As of this writing, there are over 1.9 billion websites online right now, with more added every single day. Every single one of them lives on a web host somewhere. It’s no surprise then that the web hosting industry is both lucrative and competitive. To help them market their services and hold on to their own piece of this multibillion-dollar pie, many web hosting companies have affiliate programs where affiliate marketers can sign up.
Affiliate marketers promote these web hosting companies in exchange for a commission from the sales they generate.
Because web hosting is constantly in demand, this niche provides a great opportunity to earn passive income for aspiring affiliate marketers.
Today, we list down some of the best web hosting affiliate programs so you can make an informed decision. In addition, we’ll give you a few tips on how to increase your sales and as a result, your commission earnings.
How Much Can You Earn From Web Hosting Affiliate Programs?
Web hosting packages start at around $2 to $12 per month, but this doesn’t always mean web hosting companies only pay its affiliates a percentage of this package plan. Instead, since hosting packages usually require customers to purchase a minimum length (3-month, 6-month, 1-year service, and so on), web hosting companies can afford to pay commissions somewhere between $50 and $200 per sale.
The only problem is that in order to make a stable income from commissions, you’d have to be able to sell more than one plan each month. You can do this by either promoting multiple web hosting companies (yes, this is the reason why there are hundreds of web hosting comparison sites around), or working hard to become an authority figure so that even if you promote just one web hosting company, you’d be able to receive a sizable chunk from commissions.
12 of the Highest Paying Web Hosting Affiliate Programs
When you’re looking for web hosting affiliate programs, you’ll encounter hundreds of companies with varying commission rates and terms.
Some give a one-off commission per sale, others add a monthly recurring commission (that is, every month the customer you referred continues to subscribe to the service).
Still other hosting companies provide a more complex commission table with sliding commission rates.
Even how they’re being distributed can vary. Some web hosting affiliate programs are in-house, while others are hosted by affiliate networks like CJ or ClickBank.
Working with affiliate networks may mean you’ll have to share a small part of your commissions with them, but it also means that setup is simpler and more often than not, their customer support is more responsive.
If you’re not clear about how affiliate networks work, read up on our article on affiliate marketing basics.
Here are some of the best, highest-paying web hosting affiliate programs to choose from.
Known for its superb reputation, Bluehost has its own in-house affiliate program, which pays $65 per sale, up to $130 depending on performance. While the commission rate is lower than the others on this list, note that the company’s solid standing leads to more sales that could quickly add up to your commissions.
Commission: $65 to $130 per sale Cookie Duration: 90 days
Aimed at enterprise-level customers, this company pays affiliates 150% of the monthly hosting cost with a $150 minimum.
This means if you refer a $19/month Managed WordPress Plan for one site, you’ll receive a $150 commission; if you refer a $549/month Managed WordPress Plan for 100 sites, you’ll receive an $823.50 commission. You’ll earn even more if you refer dedicated hosting plans.
Commission: $150 to $7000 per sae Cookie Duration: 90 days
HostGator is one of the oldest web hosting providers, with millions of users globally. It’s no surprise that their affiliate program is also one of the most popular.
Commission: Tiered according to number of monthly referrals; $65 to $125 per sale Cookie Duration: 60 days
SiteGround is another established name in the web hosting industry with a tried-and-tested affiliate program.
In contrast to the usual monthly payout scheme for web hosting affiliate programs, SiteGround pays its affiliates weekly.
Commission: Tiered according to number of monthly referrals; $50 to $100 per sale for up to 20 monthly referrals; custom commissions for 21 and greater monthly referrals Cookie Duration: 60 days
iPage is well-known for their $1.99/month hosting plans, but you might be pleasantly surprised to know that its affiliates can get up to $125 per sale.
Commission: Tiered according to number of monthly referrals; $65 to $125 per sale Cookie Duration: 120 days
WPX is one of the best managed hosting providers around.
Affiliates start out with $70 per sale up to the 25th From 26th to 99th, you’ll get a raise of $15 per sale and take home $85. But if you refer over 100 customers, you’ll start earning $100 for every sale moving forward.
Commission: 1 to 25 referrals: $70 per sale; 26 to 100 referrals: $85 per sale; 101 and more referrals: $100 per sale Cookie Duration: 60 days
Cloudways is also a managed web hosting service with cloud servers, also aimed toward online businesses.
What makes it different from most other web hosting affiliate programs is that you get to decide your payout scheme.
Under the Slab plan, you can earn up to $125 per sale depending on your Performance Slab; that is, if you refer up to 5 customers in a month, you earn $50 per sale. When you’re able to refer up to 80 customers in a month, you earn $125 per sale. More than 80 and they’ll need to contact you directly, but it’s possible to get $200 per sale if you’re that “super affiliate.”
Under the Hybrid plan, you earn $30 per sale plus 7% commissions on your customers’ monthly subscription for as long as they’re subscribed to Cloudways. The amount of the 7% depends on which cloud service and amount of data they choose.
Commission (Slab): $50 to $125 per sale Commission (Hybrid): $30 per sale plus 7% lifetime commission Cookie Duration: 90 days
Hostinger offers shared hosting, cloud hosting, and VPS plans, and you get a 60% commission from each sale, with a maximum of $300.
Commission: 60% per sale Cookie Duration: 30 days
Ways To Earn More Commissions from Web Hosting Affiliate Programs
If you are starting your affiliate program with the best hosting deals out there on a cheap hosting service, it is obvious that you won’t have success. Cheap hosting providers are not reliable and often find your site offline than online. If you are looking for some of the fastest web hosting services, read all about them here.
As you’ve probably learned at this point, there are plenty of web hosting companies and most of them have affiliate programs.
Choosing the highest-paying web hosting affiliate program is but half the battle; promoting your affiliate links and converting them to sales is a huge part of your success in affiliate marketing.
Here are several ways to make more sales from your web hosting affiliate programs.
1. Write blog posts.
Blogging is the most common way of promoting web hosting plans – or any other products or services as part of your affiliate marketing efforts. There are a number of techniques you can do this, such as:
Feature one web hosting company and its packages offered
List all authority figures using the web hosting (this is easy since many popular marketers continue to earn from web hosting affiliates, except they only promote the one they actually use)
Comparison posts get clicks because people in the market for web hosting services have often narrowed their choices to two or three, and they tend to search Bluehost vs. Hostgator. The result would depend on how smart you write your review – are you promoting both (perhaps they’re good for different types of clients) or are you just promoting one? (conclude the post with a solid recommendation for one of them)
Share your complaints. Instead of focusing on the pros, you can also write about the bad side of a web hosting company. Make sure this is a valid complaint, which means you have to be a client recently. If you want, you can also include a post discussing the reason why you’re moving to another web hosting company.
