35 Ways To Make Money Online From Anywhere in the World | 6 Simple Steps To Get Started

Ways to make money online from anywhere in the world include:

• Local lead generation
• Copywriting and content writing
• Proofreading and editing
• Social media marketing agency
• SEO agency
• Blogging 
• Vlogging
• Podcasting
• Shopify dropshipping 
• Print-on-demand
• Amazon FBA

The capability to make money online from anywhere is an aspiration of many people today. It enables you extended freedoms, such as the ability to enjoy a more luxurious lifestyle by living in a country with a cheaper cost of living, like those digital nomad types you see living in Bali these days. Sadly, many online income opportunities won’t allow you this flexibility. Due to a variety of factors, like security concerns and the vague laws surrounding international taxation, many US companies don’t allow employees to work from outside of the United States. 

Fortunately, you can take matters into your own hands and start earning money online from anywhere through methods like freelancing and starting your own business. In fact, there are many different ways to making money online, such as becoming a freelance writer through a remote work website like Upwork or making money with affiliate marketing through the Amazon Associate program. Below are 35 different ways that you can start making money online from anywhere in 2024. A few of these even have the potential to earn you a high 6 figure income. 

1. Local lead generation 

You can make money online while traveling with a local lead generation agency. Lead generation is the process of attracting customers for a business. The local lead generation business model, in particular, is great for traveling around the world. It primarily entails ranking websites on Google and then finding a local business that wants more customers. Once you partner with a business to take the customer leads, the local lead generation website earns you passive income because most businesses will want your website's high quality leads for the long run and the site requires little maintenance to keep churning out those leads. That means you can spend more time enjoying your travels while still making a solid income online. Local lead generation websites typically generate between $500 to $3,000/month and you can set up multiple websites to enjoy even greater income potential.

2. Copywriting and content writing

Copywriting is creating written material for promotional materials like advertisements, while content writing is creating written material for informational purposes. Both of these freelance writing styles are important and useful in marketing. You can make money from copywriting and content writing anywhere in the world because the work is highly flexible. You’re typically given an assignment and a timeline to complete it so you can easily create your own schedule and aren’t confined to a particular time zone. Copywriting typically pays more than content writing because it’s more important in driving measurable results for a business. The average hourly rate for a content writer is around $20/hour while a copywriter can earn $35+/hour, according to Indeed.

3. Proofreading and editing

Proofreading and editing is an essential step in the content creation process for professional publications, like newspapers, magazines, and books. Proofreading and editing entails checking written works for spelling, grammar, formatting, and factual accuracy, and then updating the piece with the proper changes as needed. Just like with copywriting and content writing, proofreading and editing are highly flexible in terms of your working schedule. Typically, once the original writer has completed their portion of the work, they’ll hand it off to you for proofreading and editing, after which you submit the piece for final review. A remote copy editor working for US clients can expect to make approximately $29.36/hour.  

4. Social media marketing agency

Social media marketing is using social platforms like Instagram and TikTok to connect with audiences and drive brand awareness. The typical social media user spends upwards of 2.5 hours each day across these platforms, according to DataReportal. Therefore, social media marketing is a digital marketing strategy that looks to meet potential customers where they are spending a major portion of their day. By starting a social media marketing agency, you can serve clients with a variety of social media-related tasks like:

• Content creation
• Post scheduling
• Community management and audience interaction
• Influencer partnerships

According to content management tool Planable, you can expect to charge clients between $500 and $5,000/month for social media management services. Scheduling and automation tools make it easy to perform social media management services on a flexible schedule from anywhere in the world. 

5. SEO agency

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of increasing the visibility and traffic quality of a web page in search engines like Google or Bing. An SEO agency accomplishes this for clients by performing tasks like keyword research, acquiring backlinks, producing keyword-rich content, and updating technical aspects of the website. SEO agencies can do occasional check-ins with clients through video conferencing apps like Skype, but the majority of the work is performed autonomously. SEO agencies typically charge around $500 to $1,500/month per client on a retainer, according to keyword research tool Ahrefs. 

