For numerous people, making money online would be an absolute dream come true. If they could find a way to make money with online investment or a website, they could quit their job to focus on entrepreneurship. Also, spend more time with their family, and finally take back control of their time and their lives.
The crazy thing is, earning money online is not a daydream. Now, here’s the good news. The majority of online income strategies are not that complicated. Like any other business venture, your online income takes time to expand. You need to be prepared to dedicate your time and energy required to get the idea off the ground. And you need the courage to stick with it even if your journey is slow at the beginning of it.
If you’re aiming to earn money online but are not sure where to start, here are several of the best and most realistic strategies to consider:
Start a YouTube Channel
YouTube is a platform that has made it possible for people to earn money online. There are plenty of YouTube channels out there on any topic if you can think of, and most of the people with a big following are earning some money in exchange for their videos and time.
YouTube is one of the world’s largest search engines. But, instead of searching for websites, people are looking for entertaining, fun, or informative videos. You can monetize your YouTube channel by using their advertising system or sending your viewers to a website you’ve monetized in another way. You can think of building a YouTube channel in a similar fashion to creating a website, except you’re creating videos, not written content.
If you feel comfortable in front of the camera, and want to try your luck creating videos, then you’ll need to figure out what your channel will be about. Typically, there are two types of YouTube channels out there that are most successful:
- Entertaining content. This style includes content like web series, comedy videos, pranks, reviews, video game walkthroughs, and a lot more.
- Educational content. This style is more geared towards, “How to” phrases. If you have useful skills or information you want to convey through a video, then this is a solid option for you.
Once you’ve decided what kind of channel you’re going to start, it’s time to start creating. First, you’ll need to create a YouTube channel and think of a catchy name. Then, keep the following tips in mind:
- Use a high-quality camera to record your videos
- Experiment with different styles, formats, and editing techniques until you find one that gets the most traction
- Optimize your video titles, descriptions, and images to get people to click
- Create a consistent video publishing schedule, so followers know when to expect your content.
Make Money With an Awesome Blog
Most of the people start a blog as a way to express their views or as a creative opening.
Nonetheless, there are many cases where people are not only earning a living from their blogs but even turning them into massive companies.
Not every blogger will hit these sum, but if you play your cards right you might have a solid chance of earning money with your blog.
Remember that it’s important to have a long-term vision. You won’t be able to make money right away. However, as your writing improves, your skills grow, and your site picks up more traffic, it’s a definite chance.
If your goal is to start a blog that makes you money, here are some tips to keep in mind:
- Choose a broad topic like health, finance, relationships, hobbies, or personal growth.
- Always aim for quality and create the best possible source on any given topic.
- Learn about SEO and how to rank your site in search engines.
- Build a network with popular bloggers and other influencers.
These advices might help you guide in the right direction. Once you have a trustworthy blog that gets a large volume of traffic you’ll have many opportunities to monetize your site, such as:
- Paid advertising
- Selling your own courses and products
- Selling affiliate products.
Become a Virtual Assistant
With countless entrepreneurs establishing businesses, virtual assistants are becoming a more important part of running a business. If you have a great skill at planning and organization, then becoming a virtual assistant might be a good idea for you. As a virtual assistant, you’ll be responsible for a wide range of tasks. For example, you could do general bookkeeping, data entry, email management, research, and a lot more. Writing, order processing, social media, and customer support are just another few other tasks you might be asked to do as a virtual assistant.
A lot of small business owners are turning to virtual assistants, instead of hiring a full-time staff member. You can find virtual assistant gigs on sites like Fiverr, Upwork, and Remote.co.
Numerous virtual assistants have found some ways to make money online. They are reaching out to brands and entrepreneurs asking if they’re interested in hiring a virtual assistant. You will be more likely to make money fast by using a combination of job posting applications and outreach. Establish an active social media presence on Twitter and LinkedIn to aid you to find new clients.
Becoming a virtual assistant can be a great way to not only grow your income but exchange contact with important people as well. Not only that, but the market and need for VAs are only expanding.
Become an Instagram Influencer
At present, Instagram is known to be one of the largest and fastest-growing social media platforms. But, did you know you can make money directly from Instagram, just by having a huge number of followers?
It is becoming tougher to build a large following on Instagram, but it can be a pretty easy way to earn a nice living online. Wide-ranging brands and other companies will actually pay you good money to do a post about their company or display one of their products.
Generally, how much you make per post will depend on the size of your followers, and how engaged they are. You can expect to receive anywhere from a couple hundred to thousands of dollars per post.
Building a considerable Instagram audience will take time, but if you love taking photos, then don’t mind spending a lot of time on your phone. Also, if you are dedicated to posting regularly, then it might be worth a shot.
Google AdSense
If you have visited any website, then it is likely that you have seen Google ads. These ads are all over, and for good reason. Not only are they effortless to set up on any basic website, but they can be profitable once your website starts bringing in a stable amount of traffic.
One of the cool things is that Google AdSense is so easy to get set up. If you own a blog or website, you can sign up for a free Google AdSense Account. From there, Google will provide you a unique code that you will paste onto your website. Google takes it from there, tracking your page views, traffic, and income on your behalf. There is no upkeep or maintenance to get this thing moving, which makes it a no-brainer if you already have a website.
