How To Make Money As A Teenager Without A Job?

There is a long list of teenage entrepreneurs who have made millions. A good portion of them was able to do it because of the technology available at hand, especially the internet. In 1999, fourteen-year-old Adam Hildreth along with his friends started an online English social networking site called Dubit. In 2004, Dubit reached its peak and became one of the most popular social media websites. By 2005, Dubit had an overall net worth of over 3.7 million dollars. Adam later even started a company that protected people from online predators, harassment and spamming.

Another great example would be Ashley Qualls, who created a website called whaterlife.com in 2004. The website basically provided HTML tutorials for teens and also provided free My Space layouts. She ended up having a net-worth of almost 8 million dollars. It’s noteworthy how so many people have harnessed the power of the internet and technology to make money.

Online Safety Measures for Teens

Before we get started with the actual guide to making money online as a teen, it is important to address the safety issues pertaining to the internet first. In short, teens should know when and where to post personal information. Secondly, they should also know that is important to be cautious while handing out a social security number.

Listed below are a few interesting ways in which a teen can earn money online…

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Buy And Sell Stuff Online

If you have things to sell, for instance, arts and crafts, these are some of the platforms that you can do to sell your work:

Mercari – Mercari is an online platform where you can sell all sorts of things ranging from clothing, technology, home goods, sports equipment, and even handmade crafts. Do note that Mercari takes a cut of 10% on each sale.
eBay – This is an option if you are not looking for a particular niche. Literally, anything can be sold on this platform.
Etsy – If you’re creative, this is a suitable platform for you. If you put in a little time researching SEO, you can even get the products you are selling placed at the top of searches.
Poshmark – Poshmark is basically a site to specifically for clothing and shoes. The advantage of this website is that it is a direct seller-to-buyer website. This means that the seller provides fulfillment and hence in return keeps more profit. Poshmark charges a $2.95 commission on all sales under $15 and a 20% commission on all sales above $15.
Thredup – If you want to sell your clothing items but do not want to be bothered by the process of actually selling them yourself, Thredup is your best option. The sellers can send in a bag of all sorts of clothing, clothing accessories, shoes, and jewelry that they want to sell to Thredup. Thredup will then decide which items to sell and which ones to donate. Since Thredup, in this case, takes care of the fulfillment, the seller gets to keep the profit.

Learn How To Code

These could be your options if you know advanced coding:

Designing Websites – In the digital era, the demand for websites is endless. If you are a teenager who knows how to design a professional website, you could get paid a good amount for it. Just like any entrepreneur, the starting stages will be difficult and you might not get paid a lot. However, once you have accumulated enough experience and developed a good portfolio, you can bump up your prices.
Creating Apps – Just about everyone has a smartphone these days. With smartphones comes the demand for apps, be it Android, iOS, or any other platform as a matter of fact. You can either come up with a new idea for an app or you can work on already existing app ideas. In the process of putting an app out on a platform, along with creating it, you also need to take care of the sales and marketing aspect of it. Even though it can be quite challenging, it is a very lucrative field to explore.
Teaching Others How to Code – Coding is one of the skills that are currently in high demand. If you are someone who knows how to code, you have the capacity to teach others how to code even if you are just a beginner. The reason for this is because there will always be someone who knows lesser than you. Hence, you can share your knowledge with other people in the form of paid classes and workshops. You can spread the word about your classes by handing out fliers. If you are really serious about your work then you can take a step further and set up a website to market your course.
Fixing Computer Viruses and Other Problems – There are a lot of people who there are not tech-savvy. They often need help in resolving issues that come up while using the computer. You can make money by helping people solve these issues. The best kind of advertisement that you can do for this job is by word of mouth. So make sure that you request your clients to recommend your name if someone is looking for help. If your clients are satisfied with your work, they probably will recommend you to others, helping you land more jobs.

Media-Centric Work

Make YouTube Videos – YouTube is arguably the most popular video streaming app for independent content creators. There are over one billion people across the world visiting YouTube every day. The platform has all kinds of videos, ranging from tutorial videos to travel vlogs. YouTube provides content creators money through advertisements, affiliate marketing and sponsor advertising. After you cross a certain number of subscribers and total view count, you will start getting paid for each ad that your viewer watches. It is a very lucrative field if you are looking to be a content creator.
Launching A Blog or a Podcast – Much like YouTube, a successful blog or a podcast could also earn you revenue in the form of advertisements, sponsor advertising and affiliate marketing. Starting a blog is easy and does not cost any money. Platforms like WordPress.com make it extremely easy to get started with a blog by selecting a design template.
Social Media Consultant – With the boom of social media platforms, followers and likes have started to matter a lot. If you are a tech-savvy person who knows their way around getting posts noticed and gaining followers, you can sell your services to smaller businesses and start-ups.
Blogger’s Virtual Assistant – Bloggers often hire virtual assistants if they are unable to micromanage work all by themselves. As a blog becomes more popular, bloggers start needing help to keep up and manage blog posts. They also require people to manage their social media accounts.

Make Money With Surveys and Paid Programs

MusicXRay – This is an online service that allows you to provide consumer feedback to various upcoming music artists. Regardless of whether you rate them positively or negatively, this app gives you 10 cents per song.
Slicethepie – This platform also pays the user to provide reviews. Initially, it was only for music, however, it has now expanded to fashion, mobile accessories and other products.
Swagbucks – Using this you will be able to make money by simply taking surveys, watching video advertisements, and getting cash back deals on online purchases. Using a number of ways, you will be able to accumulate ‘Swagbucks’ which can later be traded for either money or gift coupons.
Userlytics – Userlytics gets users to test out mobile apps for various creators. Testers need to take a recording of themselves while they are testing out the app. This helps mobile app creators to know if their apps are user-friendly or not.

Become An Online Tutor

Teaching kids online – If you are 15 years and older and have a good understanding of a subject, you can start sharing that knowledge with other people online for a price. There are a bunch of websites that allow you to do so such as Chegg and Tutor.com.

Depending on the feedback, subject matter and credentials, the tutor will receive payment. After you build yourself good credibility, you can use this app to make money. If you are confident enough, you can even introduce multiple courses in order to have multiple sources of income and revenue.

Video Credit – Joshua Mayo

If there’s anything you think I’ve missed – talk to me in the comments below!

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– Last Updated – September 30, 2022