A survey from Insuranks estimates that around 44% of Americans have at least one side hustle. The current state of the economy suggests that this percentage might continue to increase in the future.
We exist within the gig economy: you no longer have to wait tables on the weekends or stock groceries after you get off from your primary job. You can pick up another job that fits more easily into your schedule.
The answer is manifold if you want to know how to make money online. Of course, many online businesses can lead to passive income and extra cash. You can offer virtual assistant services, online courses and online tutoring, or even run an eCommerce business model on sites like Etsy or Amazon — but if you’re a beginner, there are even easier ways to break into the world of online business ideas, digital products, and side gigs that can bring you extra income.
Side hustles are a good start for building an income stream in your spare time and making a lot of money fast. However, many options online aren’t as involved as a full-blown side hustle. If you’re looking for some easy ways to make additional money with just an internet connection and some drive, here are a few options that you should consider trying first:
1. Join Yotta
The rest of the items on this list require varying activities. Yotta comes before them because it’s the easiest thing to do: nothing.
The only thing that you have to do after opening an account is to leave your money alone. After that, you can sit back and enjoy the benefits of having a prize-linked savings account.
Most banks reward their customers with interest payments. The total amount is usually a percentage of the account balance. The more money in your account, the higher your interest payment will be.
The problem is that the interest rates are usually relatively low. For example, a regular savings account at Wells Fargo only offers an interest rate of 0.01%. Maintaining an account balance of $10,000 for an entire year would result in a little over one dollar in interest payments.
Yotta works a little differently. Instead of a predetermined interest rate, you’ll get rewarded with free entries into the daily sweepstakes. Each $25 in your account gets you an additional ticket.
A total of six numbers (five regular numbers and one YottaBall) get drawn every night at 9 PM EST. You could win anywhere from a few cents to $1 million depending on how many numbers match your tickets.
A $10,000 account balance at Yotta would get you 400 tickets for each daily drawing. After 365 drawings, do you think you would win less than the $1 you’d be getting from Wells Fargo?
Each time you match two numbers and the YottaBall, you earn $0.75. You would have 146,000 chances(400 tickets times 365 days) to achieve such a task twice. It doesn’t take a mathematician to know the odds are definitely in your favor.
2. Sell Your Old Stuff
It’s pretty much impossible to avoid accumulating clutter. The human brain evolved to hoard as many supplies as possible to increase the chances of survival.
While this tactic might have been helpful in the cave-dwelling days of our ancestors, it’s less of a problem in modern times. Selling your old stuff can help you declutter your area and make some extra money.
For the longest time, the best method would be to create a yard sale. You put up a few fliers around the neighborhood to let people know about it and try to sell as much as possible.
Technology has essentially made the yard sale obsolete. Why browse randomly at a neighbor's house when you can do it online instead? If your potential customers are online, that’s where you need to be.
There are more options for selling items online than you might think. Websites like eBay and Craigslist have been around for decades and remain solid options. Newer sites such as Poshmark and ThredUp are also viable methods for removing old items.
The downside is that these sites usually charge a commission fee. Also, you might have to pay for the shipping costs when necessary. Neither charge should be too bad, but they can cut your overall profits.
That’s why people have started to shift towards using social media instead. For instance, Facebook Marketplace launched in 2016 and has exploded in popularity over the years.
The people you’re friends with (or who live in your area) can see the items you post. It’s essentially the virtual version of a yard sale. They can come right over and offer you cash if they want to buy the item. No shipping costs. No commission fees. Just straight profit.
The best course of action is probably to start off using social media. You can try to keep the sale local and avoid losing a portion of your profits.
If you can’t sell the item to the people in your area, then listing on the major online platforms for e-commerce we mentioned above is the next step. A larger pool of customers means a higher chance of selling your item.
If it goes well, consider expanding into a small business. Many prominent dropshipping businesses started this way by selling old items and then expanding to sell products from more established retailers. Additionally, you could develop your own products and sell them on your own site if you integrate with Shopify or similar services.
3. Take Surveys
Surveys have been used since at least 1834 but have likely been around in other forms for centuries. These questionnaires collect data from predefined groups of people to gain information about them.
