How to Make Money with Online Jobs
Whether you’re tight for cash or just looking to have a little extra to set aside, there are a host of ways to make money. Possibly the easiest, most intuitive ways to do so is to monetize the time you spend online.
That’s not to say it won’t require some hard work and effort (of course) — which is why we’ve researched the best platforms and resources for making money with online jobs to help you get started.
Simple Online Jobs
These four simple online jobs are a great way to get started on monetizing your browsing time. They don’t require much time or effort, and will quickly put some extra cash in your pocket.
Do bear in mind that you’re not going to make a livable income using these resources, but they will definitely supplement your salary. However, if you’re able to sign up and earn money on all seven resources in this section, you can expect to make around $4,500/year!
1. Survey Taker
If you’ve ever spent your free time completing quizzes on sites like BuzzFeed, then you know how quick, easy, and even fun taking surveys can be. After all, the concept is very simple: you’re presented with a series of questions and given a selection of answers to choose from.
The crucial difference? You can get paid to complete surveys with these two websites.
Survey Junkie
Survey Junkie is quite possibly the most popular paid-surveys platform available online. Signing up on the website is incredibly quick, and you can choose to do so using your email, Google account, or even your Facebook credentials.
Points can be redeemed for giftcards or as a PayPal deposit, at 100 points/$1. In general, you can expect to make about $3/hour. If you spend an hour of your free time every day earning points on Survey Junkie, you’ll have made an extra $1,095/year!
Swagbucks
Swagbucks is another great platform for getting paid to complete surveys and other simple tasks. You also get $5 welcoming credit just for joining!
The system works on points they call SB, which has an approximate value of $0.0068. Swagbucks allows you to choose between redeeming your SB as giftcards or as cash in your PayPal account. You can easily earn between 40-100 SB per survey, which usually takes 3-20 minutes each. That means you can expect to earn an extra $744.60/year just for spending an hour a day doing surveys.
2. Surf the Web
The average American tends to spend 24 hours surfing the web every week. Now wouldn’t it be great if you could get paid for that time without having to put in any (or much) extra effort?
Luck is on your side – there are companies who will reward you in cash payouts for doing just that.
InboxDollars
There are several ways to earn money with InboxDollars, including their neat $5 joining bonus. But their most exciting feature is the InboxDollars toolbar, which allows you to earn money while you surf the web. They’ll even pay you $1 just for downloading it!
Using the toolbar pays $0.01/search, with a maximum of five paid searches a day. You need a minimum of $30 to withdraw, but if you also spend an hour either watching videos or doing InboxDollars surveys, you can boost your earnings up to $383.25/year total.
3. Product Tester
As crazy as it may seem, you can actually get paid to test products from the comfort of your own home. Sometimes it’s an online service, but other times the company ships a physical product to you. Not only can you earn money being a product tester, but you often get to keep the product or service without being charged for it. All they want in return is an honest review.
You can sign-up as a product tester on both of these sites to maximize your earnings.
Alba Science
Alba Science trials are posted on the website, but registered testers will also receive emails notifying them of new opportunities to apply for. If your details match the trial criteria, you’ll be sent the product for testing. Alba Science deals mostly with toiletries and cosmetics.
They don’t always pay product testers, but some trials offer $30-150. Depending on how many paid trials you qualify for in a year, you can expect to earn up to $300/year (just over $380 at current exchange rate). The company is UK-based, but US citizens are also able to register.
My Mothercare
My Mothercare generally releases new product trails on a weekly basis, which they announce on their Facebook page. Successful applicants will get the chance to review (and keep) new baby products from major brands such as Avent, Chicco, and Fisher-Price.
While the company is also UK-based, they accept applicants from a number of countries, including the US. They don’t usually pay product testers, but you’ll enjoy Mothercare discounts and can always sell products you don’t want to keep after the trial period. You can easily make upwards of $500/year (just over $640 at current exchange rate).
4. Test Apps and Websites
Websites and apps need to be user-friendly in order to attract traffic and users, which in turn translates to income. App developers and website owners usually hire UX specialists to design user-friendly interfaces, but they also pay to have users test their platforms and provide valuable feedback.
If getting paid to browse sites, test apps, and respond with insight sounds appealing to you, then you’ll benefit from signing up on these two platforms.
UserTesting
UserTesting is the biggest name in the game. Register with your email address, then download and install the dashboard app before taking a sample test. This consists of letting them record your screen as you complete tasks searching for information on a website and providing verbal feedback. Actual tests follow the same format.
Not all applicants are accepted, but if you meet their standards you’ll receive dashboard notifications whenever a test becomes available. UserTesting typically pays $10-15 for just 20 minutes of work. Depending on how many sites you review, you can easily make at least $780/year.
UserTest
UserTest may not be as big as UserTesting, but they do release payments faster than any of their competitors – typically within two days, directly to your PayPal. The registration process is almost identical to UserTesting. All you need to do is enter an email address and download the necessary software to record and submit a 5-minute sample review. Once qualified, you’ll start receiving paid tests.
