Here are many interesting and totally legit ways you can make money online without paying anything.
A few years ago, I made my very first $35 online selling services without having to meet my customer, without having to provide the service myself and most importantly without any investment.
Yes, it’s not a lot, but it meant a lot to me back then because I had no experience at all and had never made money before online.
Apart from sharing what I have done to make money online without any investment, I have also included a list of proven ways that other people, who are just like you and me, are making good money on the internet for FREE.
If you want legit, quick and easy ways to earn extra cash online, you can try the following:
Sell Services Online
Freelancing is basically offering a service.
Take inventory of all your skills and see how you can translate it into a service that will benefit other people.
For example, if you know how to design websites, you can offer web design services to small businesses.
Or if you speak a second language, you can give language lessons.
So, what skills do you have that you can turn into a service?
If you are struggling to come up with ideas, it helps to take a look at the following:
- Books you usually read
- Activities you do in your free time
- Subjects you’ve studied in college
- Websites you frequently visit
- Tools you often use
- Results you’ve gotten for yourself or others
- Certification you have obtained
Also, you can ask your friends and family what they think you are good at.
Once you have identified at least 5 of your top skills, I would like you to think about what problems you can help other people solve with each skill.
You see, all the services out there serve ONE purpose – solve problems for people.
When you are struggling with your maths, you will want to get a maths tutor to help you with maths.
When you don’t know how to properly file your taxes, you will want to hire a tax specialist for his or her services.
When you don’t want to cook at home, you can simply pay for food delivery services to have your dinner delivered to your home.
Basically, what problems you can help solve will give you clues as to who your ideal clients are.
So, who can you help with your service?
Do you help other businesses solve their problems?
Or do you help individuals with their problems?
Here are some service business ideas for each.
Ideas For Offering Services To Business Online:
- Digital Advertising Service
- Graphic Design Service
- Social Media Marketing Service
- Copywriting Service
- Translation Service
- Website Design Service
- Accounting Service
- SEO Service
- Project Management Consulting
- PR Service
- Tax Service
- HR/Payroll Service
- Video Editing Service
Ideas For Offering Service To Individuals Online:
- Career Consulting/Help (Resume editing / Interview Prep / Finding job)
- Give Lessons (Music, Language, Arts, Sports)
- Fashion Consulting
- Relationship Consulting
- Travel Planning
- Tax & Financial Planning
- SAT Prep
- College Application Review
Generally, it is easier to sell to businesses because they are always looking for help to solve their business problems.
And they also have the willingness and the ability to pay for solutions.
If you are a beginner, here are the two services that I recommend you to sell:
- Freelance writing service
- Virtual assistant service
Why?
It’s very easy to get started compared to others.
And you can do it even if you have no experience.
My friend, Elna, makes a good living offering freelance writing services online.
But she didn’t start right away making $1,000 per article.
As a matter of fact, she was just earning a few dollars per article when she first started out.
After learning the hard way how to attract the right clients and charge a premium for her writing services without driving clients away, she decided to help people avoid all the mistakes and start getting real results for their freelance writing business.
I’ve always had this belief that if you want to achieve the results you want, the fastest way is to learn from people who have achieved the results you want.
For that reason, I highly recommend Elna’s training because she holds nothing back in her training and shares everything you need to know to make your first $1,000 and more from freelance writing.
If writing is not something that you are interested in, you can consider virtual asisstant service.
Here is a free training put together by Gina, an experienced virtual assistant who makes $4,000/month on the side, to help you get the right start.
Service Arbitrage
Service arbitrage is basically re-selling other people’s skills.
A few years ago, I started offering graphic design services online to businesses.
The interesting part is that I didn’t have any graphic design skills.
What I did was that I found a group of talented freelancers online from platforms such as Fiverr and Upwork, and asked them to work with me because I always have projects that I want to outsource.
Freelancers need work.
And I need talented people to deliver the work for my clients.
It is a win-win situation.
So, if you don’t want to sell your own skills or don’t have the time to deliver the services yourself, you can consider Service Arbitrage.
Basically, you are reselling other talented people’s skills and services.
How you make money is that you will charge your clients at a higher rate than what you are paying your freelancers.
Sell Advice Online
Do people around you always ask you for advice because you have knowledge and experience in a certain field?
Then, why not get paid to give people advice online and at the same time helping make an impact on their lives?
It’s very easy and quick to get started WITHOUT any money.
So, how does that work?
You can establish yourself as an expert in certain areas by either answering questions on Quora, giving value for free in relevant Facebook groups or write a guest article for an online publication that has your audience.
For example, if you know a lot about SEO, you can go to Quora and answer as many SEO related questions as possible.
The more questions you answer, the more exposure you get and the more people you reach.
In your mind, you might be thinking that you are giving too much valuable advice away for FREE.
That’s where you need to have a change of mindset.
Give first before you take.
It works wonders in business and other aspects of your life as well.
When you give value for free, you gain trust and establish your expert status.
If they ever need to hire help in your area of expertise, you would probably be the first one they reach out to.
So, what type of advice can you sell online?
When you are trying to determine what type of advice you can sell, you want to pick one that people are willing to pay for.
