8 Ways to Make Money Online (That Aren’t Scams)
For those just starting out with their online business, it can be hard to determine what’s legitimate and what’s not when it comes to making money online. Sure, Google ads are easy to set up, but they hardly pay enough to cover your hosting fees – let alone make an actual profit! Luckily, there are plenty of legitimate ways to make money online that won’t cost you thousands of dollars to start or leave you feeling like you’re trapped in a scammy cash-gathering scheme. Here are eight of them
1) Advertise with Facebook
If you have a Facebook page, or are looking to build one, you can use it as a platform for selling products. Just like with Google AdWords, Facebook allows businesses to create an advertisement through their Business Manager account. After creating an ad, your product will appear in news feeds for target customers based on your specifications about age and location. Facebook charges businesses per click of their ads in addition to charging per impression.
2) Use Google
As I’ve mentioned a number of times in both job-search posts and my About Me page, Google has been my main source of income for years. For example, I make money by having ads on certain pages, and every time someone clicks on those ads, I get paid. There are lots of other ways you can make money with AdSense—blogging, affiliate marketing, YouTube videos—but my favorite way is through blogging.
3) Rent out your space
Rental rates for apartments and houses vary widely, depending on location and current market trends. And your spare room is probably worth more than you think! You can use a service like Airbnb or Flipkey to find someone willing to pay for temporary housing in your home. This side hustle is also a great way to fund an upcoming vacation—not only will you bring in some extra cash, but you’ll get paid while you’re taking time off from work.
4) Offer a service
If you have a specialty—SEO consulting, say, or freelance writing—you can build a business around it. Not only will you earn an income from offering your services, but you’ll also get exposure to new clients who may need your help in reaching their goals. And they might be willing to pay top dollar for quality work! Just make sure that everything you write and do is high-quality and that you offer expertise and value before asking clients for money.
5) You Want to Make Money Online? Be social
Whether you use social media for business or for pleasure, there are tons of ways that you can generate income with your personal accounts. If you’re new to social media marketing and trying to figure out how it could work for your business, make sure you read our guide on how LinkedIn can help you land a job. There are also more creative ways that people are leveraging their audience and getting paid online, such as starting a YouTube channel and promoting products directly through it.
6) Write an ebook/booklet
I’ve created more than a dozen PDF ebooks and online courses in my time, and they’re all passive income earners. That means once I create them, I can sell them over and over again without having to do much more work.
7) Promote Affiliate Products on YouTube
You can make money from home by promoting affiliate products on YouTube. Affiliate programs are an easy way for bloggers and entrepreneurs make extra income, especially if you’re just starting out. We’ve put together a complete guide to YouTube promotion that will help you get started, but we’ll give you a quick overview here. Promote products on your channel until they generate enough sales, then spend any revenue you earn working on something else.
8) To Make Money Online: Start a blog/website
You’ve heard it a million times. Start a website and you can make money online. It’s true that people do—and have been—making money from websites for a long time now, but these days there are tons of new ways you can add web-based income to your life, too. So many, in fact, that you may get overwhelmed by how much is out there and how little time you have to sift through it all.
Do you have great writing skills? Are you savvy with social media? What about graphic design or video creation? No matter what your skill set might be, there are plenty of ways to make money online using those skills. In fact, there are probably even more ways than this article mentions! Be sure to add any additional ideas that come to mind in the comments section below!