How to Make Money Using Your Phone – A Step by Step Guide
In today’s technology-driven world, most people carry a smartphone with them everywhere. These handy devices not only keep us connected and entertained, but can also help generate extra income in our spare time. With a few simple apps and websites, anyone can earn money using their phone.
Surveys
Taking online surveys is one of the most popular ways to bring in cash without leaving your couch. Dozens of companies like SurveyJunkie, Swagbucks and InboxDollars pay people to share their opinions on products, services, political issues and more.
To get started, download reputable survey apps from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Be sure to set up an account and provide accurate demographic information about yourself so you qualify for more surveys. Most surveys take 5-25 minutes and pay $1-$5 each. The money earned can be redeemed for gift cards or cashed out via PayPal.
Get Cash Back When Shopping
If you regularly shop online with your phone, be sure to use websites and apps that provide cash back incentives to buyers. Popular cash back platforms like Rakuten, Ibotta and Dosh will give you money for purchases you need to make anyway.
For example, link your credit card to the Rakuten browser extension or app. Then simply shop online with participating retailers like Nike, Walmart, Best Buy and hundreds more. Rakuten will credit your account with 1-20% cash back that quarter which you can redeem via check or PayPal.
Sell Used Items
If you have extra belongings lying around your house, turn them into cash using phone apps like Decluttr, LetGo and OfferUp. These apps make selling your used items a breeze.
For example, Decluttr allows you to scan barcodes of CDs, DVDs, books, games and electronics with your phone’s camera. They provide an instant valuation and free shipping label if you accept their payout offer. Once your items arrive at their warehouse, you’re paid the next day via PayPal or direct deposit.
LetGo and OfferUp facilitate local sales by allowing you to list items for free, coordinate pickup times, and accept payments seamlessly through their platform. Meet in a public location when exchanging items for cash on delivery.
Pet Sit or Dog Walk
Do you adore animals? Offer up your services as a pet sitter or dog walker using apps like Rover and Wag. Set your own schedules and rates with this flexible side business you can operate entirely from your phone.
These apps allow pet owners to book and pay for walks, overnight stays, daycare, drop-in visits and more. As the service provider, you pocket up to 80% of what clients pay per booking. Expect to earn $15-$25 per 30-minute dog walk in most metro areas.
Deliver Food or Packages
Apps like Uber Eats, DoorDash and Amazon Flex provide ordinary people the opportunity to earn money completing local deliveries. As an independent contractor, you get to control your availability and effort.
With Uber Eats and DoorDash, you use your own vehicle to pick up food orders from restaurants and drive them to waiting customers in your city. Delivery fees start around $2 plus tips which can add up quickly. Amazon Flex pays $18-$25 per hour to delivery Amazon orders using your own car and gas. Peak pay incentivizes drivers to handle deliveries during busy times.
Rent Out Your Car or Home
Car sharing and home rental services powered by apps allow you to generate income from your most valuable assets when you aren’t using them.
Turo is a peer-to-peer car sharing community where you can rent out your extra vehicle to screened, verified drivers. You set your own availability, pricing ($25-$100 per day), pickup locations and vehicle details. Turo provides $1 million insurance coverage and will coordinate paperwork plus payment processing for a cut of the proceeds.
Similarly, Airbnb allows you to easily rent out rooms or your whole house to guests as a side business. Just set up hosting availability from the app, upload photos and descriptions then start accepting bookings from validated users ($25-$250 per night). As a new host, you’ll receive mentoring plus Airbnb provides $1 million liability insurance if you meet eligibility criteria.
Teach a Skill
Do you have expertise in a particular area like music, academics, arts, fitness, computers, language, etc.? Leverage your knowledge to earn money teaching classes online through platforms like Udemy and Outschool.
At Udemy, you can upload pre-recorded courses or livestream lectures on almost any topic imaginable. Students pay tuition ($15-$200 per course) to access your materials. Udemy handles all course marketing, payments and student inquiries. Instructors earn royalties from every course sale.
Outschool facilitates small group live video chat classes for kids ages 3-18. As a teacher, you develop 30-60 minute interactive online lessons ($5-$20 per student) in your area of expertise. Class times are fully customizable around your schedule.
“I teach guitar basics to beginners on Outschool a few nights a week for extra income without leaving my house. The kids really seem to enjoy learning from me.”
Udemy Teaching Outschool Teaching
Review Music, Books or Products
Use your phone to share your opinion in exchange for cash rewards. Apps like ListenUp, BookTrib and Influenster connect brands with everyday users willing to try products and share feedback.
For example, ListenUp pays people to review new song submissions from unsigned bands seeking unbiased opinions. Each 3-minute song review earns $0.20 via PayPal.
BookTrib sends you free advance copies of books so you can write honest reviews before publication. Expect to receive $15-$60 ebook copies for titles that match your reader profile.
Download the Influenster app to claim free beauty, food and household items in exchange for ratings, photos or reviews. The most active reviewers also receive invites to exclusive virtual and in-person brand events with swag bags full of freebies.
Test New Apps
Every day new apps launch that need real user feedback during beta testing phases. By downloading these apps and providing your opinions, you can collect cash rewards quickly.
Try sites like TesterWork and Utest which maintain large databases of apps currently seeking beta testers. Each project description explains exactly what actions you need to take within the app plus the associated pay rate. No special skills are required.
Expect to earn $10 to $60 per app tested based on factors like estimated time commitment and project type. Payments are sent electronically once the work has been completed and approved.
