In this article, I would like to share with you 25 different ways to make money online.

1. Build an Affiliate Website (E.g. Amazon)

The principles of creating a successful blog can be used to build a profitable affiliate website. This includes creating engaging content, marketing your website and adhering to search engine ranking guidelines.

In contrast to blogs, with an affiliate website you are gearing everything towards specific products. This is why most affiliate websites contain product reviews.

People who are searching for a review of a particular product are more likely to purchase it after reading an informative review, therefore the odds of making a referral commission are greatly increased.

Whilst it does help to know a product firsthand, you can write good product reviews by either hiring others to write for you or summarizing what others have wrote.

2. Do Micro Jobs

Want to make money from your skills? Of course you do!

A common way to start making money online is to sell your services on a micro job marketplace such as Fiverr. The marketplace allows anyone to sell digital services across a number of different categories such as graphics and design, writing, videos, music, business, lifestyle and more.

3. Monetize Your Social Media Presence

Social media has transformed the way that we communicate on the internet and given everyone a platform to voice their opinion.

If you are active on a service such as Instagram or Twitter, you may want to consider monetizing your social media presence.

One way to do this is to promote products and services of other companies. Sponsored messages are common on social media and are usually tagged with #sponsored and #ad so that advertisements can be identified.

Advertisers are looking for engagement with your followers, therefore you need to ensure sponsored products are relevant and be creative with how you promote the company. Otherwise, you run the risk of alienating your subscribers.

4. Develop a Membership Website

If you have what it takes to run a successful blog, you have what it takes to build a good membership website.

Like blogging, the key to a successful membership website is good content, but whilst the vast majority of blogs are free to read, most content on membership websites is hidden behind a paywall.

It is wise, however, to offer some free content to users in order to showcase what a full membership offers.

A full membership may include detailed reviews, in-depth written and video tutorials, access to a knowledgeable support team or community, free eBooks, and more.

Successful membership websites tend to dripfeed content to members over time too. This is to stop people accessing all content immediately and then cancelling. In other words, you need to have a reason for people to hang around.

5. Write a Book

The old saying goes that “Everybody has a book inside them”.

Do you?

In the digital age, publishing a print book or digital book is incredibly straightforward. You can publish books of any length on topics such as romance, science-fiction, history, business, education and more.

Books can be written in word processing applications such as Microsoft Word and then uploaded to an online book store for approval. Most book stores will provide you with a template for you to write your book in, which simplifies the whole process.

6. Publish Videos on YouTube

I have had many projects and online ventures over the years, but I have found YouTube to be the most enjoyable way to create content and make money online as it has allowed me to share my passion for technology.

YouTubers with over 1,000 subscribers are eligible to make money through the YouTube Partner Program (Google Adsense).

Unless you have a large channel, it is unlikely that you can live off the income you generate from advertisements on your videos, however you can make money from your channel in other ways.

In the FameBit Marketplace, for example, you will find sponsorship opportunites from thousands of companies. All you have to do is publish reviews of products and services to earn money.

Just like any social media platform, YouTube channels can be a platform to launch other products and services.

7. Stream Games on Twitch, YouTube or Mixer

The growth of game streaming over the last few years has been phenomenal.

The medium is being supported by some of the largest companies on the internet. Amazon own the popular Twitch.tv service, Google runs YouTube Gaming and Microsoft are behind Mixer.

Game streamers mainly earn money from sponsorships and donations, however many top game streamers are branching out and selling t-shirts and other products.

If you own an XBox One or PS4, you can stream directly from your console by simply connecting ar headset and webcam. The upcoming Xbox Series X and PS5 consoles are rumoured to enhance game streaming functionality significantly, which will help the industry grow further.

8. Edit Videos for Others

Editing is a big part of producing videos for platforms such as YouTube.

With some YouTube channels, the content creator may spend two hours recording footage and then ten hours editing the video for publication.

If you have experience editing videos, you can make a good living editing videos for online businesses, YouTubers, game streamers and more.

