16 Successful Ways to Make Money Online in 2023

Ways to Making Money Online

Start a blog

If you love to write and have something useful or inspiring to say, consider starting a blog. A blog is a website where you regularly share your ideas or expertise with your readers. Before you start sharing your thoughts, you need to create a website. You can hire someone to build it for you or do it yourself. Website builders like SquareSpace make it really easy to put together a website on your own even with no previous experience. Once your site is up, it’s all about writing good content consistently and promoting your blog to attract readers and subscribers. If you want to monetize your blog, you need an audience. Then, you can use methods like affiliate marketing (earning income through product recommendations) and ads. You can also create your own product or service and sell it on your website.   

Complete online surveys

If you’re looking to get rich, online surveys are not the way to do it. However, you can earn other rewards by sharing your opinions on different products or websites like Survey Junkie. By filling in surveys, you make some extra cash to spend on daily expenses such as gas and groceries, or you get gift cards for different stores and restaurants like Amazon, Walmart, and Target. 

Start a side hustle

Having a side hustle or side gig in addition to a full-time job is pretty normal these days. Many people make a decent amount of money using side-hustle apps such as DoorDash or Uber. If you don’t want to go door-to-door delivering food—or don’t have a car or the car insurance needed to become an Uber driver—you can look for other opportunities. With apps like TaskRabbit or Handy, you can get hired for random odd jobs in your neighborhood. If you want a side hustle that gets you outside and moving, check out the Rover app to find dog-walking clients. 

Sell websites (or online businesses)

Got a website or online business with a decent following or perhaps a desirable domain name registered in your name? There’s money to be made from flipping websites. You just need to know where to look. Often the biggest hurdle is figuring out how much the website or business is worth and finding interested buyers. Websites are said to be worth two to three times the annual profit they generate, although that isn’t set in stone and can vary considerably. For a better idea, consider getting a professional valuation. Once you’ve settled on an asking price, look for an online marketplace that specializes in these types of transactions. It’s important to find somewhere safe that can attract as many potential bidders as possible. Flippa, which also offers a free website valuation tool, is considered one of the best.

Write a newsletter

An online newsletter is an email you send out to your subscribers to share information or promote a product or service. Let’s say you have a blog or a YouTube channel that’s all about yoga. In your newsletter, you can promote your favorite yoga wear using affiliate links. If your readers click on the link, it’s money in your pocket. You can also use your newsletter to promote your latest online yoga workshops, your one-on-one online yoga coaching sessions, and your comfy merch. 

Create a Youtube channel

If you’ve always dreamed of being the next big YouTube star, now’s your chance. To make money on YouTube you need views and subscribers—lots of them. To qualify for the YouTube Partner Program, you need at least 1,000 subscribers with 4,000 public watch hours over the last 12 months or 1,000 subscribers with 10 million public short video views over the last 90 days. If you can meet these criteria, it’s possible to earn money. Using your YouTube Channel, you can try to profit from advertising revenue, channel membership, and selling merchandise in your YouTube store. 

Write an ebook

Have you been sitting on a book idea for years? If so, why not try to self-publish and sell an ebook online? From financial advice and self-help to cookbooks and fiction, there is no end to what you can write about. If you have expertise on a subject and want to share your knowledge, an ebook is a great way to get the word out. There are many online ebook publishers, including Amazon Kindle, Smashwords, and Rakuten Kobo. Writing a book isn’t easy, and it takes a significant amount of effort on the front end. But once you hit publish, your ebook has passive-income potential.

Voice-over acting 

For those with a beautiful, unique, or radio-announcer tone, have you considered voice-over work? Successful voice-over actors often have a background in acting (though it’s not necessary) and are able to do different characters or accents. Voice-over actors can find work narrating ebooks, online videos, or online ads. To get started, you will need a professional portfolio to share with potential clients. Voice-over acting also requires some initial investment. You’ll need to purchase a microphone and headphones, as well as voice recording and editing software.  

