How to Make Money Online for Beginners

33 Ways on How to Make Money Online for Beginners

We all could use some extra money aside from our regular job. Who wouldn’t want a few hundred or thousand dollars more per month? Here we’re looking at many ways you can make money online for beginners.

You won’t need to leave the comfort of your home to make money. We won’t mention you could be a rideshare service driver or task service. All you need is a computer connected to the Internet to begin making money online.

How to Make Money Online for Beginners?

Some of these methods may take longer before any payment is received or will have a low payout, but you will receive it quicker. Review each one of these methods and decide how you’ll dedicate time to make extra money or turn it into a full-time business. Compiled is a list of the best ways to make money online for beginners.

Table of Contents

1. Start a Blog

how to make money online for beginners

Blogging is a great way to make money online. It costs an average of 200 dollars yearly to set up your website with a hosting platform and Domain Name.

One of the best forms of passive income after setting up your website and lots of people are visiting or becoming members of your blog community.

2. Retail Arbitrage

If you have lots of stuff you want to get rid of, why not sell it? Besides selling your items, you can purchase items at a lower price and then resell them online for a higher price.

You can either purchase them physically or purchase items online and resell them. Popular platforms are eBay, Amazon, Stockx, or niche reseller sites.

3. Investing

It’s easy to set up an account to start investing. Investing is the most passive income method, but money is required. You can make money and risk losing your investment. Study what you’re investing in and not listen to what is popular. Often you’ll lose money on it.

4. Teach a Language

You don’t have to be physically present to teach another language. Now you can tutor people who are interested in learning a language online. Have a webcam set up in addition to your computer and Internet. Look for language platforms that connect a teacher and a student interested in the language.

5. Virtual Assistant

how to make money online for beginners

Many businesses are looking for virtual assistants to help free up their time on manual-intensive tasks. It offers the flexibility of working part-time and remotely from a computer.

The role is typically administrative support, managing emails, phone calls, scheduling, and booking travels. However, it varies among employers and what they request in a virtual assistant.

6. Surveys

If you have time to spare, you can put it towards filling out online surveys. You can quickly register for survey websites or apps, and it doesn’t require any experience.

Surveys are interested in your opinion, but surveys take a while to fill out and have a low payout. Typically, surveys will reward you with gift cards.

7. Online Freelance

Freelance work has a great potential of making money online. People are looking for different skill sets online from photoshop, video editing, bookkeeping, and more.

You’ll have to manage your work and attract clients or customers to do business with you. You can start on freelance websites from Freelancer, Upwork, or Fiverr.

8. YouTube

Many people are looking for video content to learn or for entertainment. It has lots of potential to create a brand for yourself and build an audience who is interested in your content.

YouTube creators make money from YouTube ads, sponsorships, affiliate links, or selling their products or services.

It can take months or years before your YouTube channel brings in income as it’s a competitive platform. Stay consistent and learn how to improve your videos eventually, you’ll see your views and subscriber count increase over time.

9. Streaming

Viewers can interact with the content creator through chat in real-time. Popular forms of streaming are chatting with viewers, traveling, gaming and cooking.

Streaming is another competitive way to make money online as you have to be entertaining to the viewers for them to stay and contribute to you.

10. Self-Publish and Sell Books

how to make money online for beginners

You don’t need to have a publisher to sell books. If you enjoy writing your thoughts down, then try creating an ebook. No costs to start writing an ebook, and there’s a high earning potential.

You’ll have to gain people’s interest in your book if you aren’t well known and market your ebook. Audible is a popular platform to self-publish ebooks with a large audience.

11. Etsy

Etsy is the best platform for individuals who enjoy creating homemade artistic products to sell to others. Depending on the product, it can take a lot of time to make the same products and the cost of supplies.

Learn what your audience wants and use social media to promote your products to drive traffic to your Etsy store.

12. Tutoring

You can teach people a skill you’re proficient in. The highest skills in demand are coding, communication/ presentation, leadership, and finance. Besides one-on-one teaching, if more people want to learn from you, host a virtual workshop to teach multiple people together to save time and a higher profit margin.

13. Podcasting

Many people listen to podcasts for the convenience of doing an activity without drawing their attention away from it. If you enjoy expressing your thoughts, this is a great opportunity. With a large audience, companies will be interested in sponsoring you, asking for an ad shoutout, or you can sell your products too.

14. Online Course

Building an online course is a great way to teach your skill or profession to others without you needing to use your time to teach virtually or in person. Creating your online course will generate passive income and help establish your brand as an expert on that topic. Udemy and Teachable are online platforms to host your online courses.

15. Rent Out Space and Items

how to make money online for beginners

We all know we can rent out our rooms or property to others on Airbnb or Vrbo, but you can rent out other items too. Popular items to rent to others are storage space, cars/trucks, drones, or photography equipment. Depending on the item, you can make a significant amount of return.