6. Blogging

You can make money all around the world with blogging. Blogging is a great option if you want  time and location freedom because you work completely for yourself and don’t need to meet the expectations of others. Blogging is an especially popular way to make money for digital nomads because they can make money by talking about their experiences of traveling the world. All you need to get started with a blog is a niche idea, a domain name, and a hosting service like Bluehost. 

Blogging is all about writing captivating content that captures an audience and monetizing that audience through various methods like affiliate marketing, Google AdSense ads, and sponsored posts. For example, you can join the Amazon affiliate program to get an affiliate link, which you can then embed into your content and earn money whenever someone clicks on it. New bloggers can expect to make around $500 to $2,000/month by the end of their first year, according to Wix, and up to $100,000/year after a few consistent years of blogging. 

7. Vlogging

If you prefer creating video content over writing, vlogging is another way to make money while traveling around. Vloggers basically just record their daily activities and give tips to their audience. As a vlogger, you make money similar to a blogger. You can upload your content to YouTube and earn AdSense revenue or promote branded products in your videos with sponsorships and affiliate marketing. Travel vloggers like Drew Binsky earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a year through their vlogging efforts because travel content is highly lucrative. If you're a man looking for a platform to learn how to make money online through YouTube, you can check Adonis School.

8. Podcasting

Podcasting is creating and distributing audio files over the internet. Podcasts come in various formats like telling fiction stories, giving interviews with interesting people, or just talking about a consistent topic in each episode. For example, the Joe Rogan Experience has around 11 million listeners per episode and features Joe Rogan doing long-form interviews of famous people like Elon Musk. You can make money with a podcast through methods like charging for paid subscriptions, allowing ads to run alongside your content, and listener support through donations. Spotify and YouTube are the two most popular platforms for uploading podcasts, holding over 50% of the market share, according to Oberlo. 

Podcasting does require you to have a bit of equipment with you, like a computer, microphones, and digital audio recording, just to name a few. However, these items shouldn’t take up too much space. As long as you have working audio equipment and a solid internet connection, you can make money by uploading captivating podcasts from anywhere.

9. Shopify dropshipping

Shopify is the largest Ecommerce platform provider, providing website services to over 1.75 million Ecommerce sellers, according to Backlink.io. Dropshipping is a popular Ecommerce business model where you list products in an online store, purchase them from a supplier only once someone buys the product from you, and provide the supplier your customers shipping details so that the supplier can ship them the order for you when the product sells. Shopify dropshipping is an excellent way to make money from wherever because you don't need to be physically present to manually send out sold inventory like other Ecommerce businesses do. Shopify’s Basic plan will only set you back $29/month and the typical dropshipping income is around $39K/year, according to ZipRecruiter. 

10. Print-on-demand

Print on demand (POD) is an Ecommerce business model where you work with a print provider to customize and sell white label products. For example, you can sell T-shirts and hats with custom graphics printed on them. You can create these graphics yourself or hire a graphic designer to do it for you. Basically, you just set up an online apparel store with custom prints, and your print-on-demand partner service will print your custom design onto the apparel and ship it to your customer for every sale. You don’t need to order products in bulk ahead of time or store inventory, so you aren’t constrained to a specific geographic location when operating a POD business. There are many POD services, with Printful and Printify being two of the most popular. In an article with CNBC, one POD store owner was even able to generate $14,600 working only 1 hour a day! 

11. Amazon FBA

Amazon is an online marketplace with hundreds of thousands of products and customers. Amazon FBA, or fulfillment by Amazon, is an Ecommerce business model that leverages Amazon’s efficient logistics systems to support the order fulfillment tasks of an Ecommerce business. Amazon FBA is a popular option for those seeking location freedom because Amazon FBA sellers just send their product inventory to Amazon, and Amazon handles the rest, so the FBA seller never needs to touch the product. An Amazon FBA seller can choose from a handful of different business models, including:

• Private label
• Wholesale
• Online arbitrage 

Nearly half of Amazon FBA sellers report earning between $1,000 and $2,500/month, according to Helium10.

