Ultimate Guide to Making Money Online

Ready to make money online?!

Earning an income online is becoming more and more popular. Whether you’re wanting to make extra money each month or you’re hoping to replace your (and/or your spouse’s) full-time income, let this be your year to make money online.

There are many, many ways to make money online. Below, I’m outlining the best ways so you, too, can start making money online immediately!

But before we get started, let’s list out the specific reasons you want to make money online and what your long-term goals are. For me, it looks like this:

• Save more money each month (this is reason #1)
• Pay extra toward our mortgage (this is our only debt as my online income was able to pay off our SUV last year)
• Take family vacations more often
• Replace my full-time income (2017 end-of-year goal) <-this has been MET. I quit my job in March!!
• Replace my husband’s full-time income (long-term goal)

Now, let’s get started. Below is my ultimate guide to make money online in 2018!

1. Start a Blog

Blogging is the absolute best way to bring in an extra source of income each month. You’re in complete control of when you work, you choose your topics, you choose how you make money, and you’re in control of how much money you make.

And if you don’t want to make money actually blogging, you STILL need a blog in order to work online (at least, in my opinion). Having a blog gives you credibility, it serves as your portfolio, it allows clients to find you and recommend you, and so much more. Plus, you really can make money blogging (and a lot of it!).

Get your FREE guide to starting a blog here! >>

With blogging, you are 100% your own boss. With freelance writing and other contracting positions, you work for your clients. Your clients don’t care if you have a sick kid at home. If blogging is your income, you simply take the day off of work.

I’ve been blogging for three years and am consistently making $2,000+ per month. I work no more than 10 hours a month on my blog. While it took a while to start making consistent income (about a year of solid work), the income is now relatively passive. Blogging is a huge passion of mine and I encourage everyone who enjoys writing and wants to earn extra money to start a blog.

If you’re ready to start a blog, head over to my tutorial on starting a profitable blog. You’ll receive a free domain name, a discount on your hosting, and my book – The Beginner’s Guide to Blogging – for free.

Have an idea for a blog name?! See if it’s available here:

Blogging will not get you rich quick, but it will, over time, provide a sustainable extra source of income for you and your family. If you’re on the fence, ask yourself if in one year you’d be glad you did?!

SPECIAL: Bluehost is offering a discount to my readers only!! You can now start a blog for just $2.95/month using my link!!

*And, I’m not and never have been a full-time blogger. I have a full-time job and three little kids ages 4, 3 and 2 months. If I can do this, so can you!!

Already have a blog? Here’s how to make it profitable >>

2. Take Surveys Online

Taking surveys online can be a great way to make some extra money while watching TV or just killing time. While I don’t personally think it’s possible to replace your full-time income with money you make from surveys, it’s very possible to make a few extra hundred bucks every couple of months. And since it can be done in your spare time or while watching television, why not?!

My favorite survey companies include:

• • American Consumer Opinion
  • Swagbucks
  • Opinion Outpost

Swagbucks

Let’s talk Swagbucks. This to me is the best survey company out there because you don’t just have to take surveys. You earn money by watching videos and shopping online, too! With over 15 million members and the ability to earn gifts cards to places like Amazon, Target, Walmart and more, what are you waiting for?!

Sign up for Swagbucks and get a free $5 bonus!

3. Join Cash-Back Programs

Ebates

Ebates is my personal favorite way to make money buying things online that I already planned on buying. Here’s how it works: Shop online at your favorite stores through Ebates, check out, and receive a Big Fat Check in the mail. You can earn up to 6% back at your favorite stores including Kohls, Amazon, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Shutterfly, eBay and more.

And, just for signing up, you’ll receive $10 free after spending $25! Get started here.

Ibotta

Ibotta is another site that pays you for shopping. Simply download the app on your phone and then scan your receipt after you shop. THIS IS MY FAVORITE APP FOR GETTING CASH BACK!!