Know a popular person or company who uses your preferred web hosting company? Compile this list and show it off to your readers.
2. Create an eBook.
The book doesn’t have to be focused on web hosting per se, but you can always squeeze in details of your recommend web hosting company or plan when it’s relevant.
For example, if you’re writing an eBook about how to start a blog for beginners, you could feature your chosen web hosting company on the chapter where you discuss domain names and hosting.
Many authority figures in the internet marketing or SEO space talk about a wide range of techniques but never forget to include a “tools of the industry” page where they list down tools (products/services) they use to become successful.
This can be the part of an eBook where you place your web hosting affiliate links.
3. Build a website dedicated to reviewing and comparing web hosting plans.
As I’ve mentioned earlier, one of the reasons why you find tons of website comparison sites aimed at web hosting is because promoting multiple companies or hosting plans at the same time increases your chances of bagging a sale.
You can implement this in many ways, such as developing a chart that welcomes visitors with the Top 10 web hosting plans or maintaining a blog with helpful posts like “alternatives to X company,” “pros and cons of InMotion Hosting,” “x company vs y company” and so on. You can choose to make the posts as simple or as comprehensive as you like.
4. Create YouTube videos discussing web hosting plans.
You don’t even need a website with full-length posts to promote web hosting plans. If you’re not much of a writer, you can make a video tutorial highlighting the web host plan or company of your choice.
The great thing about videos is that you can put together a comprehensive guide with the simplest topics, such as ‘installing WordPress on BlueHost’ or ‘exporting your website from company z.’
5. Build a web hosting deals website.
People love deals, and web hosting is no exception.
You can target more people with a deals site: there are people who are new to the web industry and looking for the best web host available, current customers looking to renew their hosting plans, or existing web host customers looking to shift to another company.
As affiliates, you are given discounts by web hosting companies and you can offer these deals to your target audience to increase your referrals and your commissions.
You can use tried-and-tested marketing techniques to promote these deals on shopping holidays such as Black Friday or Cyber Monday. Contests and giveaways are also good ways to promote these deals.
6. Negotiate with web hosting companies to give your readers exclusive deals.
Aside from the web hosting deals and coupons that you can create on your affiliate dashboard, you can also negotiate with the hosting company for a unique deal you can give away to your readers.
Of course, hosting companies don’t just give in to anyone’s request. You should have the numbers, reputation, and following to back up your request for an exclusive deal.
7. Use social media.
Don’t underestimate Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, or any other social media platforms to promote your web hosting affiliate links.
You can use social media as a complement to your website or use it as a stand-alone promotion technique. Some affiliates don’t even bother with websites anymore and just create a free Facebook page and market their links exclusively on that page and via Facebook ads.
8. Take advantage of ad banners.
One way to promote your web hosting service of choice without hard selling on a blog post, email newsletter, landing page, or other content is to display ad banners on your website.
Web hosting affiliate programs would normally provide ad banners that you can display straightaway, but if you can design your own ad banners that are more attention-grabbing and more customized to your website, you might have a greater chance of converting casual visitors to your site into sales.
9. Teach people.
If you already have an online following, you can try to launch a webinar, podcast, case study, or other teaching method you prefer and link to your affiliate products.
However, note that the more people look up to you, the more you should recommend only trusted products/services that you’ve actually used.
10. Make a guest post on other blogs.
In the online world, networking is a proven way to make it as an authority figure in any field. While it’s important to pinpoint and follow your competition, it’s just as important to build relationships with other people within your niche.
In fact, if you have the chance to guest post on other blogs, find a way to squeeze in your web host affiliate links in there (if it fits). Don’t force the links if you’re talking about something too far away from web hosting.
Also, bear in mind that some blogs do not allow affiliate links in their guest posts, so be mindful of this when you’re creating your guest post.
11. Market your chosen web hosting package via newsletters.
If you already have an existing mailing list, don’t forget about promoting your affiliate links via newsletters.
Marketing via email still works, as long as you practice restraint and focus on what your audience needs. Putting together a product giveaway, offering coupons, or sending an interesting e-mail about a newly published blog post can pique the interest of your readers.
12. Create a unique landing page.
When it comes to web hosting, the landing page should act as your reader’s gateway to awesome web hosting deals.
That said, landing pages don’t have to be boring. With an eye-popping design and an irresistible offer, you’d be able to convince people to buy any product you’re selling.
Sign Up For a Web Hosting Affiliate Program Today!
Web hosting services will always be in demand, and affiliate programs have proven to be good for both the service providers and affiliate marketers.
Now that you know the best affiliate programs for web hosting service providers, take your time choosing, and don’t forget to strategize.
Like the idea of affiliate marketing but web hosting doesn’t really excite you? Check out other high-paying affiliate programs that may be a better fit for you than web hosting.
Before 2017 ended, I discussed 9 new business ideas – such as drones and urban gardening – that would be perfect for your new online venture. Don’t worry if you haven’t started. 2018 just begun and you’ve got nine more months to build an ecommerce business from scratch to top.
What Profitable Ecommerce Niches are there?
Apparel, food and electronics never run out of fashion, which make them profitable ecommerce ideas regardless of season or trend. The problem with traditional niches is that competition is tough, especially when major marketplaces like Amazon and China-based Alibaba (among others) offer everything under one roof.
But if you’re targeting a sub-niche – along with a special group of people who would be passionately interested in this particular sub-niche – then the rules become a little flexible with your goals and earning potential increasing tenfold.
For example, instead of just selling “kids clothes,” a sub-niche like kids formal would increase a store’s chances of attracting a highly-targeted audience whose main goal online is to find the perfect tux for a boy or an age-appropriate flower girl dress.
Finding the best market continue to be the #1 key to a successful ecommerce site, so for those just getting into this online business, here are must-try ideas this year:
10 Hot Ecommerce Business Ideas for 2018
1. “Buy it for Life” (BIFL)
People are shifting away from budget-buys and saving up money to buy a high-quality item that would last a lifetime. Whether it’s a briefcase, pair of boots, jacket, dog leash, or any other premium quality product that you could pass on as heirloom to the next generation, BIFL items are hot. So hot that they even have their own Reddit and sub-reddits by country.