Testing a site or app and providing feedback usually takes 20 minutes, and UserTest pays a flat rate of $10 per test. Even if you’re only eligible for a test once a week, you’ll earn $520/year minimum.
Create Your Own Online Job
If you have an entrepreneurial spirit and are looking for ways to create your own online job, these seven ideas are exactly what you need. It’s unlikely you’ll be able to use all ten resources at once, but by stacking some of these opportunities you could make as much as $440,000/year or more.
5. Start Blogging for Money
One of the best ways to earn money by creating your own online job is to start blogging. It takes hard work and dedication – and will take at least 3-6 months before you start earning a decent part-time income (1-2 years for a livable full-time income) – but it’s also completely worth it.
Better yet: with a variety of ways to monetize your blog, there’s virtually no limit on how much you can make. While you’ll probably start out at around $1,280/year, by your third year you should be making anywhere between $12,000-120,000/year, if not more.
BlueHost
Before you can start thinking about making money as a blogger, you’ll need a blog. And to have a blog, you’ll need a website.
That’s where web hosting services like BlueHost come in. Not only do they manage the server your blog will reside on, but they make it easy to install and set up your blog via WordPress.
If you opt for BlueHost’s special $2.95/month, you’ll also benefit from a free domain name and SSL (encryption security). This is a great option for starting out, and you can always upgrade to a bigger package at a later stage.
6. Affiliate Marketing
One of the easiest ways to make money through your blog is affiliate marketing.
By participating in an affiliate program that partners with retailers and/or service providers, you’ll earn commission by promoting products or websites in your posts. Every time your referral link leads to a sale for your affiliate partner, they’ll pay you an agreed-upon cut of their profits.
Affiliate marketing isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme: as your blog grows in popularity, your potential income will grow too. These two affiliate network companies will help you on your way to becoming a successful affiliate marketer.
GiddyUp
As one of the fastest growing marketing companies in the US, GiddyUp is known for working with the most innovative brands – including the Dollar Beard Club, TrackR, and Food Huggers. If you’re operating in an obscure or highly specific niche, then GiddyUp will be particularly attractive to you.
GiddyUp gives affiliates the option of weekly Net 5 payments, but to keep transaction fees down you can also request payment on a monthly basis. While it’s difficult to accurately predict how much you’ll earn, you can generally expect to earn an average between $221 and $328/day in one year.
ShareASale
ShareASale is one of the most trusted major affiliate networks worldwide, having been in the business since 2000. With a base of nearly 4,000 merchants ranging over various product categories, users will enjoy a lot of options in choosing what to feature on their blog.
As is always the case with affiliate marketing, it’s difficult to accurately estimate potential earnings. ShareASale commissions range from 5% to over 50%, making the math a little more complicated. But once again, you can bank on averaging between $221 and $328/day over the timespan of a year.
7. Web Design Services
Web designing services have become a popular side hustle for those looking to make money while working on creative projects – outside of their normal work hours. Over time, as your portfolio, skills, and reputation grow, you may even be able to make it your full-time career. It’s an attractive opportunity, as there’s very little starting cost and it grants you an enviable level of flexibility.
Once you’re established, you can realistically charge $300 to $900/per website. Depending on your number of clients, working part-time could earn you up to $10,000/month.
SkillShare
If you have no previous experience or training in web design, development, or coding, don’t worry! Many of your clients will have hired a web developer or be using a website builder such as WordPress, which makes your job as a designer that much simpler.
Nevertheless, it’s always good to build up your skills, especially as a beginner. SkillShare has a wide selection of web design courses available, ranging from less than 15 minutes long to over an hour. Some are free, while others are only available with SkillShare Premium ($15/month or $99/year) (an investment worth considering for some).
8. Build an e-Commerce Site
Building an e-commerce site can be an incredibly profitable way to make money with your own online business. With everybody heading online to buy anything and everything from books to clothes to groceries, it’s no wonder that e-commerce is considered the fastest growing retail market.
You can sell your own products and/or drop ship (selling goods via direct delivery from the manufacturer to a retailer or individual customers). Drop shipping can be a lucrative market, with potential profits between $26,000 and $62,400/year.
Shopify
Regardless of whether you’re selling your own product or drop shipping, you’re going to need an e-commerce site. While it’s entirely plausible to do so with regular website builders and appropriate plug-ins, it’s so much easier (and cheaper) to use Shopify instead.
When starting your e-commerce business, Basic Shopify ($29/month) will be the perfect package. You can enjoy a hands-off approach guaranteed to result in a highly optimized ecommerce site, ease-of-use, and relatively low running costs (with reliable 24-hour support). As your business grows, you can easily upgrade to the $79/month package for extended features.
AliExpress
If you’re going to go the drop shipping route, you will need a reliable marketplace to source products at a reasonable enough price to resell. Enter AliExpress.
Based in China, many of the suppliers you’ll find operating on the platform are familiar with the drop shipping model and can be relied upon to deliver. Most refrain from adding invoices or promotions to the packages they ship to your customers. If you want to be on the safe side, you can always ask them not to include such materials and they’ll happily comply.