12. Make music

Those who are musically talented can make money anywhere by uploading their music online. You can get started with just a laptop and add more equipment like a keyboard and microphone over time, depending on your musical needs. You can upload your music to platforms like Spotify, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, YouTube, and Pandora. These platforms can help you start to build an audience for your music and can pay you in advertising revenue or royalties. For example, Spotify pays artists between $0.0003 and $0.0005/stream.

13. Amazon KDP

Amazon KDP, or Kindle Direct Publishing, is a platform through Amazon where you can self publish books for free and receive royalties. As long as you have a computer with internet connection, you can write books and upload them onto Amazon KDP to start earning money when Amazon customers purchase your books. In fact, you don’t even have to write to make money from Amazon KDP. There are many people out there who just sell what Amazon calls “low-content” books, like schedulers and coloring books. Amazon pays between 35% and 70% royalties, and depending on the price and quality of your books, you can make thousands of dollars a month with Amazon KDP. For instance, in an article with Business Insider, one couple disclosed that they made $17K/month by selling notebooks through Amazon KDP. 

14. Web development

Web development is an excellent choice for those looking for a high paying remote job they can do from anywhere. Web developers write code to create, build, and maintain websites and web applications. If you don't have any coding experience, there are bootcamps that can get you up to speed and ready for hire within 4 months. Once you have the skills, you can either take on freelance projects through sites like Upwork and Fiverr, or find a company willing to hire remote. As a web developer working for US clients or a company, you can expect to bring in around $82K/year, according to Indeed. 

15. Create and sell apps

Instead of making money by providing code for someone else's project, you can make money by creating your own applications. If you have coding skills, you can create and upload your apps to mobile app marketplaces like the Google Play Store, Apple App Store, and Amazon App Store. You can monetize your app through a variety of methods, such as by charging for downloading the app, charging subscriptions for using the app, and letting advertisements run on the app to earn advertising revenue. Although income ranges vary substantially, according to Digitalya, 25% of free IOS apps and 16% of free Android apps generate at least $5,000/month.

16. Create and sell on online course

If you have enough valuable knowledge about a certain topic, you can put that knowledge into video format and sell it to other people as a digital product. Online courses are one of the most efficient ways to make money online from anywhere because once you put in the work of creating the course and publishing it to the internet, you can enjoy passive income as people buy the course long after you created the content. According to Learn Worlds, successful course creators can expect to bring in upward of $10K/month from their course. There are many platforms out there where you can publish your course with established trust and audience bases, like Udemy, Skillshare, and Teachable.

17. Graphic design

Graphic design is the art of planning, creating, and projecting ideas through digital format. Graphic designers need a laptop with a graphic design software application like Adobe Illustrator to perform their work. They create images and graphics for clients to use in mediums, such as advertisements, websites, and even product images. These days, many graphic designers are also expected to be competent in video editing softwares as well. For those who have an artistic eye and creative ability, becoming a graphic designer can earn you around $21/hour, according to Indeed.

18. Voice over acting

Voice over acting entails reading a script into a microphone. You can complete your work anywhere that is relatively quiet and where you can set up your microphone and laptop for recording. Voice over actors create audio recordings of their voice for use in digital mediums like audiobooks, YouTube videos, advertisements, and product reviews. According to SPG Studios International, voice over actors earn approximately $37/hour when working for US companies.

19. Data entry

Data entry is a relatively simple yet meticulous job where you enter information into the computer. Data entry usually doesn’t require much in terms of qualifications, but some roles will expect you to be comfortable with spreadsheet programs like Excel or Google Sheets. Data entry clerks typically make around $17.86/hour and often hire in a remote setting.

