is for sure – it never seems like we have enough money. As such, many of us are always trying to find new ways that we can earn money to give ourselves and our families a better future.

Today, we have so many more options for earning money. We have a culture where side hustles are the norm, and what better way to earn an extra bit of cash than using the internet? There are numerous ways that you can earn money online so long as you are willing to do the research and put in the work into creating a money making empire for yourself online. With that in mind, here are all of the ways that you can use the internet to increase your cash flow.

The Internet and Money Making: What You Need to Know

Before we dive into the different ways that you can make money online, let’s first go over a few of the things that you need to know. If you are well prepared, you are more likely to succeed after all!

Is This Legit? Do’s and Don’ts When Making Money Online

Yes! You can legitimately earn money online. In fact, some people have made a living for themselves solely from making money online. People have earned millions online just from making the right moves. It’s a pretty lucrative way to earn money, aside from your standard 9 to 5 job.

Of course, there’s a right way and a wrong way to make money online. There are a few dos and don’ts to keep in mind.

To start with, don’t do anything illegal! This may seem like a no brainer, but you want to earn money, not end up in prison. Make sure that you do your research before diving into a money making scheme. You don’t want to get caught up in something illegal and not realize it until later on when it’s too late.

You should also do your research, with that in mind. Look into different strategies for your money making plan of choice. You’re more likely to be successful if you do this than you would be if you stumbled around blindly with no idea of what you were doing. Look for experts in the industry to get a head start – they often post advice online. Blogs and podcasts are an excellent way to start.

Do be realistic too. While it is certainly possible to earn money online and be successful, there are some methods on this list that will require some patience before you actually start seeing some results. It will be worth it when you do get those results, but just remember that you reap what you sow. What may not be money today could be a whole lot tomorrow.

Think About Your Online Safety

Most importantly of all, it’s crucial that you consider your safety when you are trying to earn money online. When it comes to money, it’s usually best not to take chances since you could potentially have a lot to lose, especially if you are choosing to invest your money in order to gain more in turn.

So how do you stay safe when earning money online? First of all, if you are going to be doing things like investing or anything else that requires a payment upfront at first, then you should ensure that you are choosing a reputable site for your money making endeavors. If you are going to be investing in stock then make sure that the site is a well known one, rather than something random that’s a complete unknown. This way, you are far less likely to be conned out of money.

You should also be aware of fake links and fake email accounts too if your money making method requires you to be in contact with other people. Some of them can look pretty convincing! Double check any URLs before you are clicking on them, and make sure that you are using encryption.

This may seem obvious, but you should also do a few other things to keep yourself safe. For starters, don’t use your main credit or debit card when you are trying to make money online. This helps to keep your data safe. Likewise, don’t use your main email account either. When doing research, only use reputable sources that you can trust to ensure that you aren’t getting false information that can get you into trouble.

When it comes to earning money online, it’s often just a matter of common sense. Don’t do anything reckless that may get you in trouble – there’s really no need for it and in most cases, blunders can be easily avoided with a little bit of foresight.

How to Make Money Online for Beginners

So you’re just getting started with looking into earning money online, but you feel a little lost. Where do you start, and what avenues are the best money makers? Here’s everything you need to know.

Start a YouTube channel

If you are at all familiar with the internet – which we assume that you are! – you’re probably already aware of YouTube as a money making platform. There are people out there that have made YouTube content into their livelihoods. One creator called Nate O’Brien, for instance, has managed to earn approximately $444,000 through ad revenue alone in the space of a year. That’s some pretty big money, and for many people is equal to more than a year’s earnings in a 9-5 job.

Now, earning money on YouTube can be easy for some, but may be more challenging for others. For the most part it comes down to getting a lot of views. Let us explain.

So when you first start a YouTube channel, you can’t earn money straight away. Instead, you need to meet certain criteria, usually in relation to the number of channel views you have and the amount of subscribers you have. When you meet the criteria, you will be invited to join the YouTube partner program where you will earn the money. Even then, you will be earning small amounts of money at first if your videos don’t have a lot of views. If you become an overnight sensation then obviously it’s then a little bit different since you will have the views from the get go, but this is not the situation for most people.