9. Buy an Existing Business
Starting a business can be a lot of hard work. And while buying an existing business and focusing on development is also hard work, doing so does eliminate a lot of the groundwork. If this sounds like an appealing notion, then you’ll be happy to learn of online marketplaces dedicated to selling and purchasing businesses.
It’s impossible to accurately estimate how much money you’ll be able to make buying an existing business, as there are too many variables to consider. However, the average small business owner makes $73,000/year.
BizBuySell
BizBuySell is the biggest marketplace for selling established businesses, with over 45,000 businesses listed for sale.
You can sign-up to become a BizBuySell member, free of charge. Once signed in, conduct a search by selecting category, location, price range, cash flow, and more. It’s also possible to fill out some of these fields and leave others blank. You can even leave all of them blank and select “All US States” as your location if you prefer.
BizBuySell also offers a free ebook: Guide to Buying a Small Business.
10. Buy a Successful Blog
Buying a successful blog has been compared to buying rental property. You’ll pay 10-15 times the yearly revenue for rental property, and 18-24 times the monthly income of a blog.
This means it can take two years to completely recover your expenses when you buy a successful blog. Your advantage is that you can start off with $12,000-$120,000/year, rather than starting from scratch at $1,280/year. If this sounds like an investment opportunity you’d be interested in, we have two resources to help you find successful blogs for sale.
Flippa
Flippa is the number one marketplace for buying online businesses (including blogs). Registration is as quick and easy as entering your name, email, country, and a contact number.
You’ll be able to choose from a number of business models. It’s a good idea to know in advance what business model you’re interested in buying into. Next, you’ll be able to filter results according to the asking price range. Flippa also displays the average monthly revenue for comparison, so you know how long it’ll take the business to pay for its purchase.
Projected revenue typically ranges from $200-$600,000/month.
Empire Flippers
Empire Flippers may not be as big as Flippa, but that’s largely because they have much stricter set of requirements for sites to be listed for sale on their platform. You can be guaranteed that any website you find on Empire Flippers will be at least a few years old and have an established revenue stream. All relevant documentation is facilitated by Empire Flippers to be available for interested buyers.
You can expect to find websites with a revenue of $30,000 – $300,000/month listed on the marketplace.
11. Create a YouTube Channel
There are a plethora of ways to make money by creating a YouTube channel. Sign up for an AdSense account and generate $2 per 1,000 views through advertising revenue when viewers click on and/or watch ads linked to your content.
Take advantage of YouTube being the second-biggest search platform by directing traffic to your monetized blog/e-commerce site, and/or affiliate links. Once your YouTube channel is drawing enough attention, you might even be able to attract sponsors!
You could earn $80,670/year just through AdSense and affiliate links with a YouTube Channel.
Creator Academy
Unfortunately, starting a YouTube channel isn’t exactly a walk in the park. There are a lot of things to consider: brand, content, format, how to upload, how to market your channel, how YouTube deals with copyright issues, etc.
Who better to teach you how to successfully create and promote your YouTube channel than YouTube? After all, the more views you’re generating on their platform, the more income they generate too. That’s why YouTube developed the Creators Academy. Simply sign in using your YouTube account, browse the catalogue, and get learning free of charge!
Online Jobs for Writers
Getting paid to write and/or edit is by no means easy or a get-rich-quick scheme. It takes hard work and dedication. But if you’re good at what you do and can market yourself well, you can easily take it from being a part-time passion to a full-time career.
In this section, we’ve put together four lucrative options with nine resources to help get you started. Depending on how much time and effort you put in (and how many of these resources you take advantage of), you could conceivably make $117,000/year or more.
12. Freelance Writer
Not every writer is going to land a permanent gig working for an agency or site. And some don’t want to, even if they can. Becoming a freelance writer is the perfect solution. For the most part, you get to set your own schedule and price, and generally have the freedom to specialize in a particular niche or diversify as much as you want to.
If this sounds like the job for you, these three resources will help you make the most of your freelance writing career.
Earn More Writing
Whether you’re a beginner, a blogger looking to branch out into paid writing jobs, or even an established writer having trouble finding paying gigs, Earn More Writing is what you’ve been looking for.
With a free workshop designed to help writers like you build your passion into a six-figure career, Earn More Writing offers everything you need to get your foot in the door, improve your efficiency, get paid what you’re worth as a writer, and more. No matter your skill set, this workshop is a great tool to have in your arsenal.
ProBlogger
ProBlogger is another fantastic resource for freelance writers. The blog is jam packed full of helpful articles with advice and in-depth tutorials and tips for bloggers, as well as a podcast showcasing real-life success stories that you can learn from as a writer. They even offer courses and workshops, and have a jobs posting board where you can find and apply for writing jobs.
It’s most certainly worth keeping ProBlogger bookmarked in your browser and signing up for their weekly newsletter to keep up to date.
Upwork
As the world’s top freelancing website, you’ll be able to browse through thousands of writing jobs on Upwork. And as you build your experience, you’ll also be able to negotiate your own rates.
