C.J. Braden • 5 Minute Read
How to Make Money Online
There are so many ways people say you can make money online, but often times the methods seem shady or don’t actually work.
My husband and I have always had some sort of “side-hustle” going to help us make a little money on the side. That income has helped us take vacations, make home renovations, or just helped pay some bills. We think it’s always a good idea to have some sort of other form of income going just in case. You never know what the future holds when it comes to careers, jobs and LIFE!
Some of the money making methods I’ve listed below will make you some easy, quick money, while others may take some time and effort. However, they have all proven to make us some money and we wanted to pass along our money making methods that actually work to whomever was interested.
Read on to see our ideas on how to make money online.
***Bookmark this page as I’ll update it as often as I find new successful online money making methods!
How to get paid
1- Sell Items on Ebay
Anyone that claims to be broke or poor usually have not taken a look around their living area. People have TONS of things laying around their homes that often go unused for numerous years. I’m a huge believer in the idea that if you haven’t used it in a year and it doesn’t bring you joy, you need to sell or donate it.
My husband and I have been selling and buying items on eBay since it began. Most recently we have been selling off our old toys that have LITERALLY sat in storage totes for our almost our entire adult life. After doing some researching on SOLD eBay items (we do a search for the item we want to sell and filter by SOLD), we take great photos of our items using natural light.
Taking photos on a porch on a nice day works well as long as there isn’t too much clutter in the background. I also like to use a photo lightbox.
We then do a 7 day listing (usually we do not do ‘Buy it Now” or place reserves on the selling prices), and wait. Most of our items sell within the time frame, while some others we have to list several times before selling. If we list it more than 3 times and it doesn’t sell, we will donate the items to charity organizations.
Sometimes we have people bid, win the item and then not pay. When this happens, we send the buyer a payment reminder. Sometimes the buyer ends up paying, sometimes they don’t. If they don’t pay, we file a claim with eBay, which takes up some time, but eventually the item is released and we get to relist.
While eBay may not be something you may want to try as it can be a bit of a hassle, it does actually work and it’s safe. I always send a thank you note in each package I send to buyers, just to add a personal touch. I also make sure all the items I send are clean and well packaged. This can help you to have repeat customers and get good feedback.
There are plenty of other sites out there to sell your unwanted items, but eBay has worked for us, so we use it most often to sell toys, dishes, purses, shoes, etc.
Ways to make money online
2- Sell Items on Poshmark
I started a “closet” on Poshmark in 2020 and have successfully sold a few items. I priced low, as I really wanted to get rid of some things in my closet. I had the most luck selling some CAbi items, shoes I never wore and some designer pieces. I sold a few pieces as soon as I set up my closet, which I’m fairly certain Poshmark helps you do fast to get you hooked.
After the first three or so items, it took me a couple of months to sell more. I basically set up my closet with everything I wanted to get rid of, then sit on it and wait. I am not as active on Poshmark as some people, but it can work if you are patient and price things to sell.
I made sure to take lots of great photos as well as give measurements to all clothing items. Some people offered me super low amounts for some of my designer pieces (like, insultingly low amounts) and I often ended up rejecting their offers and pulled the items to sell on eBay. My gently used designer purses sold much better on eBay.
I do like how easy Poshmark is to use. The selling fees are worth it to me because they take care of putting together shipping labels and more, which definitely saves you a lot of busy work. eBay also does a good job of helping you set up shipping labels, thought it’s not quite as automatic as Poshmark.
You can also get others to join Poshmark (like an affiliate) and earn extra money. Here’s my link and info if you are interested: Join me on Poshmark—my favorite app to buy & sell fashion and more. You'll save up to 70% off of top brands! For a limited time, use my code CAROLYNJBRADEN to save $10: https://posh.mk/9uOPvxxi9ib
How to make easy money
3- Sell Items on Facebook Marketplace
Like eBay and Poshmark, you can use Facebook Marketplace to sell your unwanted items BUT you can only sell them to local people. It’s not quite as safe as Poshmark and eBay, as you have to set up dates and times to meet people to have them look at your “merch”.
When my husband and I lived in a large city in Kentucky, we used Facebook Marketplace to sell all kinds of things. What we sold on FBM actually helped us fund our move! Now that we live in a smaller city in Florida, it takes us a little more time to sell items using FBM. We still use it to sell larger items like furniture, but not quite as often as we used to.
How to earn extra income
4- Amazon Shopper Panel
I make about $10 a month using this app. If you don’t mind taking a photo of your shopping receipts and sending them to Amazon via an app to use in their shopping research, then this is a great way to make some extra cash.
The way it works: Download the app AMAZON SHOPPER PANEL to your phone. Use their directions to set it up. Take photos of 10 receipts every month and submit them via the app (you can also email them your email-based receipts).
