How Can I Make Money? 50+ Reliable Ways to Earn Money

Between inflation, the pandemic, and a multitude of other factors, it seems like financial stress is a more common topic than ever.

In fact, according to a recent CNBC article, 66 percent of workers say inflation has outpaced any salary gains they’ve made in the past 12 months. In times when your salary might not cover your cost of living or provide you with the level of financial comfort you deserve, side hustles can be a great way to supplement your income on your own schedule. 

There are many popular ways to make "real" money, but do they actually work? Can you really turn your blog posts into money? Are there reliable ways to make money in the short term? 

While some strategies to make money are more fruitful than others, every item on this list can help you make at least a little bit of cash, and we all know that every little bit adds up over time!

Some of these tactics are more out there than others, but you never know what an obscure side gig will lead to.

How Can I Make Money Online?

It feels like every blogger out there has it made. With multiple streams of income, they *seem* to earn thousands with a single Instagram post, blog post, or affiliate recommendation. Is everyone really making this much money online?

In this first section, we're exploring how you can make real money online and how much effort it will take.  

1. Can I Make Money on TikTok? 

How to Make Money on TikTok:

Business Insider states that in order to earn money directly from TikTok, users must be 18 years or older, meet a baseline of 10,000 followers, and have accrued at least 100,000 video views in the last 30 days. Once they reach that threshold, they can apply for TikTok's Creator Fund through the app.

While you need a minimum following to make money directly from TikTok, you can make money by working with brands who pay you to post about their products. There are no hard metrics about a minimum number of followers you need to do this, but keep in mind that brands often want to work with influencers who have high reach or have built strong connections with their community. These indicators often translate into sales, which is the name of the game in social media marketing.

Resources You'll Need:

Ultimately, you’ll need some sort of phone, computer, or recording device to build your content to post online. This article from Hootsuite outlines strategies for how to make money on TikTok.You’ll need to get creative with building engaging content in order to drive traffic to your account. 

Can I Make Money on YouTube?

How to Do It:

Like TikTok, you can make money in a few different ways with your YouTube Channel. You can earn money directly through the platform, affiliate marketing links, or partner with brands for sponsored posts.

Because YouTube allows for affiliate marketing links in the description section of the video, the barriers of entry are a bit lower which makes it easier to make money than on a site like TikTok or Instagram.

Resources You'll Need:

You’ll need a phone, a video recording device, and some kind of editing software. YouTube videos have become increasingly more professional, and while you can still make money by posting amateur videos on the platform, many of the videos that earn the highest ROI are recorded on high-resolution devices and are edited for clarity.

Can I Make Money on Instagram?

How to Do It:

Once again, there are a few ways to make money from this platform, both from the platform directly and through directing traffic to other outlets that will generate money. Affiliate marketing and sponsored posts are the most lucrative ways to make money on Instagram.

However, you can also make money through “Instagram badges”. Viewers can purchase badges during Instagram Live sessions in $0.99, $1.99 and $4.99 increments. Keep in mind that Instagram's algorithm is constantly changing, and influencers have found it more difficult than ever to turn a profit on this platform.

Resources You'll Need:

Phone, camera, or recording device to capture photos and/or videos to be used as content for your instagram account.

Can I Make Money on Pinterest?

How to Do It:

While creating content for Pinterest does take some effort, you can pretty easily make money by including affiliate links to your content, driving traffic to your website, and/or partnering with brands to create branded content.

Resources You'll Need:

Computer or device that you can create and share content with. You’ll also benefit from utilizing content-creating software to build professional quality graphics. While you can utilize paid applications such as Adobe Photoshop or InDesign, there are many free platforms like Canva that are excellent resources to utilize.

Can I Make Money on Quora?

How to Do It:

According to Quora itself, “Quora is a place to gain and share knowledge. It's a platform to ask questions and connect with people who contribute unique insights and quality answers.” In order to make money on Quora, you’ll need to put some effort into building out your profile, selecting the “monetization” section through the platform, and answering questions so that you’re active.

You can make money through the platform if you have ads on your Quora space, or you can drive traffic to your website by linking your website in your answer. By driving traffic to your own site, you’ll be able to make money through Google ads, lead generation, and affiliate marketing.

Resources You'll Need:

Computer

Can I Make Money on Audible?

How to Do It:

If you love listening to audiobooks and your community does too, it's pretty simple to make money through Audible. According to the website, all you need to do is promote a 30-day free trial of Audible with your own custom URL.

You can share this URL with your friends, family, or community, and when they click on your link, listeners go to an Audible trial landing page. When they sign up, you’ll earn a $15 commission for each trial you generate. On top of that, your listeners will enjoy a free audiobook so it’s a win-win situation for everyone!

Resources You'll Need:

Can I Make Money on Turo? 

How to Do It:

Turo is an American peer-to-peer carsharing company. If you have a car that you don’t utilize all the time, you can rent your car out. Turo estimates that the average annual income of one car with at least seven trip days per month is around $10,516 annually.

Resources You'll Need:

A car that is well maintained. For more details on how to build your Turo business strategy, check out this article. 

Can I Make Money Blogging?

How to Do It:

Blogs take time, consistency, dedication, attention to data, and a devotion to your growing audience. Blogs can generate money through affiliate marketing, ads, courses, and brand sponsorships, but any blogger will tell you that this takes a lot of work!

Resources You'll Need:

Check out our article on 5 Ways Bloggers Are Making Serious Money

Can I Make Money Selling on Etsy?

How to Do It:

Anyone can start making money by selling goods on Etsy, but ideally, you’ll want an Etsy shop that is actually profitable. Consider how much time and money you’re putting into creating or sourcing the goods you’re selling on your Etsy shop, and a pricing strategy that works for your business. If you already have a niche market or a small client base offline, consider opening your doors to a wider audience without geographical barriers. 

Resources You'll Need:

This article breaks down a step-by-step guide for how to get started with selling on Etsy.

Can I Make Money Selling Excel Spreadsheets? 

How to Do It:

Many of us use Excel spreadsheets for both work and personal projects, but most of us are not what we would call “super users”. For those who are Excel wizards, there are a plethora of opportunities to sell your spreadsheets online.

By creating custom spreadsheets that make life easier for others so you don’t have to plug in tedious formulas to calculate work hours, budgets, or chemical formulations, you can effectively sell your own custom software solutions.

Online marketplaces such as Etsy have a wide array of Excel spreadsheets available for purchase, and there are new online marketplaces arising specifically for excel spreadsheets such as Spreadsheet Nut.

Resources You'll Need:

This article breaks down the specific steps you need to take in order to sell your products.

Can I Make Money With Online Survey Sites?

How to Do It:

Anyone can make money by taking online surveys as long as you have about 15-25 minutes to spare, and a way to get online. While you likely won’t make a living off of taking surveys alone, it could be a great way to make some extra cash while sitting on the couch instead of mindlessly scrolling through Instagram or TikTok.

Resources You'll Need:

Bankrate shares their best suggestions for online survey platforms, like Survey Junkie, to make the biggest bang for your buck.

Can I Make Money With Affiliate Marketing? 

How to Do It:

In theory, it is easy to make money from affiliate marketing because all you need to do is add in a link, however, the groundwork which you need to lay in order to reap the benefits of affiliate marketing takes lots of time and effort.

Generating good SEO will help drive traffic to your website, which will help you turn a larger profit through affiliate marketing. Many websites like Amazon Associates have low barriers to entry, but popular clothing affiliate marketing sites such as LTK Creator have an application process and only allow affiliates who meet the criteria for minimum numbers of followers and/or engagement metrics.

Resources You'll Need:

This article breaks down various affiliate marketing options and how you can sign up for them.

Can I Make Money Transcribing?

How to Do It:

According to Payscale, the average hourly rate for a transcriptionist is $16.33. In order to be successful in this field, your hand/ear coordination needs to be excellent. Yes, you just read that correctly; not hand/eye, but hand/EAR.

You’ll need to be able to clearly listen to and understand a variety of speakers including those with accents, soft voices, or other elements that can make their voices difficult to decipher. You’ll also need to be an excellent typist so that you can quickly type down the discussion you’re transcribing accurately.

Resources You'll Need:

PennyHoarder has put together an outline about making money as a transcriber. We also have an in-depth guide on earning money as a transcriptionist. 

Can I Make Money on Airbnb? 

