The internet has got to be one of the best ways to earn money and I’m forever grateful that I have been able to utilize this amazing tool to earn a full time living from home for the past 5 + years now.
However, my journey to finding success in the online world didn’t exactly come easy and with the multitude of scams out there, I found it quite challenging to make my first $1 in the online world.
From all my experience that I’ve had over the years reviewing scams and other low quality programs that weren’t worth your time, I have managed to come up with a handful of opportunities that do actually work.
Within the following post, I’ll be showing you guys 4 legitimate ways for you to earn money from the internet without being scammed.
Some of these are side hustles and others are full-blown business models that you can utilize to earn a full time living from the comfort of your home.
If you have ever attempted to make money online and failed to do so then this post was written especially for you and I think you owe it to yourself to continue reading as I have some really awesome info to share with you guys today.
I’m sure that you may have a plethora of questions concerning this topic and I’ll be doing my absolute best to answer them for you guys within this post.
However, if I fail to answer your questions then I encourage you to leave them for me in the comments below and I’ll get back to you ASAP with a detailed reply.
1) Start Your Own Blog
This has got to be my favorite way to earn money online because you can get paid to talk about a hobby or interest of yours and help other people who may be struggling with this particular topic.
How does it work and what will you need to get started?
It’s actually pretty easy & inexpensive to get started and includes 5 easy to follow steps which I’ll be listing for you guys below.
- Pick a passion or hobby of yours
- Build a website around this topic
- Learn how to write content around this topic
- Attract a like-minded audience of people who’re also interested in this topic
- Learn how to turn these visitors into revenue (Cash money)
This is only the premise of what all is involved here but with the proper training, tools, and help and support this can be a very lucrative career but it will require a great amount of work especially when you’re first starting out.
However, if you’re willing to work hard at this and give it everything you’ve got it can and will pay off for you in the long run.
How Money Is Made With A Blog
Once you start attracting visitors to your blog/ website you’ll be talking about products that you use or that you would recommend as a solution to their problem.
As you start to build out your blog and establish your brand, online merchants and other companies will want you to advertise their products on your website.
By doing so, they will pay you a pretty nice commission for each person who makes a purchase based on your recommendation.
You’ll be given something called an affiliate link which you’ll need to put on your website and for each person who clicks your link and makes a purchase, you’ll get paid.
Pretty sweet if you ask me, wouldn’t you guys agree?
What You’ll Need To Get Started
Making money from a blog requires a few things in order for you to get started and this includes the following things.
- A website
- Hosting for your website
- A content management system (CMS)
- A website theme
- Training on how to build & setup your website
- A reliable keyword research tool
- help & support to answer your questions when you have them
When I first started my first blog back in late 2012 early 2013 I was all over the place and didn’t have the slightest clue as to what to do or where to find all the things I’ve mentioned above without breaking the bank.
It wasn’t until I found a company called Wealthy Affiliate that I was able to start putting the pieces to the puzzle together and start making sense of this whole blogging thing.
Unlike other shady companies out there that claim to provide you with everything, you need to get started, WA is actually different.
They provide you with everything you need to succeed online and they have even created a Free Starter Membership that comes with all the bare essentials you need to get your blog up and running and live on the world wide web.
It’s because of this training platform that I have been able to earn a full time living from several websites that started out as a hobby and over time ended up making me a full time income.
How I Turned My Love For Gaming Into A Blogging Business That Pays Me Cash
For those of you who have been following me for some time now know that I’m a pretty hardcore gamer and for years I had been searching for a way to turn this hobby into a career.
While I do have to admit it did take me quite a few years after I was making money with another one of my blogging websites until I figured out how to make money from a gaming website.
It actually wasn’t until early last year that I finally cracked the code on this and was able to make my first $1 from a gaming website and once I did I just had to share the news with everyone.
Here is a screenshot of one of the websites that are based on a hobby of mine that I have had for the majority of my life and something that is near and dear to my heart, Gaming!!
2) Become The Next YouTube Sensation
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past couple of decades then chances are that you know about YouTube and you likely use it on a daily basis to learn how to do something or for entertainment.
But did you know that you can actually earn money from YouTube with your own channel?
There are millions of people across the globe that are not only making money from this platform but they are absolutely killing it.
I’m talking about earning thousands of dollars on a weekly basis by simply broadcasting themselves live and explaining how to do something, or doing an unboxing of their favorite product or service.
There are a plethora of ways to make money with this video giant but for the sake of time, I’m going to focus on the 2 most obvious ways.
How It Works & What You’ll Need To Get Started
Also known as vlogging and very similar to blogging, starting your very own YouTube channel isn’t as hard as it may seem as you only need very minimal equipment and no prior experience to start earning money.
Instead of writing like you would with a blog you would be creating videos instead to engage with your audience and reach out to them.
In order for you to get a decent amount of subscribers on your channel, you’ll need to upload a video at least every day or every other day to keep your subscribers engaged.
For some of you out there, you may not be comfortable putting your face on camera and thats perfectly fine.
You can start out doing screen-cast videos where you don’t show your face, you simply talk into the camera and it only records your voice.
As far as equipment that you’ll need to get started, you can start out with the camera on your smartphone and upgrade to a more professional setup once you start making money with this venture.
It’s also a good idea to have a decent computer as well cause it can be a pain in the butt to try and run your channel from your phone.