The best thing to do in order to get money from working on YouTube is to be consistent. Make sure that you are producing engaging, unique content on a fairly regular basis. This will increase your reach, and thus help you to gain more views. Views = $, after all!

This isn’t the only way to earn money on YouTube though. You can also open a Crowdfunder to help you to gain money ahead of a new creative project, or you can sell products. You could take sponsorships for your videos if you are eligible too.

Make sure that you choose a niche that you enjoy though, rather than trying to cover absolutely everything and every topic in existence on your channel. If you make your channel about something that you enjoy you are far more likely to create videos, making you more likely to be successful in your YouTube Career. Make content that people want to consume, and optimize your YouTube videos to make it more searchable.

Create a Blog

Blogging is one of those money making methods that has been kicking around on the world wide web since the beginning of its inception, pretty much. It’s a tried and true method of earning money online, one that you are especially likely to enjoy if you enjoy writing. Many of the successful blogs will hone in on a specific niche or topic, for instance minimalist art, country music or toys. The niche usually needs to be specific enough for people to find you easily, but it also has to give you enough leeway to talk about plenty of topics.

To earn money from blogging, you first need to start out by finding the right platform for your blog. Shopify and WordPress are both popular choices when you’re first starting out. You may need to do some keyword research in order to figure out what keywords you can trend for so that you can be found on google. Figure out what topics you can cover, both now and in time to come. Consider similar topics to your own that are still relevant to your niche, and that way you can build up the blog. It may take a while to be successful with your blog, so it’s a bit of a waiting game, but it’s worth it for the income you may end up getting.

Earning money through blogging can be done through using affiliate links, using Adsense, having sponsored posts and more. If you have a big enough name in the blogging sphere, you may even find that other bloggers will pay you for the opportunity to write for their websites too.

Consider Social Media Influencing

People often scoff at the idea of earning money from becoming an influencer, but there’s a reason why it’s so popular. If you do it right, then influencing can be rather lucrative. Creating a personal brand that sells is a good way to earn money online, and you don’t need to be Kim Kardashian to pull it off either.

Becoming a successful influencer starts out by gaining a following. You can’t be an influencer if nobody knows who you are. Influencing means that you are having an impact on other people, after all. A lot of people can make it big on social media if they put in the work.

When you have enough of a following on your social media platform of choice, you can then do things to make money. This includes arranging and attending speaking engagements or meet ups, creating merchandise and other items to buy. You can also get sponsorships and add affiliate links to your posts, you could create a podcast, stream on a platform like twitch, write a book and pretty much anything else that you can think of.

Buying and Selling Online

Buying and selling online is a great way to earn money! There are a few ways that you can do it too. For instance, you can sell things that you already own in order to gain a profit from them. If you have things like collectibles, DVDs and CDs or anything else that’s in good condition that you want to sell, then you can put them on a site like eBay and get a decent profit. If your item is a limited edition and hasn’t been taken out of the box, you can sometimes even earn thousands of dollars or more from the sale.

Alternatively, you can do something like online arbitrage or create your own products. Online arbitrage usually consists of buying a product online or in a store for a lower price and then listing it up for sale on a site like Amazon for a higher profit margin. It’s a matter of finding the right products and optimizing your listings correctly with this, though! You can even create products of your own – create a brand for your products and get the products from the correct place, and you can be quite successful doing this.

Finally, why not make some things? For instance, if you are quite the artist and you enjoy making unique canvas prints, then why not monetize your talent? Sell your paintings online on a website like Etsy. People browse sites like that and Redbubble in order to buy unique items that they wouldn’t otherwise find on the high street, so it’s a great way to gain a profit from people who genuinely love what you do and offer. It’s a way of turning the things that you love into a profit which is fantastic.

