Working from home is quite popular with many people taking advantage of the various ways to earn money online that have been created with the emergence of the gig economy.
If you go to the internet, you’ll find many people promising to show you how to make a lot of money online in a short time. A majority of them are either scams or misrepresenting how they make money.
In this piece, I walk you through various legitimate ways on how to make money online that actually work whether you want to work full time or just make extra cash to complement your regular job.
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How to Make Money Online: 37 Ways For 2023
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Here are some of the ways you can make money online in 2023:
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is arguably the most popular way to make money online. Affiliate marketing is when you earn a living by promoting other brands.
You can earn a commission from sales by promoting retail products, software, apps, and more. Affiliate marketing is convenient because it earns you a passive income and there is no limit to how much you can make; it is scalable. You can even make more money by being an affiliate for several brands at the same time. We recently put together a list of best affiliate marketing websites that shares some of the top companies.
If you want to make money online with affiliate marketing, your best bet when it comes to marketing is to either focus on content marketing or publishing videos on YouTube. You can create a blog with high-quality content and strategically place affiliate links in your blog posts to drive traffic to your affiliate network’s website.
Affiliate marketing has gotten very popular over the years and it is attractive to most people because it is a stable way to make money on the internet.
Start a Blog
Blogging is a popular money-making tool because starting one is easy and you don’t need a lot of money. If you are a specialist in a subject, you can start writing about it to help people who come to your blog.
To make money off of the blog, you can start selling digital products related to that topic such as ebooks to your readers.
Another popular way to monetize your blog is becoming an affiliate marketer. Affiliate marketing entails promoting other people’s goods or services and whenever someone clicks on your link or purchases a product via your link, you earn a commission from the affiliate network.
You can also monetize your blog by putting AdSense ads on it too. Every time someone clicks the ad, you earn passive income.
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Take Online Surveys
You can make money online by taking surveys. To do so, join an online survey website where you will get paid in cash or gift cards when you take a survey.
Some survey sites you can take a look at include OneOpinion, Survey Voices, and Opinion City.
You should think carefully about the opportunity because some online surveys pay better than others. Some surveys tend to focus on a specific area and others are more general covering different areas.
Some survey websites pay a bonus just for signing up and others will provide you with loyalty points that you can cash out for a gift card.
Branded Surveys are popular because they have a sign up bonus, a loyalty program, competitions, and competitive payouts.
Become a Freelancer
Freelancing is one of the most popular ways to earn money online. It is what gave birth to the “gig economy.” You can start working gigs yourself or work for a company but while still self-employed. There are many freelance jobs online and many freelance websites.
Perhaps the most popular one is Upwork. It connects freelancers to clients and offers a large volume of remote freelance gigs. There are job listings for freelance web designers, graphic designers, project managers, and writers, just to mention a few. Upwork is free to join but you should learn how to apply for Upwork jobs to get them.
Other sites worth looking into are SolidGigs and FlexJobs because they filter out the scammers and ensure that you only deal with legitimate clients. That’s crucial because scammers are rife on freelance sites.
There are websites that allow you to work on an hourly basis or based on task completion. Whatever mode of work you choose, you can make money by freelancing online.
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Start a dropshipping business
Dropshipping is a relatively new business model where you run an online business but don’t have to pay for storing your inventory; you act as the go-between. You find suppliers who sell products wholesale, then resell it and earn a profit.
You can sell a wide range of items this way and there are many suppliers who will provide you with inventory. As you sell your merchandise that way, you must have a website to market and sell the products.
There are companies that will sell ready made drop ship businesses in a niche that you select too then you simply focus on the marketing side of things.
Write and sell an ebook
Just like you do with blogging, if you know a specific topic well, you can write and publish an ebook and make money online.
If you own a blog, the ebook should be about a topic that is relevant to your blog to increase your chances of selling it because your audience comes to your blog for what you write. You can develop a newsletter list and email potential buyers too.
Become a Tutor Online
If you are knowledgeable in a given subject, you can help students improve their grades and prepare for exams. Tutors are always marketable because students need help. Ensure that you have the teaching experience and a subject-specific certification to show both parents and students that you have credibility.
