Many people are currently looking at new ways of earning an income online. Some wanting to turn a hobby into some extra change, while others are diving into a new adventure and creating an internet business hoping for it to become a full-time job.
Let’s dive into the seven ways in which you can earn an extra income online, whether you require it to be time consuming or not. Please think of these options as additional sources of income, which have the ability of allowing you to earn a lot more.
- Taking Surveys Online.
Taking surveys is a proven way to earn an extra income or prizes like gift cards. Market research firms which are also known as (MRF’s) are behind a lot of the survey sites online. Some of which include- American Consumer Opinion, owned by Decision Analyst. Another option would be to sign up to surveys using aggregators such as IdeaShifters and Swagbucks. They partner with a lot of different MRF’s and corporations.
When searching for opportunities in survey-taking, you should stick with companies that have great record of paying for the surveys taken, check out a few survey sites here. Please also keep in mind that you may not be able to partake in certain surveys as you do not match the criteria that the company is looking for. For example, you could be too young.
- Affiliate Marketing.
Affiliate marketing has the ability to be low-costing and an easy way to earn an income online. There is no requirements for you to have your own products or services that you need to sell. Affiliate marketing give you a way to earn commissions directly from large companies.
What is required of you is simply to promote certain products or services of the company. This can be done either on your social media, your website or blog. The affiliate tracking links make sure that you get a certain amount of the sale for having connecting them to a paying customer, by bringing them to the company’s website.
The main task in affiliate marketing is providing a reason for people to visit your social media accounts or websites/blogs, aiming to build up a lengthy amount of followers and visitors. By doing so, you would need to provide certain content, which will attract people who are keen on purchasing the product that you are trying to get people to buy. An example of this, you may write articles or even make videos about electrical products- how they or used and/or which ones have been rated the best- but in a way that is optimized for search engines.
- Publishing Online
Irrespective of your occupation, publishing nonfiction e-books is a great way to stamp your mark as authoritative in your field all whilst making a passive income. Once the book has been written and published, there is no need to do anything but sit back and take in the revenue.
By choice, if you was to write a novel that was in line with a popular genre such as romance, fantasy and mystery etc – if you was to publish this as an e-book it would have the ability to gain thousands of views.
Advice: Two of the biggest companies that allow you to self-publish e-books are Kindle Direct Publishing and IngramSpark.
You are also able to sell your e-books on platforms such as Amazon.com. If you have the ability to put your mark as an author, then you may start selling your e-books from your website directly – which would increase your profits.
Advice: If blogging has been something that you have done for a long timein a specific topic, you should think about editing and packaging your posts into a book which could be done without too much extra work.
Users of self-published e-books require a great experience that is on the same level as those of a traditional publisher. If you currently lack the skills to make sure there is a perfected final product, then I would advise that you consider hiring a copy editor- who would be able to tweak your writing if need be. Also, a designer could be used to create a cover. If you are having problems turning your ideas into words then hiring a developmental editor may help you with the start of the process.
- Freelancing Online.
If you have a certain skill-based service that you are able to carry out from the comfort of your home, maybe graphic design or copyediting etc – you may be able to offer this service as an online freelancer, depending on whether you can find enough jobs; if you are able to then you could become a full-time freelancer. If not, there is still the opportunity in taking on assignments to assist the income of your main job.
You may be able to find jobs using websites designed for freelancers such as Upwork and Freelancer; as well as the bigger sites such as indeed. You could also join organisation that is specifically suited for freelancers that specialise in your area. These groups may often allow you to post information online about yourself and the skills that you have. An e-mail or jobs board with all the contact information required for those in need of freelance help may be available.
Advice: Freelancers organisation may also provide social outlets that can connect you with people who are either interested in or do the same work as you.
A site such as Meetup could also be a great way in finding others who have the same interests and skill sets as yourself.
- Coaching Online.
Life coaching is a great online career option, especially if you have great communication skills and wish to help others in their professional or personal life. A lot of the time all people need is a little help to get them past any roadblocks that they have found themselves in front of. This could be stopping them from reaching personal happiness or even confidence in their career choices. Being an online coach, you would be able to give your advice which would help them change their current mindset, in turn improving their lives.
Critical: Please bear in mind that as a life coach you should not try to take the place of trained mental health professionals. A life coach deals with matters such as personal growth and/or achieving goals. They would not deal with matters like overcoming a mental illness.
The hardest thing about becoming a life coach would be finding a client base. When starting out, you could try advertising online and/or speaking to community groups.
If you have a professional certificate, this could make you a more credible choice. And being able to offer the testimonials of your clients could also make you an even more desired option.
- Offering Courses Online.
Just like e-books, online courses can generate income after you have made them available online. If you have the gift of teaching and a set of skills that you would like to help others with, then I would suggest creating online courses as a way of making an extra income.
The main website in which you would post your courses and get paid for them is Udemy. However, just like other online businesses if you are able to create a reputation then you may have success in offering your courses on your own website.
Having an engaging presence if your videos is key! If you are unable to retain students’ attention then they probably would not come back for further classes.
- Staring an E-commerce Website.
Another way to make money online – that does require more work than others – is an e-commerce website. What is required is selling products from your website that you would either create or use commercially available ones.
If you was to choose the latter option, then the easiest way to complete orders would be via drop shipping. This is when you take customers’ orders, however a third-party would be holding these items and they would then ship all products on your behalf.
Advice: Focusing on one product that you are able to create your own lane in and devote your website to will be better.
If you was to create your own products, then you could start selling them on a stable platform such as Etsy as-well as your own site. Once you have created a range of customers you could then cut out the man in the middle.
Also, monetizing your e-commerce website by including ads such as Google AdSense is another great way.
In Conclusion
At the end of the day there will always be a lot of competition online for money-making opportunities – given the fact that more people are unable to work due to COVID-19. Stanford University economist Nicholas Blook states that 42% of US employees have been working from home full-time since June 2020.
If you really want to make the most out of these opportunities, then you would need to be a noticeable person; and convince possible clients and customers that you are either the right person to buy and/or hire from. To become successful at any of the occupations online will require online marketing skills. If you are able to learn how to sell yourself and gain the followers and search engine hits then the success of your business should definitely follow suit.
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