For example, a politician might use a survey to determine which issues are most important to their voters. A business would do well to use surveys to understand how to improve on their product. You get the idea.
Survey conductors understand that it’s a bit of a burden for people to answer their questions. There are no right or wrong answers, so it’s not like participants have to study beforehand.
But who has the time or inclination to answer questions about baby powder for five minutes? For that reason, many survey conductors understand that a little bit of money can go a very long way.
Paid survey sites have started appearing all over the internet. Higher participation in their online surveys is worth the money it costs to pay survey takers.
Naturally, you’re not going to make a considerable amount of money by taking a survey. At most, you’ll only earn about $2 an hour, and that’s only feasible if you answer many surveys.
You may get paid in gift cards or “Swagbucks” for your surveys and market research. However, using sites like Survey Junkie takes significantly less time than even a part-time job, making it a more accessible side hustle than finding freelance work in data entry, SEO (search engine optimization), graphic design, or user-testing websites, for example, on sites like Fiverr and Upwork.
Still, there aren't too many money-making opportunities easier than taking a survey. All that you have to do is answer each question honestly. You can’t get it wrong, and there won’t be any consequences for how you respond.
It’s something you could do while on your lunch break or sitting at home watching TV. Making $2 an hour isn’t spectacular, but it can add up over a few months.
4. Play Games
The first quarter of 2022 saw more than 14.4 billion mobile games downloaded. That’s roughly 400 million downloads every day. It’s safe to say that people love playing games online. Aspiring companies have quickly taken note of this passion. They’ll happily pay you so that you play their game instead of the competition.
Each site has different rules and payouts, but it usually boils down to “get a bingo, win a prize.” It’s nothing too complicated. If bingo isn’t your game, then a wide variety of other options are available to you.
The only thing to be on the lookout for is the overall legality of these apps. Each state has unique laws for online gambling.
Depending on how these games operate, they could be subject to these laws. Review your state's laws for online gambling before you download any apps.
5. Sell Your Data
Reading “sell your data” can naturally create a puzzled look on your face. You likely want to protect your personal information as much as possible.
You should never sell data like your Social Security Number or banking information. The data we’re talking about here is less classified than that critical information.
You’ve probably heard about how tech companies are always trying to collect your data. It’s been an interesting debate for the last few decades as technology has become essential to life.
Frequently, these companies get called before the government to explain why they’re collecting your data. As you probably expect, the answer is that they sell this information to various third parties. These third pirates may then use this information to create targeted advertisements specifically for you.
It’s why you’ll suddenly get bombarded with ads for toasters when you’ve used a search engine for information about fixing them. By selling your data, you’d be cutting out the middleman and receiving the benefits instead. There are many options, and they’re all very easy to use. You just download the app, and it runs in the background.
Harmless information is collected about you (websites you visit and apps you download) and sold off to third parties. In return, you’ll receive a cut of the proceeds. Your data is likely being sold anyway, so you might as well be the one that profits from it.
6. Social Media and Affiliate Programs
If you have a knack for social media accounts, start up a YouTube channel full-time and try to boost your personal finances and social profile through sponsorships and affiliate marketing.
Many companies use affiliate programs to partner with video game streamers, popular bloggers with their own websites and online stores, and other content creators. These programs are a marketing boon for companies, and they can be the key to monetization for influencers with podcasts and a savvy sense of entrepreneurship.
Bottom Line: Earn Extra Money With Minimal Effort
There aren’t many people who can’t use a little extra money these days. Using some of the options listed above can help you increase your monthly income without getting a second (or third) job.
Selling old stuff, taking surveys, playing games, and selling your data might not generate enough for you to retire early. However, it should help you maintain a more significant bank account balance at the end of each month.
If you want to make life-changing money, consider opening a Yotta account. All you have to do is maintain a balance of $25 to receive a ticket for each daily drawing. You might not win the $1 million jackpot, but every cent will be profit.
It’s practically impossible to find a game where you can only win. Yotta offers such a game; the only way to lose is by not playing it. Visit Yotta today and find out how much you can win.
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