If you have a specialization certification or some advanced degree, it will give you an added advantage. To make the learning experience more engaging and impactful, understand your audience and pick subjects that you feel confident teaching.
There are many teaching methods you can implement as a virtual tutor. Working as a a virtual tutor is a great way to make money online.
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Start a YouTube channel
Running a YouTube channel is a profession these days. At the top, you have YouTubers like Mr Beast, Ryan Kaji, and Logan Paul who make tens of millions of dollars on YouTube every year.
If you start a YouTube channel, you can monetize it in a variety of ways. One way to make money on YouTube is to add AdSense ads to your videos and set it up so that every time someone clicks on your ad, you make money.
You can promote a product in your video then add a link to the online store you want your viewers to buy that product from. If you get big enough, you can create your online store to get people to visit and buy your items.
If you are just starting out and don’t have the resources, you can have an arrangement with third-party companies to promote their products, better known as affiliate marketing.
You can also make money on YouTube by creating sponsored content. This way, you can earn a profit by endorsing branded products or creating content marketing videos.
Develop an App
To develop an app, you have to be skilled at it and since app developers are in demand, you can either work for a company or develop your own app and sell it on an app store.
You can make money when people download the app or via in-app purchases.
When you develop your app, you can put a brand right on the home screen of its audience’s mobile devices. They get to enjoy gamification, dedicated communities, and interactive content.
Sell Your Old Clothes
If you have more clothes than you wear in your closet, you can donate them or sell them online. The internet has a thriving second-hand market these days. You can either start an ecommerce store or find an already established online store where you can sell your clothes.
If you are just starting out, you can find an online store that will link you up with customers at a small fee.
In addition to clothes, you can sell shoes. There are websites like GOAT (Skeakers) that allow you to sell them to people in many countries.
When you want to sell clothes or shoes online, make sure that they are in good condition. Take good pictures and pair them with attractive product descriptions.
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Become an Online Translator
If you speak another language fluently, you can make money online translating. There are people who are willing to pay good money to someone who can translate.
There are different types of translation projects you can work on. You can work as a translator who translates live conversations. An example of this is translating a conversation while it is taking place between two people who don’t speak the same language.
Another way of making money as a translator is to find a job translating documents to make money. Therefore, if someone needs to translate a document to another language, they will hire you to help them out.
Depending on the type of translation (or the level of it) you want to engage in, sometimes you have to take some exams and acquire certifications to get jobs.
Become an influencer
The emergence of social media created new opportunities for people to make money online with Instagram and social media in general.
An influencer is someone who promotes a product or service to potential buyers on social media or YouTube. Typically, an influencer has a lot of followers or subscribers and, therefore, holds sway in the online marketplace.
This means that you can’t just get started being an influencer. You must cultivate a following first. Then once you get there, you can start promoting the item you want to.
As you decide what you will promote, consider your strengths, and pick a niche that allows you to showcase those strengths.
Once you pick your niche, it is time to market to your audience. If you get popular enough, brands will approach you with the opportunity to represent them.
Invest in stocks
You can make money investing in the stock market. As trading has gone online, so has it become more accessible. A lot of people may feel like they do not have enough money to invest in the stock market but nowadays, there typically is no minimum balance to get started.
There are many brokerage platforms to choose from and you may need to do more research to determine which one will work for you. Then you can start trading with the one that meets your needs.
Once you have everything set up, you can start looking at various investment strategies. You should decide on your investment strategy and how much you are willing to lose before you get into investing.
If you are new, you can take some classes, watch a few videos, or read a few books about the stock market. There are advisory services that may also help you out as long as they align with your investment goals. You can learn from respected investment gurus like Nomi Prins and Jeff Brown for example.
Always diversify your investments and you will be better off investing in an industry that you know well. You can also look at alternative investments such as options, real estate, forex, and cryptocurrency.
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Build websites
On the internet, there is a huge demand for web designers and webmasters because every business needs a website. You don’t even have to be a coder to build a website.
You can quickly learn how to build a website that looks sleek and professional from scratch. You can also use online tools to build websites.
