If you are searching for ways to supplement your income, then you will have seen many adverts promising high returns for little effort. Are these adverts genuine? In most cases, no, they may either be unrealistic with the earning potential advertised or an outright scam that should be avoided.
Can you legitimately earn money online?
Great news, yes! There are lots of legitimate ways to earn money online. The extra money you earn online can help pay off debts, build savings or investments, or be used as fun money. Whatever you want to use it for it is handy to have ways to make extra money.
In some cases, people can be so successful with their online ventures that it replaces their main employment altogether!
This guide will walk you through 5 legit online money-making ventures. Making $1000 a month isn’t an unrealistic amount provided you are prepared to put the work in.
Blogging
Blogging is an established way of making money online. This report by Glassdoor shows that the average blogger in the US earns $33,128 per year. If you have a reasonable level of writing ability and knowledge of a subject, then blogging could be for you.
Starting a blog has never been easier. There are many websites offering information and courses to help get you started. To start with decide what topic or niche you want to write about. You can do a blog about anything but try to keep the subject broad enough that you always have plenty to write about. Ideas for blogs could include parenting, travel, or how to live frugally.
Once you have picked your niche, then you need to build your blog and get writing! The internet is a wealth of information when it comes to learning about blogging – find someone you connect with and research, test, rinse and repeat!
Now that you have started your blog, the next step is to make money from it. There are lots of ways to make money blogging, here are the main ones:
- Affiliate marketing. A common way to earn money from a blog is through affiliate marketing. This works by adding affiliate links to the blog post. When a reader clicks the affiliate link, they are taken to a 3rd party website to make a purchase. As a reward for making a purchase following the affiliate link on your blog post, the 3rd party pays you a commission. Easy!
- Ads. On many websites you visit, you will have noticed adverts are common. Putting ads on your blog is a good way to make money from it.
- Sponsored posts. A brand or individual may pay you to write a blog post. The goal is usually to advertise a product and the more popular your blog the more you can earn from sponsored posts.
- Selling merchandise. Another way to earn money from your blog is to sell either digital or physical products. For example, if you are blogging about how to live frugally, then you could sell a digital copy of a book discussing frugal living in more detail.
These are 4 of the main ways to earn money from blogging. They are not the only ways though and as your blog becomes established you could use it as source material to write a book, to become an authoritative speaker on the topic, or to create courses teaching others how to write a successful blog.
Whatever route you follow please remember this won’t make you rich overnight. Most blogs take at least 12 months to start earning a decent amount of money. However, work hard enough and you could easily be earning $1000 a month or more in no time at all!
Dropshipping
If you don’t know what dropshipping is, here is a quick overview. Dropshipping is a business that involves you selling a product to a customer, but you use a supplier to handle storage, packaging, and shipping to the customer.
Dropshipping follows these simple steps:
- The customer places an order on your online store for $500
- You forward the order to your supplier paying the wholesale price of $300
- The supplier sends the product to the customer
- You make a $200 profit
That’s it! Once you have set up your online store, then you can get started. There are a variety of ways to market your site such as running Facebook ads, using influencers to promote products, or contacting potential customers directly through Social Media.
To get started try a course on Udemy to learn the basics.
Freelancing
Freelancing is a broad term that encompasses a wide range of jobs. This includes things such as teaching, writing, transcribing, or any skill that people are willing to pay for.
Thanks to technology it has never been easier to start freelancing. All you need is a computer and an internet connection to get started.
If you have a specific skill such as writing, then concentrate on looking for work on dedicated writing job boards. If you are interested in a broader range of opportunities, there are many freelance websites to find work on. For example, Fiverr allows you to offer your skills for a nearly limitless number of categories.
When starting out as a freelancer, you may find that you don’t earn a lot. This is totally normal, so don’t worry! Like many jobs, you must start small, but once you have built a strong portfolio of work, then you can advance to higher-paying work. Before you know it, you could easily be earning $1000 a month.
Here are 10 freelancing ideas:
- Accountant
- Copywriter
- Graphic designer
- Programmer
- Technical writer
- Data entry
- Marketing
- Content writing
- Video editors
- Social media managers
These are just 10 of the many things you could do as a freelancer. To get more ideas have a browse through the freelance websites and see what work is available. Have a think about your qualifications and transferable skills. It may be that there is something you can already easily do to earn money as a freelancer.
eBay Flipper
Buying and selling items on eBay can be profitable. There are plenty of stories online of people making 6-figure incomes. How does eBay flipping work?
First, you need to find second-hand items to buy with the goal of reselling for a profit. The good news is that many people don’t realize the true value of an item they are selling. This means you can buy low and sell for a profit.
You could easily make $200 fast by finding a cheap item and reselling it quickly for a higher price. To find items for sale you can ask friends or family, check local auctions, or Facebook groups, and even sell your own unwanted clutter.
Once you have built your eBay store you can easily make a decent supplemental income. If you work hard, then it could become your main job!
Money-Making Apps
Most of us spend several hours a day on our smartphones using a variety of apps. Did you know that there are plenty of apps that pay you! That’s right, you can earn money from apps on your phone. Here is a selection of apps that pay to get started:
- Ibotta. Earn cashback in a variety of ways using the Ibotta app. You can earn by making purchases through the app, uploading receipts, and using linked store loyalty cards. Once you have earned enough simply cash out to your account. Easy!
- Acorns. For as little as $1 a month you can use the Acorns app to start an investment account. There is no minimum deposit needed to get started but like all investments, there is a risk of losing money.
- Sweatcoin. How would you like to get paid for simply walking around! Well, with Sweatcoin you can now earn for every step you take. Using your phone’s GPS and other sensors it can track your movements when you are outside. You are then paid in Sweatcoins that can be redeemed for rewards.
- Shopkick. Once you have downloaded the Shopkick app, then you can start making money in a variety of ways. Watch videos, scan the barcodes of selected products, walk into a partner store, purchase items using your card that is linked to Shopkick, buy items and upload the receipt, visit stores online or view specific products online, and make an online purchase through a Shopkick partner. Lots of ways to earn using Shopkick just for having the app on your phone.
- Foap. Do you take lots of photos and videos? If so, then Foap is worth downloading. On the Foap app, you can upload your photos and videos for brands or other users to purchase. You get paid 50% of the sale price. To earn more lookout for specific photo requests and complete those activities to increase your earnings.
When deciding which money-making app to use check how they pay you (such as cash or gift card) and how often, read online reviews of the app, and find out how easy to use the app is. Ultimately, you don’t want to waste time on an app that isn’t right for your circumstances.
Final Thoughts
You should now know some legit money making ideas. In no time at all, you could be earning $1000 a month to supplement your income.
In the long run, one of these ideas could replace your 9-5 day job and you can leave the office behind!