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SmartCentsMom

How to Make Money Online for Beginners

What would it mean for you to take your dreams of making money online captive and find legitimate ways to create a work-life balance that fits into YOUR life?

If you’re like me, you know it’s possible to make money online, you’ve heard people talking about working from home, you’ve read of successful unicorn moms starting their own businesses, and you may have listened to a podcast about finding the right mindset to get started.

Deep down, you know there has to be a way to find stay-at-home jobs for moms doing the things you love.

Maybe making money online would mean you could stay home with your kids, have a baby, pay off debt, or buy a new house.

Maybe you know you want to start an Etsy business, start a blog, or change careers completely.

But as a beginner, you just don’t know where to start. There are so many options for how to make money online as a beginner.

  • Earn easy money online for free
  • Use skills to make money from home
  • Creative ways to make money on the side with DIY crafts and hobbies
  • Start a Home Business
  • Work from home as an employee

Earn Easy Money Online for Free

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You are probably thinking, “I want to know how to make money online without paying anything.” These easy online jobs are a great first step when you’re not sure what to do, and you don’t have money to spend to learn a new skill.

I wanted a way to make some quick cash so that I could make extra cash to start a blog. These easy online work-from-home jobs helped me get started!

Make Money Online Surveys

Almost every work-from-home newbie starts out small by taking surveys for extra money. You won’t make a 6 figure income taking online surveys, but you can definitely make money online fast surveys. Surveys take between 20 – 30 minutes to complete and can be done while you’re watching TV.

You basically get paid to share your opinion about products and services that you use. My top 3 favorite surveys to start making money fast are…

Get Paid for Searching the Web & Shopping Online

Finding ways to make extra money doing what you already do, like shopping online or browsing the web, is perfect for beginners. You can get paid for searching the web and shopping online with these simple apps that pay you real money!

  • Swagbucks – a fun way to make extra money by taking surveys, daily polls, and searching the web. You can also download the Swagbucks browser extension to earn special codes and bucks (points) for doing normal searches online. Trade your Swagbucks in for gift cards or cash paid through Paypal. Sign up with Swagbucks to get a $10 signing bonus!
  • Rakuten – an easy way to earn cash back from online purchases! You can seriously earn cash back through hundreds of different online retailers. All you have to do is sign up for an Rakuten account and click the store you want to shop. Sign up with Rakuten to get a $10 signing bonus!

Get Paid for Reading

Want to earn money while enjoying a good read? Try Online Book Club. It’s a well-known platform that pays you for reading and reviewing books. Whether you’re a dedicated bookworm or a freelance reviewer, you can share your views on a book and get paid for it. This isn’t just a hub for book lovers but also a place where you can earn while exploring your passion for reading. It’s a unique, profitable opportunity that makes reading even more rewarding.

Make Money with Data Entry

Data Entry is a popular search topic when it comes to working from home. A lot of people imagine there are jobs where they can fill in an Excel sheet with information for companies, but the reality is that there aren’t any specific companies that hire for that type of work.

However, there are some great ways to make money with short tasks that sometimes include data entry.

Search Engine Evaluators – Make money evaluating search engine and social media results. Record information about what you see with different search queries. Companies that hire search engine evaluators: Appen & LionBridge.

Amazon Mturk – Amazon Mturk offers a variety of different jobs that can be completed quickly. Sometimes there are data entry opportunities. Many of the job postings are simple to do. This job should be considered side income because the pay is very small depending on the task.

For more data entry and beginner-level jobs, check out Online Jobs that Pay $10 or more!

Use Skills to Make Money from Home

Everyone has skills that they use every day whether in a job setting or as a stay-at-home mom. Turn your skills into a job that allows you the flexibility to work from home. Here are some popular skill-based jobs that you can do to make money from home.

Proofreading

Do you have ninja proofreading skills? Can you spot a grammar mistake a mile away? Proofreading is a skill that you can easily monetize to earn money from home. There is so much content available online, and businesses need help proofreading everything from emails, blog posts, website content, social media posts, and more!

See the steps to becoming an online freelance proofreader.

Virtual Assistant

Help businesses and online entrepreneurs grow their companies as a virtual assistant. A VA does everything from social media management, content creation, email marketing, organization, project management, scheduling, communication, and any other job that would fall under a traditional administrative assistant.

Learn how to make money online as a virtual assistant with this list of 275+ FREE Virtual Assistant Services List from Gina Horkey of the Horkey Handbook. She has great experience as a virtual assistant and now shows others how they can start their own business too!

