You can earn money online, sell, invest, work full time, work part time and even watch videos for some extra cash… all from behind your computer screen.

Instead of scanning through Facebook, stalking your ex on Instagram, or determining which Hogwarts House you belong to via a BuzzFeed quiz, let’s get you doing something much more productive with your time.

Pick Up Some Quick Wins from home

These preliminaries settled, he did not care to put off any longer the execution of his design, urged on to it by the thought of all the world was losing by his delay, seeing what wrongs he intended to right, grievances to redress, injustices to repair, abuses to remove, and duties to discharge.

Low effort, low commitment, and without investment. The ideas in this section are all about quick and easy ways to make money online (and better yet, you can try them all for free).

#1. Participate in market research

Market research companies like to collect data on consumer trends and spending habits so major brands can learn how to better market their products.

This research is most often conducted via online questionnaires, and they’re always on the lookout for new survey participants.

survey sites to check out:

• Survey Junkie – Up to $45 per survey.
• Vindale Research – $1 sign-up bonus.

#2. Affiliate Marketing

Whether you have a website or are still dreaming up ideas for a blog, you can also look into affiliate marketing to make money online. With affiliate marketing, you partner with brands and businesses within the content of your website. If you mention a product or service, you link to that produce or service using a unique affiliate code you received when you signed up for that particular affiliate program. From there, you’ll make money any time someone buys a product or service through your link.

Generally speaking, you’ll want to partner with affiliates that are related to your blog concept. Since We are financial advisors, I have focused a lot of my affiliate energy on financial products like savings accounts, credit cards, and investment accounts.

#3: Online Courses

You can make money online if you have any skill you can teach others. It’s also possible to set up an online course you can market online. You can find online courses that teach anything from cooking to marketing or even freelance writing. Heck, I even offer my own course for financial advisors who want to take their businesses online— The Online Advisor Growth Formula. 

#4: Podcasting

Another way to make money online is by hosting an online podcast. I have the Good Financial Cents podcast to go along with my blog, and I use that platform to find new sponsors and advertisers all the time.

I still remember getting my first sponsor on the podcast and finding out they were willing to pay $8,000 for me to include a short clip at the beginning of each podcast for 90 days. That was insanely exciting to me at the time since I wasn’t sure I would be able to monetize my podcast that much at first.

The key to getting ahead with podcasting is finding your niche, growing an audience, and then finding ways to monetize and connect with sponsors. This isn’t the easiest way to make money online since there are a lot of logistics that go into writing, recording, and editing a podcast, but it is still worth considering.

#5: Sell your Photos

Those thought-out photos you take can get you more than just Instagram “likes.”

You can upload your iPhone photos to stock photography sites. And they don’t have to be professional, either. Many of them are trying to get away from the “perfect” photo and are looking for more realistic images.

You likely won’t become a millionaire; Foap, for example, splits the profits with the photographer evenly.

#6: Freelance Writing or Blogging

Freelance writing is one of the most popular ways to earn money online. Many successful freelancers can earn an average of 50 cents to a dollar per word. Some are earning twice that!

Of course, it doesn’t start out like that. You’ve got to build your portfolio and your résumé, blah blah blah. If you’re interested in writing, I’m sure you know this. If you’re not interested in writing, I wouldn’t recommend traveling down this road just for the money.

It takes dedication and time, though it can be highly profitable if it’s what you love. Assuming it is what you love, let’s talk about making money with it.

The Bottom Line

There are a ridiculous number of ways to make money online and the ones I’ve covered here are just the tip of the iceberg. If you have time, a passion for almost anything, and at least some creative skill, you may be able to build an online income stream — or several — if you give it enough time.

But, don’t just take my word for it. If you look online, you’ll find thousands of success stories you can use for inspiration.

One day you could even create a success story of your own. But you’ll never know unless you try.