REAL Ways to Make Extra Money Online (2024)

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I've been using the internet since it was still a baby, and every time I think I've seen it all...the internet amazes me again. It seems every day there is some new scheme popping up to make extra money online. While many of these schemes might actually pay, most are not worth your time.

Finding real ways to make extra money online is about knowing what actually pays and whether or not you are going to make enough money per hour to justify doing so. HubPages is a great example of just this. Since I started writing for this website, I've made less than minimum wage. The key in this case is residual income. Even though I've put way too many hours in to justify what I've made, I know that I can stop writing and keep earning enough to pay more than one bill.

Truth be told, with time and effort, you can fatten up your pocketbook with extra money made online. Some will make more than others, but anybody can do it. You've just got to know where to look. Also, having ADD helps.

So I've done the work, and have decided to pass it on. This list is not all inclusive. There are other methods out there. Some of which are just too specific to small groups of people, others I just left out to save space, and surely others I don't even know about. Keep that in mind, this is just a place to get started.

1. Writing Freelance Online: This one should be a gimme. Sites such as HubPages share part of their profits in order to entice us to write great articles online. Writing informative articles that bring in hits from search engines will continue to trickle money in as long as your articles stay up.
2. Start A Blog: The "internet cash" community has pretty much beaten this idea into everybody's heads, and it is a lot less profitable now than it use to be; but it is still a good way to go. Not a great place to start, however. I don't suggest starting a blog until after you've created a popular brand online.
3. Post on a Forum: There are online gathering sites such as DigitalPoint where people offer jobs posting on their brand new forums, in order to "fill it up," since nobody wants to register on an empty forum. These generally don't pay a lot, but if you're unemployed, then it might be worth it.
4. Become a Freelance Recruiter: Many businesses and recruiters pay a hefty sum to refer qualified employees. If you've got the internet expertise, then you can contact these businesses to find what they need then run through your database of employment boards to find the candidates. The right person with the right skills could make this their full time job.
5. Ebay/Craigslist Sales: Everybody knows this one as well, but it's too good to leave out. Find goods at garage sales or thrift stores than you can resell. I use to hit up the Value Village by my house and buy old calculators for $1, then resell them anywhere from $15-30. People collect almost anything. You might also be able to find stuff in the free section of Craigslist that you can turn around and sell for profit.
6. Freelance Photography: Another easy, passive income. Take a camera with you everywhere and start taking pictures. Upload them to stock photo sites and if they sell, they sell. You can resell these pictures to as many webmasters as you'd like, for as long as you'd like.
7. Convert E-Currency: If you don't mind creating accounts at PayPal, E-Gold, and all of the other e-currency outlets then this may be worth looking into. You will need some money saved up in order to have money in all of them, but you can charge people a percentage to convert currencies. Example: You charge 5% per transaction, they send you $100 through PayPal and you send them $95 through E-Gold. $5 in your pocket, done.
8. Create Web Videos: Get a recording device and start recording. Whatever you want. Some people just rant (less profitable) others offer a service such as movie or product reviews (More profitable). Being funny is the absolute best trait here. Web surfers like to laugh. If you can make enough people laugh, this can be your full time job.
9. Write How-To eBooks: If you've got knowledge, or if you are good at learning to do things and teaching others the same, then this is another easy residual income. You can list your eBooks on eBay for cheap and sell to the masses, or you can use Amazon's publishing service and cater to Kindle readers.
10. Do Other People's Homework: The moral standpoint here is for you to decide, but it is a real outlet like it or not. Look in the right places and there are tons of college kids willing to pay to have their homework done for them. If you've got the expertise, then this is a viable option.
11. Sell Your Computer's Processing Power: There are sites like Slicify that will pay you real money to let your computer run tasks in the background. You can allow this to run 24/7, using only unused processing power while you work, or you can simply activate it while you aren't using your computer. Not a huge moneymaker, but you are getting paid to do everything from sleeping to eating dinner. The website is pretty basic which made me think twice at first, but after finding some good Slicify reviews online I took the plunge and love it!
12. Perform Menial Tasks: There exists a website called Fiverr where you can post up a task doing whatever you'd like, for $5. Some people post skilled tasks such as creating small programs, others do silly, simple things like posing in lingerie holding a sign with your website on it in a picture. If you've got an idea or skill to do something simple for $5, it could mean easy extra money online.

The secret that most successful people use to make real money online is to combine several of the above options. Many of these things you can do all at the same time, or you can make money performing one task while promoting yourself to earn more money somewhere else.

Let's say you are writing freelance on HubPages. You've done some articles but right now you've taken on a job posting on a start-up forum for some extra cash. If you put a link to your HubPages profile in the signature of all the forums you do this for, then you are essentially getting paid to promote your own online brand!

Let's take that a step further. Sign up for CPUsage. Even if you are worried that these tasks may slow down your computer a bit, you don't need much processing speed to type. If it's running while you are writing HubPages articles, and still running while you get paid to post in forums, then you are essentially getting paid by 3 different entities to do one thing. Can't beat that.

A lot of these real methods of earning extra money online will ramp up in earnings the more you build an online presence. Be sure to take advantage of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Build a following as you go, and plaster your social networking tags everywhere. You might start off making pennies, but the more you work, the more you get your name out there, the more traffic you can bring to yourself. Eventually, creating your own blog or becoming a YouTube personality should be a snap.
Knowing how to avoid the scams, and having a solid sense of persistence is all it really takes to start making extra money online.