25 Ways to Make Money Online: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners
We all have bills to pay and dreams we’d love to afford. But finding ways to earn extra money nowadays can feel overwhelming, especially if you don’t have special skills or a lot of time.
Luckily, there are now more options than ever for how to make money online. With just an internet connection and some motivation, you can start earning an income through online platforms and even build new careers from home.
In this ultimate guide, I’ll share 25 proven ways to make money online as a beginner, along with tips to get started with each money-making idea. Read on to find your perfect money-making match!

1. Online Surveys
Taking online surveys in your spare time is one of the easiest ways to put some extra cash in your pocket. Companies are always picking consumers’ brains about products, services, and ads.
Popular survey sites include:
- Swagbucks – Earn $0.10-$0.20 per survey. Lots of other earning options like playing games, answering polls, online shopping cash back, and watching videos. Can redeem earnings for gift cards or get paid via PayPal.
- Survey Junkie – Take shorter surveys to earn points redeemable for cash via PayPal or gift cards. Payouts typically arrive in under 5 business days.
- Vindale Research – Higher paying surveys up to $50-$75 each. Covers broad range of topics. Pays out via check or PayPal.
Most surveys pay between $0.50 to $5. It’s not going to make you rich, but it adds up over time. Start taking more surveys in your downtime to offset some bills!
2. Microtasks
Microtask platforms let people worldwide earn small amounts of money completing quick, simple tasks online. All it takes is internet access and some spare time.
Popular microtask sites include:
- Amazon Mturk – Choose from data entry, research, surveys, product review tasks. Keep busy earning a few bucks here and there.
- Clickworker – Sign up to receive and complete microtasks like data entry, categorizing photos, transcription, etc.
- Fiverr – Offer gigs to provide services starting at $5 like logo design, voiceovers, marketing tips, and more.
You won’t get rich with microtasks either, but setting aside an hour a day can help you earn extra spending money. Turn boring time into productive money making time!
3. Get Cash Back When Shopping
One of the easiest ways to make free money online is through cash back apps and browser extensions. You get a percentage of your purchase amounts back for things you’d buy anyway, like groceries and gas.
Popular cash back services include:
- Rakuten – Link your credit cards and get 1-15% cash back at thousands of retailers like Macy’s, Home Depot, Cost Plus World Market and many more. They also offer exclusive discount codes and coupons.
- Honey – This free browser extension automatically finds and applies coupon codes at checkout at 30,000+ online stores. Plus enjoy cash back on some purchases. Add it to Chrome or Firefox.
- Dosh – Link your credit/debit cards and earn cash back automatically on purchases at partner merchants, both online and in-store. No scanning receipts or codes needed.
Cash back accumulates quickly when you use these apps routinely for your normal shopping, both online and offline. It’s free money in your pocket!

4. Freelance Writing
If writing is your thing, one of the most accessible ways to earn online is through freelance writing gigs. Plenty of companies and independent bloggers look to hire writers to create specific content.
Some freelance writing platforms include:
- Contena – Choose your writing topics and get matched to blog writing jobs from big sites like Forbes, TechCrunch, HuffPost and more.
- Scripted – Thousands of writing gigs covering many genres and categories, paying $0.02 per word and up.
- Flexjobs – Subscription job board with screened remote opportunities in blogging, copywriting, editing, social media writing, and more. Starts at $6.95 per month.
Doing part-time freelance writing in your spare time is an easy way to earn extra income. Plus it allows you to expand your portfolio and skills over time.
5. Sell Your Photos Online
In the digital age, quality photos are always in demand for websites, ads, magazines, blogs and more. If photography is your thing, cash in on your camera and editing skills.
Some sites that sell your photos include:
- Shutterstock – Upload your high-quality images here to earn $0.25-$0.75 per image download. Very reputable agency used by major brands and publishers.
- Foap – Sell your photos through Foap’s app and earn $5 every time someone purchases rights to use your image.
- EyeEm – Marketplace to sell photos from your phone. Keep 100% of sales through EyeEm Market or get selected for commercial licensing at EyeEm Select.
