weird ways to make money online

15 Weird Ways To Make Money Online in 2020

Making money online isn’t as difficult as you might have thought.

The last 30 years have seen the internet grow to dominate every facet of our lives, from our interpersonal relationships to the way we work. Most business is at least partially done online nowadays, and some full-scale corporations are completely based on the web.

You could feasibly build your own business online and be up and running within a few hours. The internet really is an imaginary land of opportunity.

Today, we’re going to discuss some of the weird ways to make money online. If you’re at a crossroads in your career or even just want to make some extra cash on the side, we’re willing to bet there’s some strange little thing you can do on the internet to make it happen.

That’s the real beauty of being so interconnected through the web; there’s a demand for almost anything you could think of. Your hidden talent doesn’t have to be a secret anymore, because you can monetize it online. Here are 15 of the best online opportunities:

1. Start a Blog

Do you enjoy writing? There’s always room out there for another blogger, as long as you’re willing to advertise and do the occasional guest post. Choose a general topic that interests you, get a domain, and start writing.

Content makes this world go around, so there’s a shocking amount of money that can be made if you’re a great blogger. It’s true, however, that it takes time to build a brand, so there will be some dark days before you start actually making money. Many professional bloggers are able to make it their full-time gig, though.

2. …Or Blogging

While you’re trying to build your personal blog up, you can always get a job working for a content mill. There are dozens of them on the web and some of them actually pay really well for great writers.

You can make up to $50 or more per article written, so if you’re a fast writer, it’s a great way to make some extra cash on the side while you work at your main career. Plus, you can really develop your online writing chops, which is incredibly important because online writing is very specific.

3. Monetize Your YouTube Channel

Do all your friends tell you how funny or entertaining you are? There’s not a lot of opportunities out there to become an actor, comedian, or television personality, but there’s always YouTube.

Just look at the top-earning entertainers in the world in the last few years. You probably wouldn’t expect to see as many YouTubers as there are, but if you know how to promote yourself, you can literally make millions.

Not every upstart YouTuber can expect to make that much money. You have to figure out your “special something”, then have the equipment to produce high-quality videos and the marketing ability to get your name out there. If your feed catches on, though, you’ll wonder why you ever tried to do anything else.

4. Transcription

Transcription is tedious work, but for the uber-fast typists out there, it’s kind of the perfect job. You earn what is a seemingly tiny wage (usually a few cents per word), but the money goes up and up the faster you type.

There are loads of different forms of transcription, also. You could write the closed captioning titles for short films or documentaries, transcribe lectures and trials, or copy out legal documents for law firms. The best way to make money is by familiarizing yourself with more than one type of transcription.

5. Online Teaching

Teaching is hard work, but less so when you can do a class in your pajamas. If you’re a confident and clear speaker, you can make a great wage on just a few hours of work per day teaching kids English. Tutoring sessions usually only last an hour or two and you’ll get paid around $15/hour (on the low-end).

Most of the teaching websites will have a fairly extensive vetting process to get the most suitable candidates. They’ll then provide you with training materials and have you create lesson plans to tutor your kids with. You’ll need a great internet connection and you might have to work strange hours, but this career is both fulfilling and fun.

6. Research Studies

Medical research studies are a well-documented money making method among the unemployed, but you can find some decent online research studies that won’t violate your body. We’re not talking about online surveys here, these are high paying studies that you have to qualify for.

Sites like Respondent give you a chance to earn as much as $300 for a 1-2 hour phone survey. It sounds like a lot of money for a phone call, and it is, but you can’t feasibly complete more than one or two of these per month. They’re better suited as supplemental income while you work towards other career goals.

7. Proofreading

As we’ve already discussed, there’s a lot of content out there and the stream of it doesn’t seem like it’s going to slow down. You’ll probably notice from reading different blogs that even successful bloggers are pretty bad at writing. For that reason, the freelance proofreading industry is sure to see a bit of a boom.

With an understanding of how to write copy, you can become an in-demand proofreader. Charge by the job or per hour and you can easily make a 5-figure salary because bloggers understand that it’s getting more and more crucial to have well-written content.

The days of stuffing keywords to grow web traffic are gone. Blog posts have to be engaging and entertaining to get the attention of readers.

8. Consulting

If you’ve got experience in the world of business, there are a lot of internet entrepreneurs out there that need your help. Start a consulting business and bestow your knowledge onto those that have great ideas but don’t know how to monetize them.