In other words, you must make sure that there is already a demand for it.
One of the best ways to validate your idea is to do a simple Google search and see if there are already other people doing it.
If there are already people offering it, that is a good sign that there is a market for what you want to sell.
You don’t have to worry about competition because there will always be competitors no matter what you do.
As long as you work harder or provide a better service, you can definitely get paying clients and make money.
Here are just some proven profitable niches for you to consider:
- Career Advice
- Dating Advice
- Fashion Advice
- Skincare Advice
- Makeup Advice
- Cooking Advice
- Baking Advice
- Business Advice
- Financial Advice
- Marketing Advice
- Blogging Advice
- Relationship Advice
- Parenting Advice
- Tax Advice
Of course, you can go into a more specific sub-niche.
In fact, the more specific problem you can help solve, the easier it is to position yourself as the go-to-expert in that niche and charger much higher for your expertise.
So, what specific problem can you help people solve? What specific results can you help people achieve?
Free Training: How I Generated A Full-Time Income Online With My Blog In Less Than 12 Months
Promote Other People’s Products
Here is another popular way to make money without having to invest your own money to create or buy products to sell online for a profit.
That’s right.
You can promote other people’s products online and make money as their affiliate.
As an affiliate, you earn a commission when people buy something at no extra cost to them using your link.
In the past, companies hire sales consultants to go door to door to help sell their products.
Now, everyone can become a “sales consultant” online without having to go on the phone or meet customers face to face.
In fact, some people start a website just to promote other people’s products and make money as their “online sales consultant”.
Here’s an example.
Above is a website called “Lucie’s List”.
Basically, this website educates and recommend new parents ALL the best baby gears to help them save time and also eliminate the trouble of having to do the research themselves.
If their readers buy any bear gear via their affiliate link, they will earn a commission at no extra cost to them.
Below is an example of how they recommend baby gear on their website.
In one of their articles about baby carriers, they talk about how to choose the right baby carrier and then recommend a few products.
When you click the ” BUY NOW” button, it will bring you to an e-commerce website where you can purchase the product.
If you decide to buy, the merchant will a small commission to Lucie’s List.
Personally, I am also promoting other people’s products on my blog.
Here’s an example of me promoting investment books on my website.
Basically, I signed up to be an Amazon affiliate.
As an Amazon affiliate, I can promote any product that is being sold on Amazon using my unique affiliate link ( yes, that is how they know the sale is referred by you)
The investment books above are shown at the end of one of my investing blog posts because I felt that it was relevant and it might even be helpful to some readers who want to read more on the topic.
If my readers think that the book is good and decides to buy, then I will be paid by Amazon a small commission at no additional cost to him or her.
So, I highly recommend affiliate marketing to anyone who wants to start an online business for the first time.
Right now, Anthony, a veteran affiliate marketer who has made his millions simply through affiliate marketing, just launched a brand new “Partner With Anthony” Program.
This is unlike any online courses which simply sell you some training videos that might even be outdated.
What is more, they are not invested in your success.
That’s the reason that led Anthony to create this brand new “Partner With Anthony” program where he will partner with you and help you make money from affiliate marketing the same way he did and is still doing right now.
What is unique about “Partner With Anthony” program is that when you make money, Anthony will make money.
So he is invested in your affiliate marketing business as your partner.
After joining the Partner With Anthony program here’s what you get:
- Exclusive “Commission Links” that will allow you to start generating commissions from some of the same companies that pay him every single month
- Exclusive “PWA Sessions” each designed to walk you step by step through setting up your new business and plugging everything in the absolutely correct way
- Access to its “Business Building Commission Eco-System”
BONUS 1: A complete DONE FOR YOU funnel that he uses for his “Favorite Online Business”
BONUS 2: A digital copy of his first book “The Hidden Millionaire” which sold over 1,000,000 copies completely FREE – This is a $19.95 value, yours free.
BONUS 3: You’ll get full access to the weekly Success Connection LIVE training where he builds businesses and gives them to you completely free.
Right now, he is offering an insane promotion to his “Partner With Anthony” program at just $7/month, which is going to rise to its originally planned price of $197/month soon.
Better still, it comes with a full 30-day no questions asked money-back guarantee when you join today.
So, you can try out the entire program at zero risks for you.
Try out Partner With Anthony” program with 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
Sell Online Courses
Creating and selling courses is a proven way to make money online working from home or from anywhere else you want.
It requires very little capital to get started.
Unlike selling physical products, you can keep your cost to literally zero to create your online courses.
And you don’t need to worry about inventory and shipping.
Once your clients make the payment, they can access it instantly.
Also, you only have to do the work once – creating the course.
Then you can sell it over and over again and sell to as many people as you can.
So, it’s a very scalable business model.
When you are trying to figure out what course you can create, it might help to ask yourself the following questions.
- What skills do you have that other people want to learn from you?
- What knowledge do you have that can help solve other people’s problems?
- What results have you achieved that other people want to learn from you to get the same results?
Let’s say that you are very good at vegan cooking, you can create a course teaching people how to do that.
If you are very good at decluttering, you can also create a course on that.