9. Complete Online Surveys

You are not going to make a career out of it, but if you are just looking for a little extra cash on the side, you may want to consider doing online surveys through companies such as Swagbucks, OnePoll, and Toluna.

These companies reward consumers for giving vital customer insights into brands, products and services. Some companies do pay cash, but it is more common to be sent gift cards and free products for testing.

10. Launch a Blog

Online surveys and testing can give you a taste of what it is like to make money on the internet, however if you are looking for a long-term return, you should look towards creating a stable business.

One type of business I recommend exploring is blogging. Unlike some other types of websites, you do not need to have any technical experience to start a blog. You just need to be passionate about something.

The whole process of creating a blog is straightforward. All you need to do is select a blogging platform, register a domain name, and then choose a blog hosting company.

11. Launch an Online Shop

According to Digital Commerce 360, eCommerce spending was around $3.5 trillion in 2019 and is expected to grow further in the next few years.

It is a massive market and one which you should consider tapping into.

As you would expect, building a successful online shop requires a lot of hard work, therefore it may be several months before you start making a healthy monthly profit.

Prepare yourself by looking at how others have built successful shops and research what products to sell, who your competitors are and who your target audience is.

12. Create a Job Board

What’s the best type of website to build to make money online?

If you had to ask an experienced internet marketer this question, my guess is that “Job Board” would be bottom of the list, yet there is a lot of money to be made with job boards.

The most difficult part of launching a job board is attracting companies to post jobs and then establishing an audience. In the beginning, you may want to duplicate job listings from other websites. After all, no one is going to visit a job board that has no job listings.

Job boards are an attractive long-term project as once the job website is established, it requires very little maintenance to keep it running and earning money.

13. Create a Discussion Forum

Up until the mid to late 2000s, discussion forums were one of the most common places for internet users to hang out and communicate with each other. I launched my first discussion forum in 2000 and launched a dozen more over the years.

Forums are less common today due to the popularity of social media, yet they can still be hugely profitable.

Many large discussion forums continue to be monetized by banner ads and sponsored ads from partners, but over the last 10 years we have also seen more private discussion forums arrive. Private discussion forums charge members a monthly or yearly fee to gain access to the forum.

Obviously, you cannot just install forum software and expect money to start rolling in. You need entice people to sign up to your private discussion forum by offering something they cannot find elsewhere. This could be an extensive online course or simply direct access to yourself or others who can provide support.

14. Sell Products on Amazon, eBay, Etsy, & More

When you launch an online shop, you have to spend time administrating the store, however in order to find customers, you also have to market your store and its products.

This can be difficult unless you have a large budget for an advertising campaign or a platform to promote your products such as a blog or a social media account with a loyal following.

If you want to start earning money quicker, you may want to instead consider selling products on an eCommerce marketplace such as Amazon, eBay, and Etsy.

15. Build an Email Marketing List

Ever wondered why every major online shop, blog or community, wants you to sign up to their newsletter?

As the popular marketing saying goes: “The money is in the list”.

A targeted email list gives you permission to contact someone directly. This is an extremely powerful tool.

If you have an online store, you can email customers with discounts and offers, whilst bloggers can promote their eBooks and online courses to readers.

Even if you do not have a website, you can still profit from building an email marketing list by simply promoting targeted affiliate offers and deals. You can also use it to build your profile on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and more.

16. Become a Freelancer

Freelancing marketplaces are a great place to find work online.

These job directories list contract work, part time jobs and full time jobs. The popularity of micro job marketplaces such as Fiverr has influenced freelancing marketplaces too, with small jobs and tasks being advertised.

General freelancing marketplaces such as Freelancer list many different types of jobs. This includes data entry, graphical design, mobile app development, freelance writing, and more.

There are also freelance marketplaces that focus on specific niches. For example, the competition freelance website 99Designs only lists design jobs.

17. Launch an Online Course

Could you teach others a new skill?