You’ll receive a $10 reward to use via your Amazon.com account at the end of the month. If you check the app occasionally, you can also see if a survey is available, which helps you earn a little more cash.
You must have an active Amazon account to be able to participate in this program.
How to make more money
5- Surveys
I’ve been using Google Surveys for a couple of years now. You don’t earn a ton with the app, but every little bit counts! Do a search in an app store on your phone for “Google Opinion Rewards”. If it’s available on your phone, you can sign up and will occasionally receive surveys based on locations you’ve traveled to.
You answer the questions during their 30 second or less surveys to earn change. Once you earn a total of $2.00, you receive a payout to a connected account (like PayPal). My husband uses it too, so combined, we’ve earned over $60 so far.
There are TONS of survey-based apps for earning money, but this has been the easiest, quickest, no-brainer one I’ve tried overall.
I also signed up to receive Amazon Surveys, and get paid surveys from time to time from Amazon and their partners. To receive surveys, you must manage this via your Amazon Account Email Subscriptions. You must allow (turn ON) Amazon to send you communications from the Associates Program Feedback section.
I also was approached by B + A equals after filling out a survey with a big brand a while back. I have been involved with one of their workshops, which was a 3-hour time commitment and was more than a survey, but it did pay well. It’s good to get involved with paid workshops if you like to give your opinion and feedback.
UserTesting is a great way to earn a little bit of cash. I participated in several of their studies in 2015 and their site is completely legitimate. I did another one recently to test it and it still works. I participated in mostly surveys and got paid $10 for each of them. I did a longer study once that paid $70. You do need to keep their browser open and listen for a “ding” when a new possible opportunity for you. On average, I filled out about 10 mini-surveys (about 10 seconds each) before I got a $10 opportunity.
I am currently testing out the User Interviews website to see if I am actually able to earn any money by participating in their research programs. 9/27/21 UPDATE: User Interviews works! I applied for around 20 studies (which most were really easy to apply to) over a 2 week period and got accepted into one based on my career knowledge. It was a SurveyMonkey survey that took about 20 minutes to complete. I instantly received a $20 Amazon gift code upon the survey completion. It’s definitely something to try to see if it works for you.
How to make easy money
6- Ad Partnership Programs for Blogs
SheMedia: If you have a blog and want to monetize it, check out SheMedia Partner Network. While they usually only accept bloggers that have 20K+ page views a month, you can still apply. I did not have that kind of traffic when I applied and I got accepted. They see potential in blogs, so maybe they’ll see potential in yours!
They give you a great amount of support on all levels, including helping you get more traffic, learn SEO, and more. The way it works: you put code on your website allowing them to run ads. That’s how it works in a nutshell. I’ve made more money off of being a SheMedia Ad Partner that I did with running ads set up by other companies.
Google AdSense: Google AdSense can run ads on your blog, but for me, at least, it was not very profitable. I’ve read other bloggers comments on various sites about them having the same experience. You can try it, though, and maybe it’ll work for you.
There are many other ad partnerships out there for blogs, so just do a Google search for “ad partnership programs for blogs” and see what you find.
Make money online
7- Make YouTube Videos + Social Media Income
While it will take some time to get enough video views to your YouTube videos (as well as hit some other analytical targets), it is possible to make money off via YouTube. All you need to do is START! I posted my very first video for YouTube “How to Make a Baby Diaper Cake” in 2008. I had no idea what YouTube would become then, but it was just something fun to do…share something I knew how to do with many other people around the world.
Well, that one video racked up over 1,000,000 views over time and helped me become a YouTube Partner. This means that I can have YouTube run ads on my videos and I earn a percentage of money from the views my video earns. There are many other ways to earn money on YouTube now days (like through selling merch or using affiliate links in your video descriptions), and that’s how I am able to currently earn a little money here and there using the platform.
One special note about YouTube: DO NOT USE POPULAR MUSIC IF YOU WANT TO EARN MONEY FROM YOUR VIDEOS. You need to use royalty free music if you plan to earn money. Popular music is flagged by YouTube (they have smart technology and will catch your popular music!) and then your video becomes ineligible for earnings. You can use their free music, which some is really good OR you can use music from sites like Epidemic Sound like I do.
You can earn money on other platforms, like Facebook and TikTok as well, but just like YouTube, you have to usually have either a lot of video views or at least 10,000 or more followers/subscribers. Their “rules” are always changing, but it’s worth trying if you think you have some great videos and ideas to share with the world. Look on each of the platforms apps to see what each of their policies are for making money on the apps.
Easy ways to make money
8- Affiliate Programs
There are TONS of affiliate programs you can sign up for. The only one (so far) that has proven to make money for me is the Amazon Affiliate program.
