If you’re searching for an easy scheme to earn huge amounts of money online, I’m afraid I have to disappoint you.
There are dozens of proven ways to make money online with no experience, but they all involve sacrifice, dedication, and hard work.
Once you put in this time and pay your dues, you will be able to achieve the financial freedom you aspire to now.
So, to sum it up, this is not going to be another get-rich-quick guide. We do not live in fantasy land, and if getting rich was easy, everyone would be rich.
The old adage “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” can be applied here as well.
By putting in the time today, you will place yourself in the best position to thrive in upcoming years.
Our Favorite Side Hustles
Download these apps to make extra cash in your spare time. Get paid to complete surveys or take photos around your city.
- Survey Junkie
- 20M+ members
- Average survey payout is $.50 – $3.00
- Make money in your spare time
- Trustpilot rating of 4.5/5 from more than 30k+ reviews
- Branded Surveys
- Earn up to $5 per Survey
- Share your opinion on products or services
- Over 50,000 five-star ratings
- Get PayPal cash or direct deposit
Contents
- How To Make Money Online As A Beginner Without Experience
- 1. Have you ever thought about Online surveys?
- 2. Blogging is the way of the future (make $50 an hour online or more)
- 3. Become a freelancer
- 4. Sell some of the stuff you have no use for
- 5. Invest your money in a smart way
- 6. Food delivery is always a good option for beginners
- 7. Have you ever considered podcasting?
- 8. Get involved with dropshipping
- 9. Become a social media manager
- 10. Making and selling videos
- 11. Offer transcription services
- 12. Have you ever considered becoming a virtual assistant?
- 13. Provide tutoring services
- 14. Rent your place on Airbnb
- 15. Real estate crowdfunding can be very profitable
- 16. Data Entry
- 17. Develop Your Own App
- Wrap-Up: how to make Money Online
How To Make Money Online As A Beginner Without Experience
First off, here is what you need to avoid.
If people offer to send you links to their products and services and they’re locked behind a paywall, they are usually up to no good.
In fact, this is just a cheap and dishonest way to make money without offering true value.
Plenty of people get caught in this web of lies out of the desire to earn money right here, right now.
Like I said before, there isn’t a fast lane to getting rich. Run, if anyone promises you $2000 free money or that you’ll make over 4000 dollars fast, in a few days.
Sometimes these scams throw up instant red flags like poor grammar and typos (if they were rich, they could hire a marketing writer/proofreader, right?).
Other get-rich-quick schemes can present themselves as more legitimate, but will still probably disappoint you in the end.
It is precisely this kind of stuff that you need to avoid.
Sure, you could test your luck and try one of those scams that promise thousands of dollars of profit in just a couple of days, but that is a quick one-way ticket to losing all of your savings.
1. Have you ever thought about Online surveys?
Okay, words such as “money“ and “easy“ should never be used in the same sentence together, but no matter what anyone says, doing surveys for cash remain the safest and the best way to make money online as a broke beginner.
They require no investments upfront; you will only have to use up some of your free time.
Why would anyone pay you to do a simple survey?
Well, major brands care deeply about their user’s behavior and their desires, and conducting surveys is the best way to find out what the masses think about their products.
The process of registration is fairly simple, as it takes no more than a couple of minutes to create your account.
You will just need to provide some basic information about yourself, such as your age, gender, and other demographic-related questions.
In this way, you will receive the surveys that are created precisely for your targeted group.
There are several places where you can start, but the most popular players in the game include Survey Junkie, Swagbucks, Branded Surveys, and KashKick.
As you complete the surveys, the money will come to you, whether through PayPal or gift cards like from Amazon.
If you’re truly interested in this line of work, you will be able to rack up some decent pocket money with it, but I would still advise you to take surveys as your secondary side-hustle.
You can make money, but it’s unlikely to be a lot of money or enough to live on. If you’re lucky you’ll make 30 dollars a day online, but not every day!
I am only saying this because there are some other, really cool ways in which you can monetize your online presence.
2. Blogging is the way of the future (make $50 an hour online or more)
Although blogging has been around for years now, it still remains a viable source of income for people around the world. Still, this is no promised land.
