Month: November 2018

How to Make Money on Pinterest: 5 Legit Ways That Work

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It’s more than a social media network for saving or “pinning” your favorite recipes, dream house, vision boards, and other cute things: you can actually make money on Pinterest.

If you’ve been pinning for years and have been wondering if your pins can translate to cash, you’ll find that there are several ways that pinning can make you money.
However, some of these methods may be outdated or even violate Pinterest terms and conditions.

Today, learn why you should use Pinterest and read about Pinterest-approved ways of making money on the platform.

Why You Should Focus on Pinterest

It should be noted that to make money on Pinterest, you need to sign up for Pinterest for business, which has features that are important for you to develop your strategies to make money.

Pinterest is a darling of businesses and marketers alike because it’s a massive search engine filled with stunning visual content.

Pin It

This makes Pinterest a great marketing tool for highly visual industries such as food and drink, weddings and events, beauty, fashion, DIY and crafts, home décor, travel, and many others.

In addition, Pinterest users are highly engaged; they actively pin, repin, click links, and share content on Pinterest.

Its analytics tools also provide insight into what your Pinterest audience loves right now. You can then use that information to create content that they can’t help but be drawn to.

More importantly, users who find products on Pinterest are more likely to actually buy them.

Set Up Your Pinterest for Success

Hopefully, you’re convinced that Pinterest can be a lucrative platform.

The next step for you is to set up your Pinterest account so you can grow your account and start making money on Pinterest.

Find your niche.

Your Pinterest account is more effective if your content is cohesive instead of pinning content of any random topic.

You do need to balance finding a niche you’re genuinely interested in and a niche that is profitable.

To give you an idea, here are some of the most popular and profitable Pinterest niches.

  • Food and Drink
  • Parenting
  • Beauty
  • Travel
  • DIY & Crafts
  • Women’s Fashion
  • Health & Fitness

That said, know who your target audience is. For instance, if you want to run a travel-themed Pinterest account, you need to keep in mind what type of traveler you specifically want to attract.

Younger people may be attracted to places off the beaten path or where they can backpack through, while older people may be attracted to places with more comfortable accommodations and has activities that aren’t too rigorous.

Create beautiful Pins.

You want content that catches Pinterest users’ eyes and inspires them to click or tap on your Pins, and possibly like, Repin, and comment on them. That interaction and engagement is at the core of your money-making strategy, so you need to make sure that you only use the best images.

As much as possible, images should be high-quality, in focus, and well-composed.

In contrast to Instagram photos, Pinterest photos are more effective when they’re in portrait mode because they fill smartphone screens better.

With that in mind, don’t be afraid to collage square or landscape images into a single portrait mode image.

Learn how to write search engine-friendly captions.

As I’ve mentioned, Pinterest is really a search engine for images.

But creating search engine-friendly captions means your content can show up in search results not only for Pinterest but for Google search and other search engines.

Build your audience.

Working on your visual content and captions only go so far; the next step is to go out there and actively engage with your audience.

Visit Pinterest accounts of those who have liked, Repinned, and commented on your Pins, and do the same to their Pins. Follow their accounts, too.

Create a group board and encourage followers to Pin in your group boards. You can then prioritize engaging with these Pins as these are “fans” of your content.

Make sure you’re posting consistently. Follow a specific schedule so that your audience can anticipate your Pins. Use applications and software if you must.

Know how to use Pinterest Analytics.

Yet another key part of making money on Pinterest is knowing what’s working for your audience.

Pinterest Analytics allows you to look at how often your Pins are shown, which Pins are getting the most engagement, and how many times your links are being clicked.

5 Ways to Make Money on Pinterest

The following money-making methods below require that the Pinterest member should have a well-established account.

This means you already have hundreds or thousands of pins organized on your dashboard before you begin any of these monetizing options:

1. Become a Pinterest Influencer

If you’ve read our post about Instagram Influencers and how they’ve been making bank, you’ll have an idea of how you can become an influential personality on Pinterest and use it to earn money.

An influencer on Pinterest is someone who has plenty of followers and, more importantly, engages with their followers. Brands are likely to pay them to promote products and services.

“Promoting” can mean anything from Repinning a company’s Pins to inviting a third-party company to join a group board.

Pinterest is okay with this and has been working on solutions and policies to make collaborations between Pinterest members and companies as hassle-free as possible.

How much can you make?

Unlike Instagram and Facebook influencers who have been doing this for years, Pinterest influencers are relatively new to the game. As such, there isn’t much information being shared regarding fees for promoting third-party companies.

Expect influencers to earn anywhere from $50 per promotion to thousands of dollars per campaign.

2. Get a Pinterest VA Job

If you’re up for a part-time or full-time job with fixed schedules, you can turn your Pinterest knowledge into a full-blown virtual assistant (VA) job.

Individual entrepreneurs and businesses know the power of Pinterest to grow their brands and sell their products and services but may not have the time to create content, examine analytics, run Pinterest ads, and manage their Pinterest account themselves.

As most VAs do, the job is likely a home-based or remote job, but you’ll likely be given a regular schedule.

Your knowledge of Pinterest for business will be very useful for this job.

How much can you make?

Depending on your experience as a Pinterest VA, you can earn somewhere from $20 to $50 an hour.

If you prefer working freelance, you can offer Pinterest management plans (paid on a monthly basis) for $150 to $300 per client.

3. Become a Pinterest Consultant

Pinterest Assistant

As a Pinterest consultant, you’re more than just the average VA. You’re the expert in the field.

Someone who has plenty of experience and tricks up her/his sleeves to make a client’s Pinterest game competitive.

In short, you have to be the authority in turning Pinterest into your client’s gold mine.

Michelle Schroeder-Gardner of Making Sense of Cents details how she has shared everything she knew about Pinterest, finding her first client, expanding her network, mistakes she’d made, and how she promotes her own services.

How much can you make?

Like Pinterest virtual assistants, you have two options when pricing your Pinterest consultancy services. You can either go by-the-hour (around $20 to $30 an hour), or a monthly rate (from $100 to $500/month).

The fees you set would depend on the services included in the packages. One-on-one Skype calls, for example, often demand a much higher rate.

4. Cash in as a Pinterest Affiliate Marketer

Affiliate marketing remains an unbeatable way to earn income online, but not everyone knows that you can take advantage of the millions of Pinterest users by including affiliate links in their Pins.

The statistics of Pinterest users and their buying power are pretty impressive. Many Pinterest users go to the platform to find what they want, plan and save for future purchases, and actually buy those items in the future.

With Pinterest affiliate marketing, you don’t need a blog or thousands of followers either. You just need to master how to use keywords on your pins and descriptions, and the users will find your content via search.

This method of earning money from Pinterest has become so popular that Pinterest actually banned the practice in February 2015. The company tried to get back 100% of the control from external affiliates, but eventually lifted the ban and officially allowed Pinterest affiliate marketing again in May 2016.

Pinterest made rules about affiliate marketing clearer in their Community Guidelines under Affiliate guidelines, Paid Partnership guidelines, and Spam rules to prevent abuse from users.

Bear in mind, though, that Pinterest can take this back at any time as they did before. You can still do affiliate marketing indirectly; that is, you can post affiliate links in your own website or blog, and then link to that page on your Pin.

This strategy is actually much more favored by affiliate marketers who are in it for the long run. Aside from being safe from changes in terms and conditions by Pinterest, directing users to a blog post about the product you’re offering allows you to sell its benefits and features more thoroughly instead of being limited to a short Pinterest caption.

How much can you make?