As with most entries on this list, you can either earn money through affiliate marketing commissions, or build a business from scratch selling your own products.
Regardless of which route you take, the best thing about BIFLs is that it encompasses a wide niche, from kitchenware to fashion, bedroom essentials, and so much more. This niche ticks all boxes when it comes to earning potential, scalability, and profitability.
The awesome thing about focusing on ‘Buy it for life’ products is that affiliate marketing commissions are generally higher because of BIFL’s tag price and luxury-seeking target audience. Production of any BIFL product may mean higher capital, but you cannot buy the loyalty given by those who are passionate about BIFL.
2. Smart Clothes (Fashion Meets Technology)
This business idea isn’t new at all, but smart technology combined with the fashion industry is gaining traction and there’s no stopping it now.
From theft-proof backpacks that also serve as charging stations with Bluetooth and other gadget must-haves, to an unassuming beanie with headphones built into the woven fashion accessory, the smart fashion niche is on the top of its game with more new inventions being added on a daily basis.
Smart tech clothing merges with other industries as well. Health-related products, such as the OMbra that was designed to check your heart rate and breathing throughout the time you’re wearing the smart bra. There’s even a pair of leggings that check your measurements automatically and recommend where to shop for the best pants to fit you.
You can either promote these branded products, or partner up with a tech startup to build your own invention to sell in the market.
3. Everything Unicorn
If you were studying in the 80s and were a fan of Lisa Frank, you’ve probably lived through the first unicorn fever and loved the splash of pinks, blues, and purples on everything from Trapper Keepers to posters and everything in between.
The love for unicorns have been slowly increasing and reached a peak in April 2007 when Starbucks released its 5-day limited Unicorn Frappuccino.
Since then, unicorns have invaded virtually every niche beyond fashion, accessories and jewelry. You can find unicorn-themed restaurants and cafes, books, home décor, toys, cosmetics and a whole lot more. And instead of just catering to the young (unicorns used to be targeted at teens and below), even adults have gone gaga over the unicorn trend.
Do note that this unicorn trend is expected to lay low sometime this year, as most fads do. However, unlike regular fads, this niche has the potential to get back into the limelight after a few months or years thanks to loyal fan base of sub-niches like My Little Pony.
4. Teeth Whitening or Anti-Snoring
If you’re interested in the health and wellness niches, teeth whitening and anti-snoring products continue to be the most sought after items in this category. You can choose either one, or tackle both embarrassing problems by offering a solution as the heart of your online business.
Even if these niches seem over-saturated, one quick look at the search history will tell you that their demand increased gradually since 2012 and the trend upward will likely continue for years to come regardless of season.
The teeth whitening niche includes popular products like bleaching kits, whitening strips, and charcoal powder. Meanwhile, in-demand anti-snoring items include sleep apnea kits, mouth guards, anti-snoring nose clips, chin support straps, and more. Because these items are focused on solving a serious problem, people eat them up until they find one that works.
Both teeth whitening and anti-snoring niches fit perfectly with a dropshipping business model. If you’re interested in selling products but don’t have the capital or resources to manufacture, check how you can dropship these products from AliExpress.
5. iPhone Repair Kits
Fortune.com reported last year that over 700 million iPhones are currently being used worldwide. And because Apple is gearing up to its 1 billion sale in the near future, the iPhone niche will continue to be a money-earning ecommerce idea for years to come. If you’re looking for a lucrative product for your dropshipping business, check out iPhone repair kits.
The selling power of iPhone repair kits can be seen with a quick search on AliExpress. Even those priced at only $3 or below can become your number 1 money-maker, especially if it leads to thousands of sales.
What’s great with this niche is that it can be expanded into a whole lot of iPhone-related accessories, including iPhone cases that are always in-demand. The only problem with this niche is the fierce competition, which means you’d have to double-time your marketing efforts if you wish to make a dent in this business and compete with ecommerce heavyweights like iFixIt.com.
6. Matcha
Matcha is a finely ground green tea characterized with a more concentrated taste because it came from tea leaves powdered to perfection (instead of steeped as regular teas are). Traditionally, matcha is a type of tea used in ceremonies, but since it exploded in 2015, matcha has been made into a wide range of hot and cold drinks.
Today, matcha has been adapted into various desserts, pastries, and even savory dishes. Even brands like Starbucks, Haagen-Dazs, and Jamba Juice have incorporated matcha into their menus.
In 2016, the global market of matcha was valued at $2.62 billion, which is expected to grow annually at 7.6% until 2025. And since consumers have been increasingly conscious about healthy food and drinks, matcha fits right in with current buyer behavior.
Outlook for matcha as an ecommerce niche is promising, especially since experts don’t consider matcha as just a passing fad. Instead, the “rediscovery” of matcha could lead to an enduring trend and anyone interested in this business has the opportunity to cash in for several years.
7. Specialty Coffee
Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world, next to crude oil. Many people couldn’t start their days without drinking a cup of their favorite coffee. For several years now, coffee lovers have been slowly letting go of traditional mass-produced brands and making the switch to premium-grade coffee even if it is more expensive and more difficult to find.
Of course, the difference in quality and taste are enough reasons for people to choose specialty coffee over store-bought coffee. More local and smaller roasting companies are taking advantage of this increasing demand, which means availability wouldn’t be a problem anymore.
Even entrepreneurs without a roasting company can build an online store dedicated to specialty coffee. All it takes is a good amount of passion for high-quality specialty coffee, a reliable supplier, and marketing skills to pull off this business.
8. Kitchen inventions
When it comes to the home and living category, the best-selling items are always the tools that make food prepping easier. This is the reason why portable juicers, spiralizers, vegetable cutters, and other task-specific kitchen items sell like hotcakes. And if you check out Google Trends, you’ll discover that this niche is stable all year-round.
What’s interesting with buyers of these kitchen inventions is that they don’t really seek a particular brand, which mean you’ll be able to explore more items without getting limited by certain brands. This niche can also be marketed to a wide range of target audience, from full-blown moms to young adults living on their own for the first time.
Unlike big-ticket kitchen items like stand mixer, espresso machine, and the like, going with smaller kitchen tools encourage more people to buy from your store.