Just because you can now create a blog in just a couple of days, it doesn’t mean that the money will start rolling in just as quickly. If I can be honest here for a second, I was a bit of an exception to this rule.
You see, only three months after my blog was made, I made $500 from it, but I had plenty of traffic right from the get-go.
To start off, you first need to find a reliable hosting provider.
My first choice was HostGator, thanks to their tremendous offer, which only cost me $2.75 a month.
I stayed with them for quite some time, but as the traffic figures started to go up, I figured I needed something more, so I transferred my website to SiteGround, and to Bigscoots later on where it still remains today.
If you provide great content to your readers, major brands will quickly start to notice you, and that is where partnerships begin to come into play.
In the internet world, these things are known as affiliate programs, and they present a tremendous way to earn a profit that is entirely passive.
Here is an example of one affiliate program from our blog.
All you have to do is point your readers in the direction of your partner companies, and if they decide to use their services for themselves, you will get a piece of the cut.
Isn’t that the easiest way to earn money, ever?
3. Become a freelancer
We are all well aware that the major corporations are taking all of the profits from their miserably paid employees, but we rarely muster up the courage to do something about it.
Still, more and more people are now turning to freelance as a source of steady income.
In truth, this can be a masterful way to earn the big bucks, but you have to possess a skill that separates you from the crowd.
Still, even if you are the biggest expert in the world, there is still a difficult path that you need to endure before you can start to increase your hourly fees.
Getting a reputation on freelancing websites can be a grueling task, but it is the foundation for everything that comes after that.
The trouble is, most people are happy to undercut themselves and charge way less for their services than what they deserve.
Fighting for what’s yours is a daily task for most freelances, but hey, it comes with the territory.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all bad. Successful freelancers are capable of earning tens of thousands of dollars each month.
Gaining the reputation to enter that circle is the difficult part.
When it comes to your freelancing platform of choice, you can start off on websites such as Upwork and Fiverr.
While Upwork was the biggest player in some previous years, due to their constant increases in fees and fluctuation of job opportunities, other competitors have risen in popularity.
The above-mentioned Fiverr is the perfect illustration of just how awesome the freelance life can be.
To test this, and to find reliable information for my article How to make money on Fiverr I opened up an account for myself.
During the very next week, I made $200 from it, without investing any effort into it. To this day, it remains some of the sweetest profit I ever made.
A great alternative to the two already mentioned websites is FlexJobs.
In order to create an account on this website, you have to pay a certain monthly fee, but that is a sure indication that other freelancers who are already there won’t drive the hourly rates down, as they do on some other websites.
If you are confident in the quality of your work, you should definitely check it out.
So, if you’re a beginner hoping to earn money by freelancing, invest in yourself first, by gaining the necessary expertise in your niche.
Once you have that in your pocket, turning it into profit becomes the easy part.
4. Sell some of the stuff you have no use for
We can all be prone to hoarding stuff we barely ever get a chance to use.
Now, I am not suggesting that you need to change your life from the ground up and become a minimalist, but I have no doubt that you turn a decent profit by getting rid of some things.
However, once you sell all of the items from your home, what is there to do next?
I have a lot of experience in selling stuff online, and trust me, this can definitely become a viable source of income.
I began while still in college, by flipping some items on eBay. However, you won’t be able to sell just anything you wish.
Honoring the demands of the market is the number one rule of business.
So, if you are a beginner who is hoping to turn this into a career, my first advice would be to learn how to test the market and find out what people truly wish to buy.
You’ll also need to have some liquid savings you’ll be able to invest in buying products.
The most reliable way to get your foot in the door is by opening your own store on Amazon.
Still, how can you determine the market demands? That is when Jungle Scout comes into play.
By using this tool, not only that you’ll be able to track down the products that sell, but you’ll also see where the competition is poor and where the chance is there for the taking.
Once you’ve found a valuable product, the rest becomes very easy.
5. Invest your money in a smart way
In case you’re used to paying for everything in cash, you definitely know the feeling of tons of loose change clanging in your pockets.
To avoid this, most people don’t even bother with taking this money, but that can be a huge mistake.
For instance, there are now several apps, such as Acorns, which collect the change from the purchases you make by using credit or debit cards and invest those funds into different venues.