Online Life Coaching

Do you have a lot of life advice to give? If so, then maybe it’s time to consider doing some life coaching. The life coaching industry is one that’s worth billions of dollars, and its coaches can earn a lot of money by sharing what they know with the world. You can help people to realize who they need to be and what they need to do in order to have a fulfilling, successful life. In most cases all you need to do is get a life coaching qualification and be able to listen to people then give them advice, and you’re good to go.

There are a few different ways that you can earn money through life coaching. For instance, you can charge for one on one sessions, or you can do group life coaching sessions to help your clients to work through their goals. You could do corporate training services, be a consultant or start a membership program. For clients that aren’t as fond of face to face services, you could write a self paced program that your clients can access online. Remember to create a personal brand that will sell and get your name out there through some strategic marketing, and you will be able to earn a lot of money through online life coaching.

Unusual Ways to Make Money Online

So none of the options above have tickled your fancy? That’s fine – here are a few unusual yet lucrative ways that you can earn the top dollar online.

Offer Freelance Services

Do you have a talent that you think you can sell? Well, if so, then starting your own freelance service may be the right option for you. You may be very good at your day to day job but you find that it doesn’t pay as much as you’d like, so you can make it on your own as a freelancer. This is the perfect option for things like administrative roles, writing, graphic design, teaching services and so much more. As long as you know how to market yourself and how to get new clients, then doing freelance services can be a way to be successful.

There are usually sites dedicated to providing work for freelancers too, such as Upwork, Fiverr and Freelancer. Of course, you will need to build up your portfolio first before you can get clients, but once you do you should be able to get plenty of clients and turn a good profit. Remember to keep things personal when marketing your freelance work though – it’s more likely to help you to generate clients.

Become an Online Tutor

This is another great option if you are particularly knowledgeable about a certain subject or you have a talent. You can teach other people certain things through doing this and get money for it. For instance, were you good in your literature classes in school? If so, then why not become an online tutor for students who are currently studying the class in school? If you are a good artist, then perhaps you could become an online art tutor.

There are usually websites dedicated to tutoring services, such as Superprof. If you don’t get any luck on these sites though, then you can advertise your services directly on the internet, such as on Facebook or Gumtree. Just write a description of what you charge, what you teach and any other information that the prospective student may need to know, and you should hopefully get some people coming your way that are interested in your tutoring services.

Get Paid to Leave Reviews

You may have heard that it’s possible to get paid to leave reviews online. It’s actually a pretty decent way to earn some extra cash. Check out websites such as User Testing, for instance, which will pay a pretty penny if you leave reviews for services from entrepreneurs that are on their websites. You will often be asked to leave a review of the company’s app or website, and you will be asked a couple of questions that you need to answer. You may also be asked to provide feedback over video. All you need to do is a few reviews per day and you can earn quite a pretty penny.

There are also other websites online that are designed for generating reviews, so if you look hard enough you are sure to find a site that will allow you to review things in an area that you are specifically interested in, making it more fun for you while you are earning money.

Content Marketing

As the years go by, more and more people are interested in content marketing, whether it’s to generate views for their businesses or just to flesh out their hobby websites. Content marketing is definitely something that’s worth getting into if you want to generate an income. It will be even more lucrative if you can specialize in a specific niche, since you will end up being in demand in that niche with enough experience. Just work on getting some clients, build up your portfolio and you can earn a lot of money through content marketing.

Online Translator

Online translators are in demand right now, so you are in luck if you are something of a language expert. Of course, you are going to have to be fluent in two languages at the minimum to be an online translator, and you need to be capable of showing off your language skills. Look online for online translator work – if you have the skills needed then you are sure to get some customers.

Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants are becoming very popular for lots of different businesses. Mostly, you will need to do things like managing social media pages, bookkeeping, writing, processing orders and dealing with customers. Websites like Indeed offer roles like this all the time – it’s just a matter of finding them. It’s certainly a good side hustle if you’re looking for one.

