If you’re looking for a way to make extra income, you’ve probably considered trying your luck at online surveys or taking up a side gig as a copywriter or marketer. While there’s nothing wrong with those options per se, there’s also a world of opportunity beyond simply making money online. You could join a company that trades in the stock market, start an online store, or become a social influencer if you can drum up enough interest. Basically, with the right strategy and a little bit of luck, you could become a millionaire several different ways just from following the guidelines laid out in this article.
Become A Digital Nomad
One of the best opportunities to make money online is to be a digital nomad. With this type of lifestyle, you’ll work remotely for clients across the globe, using your laptop, tablet, or smartphone to connect with customers and carry out small tasks. You might set up landing pages for clients, design logos, or write content such as e-books or webinar transcripts. While you’ll enjoy the flexibility of this lifestyle and could possibly even hit the ground running and make a decent chunk of change right away, you should consider the following before you make a commitment:
The Downsides
Like any other industry, the digital nomad world is not entirely without its downsides. Since you’ll usually be working remotely for clients, you’ll need to make sure you’re accessible via email and phone and have a reliable connection. While there are plenty of remote work opportunities out there that don’t require a solid internet connection, having a flexible work-from-home schedule can also translate to more anxiety and stress than usual if you aren’t careful. Most importantly, while your clients might not requirement face-to-face meetings, they may want you to socialize with their employees or connect with their customers socially, which can put a strain on your personal life if you aren’t careful. This is especially important if you want to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Start A Blog
If you’re looking to make extra cash, you don’t necessarily need to become a digital nomad to do so. Instead, you could opt to start a blog. Even though this is an old strategy that has been around for a while, it has recently become a popular way to make money online. A growing number of companies, both big and small, prefer to partner with brands and individuals who have a proven track record of bringing in the audience, engaging them, and encouraging them to make a purchase. If you’ve got a niche blog around health, fitness, or lifestyle, you could potentially partner with a company that focuses on health and wellness or start-up a business selling and promoting the best in organic food and drink, all while making money off a platform that can easily turn a profit.
What About Side Gigs?
If none of the above seem like a fit, you could always try your hand at side gigs. This is a great way to make extra cash and doesn’t require too much effort or a strong work ethic. For instance, if you’re a graphic designer, you could do some web design or even do some pro-bono work for friends and family or other nonprofits. If you’re a copywriter, you could try pitching stories to online publications or even startup businesses. If you’re tech-savvy, you could develop and sell apps or do some freelance web development—the options are seemingly endless. Even if you don’t have an official credential, you can still work remotely as a team member of a group of freelancers and be paid individually for your efforts. You should, however, be prepared to put in the work and be reliable as well as deliver on time as you would if you were officially employed—especially if you want to make a decent chunk of change online without too much effort.
Try The Stock Market
One of the more legitimate ways to make money online is to try and make money in the stock market. In the traditional stock market, investors buy and sell shares of a company in the hope that the value of those shares will increase. In a P2P or peer-to-peer stock market, users engage in digital transactions with one another instead of traditional brokers. This can be a little bit more complicated but also a lot more exciting if you’re looking for a way to make extra cash. If you’ve got the eye for investment, you could look into this option and potentially end up making a huge profit. Just remember: the stock market is an incredibly volatile and speculative field and can be risky unless you do your research first.
Join A Startup
If none of the above seem like a fit, you could always try your hand at joining a startup. A startup is an independent company founded by engineers, designers, marketers, et al that are dedicated to creating a better and more efficient way to do something. If you join a startup in the digital nomad space, you’ll typically be responsible for setting up a website, carrying out online marketing, and carrying out email marketing among other things. Depending on the size of the company, you could make a decent chunk of change if you’re able to demonstrate your value here. Just remember: in order to make the most of this opportunity, you’ll need to be able to hit the ground running and learn the ropes quickly—otherwise, you could end up working for a long time without any paid off.
Start An Online Store
If you’ve got an entrepreneurial spirit and are looking to make extra cash, you don’t necessarily need to become a digital nomad to do so. Instead, you could opt to start an online store. An online store is, in its simplest form, an e-commerce site that sells other people’s products. Typically, you’ll find a wide variety of products within an online store, from clothing to electronics, all of which can be purchased with a click of a button. If you’re looking to make extra cash, you could opt to start an online store that specializes in a certain product or niche—this could be health-related or fitness-related products (yoga mats, e.t.c) or electronics (cell phones, tablets, e.t.c). In order to succeed as an online store owner, you’ll need to make sure that you can connect with and engage your audience—be it potential customers or website visitors—with compelling content that will keep them coming back for more. In addition, you’ll need to ensure that you’re offering high-quality goods for sale and that the pricing is fair and competitive in order to maximize your sales (and maximize your margins as a business owner). Lastly, you’ll need to be prepared to take on a lot of work building out a quality website (and maybe even some social media accounts if you want to get ahead in this game) from the ground up—it can be a lot of work!—before you start making any serious profit.
Hopefully, this article will help you find the right fit and answer the question, “Is APO Legit?” In case you want to work remotely as a digital nomad, blog writer, or marketer and want to know if APO is right for you, here are a few of the things you should check out: