As you’re reading this guide on how to make money online from home, I can assume that either you want to replace your routine 9-to-5 job or looking for a side hustle to earn some extra money.
A couple of decades ago, the whole concept of ‘earning’ revolved around the offline methods belonging to the real world. But in the last 10-15 years, the internet has created a world of its own where everyone can learn how to earn money online and be their own boss.
This internet brings with it a host of opportunities that can help you earn real money, increase your monthly inflows, and provide the freedom to leave your day job.
Moreover, there are more than just a few ways to make money online. And the best part is that in most of the methods you don’t really need any specific qualification or expertise to start earning. While you’ll have to improve your skills eventually, if you are serious about your online work, you actually can start making money online right now.
But with so many different methods to choose from, what should you select? Here is a list of the 31 legit ways how to make money online at home in 2022 and beyond.
30+ Realistic Ways to Make Money Online (2022)
So, let’s start with the guide on how to make money online in 2022 and explore each topic in detail.
1. Start a Blog That Makes Money
Ever wondered how a lot of digital entrepreneurs make money even when they are sleeping? It is with the help of a blog!
Starting a blog is one of the most popular ways to make money online in 2022. You don’t have to be a subject expert to start your blog. Just select a topic that you are really passionate about. You can share your hobbies, passions, and thoughts with your readers.
Talking about the ways to make money with a blog, you can either do it through an ad network such as Google Adsense, paid promotion of products or services, or even selling website subscriptions. You also have the option to turn your blog into a full-fledged website and start selling products.
Apart from these methods, there are several other ways in which you can start making money with a blog. To begin, you can use any of the free blog hosting portals like WordPress. If you are ready to make a modest investment, you can purchase a domain name and a hosting plan of your own to start your blog.
2. Become a Freelancer
Online freelancing is a great way to make money while working from home. The jobs can lead from writing, programming, graphic designing, and translating, to even modeling and working as voiceover artists. Rest assured that you’d definitely find something that you’d like, no matter if you are a working professional, a homemaker, or even a student.
You can directly join freelance job sites or contact businesses/ agencies that offer such type of freelancing opportunities or register on popular freelancing platforms. Initially, it’d be better if you gain some experience by working on smaller projects that you can find on freelancing portals. Once you have some credibility and a portfolio of your work, you can then try to approach brands and agencies directly.
Try to stay away from platforms that pay very little money or ask you to pay any kind of registration fee. Even if there is any kind of fee involved, make sure that you do check reviews of the platform before making any payment.
3. Sell Your Products Online
Selling products is another popular way to earn money online. You can either create your own e-commerce store with the help of platforms such as Shopify or Wix or simply list your products on e-commerce platforms such as Amazon. Note that you will have to manage the storage of your products as well as their shipping on your own if you build your own online store.
With platforms like Amazon, you get the option to store your products in their warehouse and let them handle the shipping too. Also, remember that there is intense competition in the e-commerce space. So, it’d be better if you try creating a niche with regard to your products. Select a unique product category that you feel would appeal to the masses.
If you are interested in opening an online store, you can also think about dropshipping. Here, your primary objective is to take orders on your e-commerce portal and then get the product shipped from the manufacturer or any 3rd party directly to the buyer. In simple words, you will be working as a link between the buyer and the manufacturer.
4. Earn Money with YouTube Channel
If writing is not your forte, how about creating videos? You might have definitely heard about how some of the famous YouTubers take home a six-figure income every month. But how to make money online with YouTube?
The whole concept of earning money with YouTube is simple. You create a YouTube channel and start making and uploading your videos. The higher the number of subscribers and views on your videos, the higher the earning potential.
Just like blogging, you can select any topic for your channel. But do try to pick something that people would be interested in. It could be cooking videos, DIY art, traveling, or even politics. Just keep things interesting and be consistent with your video uploads.
While a good-quality camera could definitely help, you can start making YouTube videos with your smartphone as well. There are now several free apps and software available to help you add that professional touch to your videos.
5. Create and Sell Online Courses
If you do have any particular skills that you can teach others, selling courses online can also be a profitable choice. Some of the best online course platforms are Thinkific, Teachable, Udemy, LearnWorlds, and more which help you earn money by selling courses online.
The internet is now so vastly spread all over the world that it is now a go-to destination for people wanting to learn anything and everything. From cooking, gardening, music, and foreign language, to digital marketing and life skills, you can find many takers for any of your expertise on the internet.
Your knowledge of any such topics could be sold online in the form of neatly designed courses. Rest assured that the aforementioned platforms provide all the tools you will need to create, promote, and sell your courses. You can also set up the payments and manage your students or customers right from your laptop or even your mobile phone.