The income potential of Pinterest affiliate marketing is entirely up to you. And since everything you put out into the Pinterest world will forever be online, you can build a passive income stream with your past and current pins.

Like any kind of affiliate marketing, don’t expect overnight results with Pinterest affiliate marketing. You’re likely to start earning mere pennies a day, which will gradually increase if you do affiliate marketing correctly and have your Pins go viral.

5. Sell your own products

If selling other people’s products doesn’t sound very appealing to you, why not try selling your own products instead?

You would need to have an e-commerce website where you can link your Pins to.

Pinterest for Business actually has features that can help you increase your sales. For instance, they have Product Rich Pins that integrate important information on your website to your Pins.

As a result, when you post a Pin of the product you’re offering, Pinterest users can see right on your Pin the latest price, whether it’s in stock, and the description of your product. When they click on the link, it takes them to your website where they can order it immediately.

You get to see which products are popular with Pinterest users and you can use that information when deciding which products to sell.

It takes a bit of learning to implement, but this is a very useful feature.

Moreover, it works for all kinds of products, whether physical or digital.

How much can you make?

There are many factors that can affect how much you earn from Pinterest-directed traffic to your ecommerce website that it’s hard to put a dollar amount on it.

What’s the best way to make money on Pinterest?

There is no single best way to earn from Pinterest.

You’d need to study all the options and pick which one best suits what you want out of Pinterest.

Aside from getting a Pinterest virtual assistant job, all the other four methods of making money on Pinterest require patience and consistency to grow from pennies to dollars to a four-digit monthly income. It’s a long game, but if you do it right, the rewards are definitely worth the wait.

Becoming a Pinterest influencer takes time and a lot of pinning. You can’t just create a Pinterest account and become an influencer instantly. Those with business know-how, perfect communication skills, and an A+ personality will get far as an influencer.

Pinterest consultancy, as with all kinds of consultant jobs, will only work if you know what you’re talking about (and can back it up with proof).

As a fan of passive income, Pinterest affiliate marketing makes a lot of sense. However, it isn’t for everyone. You’d have to be ready for the work involved (it could take weeks or months for your pins to earn cents) and experiment with A/B testing, various strategies, and other campaigns.

Promoting products is perfect for people who already have an e-commerce website. They can direct traffic from Pinterest to their main business, plus access a wealth of marketing insights through Pinterest Analytics, all without spending a cent.

Start Making Money on Pinterest Today!

Hopefully, this guide has inspired you to choose one of these opportunities and implement them so you can start earning side cash from all your Pinning.

Of course, it may well be the opposite; you may have learned that Pinterest is not for you. Maybe other social media platforms are a better fit for you. Read our guides on making money on Instagram, making money on Twitter, or making money on Facebook.

Ever made money on Pinterest? Did I miss out on a legit, Pinterest-approved method? Share your Pinterest story with us in the comments!

20 Ways to Get Paid to Read Books

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If you’re a bibliophile, I’m sure you’ve always wondered if you could get paid to read books and use that money to buy even more books.

Well, it’s now a legitimate side gig or even a home-based career opportunity!

You can become a book reviewer and earn real cash in exchange for your thoughts. If not cash, then you at least get to keep that book.

Summarizing and narrating books are other ways to get paid for reading.

Or, you can build passive income by doing what you love to do.

Read on for a list of sites that actually pay you to read books. Plus, I’ll share some bonus ways to make money from reading books.

Get Paid to Read Books from these Legit Websites

The following websites pay you to read books with cash sent via PayPal, bank deposit, or check.

1. The US Review of Books

US Review of Books

The US Review of Books has opportunities for reviewers to access a wide range of genres.

Book reviews are expected to run from 250 to 300 words long, follow the Chicago Manual of Style, and include factual, objective praise and critique directed at the book and not the author.

It can include a book summary, insights about the book, and with as little cliché as possible. Quotes from the book are okay as well, but casual tones are not recommended.

Reviews must be submitted 2–3 weeks after accepting the job.

The site posts book titles periodically. Members can then choose which titles they like to review.

  • How to apply: To apply as a freelance reviewer, email the editor at editor[at]theUSreview[dot]com with your résumé, sample book review, and at least two professional references.
  • Payment: There isn’t any information on the amount of payment for each review, but the site states that reviewers are paid monthly (on the 5th of the month via check) for all reviews completed during the previous month.

2. Wellesley Centers For Women

Wellesley Reviews

This female-geared magazine has been conducting its ‘Women’s Review of Books’ for more than 35 years.

The goal of this program is to “publish reviews that draw on rich reservoirs of knowledge—based in organizing, discipline-based research, and personal experience—in the service of action and consciousness.”

Wellesley Centers for Women doesn’t publish a list of book titles. For more information, refer to these writers’ guidelines.

  • How to apply: You have to send your pitch including the book’s publication date and your angle to editor.wrb[at]gmail[dot]com along with your résumé, cover letter, and samples of published reviews. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.
  • Payment: Aside from a PDF of the issue where your approved review appears and a free one-year subscription to the WRB magazine, payment inquiries should be sent to Ian Mellanby, ian[at]oldcitypublishing[dot]com.

3. Online Book Club

The website is a platform for authors to promote their books and receive quick and honest feedback on their work.

New members initially review books without pay but will be sent paid opportunities once the first review is proven to pass their standards.

  • Payment: Reviewers receive free books and get paid from $5 to $60, depending on the reviewer’s experience and the book being reviewed.

4. Kirkus Media

Kirkus Reviews

Kirkus Media hires copywriters and editors regularly for its magazine. If you can write book reviews in either perfect English or Spanish, then you’ll love working here.

The company publishes these 350-word reviews on Kirkus Indie, a section of the magazine that features self-published or “indie” authors.

  • How to apply: To join the roster of Kirkus reviewers, you must submit your résumé, writing samples, topic preferences, and books you like to review to the Kirkus Indie Editor at drapp[at]kirkus[dot]com.
  • Payment: There is no information about fees for reviews on the website, but past and current reviewers claim that they earn around $50 per review.

5. Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly Jobs

For an author who wants their book to get noticed, Publishers Weekly is the go-to weekly news magazine.

PW doesn’t list “book reviewer” often on their career page, but it does list spots for copyeditors and editors continuously. Make sure to check back here if you’re interested in reviewing books since PW is the best training ground for anyone starting out in this business.

PW has a good mix of non-fiction and fiction books both from traditionally-published authors and indies.

  • How to apply: To apply as a future book reviewer, send your résumé and a sample of any book review you’ve recently written.
  • Payment: Publishers Weekly does not publish payment details, but reviewers are paid an honorarium.

6. Reedsy Discovery

Reedsy is a marketplace of publishing professionals that help aspiring authors self-publish their works.

Reedsy Discovery is a part of Reedsy where new books are available to be reviewed and recommended to subscribers of their newsletter.

Being a reviewer at Reedsy is a good way to get paid to read books by new authors.

  • How to apply: If you’re interested, simply fill out this form.
  • Payment: Reedsy Discovery doesn’t pay a salary, but readers of your reviews can give you a tip from $1, $3, or $5.

7. Writerful Books

Writerful Books

Writerful Books accept book reviews of contemporary novels from American, Australian, British, Canadian, Irish, and New Zealand authors.

Note that all reviewers here begin as non-paid reviewers. Those who have proven skills in providing in-depth, fair, and non-libelous reviews can level up to paid status.

  • Payment: Writerful Books pays its reviewers $10 to $50 depending on the length of the book and how in-depth reviews submitted are. Top reviewers are rewarded with a $100 Amazon gift voucher.