Complete Microtasks
Have short blocks of downtime when standing in line, watching TV or riding the bus? Consider completing bite-sized virtual tasks called HITs (Human Intelligence Tasks) for cash.
Amazon Mechanical Turk lets businesses or researchers outsource huge volumes of simple, one-off tasks that still require human judgement to an on-demand workforce. As a worker, you can browse and complete thousands of HITs like data clean up, transcription, content moderation, sentiment analysis and more.
Most HITs pay pennies per task based on the estimated completion time which can range from a few seconds to over an hour. For example, editing a product description for grammar issues might pay $0.05 and take just 60 seconds. While microtask pay is minimal for individual HITs, the flexibility and ability to work virtually anywhere makes it easy to rack up extra money in your free time.
Rent Your WiFi
If your phone plan or home internet service includes more data than you typically use each month, you can generate passive income by sharing the surplus bandwidth.
Connectify, WiFiWa and Wifi Map Exchange allow you to rent out unlimited public WiFi hotspots from your wireless devices to any nearby users. Simply confirm your data limits through the app then start broadcasting your signal via the company’s custom router. You keep your main password private while new users log in through a public channel to access the data allowance you designate.
As your hotspot gets used over the course of a billing cycle, you’ll earn money (usually 65% of the rental and membership fees collected from guests). At the end of the month, your extra bandwidth gets reset back to maximum capacity. You cash out anytime via PayPal.
“I have unlimited data on my phone plan anyway, so I broadcast a public channel to share it locally. I’ve made over $400 per year so far which basically reimburses my cell phone bill!” – Alexis, 20
Connectify WiFiWa Wifi Map Exchange
Sell Your Mobile Data
If you barely use any of the high-speed cell phone data you pay for each month, make money by selling surplus gigabytes to those who need it.
Data auction apps like DatPiff, Mobidata and Peddle allow you to safely and legally sell off extra mobile data allowance through a private marketplace platform, usually via blind auction to the highest buyer. Designed for both iOS and Android, interested buyers browse available data packages then place anonymous bids until the listing expires. If your asking price is met before the countdown timer ends, the agreed value is held in escrow until after you successfully transfer the agreed amount of mobile data to the buyer. Once confirmed, you receive secure payment, less commissions, via PayPal or gift cards.
Expect to earn up to $15 per gigabyte depending on local demand trends. The apps streamline the entire peer-to-peer exchange process securely with no risk to your personal information. Turning unused data volume into cash requires almost no effort on your part.
Become a Virtual Assistant
Leverage your phone to provide professional administrative, technical or creative services to clients worldwide as a virtual assistant. Schedule flexibility and the ability to support global customers makes this online role quite lucrative.
Large firms like Belay, Fancy Hands and Moneypenny hire VAs directly as W2 employees with some benefits. Expect to earn $14 to $25 per hour depending on your skillset with set weekday hours.
For maximum flexibility, join specialized freelance platforms such as Upwork, Fiverr or Zirtual to connect with clients needing assistants. Set your own rates ($15-$50 per hour) and define the services you want to offer across areas like email management, research, data entry, calendar scheduling, travel coordination and more.
Sell Your Own Merch
If you have creative product ideas like clothing designs, artistic works or handcrafted gifts, use sites like CafePress, Zazzle and Redbubble to sell them online without any upfront inventory costs.
These platforms allow you to upload original artwork then handle printing it on physical goods ordered by customers like t-shirts, phone cases, mugs posters, cards and more. You determine base pricing then earn commissions from every merch sale. Products print on-demand so you never worry about minimum orders or carrying stock yourself.
Expect to earn $2 to $5 profit per phone case or t-shirt sold which can really add up over time with continued promotion driving traffic back to your virtual storefront. As more people stumble onto your designs organically through search and social media shares, passive sales income keeps growing.
Monetize a Blog
Building a blog around your passion or expertise lets you earn money indirectly over longer timeframes through ads, affiliate links and premium subscriptions.
If you regularly create high-quality written content, videos, podcasts, images or other media, you can leverage a blog platform like WordPress or Wix to share it freely online.
Focus your blog niche around an area you find personally interesting and have good depth of knowledge around. The more value your specialized content provides to readers, the faster your site will attract visitors through search engines and social shares.
Once you achieve consistent organic traffic, you can begin adding sidebar ads or sponsored post opportunities. Aggregator networks like Google AdSense, Media.net and Ezoic simplify placing contextual advertisements from pre-vetted partners directly onto your site pages. You earn commissions when visitors click or view them.
Additionally, join affiliate programs through sites like ShareASale, CJ Affiliate or Rakuten Marketing that pay you to feature or recommend relevant products. If blog readers purchase them, you receive up to 20% in referral rewards.
Once your blog audience hits several thousand monthly visitors, consider offering premium membership options like ad-free content, insider newsletters, exclusive Q&As or behind-the-scenes footage for $5-$20 per month. Common platforms to manage member subscriptions include Patreon, Buy Me a Coffee and Memberful.
With time and consistency sticking with one niche, you can realistically earn $500 to $5,000+ per month from an informational, hobby, or industry blog you simply enjoy creating content around anyway.
WordPress Blogging
Wix Blogging
Disclaimer: The information provided on MoneyBert.com is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or suitability of the information. Investments carry risks, including potential loss of principal. For detailed information, please read our full disclaimer here.