This could be a legitimate career opportunity if you can build a solid foundation of contacts. You can start by searching for online companies in your area of expertise, then reaching out to the ones that you think could use your services. Eventually, someone will take you up on it and you’ll hit the ground running.

9. Start a Podcast

Podcasts are still a growing phenomenon in the media world. Soon, everyone and their grandmother will have one, so if you’ve got a great idea for a show, don’t wait too long to launch it. If you get good at it, there’s no reason that you can’t get the backing of sponsors and even join a podcast network one day.

There are already a lot of popular podcasts, so you’ve got to be innovative if you’re going to have a show that actually sticks around. Do your research beforehand and figure out something that hasn’t been done yet, then get all of the social media accounts and start producing content.

Put it all out for the world to see. Podcasting is a great medium where creative people can communicate their stories and ideas to a large audience. Stick with it and you might just be able to monetize your show.

10. Graphic & Web Design

Graphic design is invaluable to businesses all over the world. Not too many companies keep graphic designers on staff, which leaves the market for freelancers wide open. If you’ve got a background in graphic design or illustration, you can make a great career for yourself by taking jobs online.

The same thing goes with web design. It’s something that all businesses need but very few can actually handle themselves. You’ll always be able to find work if you understand programming languages like HTML or Java and have a knack for creating functional, attractive websites.

11. Instagram Photography

Instagram isn’t just for selfies and stories, you can find some extremely talented landscape, wildlife, and nature photographers on there. Becoming a professional photographer is far from easy, but you can build an extensive portfolio and gain a lot of attention by posting your stuff on Instagram.

You never know who’s watching. You could be a few viral posts away from landing a job at National Geographic or a huge fashion magazine. But, you’ve got to start somewhere and Instagram makes it easy to grow your personal brand and build for your future career.

12. Social Media Manager

Do you find yourself on social media for most hours of the day? Companies, both big and small, are always looking for social media experts to help manage their public image. For those that understand the ins and outs of social media on a deeper level, this is very good news.

Although this is still a new career prospect, there are certain qualities that companies are going to want to see from their social media managers. You’ll have to be able to create social media branding strategies to grow their online presence and find new and useful ways to engage with customers online.

Social media is one of the most important mediums for digital advertising and businesses are starting to understand that they need to allocate more resources from their marketing budget to build their social media profiles. If you can sell yourself as an expert in the matter, you can have a long and prosperous career.

13. SEO Expert

One of the ways that small businesses get noticed is by having strong search engine optimization. If you’re not familiar with SEO, it’s the various means by which websites are able to appear higher in search rankings.

Being an SEO expert would include things like keyword research and content management, but they’d also have their ear to the ground on the latest search engine marketing techniques, website layouts, and anything else that might have an effect on search rankings. It’s another job that’s become incredibly important in the last decade.

These days, most SEO experts are trained with higher-education programs, but you can become an expert by doing your research at home too.

14. Sell Your Talent

If you’ve got one or more special talents that you’ve never tried to make money from, the internet is rife with opportunity for you. Whether you’re a musician, artist, filmmaker, or crafter, you can sell your talent on the side for money and even build some support to launch a legitimate career.

Sites like Fiverr, Upwork, and Etsy give creatives, innovators, and freelance business minds a chance to make money from what they’re good at. One of the most wonderful things about working on the internet is the ability to connect with people over vast distances. 

You could be a freelance writer in Toronto, Canada and write a company biography for a business in Sydney, Australia. It’s the perfect opportunity for young creatives and future entrepreneurs to get a start in a field that they love.

15. Fill Out Surveys

Filling out surveys isn’t exactly the most glamorous way to make extra money online, but it’s reliable. There are a hundred sites out there that’ll pay you for your opinion on new products and services. All that they’re asking for is a few minutes of your time.

It’s another great way to make a few extra bucks while you’re working on something else. Filling out surveys isn’t so bad when you do it in conjunction with a few other freelance jobs. It might not seem like a lot of money per survey, but it actually does add up after a little while.

There Are Tons More Weird Ways to Make Money Online

The internet is a strange, magical place and there are more weird ways to make money online than we’ve listed here. All that you’ve got to do is think of your ideal job and with the proper amount of hard work and dedication, you can make it happen.

To get help building your digital business, look no farther than freedominfluencer. Nathan Lucas is a respected digital marketer with a wealth of knowledge for young entrepreneurs. Visit the website today and dive into the training to learn how to start your own online career.

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