First thing first – obviously I’m a blogger and yes, I do make money from this blog. I love helping other people make money blogging and I am constantly in awe that I’m able to make a full-time income blogging.
Having said that, I completely understand that blogging isn’t for everyone. But the awesome news is, blogging isn’t the only only way to make money online – not even close (try one of these free money hacks). There are tons of ways to make money without blogging, and there are hundreds of thousands of people doing it every single day.
I’ve been doing the whole “make money online without working” thing for a while now. I’m a huge advocate of side hustles (and have quite a few myself) so whenever anyone asks me how to make money online without blogging, I get pretty excited. It’s fair to say that I geek out over this kind of stuff.
Whether you’re looking for a side hustle that brings in a couple hundred dollars each month, a full-time work-from-home job, how to make money as a teenager, or a way to replace your income online, it can be done (and without starting a blog!)
Read more about making a six figure income.
How to Make Money Online Without Blogging
Become a Proofreader
If you’re the type of person who’s constantly noticing spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors in everything you read, then working online as a proofreader might be perfect for you.
When I first heard that people were making a full-time income proofreading online, I couldn’t believe it. You mean to say that I could be getting paid to be a member of the grammar police (instead of just doing it for fun?!)
Caitlin Pyle is one of those people. In fact, after getting fired from her job, she was able to completely replace her full-time income and then decided to write the book (or create the course) on how to make a full-time income proofreading online.
Caitlin’s course is called Proofread Anywhere, and it’s helped thousands of people make money online from proofreading.
Of course, Caitlin knows that proofreading isn’t for everyone which is why she created a free 7-day intro course that goes over the basics of proofreading to help you decide if it’s something you think you’d enjoy.
You can sign up here for Caitlin’s free 7-day course.
Start Freelance Writing
I’m partial to freelance writing because it was my first foray into making money online. As a child, I dreamed of becoming a writer, so that first check I received in the mail for a piece I’d written was like a dream come true.
There is a huge demand for content these days, making freelance writing a high-demand and potentially very lucrative freelance career.
How to get started freelance writing:
Personally, I started out by simply pitching websites magazines. I was fortunate enough to have my first ever pitch accepted, which was an incredible feeling.
After that, I decided to enroll in 30 Days or Less to Freelance Writing Success by Gina Horkey, a highly successful freelance writer.
Try one of these freelance writing jobs.
Gina started her freelance writing business in May 2014 and within 6 months, she was making $4000/month. A couple of months after that, she quit her 9-5 to pursue freelance writing full-time.
If you’d like to make money online as a freelance writer but you aren’t sure where to start, you can check out 30 Days or Less to Freelance Writing Success here.
Teach English Online
This is a rapidly growing field, and virtually every person I’ve spoken to who teaches English online to Chinese students say that it’s a highly rewarding and fairly lucrative job.
There are a number of companies who hire native English speakers to teach English to Chinese elementary school students. The requirements vary slightly from company to company but in general, teachers are required to hold a Bachelor’s degree (usually in any field,) be a native English speaker, and, depending on the company, have some experience working with children.
Lesson plans are provided and you can choose your own hours (although there is usually a minimum weekly time commitment) which makes teaching English online an excellent option if you’re looking for a flexible job.
Some of the most popular and highly-rated companies include:
EF First
EF First pay rate starts at $20 per hour and is paid monthly via bank transfer. The requirements to become a EF First teacher are:
- Eligible to legally work in the US or UK
- Native English Speaker
- Bachelor’s degree or higher
- TEFL certification (can obtain once hired)
- Reliable internet connection
If you’d like to become an English teacher with EF First, you can submit your application here.
VIPKID
VIPKID is one of the leading English tutoring companies, with over 60,000 teachers and over 500,000 students. VIPKID’s pay rate is $14-$22/hr. Of note is that VIPKID was ranked #1 by Flexjobs in Forbes’ 2018 “Top 100 Remote Work Companies Report,” indicating that they’re a pretty great place to work!
The requirements to become a VIPKID teacher are:
- Bachelor’s degree or higher
- Stable internet connection
- One school year of traditional teaching experience or the equivalent in mentoring, tutoring, or alternative education
- Native English speaker
- Computer, headset and webcam
If you’d like to become an English teacher with VIPKID, you can submit your application here.
Become a Virtual Assistant
Virtual Assisting is an incredibly in-demand career right now, with no signs of slowing down. In fact, the opposite is more likely to happen. More and more bricks-and-mortar businesses are starting to recognize the benefits of hiring virtual workers and new online businesses are being started every minute of the day, meaning that the growth opportunities for virtual assistants are huge.
