Legit Ways To Increase Your Income

Make Money Online: 11 Legit Ways To Increase Your Income In 2025 – [Updated]

There has never been an easier time to be alive. For most of us, at least. We don’t realize just how lucky we are. Food has never been so abundant, poverty has never been so low and medicine has never been so accessible. In a decade or two, reaching the ripe old age of 100 will be a common thing. And now, thanks to the internet, there has never been an easier time to make money, either.

Barely ten years ago, earning a crust infront of a laptop at home was considered a luxury. But now, online hustlers are plentiful. The chances are, someone on your street is making money online. Someone in your local area is probably making fortunes from it, actually. Opportunities for making money online are everywhere, and almost anyone qualifies. You dont need to have special coding skills, knowledge of tech, or a deep understanding of ecommerce.

You just need two things. A computer of some description, and an internet connection. We are assuming you have both of those, otherwise you wouldnt be reading this, would you? Lets focus on ten different ways we can make money online, but remember – there are plenty others. The opportunities are endless! Internet is a completely different realm. There’s no limit on what you can do on it.

Whether it’s communicating with people from around the world or wanting to earn money online. If you’re tired of your 9 to 5 job, you can generate a new stable revenue stream! Or you can earn a few extra bling as your side income. Sounds appealing, right? All you would need is a stable internet connection, a device, and a little knowledge.

11 Legitimate Ways To Make Money Online

Here are a few legitimate ventures that have helped millions of people earn online from the comfort of their homes,

Transcribing Audio Files

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Make money online by jotting down what you hear. Transcribing involves listening to audio files and then converting them into text. It has grown immensely popular. It can be done anywhere, anytime. It is generally divided into three categories; general, medical, and legal transcribing. Legal and medical require a bit of knowledge about the field. People looking to enter this field start from general transcribing.

Skills Needed: Listening, Typing & English Language Proficiency

Platforms: QA World, Rev, Temi, TranscribeMe, Upwork & GoTranscript

Rates: The average earning varies from $0.2 to $1.5 per audio minute.

Flipping Items

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Product flipping is a fun and great side hustle! You can sell items online at a higher price than what you bought for. You can either sell items you don’t need anymore. Or you can buy a cheap item from a thrift store, give it a few tweaks and sell it with a higher profit margin. It’s a flexible gig and doesn’t necessarily require money. That’s what makes it a good way of making money online! It’s important to know what market niche has the highest demands. This increases your chances of getting higher profits. Items in demand are furniture, baby gear, sports memorabilia, books, and antiques.

Skills Needed: Good Bargaining Abilities

Platforms: Facebook, eBay, Etsy & Offerup

Rates: Average $50 to $1000 per item

Flipping Websites

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If you’re a procrastinator who loved the previous idea but hated the thought of getting up from their comfy position, you might find this more appealing. Flipping a website is fairly simple; you purchase a website, generate revenue, and sell the site for a profit. This would require an initial investment, which will be used to buy a domain and tools to help you grow your site.

If building your own website from scratch can seems a hassle, then you also have the option of using website builders. One thing to note is that this is not a 100% profitable business. It’s fun, but you can face a loss at any of the mentioned steps.

Skills Needed: Website Designing, SEO Optimization, Link Building & Coding

Platforms: SideProjectors, Latona’s, Flippa, Afternic & Empire Flippers

Rates: 2 – 3 times more than the income that the website brings in a year

Testing Apps & Websites

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Many think you need to be a computer wiz to earn money by testing apps and websites. That’s a common misconception. Testing apps and websites involve giving developers your perspective regarding user experience and feasibility. Using it as any normal user would ensure it has no technical issues. If you find an issue, report it to the developer and get your cut. The more technical the app/website is, the higher the pay. Most of the time, you need a recorder and webcam to record your opinions and feedback.

Skills Needed: Agile Observation, Good Organization, Report-Taking & Excellent Communication

Platforms: UTest, Enroll, User Testing, StartUpLift, UserFeel & TestingTime

Rates: Average $5 to $60 per test

Selling Online Courses

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Another way to earn tons of money is by taking online courses. The demand in this market has grown significantly. Websites are ready to pay hefty amounts of money for a valuable course. Unlike other online money-making ideas, making an online course requires deep knowledge of the particular subject you’re going to make the course for. This is a great opportunity, especially for teachers and students specializing in certain subjects.

Skills Needed: Graphic Designing Skills, In-Depth Knowledge of Subject

Platforms: Digital Class, Udemy, Skillshare, Coursera & Kajabi

Rates: Average $20 to $1000 per course

Publish eBooks

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Do you guys remember Wattpad? Some famous movies like The Kissing Booth and After are based on their ebooks. Just imagine the profit those people must have gained from this! If done right, writing and publishing ebooks can be a great way to earn passive income. You don’t have to worry about finding publishers or printing and shipping costs. They can only be written once and sold repeatedly, and unlike hard copies, they can be sold on multiple platforms.

Skills Needed: Creativity, Proofreading, Writing & English Language Proficiency

Platforms: Draft2Digital, Wattpad, Kobo Writing Life, Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing & Smashwords

Rates: $5 – $1000+ a month, depending on the number of books you sell

Eating In Front Of A Camera

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If you’re a foodie, you will love this one. Food is becoming one of the most lucrative niches on the internet. One profitable way to make money in this niche is by making Mukbangs. They are a great way to create viral videos. All you would require is a good camera. It generally consists of people eating huge amounts of food all at once. Mukbangers earn money by streaming what they eat. Today Mukbangs receive more than 341 million views on Youtube. Once you become a well-known Mukbanger, you can earn through brand deals, affiliate marketing, and advertising.