How to Do It:

Between renting out your home and offering “experiences” on Airbnb, there are multiple ways to make money on this platform, but that doesn’t mean that it’s easy. Because of Airbnb’s customer review section, this does not mean that you can phone it in when offering an experience or be lazy with the quality of the place you’re renting.

If some element of the stay or experience is less than ideal, you can be sure that the guest will discuss this in the review section, which will hinder your ability to generate traction on your offering and make money.

Resources You'll Need:

Investopedia shares 10 tips for running a successful Airbnb property.

Can I Make Money as a Virtual Assistant?

How to Do It:

With the rise of flexible work schedules, remote work, and entrepreneurship, becoming a virtual assistant is becoming increasingly lucrative. Having an assistant that you can trust is invaluable.

One thing to consider is how to protect yourself. If you’re newly working as a virtual assistant, getting some inexpensive professional liability insurance (Check out Hiscox for reasonable rates) can provide both you and your new employer with peace of mind that you’re all protected when embarking on this new endeavor.

Because many virtual assistants help small businesses, sole proprietors, or simply individuals looking for some assistance, you likely won’t find that they have the same insurance or protections as a large corporation. Be sure to go into it with awareness for the market as well as your rights as an employee/contractor.

Resources You'll Need:

Upwork discusses the steps to becoming a virtual assistant here.

Can I Make Money on Robinhood?

How to Do It:

In theory, this user-friendly app is an easy way to make money, but we all know that the stock market is not as easy to play as we can sometimes think.

Robinhood offers commission-free trading to buy and sell stocks from your phone. According to GoBankingRates, “you can make money on Robinhood by holding stocks that will pay dividends. You can then reinvest the dividends to earn compound interest. Besides this, you can earn money by asset appreciation.”

Resources You'll Need:

This article explains the different ways to utilize the app in order to make the most ROI from your stocks.

Can I Make Money With Cryptocurrency or NFTs? 

How to Do It:

If the words “Cryptocurrency” and “NFT” immediately overwhelm you, you’re not alone. At their core, they are just investments that you make, similar to how you might invest in stock or real estate. These investments are highly volatile, which can lead to big risks and big rewards.

Resources You'll Need:

Can I Make Money Writing an eBook?

How to Do It:

Depending on what your desired topic is and what kind of brand you’ve built for yourself, there are a couple of different ways you can publish an eBook. If you have a brand that you’ve already built and cultivated a client base/following around, selling your eBook on your site or social channels is relatively easy. You’ll just need to have a purchase link through a platform such as PayPal, Square, Shopify, or Stripe, then when someone purchases your eBook through your link, they will get a separate link to download your book.

If you don’t have a brand or platform to sell your eBook through, consider selling your eBook through Amazon Self Publishing. By selling through Amazon, you will have to give up a percentage of commission, but being on such a large website can help generate foot traffic and sales for your book.

Resources You'll Need:

Can I Make Money by Writing an Online Course?

How to Do It:

Similar to the barriers to entry of making money selling an eBook, writing an online course and making money from it does take time and effort. If you’ve already cultivated a following or client base who will purchase the course, making money through an online course is relatively easy.

That said, the market is saturated with online courses, so if you don’t have a direct client base to purchase the course, it will be much harder to turn a profit. 

Resources You'll Need:

Can I Make Money Selling Photographs Online?

How to Do It:

There are many places where you can sell photographs online including:

Additionally, if you post your photos on sites including Pexels and Unsplash, users are allowed to download them for free. However, users can choose to donate to a fund for your services. Whichever route you take, there are plenty of ways to make money by selling your photos online.

Resources You'll Need:

Shopify outlines 18 websites where you can sell your photos online. 

How Can I Make Money Offline?

While most things go online at some point, these jobs and side gigs are "mostly" offline. If they do have some online element, it might be a requirement to sign into an app or something else along those lines. For the most part, these are jobs that you would physically conduct in person. 

Can I Make Money by Grocery Shopping?

How to Do It:

By signing up for websites including Ibotta, you can earn money just by purchasing your regular grocery shopping. You’ll get cashback offers across the web from different marketplaces and brands upon signing up.

Login to your browser or app and select from top retailers and brand offers. You’ll need to activate the offers before you shop. From there, just link a bank account and withdraw earnings from wherever you’re logged into Ibotta. 

Resources You'll Need:

Can I Make Money With Solar Panels? 

