As a Nigerian, one of the best decisions you can ever make is learning how to make money online. Making money online has been one of the surest ways to survive in Nigeria’s current economy and still have peace of mind. You don’t have to depend heavily on the Nigerian Naira alone because you will have the opportunity also to make money in dollars.Â
The online marketplace is a global industry that allows everyone to offer their skills and services in return for money. And guess what? It is open to everyone across the world, including people from Nigeria.Â
Many Nigerians have heard the phrase “make money online” hundreds of times but had no idea how to go about it. Some often confuse it for the likes of Pyramid schemes or fraudulent online activities like “yahoo, yahoo.”
The good news is that you can change the narrative by starting a legitimate online business. And that is the aim of this article. In this article, I will expose you to the ten effective and reliable ways to make money online without fraud.Â
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 Ways You Can Make Money Online as a NigerianÂ
- Blogging
Blogging is one of the sweetest ways of making money online in Nigeria. It is flexible, cost-effective, and 100% legitimate. As a blogger, your primary work is to create articles or news and publish it on your website for people to read. From there, you start generating money from people and companies advertising on your site.Â
Thousands of Nigerians generate millions of Naira on their blog monthly and annually. You will agree that very few businesses or work can fetch you such an amount of money in this current economy. And that is one of the advantages of doing online businesses in Nigeria.Â
According to Ezeani MacDonald, the founder, and CEO of Mackiestdon.com, starting a blogging business has been his best career choice. That has prompted him to create a comprehensive free guide on how to start blogging in Nigeria.Â
- Affiliate MarketingÂ
Affiliate marketing has been trending in Nigeria for quite some time now. However, many Nigerians still don’t know much about it or how to go about it.Â
To start with, affiliate marketing is simply about you helping someone to market his product and get a commission on it. There are several affiliate marketing programs in Nigeria, including the Jumia Affiliate program, Expertnaire Affiliate marketing, the Amazon Affiliate program, and many others.Â
According to Olufemi Akinyemi, the owner of Experts.ng, affiliate marketing remains one of the easiest ways Nigerians can start generating money online so far they can put in the work.Â
- Amazon KDP
Amazon KDP is one of the sweetest ways to make money online, especially if you have excellent writing skills. And even if you don’t know how to write and currently don’t have the time to start learning, you can hire someone to write the eBook for you while you retain the Copyright.Â
Amazon KDP is one of the Amazon products where you can upload your eBook or hardcopy book for sale. It will interest you that even famous authors like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, amongst others, also market their eBooks on Amazon KDP.Â
And you can check this comprehensive article on how to Publish your eBook on Amazon. The article was written by Emmanuel Odebiyi and published on Insight.ng.Â
- Freelancing
Freelancing is another online money-making avenue you can easily leverage as a Nigerian. As a freelancer, you offer your digital services remotely to people worldwide.
To become successful in the Freelancing business, you will need good digital skills. And after you must have mastered your craft, you can offer your digital skills on a freelancing platform like Upwork, Fiverr, or LinkedIn. You can also decide to go into cold mailing.Â
- Vlog on YouTube
Vlogging is another exciting way you can make money legitimately online. As a YouTuber, you can create videos like dancing, teaching, traveling, talking, and a variety of niches on YouTube and promote your channel to be eligible for the YouTube partnership program.Â
Many Nigerians earn a living with YouTube money, including your favorite Youtubers. All you need is your smartphone, video editing software, and some paid or free guidance to see if you navigate your way around. Importantly, it would help if you are consistent too.Â
- eCommerce
eCommerce is simply creating an online store where you market your product. Ecommerce is becoming easier every day, and you don’t even have to own a personal website to succeed. Many people do their eCommerce business on third-party websites like Jumia, Jiji, Konga, and many others.
You can also consider using Facebook and Instagram for your eCommerce business. Or even the WhatsApp business app. To become successful in the eCommerce business, you will need good knowledge of copywriting and marketing. Â
- Dropshipping
Dropshipping is more or less like e-commerce. The only difference is that you don’t need to have the product in stock in dropshipping. You don’t even have to see the product at all.
 All you have to do is look for customers for a product that you already have a dropshipping partnership. And after customers have made an order for a particular product, they will pay you as if you are the original seller of the goods.Â
From there, you will use their money to order the product from the original supplier and give the supplier their details to help you deliver it.Â
For a more explicit example, let’s say I have a store where I sell things online. As a drop shipper, you will market the product to people, and after they make a purchase, you will send me their delivery details, and I will make the delivery on your behalf while you pay me. You can dropship products like bags, shoes, necklaces, etc.
- Create Digital Product
Creating digital products is another great way to start making money online. Your digital product can be in the form of an eBook, video, or audio. Of course, you can also do a combination of the three.Â
For example, if you are a professional video editor, you can create a course teaching people how to edit their videos. Then, you can market this course to people while you make your money.Â
- Fill online survey
Another way you can make money online is by filling out online surveys—many start-up businesses, like BusinessWord.Africa collects people’s feedback to complete their data. And this is where you come in.Â
Making money through online surveys will not make you instant millions of Naira. The rate is often very cheap but is great for students or anyone with another source of income only trying to check for an alternative way of making money online.
 Also, there is the problem of location. Some businesses restrict the survey to a particular area, maybe the USA. At the same time, some are global and open to Nigerians like you. You can check out online survey websites like Swagbucks, Survey Junkie, and Harris Poll Online.
- Social Media Influencer Marketing
Many influencers on Twitter make money back-to-back by helping businesses market to their audience. This is not only on Twitter. You can explore other social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and even WhatsApp. For example, many WhatsApp TV earns between N10,000 and N100,000 per day by helping people to advertise their business on their WhatsApp status.Â
In addition, some influencers get endorsements from big companies like Fearless to help them promote their brand while they pay them huge amounts of money. Â
Conclusion
Making money online is sweet and more convenient than conventional go-to-office jobs. However, like everything we do on earth, it also has challenges. All the points I listed above are practical ways to make money online. I have tried a couple of them, and the money is real. And I know one or two people doing either of the businesses, and their testimonies are also valid.Â
I wish you Goodluck in your endeavors.Â
About the Author
Taiwo Sotikare is a business enthusiast passionate about helping small businesses grow through effective content marketing. Taiwo helps small businesses generate more leads and sales via SEO. In addition, he creates content that hits Google’s front page, where thousands of targeted customers can easily access their products and services. You can contact him via [email protected]