Supplement your income on the Internet: Top 8 ways

Yes, working is hard. It’s not a secret that most of us would like to make things easier. Preferably, we’d like to earn without doing anything. While this is an almost impossible task, you can still make things more comfortable. That’s why we’d recommend that you supplement your income on the internet.

We’re lucky enough to live in times when you can earn money without leaving your home. About a couple of decades ago, this was only a privilege of a minority. However, with the internet’s development, more people can make a living this way. What’s more, plenty of businesses are outsourcing their work to individual freelancers. This opens up the opportunity to work from home or anywhere else. You just need a solid internet connection!

Of course, online jobs still require hard work. But there are still plenty of advantages to this model of work. You get all the freedom and flexibility that you need. And you can make a living or just supplement your income this way.

In this guide, we will be looking into the latter option. If you already have a job, you can find easy ways to earn something on the side. It can eventually grow to your primary source of income. But for now, let’s see what are the best ways to earn something on the side.

Doing freelance work

One of the simplest ways to supplement your income is to become a freelancer. After all, why wouldn’t you offer your skills for some money on the side? This is one of the most common methods of getting side gigs on the internet.

There are two main ways how you can approach freelancing. If you already have a profession, you can do the same stuff as a side gig. While working for your employer, you’ve accumulated skills and knowledge. So why not use this to earn even more? This can eventually be your ticket to becoming a fully independent freelancer.

The second approach is that you do something that’s not your profession. In most cases, people go with their hobbies. Whatever it is, you can find some work related to it. After all, you’re not the only one interested in this particular thing. The easiest way is to write about various topics within your hobby.

In most cases, people start with online freelance platforms. After a while, they can even become fully independent freelancers. But you can do freelance stuff as a side gig. You just need to think through your options here and what you can offer.

Simple tasks through crowdsourcing platforms

Being a freelancer may be tiresome. After all, you may already be exhausted from your main job. Putting in an extra effort can sometimes take its toll. However, there’s a solution.

Interestingly enough, there’s easy work that doesn’t require much effort. There are ways how you can earn extra money without exhausting yourself. If this is what you’re looking for, then check out some of the crowdsourcing platforms. The most famous example is probably Amazon’s mTurk. which connects countless clients and workers.

Essentially, these services work similarly to freelance platforms. However, these are all very simple tasks. It’s something that people can do faster and cheaper than computers. Compensation can be actual money or points on gift cards.

Additionally, there are simple tasks that you can do through regular freelance platforms. They are not as common there, but you can still do stuff like data entry and basic online research.

Doing these simple tasks is also a great choice for students. It’s really easy to do and doesn’t require any special skills or talents. Additionally, you won’t need to exhaust yourself after longer studying sessions.

Start your eCommerce website

If you’re feeling more ambitious, you can try and start your eCommerce website. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need extensive web development knowledge for this. These days, you can start a store with some basic tools.

Of course, if your store grows one day, you’ll need a more advanced system. But for a smaller one, you can use some WordPress solutions. If you have a limited number of products, this will be more than enough. So you won’t need to worry about that part.

What’s more, plenty of individual entrepreneurs have started their own dropshipping stores. If you’re not familiar with the concept, the idea is to avoid having an actual warehouse of products. You just come up with a brand, outsource the manufacturing and shipping, and you’re all done! In the end, you’re still left with most of the profits.

The best part here is that dropshipping requires almost zero investment. While it may take some time to figure it out, it’s not that hard. But whatever kind of eCommerce you’re making, this can be a great income on the side.

Affiliate marketing through your website

What’s really awesome is that you can earn from almost any kind of website these days. This is possible through affiliate marketing. Putting up Google ads is the most popular way for you to earn money this way.

Your website can serve as a billboard, no matter the content on it. However, there are a few ways how you can monetize it. One of them is using Google ads. Essentially, you get a small percentage from every click made from your website.

Additionally, there are other popular affiliate marketing methods. Amazon offers their own model of affiliate marketing. You can put up product links to your website. Every purchase made from these sessions earns you some money. What’s good about Amazon’s affiliate marketing model is that it’s applicable to anything.

However, there are many other retailers that have the same model. People get redirected to the retailer’s website and make purchases. You earn commissions from those.

Other ways to supplement your income through a website

Depending on what you’re actually doing on your website, there are other means of earning. Aside from going with big tech company options, you can do paid promotions.

There are plenty of businesses that would want to promote. If you grow an audience on your website, you can charge for promotions. These can potentially be more lucrative as the payments are direct. There are no intermediary services that would charge you additionally.

What’s really good is that this method is applicable to almost anything. No matter what your website is about, someone will want to promote their products on it. However, for this particular method, you’ll need a larger audience. And this takes time to grow. But although difficult, it’s far from an impossible task.

Start your YouTube channel

For quite some time now, people have been earning through YouTube. The whole idea is generally pretty simple. You make your own original videos and grow the audience. With enough views and subscribers, you’re allowed to monetize your content. In a practical sense, this means that ads will appear on your videos.

Of course, there are plenty of ways how to approach this. Some have even researched the perfect video lengths and frequency of ads. You can even make money on YouTube without making videos!

Aside from the ads themselves, you can also find other ways to earn money. This includes independent paid promotions and crowdfunding. Many content creators use Patreon for crowdfunding. Their fans can either donate a certain sum or request a specific type of content.

Additionally, YouTube also made its donation method. So if your content is interesting enough, it can earn you money from ads and donations.

But, of course, YouTube is a lot of work. The competition is extremely high and you need to have quality content. This also includes proper editing skills. Nonetheless, a good YouTube channel can earn you decent money on the side. You just need to find specific topics to make them interesting.

Earning through social media

Instagram and other social media are considered by some to be a complete waste of time. However, you can actually earn through social media. Just bear in mind that you’ll first need to grow your audience.

Sure, most often, you can’t monetize content like on YouTube. Facebook offers video monetization as well, but it’s not as effective. On the other hand, you can earn from paid promotions. If you have an Instagram with tens of thousands of followers, it can be used this way.

But becoming an influencer doesn’t happen overnight. Yes, it’s a legitimate way to supplement your income. However, it takes knowledge and time to grow your following online.

Do online surveys

Similar to doing basic tasks, online surveys are another easy way to earn some money. They’re a great method if you don’t feel like doing anything complex. And while you won’t get rich doing it, it’s a good way to start earning right away.

There are plenty of places online where you can do online surveys for money. We here at Metro Opinion also offers paid surveys. You can check out all the details from our home page here.