If I make a recommendation for a product on my website and include my personalized affiliate link or links, I earn a small amount of the sale if the person that clicked the link actually buys it. If you recommend Amazon products on your Youtube channel, blog or other social media channels, it’s definitely a program to get involved with.
You HAVE to disclose the fact that you are an Amazon Affiliate (or any other kind of affiliate) and earning money from sales on your blog or social media account. It’s that law.
Other affiliate programs I am still trying out and considering but have yet to make money****:
Canva- I have been using this program to create graphics for my website and social media for almost 2 years now. I tried them out for free, and ended up loving it so much, so I now have a paid subscription. It’s basically a super easy version of Photoshop that I would recommend to parents, teachers and all kinds of people due to their crazy amount of free templates!
Rakuten Advertising: So far, I’m not impressed with this affiliate program. You have to apply for brands individually to be able to have them advertise on your website. It’s A LOT of work and they don’t have quite as many popular brands as I’d like. I thought I’d be able to create affiliate links for any website like you can with Skimlinks, but it doesn’t work like that. I’ll still test it, but their dashboard is not easy to use (it actually looks quite old in design) so I’m not thinking this one will be for me.
CLEVER: I’ve applied for several blogging campaigns (ones they invited me to apply for based on my website and social media content) and have not been accepted by any of them. I’m still testing it, so we’ll see….
Makeup Artist’s Choice —by the way, if you want to order from them (I LOVE their Mandelic Acid Peel!) Use this link and my promo code is BRAD1
Side hustle income that actually pays
9- Valued Voice
Valued Voice is a way to earn a little bit of money online using your “influencer” status.
If you are a brand or an influencer (meaning you are an individual or a brand that has a bit of a following on social media platforms), you can sign up on Valued Voice to POTENTIALLY get involved with social media campaigns and be paid for them.
It is not a guaranteed money maker, but I signed up with them a while ago and have earned several social media campaigns. I tried the free program and the paid program and actually got more “jobs” from the free program, so I’d recommend starting with that.
Basically, if you like to try new products and promote them on your social media platforms, or you like to comment on people’s social media accounts and more, and earn money for it, then this may be a lucrative program to get involved with.
I only promote things with Valued Voice that I would promote even if I wasn’t paid, and I encourage others to do the same. I would never promote a product or person if I didn’t truly like it or them.
How to make more money
10- Other Opportunities
There are some other opportunities I have seen online that claim to help you earn extra money, but I cannot attest to whether they work or not. Before trying out any new program, do some research and never give away all your personal information until you have vetted the company!
Create a Website: I have been approached by some legitimate publishing companies and do work with some to help me create content for my website. If you are someone that is solely relying on social media for online paid opportunities, you are missing out on many other opportunities if you do not have your own website or blog.
Social media companies can change their terms any day or time they wish, so if you don’t have a place other than social media to house your affiliate links and more, I suggest you start making a place for yourself now. I currently use Squarespace for my website. It’s super easy to use and includes analytics, geographical information, email marketing, eCommerce options and lots more.
Rent Out Real Estate: You can rent a room, house or condo on websites like VRBO or AirBnB. Not all countries, states, or cities are eligible, so check your local city policies before trying to rent out a space. People will sometimes just rent a night on a couch in your home, so if you are willing to share some of your space with a stranger, you could make extra income doing this on a regular basis.
Etsy: Sell your handmade items or printables on Etsy. I did not have success selling any of my crafts on Etsy, even with doing some paid ads on the platform. I only tried for about 6 months, and then closed my shop. I didn’t sell one item, even though my items were well made, my photos were professional and each listing was well written. It just wasn’t worth keeping my shop open in the hopes of getting a sale because you do have to pay for listings regardless of whether they sell or not. Others, however, have had luck, so you may too.
Patreon: If you are a creator that has a fan base, you may have luck using websites like Patreon to earn money. Some YouTubers use it to receive extra income from their “patrons” or supporters of their “craft”. I have not earned any money from my Patreon account, but I also haven’t put much effort into it. I do know of other creators that have been successful using Patreon, so it may work for you.
As I stated earlier, I’ll update this article as I find and prove more money online money making opportunities.
C.J. Braden is a regular contributor for Carolyn’s Blooming Creations. She has been featured in numerous media publications such as InStyle Magazine, on HGTV, on Bustle.com, and more. She is the author of the books Georgia McMasters in Amethyst Lake Cemetery, How To Be Yourself: 3 Little Ways to Get Back To You Being You, and the illustrator for the children’s book Bridging Connections. She is a former classroom teacher that now dedicates her life to educating others on how to live their most healthy, creative and happy life. Learn more about her visiting our About Us page.