Last Updated: 5th Mar, 2019

I can tell you the exact methods that I used to make money online. It took me about 6 months to learn the basics of writing, content marketing and website building. During the learning period, my earning was zero.

If you are looking for a magic then you are at the wrong place. I suggest you not to waste your time reading further.

(There is a fun way of making money online by playing Rummy, but just for fun. I will explain after sharing my story). 

I tell you that

• Internet can not give you instant money. 
• Data entry jobs providers are mostly scams. Don’t waste your time & money.
• There is no quick way of earning money except in crime & scams. Stay away from the both.
• If you are in immediate need of money, then find someone who can give you loan. Work hard later to pay off the loan as soon as possible.

You can earn a lot of money online, if

• If you have passion to learn new skills.
• You can wait for at least 6 months to see your first online income.
• You have internet connection, laptop and some money to start your website.

My Story

I worked in an IT company as technical lead with zero knowledge of online businesses.

I left my job to explore the new direction of my life. Failed twice at my businesses then I started CashOverflow as a hobby in 2015. I invested a lot of my time in learning from books, blogs and courses. Because that’s how you learn & improve yourself.

I am earning more than 2,00,000 Rupees per month from my blog itself. I have additional revenue streams that I will explain in this article.

Let’s learn something that can really make you rich in the long run.

I started my blog CashOverflow in May, 2015 to make sustainable income online. 

I have done hard work for you to find the best available courses on internet that won’t cost you a lot of money but still teach you a lot (in less time).

That is the only way to learn – investing into ourselves. (Ask yourself, can you invest $10 today for your learning?)

When someone walks on the tough path, he can guide others to avoid the mistakes. You don’t have to repeat my mistakes.

If you are still reading, means you are willing to work hard to make online income.

11 Proven Ways to Make Money Online

#1. Become a Freelancer

If you are a good programmer, designer or marketer then you can find a lot of paid jobs. You just need to be patient and willing to learn more.

You need to have two skills to become a good freelancer. One is your core skill, and the second skill is marketing. If you are not a good marketer, then seek help from an experienced marketer to make your profile. You have to have excellent communication skills to get clients.

I have written two in-depth articles on how to earn upto Rs. 5000 per article as a Freelance writer.

#2. Do Manual Jobs Online

The internet is full of choices. If you do not have time to do committed work as a freelancer but want to make money online, then do quick work in small fees as low as $5.

Help people with small services at Amazon mTurk and Fiverr.

You will be surprised to see how you can monetize your free time.

#3. Become a Consultant

You can sell you advice and knowledge to many people. You don’t have to be super expert in one domain to become a consultant or teacher, you just have to be better than your student or client.

I acquired content marketing skills by working with a lot of startups. Sometimes I got success and sometimes failure, with every failure I learned something new in content marketing. Now people call me content marketing expert and gladly pay me Rs. 5000 per hour for my advice over the phone/skype.

I help them in making a content marketing plan. They get more business by running better marketing campaigns.

Anyone with a core competitive skill can become a consultant and find clients online. For example, if you are a legal or finance professional, then you can make your website, and start attracting clients online.

You can either monetize your existing skills, or learn new skills that make money online.

Don’t expect to make quick money without having skills.

I am saying it again, It is possible to learn online skills in few months of dedicated time.

#4. Earn Online Money from YouTube

You might not know that people are making millions from youtube. Again, not an easy option, but very much doable for anyone who can record & upload videos on a particular topic.

Two kinds of people can make successful YouTube channels, one who make funny & entertaining videos, second who can make highly helpful videos for a niche audience (like students, mothers, housewives, tech geeks).

You can go through our in-depth guide on how to earn money from YouTube, where we have shown examples of successful people who are making money on YouTube, we shared step by step process of making YouTube channel, how to market & grow your channel, and which tools you may need to create & promote videos.

My friend Gaurav started teaching UPSC on youtube channel unAcademy, that became so successful that now they turned it into an online education startups and recently raised money from VCs.

#5. Make Money from Facebook, Instagram

There is no limit on the earning potential through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Hey, I am not cracking jokes. There are people out there who charge as much as 20,000 rupees for just one tweet or facebook post. Now close your mouth, it’s true.

Here are some of the ways that I am aware of, to earn money through Facebook. I myself paid money directly to admins to promote my content on Facebook pages (not to confuse with Facebook advertisements).

Social media fan base is an asset for such people, most of them are in entertainment domain. People related to fashion and entertainment domain can monetize their Instagram page. You can check fan base of BhakSala, GabbarSingh and StoryPick, and you can imagine how valuable those can be for any company who want to advertise on such pages.

