How to make money online for beginners: A step-by-step guide

You might want to start earning money online for a number of reasons. You may have a full-time job and are looking for a side hustle you can do from home. Perhaps you’re enrolled in school or are a stay-at-home parent looking to make additional income, but with the flexibility that comes from working remotely. Or perhaps you like the flexibility of working remotely and are looking for a full-time job that’s fully online.

Whether you’re pursuing online work opportunities full-time or looking to pursue an online side hustle, there’s an assortment of opportunities to pursue depending on your interests.

If you’re unsure how to get started, here are some steps you may want to take — from identifying the roles you may be interested in pursuing to building up an online presence to setting goals for yourself as you begin your online money-making journey.

Step 1: Identify your interests and skills

At first, it may feel overwhelming to sort through the countless money-making opportunities that are available online. If you’re not sure how to narrow down the right opportunities for you, consider assessing your interests.

“I think that when you’re really passionate about something, you can actually develop that unique skill,” Kathy Kristof, CEO and founder of Sidehusl.com, told CNBC. She adds that when you’re genuinely passionate about something, you’ll be more likely to put in the time needed to develop the skills needed to be successful in that line of work.

One strategy to start to identify your skills and interests is to examine your accomplishments and find common themes when it comes to how you reached those accomplishments. Similarly, write down the tasks you’ve liked doing in the past (be it in school, in past jobs, or your extracurricular life) and the skills those tasks required.

For instance, maybe in your free time, you’ve enjoyed helping family members with their math homework, plus found it to match your existing math skills. It’s worth accounting for something like this as you assess your strengths and what you like to do.

If you need additional guidance to identify your interests and skills, consider taking an online skills inventory assessment to analyze what your strengths are.

Step 2: Research online work opportunities

After you build some awareness of your interests and skills, the next step is to research actual online money-making opportunities that allow you to use those interests and skills.

There’s a myriad of places to start exploring potential online opportunities. Job boards, alumni associations, trade organizations, company career sites, asking friends and family for leads, and career-focused social media sites are just a few of the avenues to explore as you look for online opportunities.

It may also be helpful to lean into your specific interests as you research opportunities. If you excel in math, for instance, you may want to explore online tutoring companies, online community boards for parents looking for tutors, and contacting schools to see what opportunities may exist.

Step 3: Decide if you want to work for a company or yourself

As you research online job opportunities, you’ll find that some online jobs involve working for a company while other online job opportunities are freelance or may involve you building your own business.

If you’re unsure if the self-starter path or joining an existing company remotely is right for you, consider researching the pros and cons of each. You may also want to research the differences in pay between doing remote work for a company versus working for yourself.

If you decide to pursue working for yourself, it may be important to market your skills to build up a client base. For instance, if you want to start a math tutoring business, you may need to market your services on social media platforms and other digital tutoring platforms to begin building up a client base.

Jean Kang, who founded Path to PM, told CNBC that she makes $20,000 with her online side hustle each month after gaining traction by posting about her side hustle on a professional social media platform. “I decided to [announce] with one post: ‘Hey, I’m launching a coaching business, if you...want to land a program manager job, I’m open for a session [and] you can book a call with me,” she said.

Step 4: Build an online presence and consider joining online communities

As you pursue working online, it may be helpful to start building an online presence.

First, you may find it beneficial to establish yourself on professional social media sites and other digital platforms that feel relevant to your work.

Michelle Gibbings advised in Harvard Business Review: “Every time you meet someone who you want in your network, send them an invite on the social platform of your choice. Think of this invite as your virtual ‘business card,’ or a way to keep in touch when job contact details change. In your message, remind them of your conversation and mention why you’re looking to stay connected.”

Second, it may also be helpful to join communities of professionals working in the same niche that you’re pursuing. These may be online groups and forums where you can network with other professionals. Sometimes, you may be able to find mentors in these communities who can share their learnings with you and help you grow.

Step 5: Make sure to carve out a place in your home to work

Working remotely provides a lot of flexibility, but it also requires a certain level of dedication and focus. As you pursue online job opportunities or side hustles, you may want to create a workspace with a reliable Wi-Fi connection to set yourself up for success. This may seem obvious, but taking the step to build a dedicated work-from-home space is an important starting point as you pursue online jobs.

Kennedy Edgerton wrote in Harvard Business Review: “If you...have access to a private area in your home — whether it’s a corner of your bedroom, the guest room, the basement, or another non-communal area — I recommend turning into a ‘mini office.’ It will likely boost your productivity and can emulate the experience of being in an actual office. This is important because, without a boss looking over your shoulder, you’ll need a reason to show up and deliver. If you can make that space bright, physically comfortable, and add a plant or two, you may even enjoy being in it.”

Step 6: Identify knowledge gaps and keep learning

While there are many online jobs that you can start with little to no experience, you may need to plug knowledge gaps to grow in your career or side hustle. To continue learning, enroll in relevant online courses, attend webinars, participate in forums and online communities, and stay updated on industry trends by reading blogs and listening to podcasts. Setting specific goals for skill development and practicing regularly will help you continuously improve and stay competitive.

Online side hustles that require little to no experience

If you’re unsure of what side hustles may suit beginners, here’s a sampling of a few you may consider looking into:

• Virtual assistant: A remote worker who provides administrative, technical, or creative support to a business or individual.
• Social media manager: A professional who establishes and maintains a company’s social media presence.
• Online transcriptionist: Someone who transcribes content into a written format.
• Online community manager: Someone who maintains engagement and responds to queries in an online community.
• Freelance writer: A professional who writes content on a project basis rather than committing to a company full-time.
• AI prompt engineer: Someone who works to optimize the language used to interact with AI models, ensuring that the responses are accurate, relevant, and contextually appropriate.

Final thoughts

Taking steps like identifying your skills, tailoring your resume, building a strong online presence, and consistently researching opportunities may be helpful when securing an online job or side hustle. By staying proactive, improving your skills, and networking within online communities, you may help your chances of success in the growing digital job market.