How to Make Money Online: 50+ Money Making Ideas

If you want to learn how to make money online, I have the mother of all posts for you!

It’s never been so easy to make money online. I started making money online in 2016 and I now make a full time income from my laptop 🙂

I have collected a LOT of different money making ideas during that time, and now I want to share them with you!

Maybe you just want to earn an extra $100 per month, to make a little extra room in your budget.

Or maybe you’re looking for an online business idea that will allow you to quit your job (like I did!).

Whatever your goal, I want to teach you how to make money online, and you’re bound to find an idea on this list to suit you.

Here are over 50 top ways to make money online. I’ll be adding to this list as I find new ideas, so bookmark or pin this page and check back later!

How to Make Money Online

1. Test websites and apps

Testing websites is an easy way to get started making money online. You don’t need any qualifications or special experience. You simply spend a few minutes exploring a website, and provide feedback on any issues or bugs.

It pays around $10 for a 20 minute test. Get started on a site like User Testing.

2. Sell services on Fiverr 

Fiverr is an online marketplace where you can sell your services from $5 up. This is an obvious choice for freelancers such as designers, writers and programmers.

But you don’t need any special skills – you can sell almost anything you can think of on Fiverr!

In fact, the most random gigs sometimes do very well.

For example, this guy records personalised messages dressed as Jesus (and has made almost 800 sales!). This one sings happy birthday – very badly.

Get creative and see what’s the weirdest thing you could get paid for!

3. Matched betting

Attention fellow Brits: matched betting is THE best way to make extra money online in the UK in my opinion. I was able to make £300-£600 a month in just a few hours a week.

Matched betting is a way to make money from the free bet offers on bookie websites. You use special calculators to ‘match’ your bets (for and against an outcome) so you don’t lose money, and the free bet is all profit.

It sounds complicated but there are training videos to talk you through it and it all makes sense after your first couple of bets!

This is the matched betting training service I use, and it’s amazing.

Matched betting is only suitable for residents of the UK and Ireland, over the age of 18 and with no history of gambling problems.

If that doesn’t apply to you, keep reading – most of the 59+ other ideas to make money online on this list will work anywhere in the world!

4. Design T shirts

This is a fun and easy side hustle I’m dabbling with at the moment.

I design T shirts to sell on Merch by Amazon. It’s a hands-free way to make money because all you have to do is upload your design file and write the description. Amazon does the rest (selling, printing, packing, customer service etc).

I’ve made $1000+ in a month selling T shirts part time on Merch.

You don’t even have to be arty – my best selling designs are simple text.

There are also loads of other sites to list your designs on such as Redbubble and Teespring.

5. Get paid to review songs

Love music? You can get paid to review new tracks on Slice The Pie.

It doesn’t pay particularly well, but your fee per review can increase over time, and it can be a fun thing to do if you enjoy music and writing.

6. Internet research

If you can find new information online quickly, consider becoming an internet researcher.

There are several companies such as Wonder and 63336 that will pay you to do small research tasks from home. This is a flexible online job that will keep your brain engaged!

7. Transcription

Transcription is the art of turning audio content into written content.

Rev and Daily Transcription are two sites that hire beginners for transcription roles. These are great companies to start off with, to earn a little extra cash and get a feel for the work.

Here’s a list of more companies offering online transcription work.

Once you have more experience, it’s possible to earn a full time income as a freelance professional transcriptionist.

If this is something you’re interested in, I recommend taking the free 7 day mini course at Transcribe Anywhere to learn more about this profession.

8. Get paid to watch videos

It might sound too good to be true, but there are several sites that will pay you to watch videos online!

Swagbucks is one site that pays you to watch videos (alongside lots of other options, like paid surveys and cashback on shopping). A lot of people leave the videos running to earn money passively while you do something else!

9. Get paid to search

Perhaps the easiest way to make money online: get paid to search the web!

There are several sites that pay you to search via their own search engine or browser add on. Start with Swagbucks (again!) and Qmee.

The pay isn’t high, but it adds up over time for something you would be doing anyway.

10. Virtual Assistant

Virtual Assistants (also known as VAs) make money online by helping businesses and bloggers with various tasks. Typical tasks might include:

• Replying to emails
• Scheduling social media
• Proofreading/editing blog posts
• Creating graphics
• Research tasks
• Outreach

…and pretty much anything else you could think of!

