Make Money Online With 20 Side Gigs Anyone Can Do

Today there are many ways to make extra money aside from holding a part-time job. Whether you take up small tasks like answering surveys or selling old clothes, or you start your own full-time business, the sky’s the limit.

I’ve found the top 20 ways to make money online, some that require little to no work, and others that require consistent dedication. I suggest finding a handful of ways to earn money from your house to diversify your income and accomplish your short and long-term financial goals.

Watch videos online

If you spend time watching movie trailers or other entertaining videos, you could get rewarded for your efforts. Swagbucks allows you to earn points by

• Watching videos
• Completing survey
• Surfing the web
• Shopping online
• Playing video games

You can redeem your points (they call them Swagbucks) for gift cards to your favorite retailers or cash via PayPal. Each day, Swagbucks members redeem 7,000 gift cards they earned for simple online tasks. They also pay a $10 signup bonus.

I suggest diversifying your efforts on Swagbucks to increase the number of points you earn, as each task, including watching videos, pays only a few points at a time, but with regular participation, your earnings can add up.

Read our full Swagbucks review.

Get Paid to Go Online

Swagbucks Benefits

• Get a $5 bonus when you earn 2,500 Swagbucks in the first 60 days of opening your account
• Earn gift cards for surfing the web and taking fun surveys
• Over $200,000,000 paid out to members so far! That's 7,000 gift cards each day
• Earn free gift cards to your favorite stores - Amazon, Target, Walmart, and more

Visit Swagbucks

Take surveys

The best survey sites offer various surveys so you can share your opinion about what matters most to you. Brands pay survey sites for customer insights and pass some of the cash to survey takers. You won’t make much money answering surveys, but the extra cash adds up if you spend a little time each day completing them.

One of my favorite survey sites for making money online is Survey Junkie, a well-reviewed online survey site that allows you to earn gift cards and cash by completing surveys in your own time or participating in focus groups. (Read our full Survey Junkie review.) You can also earn money by sharing your browsing data with SJ Pulse, a browser extension that lets you share your online behaviors for market research purposes. Since you likely already surf the internet, this can be a great passive income stream.

Other survey sites include:

• Branded Surveys
• InboxDollars
• MyPoints

You don’t need specific qualifications to sign up for any of the above survey sites; however, each brand needs a specific demographic for individual surveys, so it can take a while to find a survey that requires your demographics.

Like watching videos, answering surveys doesn’t pay a lot of money, usually $1 - $3 per survey. However, since they usually take 15 minutes or less, you can complete several surveys within an hour, increasing your hourly earnings to $4 to $12.

Earn Cash Taking Surveys

SurveyJunkie Benefits

• Over $55,000 paid to members daily
• Earn up to $130 a month taking 4 or more surveys daily
• $76 million paid out to date
• 20M+ lifetime members and BBB accreditation

Sign up today

Teach English online

If you enjoy working with children, you could create your own schedule teaching English from the comfort of your home.

The good news is that you don’t necessarily need to know another language. To teach with VIPKid, you need:

• A bachelor’s degree
• Work authorization
• The right technology
• A couple years experience in teaching, coaching, tutoring, or mentoring

VIPKid designs the curriculum for you, so you don’t have to do any work outside of the hours you teach. According to VIPKid, the base rate for each 25-minute class is $7 to $9, which means you could potentially earn $14 to $18 per hour plus potential incentives.

Launch your own online store

Whether you’re a creative artist wondering how to make money from your work or just a savvy entrepreneur looking to develop a partially passive income stream, launching an online store could be potentially lucrative.

Here are a few ways:

• Start an Etsy shop to sell your products
• Create subscription boxes using Cratejoy
• Sell products or becoming a dropshipper using Shopify
• Sell products using Amazon FBA using JungleScout to determine the best products to sell

How much you earn selling items in an online store varies depending on the items you sell, how well you market your products, and the overall demand. Depending on your level of commitment, you can make as little as a few dollars to several thousand dollars.

Resell popular items

I love this method of earning money online because it combines your passion for shopping with the ability to make income.

When you resell items, you purchase them at a discount and sell them for a profit. This method takes some work because you must know which categories and items are the hottest and will sell the best.

For example, you might purchase vintage Levi’s jeans from thrift stores and resell them on eBay, or you might invest in sneakers, which can be a surprisingly lucrative resale trade on sites like Poshmark, Flight Club, or StockX.

How much money you make reselling items depends on how often you sell items, what you sell, and the current demand. Like anything else, you could make a few or several thousand dollars if you’re committed to selling popular, high-value items.

Become a blogger

Blogging has always intrigued me because you can make money doing it in several ways. But it all starts with a large following, so it’s a good fit for anyone with a large social media following or who knows an underserved market where they could provide valuable information that solves their pain points.