Freelance Writing

Do you love writing and research? You could get paid to write about things that you love! Content is needed in every industry and for thousands of websites, blogs, and newsletters. The pay for freelance writers varies based on experience, expertise, and industry. Some freelance writers earn between $50 – $1000 or more per post.

You can find freelance writing jobs through Indeed Job Search, Problogger Job Board, and Craigslist.

Another way to make money as a freelance writer is to start your own business. Learn how to make money online as a freelance writer with Elna Cain’s class How to Become a Freelance Writer. She teaches you how to find lucrative jobs and get paid what you’re worth as a writer!

Pinterest Virtual Assistant

Niche down as a Virtual Assistant and focus on Pinterest. Did you know that Pinterest has over 200 million users? It’s the place where people go to dream and search for ways to improve their lives.

Businesses NEED to be on Pinterest sharing their content! That’s where you come in. You can offer Pinterest services to set up a business account, manage pins, create pins, and grow a following. If you love spending your free time searching Pinterest, then this could be a great work-from-home job for you!

Maybe you’re thinking…sure! I use Pinterest to search, but I don’t know where to start when it comes to building a presence for a business. 

Creative Ways to Make Money on the Side with DIY Crafts and Hobbies

You can turn any hobby into a way to make money online. Whether it’s a hobby of creating beautiful crafts, taking amazing photographs, or something unusual, there is always an opportunity to turn your passion into a way to make money online!

Teach Online Videos

Teach other people how to “do” your hobby. Create a course to sell on sites like Udemy, and Skillshare, or start your own website!

Beginner courses about your hobby are a good place to start. Did you know that beginner courses typically do the best because most people are looking for beginner how-tos versus advanced lessons? So take your experience, knowledge, and skill and start teaching other people.

Sell Crafts Online with Etsy

Etsy is the most popular online marketplace for handmade goods. Opening a store on Etsy is fairly easy, with Etsy guides to help you get started. One of the perks of opening an Etsy shop is the amount of traffic that goes to Etsy every day.

When you learn how to create solid keyword titles and descriptions, your items will be seen by thousands of people with the potential to earn an income doing what you love.

Start a Home Business

Do you have that entrepreneurial spirit? Setting your own hours, being your own boss, working for yourself…all you need is a small business idea to get started. There are several different ways to start a home business.

Sell Other People’s Products

Make money selling other people’s products. You’ve probably heard of network marketing from friends or seen posts pop up on Facebook. There are many women selling other people’s products from home, making $500 – $1,000 per month.

Most companies now require you to have no inventory at home, you can do almost everything from your phone, and parties usually happen over Facebook!

Sell Your Own Products or Services

Start your own business selling your own products or services. This option gives you more control over your business.

With power comes responsibility! Working for yourself requires self-discipline and can take longer to see financial benefits than working for a company. However, your growth potential as a sole business owner is higher than working for someone else.

Starting your own business can be overwhelming, especially if you’ve never worked on your own before. There are so many things to think about at the same time…new products, marketing, sales, email, and growth, just to name a few.

Work from Home as an Employee

There are real companies that hire flexible and telecommute positions that allow you to work from home! Amazing companies that offer benefits, health insurance, and a 401k.

You may be thinking that most of those jobs are web design, computer programming, or some other high-tech field. It’s true…there are many job opportunities in the computer field. But there are also jobs in customer sales, customer service, management, teaching, and more.

Knowing where to search for flexible jobs is the most important step to landing a high-paying online work-from-home job.

I recommend joining FlexJobs as a way to find a legitimate work-from-home job.

I love that FlexJobs takes time to filter scams so that I don’t have to worry about the quality of jobs in my search. They also offer filters that allow you to specify the type of job and the amount of time you can work (flexible, part-time, supplemental income). If you’re serious about finding a job with a high-quality employer, then I have to say that FlexJobs offers the best value.

Believe me, I hate paying money when I feel like it’s something I could potentially do myself, but I really feel that it’s worth the time and energy to pay a small fee to find high-quality job opportunities.

Sign up here for FlexJobs

More Ways to Make Money Online as a Beginner!

You didn’t think that was it, right?! We’ve just barely covered a few of my favorite ways to make money online from home. I spend most of my days searching for new ways to make money online, whether it’s extra cash or a new entrepreneur venture.

There’s no way I could cover ALL the ways to work from home in this one blog post, but I have GREAT news. You can sign up to download my FREE Work at Home Workbook.

If you’re still not sure where to jump into this crazy world of working and making money online, then the Work at Home  Workbook will give you the action plan you need to find a job you love.

Work at Home Workbook

Join 125,000 monthly readers and Download the FREE Work at Home Workbook, designed to help you create a life you love with work & family!

SmartCents Mom