8. Booklist Online

Booklist online

Booklist Online is the American Library Association’s book review magazine. It publishes over 8,000 book reviews every year to help librarians from all over the US in selecting books for their shelves and recommending books to readers.

To help produce this many reviews each year, Booklist hires freelancers to write book reviews.

Interestingly, Booklist calls its reviews “the haiku of book reviewing,” which is a good thing for reviewers since you would only need to come up with 175 words per review. You can extend this up to 225 words, but you’d need the editor’s approval.

Send a pitch with your resume and writing samples if you want to become a book reviewer for Booklist.

  • Payment: Reviewers are paid $15 for accepted reviews and $5 for rejected ones.

9. getAbstract

Writing summaries is another great way to get paid to read books.

getAbstract periodically hires freelancers to write summaries (or abstracts) of a wide range of books and articles into 10-minute bites such that readers know what they’re getting at a glance.

  • How to Apply: They are currently recruiting new freelancers for writing summaries on general topics, and if you’re a science writer, you can get jobs sooner.
  • Payment: Varies

10. Instaread

Instaread provides 15-minute summaries of bestselling books in audio or text formats.

They occasionally have openings for book reviewers that can submit 1000- to 1500-word summaries that are written according to their style guide.

  • How to apply: Check here if there are current openings.
  • Payment: Instaread pays $100 per summary. They currently don’t have openings but check back to see if there are open calls.

11. BookBrowse

As a reviewer for BookBrowse, you will be reviewing fiction and non-fiction books for young adults and adults.

Most BookBrowse reviewers write one 300+-word review a month for this platform.

  • Payment: BookBrowse states that reviewers receive a “modest” payment for the review and their own byline.

Get Paid to Read Books Out Loud

Audiobooks have been increasingly popular in recent years. Listening to audiobooks while doing tedious tasks like driving, cooking, or cleaning the house is a popular way to consume knowledge and learn new things.

Larger publishing houses normally have in-house narrators to create audiobooks out of print or ebooks, but self-published authors and smaller presses are often on the lookout for freelance voiceover actors they can hire on a per-project basis who can read their books out loud.

If you’re a voice actor who loves to read books, why not work as an audiobook narrator and get paid for doing what you’re good at while doing what you love at the same time?

Here are a few places to find audiobook narration projects.

12. Voice Crafters

Whenever a client requires someone to narrate their audiobook or read an ad, any accepted Voice Crafters narrator has a chance of getting hired. Clients could search through the Voice Crafters database, listen to voice samples, and request voice actors like you to send quotes.

  • How to apply: You need to send an application first. If Voice Crafters accepts you into the database, you’ll be included into their roster of voice over talent. Clients could then find you and hire you for a job.
  • Payment: Rates vary per assignment. Some are paid per session, others are per hour, per spot, per project, and so on. Clients are upfront with rates before you commit.

13. Findaway Voices

Findaway Voices lets narrators connect with audiobook authors and work on a project together.

As a narrator, you can create your profile for free. You have control which samples and portfolio to advertise.

  • Payment: Varies per assignment, usually depending on author’s project requirements

14. ACX

Amazon’s ACX connects narrators, sound engineers, and other producers that can create a finished, polished audiobook with self-published authors, literary agents, or small publishers.

So if you have excellent enunciation and a clear voice, this opportunity may be perfect for you.

  • Payment: Varies per assignment

15. Voices.com

Though Amazon is arguably the biggest seller of ebooks, there are also self-published authors and smaller, independent publishing companies looking for voice talents to narrate their books.

  • How to apply: To start with Voices.com, you’ll need to sign up to be a member on their site and then record a demo of your voice. Make sure it’s your best work because this is the first impression you’ll project to your potential clients. Then, their voice match engine will match you to client jobs that potentially match your voice quality.
  • Payment: Varies per assignment

16. Bunny Studio

Bunny Studio is a freelancer marketplace where potential clients can see sample work and hire freelancers whose work they like.

Aside from audiobook voice artists, Bunny Studio also has freelance writers and translators, so you can potentially get paid to read books and translate them if you are proficient in more than one language.

  • Payment: Varies per assignment

17. Voice Jungle

Voice Jungle connects voice over talent with clients. Anyone with voice over skills can apply, regardless of geographical location. Even other languages beyond English is accepted.

If you’re an adventurous book lover, you’d love this platform since many of the audiobook assignments here are from indie authors. Voice Jungle also isn’t exclusive to audiobooks – there are a wide range of voiceover work posted here as well.

Note that assignments are required a 24-hour turnaround. If you can’t commit to this timeline, pick another resource where you can get paid to read.

  • How to apply: Voice Jungle first needs to accept your application. Fill out the form here to get a chance at becoming a member of their voice over artist database. Once you’re in, you’ll be notified whenever a client picks you for a job.

Other Ways to Get Paid to Read Books

Literary agencies receive more book manuscripts than they can reasonably process.

Some agencies get around this problem by hiring freelance readers to read the manuscripts and compile “book reports” on them. Reports range from two to three pages at most, and the work is steady.

18. AgentQuery

This site offers authors a place to find literary agents; however, non-author members can also reach out to agents and find out if they would be willing to collaborate with a book reviewer.

The site also occasionally posts book review opportunities; most requested reviews span no more than two to three pages.

19. Publishers Marketplace

Here, you can peruse the site’s extensive job board and usually find at least a handful of ways to get paid to read books each week.

If doing that doesn’t turn up what you’re looking for, you can also contact literary agents about working with them directly.

20. WordsRated

WordsRated used to hire book reviewers and pay $200 for every book reviewed.

These days, anyone interested in reviewing for WordsRated would have to compete with other hopefuls on Upwork and bid for the job. Yes, you’ll need to outbid other applicants for the job before you land your first book review.

The Gray Market of Paid Book Reviewing

Whenever we talk about reviews, whether it’s for films or books, the reviewer should be someone impartial. But if the author, publishing house, PR firm, or any other person connected to the author hires people to write “glowing” reviews of the book, then this can be problematic.

Amazon has been trying to battle this at its expansive book section for years.

But no amount of policy changes or banning members has helped remove the gray market of paid book reviews.

There are even Facebook groups exclusive to buying book reviews directly from providers.

If you’re exploring how to get paid to read books and you discover the gray market of paid book reviews, it’s going to be an ethical consideration for you if you’d continue with reviewing the book or not.

Bonus: Get free books in exchange for reviews.

It’s not cash, but a free book is a free book, am I right?

If you regularly shop for books to read, you’ll be happy to learn that plenty of websites will give you copies of books free in exchange for your honest reviews.

Sometimes, you can even score books that haven’t been released yet.

The most popular way to do this is to get accepted into Amazon Vine.

Amazon Vine is an invitation-only program where only the most thoughtful, helpful reviewers on Amazon get accepted.

To be considered as a Vine Voice, work on writing detailed, well-thought-out reviews every time you make an Amazon purchase.

Here are a few other websites where you can get free books for your reviews:

…among many others.

Would You Choose this Side Hustle if You Can Get Paid to Read Books?

Making money by reading books is an interesting side gig, especially for book lovers who can easily finish books.

While you’re not exactly going to get paid to make your way through the Best Sellers list, these are still legitimate opportunities.

Some of the websites I listed above don’t really require you to be professional writers, but a few of them do. You need to have above-average writing skills, though, since almost all of them will ask you to send writing samples.

Unless you land a full-time or part-time job reviewing books at a publishing house or magazine, you can’t treat this side gig as your main source of income.

