These days online opportunities to make money abound everywhere. While many of them are intended for adults, teenagers have lots of ways to monetize their free time as well. You can do lots of things, ranging from finding an online job to doing a few gigs on various online platforms.
Note that there’s no such thing as free money – all of these ways to make money online will require either investment, effort, or marketable skills. Even investing, a somewhat passive way to make money requires capital to make returns.
Finally, always discuss your plans to make money online with your parents or guardians. Some online jobs may not be fit for teenagers or be outright scams. You’ll not only protect yourself from various scams, but stay on the right side of the law. All of these methods are recommendations that should be taken only if allowed by your local laws.
Online Money Making Opportunities
1. Take online surveys
Online surveys are a great and quick way to make money online with comparatively little effort and investment. All you need to do is have a phone or computer where you could fill out questionnaires.
Various companies like Pawns.app provide users with the ability to complete surveys to make money online. These business models are simple – companies contact other organizations that need large scale consumer opinions and create a database. You then get to pick a survey from their database and get paid to complete the questionnaire.
While there are demographic restrictions, paid surveys are also available to teenagers. Sometimes you’ll find a little less of them as some may request older people, but you can still make money through online surveys.
These won’t make you rich as an average survey on Pawns.app pays $1 per questionnaire. They’re best used in conjunction with other money making methods or just as a way to add some extra cash to your account.
2. Internet sharing
Another option to make money online are internet sharing apps. These are a great way to make extra cash as it’s completely passive income. All you have to do is set up a device with the app and it’ll be making you money every time you’re not using it.
These apps work through sharing bandwidth with a company that allows users to use it to access websites. For example, someone may be region locked out of specific websites, so internet sharing apps allow them to view the content that would otherwise be inaccessible.
Companies running internet sharing apps pay you a little bit for each GB of bandwidth shared, allowing you to make money while doing nothing. Internet sharing, however, isn’t a panacea – you won’t be making hundreds of dollars a month out of it.
3. Flip or sell items online
You can make a lot of money through flipping. While it takes a bit of investment, you can always start small, earn money, and then work your way up with flipping. It’s one of the oldest business models in the world – buy low, sell high.
There’s some experience required to be good at flipping. You have to know which items will make money and are worth buying. Purchasing stuff blindly and hoping to make money on the sale is a fool’s errand.
Alternatively, you can also just make your own things and sell them on various platforms like Etsy, Ebay, and many others. If you’re good at crafts or workmanship, you can definitely earn money by utilizing your skills and free time.
4. Produce video content
Two side hustles that can earn money and make a living are creating video content on Twitch or YouTube. Both of these hustles work in a similar fashion – you create video content, run ads, and earn money. Once you reach a certain level of fame, you can get brand deals as well, which are an even better way to make money.
Unfortunately, it does take quite a lot of effort to either livestream or create YouTube content. Many people take years to become popular at video content production and some never make money off the endeavor. It’s best thought of as your long-term online business.
5. Podcasting
Another option is to (mostly) skip video content altogether and go for audio. Podcasting is a way to make money that usually does not involve video editing, at least to the same degree as YouTube.
Again, just like with video content, you have to reach a certain level of fame to start making money from podcasting. It does become a great way to earn money, however, once you do as it could make more than any full time job.
6. Professional video gaming
You can earn money by playing video games, albeit to make a living, you’ll have to reach a professional level. There’s some video games that you can use to earn money, but without a professional level, it won’t be much.
Once you reach a high level of play on popular video games (e.g., CS:GO, Dota 2, Fortnite, PUBG), you can participate in tournaments. Some mid-level tournaments nowadays have prize pools of $100k, so you can be making a lot of money if you constantly play at a professional level.
7. Participate in referral programs
While it’s not a way to earn money online by itself, it’s a great way to get extra cash while you’re working on one of the other methods. Almost all programs (e.g., surveys, internet sharing, etc.) will have referral programs, which you can use to get extra money.
These programs will usually grant you extra money or points for getting more people involved in surveys or internet sharing. Some of them may even permanently give you boosts to your earnings, which is a great way to improve your money making abilities.
8. Review music
It may be surprising to some, but these days making money online through music reviews is possible. While you may find some opportunities at regular survey providers, dedicated apps are where the best rates exist.
Apps like Playlist Push provide their users with opportunities to make money online by onboarding up-and-coming musicians that need reviews. All you need to do is listen to the music, leave a review, and you’ll be earning extra money in no time.
9. Look for online jobs
While the regular employment world may seem boring, online jobs are the most consistent way to make money online. Luckily, ever since the pandemic, the online job market has exploded, creating lots of new opportunities.
Some of those online jobs are accessible to teenagers. These won’t be the dream online jobs where you get to make a difference and get paid a lot of money. Most of these will be basic customer service, data entry, or any other role that’s repetitive and simple. Nevertheless, a regular online job is definitely the most consistent way to earn money online.
10. Test software and products
Software testing could fall under the online job category, however, there are dedicated programs that have tons of opportunities in one place. So, instead of getting a regular online job at some company, you register to a platform and test software at your own pace.
It’s a great way to start making money online, however, it’s usually somewhat restrictive in age. So, it’s not always the best way for teenagers to make money as you’ll have to fall within the set age range. But if you do get in, software testing can help you earn money online without any issues.
Once you get some experience, you can also look for online jobs that involve software testing. It’s a fairly well paid position and you’ll have the necessary skills – a great opportunity to earn money online.
Personal Finance Tips
Whether you pick one of the online jobs, start an online business, or do any other hustle, you’ll need some personal finance tips. Making money online is only the first step – if you spend everything you made, it won’t be sustainable.
As such, even with the best online jobs, you’ll have to save money and carefully manage everything so you don’t lose out on all the benefits. Of course, to make money online, you’ll need a bank account or service provider like PayPal. Be sure to get one through your parents or guardians.
Likely the most hated, but also the most important part, is taxes. No matter how you make money online, whether it’s through the best online jobs or by filling out surveys, it’s all taxable income. As such, you’ll have to pay a part of the money you made to the government. Ask for parental or guardian advice on how to do it and make sure to do so – you can get into trouble if you don’t.
Since you usually pay taxes at the end of the year while you’re making money online at the same time that means you’ll need to save some for taxes. It’s a good idea to set a part of the money you made aside in any case – having a small emergency fund never hurts.
Finally, learning to make money online isn’t the process of one blog post. Always continue reading and learning – new online jobs and business opportunities pop up frequently. Additionally, the rankings for the best online jobs will also shift frequently, so a thing you learn today might not be true in 6 months.