Young people simply adore this app, as they can barely even notice the difference in their credit balance.
The fees are also insignificant, but the profit you can make is quite alluring.
Naturally, bigger investments can potentially put you in an even better position, but with Acorns, you will hardly have to worry about going bankrupt, so it’s a win-win situation.
Similarly, if you’re a beginner looking to get involved with investing, why not start with a free commission trading app, such as Webull.
You can open your account for free and trade from one of 120 supported marketplaces around the globe.
With real-time data and a plethora of tracking tools, Webull is a tremendous tool you can use to learn the slight nuances of the business.
6. Food delivery is always a good option for beginners
If you have a driver’s license, or you aren’t afraid of some physical activity like bike riding, you might want to get into the food delivery business.
These days, most of us are too preoccupied with work or simply too lazy to worry about cooking our own meals, and delivery services are more than happy to step in, for a fee.
Granted, the drivers make only a portion of the cut, but it’s still not bad money. Take DoorDash for instance, as it is one of the premier food delivery services right now.
Their drivers earn anywhere from $10 to $25 an hour, depending on their efficiency.
The job is fairly simple. You just pick up the food from the restaurant and deliver it to the customer.
While the company does not necessarily force the users to tip the drivers, most people do it out of common courtesy anyway.
The same principle can be applied to grocery shopping as well.
You also have to own a car to apply for services such as Instacart, but if you do, you’re halfway there.
Once you register your account, you can deliver groceries to people, and you’ll receive about $11 per hour on average for your efforts.
If you like to drive around while listening to music from your car stereo, this can be a decent way to earn some money.
Furthermore, if you have a way with people, you will see plenty of tips coming your way, which will raise your earning capabilities significantly.
Check out these delivery apps like Doordash.
7. Have you ever considered podcasting?
You don’t need to have any complicated equipment to create a podcast, and you don’t even have to be a proven expert on a topic you’re covering.
In fact, this medium has blown up in popularity in recent years, and it seems like everyone is talking into a microphone these days.
But since the market is saturated, how can you stand out among your peers?
The main advice that experienced podcasters give to beginners is to just act natural.
Similar to many other forms of entertainment, you cannot force your way in: you either have it or you don’t.
However, in order to just test the waters, you will have to make the minimal investments of getting basic equipment and spending time testing things out.
Still, one very important question remains: even if you gain an audience, what is the best way to monetize it?
Getting money from sponsors who are eager to get some airtime is one way, but that’s just one of many possibilities.
Plenty of podcasters use their platform to promote their services and products, which can increase their profit margins substantially.
Others accept donations via platforms like Patreon, where listeners can support the show and help keep it going.
This line of work is definitely far from a surefire thing. In fact, it is the complete opposite of it, so how did it find its way onto this list?
Well, if you are a charismatic, well-spoken person, you practically have no limit when it comes to earning potential.
Even if you eventually give up, you will sacrifice nothing more than some of your free time. Doesn’t that sound like a good deal?
8. Get involved with dropshipping
In today’s day and age, we all have a friend or two who have tried their luck in the world of dropshipping.
Some of them have scored big, earning huge sums of money, while others have nothing to show for their efforts.
The very concept of dropshipping is very simple. You just have to find a product that has great potential to sell, and a reliable supplier who will be able to honor the market demands.
After that, there are only two things you need to take care of.
The first one includes the creation of an online shop, where all the products need to be sorted and described.
You can do that now in just a couple of clicks, using Shopify, so I would suggest you start there.
This awesome platform offers a 14-day trial period if you register by using this link.
Ultimately, the thing that makes or breaks any dropshipping strategy is marketing.
A great marketing plan will precisely determine your target audience, which will make the process of selling your items that much simpler.
In order to promote your store, you should use different marketing funnels and advertise on different platforms.
In that way, even if one source fails, you will still be able to gain customers elsewhere.
Let’s get one thing out of the way first. Just because you spend hours of your day on social media, it doesn’t mean that you would be the ideal candidate for this online job.
However, thanks to online course marketplaces such as Coursera and Udemy, you should be able to get a basic education on the topic quite quickly.
With that in your back pocket, there are tons of possibilities for future employment.