But if you manage your expectations about book reviewing as a career and just enjoy exploring new books, then being paid an extra $10 to $100 for your opinion about a book is a great way to earn side cash.

You can always sell books on Amazon to earn some extra cash as well.

How I Made an Extra $1,554.67 in October 2018

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Time for a round 2 update with my Mediavine earnings.

This is an earnings report on how much money this website has made for me based off of display advertising alone.

If you’ve been following my posts, you’ll know just from title alone, that I surpassed my $1,357.56 made in September 2018.

In total, I saw a 13.5% increase in revenue for October.

Mediavine Earnings for October 2018

Not bad seeing as I didn’t publish nearly as many new articles as I had wanted to.

This is one of the beautiful things about running your own website. You can easily see a 13% raise in income without having to do much.

With that said, it’s just as easy to see a 13% decrease by doing nothing as well.

This industry is volatile and without proper attention and focus, you can easily lose what you’ve gained.

I’m going to dive more into my earnings and see how I progressed on my goals in a second here, but first, an update.

(Okay, an excuse to show off Vincent in his Halloween costume.)

Fall 2018 Update

We were invited to a wedding in Vermont this past month.

Neither Amanda nor I have ever been to Vermont so we weren’t about to turn this down.

Especially seeing as it was peak fall foliage season.

Vincent was less impressed by the colors of the trees than we were.

From Vermont, we made our way to Portland, Maine.

And no trip to Maine is complete without a lobster roll.

We were only there for 3 days, but we had to eat at the Highroller Lobster Co. twice.

From Maine, we did a brief stop over in State College, PA to visit our alma mater.

And made it home in time to take Vin trick or treating.

He was an owl.

I’m not sure he understood why people were just handing him candy, but he was totally on board.

More treats ahead!

Earnings Report: $1,554.67 in October 2018

We will just jump right to it here:

Mediavine earnings chart

All in all, a pretty good month.

My traffic stayed fairly consistent with just a hint of growth.

The large spikes in sessions are from days that I had sent out an email to my newsletter.

Each email typically nets me an extra $50 on average.

I had a daily average RPM of $19.93. Meaning every thousand visits to my site is worth almost $20.

This was an improvement over last month, which topped off at $19.73.

While a plus, I wouldn’t exactly call it significant.

My earnings hit a high of $79.94.

Not bad! I didn’t break the $100 in a day mark yet, but this was a nice improvement over last month’s high of $64.24.

My RPM peaked at $25.11 which also beat last month’s high of $24.60.

All in all, I saw improvements across the board.

My Goals

I set the following goals for myself in the last post.

Here are some updated totals:

  • Average Monthly RPM: $25.00 (Best so far: $19.93 on 11/18)
  • Daily RPM High: $30.00 (Best so far: $25.11 on 11/18)
  • Average Daily Earnings: $50.00 (Best so far: $50.15 on 11/18)
  • Daily Earnings High: $100.00 (Best so far: $79.94 on 11/18)

I did top my goal of average daily earnings this month, but just barely. I will leave that one in there for now.

The rest still have a little ways to go. I need to see about a 20% increase on all of them to hit those numbers.

Nothing a little hard work can’t fix.

And these are big milestones I’d like to hit:

  • Single Daily Visitors: 4,000, 5,000, 7,500, & 10,000.
  • Monthly Earnings: $1,500, $2,500, $5,000, & $7,500.
  • Monthly RPM: $20, $25, & $30

I surpassed my first milestone of topping $1,500 in a single month!

I wasn’t expecting to hit these milestones quickly, but seeing progress already has been a huge motivator.

I fell about 7 cents short of being able to cross off the first RPM goal.

I think Q4 will help me get there.

Plans to Hit My Goals

There’s no point in setting goals if you aren’t going to actively work to achieve them.

One of the easiest ways to improve your earnings with Mediavine is to simply follow their advice.

They tell you exactly what you need to work on with their Site Health box.

Here’s mine:

Mediavine Site Health

Most of my site is ‘Green’ which is good, but it’s not great.

They do offer a ‘Teal’ badge for when your site is stellar.

My site is pretty close to going Teal, but I still have some work to do.

Resources I Recommend

1. Mediavine

Obviously.

They’re the entire reason I’ve been able to add over $1,000 to my earnings each month.

I first started making money online back in 2005 through Google Adsense.

Display advertising was the reason why I got into this business.

I like that all I have to do is write content and get people to visit my site.

I don’t have to sell anything, link to anything, buy anything, convince anyone of anything.

I write. People visit. I get paid.

If you run a blog and have over 25k visitors per month, you need to sign up for Mediavine ASAP.

2. SEMrush

(If you sign-up for SEMRush using this link, you’ll get 14 days to try out the Pro account absolutely free!)

I credit SEMrush for helping me get my site back on track.

My traffic was in a free fall at the beginning of this year.

The tools at SEMrush helped me identify and correct a number of glaring issues with my site via the Site Audit tool.

They sent their crawlers and found thousands of errors that I had overlooked, including some of the worst possible SEO mistakes you could make.

If it wasn’t for their Site Audit, I firmly believe my site would have very few Google rankings today.

On top of that, their keyword research tools are incredible. The keywords they’ve been able to find, combined with my own personal SEO strategies, have helped propel my site back up the rankings.

Traffic continues to grow and that’s all thanks to SEMrush.

3. Wealthy Affiliate

Wealthy Affiliate is where I really got my start online.

Their completely free membership can’t be beat.

If you have an interest in making money running a website, they’ll provide you with all the tools and training you could possibly need.

You can have your own website up and running at the click of a button in 30 seconds or less.

Best of all, you can become a member there at absolutely no cost to you.

Highly recommended!

Here’s to next month!

November really kicks off the high season when it comes to digital advertising.

I am expecting (hoping) for some nice boosts in RPM this month.

I’ll be back in a few weeks time with an update for you.

35 Paid Online Research Studies Seeking Participants

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Pay range for research studies

How can one participate in paid online research studies and get paid for your brain, your health, and your opinions?

Well, you’re in the right place.

Today, let’s look at 35 different opportunities to get paid as a participant in research studies.

Types of Paid Online Research Studies

A medical study involves a group of people within an age group, gender, race, ethnic group, or individuals with the same specific health issues.

Participating in these studies often involves answering a combination of interviews, tests, surveys, or experimentation to be able to answer questions on how to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure health disorders and diseases.

Aside from paid medical studies, market research makes use of paid online research to find out what customers want or need from various products and companies.

The cool thing about paid online research studies available today is that even if you are not a part of the target audience, you can still participate in the study in another capacity.

Online research studies can be either quantitative or qualitative.

Quantitative studies are the ones with static, pre-planned answers. A questionnaire with multiple-choice answers is a good example of this study. It is made as such so that the researcher can easily analyze the results.

Qualitative studies are a bit more complex since they involve open-ended answers.

However, this type of study ends up with better data. Focus groups and interviews are both methods used in qualitative studies.

How Much Can You Earn from Paid Research Studies?

Imagine earning up to $1,000 just for sharing your opinion, review of a product, or thoughts about a particular experience without even stepping out of the house.

You don’t even have to spend a cent to participate in these research studies.

Most of the time, you’d only have to be at least 18 years old and currently live in the US.

Even when you’re below 18 years old, researchers sometimes allow you to participate as long as you had a waiver from your parent or legal guardian.