How to Do It:

The act of actually making money from solar panels isn’t challenging, but getting to the point of making money is the tough part. Between installation costs, possible barriers if you have an HOA, and installation—getting started can be arduous. With that said, most state governments offer tax subsidies for solar panels upon installation.

Additionally, you may be able to profit from solar panels installed on your home by taking advantage of net metering to reduce utility bills. “Net metering is an electric billing tool that uses the electric grid to store excess energy produced by your solar panel system. Under net metering, energy your solar panels produce and you don’t use is credited back to you,” explains EnergySage.

Alternately, you can make money by investing in stock for solar companies.

Resources You'll Need:

Can I Make Money as a Notary?

How to Do It:

In order to become a notary, you’ll need to take an approved Notary public course, take and pass the exam, file to become a notary which includes fingerprinting, etc., then you’ll need to purchase the required materials to conduct notary services.

Once you have completed the initial steps, you can either work on your own as a freelance notary, or you can partner up with a business to serve as their go-to notary. With the housing market booming, partnering up with a real estate or title company can make becoming a notary a very lucrative role. 

Resources You'll Need:

Can I Make Money by Donating Blood?

How to Do It:

Technically, you can’t donate much because experts worry that paying for blood donations through Red Cross will entice people to lie about their health and medical history to turn a profit.

With that said, Red Cross is currently running a promotion where you’ll get a $5 e-gift card for your donation. Even if you can’t make money from it, donating blood is an excellent way to give back to the community. 

Resources You'll Need:

Can I Make Money by Donating Plasma? 

Answer: Yes
Effort Level: Easy

How to Do It:

Most plasma donation is done by private pharmaceutical companies, since they are the ones who use this substance for life-saving therapies and medical testing.

According to money.com, how much money you make depends on where you're located and how much you weigh. (Typically, the more a donor weighs, the more plasma can be collected and the longer an appointment takes.) But at most donation centers, compensation is around $50 to $75 per appointment.

Resources You'll Need:

There are many plasma donation sites nationally, so you can easily just search for local sites in your area. With that said, CSL Plasma is among the largest with the most centers nationwide. 

Can I Make Money by Donating Reproductive Materials?

How to Do It:

Men have an easier time with this since they can easily release reproductive materials with a minimally invasive process.

For women, this process is much more invasive. It requires women to take medication in order to hyperstimulate egg production, and leads to longer recovery times since it requires an actual procedure to harvest eggs. 

Resources You'll Need:

This article from UCSF outlines the process of egg donation and how to get started if it’s something you’re interested in.

Can I Make Money Renting Unused Space?

How to Do It:

You can rent out nearly any unused space.  You can turn it into monthly income if you have a spare bedroom (think Airbnb), an extra parking space, an empty driveway, or extra storage space.

You can even rent out your pool if you want! With the gig economy thriving, everyone’s looking for ways to make extra cash, and many are looking to source extra space that they might not otherwise have access to. 

Resources You'll Need:

Can I Make Money Reading Books?

How to Do It:

If you’re an avid reader, making money by reading books and posting honest reviews can add up to high profits quickly. It all depends on how much you read. The more books you read and review, the more money you’ll make.

Resources You'll Need:

Can I Make Money Selling Old Electronics?

How to Do It:

Between Craigslist, OfferUp, and many other platforms, selling your old electronics is easier than ever. Additionally, some companies have trade-in or corporate programs where you can sell your old electronics back to them.

Resources You'll Need:

This article outlines the various options for how to sell old electronics back for money.

Can I Make Money Selling Old Clothes?

How to Do It:

Many websites have popped up to sell your old clothes, but the most notorious place to make money selling your gently used pieces of clothing is Poshmark.

There are tips and tricks to make your items sell faster, but this site is generally pretty user-friendly and can help you quickly sell off old clothes. Depending on the quality and price point of the items, there are various specialty online marketplaces as well to explore.

Resources You'll Need:

Can I Make Money by Tutoring? 

How to Do It:

If you have ties with a local school, don’t be afraid to leverage your connections and share that you’re offering tutoring services. When it comes to tutoring, or any service involving children, referrals can greatly impact how much money you can generate. 

Alternatively, there are many online tutoring services available now too!

Resources You'll Need:

This article outlines various online tutoring services which you can tutor for.