Become a Beta Tester

How about becoming a Beta Tester? With this, you will be given a piece of technology to test – it could be a game, or a piece of software in its very early stages of development. You will then get paid to test it out and pinpoint any massive errors or things that could do with some improvement before the technology launches officially. Look online for beta tester jobs to earn a little bit of cash online!

Unusual Ways to Invest Money Online

One way that people often earn money online is through investing, and it can turn quite the profit if you’re smart. If you’re interested, here are just a few of the more unusual ways that you can invest money on the internet.

Peer-to-Peer Lending

There are sites out there such as Lending Club and Prosper that will allow you to invest in loans that will go to others. Basically, you can contribute a certain amount of money to help someone else to fund a loan. Since interest will be generated from the investment, you will then get some return on your investment when the person eventually pays off the loan.

This can be a little risky, as is the case with any form of investment. This is because there’s always a chance that the lender may fail to pay back the loan and might default. You can minimize the risk by investing just small amounts of money instead of spending too much. Invest in a range of different notes in small amounts and you can minimize the risks, since you have invested in a few different places so at least one of them is sure to pay back the loan.

Investing in Precious Metals Online

There are a lot of physical objects that you can invest in that can turn quite the profit later down the line. For instance, you may already have heard that it’s possible to invest in gold, such as gold coins, mining corporations, gold bullion and so many other options. The price of gold can vary throughout time, so it’s a good idea to ensure that you do your research into the gold company that you are investing in beforehand. Make sure that they have secure storage for the gold, and choose a company with a good reputation. It’s possible to invest in other metals too, or things like jewels. Since the price can end up rising through time, investing in precious metals could be a good way to earn some extra cash.

Investing in Niche Websites

Why not think about investing in Niche websites? Niche websites are incredibly profitable so long as they are done correctly. Some sites can even generate millions of dollars a year. For that reason, it’s quite common that people will buy and sell niche websites. When you buy a niche website that has already been well established, you can sit on it for a while and it will help you to generate a passive income each month based on the work that has already been put into the site. Then, when some time has passed you can sell it again for a higher profit, especially if you have maintained it well in that time and it is generating even more profit than before. You are going to need some money to start with, but it’s worth it for an investment that could potentially help you to potentially generate thousands of dollars a month.

Investing in Tax Liens Online

Tax lien investing can be very lucrative. There are 28 states that currently allow it, and tax liens are sometimes sold directly from the government.  You will have to purchase a tax lien through an auction, but when you do you can potentially make some really big money from investing in this form of real estate. This could be either in the form of the property owner redeeming your lien by paying you your investment amount plus interest. Or it could be in foreclosing on the property itself after a certain period of time has expired. Tax lien investing can be somewhat risky, but if you do your research first you should be able to have success.

Invest in Fix-and-Flip Hard Money Loans

Fix and flips are pretty common these days, and are ideal for people looking to earn money from real estate. There’s a reason why fixer upper shows are starting to become so popular – a lot of people want to get into house flipping in order to earn money. Fix and Flip hard money loans are one way that people will choose to finance their house flipping project.

Several real estate crowdfunding websites offer the ability to invest in fix-and-flip hard money loans. The website will typically prescreen the project to determine whether it is viable and if they feel there is a realistic chance the investors will earn a return. You can then invest in the project if you want to, and potentially get money from it. How you earn the money depends on the kind of crowdfunding, for instance with debt crowdfunding, you will earn regular interest payments plus the return of your capital investment (if all goes as planned). With equity crowdfunding you as the investor will earn a certain amount of the profits upon the sale of the house. Since houses can sell for a lot of money, you can get a lot of money from this.

Or something else that is unusual

There are plenty of other ways to earn money online through investing too. For example, you can invest in certificates of deposit, corporate bonds or even annuities. All of these options can turn a good profit – it’s just a matter of choosing the right option to invest in!

Summary

There has never been a better time to start earning money online. There are so many options out there that you are truly spoilt for choice, whether you’re selling your talents online or you’re investing online. Remember, it may take a little bit of patience and hard work, but with time you can earn some serious money online if you stick it out!