Once you have decided the niche you want to go for, put together a portfolio of the websites that you have created and start marketing yourself.
Sell Your Art and Photography
If you are an artist, you can sell your art and photography. Nowadays creative products are sold on the internet and are a nice way to start making money online.
Art can take many forms. If you are a photographer, you can sell your photos online as stock photos. Another way you can get eyeballs on your art is through social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest.
These platforms can help you get your name out there, more people will know about your art and photography, and will want the services you provide.
If you are a painter who creates art on a canvas or you work on a computer, you can make money online.
Digital artwork is very popular these days and you can use your skills with the computer to produce digital artwork for other people. You can even teach people how to create art work or take photos besides selling them.
Another way to make money off of art is by producing art (like designing a logo) for online businesses as they start their own online store.
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Start a podcast
Podcasting is big business these days. Podcasts are more popular today than they ever were before because many people enjoy listening to them because they can listen to them from anywhere. You can listen to them in the car as you drive and other people like to listen to a podcast as they cook or do boring, repetitive tasks.
In 2022, there were more than 2.4 million podcasts and over 383.7 million podcast listeners around the world.
If you want to make money online, you may create a podcast. You need to think about a subject you know a lot about and make your podcast about it. For example, if you know a lot about shooting bows, you can create a podcast that discusses different kinds of bows, your technique, and anything else related to that.
There are many ways you can style your podcast. You can invite people for interviews or do a narration of the subject as you would a lecture. It is important to always collect feedback from your listeners to see what they like about your show.
Become an Audiobook Narrator
Audiobooks are a popular way of consuming books for people who are pressed for time. They are also convenient because you can “read” a book as you engage in other activities.
As such, there is a demand for freelance narrators. You can become an audiobook narrator and use that to make money online.
Become a Freelance Proofreader
Proofreading and editing are emerging as lucrative online careers. Some agencies pay well for an expert proofreader or editor especially for translated documents. Most agencies will pay around 25% of the price of a translated document to a proofreader
In this line of work, the better you are at it, the more you can make. If you get good at it, you can work full-time and earn a decent living. In most cases, you can become a proofreader as well as a writer.
Type for Cash
There are many typing jobs you can get online. One of the most popular ones, if you are a fast typist is transcribing.
Transcribing involves listening to an audio file through headphones and typing it out. The amount of money you make is directly proportional to how fast you type. A transcription job is paid by the length of the audio file you have transcribed and not by the hours worked.
The time you spend on a transcript will be influenced by other factors besides your typing speed. You will be impacted by the audio quality, speaker’s accent, background noise, and the speed at which they speak. Rev.com hires freelance transcribers.
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Teach English
If you are a native English speaker, you qualify to teach English to people from other countries who want to learn the language.
Nowadays, you can do it over the internet or over the phone. For example, you can teach English online to Chinese students, Taiwanese children and adults, and even students in Korea. It is yet another way to make money online.
Rent out your spare room on Airbnb
You can rent out your home or spare bedroom on Airbnb or other vacation rental sites. Many people have made money on their idle homes this way or just rented out a room where they live.
If you intend to rent out your home, all you need to do is clean and keep up the property, replace home goods and pay the service fees.
Sell unused gift cards
You can make extra money online by selling unused or partially used gift cards. There are websites like CardCash or GiftCash that will pay you up to 92% of the card’s value.
CardCash gives you the option of trading in your card for one you’ll use. If it is a popular card, you can get a good deal.
Sell your products on Etsy
If you are an artist or an artisan you can sell your goods on Etsy. If you are good at pottery, woodworking, jewelry-making, or embroidery, you can your creations on Etsy. Etsy is the go-to site for people selling home goods, art and knickknacks.
In 2021, Etsy had about 96 million active buyers and grossed over $13.5 billion in merchandise sales according to Statista.
Become a TikTok consultant
Becoming a social media consultant or setting up a social media consulting agency are ways in which you can make money online. There are plenty of courses that teach you how to get started and we’ve covered a few of those like Tai Lopez SMMA and Local Marketing Vault.
Becoming a consultant who specializes in TikTok is particularly attractive because the platform is relatively novel and untapped, yet it is so popular and brands know that they have to establish a solid presence on the app to access the young people who spend a lot of time there.