6. Start a Podcast to Make Money
According to the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PriceWaterhouse, the revenue from Podcast Advertising is expected to reach over $4 billion by 2024. For every 1000 listeners, you can easily charge up to $50 which makes podcasting one of the best ways to make money online in 2022 and beyond.
In simple words, a podcast can be defined as a series of episodes but in audio format. People can listen to your podcasts by streaming them online or by downloading them. Just like blogging and YouTube videos, you can make podcasts on any topics or themes you like.
It can be fictional stories, a talk show, a cooking show, self-help topics, or just you talking about any topic you are passionate about. While there are several ways to make money through a podcast, two of the most popular ones are by creating a membership website and sponsorships. There are now multiple platforms that help you create and host podcasts.
These platforms also provide plenty of monetizing options so that you can select one that best suits you. Some of the top options are Buzzsprout, Transistor, PodBean, and SimpleCast.
7. Buy and Sell Domain Names
If you have any experience in building websites, you might know the importance of a good domain name. If not, the simplest way to understand what domain names are is to think of them as the address to your website. It is the name that people enter into their browser to reach your website.
You can purchase domain names from a domain registrar like GoDaddy, NameCheap, etc., and then re-sell them for a profit. This is also known as ‘domain flipping.’ But to do this, you will have to select domain names that you believe will have commercial value or be in demand in the future.
There are specific websites like Sedo, Flippa, NamePros, and GoDaddy Auctions to facilitate domain flipping. After purchasing domain names, you can list them on these platforms. But do remember that you will have to renew your domain every year by paying a fee.
So, do check the initial as well as the renewal fee of the domain name as the initial fee is often significantly lower than the renewal fee. Also, avoid purchasing an expensive domain name in the beginning. Start with something cheap to get a first-hand experience of the whole process before moving to bigger things.
8. Host Webinars and Summits
If you are looking for guaranteed ways to make money online in 2022, hosting webinars and virtual summits can be a great option as well. Webinar hosting is generally seen as a way to promote or bring in more traffic to your website, blog, or online store. Alternatively, you can also promote sponsored content, products, or services in your webinars and earn income from your sponsor.
If you have never heard about virtual summits, think of them as an online conference that is attended by at least a few professionals. For instance, let us assume that you are offering a finance-related course online. So, you can invite a few industry experts to your virtual summit to discuss the topics covered in your course.
Webinars and summits can also be used in several innovative ways to make money online. You can consider software solutions such as WebinarJam, BigMarker, or ClickMeeting if you want to experiment with webinars and virtual summits.
9. Make Money Writing
If you are good with words, you can also find writing jobs online that pay well. You can search for job listings like website content, articles, blogs, copywriting, stories, QnAs, reviews, product descriptions, and website content. Prior writing experience could help you land bigger gigs. Platforms like Freelancer and Upwork are commonly used by freelancers looking for writing jobs online.
You can also find groups on social platforms such as Facebook dedicated to freelancing. You can pick up individual projects or regularly work with clients for a fixed monthly income. While it is possible that you might not find a lot of writing gigs or make a lot of money initially, keep working on smaller projects to build your portfolio so that you can then approach bigger clients.
Try to excel in a particular type of writing and preferably a fixed subject or niche to increase your chances of earning more with your writing skills.
10. Test/Audit a Website
Testing of websites is now crucial not just for large businesses but even for SMEs so that they can effectively reach and engage potential consumers. Having a website is not adequate anymore. The website needs to function flawlessly in a way that’d be loved by the potential visitors.
If you have a decent experience of using the internet and visiting all the different types of websites, a great side hustle for you can be testing or auditing websites. As the name suggests, it requires you to access, use, and analyze websites of different brands for their functionality and user-friendliness. You can then share your feedback and get paid for the same.
There are now website testing platforms that you can join to start auditing websites. It generally takes 15 to 30 minutes to audit a website. You are generally provided a questionnaire that you are required to fill and submit after testing a website.
11. Become an Instagram Influencer
Influencer marketing has quickly become one of the top ways for businesses to market their products and services. If you have a lot of followers on your Instagram page, you can work with brands and market their offerings by posting sponsored content on your page.
Brands generally prefer influencers who have social pages on specific themes. For instance, if you like traveling and regularly post travel-related content on your page, a hotel might partner with you to promote their establishment. Similarly, if you are a foodie, you can team up with restaurants and get paid for promoting them.
Know that being a social media influencer has become highly competitive now. So, try to be unique and creative with your Instagram page to attract brands that would like to partner with you for paid promotions.
