We are entering a new post-post industrial revolution era, where the dream now is to leave that once-coveted cubicle job. Now, the new goal for many is to work their own hours from the comfort of home doing something at least halfway enjoyable while listening to music or watching TV.
Fortunately, it’s easier than ever to say goodbye to office life and earn either a livable wage or just some additional pint money working from home or wherever else there is Wi-Fi. Below we have listed four of the most popular (and easiest) ways that people can make money online.
Comping
It’s a little bit of a grind, but the art of ‘comping’ can pay off in a big way in you put in the time.
Comping means finding those online contests you always see advertised and entering not a few here or there, but as many good ones as you can possibly find. There are thousands of online sweepstakes going on at any one given time, and basic probability says the more you enter, the better your odds of winning. You may not necessarily hit it big on one contest and then be able to retire, but winning smaller ones can add up in a big way in the form of vacations, prizes (that you can then sell), and even straight cash. There are tons of sites, of course like us at ThePrizeFinder, or others like Competition Hunter to choose from.
As simple as the concept is, there are many tricks that can increase your odds of winning and maximize your time entering contests. For starters, be sure to keep a spreadsheet of which contests you have entered (as some contests will disqualify entrants that enter more than once). The best compers also use programs that autofill forms for them, keyboard hot keys that save the trouble of typing the same information over and over, and even sites that give you lists of possible answers for those crossword-based contests.
There are heaps of great resources devoted to comping that list up-to-date contests so you can minimize your time searching and maximize your time entering.
Surveys
Somewhat similar to comping, there are many people that make considerable chunks of change filling out online surveys. If you have a boring office job, chances are you spend a lot of your day mindlessly browsing the internet, so instead you might try doing something that can give you a decent amount of side-cash at the same time.
Like comping, there are many great sites out there that aggregate surveys from companies that will pay in cash, vouchers, and prize draws in exchange for your opinions. Most surveys take no more than 15 minutes to complete and sometimes even involve being sent new products to test and review. Many sites are even mobile optimized, making it something easy to do on your commute or from the comfort of, say, your bathroom.
Cashback Sites
We all shop online, but what many people don’t know is that they can get paid to do it. Another popular way many people like to earn extra money online is through cashback sites. Put simply, cashback sites reward their members with real money back when they:
- Click a link on their site that goes to an online store
- Buy a product or service on said site
And that’s pretty much it. You’ll have to sign up for the cashback site (which should always be free) first, but after doing so simply search for the store or item you want, then go through their referral link to purchase it.
Companies pay cashback sites like Quidco to refer people to their online stores, who then pay you a small percentage to buy through them. As an example, buying a product from retailer Tesco Direct through a cashback site will earn you back 1.5% of that product’s cost. While that might not sound huge, it definitely adds up to considerable quid when you think about all the purchases you make online over the course of a year.
Online Poker
It takes more of a learning curve than any of these other methods, but playing online poker might be the most enjoyable and lucrative way to earn money online. Not only can you earn money simply from playing the game and winning big hands, most top online poker sites offer bonuses simply for signing up and making a deposit.
Online poker also has something called rakeback which is basically a 5% cut that online casinos take from every pot to cover their operating costs. But as a way to promote themselves, the already-wealthy poker sites like to kick back some of that revenue to their players. This usually amounts to about 30% of that 5% taken from each pot, which can add to be a decent-sized sum when you play frequently and on tables where large money is at stake.
Glamorous? Probably not. Legal? Absoultely (have a look at PokerSites.co.uk for UK-friendly options.)
Another great thing about online poker is that there are a variety of ways to play depending on how much time you want to spend playing and how much money you are trying to win. For example, if you don’t mind sitting down for a while or devoting some of your nights to online poker, tournaments can be extremely profitable. The buy-ins usually aren’t that expensive, and even finishing in the top 50 or 100 (depending on the number of entrants) can give you a large ROI.
Most online poker sites also allow you to play on multiple tables at the same time, sometimes even up to 15 on one site. Not only does this increase your odds of winning big pots, it also helps you learn the game quickly by being exposed to such a large number of hands and different scenarios faster than if you were playing offline or just on one online table.