The amount you earn from joining research studies depend on the following:

  • Method of research — Did you join a focus group? Answered a lengthy interview? Filled out a survey form?
  • Length of study — Some interviews only take an hour and earn you $150. Some focus groups could take several sessions and end only after several weeks.
  • Type of payment — Not all companies pay cash. Some use PayPal, while others prefer checks, gift cards, prepaid cards, and so on.

Quick surveys can be as little as $10 and high as $100.

Focus group sessions range between $50 and $500 per session.

Interviews can earn you somewhere from $50 to $400 for an hour of your time.

Simply put, the amount you’ll be paid will vary from study to study.

Join These to Start Making Money Today!

Before digging into the list below, I suggest you sign up for the 3 best focus group/market research companies.

Anyone can participate and you will be invited to take part in research studies, focus groups, and product testing opportunities.

These companies pay in cash and offer cash signup bonuses to get you started.

On to the list!

35 Ways to Get Paid for Research Studies Online

The following universities have year-long research studies in a wide range of topics.

1. Northwestern University Department of Psychology

Northwestern Research Studies

Earn from $10 to $40 an hour if you participate in one of the school’s online studies.

The studies change regularly and vary widely from topics such as phone usage, changes in thoughts and feelings, Artificial Intelligence,  sleeping patterns, psychosis, aging, and even products like hearing aids.

2. Harvard University Psychology Study Pool

Harvard Research Studies

Join Harvard’s Psychology Study Pool and earn from $10 to $25 an hour, paid via gift cards.

The online studies are available year-round for both Harvard students and guests.

3. Carnegie Mellon University

CMU Research

If you’re at least 18 years old, can read and speak English, and have never joined any research studies at the Center for Behavioral and Decision Research at Carnegie Mellon, you can sign up for their paid online research studies.

Topics range from personal beliefs, attitudes, decision-making, human judgment, interpersonal perceptions, and group performance, among others.

You’ll earn $8 an hour, paid in gift cards. Each study takes anywhere from 5 and 20 minutes.

Paid participants are needed for in-person studies in labs on campus, but may sometimes be able to participate online on a home computer.

Note that only students are accepted (ID will be requested).

4. Center for Decision Sciences Columbia Business School

CDS Research Study

For participating in an online survey or study, you can earn $16 an hour, as long as you’re 18+ years old and have a PayPal or Amazon.com account to receive payments.

No need to be a student at Columbia Business School, but you need to register in the CDS Virtual Lab Online Panel.

5. MIT Behavioral Research Lab

MIT Research

There are in-person and paid online research studies available at MIT.

Payment amounts vary from study to study, but participants usually earn $11 to $20 per hour for online studies.

Anyone aged 18 or older, residing in the United States, and proficient in spoken and written English can join the BRL participant pool.

Membership is open to all; you don’t need any association with MIT to participate. Other requirements may be needed for studies requiring specific respondents.

6. University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business

UMD Research Studies

As long as you’re a current Smith student (and eligible for certain studies), you can get paid for research studies online here.

Make sure you create an account, sign up for the studies that you want to participate in, and get paid once you fulfill your role.

7. Purdue University

Purdue research studies

You can find a lot of paid online studies here.

Currently, they have studies on Parkinson’s disease (and other neurodegenerative diseases), flavored water, biosensors, mushroom nutrition, linguistics, cancer, and so on.

Participants are paid somewhere between $10 and $500.

What’s great about Purdue University is that the studies are varied and open to the public.

8. Stanford Graduate School of Business

Stanford research studies

You’ll be paid up to $25 an hour for online research studies, but you’d have to be eligible and complete a prescreen form.

You also can’t participate in the same study more than once.

9. UCLA Anderson School of Management

UCLA Lab

The behavioral lab has some paid online studies, if you’re interested in topics like consumer behavior, organizational behavior, judgment, and other similar topics.

Most studies here pay from $10 to $20 an hour.

They also have in-lab and in-person studies.

10. Boston University Behavioral Lab

Boston university research studies

If you’re interested in human behavior and is willing to participate in online studies, try to join if you’re eligible.

These studies pay between $10 and $20 an hour.

The studies from Boston University’s Behavioral Lab is open to both BU students and the general public.

11. University of Maryland Department of Psychology

UMD Psychology Research Studies

You need to create an account at the SONA System website to see available research studies.

Each of the studies have different eligibilities and payment.

12. University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Nebraska Research Studies

This college holds a wide range of research studies revolving MRI research, human brain, behavior, and so on.

There are studies exclusively for seniors, and those that are for teens.

There are two ways to volunteer for these studies:

  • Join the CB3 Research Participant Volunteer Registry (and wait for them to e-mail you)
  • Pick the study and contact researchers directly.

Pay can go as high as $80 per study.

13. American University Psychology Department

American university research studies

Topics vary widely, but they are related to psychology and human behavior.

You can earn up to $20 an hour for just filling out a form as a smoker’s first-hand experience during stressful situations.

14. Respondent.IO

Respondent.io

This next one isn’t a university, but it’s a comprehensive resource if you plan to participate in numerous market research and other online studies.

Pay ranges from $25 to $200.

Eligibility requirements vary between studies.

Make sure to check details and never pay to join a focus group or study.

15. Brand Institute

Brand Institute

Want to be at the forefront of the pharmaceutical industry?

Join consumer market research panel groups by signing up with Brand Institute.

16. mindswarms

mindswarms

It’s sort of like an interview since you are required to answer ten questions with a video.

In exchange for your thoughts, you’ll be paid $50.

17. Engage

Engage Research

Earn somewhere between $50 and $250 by participating in healthcare or consumer market research studies.

18. Probe Market Research

Probe Market Research

The company pays people for online, phone or group interviews about their clients’ products, services, ads, or other campaigns.

Payment goes as high as $400.

19. Penn State University

(Quick shoutout to my Alma Mater… We Are!)

… and they are seeking just about anyone who’s alive to participate in a research study. With over 200 current open studies, odds are, you’ll qualify for something they have available.

Keep an eye out for “Total Compensation” to see just what the study pays.

20. User Interviews

User Interviews

Get paid for your feedback on real projects.

Create an account by filling up a form and wait for project invitations if you’re eligible.

There are online and in-phone interviews available.

21. Yale School of Management

Yale Paid Online Research Studies

If you live anywhere near Yale campus, be sure to sign up for their newsletter as they frequently put out requests for both in person and paid online research studies.

You will be paid, in cash, at the completion of your study.

They also have a Facebook group that announces when new studies are available to participate in.

22. Georgetown University Department of Psychology

Georgetown Research Studies

Georgetown’s Department of Psychology is regularly looking for both students and non-students alike to participate in studies.

Average pay will run you about $10 per hour, so it can be some nice change to pick up in your spare time.

Their research includes personality, memory, and impulse control tests to name a few.

23. UCLA Semel Institute

UCLA Research

UCLA offers both in-person and online research studies to check out.

They have a massive list of open opportunities for you to click through. The highest paying ones often need you to come into their offices for scans and interviews, but there are a lot of remote positions available too.

24. PingPong

PingPong

Web designers and developers working on websites and applications value the input of real-life users and are willing to pay for these users’ opinions and insights

You can get paid anywhere from €15 to €40 per hour and even up to €100 for special projects.

Payment is credited through Transferwise or PayPal.

25. American Consumer Opinion

Yet another survey site, American Consumer Opinion (ACOP) pays you for your answers to their survey questions.

You can even get paid up to $100 if you fit a certain demographic and able to participate in special projects.

Research studies on this site may not be constantly available, though. It’s best to check back frequently.