Become a virtual assistant

A virtual assistant is a remote worker who offers administrative support to different clients. Successful virtual assistants are organized, reliable, and tech-savvy. The exact job tasks you will do as a virtual assistant can vary greatly based on your skill set as well as what your client wants. Some services you might offer include: responding to emails, scheduling client meetings and appointments, transcribing documents, and coordinating travel or bookkeeping. If you already have administrative experience, this can make it easier to break into the industry, but it’s not necessary. You can start to look for clients using platforms like Belay, Upwork, and Zirtual.   

Twitch streaming

Twitch lets gamers and other creators stream their content live. Similar to a YouTube channel, you make money by becoming a Twitch Partner or a Twitch Affiliate. There are several ways to monetize your content on Twitch, including subscriptions and “Bits.” Subscriptions (subs) allow your viewers to pay a monthly fee to support your channel. “Bits” are a virtual good that viewers can purchase to show their support and cheer on your content. As a Twitch Partner, you can also run ads on your streams and make money through sponsorship opportunities. 

Test websites & apps

If you like being paid to take surveys, you might also enjoy earning money or rewards to test websites and apps. Instead of answering questions about specific products, you get to use websites and apps and provide your feedback. Similar to taking surveys, you aren’t going to earn enough to replace your full-time job. But it is a fun way to get paid for your perspective. If you’re interested, you can check out sites like UserTesting, UserPeek, and Userlytics. In addition to your computer, you will often need a microphone to participate.  

Sell used items

Is your garage or hallway closet overflowing with stuff? Maybe it’s time to part with some of your old coats, toys, or kitchen appliances. Doing so not only frees up space in your household. It can also  earn you extra money. With online sites like Facebook Marketplace, Nextdoor, and Craigslist, you can reach a wide audience of people perhaps interested in buying your unwanted items. It might not even be necessary to mail the stuff you sell. If you sign up on a local website, you can agree to meet the buyer in person. 

Host on Airbnb 

If you have a spare room or home, you can consider listing it on Airbnb. Decide whether you want to rent your space full-time, part-time, or just when you’re away traveling. While renting your space on Airbnb is considered a passive form of income, there is work involved. First, you need to ensure your space is ready to rent. This might include sprucing it up with new sheets, towels, and maybe a fresh coat of paint. There’s also the task of cleaning the space after guests leave. You can do this yourself or pay a cleaner. To get started, you need to sign up as a host with Airbnb and post your listing. While signing up is free, Airbnb will collect a percentage of your nightly rate. Prior to posting, it’s a good idea to confirm you’re allowed to rent your space. If you are part of a homeowners association, there might be rules against it.  

Freelance writing

To become a freelance writer, you need to be a good writer, a strong researcher, and possess good organizational and time management skills. You don’t need a degree in journalism or English literature, though it doesn’t hurt. To start making money, you should have a portfolio with a few writing samples to share with potential clients. You can create a free writing portfolio on sites such as Contently and Muck Rack.  To find clients, you can use online job boards. Three options: Upwork, Fiverr, and ProBlogger. However, there’s a lot of competition on these sites and the pay is often low. Once you have some experience, you can start to pitch clients on your own and increase your rates accordingly. 

Dropshipping 

Dropshipping allows you to sell a product online without having to keep stock. Using a drop shipping app, your customers can buy products from your online store that then ship directly from your supplier to your customer. To make money, you charge a slightly higher fee than your supplier and keep the profit. Before diving into the world of dropshipping, make sure you carefully research the product you want to sell and the wholesaler from which you plan to buy. To stay competitive, compare prices set by other buyers to determine what you should charge. There are a number of fraud issues around dropshipping, so proceed with caution.

Print on Demand 

Print-on-demand (POD) lets you add your own designs to white-label products supplied by a third party on a per-order basis. Popular POD items include t-shirts, coffee mugs, tote bags, and socks. A benefit of POD is it eliminates the need to stock inventory, as everything is handled by the printing company. Many POD websites make it easy to set up your store and select products that you want to add your designs to. These companies will also print your designs and ship the products. To create your designs, you can use websites like Canva or you can hire someone else to create designs using sites like Fiverr or Upwork. To make money, you purchase your custom product for one price (let’s say $10), sell it for a markup ($22), and keep the profit.