I don’t normally advocate for how to make extra money the easy way or how to make an extra 1000$ a month by putting in minimal work. I often think it’s a quest for a quick fix to a long term problem. It’s kind of like the lazy man’s way out it you ask me. I prefer reinforcing the idea of investing in a real business where you will build an asset  that may support you and your family some day. That way, you can also have more time to be with the people you want to be with the most and do what you want to do whenever. But….(with a sigh) if you need some ideas and a way to make extra money online in order to fund your big (or small) business idea or you just want to add an extra stream of income on the side,  here is a list of 17 ways you jump on board to making money online.

One Way To Make Extra Money: Selling Tees

Number 1: Design and Sell T-Shirts (even if you are not a designer) 

• What is it: You open up a shop with one of the available platforms online like Tee Spring, Spread Shirt or Zazzle. Upload an image and earn money from the sale. Everything else is done for you from supplying the shirts to shipping the product.
• Where do you start: If you know how to draw and use an image editor like Photo Shop that’s a great start. However,  if you are not graphically artistic, you can come up with cool or funny sayings. Or, hire someone to design something for you for $5 at Fiverr.
• More Info:
  • Spread Shirt offers great information on How to Create a Design.
  • T-Shirt Magazine has great resources for starting a t-shirt line. You can start with Ten Tips for Launching Your T-Shirt Business.

Make extra Money On The Side With Ads

Number 2: Profit with Google AdSense or alternatives:

• What is it: You build a website. Open up a Google AdSense account and cut and paste the code that Google gives you on your website. Then you promote your site and build traffic to your website. The more traffic you get, the more chances for more clicks on your ads and the more money you make.
• How do you start: Set up your website and publish some blog posts or articles on a specific topic you love and has enough of an audience. The most lucrative ad payouts are in the field of finance, internet marketing, technology and health & fitness. If you don’t want to use Google AdSense, here are some AdSense alternatives.
• Where to find more info: Learn the Google AdSense Policies and Webmaster Guidelines. Check out how Google Ads work. Lisa Irby wrote a very informative post on Making Money With Google AdSense.
  • Good points:
    • A good synopsis on how Google earns its money and the auction based system they use that allows advertisers to compete for certain keywords and spots.
    • A video and information describing how AdSense works even after the program has evolved and changed throughout the years.
    • How much you can expect to earn from AdSense including a check she received from Google from their AdSense program.
    • A small tutorial on how you can build your site and send traffic to it so that you can start making money.

Number 3: Publishing videos on YouTube

• What is It: You publish videos and make money from ad revenue on YouTube. Or,  you can send traffic from your videos to your blog where you have ads or affiliate products (or your own products). Take a look at this list of YouTubers who make 6 to 7 figures a year on YouTube. If you have good ideas or are passionate about something, make videos and see what sticks.
• Where do you start: Read YouTube’s Playbook to get a good sense of how to set up your YouTube channel. All you need is a smart phone, flip camera or web cam in addition to video editing software like Screenflow, Camtasia or a screencast application like Snagit.
• Where to find more info: If you need some inspiration, follow Social Blade  to learn how much money a particular channel on YouTube is making.  Learn about the perks of partnering up with YouTube and their creator benefits. Follow up with 11 Creative Ways to Make Money With YouTube via lifehack.org.

 A Popular Way To Make Extra Money: Promote Physical or Digital Products

Number 4:  Retail Arbitrage 

What is it: Retail arbitrage involves buying low priced retail products on clearance usually in your local stores and reselling them online for full or higher price. If you love shopping, this way to make extra money takes work, but is a viable idea to make money from home. Listen to this podcast where Jessica Larrew describes how she makes 6 figures using this method.

How to start: You’ll need an Amazon sellers account, learn fulfillment by amazon (fba), a smart phone and a few apps such as Inventory Lab and Scanpower. You don’t have to necessarily just sell on Amazon although to date, it is the best outlet. You can also sell on eBay or set up your own store on Shopify.

Where to find more info:

• The Amazon Genie: Whether you are looking to turn your clutter or extra stuff at home into profits or want a run down on how to sell on amazon, this book will give you a nice A to Z overview on how to get started for free.

