Do you want to make extra money? Today I’m sharing 35 legitimate ways on how to make money online for beginners. Try one of these real ways to make money from home quickly.
Whether you’re a busy stay-at-home parent or you’re interested in paying down debt quickly – there are many opportunities to make money from home.
If you do a quick search for “how to make money online”, most articles are pitching outdated advice or scams.
For example, watching videos for pennies with UserTesting or making $2 per hour with Amazon Mechanical Turk.
This post shares over 30 ways to make money online fast with social media, virtual assistant services, Airbnb, tutoring, investing, delivery services, and more.
Some of these side jobs will make you around $100 a month, while others can turn into a full-time income depending how much time and effort you put into them.
Ready to get started? Let’s do this!
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- How to make money without a job
- 35 things to sell to make money right now
- 15 fun hobbies that make money
Table of Contents
Start a blog (and make money with affiliate marketing)
Blogging is a passion of mine and it can be a highly effective way to make money online from home.
If you enjoy writing and are passionate about a certain topic or lifestyle, then starting a blog might be the perfect option for you.
There are tons of ways to make money blogging. For example, you can use affiliate marketing and get paid to promote products or services to your audience.
Check out this free 36-page book from my friend Michelle, who makes $50,000 per month from affiliate marketing. This ebook will teach you all about how affiliate marketing works, as well as give you 26 affiliate marketing tips so that you can get started.
If this sounds like an interesting opportunity for you, check out my easy step-by-step guide on how to start a blog the right way.
For my fellow Canadians, check out: How to start a blog and make money online in Canada
Read Next: How to become a blogger and make money
Make an extra $250 per month taking surveys
Companies are always looking for new users to participate in market research. While you won’t make a ton of money online doing surveys, it can still be a great way to boost your income.
You can make an extra $250 a month just for sharing your opinion. The more survey sites you sign up for, the more money you can make.
Taking surveys isn’t going to make you rich, but if you want to do a few paid surveys for fun – check out Survey Junkie. This is a legit site to mke money online. Or check out these other popular survey sites that pay cash:
- Swagbucks (Get a free $5 bonus just for signing up)
- Branded Surveys
- Inbox Dollars (Daily Rewards for Canadians)
- Toluna Influencers
- MyPoints
- Opinion Outpost
- My Soap Box
Read Next: 12 best survey sites that pay cash
Sell printables on Etsy
My friend Julie from Millenial Boss makes thousands of dollars every month by selling printables on Etsy!
Etsy is aglobal online marketplacewhere people can sell their products, such as printables.
Printables are a type of digital products that customers can download and print at home.
Examples of printables include:
- Chore chart checklists
- Wedding invitations
- Meal planners
- Calendars
- To-do lists
- Coloring pages for kids
If you’re interested in learning more about how to sell printables on Etsy, I recommend checking out Julie’s course, E-Printable Side Hustle.
Some of the students in Julie’s course are earning $2,000 – $4,000+ per month from selling printables.
In her course, she’ll walk you through the entire process on how to make printables, set up your Etsy account, and make passive income.
You can also check out her free workshop to help you decide if selling printables is the right choice for you.
Create and sell a subscription box
Subscription boxes have blown up in recent years. From meal kit delivery services like Chef’s Plate to boxes filled with dog toy products like Bark Box, this trend is growing and here to stay.
Start by brainstorming ideas for your subscription box – think about your target customers such as stay-at-home moms, pet parents, toddlers, makeup or skincare addicts, fitness enthusiasts, and so on.
Sites like Cratejoy provide a convenient and easy platform to sell your subscription box. This is an online marketplace specifically designed for subscription box owners.
Get a free $10 Amazon gift card
When you join MyPoints, you’ll get a free $10 Amazon or Visa gift card. Here’s how easy it is to get started:
Step 1: Join MyPoints for free.
Step 2: Shop at over 2,000 online retailers (Amazon, Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Target) through MyPoints.com and spend $20 or more.
Step 3: MyPoints will credit your account with 1,750 points which can be redeemed for a $10 gift card of your choice. It’s that simple.
Read Next: 16 ways to make an extra $500 a month
Make up to $2,500 per month baking dog treats
Did you know that the global pet care market was valued at $150.67 billion in 2021? People LOVE to spend money on their pets and treat them as part of the family.
Healthy gourmet dog treats are in high demand right now. This is becoming a popular way to make money online for beginners.
You can make $500-$2,500 a month selling homemade dog treats on Etsy or at local farmer’s markets.
My friend Kristin, from Diva Dog Bakery, started her pet treat business because she was tired of the boring treats she saw at big-box stores.
This inspired her to start recipe testing in her kitchen. It wasn’t long before her dog treat side hustle turned into a profitable and thriving business.