To make money blogging, you can use:

• Affiliate marketing: If you add affiliate links to relevant products in your blog and your readers click through to purchase, you’ll earn a commission. ShopStyle Collective is one platform you can use to build affiliate links.
• Targeted advertisements: Use Google AdSense to earn money by placing targeted advertisements on your site.

You’ll likely also need to work on search engine optimization (SEO) to attract more valuable readers to your blog. This can include using keywords to capture a search query or beefing up your content with external links to trustworthy websites.

Bloggers earn an average of $30 an hour, but their actual earnings will vary depending on their chosen niche, the size of their audience, and the frequency with which they post blogs.

Start your own YouTube channel

Starting a YouTube channel is similar to blogging, but in video form. Just like bloggers, you need a large following and a great reputation to make your YouTube channel profitable.

The average YouTuber earns $0.01 to $0.03 per ad view, which comes out to $10 to $30 per 1,000 ad views. But don’t be fooled, it takes a long time to get to that point as there’s a lot of competition on YouTube.

The key is to find an underserved niche and capitalize on their desire for content. Other ways include:

• Selling your own products, such as T-shirts you designed for your channel
• Work directly with companies to offer sponsored posts
• Supplement your YouTube channel with Patreon or a crowdfunding site to get money from your fans

Read our full Patreon review.

Sell your stuff

Selling stuff you have lying around your house is one of my favorite ways to make money fast. Whether you have clothes, household goods, or electronics, there are many ways to sell items online:

• List items locally using sites like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace
• List valuable items on eBay in an auction style sale
• Sell designer purses on The RealReal
• Sell used books on BookScouter
• Sell designer clothes and accessories on Poshmark

Create a podcast

Creating a podcast is similar to blogging or creating a YouTube channel, except it’s only audio content. Like blogging and vlogging, you must find a topic with a large following to focus on.

To increase the excitement of your podcast, consider inviting expert guests to join an episode. You can use a tool like Anchor to build and distribute your podcast to different listening channels. As you grow your following, you can ask listeners to sponsor you or donate, or you can monetize your podcast with affiliate links.

To start, podcast hosts make an average of $16 an hour, but if you are consistent in your efforts and build a large audience, you may increase your earnings.

Publish your own book

I love that anyone can be an author today using Kindle Direct Publishing. After writing your book, it takes just a few minutes to get set up on KDP. Your book will appear on Kindle stores worldwide within 48 hours.

I must mention that publishing a book isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme. You may start off making less than $100 a month because writing something people want to read takes time and effort.

However, if you’re already writing passionately about a particular topic, you don’t have to wait for an offer from a publisher to start making money. Once your book is complete, you can publish it yourself right away for free.

The best part is that once it’s published, you could potentially start earning passive income on work you’ve already done!

Test websites and products

If you love trying new products or helping companies with websites, you can get paid to test products. Brands look for insights from consumers like you to improve the quality of their products and services.

One way to earn money from providing your feedback is to apply to be a UserTesting contributor. The pay isn’t tremendous and may only be $4 - $10 for a product test, but the pay adds up, especially if you combine it with other methods.

Do data entry in your spare time

Consider data entry if you’re looking for something brainless to do in your free time. Many companies hire remote data entry clerks to handle their data entry from home. There are also several freelance platforms that can connect you with small data entry projects, including:

• Amazon Mechanical Turk
• Clickworker
• Microworkers

The average freelance data entry worker earns $19 an hour, but your pay can be higher or lower, depending on your experience.

Be a freelance writer

If you have a way with words, chances are there are business owners who could use your skills with website content, blogs, and advertising materials. While you can advertise your services directly to local or online businesses, you can also tap into the freelance platform networks to connect with the right audience, including:

• Upwork
• Fiverr

The key is to determine what categories you have the most knowledge about and advertise yourself as a professional in the niche. You can set your own rates on these sites, so I suggest doing some research to see what others in your industry charge so you remain competitive.

The average freelance writer earns $23 an hour, but you can make more or less, depending on the industry and businesses you connect with.

Manage someone else’s social media

Not everyone is social media savvy, so if you’re a LinkedIn expert or you excel at Instagram, you may be able to manage a business’s social media accounts. The key to success is creating a portfolio of work you’ve done before, whether at school, as an internship, or paid opportunity.

You want to show potential clients what you can do for them.

You can find social media marketing contract work on regular job sites, or you might need to advertise your services on a freelance platform like Fiverr.

The average pay is $31 an hour, and most jobs pay for a couple of hours a week. So, one client won’t make for a full-time job, but if you grab more clients, you could increase your earnings.

Who knows? You might even help create the next top Instagram celebrity. Often, the best way to start is by growing your following on a social media account you own.