If you’re planning to dropship kitchen products, check out the best-selling kitchen items at AliExpress to get an idea of what other similar items to sell.
9. Electronic Cigarettes
You don’t have to be a former smoker to know the value of electronic cigarettes in this world. And because more and more governments around the world are banning smoking in public, the appeal of vapors, e-cigs, vape mods and electronic cigarette accessories grows by the day.
Not only do e-cigs serve as a legal alternative to smoking in public, they also have been proven to decrease or totally remove a person’s smoking habit.
The debate as to the effectiveness of e-cigs or vaping continues, but many smokers who turned vapers attest to how their lungs improved with vape use.
Do note that if you ever decide to build an ecommerce site focused on electronic cigarettes and sell vaping products and e-juice, you can’t add Google AdSense to the site. As of 2018, AdSense still lists e-cigs under the tobacco category, which unfortunately, is included in Google’s banned topics.
10. Fake Nails
For those looking into the beauty niche as an online business, consider starting an ecommerce store featuring fake nails. These nails received extreme feedback when it first arrived on the scene, with people either loving them or hating fake nails with a passion.
But today, fake nails already have a special place in the nail design industry and they continue to be a growing trend.
Fake nails sell convenience to its users, since anyone can just “press-on” the nails even without going to the salon. And because there are now hundreds of designs to choose from, you won’t run out of fake nails to sell on your store. Afraid you won’t have the capital to feature as much fake nails as possible? Go the dropshipping route instead.
Ecommerce Ideas with High Profit Potential
Everyone wants to find the most lucrative business idea for their ecommerce site, so I hope these 10 niches help you jumpstart your creative juices.
Remember that most ecommerce ideas with high profit began with just a noble idea. With continuous work and relentless marketing, the idea has blossomed into successful businesses that operate with just minimum work required.
In the past, when you looked for side hustles, you’d have to take in odd jobs like babysitting, car washing, newspaper delivery, lifeguarding, tutoring, shoveling snow, and a whole lot more.
Today, the internet has opened up a ton of side cash generating jobs – from those you can complete in under an hour (like answering surveys), to something a bit more complicated that requires advanced skills (like website development).
If you have some free time, you can make sure you have fast cash for an emergency expense that’s beyond your budget, or stow away for a rainy day.
Here are 100 easy ways to earn side cash without the need for a second full-time job.
Quick Online Tasks
If you’re constantly on the internet and you have a few minutes to spare every so often, there are quick and easy ways to make money with side hustles that won’t take too much of your time.
1. Answer short surveys
Third-party companies pay these survey companies to find out what consumers think about their products or services. Most get-paid-to-take-survey gigs let you earn points for every survey completed.
You can then choose to redeem these points for e-certificates, vouchers, gift cards, or real cash into your PayPal or bank account.
Tons of survey sites exist, but only a few legit survey sites are known to consistently pay its users.
2. Listen to music online
Listening to music seems too mundane to ever earn money from.
But there are a few ways to make money from this.
You can check out new music and earn points by rating and giving feedback on the artists’ work, or listen to Internet radio and get paid to subscribe or listen to ads, or let market research companies know what type of music you like listening to.
You’ll mostly earn cents per listened song, but this can add up quickly if you’re on the website for an entire day.
You have the potential to earn $5 to $20 per hour on easy tasks, but the competition is fierce and task availability may be few and far between.
4. Perform data mining or research for Microworkers
The quick jobs that Microworkers offer are more complex than surveys and filling out CAPTCHA forms. You’ll need a bit of internet marketing knowledge to perform assignments.
Get a chance to earn points from tasks like data mining or tagging, content evaluation, research, and more.
5. Play Online Games and more with Swagbucks
Swagbucks gives you $5 just for signing up. From there, you can earn SwagBucks (its virtual currency) from a wide range of activities such as playing games, online shopping, taking surveys, etc. The SwagBucks you collect are redeemable for coupons, gift cards, and other goodies.
Common tasks in Amazon’s micro job site include image verification and tagging, as well as data gathering, verification, and processing.
You’ll be overloaded with a ton of tasks, so you have to install a few tools to keep mTurk assignments organized and free from scams.
The best thing about this platform is that there is plenty of work to be done, priced at cents to dollars a pop.
7. Sell photos taken from your phone
It’s an interesting concept—take a photo using your smartphone, upload it into the Foap app, and share 50/50 profit with Foap whenever your photo gets sold for $10 in their marketplace.
Is your meme game strong? Do you love spotting, sharing, or creating photos, videos, GIFs, or other content that most likely get reactions from people?
Running an Instagram meme page or a YouTube meme compilation channel are easy ways to make money from memes. Being a freelance meme maker can also put some cash in your pocket.
You don’t have to be a master programmer to assess if Google’s search results provide value to you (the searcher) or not.
You only have to check if ads posted on websites or search engines are relevant, or if the search results are actually relevant to the keywords you search for.
This job is rare but pays by the hour when available. Here are some search engine evaluator jobs you can apply for.
10. Join crowdsourced contests
If you’re a creative who’s up for a challenge and looking to constantly hone your skills, joining online contests gives you this opportunity plus the chance to earn rewards, gift cards, or cash for your trouble.
Crowdsourced contests are available for writers, graphic designers, video creators, data scientists, or even those who are awesome at idea generation or branding.
11. Download apps that offer rewards or cash
There are tons of apps geared at gathering information from users in exchange for discounts, rewards, or cash.
For instance, ibotta is an app that finds coupons and discounts for you, such that you pay less for items you were going to buy anyway. In exchange, they get to know a bit about your purchasing habits, such as where you shop and what you shop for.
Here are more apps that you can download and use when appropriate.
12. Perform data entry tasks
Data entry jobs are still sometimes used by scammers to get hold of people’s cash.
Since many are desperate to work from home in the past, they were duped into paying for a list of companies that offer data entry jobs. Now, the scams have evolved to ask people to pay to get a job.
If you ever encounter one of these websites, run away. You should never have to pay a legitimate company to work for them.
That said, here are legit companies that actually pay on an hourly or per output basis.
13. Install the Nielsen App to earn $50 yearly
The Nielsen Computer & Mobile panel is a platform to get connected with Nielsen Digital. By registering on this site and installing the app, you’ll be paid $50 every year. What’s great is that you’ll also have the chance of winning prizes, since Nielsen gives away $10k in prizes each month.