If you’re interested in learning how to start a dog treat business from home, check out Kristin’s free workshop.
She also offers a comprehensive course that’ll show you everything you need to know to start a successful dog treat business from your kitchen. Don’t worry – there’s no baking experience required.
Read Next: How to start a dog treat business from home
Make money delivering food
Walk, drive or bike ride to make local deliveries with DoorDash. You can earn between $15-$25 per hour.
This suggestion involves leaving the house, but you just need your smartphone and a mode of transportation to get started. If you want to make money fast today, delivering food with DoorDash can be a great option. Get started here.
Get paid to grocery shop
Get paid to grocery shop for others and make deliveries with Instacart. There are no set hours or days, which means you can shop as much or as little as you want, anytime you want.
To get started, head toshoppers.instacart.comto create your free account.
Make money investing in real estate
Fundrise is the most popular crowdfounding platform that lets you invest in commercial real estate properties all around the USA.
The website is easy to use and you can get started today with as little as $500. Like any investment, make sure to do your own due diligence to make sure you understand the investment’s risk and underlying costs.
Read Next: Fundrise vs. Realty Mogul – Which Real Estate Investing Platform is Right for You?
Get paid to walk dogs or pet sit
Rover is an online marketplace that connects you to local pet owners who need services such as pet sitting, dog walking, or dog boarding.
If you love dogs, this can be a fun way to make $1,000 a month part-time. You can choose which services you wish to offer, set your rates and control your schedule.
Read Next: 7 ways to make money working with dogs
Sell stuff through Amazon’s FBA program
You can buy stuff at a discount and resell it on Amazon. With Amazon’s FBA program, you can store your products in Amazon’s fulfillment centers.
When a customer places an order, Amazon will pack, ship and provide customer service for these products. This can be a great way to make money online.
My friend Jessica from The Selling Family makes over $5,000 per month selling stuff on Amazon. If you’re interested in learning more, check out her free workshop to get started.
She also offers a comprehensive course called Amazon Bootcamp which will show you everything you need to know about buying and reselling items on Amazon.
Read Next: How to make money through Amazon’s FBA program
Earn cash back when shopping
Instead of clipping coupons, cash back apps can help you earn cash back on your everyday purchases such as groceries, gas, and entertainment.
Below are some of my favorite cash back apps to save money when shopping:
- Rakuten (Get a $10 welcome bonus when you sign up today)
- Ibotta (Receive up to $20 in welcome bonuses)
- Drop (Earn cash back whenever you swipe your debit or credit card)
- Ampli (For my fellow Canadians)
- Slide (Earn 4% cash back instantly)
- Swagbucks (Earn cash back when shopping online)
Read Next: 10 best cash back apps to save money when shopping
Get free gift cards to Starbucks
Sign up for Swagbucks and get a free $5 Starbucks gift card.
I confess that I LOVE Starbucks, so I’m always looking for ways to score free Starbucks drinks or save money on my morning latte. With Swagbucks, it’s easy to get started:
Step 1: Join Swagbucks for free. (Don’t forget to confirm your email address so you can start making money right away).
Step 2: Earn Swagbucks for completing simple tasks, such as taking surveys, playing games, shopping online, or watching videos.
Step 3: Redeem your Swagbucks for free Starbucks gift cards or cash payments via PayPal.
Read Next: 12 ways to get free Starbucks gift cards
Get paid to correct grammar errors
If you find yourself catching spelling mistakes or grammar errors when reading content online, you may want to consider becoming a proofreader.
Depending on your experience and how many clients you take on, you could make up to $91,500 per year as a freelance proofreader or an average of $51,000 a year according to ZipRecruiter.
If this sounds like a good opportunity for you, check out Caitlin’s free proofreading workshop.
After working as a successful proofreader, Caitlin now teaches others how to make money online proofreading.
Read Next: How to make money as a freelance proofreader
Play online games
If you like playing games on your smartphone or computer, you can make money by playing some of your favorite games. It’s fun and one of the best ways to make money online for free.
To get started, check out Inbox Dollars (Daily Rewards for Canadians) and Dabbl.
Read Next: 25 ways to make money from your smartphone
Sell your books
I recently made over $300 from selling my old books. This can be a great way to declutter and make money online.
The most popular website to sell books online is BookScouter.
Enter the ISBN of your book into BookScouter. This website will show you over 30 book-buying vendors. Compare prices and decide where you want to sell your book. Most vendors offer free pre-paid shipping labels.
Read Next: How to flip items for profit from thrift stores
Get paid to write online
Freelance writing can be a great way to make money online. If you enjoy writing, but you’re not ready to start your own blog, working as a freelance writer is one of the best creative ways to make money.
You can find paid writing gigs on sites like Fiverr or Upwork. But if you want to stand out from the crowds and learn how to find high-paying jobs, consider checking out Earn More Writing.