Number 5: Promote other people’s stuff and split the profits

• How do you do it: You set up a website and add links to products you recommend or promote products on social media. When a referral hits your link and buys, you make a percentage of the sale. You really don’t have to do much selling and promoting but if you do, you can make really good money and even make an extra 100o$ a month. Affiliate Marketing is a solid online business model and it’s one of the top business ideas online.
• How do you start: You can join affiliate networks and programs such as CJ, Clickbank, Amazon Associates, ShareASale, NeverBlue or any other affiliate program. Or, you can set up a Facebook Page, Twitter Account or Pinterest account and start posting your recommendations. Better yet, post your promotions directly on your website with your affiliate links.
• Where to find more info:
  • Smart Affiliate Martketing Strategies: Follow The Smart Passive Income Blog by Pat Flynn who is excellent on selling other people’s products by simply sharing what works for his blog.
  • What is Affiliate Marketing: Site Build It was the ‘go to’ place some years ago to build a website for the non techie person. You simply follow their step-by-step and you”ll have a website up and running. Its lost a lot of steam since other programs with more aesthetic appeal came out. But, it offers the most comprehensive “how to” (mostly in text form) on how to set up your website correctly in order to attract traffic from search engines. This article summarizes the ins and outs of what affiliate marketing is and why many people struggle using this model.

3 ExtraWays To Make Money By Writing Online

Number 6: Make Money Freelancing or Ghostwriting

• What is it: You write articles, blog or social media posts and connect with people looking for content services. You submit your content based on specifications rendered and get paid on a recurring basis or per project. It’s a good starting point to getting started with your own blog if you are looking to launch one. That way you have a portfolio and can showcase your skills
• Where do you start: Assuming you already have writing skills and are ready to work, you can go to Scripted. Or, check blog job forums like the one at Problogger.
• Learn more: Want to learn how to write better and get published? Go to Writers Digest. It offers all things an aspiring writer needs to know including learning resources and a community.

Number 7: Get paid for commenting 

• What is it: Blog owners and forums need engagement on their sites and they are willing to pay to get the party started. You can make money by leaving valuable comments on other blogs or forums.
• How do you start: Making money with blog commenting is not as big as it used to be but some companies are still willing to pay for the engagement and social proof. Postloop is a website that can help you get started on making money with posting comments on forums and blogs. You get paid based on the blog and your comment. Kingged is another website in the internet marketing space that offers money for solid and quality commenting.

Number 8: Writing sponsored blog posts

• What is it: You write a blog post, article or review and earn cash from advertisers. Advertisers announce their products and services and they want to get there product in front of as many eyes as possible. A sponsored post typically involves having a blogger write an honest opinion about company products or promotions and getting paid for that post. Blog Advertising Rates has a good article breaking down the process.
• How do you start: Set up a website using WordPress or Site Build It. Put up a few blog posts on a specific topic, hire a writer or buy private label rights to a package of articles from a reputable provider such as EasyPLR or Quality Plr or Coach Glue. Once you start gaining some traffic, you can connect with websites like dotdash.com or LinkWorth.com

2 Ways To Make Some Extra Money If You Don’t Want a Your Own Website

Number 9: Set Up Revenue sharing sites

• What is it: If you are not interested in creating your own website or blog, you can set up mini one page websites where you write about things you are passionate about and not have to worry about the maintenance component. It’s not a sustainable business model but it’s a way to get up and running quickly.
• How do you start: Set up and account with Hubpages  or InfoBarrel and earn 75% if revenue generated from ads that display on your article pages. InfoBarrel has their own ad system.
• Where to get more info: How to make money from Hub Pages  is a resource that offers a tutorial and a case study on how a few pages (hubs) were set up and made close to $50 in a month.

Number 10: Become a Resource for Kids

How can you do this: Hulafrog is a website that connects parents to events and deals in local communities. It also offers a business partnership on a part-time basis by helping you set up a website (under their umbrella) specific to your community where you would earn commissions off of advertising sales.

Where do you start: Visit HulaFrog’s application center for details the program and how to apply.

4 Ways To Earn Extra Money On The Side: Creating Digital Products

Number 11: Create an Awesome Course

• What is it: You design and record a tutorial on a specific subject and sell it on your own website or on a teaching platform like Udemy or Skillshare. Udemy reports earnings of an average of $7000.  Skillshare reports earnings on a average of $3000.
• Where do you start: First figure out what you want to teach and then research what your market is looking to learn. Once you figure out the demand for what you want to teach, write up an outline or perhaps a Power Point presentation (unless you’re going to be doing a talking head or white board presentation) and record it.  Once you record your course, upload it to the platform of your choice.

Number 12: Write up sell an e-book on your blog or a kindle book on Amazon

• What is it: You write a book or report a specific subject and sell it on your own website, social media sites, GumRoad or a larger platform like Amazon.
• What do you need to start: A computer and application like Microsoft Word or Google Docs and a way to convert your books into PDFs such as this  free pdf converter. If you would like to publish directly to Amazon follow their instructions here.
• Good Reads: The Four Hour Workweek offers a nice post on How To Make $1000 Selling E-books. The highlights of this article include places to promote your e-books.

