Traditionally, when you want to make money, you would always get the same advice – get a job! However, you could own so many jobs, so if you need to make ends meet or desire to diversify your income, it can become a little complicated.
Fortunately, there are ways to earn money without applying for a job. Here are twenty of them.
How do you start earning money without a job?
Let's lay some groundwork before we delve into ideas for earning money without a job. First, we need to understand our goals for earning. That helps us find the correct idea. Here’s a couple of questions you should ask yourself:
- How much money would I want to earn?
- How much time am I willing to allocate to it?
- Is the potential of replacing my job important? - Some opportunities allow you to quit your job as they pay well. So, if that’s important, we can narrow down our options.
Once you’ve answered these questions, we can find the best way for you! But no matter your choice, you’ll have to work hard on it consistently. Without it, you won’t be earning much.
#1 - Sell Your Old Items
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One of the quickest ways to earn a little more money is to go through your house/apartment and sell some used items you don’t use anymore. You’d be surprised how much stuff you have lying around not getting any use.
But what’s even better is that not only will you earn some extra cash, but you’ll also help declutter your home.
So where should you sell your old stuff? Well, there are many ways to do that, but some places include:
Plus, if you find some unused gift cards lying around, that’s another way to earn extra cash. All you have to do is submit the code to various platforms like
#2 - Flip Items
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While selling your old stuff is the quickest way to earn cash, there’s an issue – you’ll run out of property to sell! So, if you want to earn the same way, the best way is to start flipping items. Here’s how it works.
You’ll first go through different garage sales, outlets, and online marketplaces, looking for items sold below their value. Then you just buy them and sell them for a higher price, and you keep the profit.
Sounds simple, right? And you could sell those items on the platforms where you sold your old things.
Here’s a couple of tips to get you started:
- Pick a Niche You Know About - While it’s tempting to start flipping highly profitable items, it’s better to be in an industry you already know about. That way, finding great offers will be much easier.
- Reinvest Your Profits - If you’re on a shoestring budget, reinvesting your profits is the best way to earn more. First, you can start with items valued at $15 to $20. But with every sale, you reinvest your profits to buy more things or more expensive ones to flip.
#3 - Become a Rideshare or Delivery Driver
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Another quick and easy way to earn money without a job is to become a rideshare or a delivery driver. With this, you’ll deliver various stuff like food and groceries or do some taxi work.
All the platforms out there give you the flexibility to drive as much or as little as you want. You only need to ensure you’re at least 18, own a driving license, and possess a new-enough car!
If you have all of them, you could try one of these platforms:
- Uber - Do taxi work or deliver food
- DoorDash - Deliver food and groceries to the doorstep.
- Instacart - Deliver groceries
- Lyft - Do taxi work
#4 - Do Freelance Work
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However, if you want to work in the comfort of your home, there’s nothing better than becoming a Freelancer. With this, you will be offering digital services to companies. That could be anything like copywriting, video editing, UI design or programming.
Plus, this has the potential to replace your current job. So, if that sounds intriguing, then you can try one, if not all, of these freelance platforms:
And to help out with your freelance journey, here’s a couple of tips to get clients fast:
- Focus on Reputation First - While you might want to get paid more than just a couple of dollars, it’s best to first apply to them. That’s because you’ll be more likely to get hired, and you could get positive reviews. Then, as you get more positive reviews, you can increase your prices until you get to a comfortable one.
- Send “You-focused” Proposals - In platforms like PeoplePerHour and Upwork, you get work by sending proposals to job posts. So, a great way to get hired is to discuss what the client wants rather than your qualifications. That helps them feel heard.
- Go Beyond Platforms - While freelance platforms are great to start, the most money is made outside of it. So, after some time, I suggest you build a portfolio website and find clients through cold emails.
#5 - Start a Blog
Are you a great writer? If so, one of the best ways to start earning money from your hobbies is to start a blog. With this, you’ll be creating valuable articles about a particular niche. You’ll get paid in various ways:
- Through affiliated products
- Through promotions
- Through Ads on Your Website
- Through Your Merch
- Through Patreon Subscribers.
But what’s best is that your blogs can start earning passive income with time. If your content is good, Google will promote your articles, and you’ll always have new traffic coming in. Here are a couple of platforms to build your blog on:
However, if you don’t have the cash to maintain your website, you could also try out third-party platforms like Medium or Blogger. However, as soon as you have enough money, build your own.
And to make your blog a success, here are a couple of tips:
- Make your blog stand out - The most critical part of a successful blog is to make it unique. You need a reason for the audience to choose your blog over thousands of others.