For myself, I have been selling my own online course “Service Arbitrage Pro” for the past few years.
The reason why I created an online course teaching people how to start their own service arbitrage business is that I have done it myself and gotten results doing it.
So, it is one good way for me to share my knowledge and experience with those who want to know how to do it.
You see, idea generation might look simple.
But you don’t want to have just any idea. You want a profitable idea.
So, before you start creating your online course, you need to first validate if there is actually demand for it.
The last thing you want is to spend months putting together an online course that nobody wants to buy.
So, how do you validate your online course idea?
There are a few ways you can do it:
- Check if there are already similar online courses that are selling well on Udemy.
- Find out if there are books on similar topic selling well on Amazon
- Gauge audience interest by talking about your story on social media
Once you have decided what course you want to create, the next step is to create the course and start selling it online.
There are a few formats that are common in online courses:
- Video
- Audio
- Webinar
If you want to list your online course on platforms such as Udemy, then you will need to create a video course.
Here are some other platforms you can use to make money from your online courses:
Further Reading:
A Beginner’s Guide: How To Make Money Selling Online Courses
YouTuber
This is one of the best ways you can make money online for free.
And best of all, ANYONE can do it.
Whether you are a student, a stay-at-home mom, a retiree or a person without a college degree, you can do this.
Also, it’s extremely flexible.
You can set your own hours and do it online part-time after you finish school or work.
Below is an example of how even kids can make a lot of money with YouTube by simply sharing his opinions about toys on YouTube.
So, do you have something you want to share with the world?
YouTube is a good platform for you to host and share all your video content and grow a loyal following at the same time.
For example, if you are passionate about cooking, you can create cooking videos to share your recipes.
Personally, I follow quite a few food Youtube channels to learn how to cook good food at home.
Below is one of the most popular cooking YouTube channels created by an American housewife.
All she does is to share her videos on how she cooks different types of Korean food.
So, how do you make money online with YouTube on the side?
Generally, Youtuber makes money with advertising ((yes, it’s those irritating ads at the start of every youtube video you want to want!) as well as sponsorship deals.
It’s estimated that you can expect to make $3 – $5 per 1000 video views.
The key to making decent money from Youtube is to create viral videos that get clicked, watched and shared.
The more views you get, the more money you can make as a YouTuber.
Further Reading:
How Much Do YouTubers Really Make (& Exactly How They Make Their Money)
Instagram Influencer
If you love Instagram and are basically living on Instagram, perhaps you can explore this online money making opportunity and get started for FREE.
How do you become an Instagram influencer?
You can become an influencer by actively growing your Instagram followers.
So, how many followers do you need to start making money with Instagram?
Generally, you should be able to earn some extra income once you have at least a few thousand followers who are very engaged with your post.
Of course, the more followers you get, the higher your income potential.
How do you make money as an Instagram influencer?
There are a few ways an Instagram influencer can make money:
- Partner with brands and businesses to promote their products and earn a commission for every sale made
- Sponsorship from brands and businesses to mention their product to the Instagram followers
- Sell your own products
How much can you make as an Instagram influencer?
Kylie Jenner gets paid $1.2million per post on Instagram (WHAT!)
Of course, I am not saying you are going to make that amount of money.
But, you can see the income potential with Instagram.
Teach English Online
If you are a native English speaker with a Bachelor’s degree, you can apply for online weekend teaching jobs to teach English as a foreign language to children in China.
If you have a TEFL certificate, your chances of getting hired will be much higher.
There are quite a few reputable online education companies such as VIPKid and QKids.
When you work with them, you can work from home and set your own hours. All the lesson plans and teaching materials are provided, so you don’t have to come up with it yourself.
The average hourly rate is about $14 to $22/hr.
Here are the links to find out more about how to apply and how it works:
Test & App Websites
You can earn up to $60 per test by simply visiting a website or an app and then complete a set of tasks (i.e. basically speaking your thoughts about the app or website).
What do you need to become an app or website tester?
As a website tester, you will need to be internet savvy and speak fluent English.
You will also need a computer with a microphone, good internet connection, and an updated web browser.
Most tests take between 5 – 25 minutes to complete.
How do you become a website tester?
Here are some legitimate companies where you can apply as an app and website tester:
13. Swagbucks
If you are staying home and have nothing to do, you can use this time to get free money instead.
With the points earned performing easy tasks, you can either redeem for gift cards to Amazon and Walmart or get free money from PayPal.
For example, you can redeem a $5 Amazon gift card for only 500 points. (I’ve redeemed quite a number of free Amazon gift cards smoothly.)
Is it legitimate?
Its review on TrustPilot is 4.3 out of 5 stars, based on more than 14,000 real customers’ reviews. It also has an A- rating from the Better Business Bureau.
Sign up with Swagbucks and earn PayPal cash now!
If you want legit, quick and easy ways to earn extra cash online, you can try the following:
- Inbox Dollars (Claim your FREE $5 now)
- Swagbucks (Over 400 million dollars paid out to its members)
- Vindale Research (Up to $50 per survey)
- Survey Junkie (Over 4 million registered users)