Writing Gigs
If you’re a writer or an aspiring one, these gigs may be the right ones for you. Here are some side hustles through writing.
14. Jingle writer
Do you think you’ve got the chops for making these jingles commercial? Got cleverly made-up jingles stuck in your head for weeks? Know what makes an earworm?
You can make some money from writing jingles for various companies and brands. In fact, if you turn this into a full-time job, it’s possible to make $10,000 per jingle.
It’s not easy for laymen to craft legal documents, so if you have a law background or a special passion curating legal content, use this knowledge to earn some side cash.
Online advertising is one of the most effective techniques of targeting online customers, and is therefore big business.
If you know how to persuade and entice people to purchase, subscribe, or do other actions through your writing, copywriting gigs could quickly make you some money.
Sites such as Copify ($30 per 500 words) and Contently ($15 per hour) can help you earn some side cash. Here are more copywriter jobs you can apply for.
18. Editor/Proofreader
Correcting and improving other writers’ work may be more up your alley, and there is plenty of work to go around, as internet writers put out content at a high rate.
Those who have a passion for proofreading or editing, with or without experience, can get proofreading jobs.
19. Poet
It’s time to dispel the trope of the penniless poet.
If poetry is flowing through your veins, let it run wild and earn from them on the side. You’d be amazed at how many sites and magazines are willing to pay people for their poems. You can earn from $25 to over $1,000, depending on the policies of the site you decide to join.
20. Short Story Writer
Fiction writers need not feel out of place. There are legit literary sites that will willingly buy your short stories and other fictional works for $100 or more.
21. Online Dating Ghostwriter
Online dating can be tough, which is why many people hire others to “write” or “fix” their online dating profiles. If you’re an awesome writer who can turn any person’s voice and goals into words that are able to attract other people, then this gig may be for you.
22. Blogger
Of the rest of the writing gigs here, blogging is the one that can open up opportunities for you beyond writing.
You can talk about anything under the sun on a blog. From diary-like life experiences to business informative posts, everyone has something they’re interested in.
What’s amazing about blogging is that aside from allowing you to practice and hone your writing skills, you can monetize most of your interests, with some exceptions (nudity, guns, cigarettes, and so on).
Teaching Gigs
Educating people on certain subjects or demonstrating how to do certain tasks can bring in some cash. Here are some teaching and tutoring gigs that you can do.
23. ESL teacher
Some websites require you to be a native English speaker or have some kind of teaching experience, but most ESL tutor sites just look for people with a passion for teaching English.
This job is paid hourly (from $10 to $50+ per hour depending on experience), so the amount you could potentially earn depends on how much free time you’re willing to spend teaching.
The average fee per hour is around $20, but this rate could go lower or higher depending on your educational credentials (those with a teaching or master’s degree earn higher), the site you decide to join, as well as the subject/s you teach.
For instance, tutoring grade school students on their math homework would pay lower than tutoring high school or college students on calculus.
25. Personal trainer
Here’s another soul-fulfilling, money-making side gig for anyone with expert-level knowledge about diet, fitness, weight loss, and everything in between.
You can offer online one-on-one or group coaching lessons to people interested in losing weight. You can eventually turn this into a long-term business if you have the passion and the drive to maintain it.
If you’re able to guide a friend or a few through their rough patches in life, there’s a good chance you can earn from being a life coach. Unlike therapists that require credentials, consider a life coach as a best friend whose main goal is to ensure you deal with your specific problem through the end.
You can get started with Vida (for health-related coaching), AskMarsVenus (relationships niche), or Tony Robbins (business coaching).
Anyone with a unique idea, invention, or knowledge can earn money by sharing it with the world.
You can start a YouTube or Vimeo channel and upload short video lessons during your free time.
For more complicated topics, you can create a Udemy course bit by bit, either text-based or video, and then market your online course.
28. Technical writer
If you’re into technical subjects like software development, DevOps, production systems, and other related topics, you can earn from $50 to $100 on regular tutorials and even more for longer or more specialized pieces.
Plenty of companies are offering jobs to graphic designers and visual artists. Here are some graphic design gigs that may be an easy way for you to make some side cash.
29. Branding and marketing designer
Plenty of companies have a need for a branding and marketing designer to help translate their companies’ mission, vision, products, and services into images.
From creating logos, banners, and hero images for websites, which take a few hours to make, to creating an entire WordPress theme complete with iconography, fonts, and background images, which can take a few weeks to months to finish, the possibilities are endless.
You can find this type of gig in freelance job boards like Fiverr, and especially on job boards that cater specifically to graphic designers, such as Behance, Dribbble, or 99designs.
The earning potential in this line of work varies depending on your skills and how much time you can spend looking for projects, possibly bidding on them, and doing the actual work.
30. Caricaturist
Here’s another gig for the artsy.
If you’re gifted with caricature skills and can easily turn any face or picture into a cartoon, you can earn somewhere from $20 to $500 on various projects posted on job boards, such as Freelancer, Guru, Upwork, and more.
31. Webcomic artist
Webcomics have been increasing in popularity in recent years, thanks to crowdfunding sites and social media.
Webcomic artists can now also earn side cash by selling merchandise with their webcomics printed on them. Passive income can also come from building a blog or offering your webcomics via a subscription service.
You can custom-draw pets in Disney style for $15 to $45 per order, or paint a client’s portrait on canvas. You can also design personalized wall art, word art, or even jewelry.
This gives you the artistic freedom to conceptualize and create while earning some cash out of it.
33. Animator
Know how to do 2D, 3D, or stop-motion animation? You can easily make $50 to $500 per project, maybe even thousands of dollars, depending on the complexity and quality required from you and the overall size of the project.
Tattoos stay on one’s skin forever. When one decides to have a tattoo done, they’ll want to have their vision turned into reality by a tattoo designer who knows what they’re doing.
If you have a knack for designing eye-catching images for t-shirts, tote bags, hoodies, mugs, pens, pillows, phone covers, and the like, you can make that into a regular gig by joining print-on-demand (PoD) websites as a designer.
Written and visual content aren’t the only formats out there. In fact, audio and video content are equally, if not more, popular forms of content nowadays. There are plenty of audio- and video-related gigs that you can do to make some quick side cash.
36. Transcriber
Is your hand-ear coordination super-fast? Can you type spoken words quickly and accurately? Then maybe transcription gigs are a good fit for you.