My friend Holly Johnson, the mastermind behind Earn More Writing, went from making $0 to $225,000 per year from freelance writing.
In her comprehensive course, she’ll show you the exact strategies she used to build a six-figure freelance writing career and how to land the type of work you want.
Sell stock photos online
Bloggers and online business owners are looking for photos of people working, food, travel, cities, nature, and tools.
If you enjoy taking photos, you can make money online by selling your photos. Even if you don’t think your photos are worth selling, I recommend giving it a try. Even images of simple objects like a journal and pen can make money.
Popular sites to sell your photos include Shutterstock, iStock, and Deposit Photos.
Another great place to sell your photos is SmugMug. In just 15-minutes, you can get started with SmugMug to your prints, products, or digital downloads. Sell your photos at your price and get tons of marketing tools to help you make money from your side hustle.
Flip stuff from flea markets or thrift stores
I recently made over $2,000 selling my old furniture on Facebook Marketplace.
If you have items laying around your home that you no longer need, consider selling it on eBay, Facebook or Craigslist. This can be a great way to make money online for beginners.
My friend Rob, from Flea Market Flipper, earns over $100,000 a year selling used furniture and other odd items online.
He found a patio set for $50 from a local flea market and sold it online for $1,300. Just a quick pressure wash and some teak oil made the furniture look like new again.
If you’re interested in learning how to flip stuff for profit, check out Rob’s free workshop.
He also offers a comprehensive course, Flipper University, that’ll show you everything you need to know about how to find hidden treasures at thrift stores and turn them into maximum profit.
Read Next: 18 best items to flip for profit
Become a virtual assistant
Virtual assistants provide administrative support to businesses from home, such as responding to emails or editing social media posts. This is one of the best services that make money.
Depending on your skillset and experience, you can make $10,000 per month as a virtual assistant. This is exactly what my friend, Kayla Sloan does.
After a painful divorce, she needed to find a way to provide for herself with a stable and consistent income. That’s when she decided to start her own virtual assistant business. Initially it was just a side hustle to help earn extra money to pay for her bills.
But through a lot of trial and error, she was able to grow her VA business from $0 to $10K per month of consistent income.
If you’re interested in becoming a virtual assistant, check out Kayla’s FREE WORKSHOP. She’ll share how to become a virtual assistant in just 5 steps.
She also offers a comprehensive course, $10K VA, that’ll teach you everything you need to know about find and pitch to clients, grow your income, and become a successful VA.
Read Next: How to become a virtual assistant with no experience
Become a podcast assistant
Starting a podcast is a popular way to make money online. But it’s not easy to start a podcast from scratch and make it successful.
If you love working with audio, another great way to make $30-$50 per hour as a podcast virtual assistant.
Podcast assistants help clients manage and market their podcasts. No matter what your skillset is, there is something you can likely offer.
If you’re interested in learning how to become a podcast assistant, check out Melanie’s free guide. She’s a former podcast assistant and helps others kick-start their podcast career.
She also offers a comprehensive course, Podcast Production School, that’ll show you everything you need to know to help business owners launch, manage and grow a successful podcast.
Read Next: How to become a Podcast virtual assistant
Make money on Pinterest
Did you know that you can get paid to pin on Pinterest?
If you enjoy using Pinterest, you can make money online as a Pinterest virtual assistant. As a Pinterest VA, you can help build a client’s reach on Pinterest and maintain their presence on the social media platform.
According Kristin, the mastermind behindBecome a Pinterest VA, an absolute beginner can earn around$25-$35 per hour.
Some Pinterest VAs and Pinterest Managers can earn up to$100 per hour. The amount of money you make will depend on your experience, skills, education, and so on.
If you think this might be a good opportunity for you, check out Kristin’s free workshop.
Read Next: How to make money on Pinterest for beginners
Rent out your home or apartment on Airbnb
Airbnb is not just a website where you can find unique travel accommodations. You can also make good money by becoming an Airbnb Host.
If you have a spare room in your home or apartment, you can make a few hundred extra dollars a month by renting it out through Airbnb. This is one of the best real ways to make money from home for free.
Some people even choose to rent out their entire house on Airbnb, which can bring in thousands of dollars. As an Airbnb Host, you’re in full control of your house rules, availability, and prices.
It’s free to list your space on Airbnb. If you’re interested, head to the Airbnb site to see how much you can make.
Get paid to lose weight with HealthyWage
If you’re interested in starting a fitness journey, considering using HealthyWage to keep you motivated to stay on track.
HealthyWage will actually pay you to lose weight. You could win up to $10,000! Make a bet, lose the weight you say you’re going to lose, and get paid.
