I’m guessing you clicked on this because either (a) you don’t own a laptop or computer, (b) you’re making just enough at your job but not really enough to live your best life, or (c) you like the sound of making extra money from your phone since you’re always on it anyway. If that sounds like you, I’ve got just the thing for you.
I’ve put together six fail-proof methods you can use to start making extra money on the side using your phone from the comfort of your own home with zero experience and little to no start-up costs.
Let’s jump right into the first method.
1. Dropshipping (The Free Way)
Okay, wait. Before you click away, it’s not what you think. This method is 100% free. You don’t need to build any crazy websites. Don’t panic.
Step 1: Find Your Winning Product
Head to TikTok and type in hashtags like #amazonfinds or #tiktokmademebuyit. And what you’re gonna do is actually filter it so it’s within the last six months only. Then scroll through and see what’s popping.
Little side note: I’ve noticed that kitchenware tends to do really well—just little things that help out around the kitchen. Keep that in mind.
Step 2: Find It at the Cheapest Price
Go on eBay, Alibaba, or AliExpress. You’ll find products on Alibaba cheaper most of the time. I recommend AliExpress only when it’s cheaper and if it says seven days shipping. You don’t want refunds, returns, or chargebacks.
Step 3: Build Your Mini Website
Head to bigcartel.com. You can access this from your phone and build your mini website. You can list up to five items for free. This is way better than Shopify for complete beginners because you don’t have to design an entire website from scratch. Plus, Big Cartel is completely free if you’re only listing five items.
Now you’re probably sitting there thinking, okay, so how do I make the money?
Step 4: Create Traffic
Now what you would do is essentially just create a niche social media profile. Make a Pinterest based around kitchen hacks, kitchen utensils, and stuff like that.
Create pins like “Top five items you didn’t know you needed in your kitchen” and link to your Big Cartel.
The beauty of this? You’re not limited to one item. Put five trending items on your Big Cartel and run a whole Pinterest account around it.
You could even create a TikTok. If you have the funds, I definitely recommend purchasing one of your products and creating TikToks around it so people can see how they’re used. Build a whole following. You never know that one video could go viral and make you loads of sales.
Overall: This method is super easy and you can honestly make your first sale within the first two weeks if you’re consistent.
2. Freelancing
Freelancing is so much easier than most people think because you honestly don’t even need a real skill to get started. Obviously, if you do have skills you can monetize, upload them to Fiverr, Upwork, or People Per Hour.
Today, I’m only showing you the super easy gigs—I mean so easy that literally anyone could do this. Zero skill levels required.
Easy Gigs Anyone Can Do
Here are some gigs you can start offering right now:
- Removing backgrounds (use Canva, PhotoRoom, or LightRoom)
- Basic photo editing
- Data entry
- Simple graphic design tasks
- Virtual assistant tasks
The Background Removal Example
Now let me show you something, I just searched “background remover” on Fiverr. Sellers are charging minimum 5 dollars for this.
This one seller charges 5-15 dollars to remove the background of images. He’s got around 980 reviews on this gig, which means he fulfilled more than 986 orders on this gig. If we do the math with $5, that would be $4930 for something that literally takes seconds. And I’m sure he’s earned a lot more than this.
You can do this on an app like Canva, or literally just search ‘background remover’ on Google and you’ll find so many websites where you can remove backgrounds of multiple images for free. And that only takes maybe 30 seconds max.
I don’t know about you guys, but getting paid $10 for 30 seconds while a lot of people get paid $10 for a single hour of their time? That sounds pretty good to me.
Setting Up Your Fiverr Account
Just make sure your account is fully optimized:
- Have a good profile picture or logo
- Write a really nice description for all your gigs
- Create good thumbnails
- Model off what successful people are doing in your gig category
This is such an easy side hustle, I cannot stress this enough.
3. Selling Digital Products on Etsy
Selling digital products is a great way to make money because it’s super passive. You literally make it one time and it could be making you money for the next few years.
Finding What Sells
Head to Etsy and type in “templates.” You’ll see:
- Resumes (or CVs in the UK)
- Budget spreadsheets
- Wedding seating charts
- Wedding menus
Get a feel for what’s trending and what templates are doing really well on Etsy.
Templates I personally recommend:
- Flyers
- Pinterest pins
- Instagram posts
- Business cards
Those do really, really well.
The Profit Potential
So here’s a resume that’s pretty simple, and minimalist. This one is $7.97 per template.
It says 18 people have bought this in last 24 hours. If we times 7.97 dollars by 18 , that’s aruond 144 dollars they made off this one resume in one day. If they can do it, you most definitely can.
How to Create Templates
Head to Canva. I cannot stress enough how good it is as an app. I’ve literally created my logos, banners, all my thumbnails. The best thing? You can use it for free.
Here’s the process:
- Type in “resume” on Canva
- Pick a template (there are some really nice ones)
- Go into the style section and pick a color palette and fonts that go well together
- It’s already pre-made basically—just shuffle it to adjust color schemes
- Change around the colors and fonts
It’s literally that simple.
