Let’s face it, the internet is filled with schemes that promise to net you huge incomes. Do those offers bombarding you that promise to make you rich overnight really work? No. Some may bring in a small amount of income, but for the most part you’re much better off with a regular 9-5 job both in terms of how much you’ll make and how much time it requires. But that’s not true for everything on the internet. There are some true opportunities that if you invest a bit of time and skill could actually see you making a solid full-time income. Here’s a rundown of 20 ways that you can really make money on the internet.
20 Ways to Make Money on the Internet for Real
- Affiliate Marketing
- Become an Influencer
- Blogging
- Design
- Domain Names
- Driving
- Dropshipping
- Freelancing
- Making Apps
- Print on Demand
- Publish an Ebook
- Reviews
- Side Gigs
- Selling Stuff
- Stocks
- Translation
- Tutoring
- Twitch Streaming
- Writing
- YouTube Channel
Affiliate Marketing
This has been a popular method for making money on the internet for many years. One of the best things about it, is that you can do affiliate marketing for absolutely any company, from Amazon to Lyft. With affiliate market you earn money by promoting different brands. The best way to do this is by earning a commission from the sale of the product, software or app. While the commissions are small, they do add up.
The best way to go about affiliate marketing is to concentrate on content marketing. A blog will allow you the space to most successfully engage with affiliate marketing, and the blog will serve as its own asset, that way if the company you’re working with shuts down you can just switch brands without having to build a new site from scratch.
Become an Influencer
At the top of the game is Kylie Jenner who made $1 million per sponsored post. But the truth is you don’t have to be a reality star, world class athlete, famous actor or other celebrity to become an influencer. Many find a great deal of success with sponsored posts on a much smaller scale.
The key here is to find the right niche. To become an influencer it is critical to have a huge following, but by only needing to achieve a large following within a niche is a much more manageable goal.
Blogging
Blogging is pretty much the OG way of making money online. Once again, the most important way to find success in getting started is to find the right niche, one that is both specific enough and that you will be passionate about.
There are a variety of platforms on which you can build you blog, including the popular WordPress. Shopify also offers a free option if you remove the checkout feature. It’s important to focus on keywords to help build your blog.
There are several ways you can make money blogging:
- Using affiliate links in the post. The FTC requires a disclaimer of this.
- AdSense lets you place ads directly on your website.
- Sponsored posts allows you to work with specific brands.
- Direct sales of digital or physical products.
Also blogging can position you as an expert in your niche, an influencer, and open up all sorts of opportunities.
Design
Graphic designers have a high demand skill. They can use print on demand along with their design skills to create and sell custom products or you can actually sell design services by pitching on crowdsourcing site.
Domain Names
Are you always buying domain names but then never using them? It’s definitely worth looking into to see if you can sell what you have for a profit, but remember this is a highly competitive field. Domain names with one word names sell best, as do those that are upwarding trending.
Driving
By using the internet, those with a car can use the Uber and Lyft apps to provide ride sharing services. This can provide a steady income with a lot of work. Uber drivers can increase their earnings by signing up to wrap their car up in a removable vinyl decal that acts as a mobile advertisement.
Those without cars can use bikes or mopeds to find delivery work through similar app-based services.
Dropshipping
This has become one of the most popular ways of making money on the internet. Dropshipping is when you sell a product direct to customers, but the product is shipped directly from the supplier to the customer. This means that you have no need to stock, store or send merchandise. You’re whole job is done online.
A lot of this online work focuses on Facebook ads. Direct Messages (DMs) and influencer sponsorship is also used a great deal.
Freelancing
Whatever you’re current job is, chances are it could translate well into offering online services, and using the internet is one way to free you from the 9 to 5 life in exchange for that of a freelancer. Depending on what sector you currently work in, there are a whole host of industry specific websites designed to match freelancers with those in need of their services.
Making Apps
Did you know that you don’t have to be a developer to create an app? In fact, you don’t even have to know any programming skills at all. If you have a great idea for an app you can affordably hire a developer to build it for you by using one of the freelance platforms.
When trying to make money from an app, it’s often better to offer it for free. This might seem not to make sense, but can lead to more money in the advertising or premium features.
Print On Demand
This is a similar business model to dropshipping, but what is being sold is an image or design that is printed and shipped directly from the printer to the customer. The best way to make money with this method is by using free promotions via social media such as Pinterest and Instagram.
Publish an Ebook
Amazon KDP has made it easier than ever before to publish an ebook. Once completed and listed, this can provide an excellent passive source of income. You can hire freelancers to create all the various parts of the ebook, and then use a giveaway to help promote it and get it started by raising its numbers.
Reviews
Many websites that are for reviewing apps and products will provide $10 per review and some pay up to $30.
Side Gigs
This is a great option for those not quite ready to leave their nine-to-five job. This allows you to make some extra money in spare time without having to devote too much extra time or thought to it. A great place to get started with this is Fiverr. You will likely have to start out charging very low rates in order to get your first reviews.
Selling Stuff
When you need money fast, this is sometimes the best route. Remember that it’s mostly a waste of time to sell outdated technology. Sell what people want to buy in 2020. It’s also so important to take great pictures of what you’re selling.
Facebook Marketplace, eBay and Craigslist are two places where you can list items. If you’re selling clothes or accessories, there are other specific options for where to sell those items, and depending on what you have to sell this can be quite lucrative.
Stocks
While this is a viable option for making money fast, it’s a lot less viable for those who aren’t already expert in picking stocks. Never invest more than you can afford to lose.
Translation
There is a large need for this service online, so if you’re bilingual, you could start making money right away with your skills. You do have to be fluent in a minimum of two languages.
Tutoring
Tutoring is a great way to make a good income while setting your own hours. Science and math always have the highest demand, but expertise in any topic could potentially qualify you as a tutor. For tutoring your degree and any achievements are paramount in getting good jobs.
Twitch Streaming
The popularity of this social media platform has been soaring recently, especially with the younger generation. It takes some work to make money on Twitch, but here are the 5 forms of revenue on the platform:
- Selling products
- Brand sponsorships
- Fan donations
- Subscriptions
- Twitch ads.
Writing
With more content marketing, the need for writers is increasing more than ever. If you’ve ever daydreamed of living life by the pen (or keyboard rather) now is a better time than any. Platforms such as UpWork and Freelancer are great places o start, as is Fiverr.
YouTube Channel
The YouTube star who made the most money in 2019? Ryan Kaji, who at 9-years old mostly reviews toys. It takes some hard work and perseverance, not to mention a bit of luck, and while results like Ryan’s are rare, it is definitely possible to make good money with YouTube.
As usual key to success is focusing your channel on a niche. From there you build out various revenue sources. YouTube provides great advertising revenue opportunities with AdSense.
These are only some of the ways that it’s possible to make money on the internet. While it won’t happen overnight, but putting in some work, you can definitely make a living on the internet.