What do virtual assistants do?
As a virtual assistant, your tasks wills vary depending on the needs of your clients. Of course, because most virtual assistants are freelancers, you are free to decide what kinds of services you would like to offer potential clients.
Some popular services include:
- Email management – you can get paid to read emails!
- Graphic creation
- Managing affiliate programs
- Facebook group moderation
- Editing/uploading blog posts
- Social media posting
If you have experience working in an office environment, then it’s relatively easy to translate those skills over to a VA career.
Most VA’s are freelancers, which means you’re responsible for finding your own clients. Of course, this is usually the most daunting aspect of any freelancing career.
If you’d like a step-by-step guide on launching your virtual assistant business (including how to find clients) then I recommend checking out 30 Days or Less to Virtual Assistant Success.
(If you’re on the fence about the course, take a read of the success stories! Seriously impressive stuff.)
Become a Social Media Influencer
You know those people you see on Instagram promoting a luxury hotel they just stayed at or the latest weight loss tea? They’re social media influencers, and companies pay them (in some cases, a LOT) to promote their products.
If you have a minimum of 10,000 followers on social media (this can be spread out over a number of platforms, i.e. Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, etc.) then I recommend applying to an influencer platform like TapInfluence, Influence Central or Izea.
If you want to grow your social following but you’re not sure how, there are a number of courses available on Udemy for various platforms including Instagram and YouTube.
Start a YouTube Channel
Video marketing is the fastest way to reach people these days, and YouTube is the king of video platforms. Did you know that there are YouTubers who are making millions of dollars a year by simply uploading their videos? My mind was blown when I learned that (and I promptly decided that “Start a YouTube channel” needed to be added to my to-do list.)
So how do YouTubers actually make money?
There are a number of ways you can monetize your YouTube channel. The first thing that springs to most peoples mind is paid advertisements, which can definitely be lucrative. However, to make good money via paid advertisements, you’re going to need a large amount of subscribers (100k+) and millions of views.
A lesser-know, but just as lucrative (and easier) way to monetize your YouTube channel is via affiliate marketing.
My friend, Spencer Mecham, generated 7 figures of revenue via affiliate marketing last year (if you’re not good at math, that’s at least one million dollars) with a large portion of that coming directly via his YouTube channel.
Spencer has created a free training where he shares the process he used to generate 7-figures of revenue in 2018. (He claims the training is “super boring” (haha!) but I have some insider information – it’s not boring at all.) If you’re interested, you can check out the free training here.
Become a Scopist
If you’ve never heard of scoping before, you’re not alone. Scoping is a little-known career that I’d never heard of either until I was introduced to Linda Evenson from Internet Scoping School.
Scoping is the process of editing legal transcripts. A scopist works with a court reporter – the reporter writes, the scopist edits. If you’re interested in legal proceedings, then you’ll probably love working as a scopist.
According to Linda, scoping is in pretty high demand, with the average scopists making $30k-$50k/year. If you think scoping sounds interesting, Linda has a free 7-day intro course that’ll teach you more about this interesting career.
Create a Digital Product
Digital products can be incredibly lucrative, especially if you have an idea that people are desperately in need of.
Digital products include eBooks and online courses, and can sell for anywhere from a few dollars all the way up to a couple of thousand dollars, depending on the niche and content.
One of the most important things you need to do is choose a profitable niche. It doesn’t matter how amazing your product is, if no-one is searching for answers on the topic, you’re not going to make any sales.
If you need help coming up with a profitable niche, I have an eBook “Discover Your Profitable Niche”, which you can find in my shop.
Just Want Some Extra Play Money?
If you’re after some extra play money (and not looking for a full-time income) then I also have a couple recommendations:
Download Apps that Pay You (Real Money)
Did you know there are free apps you can download that pay you real money? I’m not talking about virtual coins that you can exchange for an extra plot of land for your virtual farm… I’m talking real money that you can buy a real plot of land with (or maybe a nice dinner instead.) Like these apps to sell photos!
Here’s the full list of apps that pay you real money.
Take Online Surveys
Online surveys have a bad rap, and rightly so. There are dozens of scammy survey companies, making it difficult to separate the wheat from the wheat from the chaff. **Read: Is Survey Junkie legit
When I first started making money online, I signed up for a ton of survey sites. Most of them were useless but I did manage to find a few legitimate survey sites that I now recommend.
Click here to read how to make $500/month from legitimate online survey sites.
IN SUMMARY
So there you go – I’ve shown you exactly how to make money online without blogging. Blogging can be very lucrative but it’s not the best choice for everyone. Hopefully this list has shown you how possible it is to make money online through avenues other than blogging!