26. Recruit and Field

Recruit and Field

Recruit and Field is a market research company that hosts paid online research studies all around the US and even in international locations.

They look for participants from any gender and age for their studies, including professionals and medical professionals (doctor, nurse, lab technician).

They normally pay via PayPal but also offer Amazon or digital gift cards.

The pay ranges from $100 to $275 for phone interviews, online surveys, and sometimes in-home product testing.

27. Focus Group

Focus Group is an aptly named online community comprised of participants interested in sharing opinions and views on popular products and brands through in-person, telephone, or online surveys.

The pay ranges from $75 to $200, and specialized health studies may pay more.

28. 20|20 Panel

2020 Panel

Since 1986, 20|20 Panel has been recruiting participants to share their opinion on various companies.

They specialize in qualitative market research, which is achieved via in-person or online roundtable discussions. You can get paid from $50 to $350 to participate in these discussions.

They also send out quick surveys for which you can get paid smaller amounts (from $1 to $10).

29. FindFocusGroups

Wouldn’t it be great if there were a directory of all the paid research opportunities in the country?

FindFocusGroups is probably the closest one, as it lists more than 75,000 verified and legitimate focus groups in the country.

It’s quite simple to search by city and state, and check the information for details on whether the discussions are online or in-person.

It’s difficult to know how much the average payment would be, but upon browsing the first few studies on the homepage, they range from $50 to $300.

30. SIS International

SIS International

SIS International conducts focus group discussions in cities all over the US and globally and collects consumer feedback on anything from appliances, skincare products, gadgets, and just about anything.

Rates range from $25 to $200 for 2 to 3 hours of your time.

31. Apex Focus Group

Apex Focus Group connects regular people like you and me with researchers, who will pay for participants to join clinical research trials, phone interviews and focus groups.

As a participant at any Apex Focus Group study, you can be paid up to $750 a week.

Online and in-person studies are available.

32. Fieldwork

If you live near New Jersey, New York City, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, or Minneapolis, you can participate in current Fieldwork research studies.

Most of the paid focus groups are face-to-face (but online are sometimes available).

Each study lasts about 1 or 2 hours. Participants earn between $75 and $100 for their time.

33. Rare Patient Voice

This company mostly looks for participants who have rare diseases and medical conditions. As such, only eligible people can benefit from the studies.

However, anyone who qualifies will receive $120/hour.

You can share your views via online surveys, clinical trials, or web-assisted phone interviews.

34. ClinicalTrials.gov

The federal government continually seeks individuals willing to participate in clinical trials testing different medications and treatments.

Studies are often conducted by the National Institutes of Health.

You can check out a list of ongoing clinical trials at clinicaltrials.gov.

35. DScout

Unlike other paid online research studies on this list, DScout is an app you can download.

You need to register to become a “scout” and participate in research “missions,” which will earn you money after completion.

DScout studies are usually 1-on-1 interviews or video responses, so you’d have to be comfortable in front of the camera.

Missions pay from $50 to $100, each lasting about 30 minutes.

Can I turn these Paid Online Research Studies into a Full-Time Job?

While paid online studies are highly interesting and offer legitimate side cash, this gig cannot replicate the steady income and benefits you can get with a full-time job.

You’d have to consider that many research studies:

  • have eligibility requirements (which means you’re not guaranteed a slot every time)
  • cannot be joined twice (once you’ve participated in a specific study, you can’t do a repeat)
  • have varying payments (there’s no stability in such income)

I do think it’s a legitimate side gig if you’re in between jobs or have a lot of free time on your hands.

You can also get paid answering surveys, joining focus groups, or testing products.

28 Online Jobs for Artists That Pay for Your Creativity

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Online jobs for artists are tricky to find.

In this day and age, anyone can get a full-time job in the comforts of their own homes and earn a livable income without the hassles of the daily commute, spending gas money, and so on.

That’s why I took the time to find different freelance art jobs to help you come up with legitimate ways you can get paid for your creativity.

Modern artist

Finding online jobs for artists that would preserve their artistry is harder to find because these gigs must have:

  1. an acceptable compensation and;
  2. an opportunity that would keep their creativity alive.

Artists are a special breed of people—they bring beauty, enlightenment, awareness, and just overall good vibes to the world. When their creativity, artistry, or spirit burns out, their art suffers in the end.

So what kind of online jobs for artists are there?

Types of Online Jobs for Artists

The cool thing about artistic jobs is that you can do as many or as few freelance art jobs as you want.

  • Freelance – You can cater to two or more clients at a time. Dabble in advertising, mixed with other specializations like t-shirt design, animation, and so on.
  • Full-time – As a full-time, but home-based employee, you work exclusively for one company or client. Your tasks are usually described before contract-signing and will continue to be your responsibilities throughout your “employment.”
  • Part-time – Part-time online jobs for artists are a mix of freelance and full-time gigs. You’d have to follow some kind of strict schedule, say 8 am to 12 noon, but you are free to do other gigs after work.

In the past, online jobs for artists were exclusive to work that requires no team effort.

For example, t-shirt design, tattoo design, and graphic design can all be done by a single person and have been known to be a good fit for work-from-home settings.

Meanwhile, animation work and marketing-related jobs such as branding or advertising often require multiple people in a team of artists to complete the work.

The advancement of communication tools and collaboration apps, as well as how companies now embrace the work-from-home culture have made working with a team easier, even if you actually perform your work at home.

This means the majority of the artistic jobs traditionally available in office-based settings are most likely available as work-at-home jobs as well.

10 Online Art Job Ideas

1. Logo Designer

Logo designer

Logo designers are in demand now more than ever. With how easy it is to start a business these days, everyone is looking for creative ways to showcase their new brands.

Fiverr is where most logo designers hang out, but if you’re looking for a steadier gig or even a stable job, go over to Indeed to check what jobs are available for graphic design.

2. T-Shirt Designer

Learn how to design and sell t-shirts, even without equipment or time for customer service.

T-shirts have the possibility to go viral too. The right design + the right ad could become an insane passive stream of income for years.

3. Illustrator

There are quite a few ways to make money as an online illustrator.

You can draw manually, scan your artwork and upload, or use any modern drawing pens and tablets to bring your art directly to the screen.

There are tons of technology to support illustrators these days, allowing you to create anything from stick people to realistic drawings, from line graphs to more complicated charts and diagrams, and a whole lot more.

You don’t even need to have a degree in illustration, but having one can give you an edge over your competition in terms of pay.

4. Font Designer

Designing fonts may seem silly, but you’d be surprised how a handful of graphic designers are still earning real money with fonts they’ve designed years ago.

A font designer can get employed by a company or you can create and sell your own fonts on various marketplaces.

5. Fashion Designer

Fashion Designer

When you think fashion design, the first thing that may come to your mind is the glitz and glamour of runways, magazines, photoshoots, and so on.

But before the clothes get into production and presentation (either by print or the runway), designing the actual lingerie, streetwear, dresses, outerwear, pants, tops and other types of clothing comes first.

And fashion design can be done wherever you are, which means it’s a perfect job for freelancers.

Plus, you’d be able to make at least $60k/year for one client alone.

6. Motion Graphics (3D) Artist

If you’re skilled at both special effects and animation, you’d be awesome as a 3D motion graphics artist.

You’d need advanced computer skills (with proficiency in tools like After Effects and Adobe suite) and several projects in your portfolio to land a job.

7. Industrial Designer

Do you have a flair for designing furniture, cars, or other industrial goods? Your skills can take you places if you explore engineering and industrial design.