Today, every respectable business needs to have a great online presence. In order to achieve that goal, the need for quality social media managers has skyrocketed.
If you know your way around Photoshop and you don’t get tired easily from online interactions with other people, this line of work could be a viable career opportunity.
The greatest thing about this job is that you don’t need to be sitting behind a computer all day long in order to do it.
If you have a decent smartphone, you can do most of the work even from a coffee shop, or even from the beach.
When it comes to salary, know that you won’t get rich quickly by doing it.
On the other hand, this line of work can prep you perfectly for other, higher-paying jobs in marketing.
You just have to be willing to invest a lot of time and effort into your education.
Once your work becomes recognized by others, you will be able to charge better rates, but know that this will not happen overnight.
Where to learn more?
Check out how to use Pinterest to make money from Ling over at Finsavvypanda.
10. Making and selling videos
Many people don’t even have the vaguest idea that they can monetize the funny home videos they post on Facebook or Instagram for free.
But in reality, selling the rights to your videos can prove to be quite a lucrative business.
It’s pretty simple to make money online selling videos.
I have made more than $5,000 by selling videos on platforms such as Rumble or Newsflare. How was I able to do it?
I simply uploaded some of my funny home videos, put some interesting title behind it, and let it sit.
Once the major broadcasting corporations noticed the possibility of making it viral, the rest was up to them. Here is a screenshot of my previous success there.
The best thing about it is that you automatically receive funds to your account as the number of views goes up. All the while, you don’t even have to lift a finger.
How grand is that? Now, be warned that there is no exact formula that will make a video go viral. If there is, I would have retired young a long time ago.
However, if the only thing you have to do is upload a piece of content to one of these platforms and hope for the best, why wouldn’t you at least give it a try?
Ultimately, you can always choose to be a YouTube content creator and join the millions who are already in this race ahead of you.
If you happen to do that, know that you will receive about $1 per every 1,000 views your video gets, which is not that much, if I’m being honest.
Compared to blogs, where you should be able to charge $25 per 1,000 users who check out your content, that number starts to look really unimpressive.
Still, if you become popular, you should be able to earn profit in many different ways.
If video creation is one of your passions, and you’re willing to work hard, don’t let anyone stand in your way.
11. Offer transcription services
On the surface, it appears that just about anyone can listen to audio files and type what they’ve heard in a document.
Right now, I would usually tell you that it’s a lot more complicated than you might think, but the entry barrier here truthfully is set rather low.
Even if you do not have previous working experience in this business, you can test your skills in one of the major websites, such as Rev or GoTranscript, today.
The above-mentioned websites are pretty much the top of the hill when it comes to the rates they offer.
While the competition level is pretty steep and the waiting line to even get your first gig there may be long, once you get accepted, it will quickly pay off.
While the major websites usually offer anywhere from $20 to $30 an hour to their transcribers, most other companies will only dish out $5 to $10 per hour, which is quite a big difference.
The job itself can be rather tedious and repetitive, but as you can see from the mentioned rates, it can serve you as a great way to earn some decent pocket money.
12. Have you ever considered becoming a virtual assistant?
This is one of those jobs that didn’t even exist 20 years ago, but with the development of the internet, the world is becoming smaller by the day.
This means that you can use it to your advantage and find clients from around the globe.
Business people are often so busy nowadays that finding virtual assistants is a necessity, rather than a luxury.
If you consider yourself a reliable person who knows how to manage the tight deadlines and multitask, you might’ve found your calling.
Virtual assistants perform a whole array of tasks, including administrative work, customer support, scheduling, and even some blog or social media management when necessary.
A great thing about this position is that before you even start looking for clients, you get to determine the type of service you are willing to offer.
By doing this, you will be able to work within your comfort zone, while slowly introducing new services as you teach yourself.
But you don’t have to be a jack-of-all-trades.
If you happen to find your niche in offering a specific type of service, you can focus all of your attention on it, in order to master it as quickly as possible.
Once you gain the necessary experience, you will become a highly sought-after commodity.
While the need for virtual assistants is great, you don’t have to visit the job boards in order to find your potential clients. In fact, they can be everywhere.
