Run a quick Google search of ways to make money online and you’ll get millions of results. A handful of the search results might be helpful, but the vast majority are spammy.

You’ll see the same old suggestions about filling out surveys or sitting in front of your computer and watching hours of YouTube videos every day. Is it possible to make a few dollars doing these things? Probably. Are you going to make enough to call it a second income? Doubtful.

There’s plenty of noise about making money online, but most of it appeals only to people searching for gigs who are lazy and unmotivated. They’re looking for a free pass that will allow them to lie in bed all day with movie reruns in the background.

Such folks are easy targets for spammy ventures that will benefit the business far more than the user.

These unmotivated people make it difficult for you, if you’re the kind of person who already has a full-time job but is willing to invest some time and effort to generate a second stream of income. When you search for online income-earning opportunities, you’re bombarded with gigs that offer nothing more than a little pocket change.

Try These Three Methods

The good news is that there are legitimate ways to earn side income online. But you have to be willing to perform some due diligence and exert a substantial amount of effort (especially at the front end).

If you’re all right with that, then the following three methods could work for you. 

1. Launch a Private-Label Product

 Private-label products are all over. If you’ve shopped at Walmart, then you might have purchased Great Value brand items.

Neither Walmart nor Great Value actually manufactures those items. They simply pay for the right to put their own logo and packaging on them. But you don’t have to be a big firm to put your own label on products. Anyone, including you, can do it with very little experience.

There’s a lot to know about private labeling — and you can learn more here — but the beauty of this setup is that it can become almost completely automatic once you get it up and running. Thanks to helpful automated solutions and powerful ecommerce platforms, the barriers to entry are remarkably low. And that’s good news for you! 

2. Create an Online Course

 Another popular option is to create online courses. Online education is hot right now, and people pay good money if they think you can help them learn and master a skill through a simple, web-based course.

With some basic equipment and a little bit of time, you should be able to create a course with very little up-front investment. You can price it anywhere from a few dollars to as much as a several hundred bucks a person and derive a steady side income from it. 

3. Write Online Content

 Finally, writers have a lot of opportunities online. Although there are scams occurring in this area, you can find genuine websites that will pay you anywhere from $4 an article to as much as $150 or $200, depending on your skill level and their content needs. Here’s a good list of reputable sites.

If It Sounds Too Good to be True …

Any time you’re online, you have to use your intuition and stay aware of your surroundings. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.

Honestly, nobody’s going to pay you $100 an hour to fill out surveys or watch YouTube videos. Don’t you think all of your friends would be doing it already if any of these schemes actually worked?

Fortunately, there are some legitimate options, but you’ll have to do some research and put in a little hard work.

Categories: General