Trust me, I know this from previous experience when I first started out.
You can usually find a desktop PC to be pretty inexpensive depending on where you shop for them but I found that places like Amazon & Best Buy usually have the best deals.
This is especially a great time to save on buying a computer since it’s back to school time and there are many deals going on right now.
How many times have you searched Youtube looking for instructions on how to do something?
Personally, for me, I am on YouTube all the time to learn how to do something or get help with a particular problem I may be having at the time.
Guess what?
There are millions of other people who are doing the same thing and this is where you come into the picture.
If you can shoot a quick video tutorial explaining how to do something then you can get paid big bucks for doing so.
How Do You Make Money & How Much Can You Make?
Like I said earlier, there are a plethora of ways to make money from your channel but on this blog, I’ll be focusing on 2 of them.
You can get paid for ads on your videos from different advertisers who are looking to advertise their products and services to your subscribers.
Whenever someone clicks on their ad on your video this becomes a lead for them and you’ll get paid for that lead.
Another way is through something called affiliate marketing where you’ll be doing a video review of a certain product and providing your affiliate link in the description and also at the end of your video presentation.
As far as the amount of money you can make with this venture, the sky is the limit and you can make as much or as little as your heart desires.
There is no actual predetermined amount of money that you can make and if someone tells you that you’ll make $1,000 overnight from YouTube you should run in the opposite direction as this is more than likely a scam.
3) Taking Surveys
Contrary to what you guys may have heard about taking surveys, there is a pretty decent amount of money to be made within this industry.
However, I’m not gonna sit here and lie to you and tell you that you can earn enough money from surveys to quit your job and live the good life cause this simply isn’t true.
Like I’ve said so many times before, I like to think of surveys as an excellent way to supplement my existing income and use it for things like taking my wife out to eat, going to the movies, and gas money.
It’s important to keep in mind that nearly 80% of survey companies out there are either a scam or not worth your time and I only deal with a handful of them which I’ll be listing for you guys below.
PaidViewPoint
Survey Junkie
Swagbucks
Radial Insight
For now, this is it, but once I discover more legitimate survey panel opportunities I’ll be expanding this list to include additional opportunities.
Here recently I have received multiple payments from the companies I’ve listed above and to prove how much I’ve made I’ll post these screenshots for you guys below.
Radial Insight doesn’t offer cash but instead, they pay in gift cards which is also pretty sweet as well especially if you shop at places like Best Buy & Amazon.
I have earned many gift cards which spend just as easy as cash at these places and I love receiving these just the same as I do cash deposits to my PayPal account.
As you can see this isn’t a whole lot of money but I feel like every little bit helps and this eventually starts to add up over time.
If you’re looking to make some pocket change to fund activities like the ones I’ve mentioned above then you definitely don’t want to pass up on this opportunity.
4) Cashback Sites
This is another opportunity that won’t make you rich, but at the same time shouldn’t be overlooked as it can help you put some of that hard earned money back into your pocket.
Over the past year or so I have dealt with a few cashback sites and have earned a decent amount of money from them.
Just like survey sites, all cashback sites aren’t created equal and there is only a handful that I feel is worth your time and I’ll be listing these for you guys below.
Dosh
Ibotta
Fetch Rewards
The first 2 payout in cash while fetch rewards offer only gift cards at this current time.
However, this could change at any given time and I’ll update this post if and when that happens.
If you’re the type of person who loves to save money and you’re looking to earn some while you’re at it then you should definitely look into cashback apps as a legitimate way to put some extra cash back into your wallet.
Over the past year, I have earned upwards of $300 from these types of sites and while this may not seem like a whole lot to you guys its definitely work your time and effort.
Here is a screenshot of how much I have earned from Dosh in only 2 weeks using this app on my phone.
This type of opportunity is geared more towards couponers who like to save money and are always on the lookout for discounts and deals of some sort.
Some of the offers listed on Dosh will require you to spend money while others won’t but I can assure you everything is legit and these companies have been in business for a few years now or more.
Definitely, a little something extra for you to add to your toolkit when it comes to earning pocket change for a night out on the town.
My Closing Thoughts
With the exception of starting my own YouTube channel, I have utilized all of the opportunities that I’ve listed for you guys above and I can attest to the fact that they are all legit and actually work.
It doesn’t matter if you’re looking for a way to quit your full time job and work from home or looking for a side hustle, the opportunities listed above will help you do this.
Out of all the opportunities listed above, I feel like blogging/ affiliate marketing is the most lucrative & sustainable business model out there as I have been earning a full time living from this for the past 5+ years now.
There is nothing better than getting paid to do something you love while helping other people at the same time.
If you have ever shown any type of interest in making money on the internet then I would highly recommend that you check out a program called Wealthy Affiliate.
This is the place that has shown me how to make sense of this whole blogging industry and provided me with step by step instructions on how to set everything up and start taking action on what I’ve learned.
They make it easy for you to get started with their free starter membership and everything you need to get up and running is included in your starter kit.
Not to mention the fact that I’ll also be there to help you out and guide you in the right direction and help you avoid some of the many mistakes that I made when I first started out back in 2012-2013.
Other than that I really hope that this post has helped you guys out and given you a few legitimate options for you to earn money online without worrying about being scammed.
Have a question or want to add to this list of legit make money online opportunities?
I would love to hear all about them and answer any questions you may have in the comments below.
Cheers
~Scott~