Can I Make Money by Dogwalking?

How to Do It:

Similar to tutoring, if you know people who might be interested in your services, reach out to them! If you don’t know of people who need these services but are itching to get some doggy love in your life, consider freelancing with a company like Rover. Dog walkers can create a profile and customers can pick the dog walker who best aligns with their needs.

Resources You'll Need:

Can I Make Money Babysitting?  

How to Do It:

Once again, the power of a referral here is huge. If you can find one family to babysit for who loves and trusts you, you’ll likely gain many more clients through word of mouth. If you are looking to start with childcare in a new area, going through an online platform is likely your best bet. 

Resources You'll Need:

While you don’t need specialized training, training in CPR and first aid is always a good idea when working with kids. You can check out certification options. Explore some popular online platforms to become a babysitter.

Can I Make Money Organizing People's Junk?

How to Do It:

Believe it or not, there is a National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO). If you want to make organizing into a career, it might be worth it to explore organization as a career. 

If you’re just interested in making some quick cash, consider offering your services on a platform such as Taskrabbit.

Resources You'll Need:

Can I Make Money Making Deliveries?

How to Do It:

Between Amazon and a multitude of food delivery services out there, making deliveries can help you make some good money!

Resources You'll Need:

Alternative Ways to Make Money

You can make money by doing practically anything these days. At our core, we all are a little weird, and many people have alternative hobbies or interests that don’t always fit in with mainstream constructs of how to make money.

Think I’m kidding? Check out this article for some of the most obscure ways to make money! I’ll outline some below. 

Can I Make Money Selling Pictures of My Feet?

How to Do It:

If you have cultivated a social media following for this specific area of interest, you can sell pictures of your feet through your social channels or directly through your website where readers can purchase pictures directly through you. Additionally, there are some NSFW websites like OnlyFans where you can start selling pictures of your feet without an established following.

Resources You'll Need:

Online payment processing platforms such as PayPal, Square, Stripe, or Shopify.

Can I Make Money With My Car?

How to Do It:

If you’re comfortable sharing ads on your car, having your car “wrapped” with advertising could be an easy way to make money. When you apply to use your car for advertising, companies often ask about your driving habits and routes you match you up with the company who would most align with your region and areas of focus. 

Resources You'll Need:

Consider reaching out to companies including carvertise.com, nickelytics.com, or wrapify.com

Can I Make Money With Medical Trials?

How to Do It:

One study found that the median clinical trial compensation is around $3,070 (the range was $150-$13,000).

Research showed that participants tended to apply for three studies per year, participated in one or two studies, and earned roughly $4,000 annually. You can search for clinical trials by condition, country, or other key terms that interest you. With this said, it’s important to consider the health risks that may occur due to clinical trials.

It's important to keep in mind that there is no guarantee that they will not affect your health and wellbeing.

Resources You'll Need:

Can I Make Money Selling My Trash?

How to Do It:

One person’s junk can be another person’s treasure! Just check out these designer shoeboxes that are being sold for around $30-$40 on Poshmark!

Yes, to be clear, these are just the boxes. No shoes in sight.

Resources You'll Need:

Can I Make Money Walking With People?

How to Do It:

Whether you are walking with people as a tour guide or as a companion, there are many ways to make money walking with people. You can sign up to provide walking tours of your city through companies including Airbnb experiences or ToursByLocals. If you’re interested in walking with people as a companion, consider going through sites including care.com or Visiting Angels.

Resources You'll Need:

Can I Make Money Watching Netflix?

How to Do It: Netflix pays people to be “taggers”. In this job, you’re asked to watch movies and tv shows in order to tag them with the correct labels or descriptor words. 

Resources You'll Need:

This article goes in-depth about what a Netflix tagger does, or you can head directly to the Netflix careers page to see available opportunities.

Can I Make Money by Sleeping?

How to Do It:

You can in fact get paid to sleep if you participate in sleep trials.

With that said, it sounds easier that it is. During these trials, you’ll be observed, you may have to be hooked up to medical devices for monitoring, and you will be required to conduct the trials in a specific medical location. Don’t get all excited for a luxurious night's sleep in your bed if you’re looking to make money while sleeping! 

Resources You'll Need:

Check out the American Sleep Association for a list of clinical sleep trials you can participate in.