Jobs are paid from $15 to over $100 per audio hour. Note that the industry standard for completing the transcript for an audio hour is four hours, but beginners might take longer.
Closed captioning is the process of displaying the dialogue, sound effects, musical cues, and other audio information in text format on television programs and movies that assist the deaf and hard of hearing in comprehending what’s happening onscreen.
If you’re adding doing offline captioning, that is, adding closed captions to pre-recorded videos, you’ll have to be precise in applying the time codes so that the text is displayed at just the right time. Beginners can earn from $10 to $15 per hour.
By contrast, if you’re doing real-time captioning of live shows or events, you’ll have to be a next-level transcriber. Usually, the only ones who qualify are court reporters, who are able to drum out words at a minimum of 180 wpm. These captioners can earn up to $150 an hour.
Anyone blessed with a perfectly modulated voice and excellent diction and enunciation can work as a voice-over artist and read audiobooks, narrate commercials or documentaries, introduce podcast hosts, outline IVE phone options, and many more.
You can earn somewhere between $100 to over $500 just for a 5-minute voice-over project.
The complexity, application process, and payment depend on which voice-over site you join.
39. Singer
Unless you’re one of the lucky ones, having an amazing singing voice doesn’t automatically translate to fame and fortune.
Singing can be a pretty lucrative side gig, though. From singing a love song while a guy proposes to his girlfriend, to singing for a demo track, or adding backup vocals to an existing song, you can offer your services on various job marketplaces.
Similar to singing, being a musician doesn’t necessarily translate to fame and fortune.
You can still earn some quick cash, though. You can work as a session musician, or as a music producer or composer. You can even transcribe music into sheet music, guitar tabs, or a midi file.
Podcasting has increased in popularity in recent years, and as the audiences grow, so does the number of podcasts.
Think of a topic that is interesting to many people, and if you are articulate, witty, and charming, you can start your own podcast.
Podcasting is a fulltime job for some, but if you’re only starting out or have a day job, you can do this as a part-time gig first.
42. Viral video creator
If you’ve ever been the life of a party, or the subject of a viral video, you might be pleased to know that this can turn into a lucrative side job.
Because you’re the one crafting ideas and recording the viral video for your clients, you need to know what’s popular, how to turn your ideas into reality, and how to bring the house down with your performance.
Love taking videos of yourself, your life, your experiences, your skills? Upload as many videos on YouTube as you can, then apply for the YouTube Partner Program. Once you’re approved, you’ll be able to earn cash from views on each of your uploaded videos.
The good thing is that you can just take videos and upload them whenever you have free time. A committed schedule would be preferable, but it’s not strictly mandatory.
Web & Mobile Development Gigs
Website development is another field that offers many lucrative side gigs. Here are a few to get you started.
44. Website tester
You can get paid to test a website’s usability, search feature, layout, ad placement, and more. You can even review a site’s logo, design, and content, or discover bugs in exchange of a fee. There are over a dozen companies that pay to test websites from $5 and up.
45. Video game tester
For many people, testing video games is the job of their dreams. The competition to land these jobs is fierce, but they’re real if you know where to look. If this is something you’d be interested in, check this guide on how to avoid scams and discover which companies to stalk for video game testing gigs.
46. Web developer
For those with experience coding websites from scratch, using Shopify to build a secure online store, or mixing and matching WordPress themes and plugins to craft a unique website, there are plenty of online opportunities for you to make side cash quickly. You can even offer to take over a web dev project or create custom plugins for a site.
Internet Marketing and Social Media Gigs
Digital marketing is big right now and will continue to be in the foreseeable future since everything lives on the internet nowadays. This field offers plenty of fulltime opportunities, but also plenty of side hustles.
47. Email marketer
Email campaigns can be pre-written for future marketing use, so those with a flair for writing can find work as an email marketer on the side. It’s a lucrative gig (where you can earn $30 to $50 per hour) and you have the option of accepting one-off projects or a full-time contract.
48. Internet marketer for local businesses
With everything going digital, some brick-and-mortar companies are dying, not because their products are bad, but because they’re unable to compete with technologically advanced companies.
You can earn cash by helping local businesses build their online presence, understand how search engines work, take advantage of social media, and compete even in the online world.
49. Branding strategist
It doesn’t matter if you’re not yet adapted to modern internet marketing. As long as you have a marketing background and you know what it takes to build successful branding, you can earn side cash creating company taglines, product logos, business names, brand stories, and more.
The branding packages you can offer can be as simple as brainstorming business names for $5, or as complex as identifying company mission/vision, product color templates, logos, taglines, product description and more.
50. Website traffic consultant
Getting traffic to websites is a science. You need to achieve the right balance of paid advertising, organic traffic, and multiple marketing and SEO techniques to achieve traffic goals. Factor in the ever-changing rules set by search engine giants like Google to the mix and this job becomes super challenging.
If you know the ins and outs of internet marketing or search engine optimization, you can offer to help companies with their increasing organic website traffic. The commitment level or duration of the project is completely up to you.
51. Affiliate marketer
Probably the most effective way of earning cash daily is through affiliate marketing.
However, this requires hard work in the beginning, before you can actually call it a full-time online business. To succeed in affiliate marketing, you’ll need a blog, a topic you love, and a bit of guidance from experienced affiliate marketers.
There’s quick cash to be made in this line of work, especially for brands that do not have an online presence yet, since you’d be creating social media accounts and gathering followers for each platform. The amount you earn, however, depends on the duration of the contract and the specific tasks assigned to you.
53. Social media strategist
A social media strategist is another social media job that involves assessing the current social media strategy of a company or business and sets relevant goals, draws up plans to meet those goals, and implements those plans with the help of their clients and social media managers.
This requires extensive knowledge of how social media works and how to analyze data.
Virtual Assistant Gigs
Virtual assistants are exactly what they sound like—they help companies or individuals from online instead of going to a physical office. Depending on the tasks assigned to you and the skills that you can offer, this can be a pretty quick way to earn some cash.
54. General virtual assistant
General VAs are personal assistants, secretaries, and office administrators all rolled into one, who work online.
The basic online skills that general VAs need to have include research, data entry and analysis, typing, email management, calendar management, bookkeeping, report making, and personal online errands. Thus, this kind of gig is great for people just beginning to work from home jobs.
If you want to dip your toes in the travel industry, being a travel agent can be a great gig.