Affiliate Marketing
In case you have a website or are still dreaming up ideas for a blog, you can also look over affiliate marketing. With affiliate marketing, you will be able to partner with various brands and businesses within the content of your website. If you mention a product or service, your job is to link that product or service using a unique affiliate code that you received by signing up for that particular affiliate program. From there, you will earn money any time someone buys a product or service through your link.
Usually speaking, you will want to associate with affiliates that are related to your blog concept. Besides signing up for individual affiliate programs, you can also sign up for an affiliate ad network that offers a ton of different affiliates in one place. In that way, you can see what works and what doesn’t work overtime.
Basically, it shows that you can make money with nearly any affiliate company or product. For that, you have to know your audience and build up enough traffic to create sales.
Podcasting
If you’re drawn to speaking and sharing opinions or love conducting interviews, then podcasting can be a great medium for you to explore. The podcast market is growing hugely right now, which is a good thing.
With most of us always on the go and the lack of spare time, listeners love the portability of podcasts. It is becoming one of the preferred ways to consume content.
To succeed with podcasting today you need to create something of high-quality. This not only includes the quality of your audio, but also the quality of your content. You need to invest in a solid microphone setup to begin.
If you’re planning to do interview-style podcasts, then you should start reaching out to your guests. You might need to do a few mock interviews first with friends or family, so you can get your style down before your first real interview.
Hosting an online podcast can be another way for you to make money online. The essential to getting ahead with podcasting is finding your niche and growing an audience. After that, you can find ways to monetize and connect with sponsors. Since there are a lot of logistics that go into writing, recording, and editing a podcast, this is not going to be an easy task to make money online but it is still worth considering.
To get a better idea of what podcasting is, spend some time going through the top podcasts on iTunes or Spotify. Listen to a handful of episodes that caught your attention and see what quality indicators they have in common.
- Do they tell incredible stories?
- Do they use humor?
- Do they have an interesting perspective?
- Do they create unique interviews?
By learning from the best you’ll know what to include and what to avoid as you produce your own episodes.
With podcasting, the amount of money you can make depends on the size and engagement of your audience. The larger your audience and more podcast downloads you have, the better your chances of earning a decent living.
Here are a few options for you to explore:
- Sell your own products and services related to the topics you talk about
- Create a membership site for your podcast
- Sell sponsorships, which you can read aloud before the interview begins
- Open up your podcast for donations.
Online Tutor
If you have the knowledge or any skill you can teach others, it is also possible to set up an online course where you can market online. You can make a great deal of money online, and choose your own hours, by becoming an online tutor.
While sciences and maths often have a high demand for tutoring positions, you will also find English to be popular among international audiences. If you are an expert on a topic, tutoring may be the right platform for you to make money fast.
Having a degree or experience in a language is essential in this type of job. So you need to showcase your degree, high-grade average in a course, or other proof that you are qualified to tutor that topic. You may be more likely to land a tutoring position if you have a teaching degree
If you have ever spoken at a conference or event about the topic, you might also be considered for an online tutoring, teaching, or mentoring position. Focus on tutoring in your field of expertise. If you are not the best, you probably should not be tutoring on that specific topic.
Freelance Writing
If you have the potential for creative talent and writing skills, then it is possible to get paid for creating online content.
The key to making it as a freelance writer is figuring out a niche, networking with people who might hire you, and delivering high-quality content one hundred percent.
There are plenty of freelance sites full of hungry clients who are looking for someone with your expertise. There is more demand for freelancers now than at any time in history.
Some of the most popular freelancing sites include:
- Upwork
- Freelancer
- Fiverr
- Guru
To succeed on these platforms it’s important to establish a niche. The worst thing you can do as a freelancer is brand yourself as a generalist. Since the competition is so high, you’ll want to brand yourself as the only solution to a specific type of client.
No matter what your niche is, it is high time for you to build out your profile, create some relevant samples that show off your skills, and start pitching.
If you are serious about making money on platforms like Up work, then you need to spend some time digging through the site Freelance to Win. This site is allocated to helping you become a highly paid freelancer.
Sponsored Posts
If you own a website or a large social media following, you can also make money by pursuing sponsored posts and ads. But, how does this really work? Usually, numerous companies are willing to pay bloggers and social media influencers to promote their products and services. Be it a blog or a huge Instagram following, if you have a platform, you can cash in.
You need to keep in mind though; you don’t necessarily need a website to do sponsored content. You can also get paid if you have a huge number of social media followers. With that, you can get all kinds of sponsorships. Not only will you get paid in cash, but you get a lot of free stuff, too. Mostly, it is important for you to promote things in ways that your followers get attracted to and are willing to buy or use products and services based on your creativeness.
The Bottom Line
There are absurd numbers of ways to make money online and the ones that have covered been here are just the tip of the iceberg. You should have enough time and be passionate about almost anything, and at least some creative skill to be able to build an online income stream or several.
But, don’t just rely on this. If you look online, you will find thousands of success stories that you can use for your own inspiration. Who knows one day you could even create a success story of your own. But you will never discover unless you actually try.
By now you might have few ideas on how you can make money online. Whether you just want to earn extra money or start a new career, everything depends on you.