You’ll need to have a knack for creating designs that balance visual aesthetics, function, user-friendliness, and cost.

This career path is also a lucrative one. An industrial designer can make at least $70k/year (and more if he/she takes on two or more clients).

8. Creative Jobs in the Tech World

Modern office

This fusion between the arts and the tech industry is an interesting field.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics found out (from surveying 400 marketing and advertising HR managers) that companies are looking for experienced workers with expertise in web production, mobile development, user interface, and interaction design for both mobile and web applications.

There are tons of tech-focused creative jobs available, and more jobs are being invented by the day.

9. Online Art Therapist

Seeing a therapist is not as taboo as it once was, and as jobs migrate to the virtual space, therapists can now hold sessions online.

Yes, even art therapists.

You might need to get a degree and some sort of professional certification and license to officially operate as an art therapist, but if doing art that helps people improve their mental health sounds fulfilling to you, it may well be worth it.

For more information, visit the American Art Therapy Association page.

10. Caricaturist

Art can be funny, too.

If you have a knack for focusing on qualities of a subject and humorously exaggerate it (and not be cruel about it), caricature art may be something to explore.

These days, caricaturists aren’t just hanging out in parks, boardwalks, or events; they can be found online, too.

You can be commissioned to create caricatures from digital photos for printing on heavy board or canvas to be framed or on various merchandise, such as t-shirts, mugs, holiday cards, invitations, etc.

If you’re into political or societal humor, magazines or newsletters may be looking for someone like you.

18 Freelance Art Jobs Available Year-Round

If you’re looking for freelance art jobs you can dip your fingers into, check out these 12 companies that are always in search of creatives like you:

Photographers

Photography Jobs

Those with mad skills behind the lens could join several websites and earn through either direct sales or commissions.

  1. Avanti Press – For photographers interested in designing greeting cards
  2. Nature Friend – Nature-focused magazine accepts submitted photographs for publication
  3. Obeo – You don’t need a portfolio here. You just have to take decent photos of homes listed in the real estate market
  4. The Sun Magazine – Freelance photographers can earn $100 to $500 for a one-time use of their photos
  5. Papyrus (see under How Do I Submit Artwork) – This greeting card company pays photographers and illustrators for their work to be included in their products

In the past, I’ve talked about several sources where photographers can turn their photos into cash.

Illustrators

Illustrator jobs

  1. Avatar Press – Illustrators and colorists can find regular freelance work with this comic book publisher.
  2. Analog Science Fiction – Exclusive for artists specializing in realistic-looking illustrations.
  3. Cricket Magazine – Only digital formats are accepted to their email.
  4. CafePress – Accepts fan designs of t-shirts, mugs, hats, tote bags, and many more.
  5. Cape Shore – If you’ve mastered painting in oil, watercolor, acrylic, or even mixed media and are interested in creating designs for the company’s holiday-themed paper products, then head over to Cape Shore for the opportunity.
  6. crowdspring – This site connects artists to clients in competitive bids for commissioned work, such as logo design, web pages, cover art, clothing, and many more. Currently, there’s a waitlist to join as a creative, but check back as they have open registrations from time to time.
  7. Edge Science Fiction & Fantasy – Exclusively for book cover artists.
  8. Funny Times – Got high-resolution illustrations with humor infused in them? Submit your artwork here.
  9. Oatmeal Studios – Submit funny greeting card designs and modern cartoon ideas. Oatmeal is always on the lookout for real talent.
  10. Photolamus – Create caricatures from submitted digital photos. Jump to “Artists Information” on the footer, leave your email address, and you’ll get contacted back.
  11. Rubber Stamp Madness – Regularly accepts artwork in specific themes.
  12. Viabella – Greeting card company accepts illustration submissions.
  13. Wild Apple – Wild Apple licenses and publishes creative artists throughout the year.

Where Else to Find Online Jobs for Artists

If you can’t find freelance art jobs from the list above, you can hang out in any of these useful resources:

  1. ArtJobs.com – ArtJobs.com is an international job board in the Arts & Creative Industries, so you’ll see some acting and singing job postings right beside visual artist and illustrator job postings.
  2. Arts Thread – Ideal for graphic design artists.
  3. Authentic Jobs – You get a mix of creative, design, and tech jobs on this job board.
  4. Behance – Classic site allowing all types of visual artists to display their portfolios and connect with employers looking for artists online.
  5. Krop – Creative industry job board and portfolio hosting website, allowing you to search for jobs and display your portfolio on this site.

There’s also FlexJobs, Indeed, Glassdoor, Hubstaff Talent, LinkedIn, and other online job boards that are filled to the brim with opportunities for those deep into creative arts.

The Bottom Line: Artists CAN Make Money!

From the moment you knew you were an artist, I bet you can hear the naysayers clicking their tongues and muttering “just another starving artist.”

Well, they’re wrong!

Persist in looking for online jobs for artists that won’t require you to sacrifice your soul.

You’d be surprised at how many online jobs for artists there really are and how the right opportunity can turn your creativity into your main source of income.

Which of these online jobs are you interested in applying to? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

15 Profitable Affiliate Marketing Niches for 2023

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Looking to find the most profitable affiliate marketing niches to really kick start your business?

This should be the case whether you’re a beginner trying to dip your toes into affiliate marketing or someone who had tasted success from this type of business.

As an affiliate marketer, you should always be looking out for profitable affiliate marketing niches. Here’s why:

  • Find relevant topics – Every niche can have dozens, hundreds or even thousands of sub-niches. Discovering new ones you haven’t talked about on your platform opens up additional income possibilities as well.
  • Explore a new niche – You have a bit of ownership and control over the website, Facebook account, Instagram, or other platform you use to refer people to affiliate sites. You are the boss of your online business. Even if you’ve decided on a niche a long time ago, it’s still your call if you want to talk about something else.
  • Attract newcomers – Having a niche already defined means you also have your target audience in place. Adding content to your platform that is beyond your main niche will attract new audience to your blog or social media network. And the more people who follow you, the more referrals and commission potential you receive.

15 Most Profitable Affiliate Marketing Niches

In fashion retail, the hottest product changes quickly from one fad to the next. However, must-have items such as underwear or loungewear never go out of style.

Keep this in mind when it comes to choosing, adding or replacing affiliate marketing niches into your main line of business.

There will always be two kinds of niches:

  • CLASSIC: the most profitable niches are tried-and-tested to earn higher commissions, and
  • NEW: Hot, trending, experimental new niches that may or may not be placed on the first group of niches

Let’s start with classic affiliate marketing niches:

Niches that have been proven to work may seem hard to get into, but competition shouldn’t be an issue if you know what you’re doing.

These classic niches often solve a problem many people are looking for, such as how to lose weight, how to make money online, and so on.

Are you a plumber with decades of experience?

Can you explain how to fix pipes in ways a layman can understand?

Then you’re an instant expert in that niche.

Here are 10 more tried-and-tested classic and profitable affiliate marketing niches that will never go out of style:

Health & Wellness

Everybody wants to look and feel better or younger.

It’s human nature.

The good news to affiliate marketers is that technology and medical advancement just keeps on getting better, which means this niche can branch out into numerous sub-topics for years to come.

For example, even a niche as well-researched as diabetes can still be expanded when new studies, medicine, or other discoveries are published.

1. Weight Loss and Diets

Weight loss niche

Losing weight continues to be a hot topic.

Sub-niches like working out, diets (legit or fads), fitness, nutrition, and other niches related to weight loss will forever be something people search for.

