11 legitimate ways to make money online

There are absolutely legitimate ways to make money online these days. From being a virtual assistant to running Facebook ads, if you really want to make money online you can find something that suits your availability and skillset.

This diverse, long list of job opportunities is great for everyone, whether you’re looking for an online opportunity, a job with a flexible schedule, a way to become an entrepreneur, and more.

Requirements for making money online

This is what you’ll need to make money online:

Computer
Internet access

Some of the jobs can even be worked from a tablet or cell phone, though it would be a lot easier with a computer.

If you have a computer, internet and time, then these jobs are available for you to pursue. All of them require no college degree and no experience to get started.

Dive in!

11 legitimate ways to make money online from home

Whether you’re an introvert or extrovert, looking to start a business or work for a company online, this list of 11 online jobs provides a ton of variety with something for everyone. Take a look.

1. Running Facebook ads

You can work as a Facebook ads expert running ads for local businesses. This is an excellent way to make money online.

You’ll help businesses in the local community to enlarge their marketing footprint, acquire new customers, and make money doing it!

It can be done 100% from home and other perks of this job include:

Flexible schedule
Ability to earn up to $1,000 to $2,000 per month or more
Opportunity to scale the business for growth

In this job you will be responsible for helping businesses run Facebook ads to reach their goals (i.e. increasing brand exposure, get leads, growing their revenue and traffic, etc.).

You will:

Create and run Facebook marketing campaigns
Perform outreach to acquire new customers for your business
Meet (virtually or in-person, your choice) with local businesses to go over deliverables

To learn more about this job, check out the FB Side Hustle course which will teach you the skills to make money running Facebook ads for local businesses.

2. Freelance writing

A freelance writer makes money writing for others. You can write a mix of different kinds of content like:

Blog posts
Magazine articles
Resumes
White papers

To be a freelance writer, no experience and no degree is required.

You can earn up to $1,000 to $5,000 per month or more. Some freelance writers make $10,000+ per month!

To learn more about the income potential and how to get started, check out Ramit Sethi’s blog.

3. Creating information products

Information products are digital products that can be consumed by the public online. Examples of information products (or digital products) include:

Ebooks
Online courses
E-guides
Online templates
And, more!

Information products can be incredibly lucrative.

First, pick a niche. Your niche is going to be the category or topic that you’ll target like, gardening, college life, parenting, travel, finance, etc.

Next, identify a problem that needs to be solved and then create an information product to solve that problem.

For example, for the niche college life, a problem college students may have is writing a resume or preparing a cover letter for their graduate school application.

To solve this problem, you can create an information product, like a template of a resume or grad school cover letter. And you would sell this to college students, providing a solution to their problem.

To create your information product, there are a ton of different tools and resources you can take advantage of online to deliver your product to customers:

Online courses: To create online courses you can check out course platforms like Teachable. Teachable is user-friendly and helps you plan and lay out your course curriculum, set pricing, and sell your course online.
Ebooks: For ebook creation and sales, you can use tools like Microsoft Word, Canva, or other word processing or graphic design software.
Membership sites: Websites that can host your membership site include Kajabi, Ontraport, and others.
Templates: To create templates, using graphic design software like Canva or Adobe Photoshop can be used.
Selling online: Websites and marketplaces like Etsy, Creative Market, and Amazon are good choices for selling online. If you want to sell in your own online store, check out Shopify. And, to offer a link or button to customers that can click and buy on the spot, look at Sendowl or Gumroad.

Making money with information products can be totally passive, too. You create the products once, up front. Then sell them on autopilot, making money in your sleep!

Information products can earn you up to $500 to $10,000 per month.

4. Virtual assistant

A virtual assistant is a personal assistant that works online. They help their client with admin-related tasks and other work that will vary based on the needs of your client.

Some examples of work you might do during the day includes:

Responding to emails
Responding to phone calls
Posting on social media
Attending meets and virtual events/summits for your client
Scheduling appointments and meetings
Data entry and other related work

Virtual assistants do not require a specialized degree, background or experience but, if you have a specialty, this can fetch you a higher wage.

For example, a general VA can earn $15/hour. A general VA is a virtual assistant that can help with general tasks and work, like the examples shared above. They can have a variety of different clients from busy professionals, small businesses, households, etc.

If you want help getting started check out Gina Horkey’s Fully Booked VA course.

A Pinterest VA is a virtual assistant that specializes in Pinterest. They have the skills and ability to do Pinterest-work for their client which may include creating Pinterest graphics, scheduling Pinterest pins, creating pin boards, monitoring analytics, etc. A Pinterest VA may be able to earn $30/hour because of their specialty.

Help getting started as a Pinterest VA can be found with the Pinterest VA Course by Kirsten Larsen.

5. Flipping

Flipping is about sourcing goods at a low price and selling them at a higher price. For example, you could shop a clearance sale online at Walmart.com and find a slow cooker for $10 then resell on Amazon for $60, making a $50 profit (before fees).

This is flipping!

Flipping can be done in many industries, like:

Real estate
Website
Domain
Auto
And, more!

You can source goods in person or online.

In person, you can flip goods from flea markets and thrift shops, general goods stores, garage sales, etc. Some places to source products online include marketplace sites like Amazon, online auctions like Ebay, community sites like Facebook Marketplace or Letgo, retail websites, etc.

Flippers can make up to $500 to $5,000+ per month and this is one of the best low cost online businesses to start!

