In today’s digital age, there are numerous ways to generate income without leaving your home. For those seeking easy and passive methods to earn extra cash, the internet provides many opportunities that require little effort or expertise. This article will explore some of the laziest ways to make money online, perfect for anyone looking to supplement their income in their free time.
Laziest Ways to Make Money Online
The internet has opened up a vast array of money-making methods that can be done entirely online, many of which require minimal effort. Often referred to as “passive income streams,” these techniques allow you to earn extra cash on the side with little ongoing work.
While passive income does require an initial investment of time and effort, it eventually reaches a point where the income stream runs itself with minimal maintenance. This makes it the ideal side hustle for those looking to make extra money lazily.
Some of the most popular lazy ways to earn passive income online include taking surveys, dropshipping, content creation, freelance services, affiliate marketing, ad revenue from a blog or YouTube channel, and investing in stocks that pay dividends. Most of these can be done in your spare time without any special skills or qualifications.
This article will provide an overview of seven of the laziest ways to earn extra income online. While hard work is still required to turn these into steady income streams, they allow you to put in minimal effort for continued payouts once established.
Taking Online Surveys
One of the easiest ways to make small amounts of extra money in your spare time is by taking online surveys. Companies and organizations use surveys to get insight into consumer behavior and preferences. And they are willing to pay for your opinions.
Survey-taking is extremely easy and requires no special skills. You simply need to share your thoughts on products, services, ads, and more. The surveys usually take 5-20 minutes to complete and pay anywhere from $0.50 to $30 each, depending on the length and topic.
While each survey pays a small amount, they add up over time. Spending just 30 minutes a day taking surveys can easily generate an extra $100 or more per month.
Here are some reputable websites that pay cash and gift cards for completing surveys:
- Swagbucks – One of the largest survey sites that pays users for a variety of online activities. You can redeem earnings for gift cards or cash.
- Survey Junkie – Offers surveys on a wide range of topics, with cash-outs starting at just $5.
- InboxDollars – Gives new members a $5 signup bonus and pays cash for surveys, games, shopping, and more.
- Pinecone Research – Higher paying surveys (around $3 each) but have minimum eligibility requirements to join.
- i-Say – Run by survey giant Ipsos, the surveys here pay between $0.25 and $5 each.
Taking surveys in your downtime is one of the laziest ways to earn a bit of extra pocket money with little effort. Just don’t expect to make a full-time income from surveys alone. But it can be a nice side hobby that pads your wallet.
Dropshipping
Dropshipping is another popular passive income model that lets you earn money online without handling any inventory or shipping yourself. It involves setting up an online store that sells products shipped directly from the wholesaler to the customer.
Here is a step-by-step overview of how dropshipping works:
- You create an online storefront through sites like Shopify or WooCommerce. This requires no upfront investment beyond minor platform fees.
- You find dropshipping suppliers and list their products for sale in your store at a markup. Popular suppliers include AliExpress, Oberlo, and Spocket.
- When a customer buys something from your store, the order details are automatically sent to your supplier.
- The supplier packages and ships the order directly to the customer for you.
- You keep the profit margin between the wholesale supplier price and your retail store price.
The main benefit of dropshipping is that it lets you run an online retail business without having to handle products or shipping. The supplier takes care of fulfillment, while you focus on marketing, branding, and customer service.
Some pointers for successfully earning passive income through dropshipping:
- Choose a niche you’re passionate about to create a targeted brand that attracts loyal customers.
- Build up your store’s credibility with excellent product photos, descriptions, and policies.
- Market your store through SEO, social media, and influencer partnerships.
- Focus on selling trendy products with high profit margins.
- Use print-on-demand options to offer customized products.
While dropshipping does take significant effort to set up, it eventually becomes a mostly passive income stream that runs itself. With the right products and marketing strategy, you can earn thousands per month through dropshipping with minimal ongoing work.
Online Content Creation
The internet’s insatiable demand for content has opened up many money-making opportunities for creators. If you have writing, photography, video production, or other creative skills, you can monetize them online.
Freelance writing is one of the most accessible options for earning passive income online. Once you build up a portfolio of writing samples, you can pitch articles and blog posts to publications or find clients through freelance job boards. Rates typically range from 5 to 25 cents per word for writers starting out.
Here are some websites that allow you to make money freelance writing:
- Contently – Pitch your writing skills to major brands and publications.
- Scripted – Choose from thousands of writing gigs each week, at various pay rates.
- Textbroker – Earn up to 5 cents per word writing articles and website content.
Uploading videos to YouTube is another lucrative option. Once your channel starts generating views, you can monetize it through YouTube’s Partner Program. Popular channels can earn thousands per month through ad revenue shares.
Other websites that let you earn passive income from user-generated content include:
- Etsy – Sell homemade crafts and artwork in your own online store.
- Redbubble – Upload your designs and get paid when they are printed on products.
- Shutterstock – Earn royalties when others license your stock photos and footage.
Leveraging your creative skills online allows you to earn passive income from work you do once and continue getting paid for over time. While establishing yourself requires hustle at first, the income eventually becomes largely hands-off.