It’s certainly possible to make $5,000/month once you’ve established yourself as a freelance writer on the platform and found the right clients. Your portfolio and success rate are going to be your biggest friends in building up to this point. Just be aware that the site does charge a sliding commission fee.
13. Freelance Resume Writer
You may not have realized it before, but becoming a freelance resume writer can open a lot of opportunities for monetizing your skill with words. Whether you start your own business via your blog or site or couple that with working for a resume company that hires freelancers, it can be a rewarding career path or side hustle.
As a part-time source of income, you can make between $6,000 and $30,000/year doing freelance resume writing.
Fiverr
Fiverr is a great platform to use as a freelance resume writer. You can sign up free of charge and post a gig to offer your services. Fiverr has a Gig Packaging option to let you offer three-tiered listings with a price range between $5 and $995.
For example, you can post a resume writing gig with an option for Student Package $20/page, Medium Package $100/page, and Professional Package $150/page – or whatever you choose to charge.
You’ll be paid instantly upon job completion every time, minus Fiverr’s 20% commission fee.
14. Resume Writer
You can take your resume writing skills and build it far beyond the scope of a part-time income. In fact, some freelance resume writers go on to work remotely on a full-time basis for agencies they’ve previously done work for. Others step up their freelance game by turning it full-time while still working for an array of clients.
According to Fiverr’s PR firm, one part-time resume writer on the platform has earned $320,000/year now that she’s full-time.
Skillshare
$320,000/year as a resume writer sounds great, but to get there you’ll need to hone your skills. And once again, Skillshare comes to the rescue with a wide range of related online courses and workshops.
You can sign up for a free Skillshare profile to access selected courses. If you make a $15/month or $99/year investment in Skillshare Premium, you’ll be able to take many more. Skillshare has also partnered with VTX Capital, who has a banner on the top of the Skillshare website that gives you free access to Skillshare Premium for two months.
15. Freelance Editor
Some “word-nerds” are more interested in helping others clean up their writing than in creating content themselves. If you’re one of them, or even if you’re looking to supplement your writing income, you can become a freelance editor.
We have two great platforms for getting work as an online freelance editor, as well as a site for honing your skills as an editor and proofreader. It’s not a get-rich-quick solution, but you can make anywhere between $8,200-$27,300/year to supplement your other income.
Proofread Anywhere
Caitlyn Pyle has been a professional proofreader since 2007, and decided to introduce the Proofread Anywhere website to help others build a successful career by doing the same.
Not only will you find a section full of how-to posts and resources, but also a Productivity and Mindset section with more motivational resources. Caitlyn and her team have also written several resource guides, which are available through the site for a very reasonable price.
Demand Media Studios
Demand Media Studios, a subsidiary of Leaf Group, is a major content provider that relies on over 10,000 freelancers to help populate the internet. More than 4,000 posts are produced on a daily basis by Demand Media Studios writers.
Naturally, they want to make sure that all of their content is up to standard, which is why Demand Media Studios also has a huge team of freelance copy editors. You’ll need to take a look at their freelance positions via FlexJobs in order to apply. Expect to earn a maximum of $24,000/year.
Domainite
Domainite is a similar company always on the look-out for new editors to fine-tune their writers’ content. You’ll get to choose your own schedule while working on clients’ blog posts and articles.
To apply, simply visit the editing sample page. Domainite editors earn $0.25/100 words, which can translate to about $8,200/year at a rate of 12,000 words/day working part-time. If you’re able to go full-time, or work faster, at a rate of 30,000 words/day, you could earn about $27,300/year.
Proofread Anywhere FREE Workshop
Remember Proofread Anywhere from earlier? Well, they don’t just have resources in the form of posts and ebooks – they also offer a host of proofreading courses to help you get accredited.
These courses are very in-depth, but also fairly costly. They’re no more expensive than most, but if you’re a beginner, $597 can be a hefty investment. Luckily, you can also get started with the free introductory workshop. This also provides you with their Work at Home Survival Guide, also free of charge!
Online Jobs for Educators
Let’s face it – getting up at 5am after spending half your night marking tests and preparing lessons isn’t for everyone. Being a teacher comes with its many rewards, but the challenges that come with it can be draining for even the most passionate.
If you’re an educator looking to work from home, or even if you’re retired and want to continue with your passion for teaching, online jobs for educators will be right up your alley. There are several different approaches you can take, and if you’re able to follow more than one at the same time, you could conceivably earn $316,260-$524,200/year.
16. Tutor
Becoming an online tutor comes with its own range of opportunities. The most popular options are to tutor English as a foreign language, or to tutor students going through the K-12 schooling system.
We’ve found the four best sites to work through as an online tutor; giving you the chance to earn between $15,660 and $43,000/year.
VIPKID
VIPKID offers English tutoring for Chinese students. You’ll be able to connect with them on a 1-on-1 basis from the comfort of your own home using the VIPKID lesson plans, which are based on the US Common Core State Standards. You’ll have the freedom to choose your own hours and skip lessons if you see your student is progressing fast enough.
It’s free to sign up as a tutor on VIPKID, and you can earn $14-22/hour. This can easily translate to $21,924-$34,452/year (six hours a day for 261 days a year).