20. Sell stock videos and photos

You can get paid to travel and take pictures by selling stock photos and videos. If you travel with a high quality camera or video equipment, your pictures and videos can be worth a decent amount of money. Stock photos and videos are licensed out to people and companies for commercial use. Stock agency platforms like Shutterstock, Getty Images, and Adobe Stock provide a marketplace for customers to browse photos, and split the fee with the photographer when their content is purchased. Selling stock photos probably won’t make you rich, but it can make you a nice side income from doing a hobby you enjoy. According to Finnish photographer Jamo of the Jamo Images blog, making $500/month after around 5 years of consistently uploading your stock images and videos to multiple sites daily is a realistic income.

21. Virtual assistant 

Virtual assistants offer administrative services to clients in a remote setting. Virtual assistants handle a variety of tasks, such as scheduling meetings, making phone calls, organizing travel arrangements, and much more. This role offers great flexibility in terms of working hours and location, so it’s a common job for those who value location and time freedom. Freelance virtual assistants in the United States can expect to earn around $43K/year, according to Glassdoor.

22. Customer service representative

A customer service representative listens and responds to customer inquiries on behalf of a business. Many major companies like Amazon want to provide their customers with 24/7 support, so there are many shift options you can choose for customer service depending on where you’re at in the world and what hours you want to work. Remote customer service representatives make upwards of $44K/year, according to Glassdoor. 

23. Consulting

Consultants provide business advice for a fee. You can offer consulting services to business to help improve their operations in areas such as corporate strategy, product development, marketing, and more. If you have proven experience in a particular area, businesses are willing to pay you for that expertise so that they can become better. You usually need around 5 to 10 years of industry experience and solid references or testimonials, but qualified consultants can earn upwards of $47.77/hour, according to ZipRecruiter. You can charge hourly and consult your clients through video conferencing platforms like Google Meet. 

24. Translation

Translation is the process of converting one language into another while maintaining the meaning and tone. A translator must be fluent in at least 2 languages, and can expect to be tasked with translating written materials from one of those languages into another, typically for documents, articles, and audio subtitles. The average salary for a translator is approximately $21.68/hour in the United States, according to Indeed. 

25. Transcription

Transcription is listening to voice recordings and converting them into written documents. Typically, the job requires you to have an advanced vocabulary of your niche, such as transcribing for medical or legal publications. Transcribers earn around $17/hour, according to ZipRecruiter. It’s a highly flexible job because you can access and write up the audio files on your own schedule. 

26. Paid newsletters

A paid newsletter is an email newsletter that generates recurring revenue by charging a membership subscription or through exclusive access. For example, the newsletter “Letters from an American” by Boston College history professor Heather Cox Richardson brings in an estimated $1 million dollars per year through the $5/monthly subscription to participate in the comments, according to the New York Times. If you are a talented writer and have expertise on a topic with a broader audience range, setting up a paid newsletter on a platform like Substack can enable you to bring a solid income from anywhere in the world.

27. Membership websites

Membership websites are web pages with exclusive content that charge users for access. Membership sites can provide a range of rewarding content for their members, like online courses, videos, a private email subscription, one-on-one coaching, and more. These are often forum style websites that provide content as well as a community aspect to increase value for members. For example, AffLIFT is a forum that charges users $20/month for access to exclusive affiliate marketing content and participation in forum discussions. The kind of work you’ll be tasked with when running a membership website is primarily content creation and community management, which you can do from a laptop anywhere in the world. 

28. Online tutoring

Online tutoring is providing a one-on-one education solution for someone looking to improve their knowledge in a particular subject, such as a college course or a foreign language. Teaching English online is a particularly popular option for those looking to make money from anywhere with tutoring, with platforms like VIP Kid paying upwards of $18+/hour. If you want to make money from online tutoring, you'll likely need to work hours that accommodate your target students' schedule. For example, if you want to be an English tutor, the highest paying opportunities are usually from East Asia countries like China and Korea. You'll have to make your services available during the hours they are available if you want to make money, which could be in the middle of the night depending on what time zone you live in. 