12. Make Money Online Coaching
If not online courses, how about using your expertise in a particular subject and earning money through online coaching or tutoring? The internet eliminates geographical boundaries, allowing you to connect and teach students from all over the world.
For instance, let us assume that you are working as a teacher or professor in a school, college, or university. You can connect with students to help them with their studies and homework. Or maybe you are working in a field that requires extensive knowledge of a particular subject, like finance, health, marketing, etc. You can teach others or help them master those skills as well through online coaching.
There are now several platforms like Satori, Nudge Coach, and CoachAccountable that will help you streamline your entire online coaching business. You can connect with students all over the world and set your own hourly or monthly fee for your offerings.
13. Build and Sell Software
If you are from the IT field and programming or coding is your thing, you can consider creating your own software solutions. The software can be for a particular company or something created for the masses. Try to identify a problem that businesses or people want to be solved and then create software that either prevents the problem or helps solve the problem.
Alternatively, you can also use platforms such as Freelancer and Upwork, where you can find software-building gigs. Apply for such jobs, build the required software, and get paid. The more complex and customized the required app is, the higher would be the payment.
Just like software solutions, you can also think about building mobile apps. Visit Google PlayStore or Apple AppStore and browse through popular apps and tools. You can take inspiration from such trending apps to create something similar.
14. Start a Membership Site
Membership sites also have gained a lot of popularity in the last few years. The idea here is very simple. You create online content, be it in the form of blogs, videos, or even podcasts, and then charge a membership fee to the people wanting to access it. But membership sites are generally recommended to people who already have some sort of following.
For instance, if you have a fitness blog, you can create a membership section that is home to your premium content. Only paid members can access the premium content while all the other content on your website can be used by every website visitor. There is a high possibility that people who really like your content would probably pay the membership fee to access your premium offering.
But this works best if you already have a dedicated group of followers or website visitors. If not, it can be a little challenging to make people buy your membership. But if your content is great, it is still a great option worth considering.
15. Ways to Earn Money Online Transcribing
Brands, podcasters, journalists, radio broadcasters, content marketers, advertising agencies, and even students require transcribers to turn their audio or video content into text. To give you an example, podcasters can get their podcasts turned into text and get the same posted on their website to increase their reach and also improve their search engine rankings.
There are innumerable ways in which written text can be helpful to a lot of people. But not a lot of people have time to transcribe their audio or video into text manually. While there are tools that automatically transcribe audio and visual content, they are not considered very accurate. This is where you get into the picture.
If you have a computer/laptop, a decent internet connection, and good listening and typing skills, you can look out for transcription jobs. Platforms like Upwork, TranscribeMe, and Rev are very popular among freelance transcribers.
16. Write & Self-Publish an eBook
If you are a subject matter expert, you can also make money by writing and publishing an ebook. Creating and publishing ebooks has never been easier with Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing). The platform allows you to write, format, publish, promote, and even create a cover for your ebook, making your dream of being a published author a reality.
It is up to you how you want to make money from your ebook. If you already have an established name, you can directly sell the ebook. If you have loyal followers, you can add this ebook to the membership section of your website. You can also offer your ebook for free to make a name in the industry and get more people to visit your website.
You also have the option to offer your ebook for free for a few days and then charge a fee for it. The free period will bring more people to your website, help you get reviews, and also improve your search engine rankings.
17. Join a Remote Company
Thanks to modern technologies, jobs are no longer limited to their geographical boundaries. In fact, a host of day-to-day business processes can now be handled by employees even when they are not working from a fixed workplace.
A large number of businesses now hire remote employees for jobs related to customer service, writing, graphic designing, programming, data entry, transcription, sales, and more. Virtual assistants, too, are getting increasingly common. If you have done or are currently doing any such jobs in the physical world, you can also try them in the digital world.
There is no shortage of online platforms where you can find remote jobs. Just ensure that you select one that is reputed and pays well.
18. Make Money with Coding Skills
If you are a programmer, there are many different ways in which you can use your skills to make money online. You can create apps or software solutions for businesses, make themes or plugins for WordPress, or even work as a freelance coder. And if you are really good with programming, you can also look out for coding contests that have hefty cash prizes.
Some other options include building a blog in the coding niche, offering coding lectures online, starting a YouTube channel, writing ebooks, or creating and selling courses on the subject. Programmers now also work as remote Product Managers, Data Analysts, and Quantitative Analysts in several industries. Know that these jobs also offer lucrative remunerations.
Coding is one of the highly rewarding skills you can learn in the current times. If you are not from a programming background and want to learn something new, coding is something you should definitely try. There are now several online platforms that teach coding and offer online courses for free.