You could offer general VA services, or specialize in one area. For example, one growing field is the Pinterest Virtual Assistant. Yes, you can get paid to pin by helping clients improve their Pinterest presence!

11. Search engine evaluator

Search engine evaluators help search engines improve their services by researching and reporting on the search results. This is a flexible online job which lets you pick your own hours and work around other commitments.

The two main companies hiring search engine evaluators are LionBridge and Appen.

12. Freelance writer

If you’re a good writer, freelance writing is a good way to get started earning money online.

Start with a site like Textbroker, which is low paid but easy to get work for beginners. As you get more experience, you can charge more.

Upwork, People Per Hour and the Pro Blogger job boards are all places to find freelance writing work.

Also check out this post on making money as a freelancer for more information.

13. Write an ebook

Another way for writers to earn money online is by writing ebooks. The advantage of selling ebooks is that you write them once, and earn money forever – passive income!

You don’t have to write the next Harry Potter. Many top selling ebooks are short, practical guides on a specialist subject. Think about your own professional experience or hobbies and think of what you could teach.

You can sell your books on Amazon, Shopify, or even on your own website.

14. Start a blog

I make a full time income as a blogger, less than two years in!

Bloggers can earn money from a variety of channels, such as advertising, affiliate marketing (this is when you make a commission on sales referred from your site) and sponsored posts.

Blogging is an awesome work-from-home career because it’s so flexible. No two blogs are the same, and you can make money writing about almost any topic.

However, blogging is NOT a get rich quick scheme. Be prepared to work at your blog for several months before you start to see results.

See my step-by-step tutorial on starting a money making blog here.

15. Design printables

Printable products are having a moment right now. They are HUGE on Etsy – check out some of these for inspiration!

Popular printable ideas include chore rotas, planner inserts, colouring sheets, party games and budgeting pages.

You don’t have to be a professional designer. There are free programs like Canva that help you create gorgeous printables.

Like ebooks, printables can be a source of passive income because you design them once and enjoy profits every time one sells without doing any more work!

Here’s a free online workshop to give you some idea of how it works:

16. Ecommerce store

Ecommerce simply means selling online. You can sell anything online, from digital products such as downloads (or those printables!) to physical products such as essential oils.

The most popular ecommerce platform is Shopify. It has loads of tools to help you run a successful online store.

17. Online tutor

You can work as a tutor from anywhere in the world using Skype or similar video software!

Course Hero is currently recruiting tutors with degrees in subjects such as psychology, maths and business. You don’t need a teaching qualification.

If you don’t have specialist skills, the easiest way to become a tutor is by teaching English (or your own native language) on iTalki.

If you don’t have any teaching experience, you can simply offer conversation practise to students who want to learn your language.

18. Surveys

When you’re looking into how to make money online, surveys are probably one of the first things to come up.

I didn’t want to put them at the top of this list because everyone already knows about taking surveys for money, but the fact is they work and I didn’t want to leave them out altogether!

If you only sign up to ONE survey site, I recommend the top-paying site Prolific. For lots more ideas, check out this post on the best paid survey sites.

19. Proofreader

Are you the person who always spots the typos in your friends’ Facebook posts? Proofreading could be the online job for you!

20. Sell stock photos

If you can take a decent photo, you could earn an extra stream of income by selling stock photos online. Here’s a guide to getting started.

Desktop flat lays are easy to make and sell well with bloggers on sites like Etsy and Creative Market.

21. Cashback

Cashback is a UK site that pays you to sign up for special offers. You can make around £150 doing this, and score some good freebies to boot!

Cashback was previously known as 20 Cogs. You can sign up with Cashback even if you’ve previously done 20 Cogs! There’s a £5 sign up bonus too.

22. Social media influencer

High profile social media influencers can earn hundreds or even thousands per post, but you might not need as many followers as you think to get started. Sponsorship opportunities can start at around $30-$50 for accounts of 1,000 followers.

You’ll need to pay attention to hashtags and location tags. And never pay for followers – engagement is key.

This article has some tips on finding paid Instagram opportunities.