16. Sell Stock Pictures

If you have photography skills, then you can sell stock images online. Photography sites such as Shutterstock and Alamy will pay a commission based on the downloads or purchases. You can even take pictures with your smartphone and don’t need to buy expensive camera equipment.

17. Create an App

You don’t need to have an education in computer science or technology to start developing an app for Android or IOS. Plenty of resources online will walk you through how to create an app with no coding experience. Depending on how you structure your app, you’ll monetize it by having ads, setting it as a freemium model, offering premium features, or potentially a larger company will be interested and purchase your app.

18. Cashback and Rewards

It’s not a way to generate money but to save more on your spending or give you a percentage of your money back in a rebate. Look for websites, credit card benefits, and cashback apps to see what offers more savings when you purchase from their platform.

If you shop at the same vendor continuously, see what kind of loyalty program they have to offer. Be aware some reward systems can have an expiration date if you don’t use them for a while. Spend it before it disappears.

19. Test Websites

Companies want feedback on their websites before releasing them to the public. You can get paid by screen recording your computer from their software, speaking into your mic about your thoughts, and answering follow-up questions. On average, the payout is $10 for 10 – 20 minutes of testing a website, but it can add up quickly.

20. Find Remote Job

The pandemic has increased the demand for remote jobs. Besides your current job, take on another job remotely if you can work more hours. Likely you’ll have to work a remote job that is flexible with your schedule and not the typical 9 to 5 hours on top of your current job.

21. Consultant

how to make money online for beginners

A consultant differs from freelancers who focus on business clients or large companies. If you are an expert in your field, you can offer your service for a high premium for fewer hours than a regular job. You’ll be providing advice on how to improve their business, and there’s less hands-on work.

22. Sell Digital Products

Creating a digital product will take time, but it’s inexpensive to make. It can be a range of ideas from online courses, ebooks, pdf information, school notes, and more. Be sure to promote your digital product to drive traffic for more sales.

23. Instagram Influencer

Instagram is the best social media to become an influencer. Sharing high-quality pictures, videos, and stories will attract followers to your profile. Decide what kind of influencer you want to be and how it relates to your audience. Once you have a high number of followers, then you can work with companies and brands on sponsorship deal posts.

24. Paid to Watch Videos

Yes, you can get paid to watch videos. Videos are typically ads or trailers for promotion. After accumulating enough points, you can redeem cash, gift cards, or other items. Some platforms can give you money online instead of for the number of videos you watch. Videos can be long, and low payout for each video watched.

You can play the video and do something else. There are already enough ads seen everywhere no need to add more.

25. Opening New Bank Account Bonus

how to make money online for beginners

Banks offer a few hundred dollars when you open a new bank account. However, they may require you to deposit a certain amount of money for a certain amount of time before you receive this bonus offer. It’s an easy way to make extra money without much effort.

26. Peer to Peer Lending

Similar to loaning money, you do it online between other individuals or businesses than only with a bank. You can deposit any amount, even as low as $10.00, added to your account. Review the borrower information and decide if you’re willing to lend money. In return, you’ll earn interest on the amount lent based on the length of the loan and risk.

27. Transcribe Audio

The role requires you to listen to audio files and put them as a written text. Many businesses and content creators are looking for people to transcribe their materials. Depending on the job, you need a certain transcription skill level before being accepted.

28. Sell Unused Gift Cards

We all receive gift cards for celebrations or as gifts, but often they are unused. Why not convert it back to cash to spend it? Gift card exchange platforms would buy your gift card at a discount from the current value in exchange for money.

29. Sell Produce

If you have a garden, why not sell any excess produce before they go bad? You can sell locally grown produce on marketplace platforms like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace. People can come to an agreed-upon location to review and buy your produce. It’s best not to let strangers know your home address.

30. Advertise

Companies and brands are looking for ways to promote their products or services. Now they’re willing to pay individual people to advertise for them. Usually, they want to have ads placed on your car to act as a billboard, your website space, sponsored products, or through social media.

31. Online Business

how to make money online for beginners

Many businesses are moving to online stores that were once brick and mortar. Such as creating your clothing line and shipping to customers, teaching fitness online, or accounting business. Look up hundreds of online business ideas and decide what kind of business you’d like to build. It’s not easy, but it will be worth it.

32. Membership Community

Start a membership site to spread your knowledge to others on how you can benefit them for a recurring fee. Think of a subject you are an expert in or passionate about that you want to teach. You’ll have to spread your brand and market it to gain an audience. After getting members, always provide new information.

33. Dropshipping

You can start a business without needing space to store your inventory. As a dropship business owner, you’ll sell products by purchasing them from another vendor and ship them to the customer when they make the order. Dropshipping has grown in popularity as people continue to buy more online.

Closing Thoughts

Many of these will take time to build up, and you may not receive income from them for a while. However, by dedicating your time and effort to one of these methods, you’ll succeed in making more money than your current job or extra income on top of it. Also, it may not feel like it’s work if you love doing it.