- Focus on Building an Engaged Audience - When starting a blog, you should build an engaged audience. That will be much more helpful for you in the long term as more companies want to promote their products on your blog, and the promotions will convert better.
- Create Content Consistently - No matter if your articles don’t get many readers, it doesn’t matter. If you want to be successful, you have to create more content. With each article written, you get closer to a viral post. So don’t give up!
#6 - Become a Content Creator
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Staying in the same line, you could also become a content creator. With this, instead of writing articles, you’ll create visual content like videos and images. You get paid the same way as blogging through promotions, pre-roll ads and affiliate products.
So, if creating visual content sounds more up your alley, then you can become a creator on the following platforms:
And to help you out to become a successful content creator, we suggest you follow the same advice as with blogs:
- Focus on creating an engaged audience
- Make your content unique
- Post regularly.
If you do these, sooner or later, you will be successful! Just don’t give up!
#7 - Become a Streamer
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Becoming a streamer is much like being a content creator, with one big difference: instead of posting videos, you’ll be doing stuff like playing video games live! That means you’ll have to be much more talkative and entertaining on the spot, which is not for everyone.
However, there’s good money to have as streamers earn money through:
- Donations
- Subscribers
- Promotions
- Merchandise
If streaming sounds up your alley, then you can try out the following platforms:
To make sure your streams are successful, here are a couple of tips:
- Promote your live streams and channels on social media – Unfortunately, most people don’t find new streamers organically. Usually, it’s by learning about it on social media or having another streamer raid them. So, to ensure your success, promote your livestreams on social media so people can come and check out.
- Engage with your audience – One of the reasons why people watch streams is because they can interact with content creators. So, to keep your viewers interested, you should always try to engage with them. If they like you enough, they will subscribe to you.
- Create a Streaming Schedule - Not only does this help you to stay consistent and get more viewers, but it can also help your viewers know when you go live, which can help you get higher view numbers!
#8 - Do Transcription Work
One of the most reliable ways to earn some money is through transcription. With this, you’ll make money by listening to audio and video files and writing what is said into a document.
However, to be successful with this, there are a couple of requirements. First, you need to have excellent English. That means you should have impeccable grammar and high writing speed while staying accurate.
But if you’ve got all those, then you could sign up for these platforms:
#9 - Sell Photos Online
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Do you create impressive photos? Why not sell your photos online? With this, you can start earning passive income. You’ll earn whenever someone downloads one of your pictures.
So, if you’re interested in getting into photography, here are a couple of places where you can sell them:
And to increase your chances of success, here’s a couple of tips to help you out:
- Make Quality Images – Not all pictures work. When a person wants to buy a photo from you, they expect it to look better than they could come up with. So make sure you take excellent shots and also edit them professionally.
- Create Hundreds of Photos - To start earning hundreds of dollars, you need to also think about the quantity of the photos. That’s because most stock photos earn you between 25-45 cents. So, make sure to upload more pictures regularly.
#10 - Rent Out Your Car
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One of the best ways to earn money without a job is to rent out your belongings. And one of the best ways is to rent out your car.
Depending on your car, you could earn a few hundred dollars every time a person orders your vehicle.
And it’s all passive income! You only need to allocate time to the pickup locations and answer messages. But other than that, you can just live like you want. However, there’s also a risk of getting your car damaged or in an accident.
But if that doesn’t deter you, then you should sign up for Turo and get your car inspected. Once all that is done, you can use the following tips to have higher success:
- Price your Car Competitively - You can price your car according to what you think is worth it. So go through Turo looking at vehicles similar to yours. You can also use Turo’s calculator to help find the right price.
- Create Good Pictures - For a competitive advantage, creating some stunning pictures for your post is best. That way, it’s more eye-catching, which helps to get more orders.
#11 - Become a Tutor
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If you’ve got a skill at something you’re great at, then one of the best ways to earn cash is through tutoring. It’s even better if there’s an academic subject, like math, that you’re good at, as students are always looking for help with it.
You will earn for every tutored hour and may need some precious teaching experience or a degree to do that. However, if you qualify, then you can try out the following platforms:
#12 - Start a Print-On-Demand Business
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If you’re more entrepreneurial-minded, creating a print-on-demand business is one of the best ways to start earning. With this, you’ll sell products like t-shirts, mugs, and other items on your Shopify store.
However, what makes this even better is that you won’t have to do any fulfilling or have money for inventory. That’s because whenever you get an order, the POD company will print it and ship it to your customer.
So, if that sounds interesting, then here are a couple of companies that help you jumpstart your business:
And to help you out, here’s also a couple of tips:
- Find a Niche Market - You shouldn’t create generic designs When creating POD products. Instead, you should pick a niche and make specific products. That way, you’ll stand out and have much higher chances of success.