Learn how to create viral videos to get people to engage with brands and if you don’t have the expertise to drive sales through the platform, you can learn from TikTok courses that are on offer.
If you understand how TikTok works, you can potentially earn a lot of money as a TikTok consultant. You can help brands brainstorm video ideas, develop great bios, and more. Since everything can be done on the app, you can run the entire business from your smartphone.
TikTok has incredible viral potential and has helped many people gain huge followings like Andrew Tate.
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Test Websites and Give Feedback
When businesses create websites or update their existing ones, they care about about user experience. They can get user feedback before they launch their websites to the public.
Testing websites is emerging as one way you can make money online. All you need to do is record a video as you navigate the website. You get paid for each video you make.
A platform like UserTesting will pay you up to $10 to give your feedback as you use a website. They give you a set of questions that you need to answer as you browse through a site.
Sell your designs online
If you are a graphic designer, you can monetize that skill in a number of ways. One way you can make money online is by selling your designs on a website like 99designs.
You can work with clients as a freelance graphic designer, print-on-demand, or sell your designs on your own custom products. You may also create your own graphics and templates to sell on marketplaces like Envato or Creative Market.
Buy and sell domain names
You can buy and sell popular domain names for a profit on the internet. All you need to do is find domain names you’ll have a good chance of selling, or words that have a high search volume.
GoDaddy’s Domain Auction is a great platform for selling domains. You may have to be patient as you wait for a buyer because it is a niche business. That being said, you will have a better chance of reselling a domain that is on trend now than one that isn’t.
You should look through the domains with the highest bids to see the domains that sell well. It’ll help you know whether or not your domains are worth selling and how much money you can make selling them.
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Become a Twitch streamer
Although Twitch started as a gaming platform, it is now being used for other types of content. Twitch streaming is a popular way to make money online and if you learn how to grow your following, there is no limit to how much you can earn.
To make money on Twitch, you can sell brand sponsorships, fan donations, products, subscriptions, and Twitch ads.
You should learn how to tap into all five monetization methods to maximize your financial gains. With the right approach and a willingness to work hard, you can make a lot of money hosting Twitch streams. If you’re consistent, you will build a sizable audience fast.
As you choose your niche, find one that isn’t overly competitive so people can easily find your content. You should also have a consistent style for your channel to create an audience. Once you are big enough, you can try out new things.
Become a virtual assistant
A virtual assistant is one of the most popular ways of making money online. As many businesses create an online presence, the demand for virtual assistants is increasing almost daily.
A virtual assistant is someone who provides services to a business from a remote location. A virtual assistant does tasks depending on what the client wants. They can work as a writer, bookkeeper, social media consultant, or customer support, just to mention a few.
There are websites like Virtual Office Temps, Indeed, or Upwork where you can find clients. Alternatively, you can reach out to brands asking if they need support in running their businesses.
Online Taxi Services
If you own a car, you can make money as a delivery person or taxi driver on platforms like Uber. In the delivery business, you don’t even have to own a car because you can deliver food and other essentials using your bicycle or moped.
As you work as a driver, you can make extra money by running a side business. You can have products for sale in the car for a passenger to sift through and if they don’t have the cash, you can ask them to pay with Uber’s tip function.
Another way you can earn more money from your Uber business is to turn your car into a moving billboard by wrapping it with a removable vinyl featuring an advert for a product or brand.
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Do gigs on Fivver
Doing gigs on a platform like Fiverr is a nice way to make money online part time because you are not beholden to a boss. It is a great way to make extra money every month.
When you are just starting out, you can offer a low price so you can get your first review. Alternatively, an easy way to get started is to get your friend to buy your gig and leave your first review to get you started faster. Treat them like a client and even deliver a finished product that will feature in your portfolio.
Fiverr is limitless and you can take up as many gigs as you can. The more you do gigs, the more likely you will be found.
Other platforms like allow you to negotiate better prices. To succeed on these platforms, applying to multiple opportunities can increase your chances of landing gigs faster.
Become a writer
With businesses increasingly having an online presence, content creators are on demand. Companies are always on the lookout for writers who can provide great content.