Getting Traffic to Your Etsy
You can either:
- Wait for traffic to come to your Etsy naturally, OR
- Go out of your way to create a niche social media account to show off your templates
Pinterest is the perfect place for showing off templates and linking directly to your Etsy listing.
This is such an easy and passive way to make money.
4. Print on Demand
People are making thousand and thousands of dollars with print on demand.
What Is Print on Demand?
Essentially what you would do is create custom designs that could be placed onto mugs, t-shirts, stickers, handbags, and stuff like that. And you would post these designs onto somewhere like Redbubble.
Why Redbubble?
Redbubble is a leading print on demand marketplace. It’s actually got its own organic traffic, so even without marketing, you’ll be making sales passively. They could be putting your products in front of millions of people every single month for free.
The beauty of this method:
- You don’t have to handle customer service
- No shipping
- No inventory management
- All you do is create the design and post it
Redbubble literally manages everything else. Every time someone makes a purchase of your design, that’s when it’s created by Redbubble and sent off, and you get a cut after they remove manufacturing fees.
Creating Designs
Before you panic, these designs are super easy to make. Head to redbubble.com and see what the trending designs are.
Let’s say we wanted to look at stickers specifically. You can see it’s super simple designs. You can literally recreate a design like “Hang on. Let me overthink this.” on Canva in less than 20 seconds.
Here’s how:
- Open Canva
- Copy the text
- Find a font you like
- Remove unnecessary elements
- Paste and arrange
- Download onto a transparent background (can be done on Canva itself)
Getting Sales
You can either:
- Wait for the Redbubble algorithm to place you and help you get sales, OR
- Create a niche social media account (Instagram or Pinterest)
5. Get Paid to Test, Task & Review
I’m breaking this down into three sections because it all fits under one umbrella, but it’s three different things.
With this method, you’re essentially getting paid to simply test out or review products or websites, or to complete short and easy tasks.
Testing: Userlytics
Use Userlytics where you can earn up to $90 per test.
You literally get paid to test out a website, see if there’s any spelling mistakes, and stuff like that.
I haven’t personally used Userlytics before, but I’ve heard a lot of good people around me have used it and they’ve said they’ve made some serious money.
Keep in mind: You won’t be eligible for every single test, but if you check in regularly, there’s nice money to be made here.
Tasking: Toloka
Toloka is a great little app that’s available in most parts of the world, because I know there are a lot of apps and programs that are quite restricted and not available everywhere.
You can get paid for super easy tasks like updating information on companies.
Keep in mind: With Toloka, you’ll get paid maybe 50 cents per action, maybe a dollar. So it’s not crazy money, but it’s good if you’re someone that likes to watch Netflix and do something at the same time.
So if you’re bored and don’t know what to do with yourself, at least you could be making some money on the side.
Reviewing: Poll Pay
I’ve used a whole bunch of apps, but the one I definitely recommend is Poll Pay
What you do: You’re basically just completing surveys on a product, brand, or website.
Keep in mind:
- You’re only eligible for certain surveys
- Some pay more than others
- The highest paying surveys I saw were about three to five dollars
- They typically took 10 to 15 minutes to complete
Overall: Out of all the methods, testing, tasking, and reviewing is probably the most time consuming, but it’s still a great way to make money on the side, especially in your free time.
It’s better than scrolling through Instagram—you’re actually making money off your phone.
6. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is basically where you get paid to promote someone else’s product. Every time someone makes a purchase through your link, you get paid a cut from that.
How to Get Started with Affiliate Marketing
Step 1: Niche Down and Find a Product
I personally recommend finding a niche you’re actually passionate about.
- Into gardening? Google “gardening affiliate programs”
- Into fashion? Search your favorite brands and type “affiliate program” next to it
- Most websites, if you scroll all the way down, will say “partner program” or “affiliate program” at the bottom
You can sign up and start promoting straight away.
Step 2: Get Your Link Ready
After you get your custom link that’s ready to promote, you can either:
- Shorten it with Bitly or Genius Link, OR
- Create a Beacons page
I’m recommending Beacons because that would basically be in replacement for a landing page. Obviously, if you have a phone, you won’t be able to access things like GetResponse and Mailchimp.
Important note: Most social media platforms will not allow you to post your affiliate links directly. You’ll get marked as spam and could potentially get your account deleted. So be wary of that.
Step 3: Get the Product in Front of the Right Audience
You can do this by:
- Creating a Facebook group in your niche
- Starting an Instagram account
- Starting a TikTok
Just see what other people are doing in that niche and model off that while also promoting your product, directing people to the link in your bio or description.
Final Thoughts
And that’s it! Six completely free methods you can start using today to make money from your phone.
Whether you choose dropshipping, freelancing, digital products, print on demand, task/test/review work, or affiliate marketing—there’s something here for everyone.
The key is to pick one method, stay consistent, and actually take action.
You won’t make thousands overnight, but with dedication, any of these could turn into a solid side income or even replace your full-time job.
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