Add watermarks and only upload your best work. It takes time to build a portfolio, but over time you can earn passive income from people downloading your photos month after month.
6. Rent or Sell Your Stuff
Turn unused belongings collecting dust into extra money. Apps make listing your personal items for rent or sale a breeze.
Top platforms to sell your stuff include:
- eBay – Global marketplace to auction off goods. Great for collectibles, vintage items, and harder-to-find products.
- Facebook Marketplace – Perfect for selling locally. List to your own network and community.
- Poshmark – Sell clothing, shoes and accessories. Expand reach with use of social profiles.
- Decluttr – Trade-in old electronics, CDs, DVDs, games for cash. Free shipping, quick quotes.
People are always searching for deals online, so you can take advantage by reselling quality goods. Smart pricing combined with great photos leads to sales.
7. Rent Out Your Space
If you have an extra bedroom, basement, or other living space, you can easily earn income by renting it out short-term. Perfect for vacation properties or your primary home.
Leading rental platforms include:
- Airbnb – Rent your space nightly, weekly or monthly. Keep your calendar flexible.
- VRBO – Vacation and short-term rental focused. Attract travelers looking for homey accommodations.
- FurnishedFinder – Specializes in corporate and travel nursing housing rentals by the week or month.
You make the rules on availability and pricing. Having positive reviews and a superhost badge will increase your bookings, enabling you to earn thousands with little effort!

8. Invest in Dividend Stocks
While not the fastest way to make money, investing in stocks that pay dividends can lead to passive income that adds up over time. As quarterly dividend payments come in, you can choose to reinvest or cash some out.
Some top dividend stocks include:
- Target (TGT) – Retail giant with 50+ years of dividend growth. Currently yields 2.15% annually.
- Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) – Household brand and healthcare giant paying 2.58%. 59 years of dividend hikes.
- Coca-Cola (KO) – Beverage icon with a 3.08% yield and annual payout boosts since 1962. As safe as they come.
Focus on established, profitable blue chip stocks. Use tools like the DRIP calculator to see how dividends could grow a portfolio over 5, 10 or 20 years.
Dividend investing generates compounding returns allowing money to work for you!
9. Start Dropshipping
Dropshipping lets you sell products online without actually holding any inventory. When a sale comes in, you forward the order to your supplier and they ship it out directly.
Popular platforms like Shopify and Oberlo make launching a dropshipping store simple:
- Build an ecommerce storefront with engaging product descriptions and images
- Add products to your catalog from dropshipping suppliers like AliExpress
- Drive traffic to your store with promotions and marketing
- Earn a markup on products from dropshipped orders
Dropshipping takes patience to scale, but can fully automate order fulfillment. Do some research to make sure your supplier carries quality products.
10. Design & Sell Printables
Offer digital products like templates, planners, art prints, coloring pages, stickers and more. These sell with no overhead costs!
Top printable marketplaces include:
- Etsy – Open your own shop here to sell printables. Global audience.
- Creative Market – Post your digital goods for 70% sales royalties.
- Redbubble – Upload designs for products like t-shirts, phone cases, stickers, wall art, masks, mugs, and more. You determine markup.
List templates, logos, graphics that would be useful for your target customers. Expand your shop with unique printable products over time.
11. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing gives you the opportunity to earn a commission promoting someone else’s products or services on your website and across social platforms. Find affiliate programs through:
- ShareASale – Access over 4,000 affiliate programs from leading online retailers. Make up to 40% commissions.
- Rakuten – Extensive affiliate network with additional cashback and coupons. Browser extension picks up tracked affiliate links.
- Amazon Associates – The largest affiliate program that lets you earn money back on Amazon purchases. Up to 10% on products.
The key is presenting helpful products relevant to your audience that align with your brand. Transparency is important!
12. Sell on Amazon (FBA)
Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) makes it easy to scale selling products online. Here’s an overview:
- Send your inventory of products to Amazon warehouses
- List items for sale on Amazon’s marketplace
- Amazon handles storage, packaging, shipping when orders come in
- You collect profits and request payouts
Almost any small physical product can work like books, vinyl records, toys, household tools, cosmetics, electronics and more.