Become a virtual assistant

I love the option to be a virtual assistant because there are so many things you can do and make an average of $24 an hour. For example, you could get paid to do any of the following:

• Manage email accounts
• Arrange travel plans
• Set up appointments
• Design websites
• Manage blog content
• Manage social media accounts

Offering a range of services is generally a good idea, but you may want to focus on a particular industry or type of client with which you already have experience to help you stand out.

There are several websites you can use to find work as a virtual assistant, including:

• PeoplePerHour
• Fiverr
• Upwork

You can also apply to work for Zirtual, a company that connects its virtual assistants with a range of clients.

As with any service as a side hustle, customer reviews are the key to getting more clients, so set up a website that showcases the people who are happy with your work.

Create an online course

If you’re knowledgeable about a topic or skill, particularly if you have advanced training, you can earn money by selling an online course.

Designing a curriculum, tutorials, and other materials for students can take a lot of work, but once your course is published, it could become a passive income stream. On average, course creators make $40 an hour, which becomes passive income when you sell the course you created once.

You can use several online platforms to sell your course, and although most will take a percentage of your earnings, you could potentially attract more students and get support with payments. Check out the following:

• Teachable
• Thinkific
• Kajabi

Do graphic design work on the side

Not everyone has an eye for design, and many business owners need graphic design work. Whether you have a full-time job as a designer or have developed a portfolio from design projects you’ve done as a freelancer, you can showcase your previous work to get side gigs.

You can find jobs from companies directly or advertise your services on a talent marketplace like Fiverr and wait for clients to come to you.

With Fiverr, you create gigs or gig packages of services that you can provide for a set fee or rate. Just remember that Fiverr takes 20% of your earnings, so set your prices accordingly. If you’re just starting, look at what other entry-level designers charge on the platform and try to stay competitive.

Freelance graphic designers make an average of $35 an hour, so it’s not an opportunity to overlook if you have the skills.

Earn cash back and gift cards shopping online

One of my absolute favorite ways to make money online is to earn extra cash for shopping. All you have to do is use one of the best cashback credit cards and combine it with one of the best money saving apps.

The sky’s the limit with the amount of cash back or gift cards you earn when shopping. Here are a few quick examples:

• Apply for the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express to get generous cashback on groceries each year and link your grocery store loyalty card to your Ibotta account and search for offers before you shop
• Apply for the Citi Double Cash® Card to get 2% back on your purchases (1% when you purchase and 1% when you pay it off) and stack that with cash back from Ibotta, Rakuten, or another site.

Rent out space in your home

If you have an extra bedroom, a sofa, a basement, a treehouse, or even a garage, you can rent it out for a decent sum of money. This is especially true if you live in a popular area.

Airbnb is one of the most popular ways to rent out space in your home, and it can be one of the most lucrative gig jobs in the sharing economy. It's not out of the question to make $100 a day or more and it’s free to set up a listing.

As with all the best side hustles, you can set your own availability and rates for your space and even establish your own house rules for guests. Airbnb typically takes a 3% service fee once someone books a reservation for your listing.

Don’t have living space to rent out? Don’t give up, if you have any of the following, you can rent space on Neighbor:

• Garage
• Basement
• Attic
• Crawlspace
• Parking spot

People who need space for everything from business inventory to an RV turn to Neighbor for affordable storage. You set your own availability and determine how renters access your space. Neighbor covers you and your renters with insurance. Neighbor will even pay you if your renter fails to pay.

Launch your own newsletter

If you have an idea for an email newsletter that you think people might regularly read, there are several ways to monetize one, especially if you already have a following. Here are some ideas:

• Include links to your own products, services, books, or online courses
• Include affiliate links and earn commission from clicks and purchases
• Link to your blog or YouTube channel that earns advertising revenue
• Work with advertisers to include sponsored content
• Ask your subscribers to contribute a small monthly donation with Patreon

Do offline tasks on your own terms

If you are more hands-on, you can do in-person tasks like building furniture or cleaning homes. But there are still online tools to help you get business, including:

• HomeAdvisor
• TaskRabbit

These sites allow you to market a variety of services, create your own schedule, and easily get paid for services rendered.

Whether you know how to paint houses, do landscaping, or provide photography or music for events, getting customers is one of the hardest aspects of growing a business. Taking advantage of sites that will bring you leads could make sense, even if you have to pay for them.

FAQ

The bottom line

Whether you’re looking to earn some extra cash for a night out or grow your income to pay for your child’s college education, there are online tools you can use to reach your goals. With just an internet connection and a little hard work, you could end up with a part-time side gig that provides you with some extra money on the weekends or a full-time job that you’re passionate about. I suggest that you start small, build on your success, and don’t put limits on what you can achieve from your couch.

Earn Cash Taking Surveys

SurveyJunkie Benefits

• Over $55,000 paid to members daily
• Earn up to $130 a month taking 4 or more surveys daily
• $76 million paid out to date
• 20M+ lifetime members and BBB accreditation

Sign up today