Skills Needed: Healthy appetite 🙂

Platforms: Youtube, Twitch, TikTok, AfreecaTV & Instagram

Rates: Top Mukbangers can make up $10,000

Doing Paid Surveys

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Did you know that you can get paid for all those surveys you’ve been filling out all this time? Reputable companies and brands pay people to take online surveys. The surveys are pretty straightforward and nothing like your chemistry paper. You’ll just have to answer some questions. Just like other methods, this too requires no education or skills. But you’ll have to be careful. Many sites only claim to pay for filling surveys.

Skills Needed: None

Platforms: Branded Surveys, Google Opinion Rewards, Harris Poll Online, Opinion Outpost & YouGov

Rates: Average $0.5 to $5

Watching Videos

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You already watch videos or ads online, so why not get paid for it? Getting paid for watching videos is a great side venture. Many companies and websites pay people to watch ads, Youtube videos or apps, and movie trailers. Brands or many famous YouTubers come to these companies to get views. The earnings can be in terms of cash or gift cards.

Skills Needed: None

Platforms: Swagbucks, KashKick, AdWallet, Earnably & Nielsen

Rates: $100 to $250 per month on average

Opening An Online Store

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Having an online business by opening an ecommerce is another profitable venture. If it blasts off, you probably won’t have to go to your same everyday boring work. Buyers are shifting from offline purchases to online. The revenues from ecommerce retail stores have seen a huge increase from 2017 to 2021. You can open your own online store or open a seller account on Etsy or Amazon. To start, you would need a product to sell.

Preferably from a niche, what’s in demand, and whose market isn’t saturated. This requires an initial investment varying on what niche you’re targeting. Although, the lowest possible investment required is as little as $100.

Skills Needed: Organizing, Marketing, Data Analysis, Financial Literacy & Customer Service Skills

Platforms: Etsy, Amazon, eBay, Shopify, BigCommerce & Wix

Rates: $6000 and more during the initial months of opening it

Blogging

Source: iStock

If you’re an imaginative and inspirative writer, you’ll probably love this one. The last one on our list involves earning money by making blogs and posting them online. For this, the main thing that you’ll need is your own website. You can use platforms for blogging or buy a domain from HostGator or GoDaddy. One of the main ways people earn through blogging is through affiliate marketing. This involves using an affiliate link generated from products that you include in your blogs. Other ways include placing ads, sponsorships, and selling your products or services. Unlike others, this is a time-consuming task and requires hard work. But it’s a great way to make a stable new income line.

Skills Needed: Search Engine Optimization (SEO), English Language Proficiency, Content Writing & Link Building

Platforms: WordPress, Medium, Wix & Weebly.

Rates: $1000 and more during the initial months of opening it

4 Things To Consider To Choose The Best Way To Make Money Online

Make sure to choose a method that will complement you and your skills. This will increase the likelihood of your success. To help you make the right choice, here are a few factors that you should consider,

• Interest: Don’t choose just for the sake of money. Choose an idea that complements your skills and interests. Your interest will fuel hard work and success.
• Investment: Some ideas require investment. If you’re drawn toward those, make sure that you have the budget.
• Effort: Some money-making methods require more work than others. Choose a task based on its level of difficulty and your patience.
• Monetary Value: While the monetary value shouldn’t be your first priority, it should be considered nonetheless. If you’ve got several choices, calculate and choose the one which you think will help you earn the most.

5 Online Money-Making Scams

In the excitement of earning money online, most become victims of money-making scams. The scams can include the following forms,

Nigerian Scams

This is one of the oldest scams in the book. This involves an emotional text message or email from a Nigerian scammer pretending to be a businessperson or a wealthy family member. The scammer mostly acts as a woman. They scam you by asking for help to retrieve their large sum of money by paying fees to settle their legal matters. In return for the help, they offer you a larger sum of money.

Free PayPal Money Scam

The Paypal money scam starts with an ad as a text, link, or image. The ad states, ‘Earn free PayPal money quickly and easily.’ Scammers use PayPal’s logo to make it seem legitimate to you, but it’s anything but that. They ask you to perform specific tasks like copy-pasting texts. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be roped into a web of tasks. It’s an affiliate scheme designed to steal your money. In the end, they’ll ask for your credit card details.

Lottery Scam

Once or twice we all have received emails or text messages claiming we have won a huge lottery despite not buying a lottery ticket. To make it even more legit, these scammers even use names of actual oversea lotteries. The recipient is told to contact the agent to claim their prize. After contacting, they’re asked for a ‘processing fee’ and bank account details to transfer the winnings. Blackmail is another variation of a lottery scam. Here the employees of multinational companies are targeted. They’re told their company has won a huge lottery and must pay ‘transferring charges’ to accept it. If denied, the scammers then blackmail to report them to their employers.

Pyramid Schemes

Pyramid schemes are fraudulent business models that lure participants in by offering them profits. It starts with its original members looking for candidates. A fee is paid upfront, after which the participants become members. They are promised large profits in return for recruiting new participants. The cycle continues.

Ponzi Schemes

Unlike pyramid schemes, Ponzi schemes ask their victims for money, promising returns on a later date with high interest. These are mostly conducted on a much larger scale with millions of people involved. Ponzi scheme websites work for 3-4 months until the fraudsters flee with the investors’ funds.

Conclusion

Due to the recent inflation reaching a 40-year high, earning more money online sounds like a pretty appealing prospect. For adults, it’s a great way to open another income stream on the side to support their families. Students can save money on the side for their college funds. We’ve mentioned several ideas that are a great way to get financial security and stability.