Travel agents plan and book business trips and holidays for their clients. Being a freelance travel agent can be an easy way to make money since you get to decide which clients to take and how much time you want to work per day.
This is a gig that has a great opportunity to become a full-time business as well, so this is a good first stepping stone.
There are websites and applications that allow you to plan your own trip, but having an actual human who has gone to these places plan an itinerary is still preferable.
They have knowledge that no machine or app can ever match. Human itinerary planners can create highly personalized, specific itineraries, such as a 5-day family-friendly trip on a budget. Plus, you don’t have to book the trip; your clients can either take your itinerary to their travel agent or make the travel arrangements themselves.
Those with an accounting background with a valid Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) can help other people prepare tax returns. It’s a great way to earn money during tax season without having to quit your day job.
58. Document translator
Companies or individuals who work with people in other countries will have a need for a document translator. If you know 2 or more languages, this can be a nice-paying gig for you.
If you’ve been in the customer service industry and have had experiences in taking calls, answering e-mails, manning live chats, and so on, you’d be thrilled to know you can jump in and join various companies, provide customer service and earn even while doing it as a sideline.
Payments range from $5 to $25 per hour, depending on the company or agent experience. Some jobs even offer commissions.
60. Online recruiter/headhunter
If you have a knack for being able to find job hunters with the right job openings in the right companies, being a freelance online recruiter may be for you. This is also one of those gigs that can turn into a full-time job or a business.
Work with a legitimate recruitment system and you’ll find yourself with a side gig that pays. Check out Recruiter.com, which offers recruiter training and certification.
61. Non-voice customer service agent
Customer service jobs that require you to talk to people over the phone demand a quiet workplace, a high-quality, noise-canceling headset and mic, and a personality that can handle it.
Unfortunately, not everyone has all of the above.
Fortunately, non-voice customer service jobs exist. You can work as a chat or email agent instead. Salaries range from $8 to $20 per hour depending on the company.
62. Post on Forums
Some companies pay people to post on forums and jump-start conversations within the threads. Believe it or not, many of the marketing forums you know started with paid posters. Today, you can still earn quick cash as a forum poster, especially if the aim is to build backlinks to a certain website.
Sell Stuff for Extra Cash
If you’re not interested in working for other people, one of the easiest ways of making extra cash is by selling stuff you already have or can source, items you created by hand, or digital products you think other people would need.
63. Sell things you don’t need anymore on eBay
eBay remains a popular buy/sell marketplace where you can discard your pre-loved items without leaving the house. If you’re not a fan of garage sales, then you can sell old clothes, vintage items, and other things you’re willing to let go of. For those interested in a long-term eBay business, learn how to start your own eBay consignment biz.
Those who have bouts of creative streaks and piled up projects in the garage shouldn’t just leave their homemade blankets, handmade lamp, and so on to gather dust. Instead, make quick cash by selling your art and crafts at Etsy.
There’s a ton of sub-niches in that lively artsy community, so it’s easy to build your own special space on Etsy.
This is also perfect for those who have no capital yet to fund a complete operation that handles shipping, customer service, marketing, logistics, and everything else.
66. Flip furniture
Flipping furniture can be an easy, lucrative gig if you have an eye for worn, damaged furniture and the skills to transform them into functional works of art.
Here’s how to start flipping furniture and making side cash without having to quit your fulltime job.
67. Sell meal plans
Whether you successfully lost weight by following a diet plan, have a medical background, or a fan of healthy eating, you can customize and sell meal plans to clients. You can even create and offer meal plans for specific conditions, such as diabetes, childhood obesity, or food allergies.
You can sell your meal plans on Etsy or your own website.
68. Sell Microsoft Excel spreadsheets
Microsoft Excel may not be the best spreadsheet software there is, but it’s certainly the most popular because of its flexibility. You can create templates for financial records, calendars, to-do lists, events planning, business planning, household organization, and so much more.
You can sell your spreadsheets on Etsy, SpreadsheetNut, or on your own website.
69. Sell lesson plans
Anyone with a teaching background can create lesson plans and sell them to other teachers who might not have the time to make one from scratch. Would you ever imagine that this kind of side gig can earn you a six-figure income? Read up on some success stories and discover how you can replicate these teachers’ success with selling lesson plans.
70. Sell mobile apps
Even if there are thousands of mobile apps already on Google Play and Apple Store, the app industry is still worth billions of dollars.
Aside from the ability to conceptualize applications that people are willing to pay for, app development requires advanced programming skills and business savvy to market the app after launch.
71. Sell WordPress plugins
Those who use and love WordPress can easily spot problems that need solving. If you find an issue that you think can be resolved with a plugin, create that plugin and sell it to the highest bidder. You can also seek custom WP plugin jobs via Fiverr.com for a guaranteed sale.
72. Sell artwork
Being a talented artist means being able to design various collectibles, such as vinyl stickers, canvas art, stencils, sewing patterns, jewelry, and other artwork. You can sell your own designs and then accept custom work when your popularity increases.
You can also design and sell seasonal items such as calendars, planners, posters, wall art, greeting cards, printables, and other season-specific items.
If drawing comics or cartoons is more your style, there’s always a market for pop art, portraits, anime, pencil sketch, or any other drawing styles.
Sell your art or commission services on artwork marketplaces such as DeviantArt, Imagekind, or Zazzle.
73. Sell hand-calligraphed items
Writing old school is in and lucrative, which is great because calligraphy is an expensive hobby: the inks, pens, nibs, markers, special papers, and other necessary tools all cost a pretty penny.
Hand-calligraphed items, such as posters with You can create posters with inspirational quotes, vinyl stickers with witty sayings, holiday cards, and many more.
Your craft is also very much in demand for weddings: invitations, place cards, bride-and-groom wineglasses, favor tags, thank-you cards, and sometimes even the menus.
Make use of your Photoshop and advanced programming skills by creating WordPress themes. If you’re lucky and your WP theme fills a void missing in the WordPress space, then you’ll be able to sell the theme quickly. Note that unless you sell your rights to the theme, you’re going to handle customer service and helpdesk for your theme’s clients.
It may be 2020, but there are hidden gems yet to be registered as domain names. If you’re creative, have a knack for words, and know a thing or two about getting traffic to a newly built website, then flipping domains can still be a lucrative side gig for you.
