5 Ways to Make Money Online

Want to make money online without investing upfront? You’re not alone—and these five simple strategies are perfect for beginners.

The job market is tanking, and millions of people are struggling to find employment. Do not succumb to the doom and gloom—there are ways to make money online, and one of them is something you can do right now for free!

5 Legit Ways to Make Money Online (Even If You’re a Beginner)

The economy is rough, but that doesn’t mean your income has to suffer. If you’re looking to make money online, there are realistic options—even free ones—that you can start today.

From freelancing to dropshipping, these online opportunities let you earn from home without huge startup costs. Let’s dive into five real ways you can build income from your laptop.

1. Dropshipping

Dropshipping is an online retail business where you sell other people’s stuff. 

The big difference between dropshipping and traditional retail is that you do not have to buy inventory. 

Here is how it works:

It is entirely possible not to spend a dime to get started with dropshipping. You do not even have to build an online store because you do it on sites like Etsy, Amazon, and even on Facebook or Instagram. 

Of course, you cannot dropship unless the supplier (the source of the product) agrees to ship to your consumer. Do not worry about this. Thousands of suppliers participate in this business model. 

But how do you make money from this? Well, if the supplier’s selling price for a product, like a coffee mug, is $5, you can sell it for $15 in your store. The customer pays you $15, then you pay the supplier $5. The difference is $10, and that is your profit to keep.

2. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a business where you promote someone else’s product. If your referral buys that product, you get a commission. 

How much? Anywhere from 2% to 100% of the product cost. Some affiliate programs offer recurring commissions, and this is usually the business model of companies that sell online software programs. 

Here is how it works: 

• You look for an affiliate program (like Amazon)
• You register for this program and get approved (you are now an affiliate)
• You get a “personal” or special link to the product you want to sell
• You promote the link
• People click your link and buy
• The computer system logs this sale, and it knows it came from your link
• You get paid a commission

This link to the product that you get from the system will take the consumer to the product page. What they do not know is that there is a code in the link that identifies you. 

The affiliate program’s system, like Amazon, knows that this link that was clicked is yours, making it possible to disburse the commission to you and not to the other affiliate marketers.   

How do you advertise this link? You can create a YouTube channel, blog, or ads, and paste this link into your content or description.

You must convince your viewer to click the link and buy. That is why many YouTubers say, “Click on the link in the description below!” If you click that link and buy the item, they get a commission. 

3. Freelancing

Freelancing refers to any kind of work you do that is outside the boundaries of employment. Today, there are so many types of work you can do online and get paid for it. Below are the most common ones: 

The only limitation here is your skillset. As a freelancer, you can either charge by the hour or by project. The main challenge is that there is no job security. On top of that, you do not get employer benefits like 401K or insurance. 

Nevertheless, you have the flexibility and freedom to do other things in your life. Freelancing is great for those who want to do multiple things, like businesses on the side while also earning from something you love doing. 

To find freelance work, you need to treat it like a business. You must apply for work on sites like Upwork and Fiverr. You can also send cold emails to companies that, in your opinion, need your service.

4. Content Creation

Content creation means you will create videos or blogs. It also includes live streaming on YouTube or Twitch. Of course, Instagram and Facebook can also be the platform of your choice. 

Here is how you earn money from content creation: 

• Advertising revenue share
• Donations from your viewers
• Monthly membership subscription 
• Sponsorship

As a content creator, you are competing against millions of others. This, of course, is the most challenging part. Unless you create something of real value, you are likely never going to make a living out of this (sorry to burst your bubble but this is a reality). 

There are only three things you can do for content: 

• Educate
• Inform 
• Entertain

You can mix all three if you want. Here is the challenge: many viewers think that these three things should be free. If you give your content for free, you will need tens of millions of views to make a living out of ad revenue. 

You can go the route of charging monthly subscription fees. Those who register and pay you will receive stuff that only paying members can see or use. However, this is also so difficult to do. People will only pay for your content if you offer something truly special. 

Sponsorship is another way to go, but you can only charge a lot of money once you are already popular. Achieving celebrity status as a content creator is not impossible, but it can take years.

5. Mobile Apps

Finally, you can create mobile apps or games and make them available on Apple or Google. Of all these options, this is the one that can make you billions (think Uber or Instagram).

Even games are often thought of as free. It is rare for mobile users to pay for a game unless the game is really good.

Scaling is also hard for apps and games. As you gain more users, you will also need more servers. This is expensive. Add to that the cost of land—real estate where your servers sit, and you can now imagine how many millions of dollars you need to do this business.

The other option is to rent servers, but then this will not give you control over them. If the server provider has downtime, your business will suffer the impact, and you cannot do anything but wait until the issue gets resolved.  

Dropshipping: The Easiest and Most Effective Way to Make Money Online

Of all these ways to make money online, dropshipping is one thing you must give your attention to. Here is why: 

• Free to start – you can start selling products on social media and charge them via money transfer apps like PayPal, Venmo, etc. 
• Easy to operate – you can build your dropshipping store on Shopify, Amazon, Etsy, and many other platforms. There is no need to learn how to code. 
• Lots of software support – there are many programs you can use to reduce your workload and automate dropshipping business processes.  
• Scalable – you can add more products to your store at no extra cost. You can also open as many stores as you want.  

The best way to start dropshipping to avoid all the hassles is to use a tool like Tradelle. It is an all-in-one tool built for dropshipping. 

Here are the things you can do with it: 

Tradelle can also fulfill orders. They do not just aggregate products on the system, but they also keep products in their warehouses. Because of this, you do not have to deal with multiple companies, which means less headache for you. 

Tradelle also has a service where they will build a dropshipping store for you for as low as $49. This store has winning products, and it is also fully functional. At the turnover, you will have a dropshipping store that is ready to make sales. 

How will you know if the order has been shipped, and where the product is? Well, Tradelle has taken care of this. The purchases made on the site will have tracking numbers. Use these tracking numbers to find where the package is. You can also give the tracking number to your customer.

Tradelle is free to use. There is a free account that lasts for seven days. The free trial gives you access to all the useful features, making it possible for you to see the program in action without spending a dime. 

Summary

There are so many ways to make money online. However, the easiest and fastest way is to build an online store and use dropshipping as a business model. If you are having a hard time thinking of what product to sell, give Tradelle a shot. It is free to create an account, and you have nothing to lose.