When people talk about making money online, the discussion is generally limited to a few areas: running your own site or online business, becoming a social media influencer, or selling products through ecommerce.
However, there are many, many ways you can earn cash online these days, whether you are looking for a side-hustle or full-time income. Here are the top 6 ways to make money online that you’ve probably never thought of.
Become a Freelance Writer
There are several ways you can leverage your writing talent to make money online. You can sell articles to publications (both traditional and virtual), such as magazines, online publications and websites. These sites pay reasonably well for interesting pieces: check their submission information for instructions on how to submit an article.
There are also a variety of sites, such as upwork, freelancer.com and fiverr, where businesses and individuals post projects. These projects cover a range of areas including graphic design and web development, with writing gigs being some of the most common. By setting up a profile on these sites you can bid for projects in order to secure freelance writing work.
Sell Your Photos Online
Selling photos online is also a great opportunity to make some side income. There are a number of stock photography sites, such as Shutterstock, iStockphoto.com and Dreamstime which buy photos (and often vectors and videos) and are fairly easy to use. These sites are used by businesses, bloggers and organisations who want a generic photo to use on their website, social media or advertising material. You will need to create an account and then submit photos for approval. Once accepted, you will receive royalties each time your photo is sold through the site.
Keep in mind that in order to do this successfully you will need to have a decent digital SLR camera or similar. Luckily, the cost of these has dropped significantly in recent years so buying one is very affordable.
Teach English Via Video Lessons
There’s no denying that English is the dominant language around the world, and there are literally millions of people wanting to improve their English skills. If you are a native English speaker, or even a near-native speaker with a high level of proficiency, you can earn money by sharing this skill with others. A particular market for this exists in China, with a number of Chinese companies looking to hire online English teachers to tutor Chinese children and adults via video link, and generally paying between $15 and $25 an hour.
If you don’t fancy signing up as an employee, there are also sites like iTalki which connect teachers with students around the world. On these platforms you can set your own rates and advertise for students, who are predominantly looking to learn English, and other languages too.
Be a Personal Matchmaker
There are plenty of people looking for love on the internet, and some are willing to pay for help to do so. This translates into a growing need for virtual matchmakers: which involves working with clients to find their soul-mate. Generally, virtual matchmakers will communicate with the client either by email or on the phone to learn what they are looking for, then help them to create a winning online profile and look for their ideal partner. In some cases, the matchmaker may also do some of the initial screening, such as sending messages back and forth to potential matches. There are a few ways you can do this, whether as your own business or through matchmaking site Tawkify.
Sign Up For a Mock Jury
If you are based in the United States, you have the opportunity to participate in the legal system while earning some cash online. Lawyers like to run their cases past virtual juries as part of their preparation for going to court. As a mock juror, you review the evidence online and submit your opinions, and in return you are paid between $5 and $10 per case. Head to eJury for more details.
Make Money Through Gaming
If making money by playing video games sounds too good to be true, think again. It is actually possible to sell goods and services with the virtual gaming world. Many gaming fans don’t have the time or patience to acquire items or trophies through traditional game play, are and willing to pay others to do it for them. Particularly in very popular games such as Second Life and Minecraft, you can make cash by building items or even worlds and selling them on to other users.
Final Thoughts
It is possible to make good income online, whether selling your photos, hiring out your writing services or capitalising on your expertise, whether it is in English, matchmaking, or video games. It is not necessarily easy or instantaneous, and many of these approaches take time and effort. However, with a little hard work and motivation, you will find yourself earning some extra cash and perhaps even be able to quit your day job and work wherever you like, be it your living room or a beach in the Caribbean.
To read more on topics like this, check out the business category.
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