Keep up-to-date with diet food of the year, popular fitness influencers, medical studies, and so on. Be on the lookout for in-demand weight loss products, such as tummy trimmers and supplements, among others.

If implemented right, an affiliate marketing business revolving this topic reaps impressive rewards.

2. Muscle Building

weight lifting niche

Aside from losing weight, people also look to achieve the opposite: bulking up.

This includes everything related to muscle building, weight training, gym activities, and even supplementing with protein powders and the like.

You’d think topics like this have reached its peak, but new science always pop up and these affiliate marketing niches never go stale.

For example, scientists believe that the “perfect pill” solution to muscle building is getting closer to development.

3. Pregnancy & Mom Blogs

Pregnancy Niche

As long as the circle of life continues and no zombie apocalypse occurs anytime soon, pregnancy will always be a sought-after topic for both genders.

What’s interesting is that the pregnancy niche revolves as humans do.

50 years ago, in vitro fertilization and surrogacy were taboo and only ever considered under the radar.

Today, these two procedures have given people who cannot get pregnant the traditional way a safe technique.

With the amount of products marketed to soon-to-be and new mothers, the pregnancy and new baby niches are always viable options.

4. Depression

depression niche

According to the World Health Organization, 300 million people around the world are depressed.

That’s a lot of people trying to find a solution to how they feel.

Depression isn’t a one-size-fits-all problem either.

Depression can fall under various categories, such as postpartum depression, seasonal depression, bipolar disorder, and so on.

You can either zone in on a specific niche or create a huge website that tackles all kinds of depression in one platform.

The Make Money Online Niches

Since people discovered that it is possible to make money online, blogging for cash, selling products online or just working from home (among many other online opportunities) will continue to be hot affiliate marketing niches.

It opens up income opportunities to those who otherwise won’t have an option, such as homemakers, retirees, students, the disabled, and so on.

5. Digital Marketing

Digital marketing niche

Digital marketing has evolved quite extensively in the last 15 years.

It still refers to advertising through various channels like search engines, email, sites, or mobile apps, but the trends and predictions change from time to time.

What doesn’t change, though, is that companies are aware of how effective digital marketing is and are more than willing to pay for online advertising.

And as long as there are businesses paying, it’s smart to research niches within this field continuously so you are up-to-date with block chain technologies, Internet of Things, and other advancements.

6. Working from Home

Work from home niche

The work-from-home industry attracts people of all ages.

It’s mainly because the pros of working from home continue to outweigh the disadvantages.

Plus, companies are welcoming telecommute across the board and see this as part of the work force’s future.

Relationship Niches

Aside from health and money, people become heavily invested in relationships.

As such, don’t be surprised how much money is spent in the dating industry and relationship advice niche.

7. Dating

Online dating niche

In the U.S. alone, the online dating industry is estimated to be worth over $2.5 billion.

Imagine how much you could make turning this goldmine niche into a success affiliate marketing business.

8. Marriage

Wedding niche

Weddings are absurdly expensive.

Like, stupidly expensive.

For some reason, you throw the word wedding in front of a normal word like cake, or flowers, and it instantly quadruples in price.

It’s not uncommon to see people spend between $20,000-$40,000 on their wedding day.

Now think of how many weddings happen per year.

Yeah, there is A LOT of money here.

Your Passion Niche

Anything people spend time and effort on are always good as affiliate marketing niches because you’re sure that they will spend money on them too.

9. Pets

Pet niches

Pets are like families, especially for dog, cat and other animal lovers.

They need all the basic needs (and some wants) as humans do, so their family members spend money on food, clothes, toys, vitamins, and so on.

Focusing your affiliate marketing on pets can achieve higher returns because the need will always be there for pet products.

10. Expensive Hobbies

Golf niche

Expensive is a relative word, so consider this niche as any activity that can put a strain on a regular Joe’s monthly expenses.

Examples of this include sailing, golf, fishing, collecting art (can be pop culture figures, painting, photos, etc.) and so much more.

If you focus on any of these affiliate marketing niches, you’d be targeting people with bigger budgets to spend.

And the more new-age niches:

Those who are just starting out, or adding a new site to your affiliate marketing empire should check out these up-and-coming niches:

11. 3D Printing

3d printing niche

3D printing isn’t new, but the interest with this business is growing as I type this.

When it first came out, only brick-and-mortar printing firms and rich people could afford to try out this new technology.

But now that the 3D printer can be bought at a much lower price, you can get into this industry and reap the benefits of higher affiliate commissions.

12. E-sports gaming

Gaming niche

E-sports is a professional-level competition among video game players around the world.

It’s been growing since 2000, but it has now turned into a full-blown industry that you can dip your fingers in and finally make money playing video games.

Choose from gaming guides, hardware, access to games, or other e-sports products.

Whichever route you take, I’m pretty sure you’d be surprised with the level of commitment gamers spend with their craft and how much commissions you’d make.

13. Survivalism

Survivalism niche

Preppers may be made fun of by the extreme way they prepare for the end of the world, zombie apocalypse, robot/alien invasion,  and so on.

But this niche has legitimate reasoning behind the followers’ beliefs, and more people are joining the survivalism lifestyle. Just ask the tech billionaires in Silicon Valley...

There are plenty of sub-niches in the survival niche, too! Aside from home defense, you can dig deeper into homesteading, growing your own food, survival kits, weapons, security supplies, bunkers, tactical tools, and more.

14. Nootropics

Nootropics niche

Like many brain-boosting health supplements, nootropics became popular overnight and there is no proof that it actually works.

Nootropics is advertised as a supplement that enhances memory and cognition, which in turn, helps with learning and performance of students or professionals.

It’s more likely that nootropics has a placebo effect, but what I’m sure is that any new health supplement has the potential to become a profitable affiliate marketing niche.

15. Digital Currency Investment

Crypto niche

Investment in digital currencies and bitcoins can be confusing to many people – that’s why there are tons of crypto scams around.

But if you know your way around this niche, this is the right time to dwell deeper into digital currency. The demand is super-high, and the rewards are shockingly-good.

A Word on Social Media Affiliate Marketing

Traditionally, affiliate marketing is launched and managed on a website. It works and continue to work to this day.

But if you’re new to this business, you’d be pleased to know that you can earn money online with affiliate marketing just by using your social media account.

The rules will be different (some social media platforms don’t allow links with posts), but it is possible.

If you’d like to stick to websites instead, you can still focus on social media and promote tutorials, courses, products that would enhance social media experience, and so on.

The Bottom Line on Affiliate Marketing Niches

Other topics that have a continuous demand (but I didn’t list down here) include:

  • Green energy – Electricity prices increase around the world, so the demand for alternative energies such as solar, battery, and the like will continue to be a worthy niche to explore.
  • Virtual reality – It’s not a new niche, but tech companies continue to incorporate VR into new products. This means you’ll have never-ending products to promote and commissions to enjoy.
  • Learning how to do something – Look for any niche that teaches people to do something, such as talk in another language (English, French, Japanese, Chinese, etc.) or learn how to play a ukulele, and you’re sure to find a niche that people will visit.
  • Spirituality – Go beyond horoscopes and astrology. There are tons of interesting sub-niches here, such as paranormal, witchcraft, magic, hypnosis, and many more.

Loans, real estate, travel, and insurance will forever be in-demand, but these niches can be hard to get into if you don’t have a huge budget to spend.

To compete with seasoned affiliate marketers or those with unlimited budgets, your best bet is to pick the niche wisely.

I hope these 15 hot and profitable affiliate marketing niches will help you get started build a sustainable online business.