Turn Your Hobbies into Cash
Do you have a hobby that you can monetize? Are you good at drawing people or animals? Do you know how to make great videos? Are you gifted at creating logos for businesses? Are you great at writing stories or poems?
You can make a list of the talents you have and offer to hire out for them via local ads or on websites such as Fiverr. Fiverr or Upwork allows you to list job offerings (or search out jobs needed) for pay from $5 on up.
The key to success with sites like Fiverr is to charge an attractive price to potential clients while making sure you are getting paid at a fair rate. You might start out making less than you’d like to, but if people like your work and your services become more in demand, you’ll be able to raise your rates.
Sell Your Designs
This is yet another way to make money that will cost you very little. You can create designs for t-shirts and other items. You make the design, and then upload the design to sites such as Redbubble or Cafepress, where they print ordered designs on items such as t-shirts, tote bags, and iPad covers. When someone orders an item with your design or saying on it, you get paid commission from the sale.
Become an Influencer
Without a doubt, social media is a very powerful force and young people tend to use it a lot. With this in mind, advertisers know that in order to get in front of a younger demographic, they need to go where they are.
If you have an active social media account with quite a few followers, brands will pay you to advertise for them. There are thousands (maybe millions) of people who have started a business straight from their phone utilizing their Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat accounts.
Chiara Ferragni is an Italian model and blogger who started her Instagram account while in school. She now boasts over 6 million followers and makes over $12 million a year.
Complete Mini Tasks
There are some websites that offer to pay people for the completion of mini task. As a teen you can make use of these websites and earn some money for yourself. The mini tasks that these websites offer include data entry, taking pictures of display stands, and mystery shopping.
Amazon’s Mechanical Turk has tasks that anyone can complete. Some of these tasks may involve entering handwritten names of patients for a doctor or checking the accuracy of numbers on a list. The pay is not great, however it tends to increase with the more tasks you complete.
More tasks also raise your score, making you eligible for higher paid opportunities. Websites that you find these mini tasks include Clickworker, Crowdsource, Field Agent, Gingit et al. If you don’t have a checking account to collect funds from these money making activities, you can always make use of PayPal. You can also request a PayPal debit card as well.
Make videos
These days, almost everyone uses YouTube on a regular basis. Initially, people upload videos on YouTube for fun and to become popular, but these days, it is very possible to earn legitimate money from YouTube. The top 10 channels on YouTube make at least $20,000 a month, and that’s not even considering how much they are capable of making in merch sales, or under-the-table endorsement type deals.
Also, there is a very popular trend of “Let’s Play” or videos of people playing video games and running a commentary on the background. It has become very popular in recent times and there are hundreds of thousands of people trying to break through on it.
The website TwitchTV is also an example of the rising prevalence of Let’s Plays. It doesn’t matter if you’re playing video games, or music, or talking, as long as what you’re doing is interesting and people want to watch it.
However, you should note that becoming successful on a video platform such as YouTube or Twitch takes a lot of hard work, diligence and sometimes even luck! But all the same if you can make a few videos and get some subscribers, it can be a great secondary source of income.
Get paid to test websites
A lot of businesses are willing to pay people money for them to test their websites so as to determine how user-friendly it is and how the website “feels” generally when it is being used. Without a doubt, it can be quite difficult for you to find your own clients as a teen, but there are websites like Usertesting that exist that can handle that for you.
You can sign up for free, then whenever they have a new site to be tested, you will be notified. You visit the said site, then report back with your experience. The pay differs from site to site, but Usertesting pays $10 flat for every site review you complete.
Hold a Class at Your Home
If you have a talent like drawing, painting, or dancing, you could hold classes for neighborhood kids in your yard or home. The classes can be one-time deals or can be held for several days in a row.
If you’re going to teach a class to neighborhood kids, you’ll need to create an itinerary that will teach them what they want to learn and keep them busy for the entire class time. Be sure to charge a class fee that makes it worth your time and is affordable for parents.