Online learning is a billion dollar industry that continues to grow each year, with some teachers earning millions from their courses.

In comparison to membership websites, online courses tend to be more structured and focus on teaching someone one particular skill or topic.

Expectations of courses has grown over the years, so be prepared to spend a substantial amount of time creating content for your course.

On online course platforms such as Udemy and Treehouse, successful courses tend to include dozens of articles, hours of video, downloadable resources and more.

18. Sell Stock Photos and Videos

Have you got an eye for photography?

If so, you may want to consider selling photos and videos online.

There are many great free image services online, however the premium image and video stock photo market remains a billion dollar industry.

By listing your content on stock image websites such as Shutterstock, you will receive a payment every time someone downloads one of your items.

19. Buy and Sell Websites & Domains

Website trading is big business.

Every year, tens of thousands of websites and domains are bought and sold on marketplaces such as Flippa and Empire Flippers.

If you know how to build websites, you can make money by creating websites, generating income and then listing the websites for sale. This is a low risk strategy as your investment costs are low.

Those of you with more experience may want to buy websites with the sole aim of selling it later for a profit; a technique known as website flipping.

The goal of website flipping is to find websites that are undervalued or underdeveloped and then develop them further to increase monthly profits. Not every website is sold at a fair price, so be prepared to spend a lot of time researching websites for sale.

20. Host a Podcast

Got something to say?

If you’re not a writer, you may want to look into hosting a podcast.

Podcasts remain as popular as ever. There are shows for every topic you can imagine: Sports, films, music, history, comedy, politics, fashion and more.

Podcast episodes can be recorded using your smartphone, however you can improve the quality of your recordings significantly by investing in an affordable microphone or recorder for under $100.

If you can establish an audience, you can make money by selling advertisements and promoting your own products and services. Profits can then be used to purchase more advanced recording and mixing equipment.

21. Test Websites and Apps for Others

Another way you can provide insights to companies is to test the user experience of websites and apps.

As a tester, you will typically be required to download a testing application to your computer, tablet or smartphone. You will then be asked to perform a series of tasks, with most tests taking 10 to 20 minutes to complete.

For example, you may be asked to find a product in an online store and go through the checkout process.

Don’t worry, you are not expected to buy anything. You are simply testing websites and applications so that the developers can fix usability issues and improve the user experience for customers.

22. Resell Website Hosting

Reseller hosting is one of the oldest businesses on the internet and the backbone of the whole website hosting industry.

As a reseller, you purchase a package from a hosting company and then resell an allocation of the hosting resources you have purchased to others. This is actually how many website hosting companies operate, even those that have tens of thousands of clients.

In the cloud hosting world, for example, companies such as Digital Ocean provide servers for hosting companies such as Cloudways.

To make money as a hosting reseller, you need to spend time marketing your services in order to attract customers and then provide excellent support to retain their custom.

23. Become a Virtual Assistant

A virtual assistant helps businesses with many different tasks from a remote location.

As a virtual assistant, the exact work you do and the rate you are paid will vary from company to company.

Tasks could include social media management, responding to emails, preparing reports, booking hotels for clients, managing appointments, performing data entry, doing research and much more.

24. Test Products for Online Shops

Product testing should be considered more of a hobby or side hussle than a serious career, but it can be a nice way to earn a little cash and perhaps get some free products in the process.

As a product tester, you will be asked to provide valuable feedback to the company about what you like and did not like.

Each company have their own set of rules and guidelines.

In the Nike Product Testing program, for example, you are expected to return their products before you are sent another product for review. In contrast, companies such as Phillips will let you keep cheaper items free of charge, but give you expensive items such as coffee machines at a greatly reduced rate.

25. Translate Content for Others

Can you speak another language?

Translation is something that businesses are always looking for. A typical business will not only have to translate official sales pages and news articles, they will also have to translate documents, marketing material, press releases and more.

There is a growing demand for translators on video websites such as YouTube too as captions can help generate additional views and increase search traffic.