They say money makes the world go around, and to be fair, it’s true! 2016 has opened the path for an increasing number of ways to earn money online. Despite this, it may seem intimidating to get started. After all, where does one even begin? Is it a scam? Can I make a full-time living from online work? Let’s take a few minutes to answer all your questions, and give you resources to get started.
Where I began
A few years ago, I found myself with the urge to spend some money online. My parents weren’t the type to spend on video games that much, so I decided to buy them on my own. However, that was easier said than done. I hardly had a dollar to my name, so where would I begin? It just so happened that a friend approached me one day, and told me of this website where I could earn money, doing searches. This money would come in the form of gift cards. Sure it wasn’t actual cash, but a gift card was definitely better than nothing. My only concern was whether it was a scam or not. He reassured me that it wasn’t, since this was Microsoft-run. That website, was Bing Rewards.
This led to me doing a lot of research on earning these ‘gift cards’ online, where I discovered that people had been doing this for a long time! I immediately got signed up and started earning. I later discovered more sites which had faster and more secure methods of earning rewards, and I took them up. All this led to my discovery of freelancing websites, which as a programmer, was an excellent opportunity for me to earn real cash.
A breakdown of popular money-making sites
To break this down, we’ll categorize each method so you can approach the appropriate ones.
Survey Sites
These websites usually require you to fill out surveys and award you points for each completed survey. These points can later be redeemed for gift cards, or sometimes PayPal cash. Some of the most popular ones include:
One major advantage of survey sites, is that you can earn quite a lot just from giving your opinion. In addition, the work is quite easy most of the time; simply choosing/typing responses. You can earn between $10-100 per survey, though the ones that pay the highest are fairly lengthy and are hard to get in.
The downside to this, is that each survey is catered to a specific crowd. In other words, you may not qualify for many surveys, and your account can be banned for lying. In order to keep your account active, you usually have to give consistent information (telling the truth is best). This means that you may either qualify for a lot of surveys, or none at all. Surveys vary based on many factors, so some weeks you may be able to qualify for a lot of them. Other weeks you’ll be struggling to get a decent survey.
Overall, survey sites are great at making money with fairly little effort, as long as you are able to consistently qualify.
Get Paid To (GPT) Sites
“Get paid to do what?” You may be asking yourself this question right now. The answer? Just about everything. GPT sites are a combination of multiple earning methods, from surveys, to watching advertisements. They usually offer fairly easy methods of earning special points which can later be converted to gift cards or even cash (PayPal). Some of the best ones include:
One of the best aspects of these sites is the wide range of activities you can earn points from. Watching ads, signing up various trials, doing surveys and playing games are just a few of the things you can expect to participate in on these websites. They are a lot more fun and dynamic than some other earning methods. You can expect to earn anywhere from $1-10 per day excluding surveys. If you qualify for the surveys, you can earn well above this figure.
The downside to these sites is that many of them are largely filled with offers that require paid purchases in order to earn high points daily. Without these, your earnings are fairly low, and is more suited towards a gift card or two each month.
Ad revenue sites (Paid per watch)
These sites generally pay you per video watched, or after watching a group of pre-selected videos. Many times they have mobile apps which allows you to utilize your phone while it’s idle and earn a few dollars per day. Some people buy many phones solely for the purpose of playing these ads all day, thus racking up much more earnings. Some of the most popular ones include:
- Perk TV
- Swagbucks (referral link) | Swagbucks (non-referral)
- Bing Rewards
You can expect to earn between $1 – $5 a day with these methods. They are by far the most limited, but for a 90% passive income method, it’s better than nothing. Just don’t expect to be using your phone much during this time.
Online Work (Freelancing)
Here is where a large portion of money can be made if you have the skills required. These skills can fall under multiple categories, including programming, website design, tutoring, art, video editing, writing and much more. Generally, if you have a skill that can produce content that can be shared online, you can be a freelancer. Here are some of the most popular freelancing websites out there:
These sites either provide you with a safe platform to meet and do business with clients, or pay you directly for completing work. There is no real limit on the amount of money you can earn, as that depends on the tasks you are doing. As an example, a programmer on Fiverr can earn between $10 and $50 for fairly simple programs. A website designer could earn from $150-500 for a single website creation, or more. Voice-actors who charge per minute can easily earn hundreds of dollars each day, for simply talking. Transcribers, tutors, artists and other skilled people have varying rates, and it is up to you to decide what rate you’ll set.
Most freelancing sites take a percentage of your earnings, simply for providing a popular platform which allows buyers to be more likely to find you. This is fair in a sense, until you realize that many of them take a 20% cut which can result in fairly disappointing earnings depending on the rate of job acquisition. In addition, these sites attract many freelancers who are sometimes willing to offer their services for ridiculously cheap rates, thus making it harder to secure a buyer.
With that being said, there are millions of successful freelancers worldwide, and with enough time and dedication, a full-time salary from home is indeed possible.
Conclusion
There are many ways of earning an income online. Some pay very well, others are more of a long-term, passive goal. It is up to you to decide if any of these are worth it, but my personal experience with most of these has been very rewarding.
All figures quoted are in USD unless otherwise explicitly stated. All links are non-referral except Swagbucks. By signing up with my referral link, I gain a percentage of your earnings passively. This does not affect your account whatsoever, nor does it affect your earnings. It is simply a bonus for me as your referrer.
Most of the ‘passive/easy income’ sites are region restricted, and the use of VPNs is usually prohibited. However, the ‘online-work’ sites usually allow people worldwide.
Shout-out to /r/Beermoney for allowing me to discover these sites in the first place. Check out the subreddit for more income-earning methods that come up from time to time.