Sell as a Professional seller with higher fees but more capabilities. Use tools like Jungle Scout to evaluate profitable products.
13. Try Retail Arbitrage
Retail arbitrage involves capitalizing on pricing or demand discrepancies around products. The steps:
- Find desirable products available at major retail chains for low prices
- Purchase these items specifically for quick resale
- Resell for a markup immediately on platforms like eBay and Amazon
The key is spotting opportunities where demand is higher elsewhere. For example, finding a hot new toy on clearance at Walmart that can be flipped on eBay for a nice profit.
It takes investigation across retailers but can lead to huge ROI buying low and selling high!

14. Monetize a Blog
Launching your own blog allows you to earn income in many ways over the long run:
- Google Adsense – Get paid when people click on relevant text ads. Earn a few cents per click.
- Affiliate marketing – Earn commissions promoting helpful products to your audience.
- Sponsored posts – Get paid by brands to review or mention their products/services.
- Digital products – Create online courses, eBooks, trainings and charge for access.
Building an audience through valuable content opens lots of money-making doors! Just stay focused on nurturing your community over trying to make quick cash.
15. Buy and Rehab Real Estate
Real estate investing presents opportunities to earn profits renting or selling. With rehab projects, you can force the appreciation:
- Acquire an undervalued property at a discount
- Renovate and improve the house on a budget
- Add amenities and upgrades buyers want
- Sell for maximum ROI based on comps
Work directly with sellers if possible. Build your own crew of contractors to lower renovation costs. It takes effort and capital but profits can be immense!
16. Invest in Real Estate Trusts
If you don’t want to deal with physical properties, real estate investment trusts (REITs) offer exposure:
- REITs own and operate real estate and sell shares to investors
- Investors earn dividends plus benefit from property appreciation
- Types of REITs include commercial, residential, industrial, mortgage and more
REITs provide steady dividends derived straight from underlying real estate. It’s an easy way to add real estate exposure in your portfolio.
Research specific REITs on Seeking Alpha and look for a strong track record of growth and increasing dividends over time.
17. Peer-to-Peer Lending
Peer-to-peer lending platforms like Lending Club and Prosper allow you to lend money to other individuals – often for debt consolidation or to refinance credit card debt. Returns can be attractive:
- Screen potential borrowers based on prosperity score, income, etc
- Fund portions of loans requests that fit your risk tolerance
- Collect monthly loan repayments and interest
Diversify across many loans. Automate investments for passive returns in the mid to high single digits. Returns still beat savings accounts.
18. Rent Your Car
Turn your car into extra income by renting it to travelers looking for affordable rides. Leading options include:
- Turo – Has everything from sports cars to trucks in almost any city. Fully insured for protection.
- Getaround – Ideal for occasionally renting out your car when not in use. Provides $1M insurance.
- HyreCar – Car owners lend vehicles to Uber and Lyft drivers. Earn thousands per year based on miles.
You make the rules for availability, pricing, pickup/delivery. Provide a clean, well-maintained car and great renter experience.
19. Drive for Uber or Lyft
Driving for ridesharing apps like Uber and Lyft is an easy way to collect extra income in your free time. Things to know:
- You set your own driving availability – work as much or little as you choose
- Can earn $15-$25+ per hour on average across cities
- Get paid instantly after each ride
- Process is flexible – just pass a quick background check and vehicle inspection
It’s all about strategizing when and where to drive. Target weekends, events, rush hour, airports, nightlife areas, and business centers.

20. List Your Space on Outdoorsy
Outdoorsy provides a platform to rent your recreational vehicles (RVs, campers, boats) to outdoor enthusiasts. Benefits include:
- Keep your RV rented and earning when you aren’t using it
- Outdoorsy handles marketing, payments and roadside assistance
- You set rental prices and availability calendars
- RV owners typically earn $30k+ renting 180 days per year
Provide a clean camper or boat in good working order. Give renters an amazing trip to get 5-star reviews and repeat business!