#6. Buy & Sell Domains

You may not know but you can rent your website if you have a good traffic. I learned this method of making online income when I was working with a client in real estate domain. Rather than building out his website from the scratch, he rented out a website from a guy who already had the traffic, with people interested in buying a home in his local area.

My friend was not interested in buying his website, so he asked to get his website on rent for few months. He collected the leads by showing his properties on the website. He returned the website back after selling his real estate inventory.

Isn’t it interesting? All our life we thought that only physical offices & houses can be rented 🙂

The other option is selling your domain if you have a good SEO score (Domain Authority) or you own a domain with a special name. My favorite social media scheduling company, buffer, bought buffer.com in $600,000 last year. In similar way you can buy expired domains and sell at higher price to people who need that. Honestly, domain trading business is tricky and you have to be an expert even to start, otherwise you may lose money.

But, if you already have domain and not using it, you can try selling on marketplaces like Flippa.com

Note: I own more than 50 domains at this time. I keep on investing in the domains and this year I sold one domain in $15,000 (equivalent to Rs. 10 lakh). When you start working on your online business then you will also learn how to make money from the domain selling.

Read Also: How to start your blog in few minutes yourself (everything you want to know)

#7. Income from Writing Work

I never thought I will ever become a writer. I started writing for my startup blog and found a connection with words.

Honestly, I was never good at English and still working on improving my grammar. Today, most of my businesses run based on my writing skills.

I learned that formal education is not required to become good at any work.

If you like writing, then just start it. There are many experts available online who are willing to teach you write good copies.

Trust me, many companies are looking for good writers but it is difficult to find writers who write well. You can be the next one. A good writer charges between 5,000 Rs to 20,000 Rs per article.

If you are good at writing:

Then this article can help you earn money through your writing skills.

Note: If you think that you can write well but do not have any clients, then you can send me sample of your work. I do not guarantee any work but I will try my best to get something for you based on your capability. 

#8. Start Your Blog to Earn Money Online

You can make money from your writing skills in two ways.

• Write for someone and make money immediately
• Write for yourself and make money slowly, but consistently

That is the difference between a freelance job and owning a business. Your blog can be your online business, it will take some time to build your audience but you will keep making money even when you are sleeping.

You can create Ads like below, using simple Google Adsense. You make money whenever someone click on such Ad Blocks.

I started making money from my blog in September 2016 and made 60,000 in the first month itself. Now my online income is more than 100,000 Rs per month from my blog.

Follow this step by step guide to start your blog in less than 60 minutes (Including all configurations)

#9. Make Money with Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate is similar to running a retail shop. You signup with retailers like Amazon and Flipkart, promote your favorite products on your website and social media to make a decent money.

I am discussing affiliate marketing as a separate option because it can fit with any kind of online business, in some scenarios people don’t even own a website but make money through Affiliate marketing.

I simply curated a list of my favorite books, and linked to Amazon so that interested people can buy books.

Three people bought on the same day and I earned a small affiliate commission. If someone goes to amazon website by clicking your link.

You can start promoting affiliate links in Facebook groups, online forums, and write product reviews on LinkedIn, Quora & Medium.

You may also like to read- Best credit card in India

#10. Start a Product Startup

That is the most beautiful and profitable way of running an online business. I failed at two startups but got success at content marketing. You never know how a startup can help in your growth.

You have to work hard to make a product that customers want to buy. The whole process of starting a product company, hiring a team, selling the product is very exciting.

Read my articles on YourStory where I shared a lot about challenges of starting a company.

There is a big market in personal finance space, you can start a company or blog to facilitate loans people with low credit score, or providing a credit limit to people with high credit score.

There are many use cases in India, UK and USA to explore further.

#11. Open a digital Store (Shopify, Woo-Commerce or Marketplaces)

You must be having some products in mind to sell on a online store – it could be electronics, designer jewelry or handkerchiefs.

If you have a dream to open online then follow this step by step guide to open your online store.

I discussed about:

• validating idea,
• setting up the store,
• procuring products and
• finding customers.

Time for Action

I can keep sharing information but nothing gonna help you until you take the action. Most of people are afraid of failure and they don’t start anything.

Take the first step and you will see the light ahead.

I am sure you can pick one idea from my list of 100 online business ideas. I have covered all industries like Finance, Tech, Travel, Fashion, Shopping, Education, Food, Jobs, Politics, Bollywood.. Whatever you can think, I have shared so many ideas for online business.

If you have a moderate writing skills, you can start your own blog. I am willing to show you how to start a website, do keyword research, and save money at every step of managing your online business.

Join my Newsletters and I will share you more information about earning money online.