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200+ Ways to Make Money Online
It’s on. I present to you the most comprehensive list of ways to make money online…ever.
From freelancing to flipping, this list has it all. If you’ve ever wanted to quit your 9-5 desk job and start living the “laptop lifestyle” with an online business, here’s your guide.
Freelancing
I put freelance work first because it’s something you can start today with zero up-front investment. And if you take the time to move beyond writing — and master a specialized, in-demand skill — you can easily earn 5-figures per month. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that the freelance world is fiercely competitive. To give you an idea of just how competitive it is, there are over 138,000 contractors in the Writing and Translation category on one freelance site alone (Elance)! And with intense competition comes a bidding war where contractors tend to work for peanuts.
That being said, if you carve out a niche and deliver consistently stellar results for clients you’ll have a line of clients willing to hand you fistfuls of cash for your work and expertise.
Here are just a few of the most in-demand freelance positions:
Writing: Includes writing blog posts, articles, ebooks, print books, brochures, newsletters, booklets, white papers, special reports, package information, advertising copy, and press releases.
Graphic Design: Web design, print design, packaging, infographics, logos, vectors, corporate identity, videography and business card design.
Programming/Tech: WordPress, HTML5, PHP, Ruby on Rails, mobile apps, WordPress plugins, WordPress themes (yes, WordPress is dominating the web right now), ecommerce, Joomla and MySQL.
Translating: Hot languages at the moment include Chinese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese and Japanese. However, no matter what “other” language you speak, you can usually find work if you’re talented and experienced.
Internet Marketing: SEO, PPC account management, social media (especially YouTube and Pinterest), sales copywriting, website conversion optimization, sales, email marketing, powerpoint presentations, public relations, blogger outreach and guest posting services.
Administrative Support/Customer Service: Data entry, virtual assistance, customer service rep, web research, telephone customer service, accounting and transcription.
Make It Happen
- Elance: The most active and highly respected freelance site on the web. Competitive…but tends to have more high-paying online jobs than most other freelance boards. I make $5,000 per month freelance writing for clients on this site.
- Odesk: Elance’s chief competitor. Not a bad place to pimp your skills, but tends to have more 3rd world labor driving down prices.
- Text Broker: Strictly for writers. Good: steady stream of work. Bad: low pay.
- 99 Designs: If you can make your design stand out then you can probably rake it in at this site. Businesses post their design job, you provide the mockup, and they choose their favorite.
- Guru.com: Another popular freelance board.
- Fiverr: Everything here costs $5. A good place to make some extra cash if you can do something that makes you stand out (like a crazy video).
- Freelancer.com: Similar to Elance and Odesk with a focus on programming and design.
- Behance Jobs: Great place for talented designers to find high-paying work.
- Freelance Switch Job Boards: Not the most active place, but a good place to go if the others are dry.
- People Per Hour: Elance with a twist. Here you can post a list of “Hourlies”: pre-defined tasks that you’re willing to do for a set price.
Killer Resources:
Getting Started as a Freelancer: Awesome resource with links to this stellar site’s best articles. A must read for newbies.
My So-Called Freelance Life: How to Survive and Thrive as a Creative Professional for Hire [Book]: Top notch overview of dominating as a freelancer.
Creative, Inc.: The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business [Book]: Another great read to give you a leg up on your competitors.
Affiliate Marketing
Who says you need your own product to make money online? Top affiliate marketers like Pay Flynn and John Chow make enviable 6-figure incomes by recommending other people’s products. The great thing about affiliate marketing is that you can make money fairly quickly as there’s no need to become an expert or struggle with product development. Simply get your affiliate link in front of people interested in a product or service, and when they buy, you’ll get a commission on every sale.
It’s important to note that due to the low barrier to entry and ridiculous margins, affiliate marketing is quite competitive.
Make It Happen
- Clickbank.com: Easily the largest marketplace for digital goods on Earth. Super-reliable payments (they’ve paid out nearly 2 billion dollars to their publishers and affiliates over the last 10 years) and a wide selection of products in every niche make Clickbank the place to get your feet wet as an affiliate. Make up to 75% per sale.
- Commission Junction: Similar to Clickbank. Another good place to scope out products.
- Amazon Affiliate Program: This is the program that started it all. As an “Amazon Associate” your cut will be significantly less than Clickbank or CJ, but you can make bank promoting Amazon products. Depending on the volume you push to them, you can make up to 8.5% per sale.
- Ebay Partner Network: This program doesn’t get a lot of buzz, but it can be very lucrative in the right niches (high-tech, electronics, expensive collectibles etc.). Worth checking out.
- Bluehost Affiliate Program: Want to make $65 per sale? Then you may want to consider promoting this reliable web hosting provider.
- Hostgator Affiliate Program: Similar story as above. Make up to $125 commissions.
- Apple Affiliate Program: Bet you didn’t know that you can make a commission promoting iTunes, Apps and movies…and just about any digital product that Apple sells.
- Promote Things You Love: It’s much more rewarding to promote things that you actually use and enjoy. If there’s a product you love, see if there’s an affiliate program already set up. If not, many businesses are willing to set one up for people that can drive significant amounts of traffic.
Killer Resources:
Smart Passive Income Blog: Fantastic place to learn the right (aka honest) way to make a living as an affiliate.
Chris Guthrie’s Make Money On the Internet: Quality site that can help you learn the ins and outs of affiliate marketing.
Click Millionaires: Work Less, Live More with an Internet Business You Love [Book]: A good overview of creating a lifestyle-centered online business.
