How to Make Money Online: 30 Suggestions
It's never been easier to make money online. From earning points on your everyday shopping that you can turn into cash, to running a fully fledged website selling your very own products, there's something that everyone can do.
Depending on which job you choose, you can undertake the work during those quiet times when you have nothing else to do, or in some cases, making money online could become your main occupation. What's more, all you need to get started is a computer, an internet connection, a little time and some ideas to help you start earning.
30 Great Suggestions To Get You Started:
1. Take Part in Online Surveys
Earn cash and High Street vouchers for taking part in paid online surveys. Consumer opinion is vital to shaping new products that make it onto shop shelves, and there are plenty of opportunities to have your say. You can choose the hours you work, leaving you free to meet your other commitments and obligations, making this method of earning money online particularly well suited to stay at home parents with a little time to themselves during school term.
Learn a few things about online surveys:
• 15 Essential Tips on Where to Begin With Paid Surveys
• How to Avoid Scam Survey Sites
2. Get Paid To Click
Even the busiest of people can earn a little extra money from clicking on links to websites. There are loads of these sorts of websites in existence and most pay a small amount per click. With so little time or effort involved, this is a very easy way to build up points or cash - very useful at Christmas and other expensive times of the year. Some paid to click sites reward you for referring friends and this is a great way to boost your cash earnings.
Learn more about getting paid to click:
• How you can get Paid to Click
3. Earn Points For Your Shopping
This is probably one of the simplest ways to earn some extra money online. Every time you shop for groceries, appliances for your home, and many other items, you could be accumulating points towards cash payouts or High Street vouchers to spend in your favourite stores. Remember to shop via the website to earn your points - and watch your credits grow!
Learn a few things about online shopping:
• Learn to find online discounts and vouchers
• Earn and save points while shopping
4. Get Paid To Report On Your Shopping Experiences
Shopping is something that few people can avoid altogether. But whether you love it or hate it, retailers need your feedback on how well their staff perform. With customer service becoming more and more of a priority, retail businesses want to get it right, and this means using mystery shoppers to observe and report on the service they receive. Becoming a mystery shopper puts you right at the centre of measuring how retail staff carry out their day to day dealings with customers, and you can get paid to do it by simply reporting on your shopping experiences via a mystery shopping website.
Learn a few things about mystery shopping:
• How can you become a mystery shopper in UK?
• Avoid mystery shopping scams
5. Write Helpful Reviews
Some sites will pay you to write reviews of the things you buy on an everyday basis, as well as those one-off or not-so-often purchases made from time to time. Well written reviews are hugely sought after on the internet and can help to build your online reputation as a quality reviewer. With online shopping becoming the norm for most people, your online reviews could play a very important role in promoting certain brands and models and it's an easy way to earn a little extra cash online.
Learn to write reviews for money:
• Write product reviews online
6. Write Informative Articles
More and more people turn to the internet every day as the first port of call for information. Therefore, well written and informative articles on a wide and varied range of subjects are always in demand. Signing up to a site that publishes your articles, and linking them with Adsense, can earn you cash for each ad-click your readers make. Over time your articles could be viewed by a lot of people and the cash you make can really add up.
Learn more about writing articles:
• How to write informative articles for money
7. Complete 'Get Paid To' Offers
There are numerous websites that will pay you to complete offers such as insurance quotes, to sign up for free trials with online DVD rental companies or register with credit history report experts. These offers are easy to to take out, but remember, they are often time sensitive and will need to be cancelled at the end of the trial period. Make sure you read the small print before committing to any of the offers and take out as many as you realistically can to grow your pot of earnings.
Learn a few things about 'Get paid to...' offers:
• Complete 'Get paid to...' offers
8. Earn As You Search
As the World Wide Web continues to rapidly expand, there is money to be made from the search engine you choose. There are a number of opportunities to build on this type of earning online, and it's one of the easier ways to add to your earnings without taking up too much of your time.
9. Advertise On Your Blog Or Website
AdSense, links and banners on your blog or website can earn you money each time one of your visitors clicks on them. Your content will determine which ads appear, but they will be relevant to the reader.
Learn more about it:
• Step by step guide to creating your own blog
• Advertise on your Blog or Website
10. Earn By Affiliation
Make money by encouraging people to sign up to other websites. This is a particularly good way of earning money for online survey panel members, as each time somebody signs up via your link, you earn even more money.
11. Become A Paid Blogger
With the demand for online content growing daily, blogs need to be kept up to date with fresh and relevant information. If your writing skills are up to the task, there are websites you can sign up to that will pay you for writing blog posts on a wide range of subjects.
12. Join A Cashback Site
If the sound of making money each time you shop appeals to you, then joining a cashback site is the answer. Each time you want to shop online, just click through to your chosen retailer via the cashback site you're signed up to; you will earn cash back on each purchase you make and it's money easily earned.
13. Become An Ebay Seller
Few households are clutter free, and it's all too easy to hoard things that aren't in regular use. Getting your clutter together and posting it to Ebay for auction can turn your unwanted items into cash. What's more, your home will benefit from the spring clean and you could earn enough money to treat yourself to the items you really do want. You could also ask friends and family to donate their unwanted goods to you, which could really help to bump up your sales and earn you plenty of cash.