Street performance (Busking)
If you have an entertainment skill that people will appreciate, then you can take it to the street and make some money from it. From playing violins to guitars and even dancing, there are a lot of performances you can put up to make some dough.
You should however be careful of your local ordinance and the laws about street performance; in a lot of places you’ll need to buy a permit from your city hall. If you aren’t having any luck with it, try the next town. The truth of the matter is just that some towns have a different reception to it than others.
Set up an online shop
These days, up to a third of clothing, furniture and household appliances are bought online. You can collect things that other people don’t want and set up a shop to sell these goods online on portals including Donedeal, Buyandsell, eBay et al. You can also make crafts, handmade cards, jewellery, et al., and sell your creations on Etsy.
Customizing Things
If you have a Dremel or some paint you can easily customize your friend’s belongings for a fee. For example, Painting a pencil case with a custom theme or Engraving their name on it. This method could be very popular at the start of a term when people’s stationary needs naming.
Star in a movie
Most movies involve roles for a wide variety of age groups and producers are always looking for teenagers as extras or small parts. If you would like to be part of a movie, you can and also make money while doing it. You can make use of some websites like www.movieextras.ie who notes on their website that 82% of people on their books last year received paid work and via acting on the set of Red Rock, RAW, Fair City, etc.
Get Perksy
Perksy is an app for iOS that pays you to answer short, 1-2 minute questions about your lifestyle. It's definitely the most enjoyable money making app a lot of teenagers have made a lot of cash using this app. You can too.
After using Perksy for about 6 months (that seems like a long time but I probably spent less than an hour actually on the app) I earned enough points on to cash out a $25 gift card, so it's super legit as well!
Install These Apps
If you have a mobile phone, tablet, or PC, you could potentially earn some passive income by installing a piece of software on one or more of your devices. After that, you just use your device like normal and you'll earn money.
How it works is the software you install will anonymously collect some of your data in the background. They'll see things like the apps you're using, the websites you visit, the amount of time you spend on certain apps, etc.
During this process, your personal info is kept strictly confidential. You can also uninstall the software whenever you want.
Here are a couple of apps you can get started with:
Smart Panel ($60+/year) – Pays $5/month for connecting a PC, tablet, or mobile phone. Also pays a loyalty bonus every 3 months your devices stay connected.
SurveySavvy ($60-$190/year) – Pays $5/month for each device (PC, tablet, or mobile), up to 3 devices. So you can earn up to $180 a year.
Searching the Web
There is a website called Swagbucks where people actually get paid for browsing the Internet and more. The points you earn are put into a “bank” and can be redeemed for gift cards to be used on Amazon or at local and online stores such as Walmart, Target and Old Navy.
Swagbucks will allow you to make money to pay for the things you need or want. Best of all, it’s free to join. Swagbucks is one of the most popular ways for teens (age 13+) to make money online. You can take surveys, watch videos, or just search for stuff online.
Tutor Kids
Many parents are looking for reasonably priced tutors for their kids in specific school subjects. If you’re a teen that is good in a particular subject area such as math, reading, or a foreign language, you can offer your tutor services to local parents.
Ask neighborhood parents if they are in need of a tutor or check local online sites such as Craigslist for parents looking for tutors. Make sure to involve your parents when meeting up with a potential customer for safety reasons.
Start a Blog
If you're interested in a particular topic OR you want to learn more about a topic, start a blog about it. By having a blog and writing about a particular topic every day/week, you'll start to become an authority on that topic.
You can then make money by teaching people what you know. Some bloggers even make millions of dollars a year because there are so many good ways to monetize a blog.
Also, since blogs exist on the internet, they can be making money 24/7, even while you're asleep.
I wish I would have started blogging sooner!
Become a virtual assistant
Virtual assistance is a great way to make a full time living from the comfort of your home.
It involves working remotely for some company/website providing a wide range of services including blog management, email management, database management, researching on a topic etc.
Being a virtual assistant, you need to have strong management skills and ability to work in a limited time constraint.