Number 13: Sell your photos online

• What is it: Take your creative endeavors in photography to the next level by selling your photos online. There are many ways you can do that. A couple of ways involves building up a popular online portfolio and selling them directly to clients whether it be individually or as part of a membership. Or, you can sell them on an existing popular online platform.There are many websites that buy and sell stock photography. You simply upload your photo on their system and wait for approval. Once they are approved, they’ll be available for people to see and purchase. Once people buy, you get a cut of the sales.
• Where to start: Go to Shutterstock and learn more about their program. It would help if you were good at photography and are well versed in Adobe Photoshop or Gimp.
• Where to find more info:
  • Digital Photography School lists free resources for photographers.
  • How to sell photographs Online offers a nice little synopsis on how to sell your photos as a part time gig.

Number 14: Get your Radio Voice Ready and Launch a Podcast (radio voice not really necessary) 

• What is it: A podcast is a medium in which and audio file is made available online and is available for downloading. You can make money from sponsorships, subscriptions or simply sending traffic back to your website where you have a sales funnel in place for a specific product.
• Where to start: If you know nothing about podcasting, take some time to do a few Google searches to learn the ins, outs and potentials. There is a plethora of information on the web discussing podcasting from all different angles. If you need a free tutorial on how to start a podcast, follow Pat’s Flynn’s complete step-by-step podcasting tutorial. Steve Chou also offers a great tutorial at How To Start a Podcast in Under 2 Hours.
• Where to find more info: The Podcast Answerman has podcasting information from A to Z.  Also, take a look at this list of 20 Highest Earning Podcasts if you are looking for some inspiration. One of the top online personalities making a killing with his podcast Entrepreneur on Fire is John Lee Dumas. He makes upwards of 6 figures per month.

Make Extra Money Helping Other Companies

Number 15: Become a Forum Moderator

• What is it: Because of the high acuity of spam and monopolies in forums, owners have to keep their eyes peeled in order to keep the community thriving and advertisers paying. For that reason, forums have moderators that in the simplest terms, patrol and appease the community by answering questions and being resourceful.
• Where to start: Do a search on Google for “online forum moderator jobs” to learn about forums, what they got to offer and what jobs are available. You should also be somewhat technologically inclined or in some instances, know HTML. In some jobs, you may have to add and delete text and links. If you like organizing and keeping things together, contributing to forum discussions and set firm limits in a community while remaining approachable and inviting, then forum moderation my be your thing.
• Where to find more info: Freelancer offers job postings here.  Emoderation also recruits community managers (focusing mostly on social media moderation) which can be found on this page. Mashable has a great article called 10 Tips for Aspiring Community Managers.

Number 16: Like to get rewarded? Join Online Rewards Programs for digital money

• What is it: Companies want to keep your business and they want you to develop loyalty and they are willing to incentivize that loyalty to maximize the impact. So, they developed rewards programs online. When you join, you engage in activities that you are already familiar. You can do things like searching the web and watching videos and earn “digital money” which can be redeemed with gift cards from stores that you love.
• Where do you start: The following websites offer rewards programs to help you get started with your digital money making endeavors:  Swagbucks, Toluna, and Checkpoint and even Amazon.
• Good Reads: Life Hack’s How Can You Actually Earn Money from Amazon Mechanical Turk offers some good pros and cons of making money through the giant Amazon. It also shares a nice little set of instructions on how to get set up.

Number 17: Become a Network Marketer

• What is it: Network marketing and pyramid type money making programs have gotten a bad rap not only because of the schemes that seem to rip people off in order to join but also because of the difficulty of the task to make any significant money. You recruit people to sell a product from a company you join and make money from their sales and the sales of the people they recruit.
• Where to start: Health related MLM companies like USANA are legit companies where people are making some money. based on these reviews
• Info Corner :Elliott Kosmicki has made a great living using the multilevel marketing model and he offers tips on his website.

It only takes determination and consistent work to make some extra money on the side. You and I have an opportunity to contribute to this modern economy. No longer are the days where the only way to make extra money was by taking on a part time job at your local bakery. Jump in and take advantage of the great resource the internet has to offer.

Conclusion

I hope I helped you guys generating your first bucks from a side income. If you wish to get more content like this, please join my site for a set of member only posts that will continue to help you to get financially free!