23. YouTuber

Like bloggers, YouTubers can earn money in several different ways such as paid ads, sponsored content and affiliate links. Some YouTubers even produce their own merch.

It will take a while to build up your audience and find your niche, but could be very profitable.

24. Create an online course

Online courses are another way to make passive income online. It doesn’t have to be something technical – think of anything you have expertise in from your profession or hobby.

Udemy is a popular platform to sell online courses.

25. Create an online community

One little-known way to make money online is to build up an online community (for example, a Facebook group) around a common interest.

People LOVE interacting on social media about their shared passion, and they can become really attached to a particular group. 

You can then monetise your community by sharing affiliate links (where you get a commission for sales), selling your own products, or even charging membership (check the rules of the platform first though).

26. Get cashback on your shopping

An easy way to make money online is to sign up to a cashback site like Top Cashback and check it every time you want to make a purchase. You will get a percentage of the purchase paid back to you.

I have earned loads of money using Top Cashback for big purchases like car insurance and my internet contract.

27. Enter competitions

Comping is a HUGE way to make money online, and of course, win plenty of other goods while you’re at it!

Of course, you can’t earn a reliable income by entering competitions, but you could be surprised at how many competitions there are out there and what you could win.

Check out the comping blog Super Lucky for tips. 

28. Spot bargains

If you’re a bit of a bargain hunter, you need to join the site JustLooking. You can make money by uploading details of any bargains or discounts you spot online.

The amount you earn depends on the upvotes you get from the community.

29. Translation

If you speak another language, you could work online as a freelance translator.

Gengo is one easy way to get started. Also check out popular freelancer sites like Upwork and Fiverr.

30. Web design

Every business needs a website these days.

If you know how to create a simple website, advertise your skills on a freelance site or even approach small local businesses and pitch them.

31. Clickworker

Clickworker is a ‘microtask’ site. You can make money online for completing small jobs. The categories include data entry, proofreading, app testing and internet research. Simply log on and work as much or little as you like.

32. MTurk

Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) is another microtask site similar to Clickworker. It’s one of many ways to make money on Amazon.

33. Spare5

Spare5 is an app and website that pays you for small tasks that you can complete in a spare five minutes! I’ve been paid for tasks like captioning photos and stating whether sentences are grammatical or not.

34. Retail arbitrage

This is when you buy an item at a cheap price and resell elsewhere for a higher price. Many people make a full time income doing retail arbitrage on Amazon!

35. Dropshipping

Dropshipping is an easy way to get started with e-commerce. You don’t have to physically ship any products yourself. Instead, you find a supplier and get them to send their products directly to your client.

Many dropshippers use cheap Chinese suppliers on Ali Express.

36. Design an app

There is big money in smartphone apps! You could learn how to code yourself for free. Or, if you know you have a money making idea, you could outsource the development to a programmer on Fiverr.

37. Swagbucks

Swagbucks is a site you’ve probably heard of if you’ve ever looked into how to make money online! And that’s because it’s the queen of money making sites – there are so many ways to earn!

Swagbucks pays you for completing surveys, watching videos, shopping, playing games, completing offers and even searching the web.

You can request payment in cash (via PayPal) or various gift cards.

38. Inbox Pounds

Inbox Pounds (or Inbox Dollars in the US) pays you to read email!

Well, not just for reading – you usually have to complete a simple offer or survey. But the offers come straight to your inbox, making this an easy way to make money online for beginners.

39. Freelance consulting

If you have any kind of specialist knowledge you could offer freelance consulting services. This is a great option if you want to leave your job but stay in the same field with more flexibility.

40. Pinterest affiliate marketing

Get paid to pin on Pinterest! With Pinterest affiliate marketing, you pin pretty images linked to your own affiliate links.

This means if somebody buys through your link, you make money.

This course will teach you how to make your first affiliate sale on Pinterest.

41. Trade collectibles

You can earn a lot of money by reselling collectibles on eBay. But you’ll need to develop specialist knowledge so you know what prices to buy and sell at.

One example is the Disney vault. Disney only releases copies of certain classic movies every few years. If you can snap up some DVDs during this time and hold onto them for a while, they’ll be worth a lot more when they go off sale.

Other examples are vintage toys, movie memorabilia or comic books.