Freelance Work
Seeking online freelance work is a flexible way to earn extra income working from home. Freelancing gives you full control over your workload and schedule.
Websites like Fiverr and Upwork provide access to freelance job opportunities across countless categories, including:
- Copywriting
- Graphic design
- Programming
- Data entry
- Virtual assistance
- Transcription
- and much more
The process of getting started is simple:
- Set up a compelling freelancer profile showcasing your skills, experience, and portfolio.
- Browse open gigs and submit proposals to those that match your abilities.
- Establish rapport with clients and deliver excellent work.
- Get paid for completed projects via the platform.
Some tips for maximizing earnings as an online freelancer:
- Specialize in high-demand niche skills that pay well.
- Maintain an impressive profile with 5-star reviews.
- Price your services competitively but fairly.
- Communicate professionally and meet all deadlines.
- Upsell added services to existing clients.
Freelancing offers unparalleled freedom to earn extra income on your schedule. And taking on additional clients allows you to scale your earnings passively over time.
Passive Income Ideas
Passive income is money you earn regularly with little ongoing effort. While passive income streams take work to establish initially, they eventually run themselves and provide recurring payouts.
Here are some top options for generating passive income online:
Creating an Online Course – You can share your expertise through teaching an online course. Host it on sites like Udemy and Teachable that handle all the course creation tools, marketing, and payments for a cut of sales. Though it requires significant upfront effort, an online course can earn you passive income for years.
Writing an Ebook – Self-publishing an ebook on Amazon takes some work initially but eventually earns royalties month after month. Kindle ebooks on topics like finance, productivity, and cooking tend to sell well. Amazon pays royalties of up to 70%.
Selling Stock Photos – You can earn passive income by selling stock photos through sites like Shutterstock and iStock. They handle all the licensing, printing, and payments while paying you royalties for each photo sold.
Building a Niche Website – Creating a website in a profitable niche like finance or home improvement can generate income from ads and affiliate links over time. But it takes time and SEO skills to build traffic.
Dividend Stocks – Stocks that pay dividends can provide recurring passive income when held over time. Just be sure to build a well-diversified portfolio. Popular dividend stocks include Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson.
These are just a handful of the many ways to earn passive income online and make money with minimal ongoing work. Choose an idea aligned with your unique interests and skills.
Investing
Investing money in stocks, bonds, funds, and other securities can be an extremely effective passive income strategy for those with some capital available to start. While investing does require ongoing research and monitoring of your portfolio, technology makes it easier than ever for beginners to get started investing online.
Here are some top investing apps and online brokers for earning passive income:
Robinhood – Offers commission-free trading of stocks, ETFs, options and cryptocurrencies. Easy to use app great for beginners.
Acorns – Automatically invests your spare change into diversified ETF portfolios. Manages everything for just $1-3 per month.
Wealthfront – Provides automated investing services including portfolio rebalancing and tax optimization for just 0.25% fees.
Betterment – Manages customized index fund portfolios catered to your goals and risk tolerance for 0.25% annual fees.
M1 Finance – Lets you customize your portfolio with stocks and ETFs. Offers retirement accounts and automated rebalancing.
The key is choosing a few trusted online brokers or apps that make investing simple, inexpensive, and mostly hands-off once configured.
By taking advantage of compound growth and reinvesting investment earnings over long time horizons, investing can become a significant source of passive income. Just be sure to diversify your holdings and adjust your risk tolerance based on your timeline.
Conclusion
Generating income online in your spare time is more feasible than ever. While many methods do require upfront effort, the options explored in this article eventually become largely passive and hands-off ways to earn extra cash consistently.
Some of the laziest ways to make money online include taking surveys, dropshipping, content creation, freelancing, building passive income assets, and investing in dividend stocks.
The key is identifying easy options aligned with your unique interests, skills, and schedule. You can start small with just a few hours per week and scale up the most promising income streams over time.
With a bit of hustle upfront and ongoing maintenance, you can create lucrative passive revenue sources that provide extra earnings for years to come. So instead of just browsing social media in your downtime, try monetizing those idle hours more profitably.
FAQs
What are the easiest ways to make money online?
Some of the easiest ways to earn money online include taking surveys, completing microtasks, freelancing services, selling products online, monetizing a blog, investing, and more. Beginner-friendly options require little experience.
How can I make passive income online?
Popular passive income ideas include dropshipping, creating online courses or ebooks, building niche websites or YouTube channels, selling stock photos and prints, earning ad revenue through blogging, and investing.
Is it possible to make money online?
Yes, there are many legitimate ways to earn real money working online. From freelancing to taking surveys to investing, the internet provides ample money-making opportunities with varying levels of effort and skill required.
What are some good ways to make money online for beginners?
Beginner-friendly options include paid online surveys, ad revenue sharing through blogging, selling affiliate products, social media marketing services, online tutoring, data entry work, and microtask sites.
What skills do I need to earn money online?
Helpful skills include writing, graphic design, programming, Photoshop, video editing, teaching, copywriting, marketing, data entry and more. But many sites require no specialized skills, just time and motivation. Choose options that match your abilities.