19. Become a Social Media Manager
Love spending time on social networking platforms? How about getting paid to manage the social handles of brands, businesses, and public figures? Social media has now become a great way for brands and personalities to remain connected with the masses. But not all of them have dedicated marketing teams to manage their social presence.
If you are well-versed with the latest social trends, you could find yourself a well-paying job as a social media manager. In this position, your primary role would be to manage the social accounts of your clients and try to improve their reach and awareness.
If the client already has a marketing team, you might be required to work along with them towards a particular marketing goal. Top social media managers are paid on an hourly basis, and platforms like Upwork and Freelancer are great places to begin.
20. Earn Money Online by Offering SEO, SEM Services
If you understand how search engines work and can help websites improve their rankings, you sure can make a good amount of money online in 2022. Known as SEO (Search Engine Optimization), it is the process of organically increasing the quality and quantity of people visiting a website.
Similarly, there is SEM (Search Engine Marketing), which mostly relies on paid advertisements to improve rankings. If you are already working in the digital marketing industry and know the ins and outs of SEO and SEM, you can offer these services for a fee online. You can either work with a single client or with multiple clients depending on how much time you can spare.
As businesses are now spending a lot of money to improve their digital presence, the right candidates can make a decent amount of money working as an SEO or SEM manager even on a freelance basis. You can also find several free and paid SEO and SEM online courses to improve your skills further.
21. Offer Data Mining & Data Analysis Services
If you have specialized skills, you can also go a step ahead and offer data mining or data analysis services. We now live in a world where business decisions across industries are driven by data. But if a report is to be believed, we now generate more than 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day. Making sense of such a vast amount of data requires specialized tools and skills.
Data miners and analysts try to find valuable information in heaps of virtual data and understand how businesses can use this information. A large number of companies from industrial sectors such as banking, healthcare, manufacturing, fraud detection, gaming, retail, and social media, now hire data miners and analysts.
But these are specialized skills that require a lot of education and learning. But if you are already working in a related field, you sure can find excellent opportunities online as well.
22. Offer Graphic Designing Services
Even your designing skills can be used to earn an additional income online. If you have a creative bent of mind and love using tools like Illustrator and Photoshop, you can find a lot of graphic designing jobs in the virtual world.
With more and more businesses now wanting to have their individual identities, the demand for logos, brochures, and even corporate uniforms is at an all-time high. Online graphic designers prove cost-efficient and convenient for businesses. You also have the option to partner with a design agency and handle their projects.
If freelancing is what you are aiming for, consider platforms such as 99designs, DesignCrowd, and DesignHill that specialize in graphic designing jobs.
23. Make Money with Sponsored Posts
Another excellent way to make money online in 2022 is through sponsored content. This can be done through your social media pages, blog, website, podcast, or even a YouTube channel. In simple words, sponsored content is any promotional content for which you get paid.
For instance, a mobile brand might ask you to review their new smartphone model in your YouTube video. If you have a travel blog, you might be asked to recommend a hotel or restaurant and get paid in return. Especially people who have a lot of followers, visitors, or audiences of any kind can make a good amount of money through sponsored content.
Also, if you are planning to start a blog or a YouTube channel, try to stick to a particular theme like technology, travel, review, food, beauty, lifestyle, etc. so that the chances of being approached by related brands for sponsored content is high.
24. Edit and Proofread Articles
Are you a grammar nazi or someone with exceptional writing skills? Why not make money online in 2022 by editing and proofreading articles? There are now several websites where you can get paid to edit and proofread articles. All you need is a good internet connection, a computer/laptop, decent English language skills, a knack for finding grammatical errors, and you are good to go.
If you can spare some extra time daily, you also have the option to offer a combination of writing, editing, and proofreading services. Just like most other online jobs, start with popular freelancing websites and then try to approach clients directly when you have a decent portfolio.
Moreover, there are also online portals like EditFast, Gramlee, Kibin, and ProofreadingServices that are exclusively dedicated to editing and proofreading jobs. You can try these websites if you are looking for work-from-home opportunities.
25. Become a Facebook Ad Specialist
Do you know that businesses can start advertising on Facebook by spending less than $5 per day? The affordability and reach have made Facebook one of the most popular modes of advertising online. This also ensures that even smaller businesses could reach a lot of their potential customers through Facebook ads.
But advertising on Facebook is not just about spending money. One should know the tips and tricks on how to use these ads to reach potential customers. You can be that person helping brands reach their audience. You can look for a Facebook Ads course online and register for the same to understand how these ads are priced, how they are displayed, and how businesses can use them.
You can then start working with businesses as a Facebook Ads Specialist. Begin your career by working with smaller brands and then build your way up to bigger clients and better pay.
26. Make Extra Money Online by Selling Ad Space
Selling ad space is not something new, but it continues to be a reliable and rewarding way of earning money online. If you have a website that receives decent traffic all through the year, you can sell website space to businesses where they can post their ads. For instance, if you have a fitness-related website, a supplement brand might want to post their advertisements on your website.
Alternatively, you can also join ad networks like Google AdSense. After receiving approval, you can post ads on your website and make money based on the impressions and clicks. But this option is generally recommended if your site gets a good amount of traffic, preferably in millions per month.
There are many other ad networks that you can try to further improve your earnings by selling ad space on your website.
27. Join Survey Sites
If you already have a packed schedule but still want to try something online, how about getting paid for completing quick online surveys? There are plenty of market research companies and global corporations that are seeking the opinion of people like you on their products and services and are also willing to pay a good amount of money to the right candidates.
The complexity of the surveys can vary significantly. The more complex a survey is, the higher will be the remuneration. Moreover, you also have the option to join multiple survey platforms to increase the scope of your earnings. But it’d be wise to stick to only 2-3 platforms that have an excellent reputation.
You might also be required to fulfill the eligibility requirements or complete a few tests to register on these platforms. You will only be allowed to take surveys after a successful registration.
28. Sell Stock Photos Online
People who love photography can also trade their skills to make a decent amount of money online. Brands now abundantly depend on stock photos for a host of their marketing needs. You could be the one supplying such stock photographs. Right from people, food, travel, and nature, to cities, there are many different photograph categories that you can consider.
You can either create your own photography website and sell your pictures directly to people interested in buying them or use platforms such as iStockPhoto, Alamy, Shutterstock, or Adobe Stock for listing your photos.
If you want to have your own website, you can create one with the help of WordPress. You can find several WordPress plugins that would allow you to present your portfolio in the most impressive manner. You can also advertise your work for free through your social profiles.
29. Work as a Virtual Assistant
The startup culture is single-handedly responsible for the increasing popularity of Virtual Assistant (VA) jobs. In simple words, a VA offers many different types of administrative, social, or technical services to startups and businesses but remotely. So, a VA from India could be working for a company in the US.
Their tasks range from scheduling appointments, marketing, writing, social media, customer support, bookkeeping, and even order processing. Freelancing platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr are popular among clients searching for VAs. Note that your income as a VA abundantly depends on your experience and the type and size of businesses you have previously worked with.
After gaining some experience, you can also directly approach businesses, enquiring if they need your services. You can also keep an updated LinkedIn profile and social networking accounts to find new clients.
30. Sell Your Art & Crafts on Etsy
If you are artistic and can create unique handcrafted products, how about selling them online? You can always create an e-commerce store of your own or rely on platforms such as Etsy that specialize in such unique products. Be it t-shirts, mobile cases, laptop skins, jewelry, to even coffee mugs; you can create and sell anything and everything on Etsy.
To have your own online store, you will also need people who already like your products and would want to purchase them. If you are new to selling products, this will require you to spend a good amount of money on advertisements and promotions. A platform like Etsy proves to be a smarter choice as thousands of people across the world visit their platform every day.
This increases your reach and can also bring in more sales. After making a name for yourself on Etsy, you can then think about having your own e-commerce portal.
31. Answer Questions on QA Sites
If you are an expert in a particular field, answering someone else’s questions related to the field could also be a great side gig. There are now popular QnA websites where you can get paid to answer questions. Even in case you do not know the answer, a simple Google search could be used to provide a detailed and accurate response.
But it always helps if you are already an expert in a particular field and can add your own view and experience to the answers. Moreover, you can find QnA portals where you answer questions online, and there are also some platforms that require you to answer through phone or email.
Some of the most popular platforms you can consider are JustAnswer, Web Answers, Experts 123, PrestoExperts, and Ether. A few platforms also allow you to set your own rates for every answer or phone-based session.
Final Thoughts On How To Make Money Online in 2022
Rest assured that if you have passion for anything, a little time, and some creativity or skill, there are plenty of ways how to make money online at home. However, just like any other type of job, building a steady source of a decent income will take time in the digital world as well.
Be patient, and put in the efforts consistently to succeed. You never know, but this additional source of income might turn into a full-time job for you in the future.
But do note that with the growing popularity of online jobs, even the number of scams and illegitimate platforms and services has increased drastically.
While you are free to select any of the options listed in this post, do confirm the legitimacy of the platform and ensure that there is a good work-to-income balance before starting any kind of online job. Good luck!