Ibotta works at over 300 stores, including Walmart, Target, Kroger, Publix, Dollar Tree, Safeway and more.

After scanning your receipt, you’ll receive your cash-back within 48 hours. Then, you can simply transfer the money over to your PayPal account.

Get started here and get $10 cash back with your first redeemed rebate!

4. Freelance Write

Almost all websites rely on content to sell their product or get visitors to their site. Someone needs to write that content – why not you?

Freelance writers can make anywhere from $25 per article (or lower) up to $300+ per article.

If you love to write, I’ve outlined by best tips for new freelance writers here. This post includes how to pitch clients, how often you should pitch, where to find jobs,  and more.

If you’re serious about becoming a freelance writer, I highly recommend taking a course on it. If you were to switch careers and become a real estate agent, you’d take a class. Nursing, you’d have to go back to school. Freelance writing is no different.

My friend Holly Johnson made over $225,000 freelance writing last year. She truly is the best of the best and lucky for us, she’s written a course on exactly what it took to go from corporate America to full-time freelancer. Her course – Earn More Writing – shows you how to get jobs, how to earn more money as a freelance writer, how to improve your efficiency, and more! And it’s packed with bonuses including a 30-minute coaching session with Holly herself, an insider’s guide to what editors really want, a list of 250 businesses with blogs you could write for, a free Facebook group, and more!

If you’re ready to make it big as a freelancer, enroll in Earn More Writing today!

5. Write an eBook

Are you an expert in something? Do you love to write? Do you have something you want to share with the world? If so, write an eBook! I wrote my first eBook last year – The Beginner’s Guide to Blogging – and continue to make sales month after month.

You can sell your book on a site like Gumroad (this is the site I sell mine on) or even self-publish your eBook on Amazon. To advertise your book, share it on your social media pages, ask bloggers and websites if you can guest post on their site and include a link there, include your book on your own blog, ask readers to write reviews, and more. The beauty of a book is you could continue to make sales for years to come!

How to write an eBook

Writing an eBook is super simple. I wrote mine in Word and saved as a PDF. Then, upload to Gumroad or Amazon or whatever site you want to sell your book on. Yes, it’s that simple!!

6. Create a Course

What are you an expert in? If you’re looking to make money online in 2017, I highly recommend creating an online course. You can use sites like Udemy or Teachable to create and sell your course. Consider browsing through some of the courses to get ideas on what types of courses people are creating and what type of course you should create. People create courses on everything from learning SEO* to getting your life organized to cooking!

*If you’re looking to learn about SEO to increase traffic to your blog or website, I just took the course The 2017 Ultimate SEO Guide and could not recommend it more!! It covers everything from updating your plugins to make your site run faster to writing the correct meta description and tags to finding what keywords your audience is looking for and more. The course is all videos which was also incredibly useful for non-techies like me!

7. Become a Pinterest Virtual Assistant

Perhaps writing isn’t your thing, but you love all things social media and organization. If so, consider becoming a virtual assistant (VA) or a Pinterest virtual assistant to a business owner or blogger. VA’s can make up to $50+ per hour helping clients with all sorts of tasks, including:

• • • Project management
    • Scheduling tasks
    • Organizing blog posts
    • Email management
    • Social media scheduling
    • and more!

As a VA, you are the right-hand man. Lots of bloggers and business owners wind up feeling overwhelmed as their site or business grows. They no longer have time to “do it all” themselves, and therefore hire a VA to take on some of those tasks for them. If you’re organized and love social media, you would make the perfect virtual assistant!

If you specifically want to focus on Pinterest, check out this course Become a Pinterest VA Today! It was created by two of my friends – Kristin and Gina – who both rock at virtual assistant work AND Pinterest! The course will help you find clients, navigate Pinterest, and eventually make enough money to quit your day job!

You can get on the waitlist for the course here!

Are you ready to make money online?! What method would you choose? Share in the comments!!