While the idea of making money online may seem more compelling today than it ever was before, what you need to understand is that this is not as easy as it seems. For instance, take the simplest, most menial online side-job of clicking on ads and you’ll see just how many scam websites there are out there. It’s not that these sites don’t pay you for the activity (they really do), it’s only that they have some ridiculous unrealistic fees that require thousands of clicks in order to earn a single dollar. To make the matters even worse, they require you to earn a minimum of $2 or $3, which makes it highly unlikely that you’ll ever earn a single penny this way.
This experience sometimes occurs during one’s first contact with this niche, which automatically makes people believe that it’s impossible to earn some real money online. On the other hand, you have all of these bloggers, YouTube creators, writers and influencers that are making some serious money online, which contradicts this statement altogether. So, the first thing you need to learn is how to differentiate between the real and the false online money-making methods. Here are some ideas.
1. Self-publishing author
A lot of people write short stories, poems or novels as a hobby, however, in 2018, there’s nothing easier than capitalizing on this creative task. First of all, being a self-publishing author is far from difficult, seeing as how all you have to do is find a platform like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and upload your work, in whatever format you like (PDF, word document, etc.). As for the complexity of this work, you need some decent writing skills, as well as the skills of a marketer. Keyword research, a compelling title and a first page that ends with a hook are what sells the book.
When it comes to tools, you need something to write in, however, seeing as how you already have either MS Word, Google Docs or Open Office, this shouldn’t be an issue. Moreover, you need an e-book cover maker, which is where a platform like Canva, may come in handy. Here, you have a plethora of free stock photos to choose from, as well as some premium ones that usually end up costing less than $1.
2. Blogging
The money-making method worth exploring is blogging. Here, you have a plethora of ways to make money online, ranging from monetizing your CPC, PPC and CPM ads, including affiliate links in your content, all the way to selling your own products. Making an e-commerce website to support your blog is probably the ultimate technique for making money in the blogosphere, yet it requires a completely different level of commitment, one you might not yet be prepared to make. To get there, however, you need to make a great blog, which includes both the creation of an outstanding content and some decent digital marketing skills.
3. Paid surveys
The greatest problem with the above-listed two methods (although we use the term problem very loosely), lies in the fact that they require a continuous long-term commitment. On average, it takes 3 hours and 20 minutes to write a single blog post, yet, writing is just one of the many tasks that you’re required to do when running a blog. This is why a lot of people look for how to get paid online without committing too much time and effort. The most obvious method to achieve this is to do paid surveys. Sure, the profit margin might be somewhat lower than with blogging or creative writing (in the long-run), however, the effort-to-profit ratio is more than satisfactory.
4. Becoming an online tutor
The next thing you can do is make an online course and capitalize on your knowledge. The thing is that people nowadays have less and less free time, which means that commuting in order to take a course might not be a possibility. Therefore, they prefer to learn online. The problem with this line of work lies in your inability to find clients (at least those who offer a decent pay) right away. Still, there’s nothing that prevents you from joining a specialized agency in order to learn their methods and get in touch with future clients before heading out on your own.
5. Selling things online
Lastly, you can always look towards retail and sell items on eBay or even start your own e-commerce website. Keep in mind, nonetheless, that the principles of online sale aren’t that dissimilar to those in-person. Product placement, pitch and visuals are key points in closing the deal. Keep in mind, nonetheless, that even in this industry, return customers tend to be incredibly lucrative, which is why honesty needs to be a top priority. Sure, selling an item you’ve falsely advertised may bring you some profit, yet, a negative review, comment or a thread on Reddit might result in a massive profit loss.
Conclusion
Apart from this, you can also make a bit of cash by becoming an online juror, entering data or clicking on ads (on legit ad-clicking websites). Nevertheless, even in the above-listed industries, there are some platforms that are less than reliable. Therefore, it’s crucial that you do a proper market research before you decide to engage in any of these activities.