Brainfuse
If you have prior experience as a tutor or educator, a Master’s Degree (or higher), and live in the US, you can apply to become a tutor on Brainfuse. Simply send your resume to [email protected] and if successful, they’ll reply with a registration code for you to continue your application. You’ll be interviewed and have to submit biometrics for a background check.
Brainfuse allows you to tutor K-12 and Higher Ed students alike. The platform pays $10-12/hour, which can become $15,660-$18,792/year (six hours daily for 261 days a year).
K12
Parents with children undergoing the K-12 schooling system often go online for help with their child’s education. That’s why K12 offers online public tutoring, online private tutoring, and even the ability for parents to buy individual courses to supplement homeschooling curricula.
As a K12 virtual tutor, you’ll teach one particular subject or course. You can view all the available positions and apply on their job board. K12 pays their virtual teachers between $32,000 and $43,000/year depending on experience and subject.
Cambly
Cambly allows students from all over the world to learn English from native speakers. There are a host of tools to make the learning process easier for students and tutors alike – and they accept applications from all countries too. Their only requirement is that you speak English at a native level.
Simply login and Cambly will automatically track call times while you tutor. Payment is calculated at $0.17/minute ($10.20/hour) and is paid weekly via PayPal. If you’re able to tutor for six hours a day, 261 days a year, this translates to $15,732/year.
17. Online Gigs for Teachers
Online gigs for teachers can be a lot like working as a freelance writer or editor, as they’re short, one-time jobs that help education companies fill temporary gaps or supplement their regular course material, presentations, etc. More often than not, gigs are posted by companies looking for an educator to help them complete a project.
The pay can be substantial on a per-project basis, but don’t expect to make online gigging your full-time job. Gigs tend to pop up every couple of months, consisting of an hour or two of work.
GigEd
GigEd is the platform to use if you’re interested in earning money doing online gigs. All you need to do is build a profile with your list of skills, which can include things like coding, blogging, and photography. Educational companies post job listings for gigs, and GigEd’s matchmaker will notify you of any you’re eligible for.
While the pay can be substantial for completing individual gigs, bear in mind that gigs can be scarce. You’ll typically be matched with a gig once every two months on average, meaning you might only earn $600-$1,200/year.
TeacherEd
TeacherEd is a good resource to have, especially if you’re looking to move up on the pay scale with clock hours or need to renew certificates. Built by teachers, for teachers, TeacherEd offers cheap online courses to help US-based educators meet state requirements, such as Teacher Clock Hours, Continuing Professional Development Units, and Continuing Education Units.
They recently started relaunching their courses, so check their page regularly to see what’s new. At the moment, their Self-Designed Continuing Education Course is available for $8/course hour.
18. Create a Course
Have you considered creating an online course that you can sell access to? Doing so helps generate a relatively passive income. As an educator, you’ll have an advantage over many others who are doing so, as you’ll have experience teaching and be better prepared to develop a course. And with the right resources, you’ll find it just as easy to record, upload, and market.
This is by far the best opportunity for making a stable — if not above average — income as an online educator, but you’ll need to dedicate a lot of time to make it work.
Teachable
Teachable is the best resource for creating online courses, as their easy-to-use interface does the heavy-lifting for you. Simply sign up, and with a few clicks you’ll have a fully functional virtual school with all the tools you need. You can choose between the Basic ($39/month plus 5% transaction fees), Professional ($99/month), and Business ($499/month) plans.
Potential earnings will vary according to the number of courses you create, your pricing, and how many people buy your course. But if you market yourself accordingly, you can potentially make between $300,000 and $480,000/year.
Online Jobs for College Students
Being a student can cost a lot of money: student loans, accommodation, textbooks, gas money, food – and of course, you want to live a little, right? If you’re not having any luck getting part-time work doing pizza deliveries or bartending/waitressing – or if you want to earn a little extra while doing those jobs — be sure to read the next section where we cover the best online jobs for college students.
You might not pay off your student loans with these, but you’ll definitely be able to upgrade from Instant Ramen to (potentially) $73,300/year.
19. Sell Your Phone Pictures
Chances are, you’re taking a lot of pictures and sharing them on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and other social media sites. If you notice you’re getting a lot of attention doing so and people are saying you have a real eye for detail, you’ll be glad to know you can monetize that skill.
Foap
You don’t need a big fancy camera to make money selling your photos to stock companies. Foap allows you to do so with pictures and videos you’ve taken on your phone! All you need to do is sign up on their website or download the Foap iOS or Android app and start uploading.
While it’s free to join, Foap does take 50% commission. Still, $5/image sold isn’t bad. And with missions, you can significantly boost your earnings, though you won’t be able to resell winning missions images.
Overall you can potentially earn anywhere between $120-$4,000/year.
20. Help Job Searchers
Another great way to make extra cash as a student is to help job searchers find work – and help employers get job applications.
Indeed’s Job Spotter App
To get started, all you need is to download the Job Spotter by Indeed app (iOS or Android). While you’re out on a stroll, on your way somewhere, or even looking for jobs yourself, keep an eye out for “help wanted” signs and snap a pic of the sign (and storefront) via the app.
