All you need is a proven idea that has worked well for others and then executes it with your personal touch.

As long as you take the time to learn something correctly and understand that a project’s success requires time, patience, and constant improvement, you will achieve it.

“Your input determines your outlook. Your outlook determines your output, and your output determines your future.”

— Zig Ziglar

Keep in mind that I can tell you right now a hundred ways to make thousands of dollars online, but if you don’t do your research correctly after this post and don’t put in the time to achieve it, you won’t even make a dollar.

And this is because there is no such thing as easy money.

I have friends who asked me how I earn money writing and when I tell them the process, they leave it after one or two months because they are not earning the thousands of dollars I promised them.

When I ask them how much time they dedicated to writing each day, they always tell me: “I wrote 3 articles, and none of them give me a single dollar.”

It is very easy to say that Desiree is making thousands of dollars only writing two or three articles per month, but they do not see that I dedicate over 4 hours a day every day to those “two or three articles.”

With that in mind, today, I bring you 5 proven ways to make money online that I have been testing and work. I chose those jobs because they are low risk, low cost, and you can learn them for free.

If you really put passion into them and the time to make those jobs successful, then you could get to make 6 figures a year from them.

1. Software development

I have been a Software Developer for 5 years. Without a doubt, I can tell you that the market is growing up and every day there are more jobs in the area.

With the pandemic, many software companies decided to go completely remote. If there were already good offers before, in 2021, there will be more opportunities for developers to work at home.

The salary range for a Software developer goes from $30,000 a junior developer to more than $120,000 annually in the United States.

The good news is that you don’t need to spend years of study to be a developer, and you don’t need to be an expert in the field to get started. I got my first job when I was 17, having taken technical courses and no work experience.

Currently, there are many programming courses online on pages like Udemy, Code academy or Coursera, that you can do from 3 to 6 months. If the course is good and you are really passionate about coding, you will do projects and create your own portfolio in those six months.

If you don’t want to start programming directly from the beginning, you can get a job on the software team in one of the following areas:

• Quality Assurance (QA Developer) A QA is a person that tests the developer's projects to ensure the quality of software products.
• Analyst developer. They are responsible for making the software's requirements and talking with the client about what they need to inform the developer.
• Project manager. Is in charge of directing the software project from its inception to its delivery to the client. He is in charge of setting the dates and that everything goes according to plan.

Those jobs also pay well and will help you become familiar with the area.

My recommendation if you want to be a developer is to look for a programming language that is suitable for your objectives; Zulie has a list here that can help you make a decision. And then become an expert on it.

Start creating small personal projects (even if they are calculators or to-do lists) and start making a presence on the internet with a portfolio using a repository like GitHub.

2. Start a blog

With currently around 133 million blogs on the internet, it seems hard to believe that you can still make money creating one. However, many people still become successful writing on the internet every day.

That’s because there is little quality information around the internet. So if you are good and original enough, you can stand out quickly. Only a few blogs get to earn relevant amounts because people are unwilling to invest the time necessary to reach that goal.

I started writing in 2020. In 8 months, I built an audience that is leaving me 4 figures a month. And I am not the only one, my friends started blogging professionally in October, and one of them could go viral in 2021.

The world of writing on the internet is quite extensive, and you can talk about many themes. Even though there are many blogs already, that doesn’t mean there is a good blog in your area.

“If you can find a way to create value — that is, add value for a massive number of people — you will have an opportunity to have a massive amount of economic abundance in your life.”

— Tony Robbins

My recommendation if you are going to start doing it is:

• Get a niche you like to write. You don’t have to be an expert, but you must be passionate about what you do.
• Find the right platform to write about that topic. Many blogs fail because people don’t understand the platform you are writing for. For example, don’t expect to be famous on Wattpad by writing scientific articles because they are good for fiction.
• Be patient and keep learning. Every day you can learn something new that will help you with your blog. In December, I thought I knew everything; however, in January, I discovered new things that have helped me continue growing.

3. Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is basically get paid to recommend products. You don’t need to have a large audience to start, and you don’t even need to buy any product.

This business has always been one of the most popular and effective ways to make money online, and that’s not about to change anytime soon.

It’s how many people first get started online because of its simplicity. In fact, this was the alternative I got instead of creating my own Amazon or Shopify store.

In this way, I could know how good I was at selling products for a commission without having an inventory. If I could get at least 10% of my followers to buy the products that I had on the list, then I can launch my own store later when I get more followers.

If you have many followers, you can also do influencer marketing, which is getting payments from big brands for using and sponsoring their products.

This type of marketing started in 2019 thanks to Ben Francis, and currently, brands such as Fashion Nova, Shein, and Forever21 use this strategy to promote their clothes.

To start recommending products, Amazon only requires you the URL of the page where you are going to publish the products. I only had 100 subscribers on my Youtube Chanel when they approved my account. Big brands that send you clothes and money require you to have a minimum of 5000 followers.

Currently, amazon gives between 2–5% commission. But if you learn quickly how to get sponsors from other brands, you can get up to 25–30%.

You can learn how to promote products in Udemy and Skillshare courses, and you can promote your webpage on social networks like Pinterest or Tiktok.

4. Content creator

The content creator is easier than ever. A few years ago, you can only monetize your content via YouTube. Currently, there are hundreds of platforms with which you can make money by having an audience.

TikTok has a creator program, Twitch has a creator program, and even Facebook has one too.

Those platforms have a big audience that is only growing. If you manage to start a popular channel or page that gets many views, you could make a lot of money from it.

You don’t even need a professional camera to get started. I started my YouTube channel only with my cell phone and a $14 microphone I bought on Amazon.

My audience has grown because of the type of content I do and the value I give to my followers. So as long as you have a good idea and a positive message to share, the followers will come.

5. Create a good investment portfolio

An investment portfolio is to allocate an amount of money in percentages for stocks or cryptocurrencies.

It is different from daily trading because you do not need to spend all day seeing if it will rise or fall to make a move, which I don’t recommend if you do not have enough knowledge.

Normally, these types of investments are made in the long term. Also, financial advisors look for safe stocks that you know can have a good impact during the year, such as Apple or Amazon companies you know are solid.

If you want to start making this type of investment, I recommend you contact a financial advisor or read and watch many videos of what stocks or currencies will be safe to invest in this year before making your own decision.

Last year, I invested in 10 popular stocks, and I earned 20% of the investments I made.

Final thoughts

Currently, there are good ways to earn money online. Focusing on what is really worthwhile and learning correctly can help you run a great business from home.

As I have said before, something I love about online business is that if you are good at what you do, it is only a matter of time for everything to change. One year ago, I did not earn even $1 online; currently, I earn 4 figures monthly.

The best advice I can give you is to look for what you can last all day working because you like it and the payment will only be part of that success.

This Article was Originally Published on Medium.com