The average hourly rate of a virtual assistant is $20/hour in the United States, but it usually varies depending upon your skills, experience and client you work with.
You can find virtual assistance related jobs through job boards, social media groups and freelance websites. You can Google step by step guide on how become a virtual assistant or watch a youtube videos.
Sell Your Stuff
Is your closet, basement or storage area loaded with clothes, accessories, games, and toys you no longer use or need? Consider selling them at a garage sale, online at Craigslist or on your Facebook account. There’s also Letgo, which shows your items to people who live near you, so it’s good for selling larger items that you don’t necessarily want to ship.
You can declutter your space while still making some money from it. Price your items fairly for a quicker sale, and be willing to haggle with customers. You might be able to talk your parents into letting you sell some of their stuff for a commission.
Learn a Profitable Skill
I wish I had started learning a profitable skill when I was younger. The earlier you start the better.
Once you're pretty good at the skill of your choosing, you can start making money from it. If it's a good skill, you can make A LOT.
Here are some profitable skills to look into:
Freelance writing/Copywriting
Social media management
Digital marketing
Coding
Bookkeeping
A lot of these skills can be learned online for free, so start Googling!
Bake Sale
If you have a specialty cupcake or cookie that your friends are always begging you for, why not make some money off of it? Spend an afternoon baking your little heart out, and making sure all of your treats look as good as they taste.
Then you can have a bake sale virtually anywhere; at the park, in your driveway, wherever you think you’ll find hungry people with a sweet tooth! Baking pastries can be a very big business.
Take Surveys
Survey sites definitely get a bad rap, but they're not all scams. In fact, there are still a lot of legit survey sites out there, you just have to know where to find them.
Note: You won't make a lot from taking surveys, but it's easy money. You can fill out surveys while watching Netflix, lying in bed, or even while you're pooping. This makes it one of the best ways for teens to make money online.
Here are 8 of the best survey sites that allow teens to sign up (age limit is listed beside site name):
Swagbucks (13 years old and up) – One of the most well-known and trusted survey sites around. They've paid out over $330 million to their users since they started.
Treasure Trooper (13 years old and up) – This site has a cartoony and fun look, and they'll pay you for answering questions, playing games, and more.
Ipsos i-Say (14 years old and up) – One of the longest-running survey sites, founded in 1975.
VIP Voice (13+ USA) (18+ CA) – Earn points that can be used to enter sweepstakes.
Toluna (13+) – Earn money with tons of different surveys, and a refer-a-friend program.
MyPoints (13+) – Earn money taking surveys, watching videos, reading emails, and more!
Survey Junkie (13+) – Short, simple surveys that pay well.
E-Poll (13+) – Founded in 1997, E-Poll has surveys about celebrities, sports, and entertainment.
How to make your survey taking more efficient (to make more money):
Create a separate email to sign up to survey sites (I use a separate Gmail account) – This way your primary email account won't get filled up with survey offers, and you'll be able to see all your surveys in one place.
Sign up for all the sites above – This way you'll have more surveys to choose from, which means better earnings and less time wasted.
Set a survey-taking schedule – By scheduling a certain time to take surveys (e.g. in the morning with breakfast), you won't miss any good opportunities and you'll be more efficient.
Refer your friends – I'm sure you've got friends who'd like to earn some extra cash as well. Some of the survey sites above have friend referral programs that you can make some good coin with.
Start self-publishing on Amazon Kindle
Do you love writing?
Do you love writing fiction or non-fiction?
The whole process of approaching a publisher and getting your book published is so much tedious and time consuming that most of the writers simply quit!
BUT!
Amazon has solved this problem!
Now you can write a book and self-publish it on Amazon Kindle for FREE!
You don’t need to be a professional author for this,
IF you can’t write fiction, no problem!
Just go for short 3000 words non-fiction books with eye catching covers as shown below,
The average price of the e-books on Amazon is relatively less as compared to physical books but you should not forget the amount of traffic Amazon receives,
You get all the traction for free!
