13 Underground Strategies to Make Money From the Comfort Of Your Home

1. Write for Medium's Partnership program:

Probably the easiest way to get up and running with making money online. Medium's Partnership Program encourages writers just like you to write content that is going to help the world. Content is King (with a captial "K") here. Only the best content that scales the algorithm through user engagement will yield higher payouts.

2. The Quora Partner Program:

Again, similarly to the aforementioned endeavor, the Quora Partnership Program encourages people to generating the best transformative questions for the world by paying the participants.

3. Affiliate partnerships: Photo by rawpixel

One of the easiest ways to make money from the comfort of your home. Affiliate partnerships are partnerships with companies that pay you to be a promoter of their service/product.

Probably the biggest here is with Amazon. Do you run a successful photography blog and know you'd love to recommend some camera equipment to your audience?

Signing up for Amazon's partnership program is free and will grant you commissions on every sale through your unique link.

4. Ghostwriting for a company:

After the decision to just sit my ass down and write, a buzz about this decision began to grow within my network. Through word-of-mouth (though sites like Fiverr and Upwork also work) I was able to secure two ghostwriting jobs that have yielded me thousands of extra dollars.

Some of the jobs have amortized me out at a pay rate of $100/hour. That's unbelievably invaluable work for a considerably low amount of time and effort. Ghostwriting even lead me to having my work published on Forbes!

5. Miscellaneous freelancing:

I like to consider myself a visual artist. However, I believe my talents are suited for words.

However, I know plenty of friends who are making part-time and full-time incomes with freelancing. Whether it be graphic design, copywriting, motion picture effects etc, there are limitless possibilities.

6. Online coaching: Photo by Kristopher Roller

Have you been persuaded to join a free webinar? I know I have. What the creators of the free webinar don't always want you to be aware of is the pitch that will come at the end.

Why? Because the webinar is only a small taste of the real service that is going to come — and that service always brings in the dollars. Marketers who run these webinars know they will only get a small percentage of people to sign up, however, those small people are going to open up their wallets.

Let's say the free webinar brings in 100 people and 10% pay for the service at $200. That's $2,000 for about an hour's worth of work.

7. Sell advertising on your Youtube channel:

While I don't have first hand experience in this realm, I know it's possible to bring in side-cash through Youtube advertising.

According to BusinessInsider a user can bring in $2,000 for every million views of their content with advertising, not the best revenue model, however it tees us up for the next option.

8. Sell affiliates through Youtube:

Similar to the earlier mentioned option, affiliate through Youtube helps bring in the bucks. If you have a modest channel of about 1,000 people you can still bring in money through advertising products you have an affiliate partnership with through your content.

9. Payments through Patreon or other donation services:

If you have a loyal following, often times that audience will open up their wallets and offer donations in support.

Patreon can be used in conjunction with a Youtube channel as well as a blog. According to Patreon the average creator with a following of 30,000 subscribers can make $315 on the low end and $1575 on the high end in terms of a monthly income (source).

10. Write and publish a kindle book: Photo by Kinga Cichewicz

Did you know that one of the best-selling books of the last 10 years started as a digital download? Fifty Shades of Greywas first written as a fan-fiction response to Twilight and before being published as a paperback was downloaded millions of times through Kindle making it a virtual-overnight success.

While your results probably won't achieve as such, if you have a viable audience already that will purchase and download your ebook, you have a goldmine waiting for you.

11. Start a Shopify ecommerce store:

Internet entrepreneur, comedian and personal friend of mine Jordan Kay had an idea one night when thinking about going to a sports game. She didn't like either of the teams and felt left out with everyone else wearing team-affiliate garb.

She had an idea of a hat she wanted to make. On the hat read, "Here for Beer" and it became a popular seller on her Shopify page. With zero inventory and little upstart financing you can turn your idea into reality with drop shipping and an ecommerce store.

12. Create a store on Etsy:

Creating a store on Etsy is similar to an ecommerce store with Shopify, however you are responsible for the inventory. This is more geared for individuals/business owners who are extremely passionate and knowledgable about the product they are selling. Another entrepreneur I know, Gabby, sells her hand made jewelry on Etsy and it makes a nice side-hustle for her.

13. Sell your old things from an eBay store:

Unless you have the bandwidth to turn this venture into a full-time gig by "flipping" items you go out and find, this is a temporary venture. Instead of going through your closest and throwing out or donating your old clothes, sell them on eBay. Heck, in Los Angeles, 90s vintage clothing is all the rage (and I know it's not the only city). This is PERFECT for the Millennial generation to capitalize on all those old threads we don't wear anymore that our parents just didn't have the time or wherewithal to throw out.

This is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of opportunities you have at your disposal to bring in side money or turn your life around.

So many people are in search for freedom. That could be:

Freedom of expression.

Freedom to live where they want.

Freedom from financial pressures.

Freedom to pursue what makes them happy

The internet is a gift and a tool to help you get there.

And you should try as hard as you possibly can to get there.

Because the world needs it now.

The world needs you now, more than ever. We need your gifts. We need your unique voice. We need your creativity.

So unshackle yourself to the rigmarole of a trapped and unfulfilling life and step into your power.

This story is published in The Startup, Medium's largest entrepreneurship publication followed by +431,678 people. Subscribe to receive our top stories here.