77. Sell old stuff
If your house is filled with various stuff you no longer use, don’t automatically throw them in the trash. You can sell them on various websites, such as Decluttr (for phones and other electronics), Poshmark (for clothes), and BOXSMART (for boxes).
Got an eye for photography? If your camera is your go-to gadget everywhere you go, there’s a good chance you’ve taken hundreds of photos that are worthy to be sold as stock photos.
Pokemon has had a resurgence lately, so if you have any old but mint-condition Pokemon cards lying around, you might want to make quick cash off them. Here’s a guide on how to sell your Pokemon cards.
80. Sell baseball cards
If you’re more of a baseball fan than a Pokemon fan, there’s also a market for your baseball cards! Do your best to keep your baseball cards in marketable condition so you can get as much cash for them as possible.
81. Sell vinyl records
Vinyl records are also making a comeback, so if you have some vintage vinyl records in your basement or in the attic, it’s worth checking them out and finding out if they’re worth anything. Learn how to sell vinyl records here.
Simple Offline Side Hustles
I did mention that errands are the classic side hustles, but they are still quick ways of making money. Even if they’re offline tasks, you’re still aided by technology. Here are some examples.
82. Be a secret shopper
In mystery shopping, you have to physically go to a store and rate the store’s layout, how the staff handled customer service, upselling/marketing skills, store cleanliness, product knowledge of the staff, and other criteria listed on the job description.
Aside from cash (about $5 to $20 per job), you may also be gifted the product you “had” to buy from the mystery shopping assignment.
Whether you’re on a quick run to your local grocery store or touring another country, you can download a couple of apps and take advantage of rewards they’re offering in exchange for luggage space (Airmule), or answering travel-related surveys and doing other travel-related tasks (Field Agent).
But if you’re not willing to do ridesharing, how about delivering other people’s packages while on your way to work, to the school, to the grocery, or elsewhere you’d normally pass anyway?
Roadie and Amazon Flex follow the same concept—it lets people make money by delivering packages to destinations that are within your commute.
Roadie and Amazon Flex match drivers with packages, and these gigs pay somewhere between $10 to $50 for local trips and over $500 for long-distance delivery.
85. Deliver cars from one point to another
If you know how to drive and how to follow directions or a map, you can deliver cars from point A to point B. You can make $300 to $400 per vehicle you move. If you need to make some quick cash, this can be a good gig.
Grocery shopping can be a pain in the butt for busy people. So help these people by becoming a personal grocery shopper and earn some cash doing it. You can join websites such as Instacart and Postmates.
Instacart and Postmates are available in the major cities in all 50 states. The average take-home pay of personal shopper is around $15/hour, plus tips and bonuses. This can go up or down depending on the distances of your deliveries, how many deliveries you make, and the places your clients order from.
87. Remind people to take their meds
Pleio is a site that reminds its clients to take their medication and help out with basic prescription-related questions. You can be a GoodStart Mentor and earn an hourly wage from home while helping other people follow a good routine with their medication.
Everyday Stuff
Wouldn’t it be great to be able to earn some cash from the mundane things one has to do? That’s probably the quickest way to make money. Here are some everyday tasks you do that can earn you some side cash.
88. Watch TV
It sounds like a scam, but there are actually ways to get paid to watch TV or online videos the whole day. Check out our list of simple ways to make money from watching TV.
89. Eat
You can now get paid for indulging your taste buds. What a time to be alive, yes?
Almost all the ways to get paid to walk are fitness-related, but some of them involve walking to do some nearby errands.
91. Text
If you can hold your own in a text conversation, this might be one of the simplest ways to make money. Here are a few gigs to get you started.
92. Hang out
Yup, you can get paid to hang out… in somebody else’s house.
House-sitting is an underrated way to earn money. You’ll normally be assigned some tasks to do in the house, but it should be nothing more than what you’d be doing in your own house. You can negotiate your pay for extra tasks, such as pet-sitting and forwarding their mail.
Unusual Ways to Earn Extra Money Online
There is a place for everyone on the internet, even for the strangest, most unique jobs. Check out these unusual, but definitely real, ways to earn money online.
93. Model
Whether you’ve offered to model a product, dress up in cosplay, or pose for a professional photo shoot, there’s a company or marketing firm that may just bite. Just take a look at the hundreds of models-for-hire on Fiverr to see that both men and women can turn this into a money-making side gig.
94. Fortune teller
If you’re a professional palmist or fortune teller, you can offer your fortune-telling services online for as low as $5 for a quick psychic reading to over $100 (predicting specifics such as marriage or future employment).
95. Lose weight
Yes, you can get paid for losing weight or getting healthy. For instance, the app Achievement, but this one gives you points for walking, eating healthy food, and so on. Once you get 10k points, you can convert them into $10.
96. Recommend business names
If you’re good at making up catchy names or products, you can earn quick cash by recommending business names. You have to compete with other people for the best names though, so only join if you’ve got time on your hands and your naming game is strong.
97. Decide on a case
Online mock juries are used by attornies and jury consultants to gauge jury reaction to defendants, witnesses, evidence, and other aspects of a case that can affect the outcome of a trial so that they can formulate a convincing legal strategy.
People move to other places in the country, and sometimes it’s daunting to explore a new city all by themselves. Or maybe people merely want some company during the weekends to do something together, like watch movies, visit an art gallery, picnic at a park, and other normally mundane activities.
If you feel you can be a good friend and companion, check out our guide on Rent-A-Friend and start getting paid to help others.
99. Cuddle
Lack of human contact and interaction has been shown to be harmful to our mental and physical health.
Some people resort to dating apps, while others pay professional cuddlers to simply embrace them and talk to them, with no other expectations and messy entanglements.
If you’re a hugger and don’t mind platonic touch and small talk, this can be an easy side hustle for you.
100. Sleep
Getting paid to sleep is not as easy as it sounds. You’ll have to have a physical exam, a psych exam, and other exams just to make sure you can participate in the sleep studies. You’ll also have to contend with having to wear equipment, possibly keeping a diary, and being isolated.
But at the end of the tunnel, you can get paid up to $6,000 for a 5-day study, and $10,000 or higher for a 30-day study.
Choose a gig and start making side cash!
Isn’t it awesome that the present work-from-home environment is so widely accepted by small to big companies that they make part-time, full-time, or freelance gigs available throughout the year?
I hope you can find something that fits your skillset from this huge list of online gigs and earn side cash whenever you need it.