42. Podcasting

Love to talk? Podcasting is a popular and growing side hustle. There are podcasts on every topic under the sun.

Many podcasts make money from sponsorship. It’s also a great way to grow a brand so that you can sell products and services, or even get speaking engagements.

For example, many bloggers use podcasts to grow their authority in a certain field. They can then release a course or books on the same topic to sell to their audience.

43. Remote jobs

There are plenty of jobs, such as data entry, that you can do online. You can find these home based jobs on most major job boards such as Indeed.

44. Voiceover work

If you ever get complimented on your speaking voice, consider voice over work! Fiverr is a great place to start.

45. Answer professional questions

If you are a qualified professional such as a nurse, vet, financial professional or computer technician, you can get paid to answer user queries by email on Just Answer.

This could be an easy way to get started if you’ve considered consulting but don’t want to set up a whole freelance business.

46. Write articles on Medium

You can get paid to publish articles on Medium if you sign up with their partner program. You earn more when members ‘applaud’ your work.

Some people do very well on Medium, but for maximum earnings you need to build up a fan base.

47. Travel consultant

Travel consulting is one freelance business you could set up easily from home. You don’t need any official qualifications – just good organisational skills and excellent knowledge of a particular area.

For example, you could set up a website advertising your services to visitors to your country or city. You could advise them on the best places to go, create custom itineraries, book tickets and hotels, and anything else to help their trip run smoothly.

Many travel consultants charge their clients a fixed fee and also earn a commission from referrals to hotels and insurance companies.

48. Domain name trading

Domain names are hot internet property. Some people make good money by snapping up vacant domain names and selling them on for profit.

49. Website flipping

You can also make money online by buying and selling websites on Empire Flippers or Flippa.

If you have some knowledge of internet marketing, you may be able to buy a small website or blog for cheap, make a few improvements, and sell it on for a much larger price once you’ve increased the traffic and revenue.

50. Cryptocurrency trading

This is not for everyone and of course there is the potential to lose money. But if you know your stuff, you can make money online trading Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

51. Invest in property crowdfunding 

Fancy becoming a property mogul, but lack the funds? Property crowdfunding lets you invest in property with a small amount of money, by buying a small share alongside many other investors.

Property Partner is one crowdfunding company in the UK. As with other investments, there is the potential to lose money.

52. P2P lending

P2P (peer to peer) lending is an interesting way to invest your spare cash. You lend directly to people who need a loan, allowing both sides to cut out the bank.

Rates are much higher than you would get at the bank – over 6% on Ratesetter at the time of writing! Of course, it also comes at a greater risk.

53. Twitch streamer

A new and potentially lucrative way to make money online for gamers. On Twitch you can stream yourself playing games online and make money from subscriptions, donations, affiliate links and more.

54. Sponsored tweets

As with Instagram, you’ll need to invest some time in building up an engaged following. But once your numbers are up, brands are willing to pay you for sharing their content.

This post has more.

55. Sell public domain ebooks

We already covered writing your own ebooks to sell. But did you know you can get paid to sell books you didn’t write?

The trick is to find books in the public domain (i.e., old enough that the rights have expired).

You can use public domain texts for free. Then you can repackage them with new cover art, a custom introduction or notes, and sell for profit.

56. Life coach

Life coaches work with clients to improve their personal and professional lives. You can do this job entirely online, working with your clients over email and Skype.

You don’t need any formal qualifications, although there are online courses you can take.

57. Run Facebook ads

One profitable online side hustle idea is running Facebook ads for local businesses.

Lots of small businesses are dying to attract more customers but they don’t know how to do it. If you can bring them more clients by running targeted Facebook ads on their behalf, they’ll pay you well.

There are lots of affordable Facebook ads courses on Udemy so you can learn the ropes.

58. CV writing/editing services

This could be a great side gig if you’ve done some hiring in your day job and you know what makes good CVs stand out.

Offer your services on Fiverr or other freelance sites.

59. OhMyDosh!

OhMyDosh! is an awesome and very easy way to make money online if you’re in the UK. You get paid to complete different offers, such as sign up for free trials, enter competitions, take surveys and more. I made £20 in 30 minutes when I signed up! Read my full review here.

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