A lot of people ask, “how can I make money online?” The answer depends on what your skills are and how much time you’re willing to invest in making it happen. But luckily, there are tons of ways to work from home, whether you’re looking for a flexible gig that’s easy to start or a way to build your own business from scratch. Among the most popular ideas are freelancing, working for a remote company, tutoring and creating an online course. These online money-making ideas are usually low to moderate in effort and investment but can provide a steady stream of revenue if you stick with them over the long term.
The first thing to do is identify your strengths and what you’re passionate about. If you love writing, for example, you can get started by blogging on a topic that interests you and attracting an audience that is interested in learning more about it. Eventually, you can make enough money to support yourself with your blog.
If you have a particular skill that is in demand, like programming, website design or link building, you can offer your services on a freelance basis on sites like Fiverr and GigSalad. But if you want to make the most money possible with your skills, consider becoming an online instructor and creating your own course. Creating an ebook is another passive income opportunity that can earn you a decent amount of money over time, especially if it’s about something that has a dedicated following on social media.
You can also turn your creativity into a cash cow by selling digital art, music and video to people who are eager to buy it. Creating a shop on sites like Etsy is a great way to show off your talents and monetize them. Startup time: A few hours to set up your store and a few weeks to grow a following and sales. Effort level: Medium to high to develop your product but low to moderate once it’s launched.
If you’re a good listener and can communicate effectively, you may be able to make money by recording voiceovers for podcasts or other audio and video content. This type of work can be done at home with just your microphone and laptop. Depending on your skill set, you can expect to earn from $10 to $20 per hour.
If you have a car or tools in your garage that are only used occasionally, such as lawn mowers and power tools, you can use apps like FriendWithA to rent them out to others. You can even go the extra mile by creating your own rental store on sites like Shopify to sell your goods. Startup time: An hour or two to set up your store and a few hours to add your products. Effort level: Moderate to high, but can be low ongoing if you have the right systems in place. Investing your money in stocks, bonds and mutual funds is another long-term strategy that requires an upfront investment but can pay off handsomely over the years. The best part is that it’s easy to start with a low minimum investment through apps like Robinhood, which makes it simple to buy and sell stock and options with no commission.