To get started, use theHealthyWage Prize Calculatorto enter how much weight you want to lose, how long you’ll take, and how much you’d like to bet. Then the calculator will determine your winnings amount, up to $10,000.
Read Next: HealthyWage Review – Does it really pay out?
Sell your designer handbags
If you have some gently used designer handbags that you’re no longer using, you can make money online by selling them on sites such as Rebag or Fashionphile.
This can be a great way to make money online without paying for anything. Both sites will send you a pre-paid shipping label to send in your gently used handbag.
Create and sell an online course
Did you know that there is a YouTube called “How to unzip a compressed file folder”?
It has nearly 800,000 views!
So go ahead and create your course. Somebody wants to buy it. Creating a selling a course can be a great way to make money online. Thinkific and Udemy are the most popular platforms to sell courses.
Make money doing handy work
Handy.comcan help you connect with others in your area who need help with odd jobs, such as assembling furniture, mounting a mirror, moving boxes, planting flowers, and other handyman tasks.
You can make up to $22/hour/job as a cleaner or $45/hour/job as a handyman.
The top pros on Handymake over $1,000 a week! This can be a great way to make extra money by helping people with their everyday to-dos.
Make money from graphic design
Canva makes it easy to create beautiful graphic designs. You can make money on Canva by creating templates or logos for bloggers and online business owners to use. Sell your work through your blog or on Etsy.
You can sell templates for others to use on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest). Just remember to that your templates are unique and created from scratch.
Buy and sell websites for profit
Flippa is the most popular platform to find established and existing websites that you can flip for profit.
Another way to make money on Flippa is to build and sell websites. You can start a website for as little as $2.95 per month with Bluehost and sell it as a starter site on Flippa for a few hundred dollars.
Niche sites are in high demand. This is where the website will focus on one specific topic, such as at-home fitness or golf, for example.
Start an online store and sell products online
Have you ever thought about selling your own products online? Shopify is a one-stop-shop that helps you create your own online store. They even help you set up payment options, promotion strategies, special discount codes, and handle shipping.
I use Shopify to run the Mint Notion Shop, which makes it easy for me since I’m not tech savvy. This is one of the best online money making platformts. Ideas to sell in your shop include:
Digital Products – Printables, eBooks, social media templates, printable binders, printable planners, printable worksheets, custom logos, spreadsheets, and so on.
Physical Products – Hair scrunchies, face masks, candles, books, planners, journals, pet clothing and accessories, t-shirts, tote bags, coffee mugs, bath bombs, homemade dog treats, and so on.
Make money babysitting
If you’re good with children, consider offering babysitting or nannying services. Whether it’s full-time, part-time, or after school, this can be a great way to make extra money.
Sittercity is a popular website to find babysitting and nannying jobs. Join as a sitter to create your free profile, then find and apply to jobs near you. Sittercity nannies earn an average of $15+ per hour.
Sell your freelance services on Fiverr
Becoming a freelancer can be an excellent way to make money online. This includes offering services such as writing, proofreading, virtual assistant, podcast assistant, or Pinterest management.
No matter what your skillset is, there is someone out there that will pay for your experience and skills. Start by marketing your services on Fiverr, which is one of the largest online freelance services marketplace for businesses.
Rent out your car on Turo
If you don’t use your vehicle every day, consider renting it out on Turo. This can help you make a dent in your monthly car payments or earn money on the side.
Most hosts on Turo are able to cover their payments by sharing their car just 9 days per month (on average).
Turo is a car sharing marketplace that allows private car owners (such as yourself) to rent out their vehicles via an online or mobile interface. This can be a great way to make money without a job.
It’s free to join and it only takes 10 minutes to create a listing for your car.
Invest your spare change with Acorns
Acornsis a free app that can help grow your money. This is one of the best methods for beginners who want to start investing without much effort or those who struggle to save money.
Each time you make a purchase with your debit or credit card, Acorns rounds up to the nearest dollar and invests the spare change.
Your spare change can quickly add up over time and every nickel and dime counts towards your future. Get started with Acorns today.
How can I get $100 a right now?
Below are some great ways you can get $100 right now:
- Deliver groceries. As anInstacart Shopper, you’ll get paid to go to the grocery store and shop for others. This can be a great way to make $100 right now.
- Take paid surveys. The top paying surveys include Swagbucks, Survey Junkie, Branded Surveys, Inbox Dollar, Daily Rewards, Toluna Influencers, and My Points.
- Deliver food. With Door Dash, you can money money delivering food to customers. Depending on how many orders you deliver, this can be a great paid $23 per hour while on a delivery.
- Sell your stuff on ebay. You can sell stuff you don’t need anymore, such as furniture on sites like ebay or Facebook Marketplace. Check out the best items to flip for profit.
Read Next: 42 legit ways to make $100 a day