14. Run Your Own Virtual Shop Front
This is probably one of the most simplistic ways of earning money online and there's very little effort required. Decide on a particular line of goods to 'sell', i.e. books, CDs, DVDs, or even health foods and vitamin supplements, as all of these are quite common choices. Each time a visitor clicks on the links you provide, a website cookie records that it came via your site, and you can earn money each time the links are clicked and customers are directed to the appropriate site. All you have to do is set it up and watch the cash come in.
15. Gambling Sites
Online casinos and bingo sites can pay some very attractive bonuses just for signing up. You will most likely have to keep a minimum amount of money in your account to remain a member, or you might have to wait until you win a certain amount of money before you can withdraw from your account. If online gambling is something you already do, try casting out your net for some new offers on different sites to clock up as many bonuses as possible. You may even win the jackpot!
16. Domain Selling
Buying and selling original and sometimes quirky domain names can generate a good income. You can also make the domain name more attractive for selling on by creating a simple or basic website to go with it. You may need to spend time searching the internet for sites where you can buy the domain names, but with demand increasing all the time, there's money to be made.
17. Earn Via YouTube
Who thought that YouTube was just for entertainment? It's possible to make money from the videos you create and upload by allowing adverts on your YouTube channel. The ads will be relevant to your viewers and could see your earnings mount up over time.
18. Go Viral!
Everyone loves those fun and amusing videos to brighten up a dull working day. Get them out there to see your online earnings stack up.
19. Set Up An Online Bookstore Via Amazon
Buying second hand books has had a new lease of life, particularly as the price of new books continues to rise. If you have a stack of out of print or rare copies of books that people are looking for, or even a stack of university text books sitting in your attic, you could be earning money by selling them on Amazon's marketplace. Remember to factor in the cost of postage and packing so you don't make a loss.
Read more about setting up an online book store:
• Set up an Online Bookstore via Amazon
20. Sell Your Services Online
Can you touch type speedily? You could be earning money by taking typing jobs online. You will need good accuracy, as well as speed, with a keen sense of good English grammar and punctuation. If you haven't recently used your typing skills for anything other than browsing the internet, start brushing up and you could be earning cash in your spare time by typing all sorts of documents.
21. Become A Proof Reader
Believe it or not, even in today's technologically advanced world, people in certain professions still need to use proof readers to cast a keen eye over their work. Certain qualifications may be necessary to become a proof reader, but there are opportunities online for this type of work.
22. Become An Online Assistant
Gone are the days when personal assistants and secretaries needed to be present in the office with their boss. If you have good office administration skills, you could be performing a variety of supportive tasks in much the same way as if you were present in the office. There are some great websites around that can hire you for this type of work, and you could find yourself clocking up some good money from some temporary positions.
23. Read and Reply To Emails
Some retailers and other organisations require temporary assistance during busy periods. Keeping on top of emails can be quite time consuming, and this type of task is often easier to outsource from time to time. Brush up on your reading and writing skills to get the best of these opportunities as they arise.
24. Get Paid To Maintain A Social Networking Presence
As customers demand a quick turn around to their queries, it pays for businesses to get help with these tasks during busy periods.
25. Got Good Gaming Skills?
You could get paid for maintaining gamers' high scores and having some fun at the same time as making some extra cash.
26. Become A Tutor
Do you have good literacy and numeracy skills? You could make money from tutoring online. Students often need help with preparing for exams or writing essays and there are some good opportunities to make extra money this way.
27. Sell Your Homemade Crafts Online
Whether it's homemade soaps or handmade purses, everyone loves one-off crafts. If you're talented in this area, consider selling online via a blog or website.
Learn a few things about it:
• How to sell your hand made crafts online
28. Record Birthday and Other Greetings Online:
Even physical greetings cards are becoming outdated now with so many ways to communicate online. If you have the talent and nerve to become an online 'greeter', you could find that there's money to be made for your original and/or quirky efforts.
29. What's Your Niche Interest?
You may have a keen eye for antiques, or some good experience of buying new kitchen appliances, both of which could earn you money online. People are always looking for help and assistance with all sorts of things and your specialist knowledge could be worth paying for.
Learn more about it:
• Roadmap to working from home and defining your skills
30. Are You A Know It All?
If you pride yourself on knowing something about everything, then you could make some extra cash by answering questions online. Websites for this type of work recruit people from all walks of life to provide immediate answers to questions that their site users submit. The questions could relate to everything from run of the mill topics to more in depth requests and you will be given a time scale in which to complete each task.
Pick 'n' Mix
Your opportunities to make money online could be maximised by picking a mixture of the options given above, and organising them around your existing schedule. For example, using affiliation on your blog or website, using cashback sites and running a virtual shop front can all be done in the background of other options such as taking paid online survey or writing articles for publication online.
Whatever option you choose, making money online is a real possibility for everyone. What will you do?