21. Buy and Rent Out Mining Rigs
Cryptocurrency mining offers an interesting opportunity to put your unused space or electricity to work earning money. Here’s how it works:
- Purchase purpose-built mining computers (ASIC miners)
- House them in a facility with low energy costs
- Plug into the blockchain network to validate transactions
- Earn crypto rewards based on processing contributions
Mining earns income on autopilot. Of course you need ample, affordable electricity and cooling to make it profitable. This is best suited to large-scale operations.
22. Trade and Sell Cryptocurrency
Directly buying and selling cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and others can produce massive returns – if you time it right. There are a few ways to trade:
1. Market Trading – Buying low and selling high, timing major swings in price based on news and sentiment. Riskiest but most upside.
2. Arbitrage Trading – Take advantage of price differences across exchanges.
3. Cryptocurrency Lending – Lend your holdings to earn interest like on BlockFi, Celsius Network, Nexo and more. Rates up to 17% APY!
Do tons of research, limit positions to 2%-5% of your portfolio, and don’t invest more than you can afford to lose. Cryptocurrency prices are extremely volatile!
23. Day Trading Stocks
If you have the temperament for it, day trading smaller cap stocks with lots of volatility can produce quick profits. Here are the basics:
- Scan for stocks with major upcoming news events or high relative volume
- Enter a position during a period of quick price movement
- Close the trade that same day when reaching your profit target
Day trading requires constant research, nerves of steel, discipline, and quick trigger fingers. It is hard to be consistently profitable. Expect to make and lose money some days.
Use paper trading first to refine your strategy without real money on the line. Most traders lose more than they earn so caution is essential.
24. Deliver Food
Companies like DoorDash, Uber Eats, GrubHub and Instacart let you earn money by delivering food orders and groceries directly to hungry customers:
- Drive your own car at your own on-demand schedule
- Earn per order + tips – averages around $15-$25 per hour
- Work during busy meal times like lunch, dinner, weekends
- Fulfill orders from restaurants as well as grocery and convenience stores
It’s an easy way to put your car and time to work. Just ensure you have proper auto insurance for delivery driving. Stream music or podcasts while you cruise around your city completing orders!
25. Get Paid to Play Video Games
Imagine getting paid to play fun video games all day? Game testing is a real career where you play in development games to identify bugs and user experience issues.
Here are some more ways to get paid to play video games:
- Become a beta tester – Sign up on platforms like PlaytestCloud and BetaFamily to get access to pre-release games in need of feedback. You can get paid $9-$60 per hour for your time playing and commenting.
- Stream on Twitch – Broadcast yourself gaming live on Twitch and monetize your stream through ad revenue, subscriptions and donations. Popular streamers can earn thousands a month.
- Enter tournaments – Compete in competitive esports tournaments for games like Fortnite, Call of Duty, and League of Legends. Big events offer prize pools up to millions of dollars.
- Develop indie games – Learn to code and develop your own games for platforms like Steam. Successful indie titles can earn tens or even hundreds of thousands in sales.
- Get sponsored – Apply to creator programs from brands like Red Bull to get products, swag, and even cash to promote their gear while you game.
- Game tester jobs – Look for tester roles on sites like Activision, EA, and Ubisoft. Entry-level testers earn around $20/hr testing major studio releases.
- Become a game coach – Experienced gamers can coach others on improving skills, progressing to higher ranks, and competing in tournaments for up to $50/hour.
The gaming industry is massive and still growing. There are lots of ways to profit from your hobby playing video games once you build a reputation and specialized skills.
Key Takeaways
With so many platforms available now, regular people really can find ways to earn extra income online. From easy survey apps to launching full-scale businesses, whatever matches your interests and time commitment can work.
Here are my key tips:
- Find options aligned with your unique skills, interests and personality
- Start small while you learn the ropes before expanding
- Be patient – building income streams takes consistent effort over time
- Focus on providing real value, not just making quick cash
- Maintain a long-term mindset of growth and mastery
- Keep costs low until you validate profit potential
The doors to making money online are wide open like never before. With the right hustle and persistence, you can meet your income goals doing what you love!
Let me know if you have any other questions!
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.