Small businesses with “help wanted” signs will earn you more points than those from big chains, but you can expect to earn between 10-100 points per approved submission. Average earnings fluctuate between $120-$300/year in giftcards at a rate of $1/100 points.
21. Textbook Seller
Let’s face it: textbooks are really expensive. You’d generally be hard-pressed to find a book that costs more than a textbook. And after you complete your year, they tend to sit around gathering dust or propping up your wonky throw-out couch.
On-campus vendors typically pay peanuts in buyback, but there are plenty of other places where you can sell your old textbooks and get decent money in return.
BookScouter
BookScouter is a fantastic way to find outlets that will pay good money to buyback old textbooks (or any other book, for that matter). All you need to do is register online, search by ISBN number, and BookScouter will help you compare buyback offers from up to 42 vendors. Simply choose the one offering the most and ship your textbook to them for free to get paid.
Offers will increase in value when demand for a particular textbook is higher. If you’re smart, you can even make $750/month profit reselling books you buy specifically for selling through BookScout!
22. Social Media Influencer
If you’re active on social media (and as a student, we’re sure you are!), you can monetize your time spent online by becoming a social media influencer.
All you need is your social media account(s) with some credibility in a specific industry or niche. This does take time, but once you’ve gathered a following, you can use these resources to earn money.
Facebook Entrepreneur/Influencer Groups
There are a variety of entrepreneur and influencer groups on Facebook worth joining. To name a couple:
Totally Profesh is a great group to be in if you’re looking level up your influencing via interacting with big brands.
Social Media Masterminds is another group that will help you keep up with social media trends, all while building and monetizing your influence.
Once you have a good following with your own page, you can start making between $30,000 and $60,000 a year by selling influencer posts to marketing teams. And thanks to Facebook’s new algorithms, they’re willing to pay.
Upfluence
Upfluence is a must-have resource for anyone wanting to use influencers in their marketing campaigns, as they provide all the tools necessary for keeping track of influencer performance.
And if you can land a job working as a social media influencer, you could earn $30,000-$60,000/year promoting Fortune 500 companies such as PayPal, Nestle, and AirFrance. To apply, you’ll need to send them a proposal asking to join their team via their contact form. Afterwards, Upfluence will send a response within 24 hours letting you know whether they’re interested.
Online Jobs for Moms and Dads
For most of us, the days of supporting a family (and saving up for college) with just one income are long gone. But staying at home to raise your children remains an appealing idea.
Luckily, you no longer have to choose. There are plenty of online jobs for stay-at-home moms and dads. We’ve sifted through the scams to find eighteen viable options for you, listed in the section below. If you stack some of these opportunities correctly, you can make between $29,640-$85,800/year. Focusing on only one sets the pay scale to $2,600-54,600/year.
23. Search Engine Evaluator
Becoming a search engine evaluator is an increasingly popular online job for stay-at-home parents.
It’s a relatively simple undertaking that you can easily do between changing diapers and fixing snacks for your little ones. Search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and Bing use computer-generated algorithms to create search engine results pages (SERPs) every time a user types in a request.
But they don’t always get it right, as you’ve probably noticed. As a search engine evaluator, you’re asked to analyze SERPs for their relevancy and quality.
Appen
Appen is constantly on the look-out for independent contractors to work on their team as search engine evaluators. As is always the case with this type of work, you’ll need to complete a two-part test to qualify after applying, but once you’re in you can choose your own schedule. Just make sure to keep track of your time, down to the minute, because you need to send an invoice to get paid.
There aren’t always job postings available, so even though Appen pays $13/hour, you might end up only making an average of $6,760-$13,520/year.
Lionbridge
Lionbridge offers a wide variety of online work opportunities, many of which require specific college degrees. But becoming a search engine evaluator isn’t one of those opportunities: so long as you pass their two-part entrance exam and can commit to 10-20 hours a week, you’ll qualify. However, be sure you’re available for a minimum of ten hours a week or your membership will be terminated.
You’ll earn $13-$15/hour on Lionbridge, which translates to $6,760-$15,600/year.
Do be aware that Lionbridge will not accept your application if you’ve worked for Appen in the past.
IsoftStone
Based in China, iSoftStone is almost always looking to recruit more search engine evaluators for iSoftStone3, their USA Team. You’ll need to check Indeed Now for openings.
In order to get the most out of the opportunity, you’ll want to work in the mornings when there tends to be more job postings. This way, you’re almost guaranteed to receive 25 hours of work a week instead of just ten. Payment is made monthly via PayPal or direct deposit, and can total $6,240-$15,600/year.
24. Data Entry
With just a high school diploma (or GED equivalent), you can get an entry-level job doing data entry. As long as you’re a fairly fast typist (employer-mandated keystrokes-per-hour speeds vary between companies), you’ll be trained and can eventually move up the pay scale over time.
If doing data entry between your stay-at-home mom – or dad – duties sounds appealing to you, consider these two resources as opportunities.