- Develop an Effective Marketing Strategy - To ensure the success of your store, you need to ensure your marketing is effective. You should learn about your market characteristics and create marketing material tailored to your audience.
#13 - Start a Podcast
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If you don’t want to show your face when creating content, then one of the best ways to do that is to start a podcast. In there, you’ll be creating episodes where you either teach/entertain the audience or have some interviews with interesting people.
And just like with all other content creation types, you get paid through paid promotions or by your products.
So, if starting a podcast sounds interesting, then you can create one by signing up for one of these platforms:
#14 - Investing into Stocks
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If there’s any way to earn money without a job you shouldn’t ignore, it’s this one! While it won’t be profitable in the short term, playing your card right can help you retire and not worry about money during old age.
And to get started, you need a broker! Here’s a couple of brokers you should try out:
Plus, to make it easy to start, here’s a couple of tips:
- Invest in Boring Stocks - While it sounds exciting to get into daily trading, I highly suggest you not do it. No one knows how the market will react. So it’s better, especially for beginners, to invest in dividend stocks and those that have historically proven to increase in value steadily, like the S&P 500.
- Set aside a monthly amount to invest - To earn the most with stocks, it’s best to set aside some monthly money. That way, your portfolio will steadily increase, and you’ll have much more money for retirement.
#15 - Start a Dropshipping Business
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The dropshipping business is quite similar to print-on-demand. You’ll still own an eCommerce business, and you won’t have any inventory. However, instead of selling t-shirts with your design, you’ll resell cheap items for a higher price.
Here’s how it works:
- A customer orders a product.
- You then collect from your supplier.
- The supplier will then ship the product to your customer.
- You keep the profit.
So, if that sounds like an exciting business model, then you should connect your eCommerce websites with one of these platforms:
And to help you out, we recommend you not chase trendy products! That’s because while trendy products sell well, they always come and go. Instead, create a brand tailored to a niche. That way, you get more loyal customers and can earn higher profits.
#16 - Make Money Through Errands
Another way to earn a little more money is by doing small, odd jobs for people around the neighbourhood. That usually includes helping people move out, assembling IKEA furniture or mowing the lawn.
And while it might be tedious work, it’s a great way to earn an extra buck. So, if that sounds interesting, then you should sign up for these platforms:
#17 - Become a Virtual Assistant
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Entrepreneurs and CEOs always look for ways to allocate smaller tasks to someone else. That means becoming a virtual assistant can be pretty profitable. You can earn $1,000 per week by just doing simple things like scheduling meetings, managing social media, and more.
So, if that sounds up your alley, then you could find some virtual assistant work on these platforms:
#18 - Write eBooks
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Another way to earn money through writing is by creating eBooks. You can make some excellent fictional books or teach your skills with this. Plus, what’s great about selling eBooks is that you can earn passive income.
So, if that sounds interesting, then you could start selling your eBooks on the following platforms:
To help you out with writing a successful eBook, here’s a couple of tips:
- Focus on writing on topics you’re an expert at - When writing eBooks, you must write about things you know about. It can be about anything from math and coding to cooking. That way, you can give tips that most people don’t know about making your ebook more valuable.
- Write in a Conversational Manner - To get more eBook sales, you must ensure that the book gets read and gets value. And the best way to do that is just to write as you would talk to a friend. That way, you won’t confuse the reader with technical jargon or bore them to death.
#19 - Offer Some Sitting Services
You could offer sitting services around the neighbourhood besides mowing the lawn. These could be babysitting someone's kid, sitting at someone’s house while on vacation or sitting with someone’s pet.
So if that sounds like something that sounds interesting, then you can find sitting jobs on these platforms:
#20 - Participate in Paid Market Research
Companies are always looking for ways to get ahead in the market. And the best way for them to do that is to do some research about the consumers. So, participating in them is a great way to earn some cash.
Depending on the study, it can be entirely online, or you must be in a location. However, you can be paid hundreds of dollars for it. So if that sounds interesting, you can start participating when you sign up for Lightster.
FAQs
Which of these ways will earn money the fastest?
The fastest way to earn is to sell old items, do errands, or become a rideshare or delivery driver. However, there are more profitable ways to do that.
How can I make $1,000 a week without a job?
Almost anything on this list can earn you $1,000 a week! All you have to do is consistently work hard and stay patient. Then, with some time, you could earn $1,000 a week, if not more!
Conclusion
And those were the 20 excellent ways to make money without a job. There’s something for anyone, no matter how big or small your goals. So what are you waiting for? Take action today, and soon you’ll see yourself earning a decent side income.