Given how saturated the field is, if you want to succeed as a writer, you should focus on a specific niche. While most people try to be generalists who can write for a wide range of categories, specialists set themselves apart and find it easier to attract clients. They can also charge higher fees because clients want someone who has experience in the niche.
When you specialize, you can bring a different perspective and won’t come across as every other writer online. Brands value unique thoughts, experiences, and an insider’s perspective on a niche.
You can find a job by applying for writing jobs on a freelance site. Create a portfolio and send your samples to the recruiter. Apply to opportunities suited to your skills and experience to improve your chances.
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Print on Demand
Print on demand is a new way of making money online that is becoming popular. Print on Demand (POD) is an order fulfillment method where items are printed when an order is made. You can create customized designs for a variety of products and sell them under your brand.
If you are an artist or designer, you can put your own original spin on everyday products like t-shirts, posters, backpacks, and books to sell them online. It is yet another way of monetizing your creativity.
It is similar to dropshipping because you don’t need to carry inventory or ship out products. In the traditional setting, you’d have to buy and hold your own inventory which would then become a problem if you are left with a pile of products that aren’t selling. Many people have adopted the printing on demand business model because it has lower overhead than other businesses.
To make money with your print-on-demand business, you can promote your products for free on Instagram and Pinterest. If you have the means, you can use social media influencers who already have an audiences.
Create an online course
You can sell courses online to make money. If you are an expert on a topic, you can monetize that knowledge by creating courses online. There are courses about many topics online such as Amazon FBA Courses, BitLab Academy, and The Real World.
If you want to have a popular and successful course, you should learn from trending courses in your niche. If you read the reviews, you will know what aspects people like, and what aspects people hate.
With that insight, you can create something better than what’s already been created. With that out of the way, focus on content that solves the biggest complaints while satisfying the positive aspects that people like.
The platform you use to sell your course is crucial because it will determine how much money you make.
Arguably the most popular platform for selling online courses is Udemy. You don’t have to do much to promote your course there because the platform is popular and the people who visit it are already looking for a course.
On the other hand, if you are hosting the course on your own website, you have to do more to promote it. For example, you may have to run paid ads to promote it, or talk about it on social media networks.
How to Choose the Best Way to Make Money Online
Making money online is not easy for most people because you need to put in a lot of work or even resources when you are starting out. There are ways you can shorten the learning curve and one of the most important ones is to focus on what you are already good at.
If you are good at something that is in demand, you should try to monetize it. For example, if you are good at computer aided design, you should lean on that when you are looking for work online.
When you pursue your interests you will engage in something that you enjoy doing and that’s not only lucrative, it is a better experience for you.
Tips For Making Money Online
As you are stating out, always seek help from other people who have already done what you are aiming to do. If they are not someone you can reach out to, emulate them as best as you can.
You can also take courses if they are available to learn what works and what won’t work. This will save you a lot of time and resources that would otherwise be wasted trying to figure out how to get things going alone.
In a crowded market, it is important to market yourself by emphasizing on the unique qualities that make you stand out from the crowd. For example, if you’re a freelance graphic designer, create a website that showcases your designs and shows the world your unique style. Social media marketing is a useful tool for selling yourself to your prospective clients.
On top of that, always make it easy to reach you by providing contact information to potential clients.
As you try to make money online, watch out for scams because the internet is rife with them. Do your research to ensure that an opportunity is legitimate and not a scam. Read reviews and do some research before pursuing an online money making opportunity.
Always try new ideas but have a cohesive strategy that will guide your decision making.
There are hundreds of ways you can use to make money on your schedule from home with a solid internet connection. This list is not nearly exhaustive enough but I hope it will give you some ideas.
Before you leave
If you’re tired of scams and want a real solution for making money online, check out my no.1 recommendation.
This is the best business to start in 2023 and made me over 27k last month alone:
Go here to see my no.1 recommendation for making money online
David Fortune has been the editor NoBSIMReviews.com since 2019. He is an expert at writing content on stock advisory services, side hustles, reviewing online business opportunities and many more topics. You can learn more about David on our about us page.