Clickworker
All you need to do is verify your email address while registering for Clickworker, create a small profile, and start accepting micro-jobs. It’s a good idea to keep Clickworker open as a pinned tab on your browser, as the jobs posting board gets added to throughout the day.
Income is earned on a pay-per-piece basis, so it can be difficult to gauge the pay range. However, Clickworker estimates that users can earn an average of $9/hour. If you can put in 10-20 hours a week, you should be able to make an extra $4,680-$9,360/year.
DionData Solutions
The most common data entry work you’ll get with DionData Solutions is transcribing scanned images, hard copies, handwritten originals, typed copies, and online sources for their clients from the comfort of your own home. DionData does have a set keystrokes-per-hour speed requirement of at least 60 words/minute.
If you’re able to work fast, the company promises an estimated maximum of $15/hour. At 10-20 hours a week, that translates to $7,800-$15,600/year.
DionData Solutions recommends checking their opportunities page regularly to see when they’re accepting new applicants.
25. Virtual Assistant
Virtual assistants do exactly the same work as regular assistants, except all contact with clients is done online. As a virtual assistant, you’ll help entrepreneurs and managers keep track of their business schedule. You may even be asked to help with personal tasks like setting up and confirming doctor appointments or sending birthday wishes to friends.
It can be an exciting opportunity for stay-at-home moms and dads, especially if you have experience as an assistant and/or would like to find employment as one once your children leave the nest.
Horkey Handbook Course
First things first: even if you have previous experience as an in-house assistant, and especially if you don’t, you’ll want to make sure you’re equipped with the necessary skills. Horkey Handbook offers the ultimate solution: the 30 Days or Less to Virtual Assistant Success course.
You’ll learn everything you need in a month or less, depending on how quickly you work through the lessons and material. You’ll need to make an investment of $397 once-off payment, but as you’ll soon see, it’s an investment worth making.
Upwork
As mentioned earlier under Online Jobs for Writers, Upwork is the world’s largest platform for freelancers to find online work. This means that virtual assistants in search of freelance and/or permanent clients will also benefit from signing up and creating an Upwork profile.
The average virtual assistant, from basic to intermediate experience, typically earns $12-$35/hour through Upwork. Clients on the platform generally need a virtual assistant for up to three months, but some are looking for more permanent arrangements.
Working on an average of 30 hours a week, you could potentially earn $18,720-$54,600/year.
Red Butler
Red Butler specializes exclusively in matching freelance virtual assistants with clients looking to hire you. You can set your own pricing and they’ll create pre-paid monthly subscriptions of 5, 10, 20, or 40 hours/month for support. Red Butler also offer a training and Certification program.
Their cheapest membership package costs $39/month, plus 20% commission on all your bills. Working 10 to 30 hours a week, you can expect to earn an average of $6,240-$23,400/year.
26. Phone Work
Phone work as a stay-at-home parent isn’t always an ideal solution, as you generally need to have a noise-free environment (a near-impossibility with young children). But as your child gets older, or you’re able to create a relatively quiet space, it can be a rewarding opportunity. For example, let’s take a look at these two companies:
Concentrix
Concentrix places a lot of emphasis on providing opportunities for work-at-home staff, with job positions including customer service and customer support representative careers, where you’ll engage with clients over the phone. You’ll be paired up with Concentrix clients in one of their many categories after applying to join the Concentrix team.
You may be required to work through email and web channels and you’ll also need a headset connected to a landline. Clients typically expect you to work 40 hours/week. At $11/hour, you could make $22,880/year.
Convergys
Convergys works on a similar model, allowing you to sign up and be matched with clients. They do offer work at home options, but their scheduling bids aren’t always flexible. However, they typically offer to base your schedule on your availability, and you can elect to work the graveyard shift if it suits you best.
Customer service representatives typically earn $10.53/hour, while call center representatives earn $11.63/hour. You’ll be asked to work an average of 40 hours/week, so you can expect to make $21,904.40-$24,190.40/year.
27. Become an Amazon Remote Employee
Amazon is a well-known online retail store with employees scattered across the globe. The best part: an in-house office job is not necessary to work for Amazon, as Amazon regularly hires remote employees for various positions! To date, Amazon has 200+ remote employees.
While these do tend to be full-time, and some of the positions may require near proximity to specific Amazon offices, you’ll enjoy all the benefits in-house Amazon employees get. That means insurance (dental, medical, and health), maternity and parental leave, a 401k plan, and employee discounts.
Amazon Remote Employee Locations
If this sounds like an opportunity you’d love to take advantage of, take a look at the Amazon remote employee locations job postings page.
Income is naturally determined by your position, but Amazon remote employees typically earn $10-$17/hour. Depending on your role in the company, you could make $20,800-$35,360/year.
28. Budgeter / Bookkeeper
Lucky for us, some people struggle to set and stick to a budget. If you’re someone with a head for numbers and bookkeeping, you can offer your services as a budgeter or bookkeeper.
Fortunately, many budgeting and bookkeeping jobs can be done from the comfort of your own home. Using either of the two platforms listed below, stay-at-home parents will find ample amounts of opportunities.