This can be a rewarding and lucrative legitimate way to make money online. For more on flipping, check out this training called Flea Market Flipper University which will help you get started flipping.

6. Social media manager

Social media managers do more than get paid to play on social media but that can be a big part of the job. If you enjoy social media and social networking, this could be the perfect online job for you!

You’ll work for clients that need help enhancing their online presence. They want to attract their target customers, increase their reach, make sales and increase traffic using social media and you will help them accomplish those goals.

You can be a general social media manager that helps out with various social networks like Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, YouTube, etc. Or, you can specialize in one network, like being a Pinterest social media manager or an Instagram social media manager.

According to Payscale, social media managers can make an average of around $51,200 per year and many social media managers earn upwards of six figures.

This is also a good example of a job that can be massively scaled, where you can make more and work less if you did something like open a digital agency specializing in social media management, outsourcing client work to freelance managers.

Like other online jobs on the list, this job requires no formal background and no degree required to get started. If this sounds interesting to you, get started today!

7. Transcription

Transcriptionists make money typing what they hear from audio files in a transcript. You’ll sit at a desk with a headset, listen to audio and transcribe it to text.

Transcriptionists can make up to $25+ per hour and you’ll love this job because you can work from home, create your own flexible schedule, scale your income easily just by adding more clients, and no degree or formal expertise is required.

8. Proofreading

Proofreaders get paid to proofread documents for others. They will sift through documents to identify errors in spelling and grammar.

If you’re good at spotting errors like this, then proofreading may be the perfect opportunity to make money online for you.

Caitlyn Pyle from Proofread Anywhere made over $40,000 her first year proofreading and it’s not unusual to make up to $75,000+ per year as a professional proofreader.

No degree required for this job. To learn more, head to Proofread Anywhere to learn about the training offered to make you the best proofreader possible.

9. Blogging

Bloggers can earn up to $100,000+ per year writing about the things they love:

Food
Finance
Parenting and kids
Education
Lifestyle
Travel
And, many more niches!

You start by picking a niche to blog in (examples above). Then, name your blog, buy hosting and domain, create your content and publish the blog!

Blogs can draw in huge audiences and a loyal pool of readers who buy their products and services, take their recommendations and referrals, etc.

In addition to making money from products and services and affiliate marketing (product referrals), blogs can earn from sponsorships and brand deals, advertising, and other ways.

Check out these strategies for a profitable blog.

10. AirBNB rental

Making money as an AirBNB host is a hands-off, passive way to make money. It can also be scaled, with tons of AirBNB millionaires being created every single year.

You can do AirBNB as a host if you own or rent a space.

Get your space prepped for guests, then add your space to AirBNB and welcome your first guest.

Create an incredible experience for guests, make the check-in process seamless, be available for questions from short-term renters and be responsive, and put yourself in the shoes of your renters so you can provide an amazing stay for them!

11. Pet sitting

Pet sitters make money babysitting pets. Pet owners can be busy. Sometimes they have to travel or their pet may just need some extra support during the day that they can’t provide, which is where you’ll come in.

Your tasks in this job can vary but in a nutshell, you’ll be babysitting pets, like dogs, cats, etc. You might feed pets, administer medicine, go on pet walks and perform other small tasks.

The pet can be dropped off at your home or you can travel to the pet owners residence and work there.

You can expect to earn up to $15 per hour or more as a pet sitter.

Other legitimate ways to make money online for free

For more ideas to make money online, check out these ideas:

Take online surveys: Make money sharing your honest opinion with paid online surveys. Surveys can pay from a few cents to a few dollars or more each. There’s no full-time potential here but it’s a fun, easy way to make a little extra money on the side from time to time.

Pinecone Research is one of our favorite paid online survey options.

Ecommerce: You can earn money by selling stuff in your own online store. This can be apparel, footwear, accessories, gift items, kitchen goods, home design products, etc.

Influencer: Influencers get paid to influence their audience. An Instagram influencer with 50,000 followers could get paid $2,000, for example to share a company’s products with their fans. This is an easy industry to break into and no startup capital is required to start.

Website testing: You can join testing websites like Userfeel or UserTesting and make up to $10+ per user test you conduct. Tests take around 20 minutes on average so, it’s like making $30 per hour. Other sites to check out include Userlytics and Try My UI.

Rent your stuff: Many people already know about renting real estate in the short-term and long-term rental market but you can also do short-term car rentals with Turo, rent your photography equipment, rent your space in your home like your garage or attic with Neighbor, etc.

Sell your stuff: Go through your home and sell unused or unwanted things around the house. You can also source goods really cheap and resell them for a profit with flipping, like shared above.

Check out Flea Market Flipper University to get started.

Digital arbitrage: This is drop servicing, which is the sibling to dropshipping. You will act as the middleman between the client and the servicer.

For example, if you set up a drop servicing business in social media management, your job will be to find social media clients and connect them with social media managers. The client pays $1,000, the social media manager collects $500, and you collect the difference, $500 as the middleman.

Money-making apps: Don’t miss out on free money-making apps like Ibotta, Rakuten, Paribus, and Dosh, among others.

The final word on legitimate ways to make money online

These money-making opportunities can help you fill the income gap. Unexpected things can arise in life and these ideas can help you make money fast from the comfort of home to cover these things that might come up.

Extra money from these online jobs are also great for meeting any financial goals you have, from saving money, growing your emergency fund, saving for the down payment of a house, or other goals.

How will you make money online?