Rent Out Your Stuff
In the book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki talks about how he and his friend opened up a comic book library in his house. Kids could come in after school and pay to read unlimited comic books for 2 hours.
This little business earned them about $9.50/week without much effort on their part.
I'm not saying you have to do the exact same thing, but renting out things you already have can be a great way to make money.
Here are some things you could rent out:
Video games
Books
Sports goods (e.g. bike, skateboard, scooter, basketball, etc.)
Enter a Skill-Based Competition
If you're really good at something and there are competitions/tournaments held for it, you could make money by entering! You just have to be good enough to beat the other people who enter.
I've seen tournaments/competitions for skateboarding, scootering, biking, playing video games, playing music, and more. Some competitions (like for video games) even happen online so you won't even have to leave the house.
This obviously isn't a consistent form of income, but it is a way that you could make a lot of money fast if you're good at your craft.
Sell Stock Photos
Plenty of businesses and blogs need photos to go along with their online content. To find those photos, they go to stock photo sites like iStock and Getty Images.
If you have an eye for good photography, you can have a go at uploading your own photos to those sites. If you post good photos and people download them, you'll get paid for each download.
Start dropshipping
Dropshipping is one of the most profitable and lucrative ways to make money online. Just like blogging it has a huge earning potential provided you do everything right.
In Dropshipping, you basically act as a middle man, where you sell products without having to worry about the production and shipping.
All you to do is to create an online store on Shopify and import products from Aliexpress virtually on your shopify store. Whenever someone buys the product from your store, the actual owner of the product or supplier from Aliexpress ships the product to him/her.
So what do i get, Mr Famous?
Good question!
Actually the prices of items on Aliexpress are quite low, so what you do is that when you import some product from Aliexpress to your shopify store, you set your own price which is relatively higher.
Tips for the Teenage Hustlers
Have fun – You don't need to get rich off your first side hustle. Have some fun with it and find out what you enjoy doing. You'll learn a lot.
Learn from your mistakes – When you start something new, you're bound to make mistakes. Instead of getting discouraged, figure out what went wrong and learn from it.
Do the best work possible – If you want your business to grow, you can't do crappy work. When you do good work, people notice, and your business grows.
Start NOW – When I was younger there were a lot of things I thought I couldn't do because I was too young. I was wrong and I wish I would have just started.
Be creative – Use the ideas above as a starting point and put your own spin and creativity on them. The more unique you are and the more you stand out, the better your chances of success.
What to Do With Your Money
Once you've earned some money for yourself you can do whatever you want with it! However, before you go and spend it all, take a look at these other options:
Treat YourSelf
The fact that you're taking the initiative to start learning how to make money on your own is pretty significant. Not a lot of teenagers do what you're doing now.
For that reason, once you start making some money, be sure to reward yourself. Go out and buy something that you've wanted for a long time. Just don't go too crazy!
Reinvest in Your Business
If you've started one of the side hustles above like reselling things at school or starting a blog, your business needs money to keep running. Make sure to re-invest as much of your profits as possible back into your business so that it can grow.
Save it
Once you start earning money, it's important that you don't blow it all. Saving money is an essential rule of finance and learning how to save early on will benefit you greatly later in life.
Plus, if you ever want to make a big purchase (e.g. car, computer), you'll need some money saved in the bank for it.
Invest it
If you're only 13, it may seem a bit silly to start investing so young, but by starting early you actually have a huge advantage. Here's how:
Let's say you invest $1,000 when you're 15 with no additional contributions. With an 8% return rate, by the time you're 45, you'll have $10,062.66 just from interest. That's your money making money without you doing anything.
Now let's say you waited until you were 20 to invest that $1,000. With the same 8% return rate, by the time you're 45, you'll have $6,848.48. That's $3,214.18 less just because you waited 5 years to start investing.
I wish I started investing when I was younger! Go ask your parents to help you get set up.
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