AccountingDepartment
The largest, most reliable outsourced budget control and bookkeeping company in the US, AccountingDepartment, has been servicing growing and established businesses since 2014.
AccountingDepartment specializes entirely in the virtual accounting realm, allowing you to join their team from home. You’ll need to have the proper credentials to be accepted, and expect to work full-time (8am-5pm, Monday-Friday, with an hour lunch and two fifteen minute breaks). But it could be worth it, as you’ll be earning between $35,235 and $44,631/year.
Overland Solutions
With more than 80 years experience in providing premium auditing services to clients, Overland Solutions knows what they’re about. They’re also naturally proud of their rich history, and keep close tabs on all of their virtual employees.
In order to join the team, you’ll need to sift through the Indeed.com search results, which tend to include unrelated job opportunities that are also based in Overland Park. Once accepted, you’ll be expected to work exactly 40 hours a week at $12.38/hour, which translates to about $25,750.40/year.
29. Transcriber
If you have a fast keystrokes-per-hour rate and an ear for understanding low-quality audio, you could easily make money as a stay-at-home parent by becoming a transcriber.
Chances are you’ve visited a site or done an online course that had videos with transcriptions, either posted below the media or as subtitles. Or perhaps you’ve had to confirm a transcribed copy of a conversation with the police or a previous employer. As a transcriber, you’ll be the one creating those copies for companies.
Scribie
All you need in order to transcribe for Scribie is a quiet area to work, headphones, and a laptop with the means to play audio. You can submit an application via their site.
It’s difficult to accurately estimate your potential earnings, as they pay $5-$25 per audio hour depending on your skill level. This means that your pay will be determined by the number of audio hours you complete and how long it takes you to complete.
Based on the industry-standard of four hours per audio hour, a low estimate would be $2,600-$13,000/year.
TranscribeMe
TranscribeMe is possibly the best transcription service to work for from home – with no prior experience necessary!
While the average earnings can be as low as $250/month, the better your transcription quality the better your pay. Transcriptionists with prior history in the medical or legal sectors get higher rates, which can push earnings up to $2,200/month.
You can generally expect to get paid at least $15-$22/audio hour regardless of background or skill level – and TranscribeMe offers a $2/audio hour bonus if no editing is necessary.
30. Become a Moderator
If you’ve spent a lot of time on social media, especially with pages and/or groups, you can monetize that time by becoming a moderator for those business pages or groups.
Moderators simply keep an eye on activity, listening to and responding to interaction, and escalating issues as appropriate. Most of your work as a moderator will be on Facebook, but some companies also ask moderation on their community forums, live events, and news sites.
ICUC
ICUC has a host of employment opportunities, especially for interested parties who have prior experience moderating social media content and/or community pages. And if you’re fluent in English and any two languages (especially Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, and Spanish), then you stand an even better chance of being hired!
On average, you’ll be moderating for about eight hours a day at $11/hour, and may be asked to work public holidays and weekends on occasion. In general, you can expect to earn $22,968/year.
LiveWorld
LiveWorld is a similar company, offering moderator job opportunities to US and non-US residents alike (note that there are separate application forms). These application forms are fairly detailed, but shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to complete. As part of the review process, LiveWorld will conduct a background check.
You’ll be able to specify your available hours, but assuming you’re able to work 30 hours/week, you can expect an average of $14,094/year at $9/hour.
Online Jobs for Giggers
If you’re looking for online jobs as a gigger, these two resources are what you’ve been waiting for.
Earning potentials vary, but you can generally expect to make $7,320/year as a side hustle by stacking both sites and managing your time well. If you’re able to approach either as a full-time focus, or even split your full-time hours between the two, you could earn $84,000/year or more.
31. Fiverr
Fiverr has come up before in our list of online jobs, specifically for freelance writers. But the platform has opportunities for a wide range of other giggers too. Here’s a full list of the types of gigs you can sell on Fiverr: graphics and design; digital marketing; writing and translation; video and animation; music and audio; programming and tech; business; and lifestyle.
Your potential earnings will vary according to your niche and how many gigs you sell. As a rough average, you can expect to make $6,000/year, but it’s also possible to make six-figures on the platform.
32. TaskRabbit
TaskRabbit is a little different to your usual online gigs platform, as you’re technically using it as a jobs board. Users will post a gig for odd-jobs like helping to assemble a table. As a “tasker”, you’ll respond to gigs in your area, connect with the client, and complete the task to receive pay.
It helps if you have easy access to transport and a wide range of skills to increase your earning potential. The average tasker earns $110/month, but if you approach TaskRabbit as a full-time opportunity you can push that up to $7,000/month.
How to Make Money with Online Jobs: Conclusion
With so many online job opportunities, you may be wondering why you haven’t already started taking advantage of the market! And as you’ve seen, it’s relatively easy to do so – whether you’re looking to supplement your salary part-time or find full-time employment.
All it takes is a stable internet connection, some hard work and dedication, and spades of patience. No job opportunity worth pursuing is going to make you rich quick, but if you stick with it, the rewards are nearly limitless.