Don’t be afraid to reach out to famous entrepreneurs or your local business owners who might need your services.
Once you establish a circle of trust between you and your client, you won’t have to look for work ever again.
If your clients are happy with the work you put in, they will gladly recommend you to their business associates, which means that you will be able to expand your business to a previously unexpected level.
There are examples where virtual assistants are making six-figure salaries, so don’t look down upon this line of work for one second.
13. Provide tutoring services
While most of the already mentioned jobs are intended for people over the age of 18, practically anyone who has specific knowledge on a chosen topic can become a tutor.
In the past, providing tutelage for your neighbor next door would bring you nothing more than a couple of bucks per session, but the situation has improved greatly with the development of online services.
Students are the ones who probably profit the most from this line of work.
There are plenty of websites that specialize in these services, and it’s up to you to select the one that suits you the most.
The process of signing up is very simple and it should take no more than a couple minutes.
I’ll be brutally honest here when I say that if you choose to offer tutoring services, be prepared to lower your rates significantly, until you gain some experience and notch together a couple of positive reviews.
With that in your bag, you will be able to raise the rates to $20+ an hour, which can be a huge sum of money for a college kid.
Even if you have a steady job, tutoring services can be a tremendous source of additional income, as the job itself is quite rewarding, and the paychecks aren’t all that bad either.
14. Rent your place on Airbnb
According to experts, websites like Airbnb are a lot more popular than hotels these days. It’s no wonder why that’s the case. With Airbnb, everything is out in the open.
The quality of your service, the accommodation you offer, and collaboration from the host are all taken into consideration.
Ultimately, the users get a chance to choose the option that works best for them. Compared to hotels, the biggest plus might be the affordability of these housing options.
But wait, how is this a great way to earn money?
Well, if you happen to own a property, or at least have a spare room in your home that you rarely get a chance to use, you can sign up and become an Airbnb host.
While not entirely passive, this can be a tremendous way to make a passive income and perhaps even meet some really cool people along the way.
Additionally, if you are willing to invest some time and money to make your accommodation stand out, as well as hire a professional photographer to make some awesome photos of your place, you should be able to charge decent rates for it.
If you want to find a proven way to make money on the side, this might be one of the best ways to do so.
15. Real estate crowdfunding can be very profitable
Anything that has the word real estate in it involves a lot of money, right?
Well, that’s not totally wrong. In order to get into the business of real estate crowdfunding, you do need to have some money stashed away on the side first.
I wouldn’t advise investing all of your life savings into it either, as you should always have your savings and investments diversified in different areas.
Still, the more you invest, the more you’ll be able to collect at the end.
At the very minimum, you will have to invest $500 to even join this conversation.
However, if you choose a reliable platform, such as Fundrise, which has millions of satisfied clients around the globe, your earning potential will increase quickly.
With annual reviews that range from 8 to 12%, crowdfunding remains a hassle-free way to make extra money.
Naturally, you will have to wait for some time before you’ll be able to reap the benefits of your smart investments, but ultimately, it can be one of the best decisions you’ve ever made.
16. Data Entry
Data entry is a straightforward job that you can start with if you’re new to making money online. You’ll be typing information into databases, spreadsheets, or other formats. It doesn’t require much experience—just a computer and some decent typing skills. While it’s a reliable way to earn some cash, it’s not a shortcut to big bucks.
17. Develop Your Own App
You don’t need to know coding—there are plenty of talented developers out there you can hire to bring your vision to life. Find them on platforms like Upwork or Freelancer, share your idea, and they can do the heavy lifting to create the app. It’s an investment, but with a good concept, it could pay off.
Wrap-Up: how to make Money Online
As you can tell from this article, there are a number of different ways in which you can earn a decent paycheck on the Internet.
I tried to make a list of the most surefire ways to make money online with no experience, but if I forgot to mention your favorite method, please let me know about it through the comment section.
I wish you the best of luck in using this modern money-making tool (the internet!) on your way to achieving your financial goals!
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Peter is a serial entrepreneur and founder of DollarSanity blog who created and ran a variety of businesses. You can learn more about him at the DollarSanity About Me page. He’s been featured in the Washington Post, Yahoo Finance and MSN Money.