29. Test games and apps

Game and mobile app testers help developers prepare to launch and improve their mobile applications. Mobile application testers can perform a variety of functions, such as running manual and automated tests to verify app functionality, providing recommendations on the app’s visual appeal, and ensuring the app’s usability across multiple devices. Therefore, mobile app testing does require some technical expertise, which is why it can command a high average rate of $51/hour, according to ZipRecruiter. 

30. Forex trading

Forex trading is the buying and selling of foreign currency pairs to try to profit from the appreciation or depreciation of one currency against another. Forex trading is a popular option for those traveling the globe and living the digital nomad life because the foreign exchange markets are open 24 hours, 5 days a week. Therefore, forex traders can conveniently make money no matter which time zone they are in. The amount of money you can make with forex trading depends on how much money you have to fund your trading account. $10,000 is a good starting point for a forex trader that can allow you to risk around 1% of your account each day to try to win trades. 

You can make $100 a day online with forex. However, you could also lose $100/day online. In fact, you can lose all your money, or make a substantial sum of money, if you don’t adhere to the traditional risk rules of only risking a small portion of your account on each trade and setting stop losses to automatically take you out of trades before they lose too much money. According to Traders Union, most profitable retail traders can expect to generate between $500 and $5,000/month from forex trading.

31. Trading stocks and options

Trading stocks is the buying and selling of investment securities that are tied to the ownership of companies or baskets of companies, while trading options is buying and selling contracts that provide the right to buy or sell stocks at a specific price by a specific date. The regular hours for the US stock market are from 9:30 to 4 p.m. EST every weekday, but these days stock traders can also do after hours trading outside of normal hours. Stock trading is risky and many people lose money, but professional stock traders that are profitable can make around $80K/year on average, according to Indeed. 

32. Trade cryptocurrency

Trading cryptocurrency is the buying and selling of digital currencies, like Bitcoin, to try to profit from the appreciation or depreciation of one currency against another. Compared to forex and stock trading, cryptocurrency can be extremely volatile in price movements, so it tends to be a high risk, high reward endeavor. Unlike forex and stock trading, cryptocurrency markets never close, so you can literally trade 25/7, 365 days a year and make money. According to ZipRecruiter, the average profitable cryptocurrency trader makes around $94K/year. To learn more, you can check out crypto programs Joel Peterson and Adam Short's The Crypto Code. 

33. Airbnb your property

For those who own a property, hosting on Airbnb can be a great way to generate extra money online from anywhere. You can do this by hiring a property management company to assist you with preparing the property for new guests so you don’t need to be in the same geographic location as the property. Airbnb hosts with properties in the US make the most, according to Thrillist, averaging approximately $44,235 in yearly earnings.

34. Be a travel agent

Travel agents work in a virtual setting to offer clients recommendations on destinations, organize itineraries, and book trips for clients. Starting a travel agency can be a great online business for those who enjoy exploring the world and want to monetize their expertise by creating incredible travel experiences for their clients. According to Cosmopolitan magazine, travel agents typically make between $50K to $100K/year, but can make up to $500K at the high end. Besides an income, travel agents can also get access to better rates and promotional pricing not available to the public through their connections. Although it can take time to establish yourself as a travel agent, you can make good money and there are additional benefits that make this a great option for those who enjoy traveling often.

35. Take online surveys

Although not the most lucrative option, participating in surveys can be a relatively easy way to make extra cash online from anywhere. Online survey sites like Survey Junkie pay you a few bucks an hour to complete branded surveys online. 

How to make money online from anywhere in the world?

Can you make money online from anywhere even with no experience?

You can make money online from anywhere, even with no experience. However, it's much easier to start making money if you already have a skill or at least set up a way to make money before heading out an on adventure so you can avoid the stress of trying to decide what to do as your savings diminish. You can make money online when you are an inexperienced individual by putting in the effort to learn a new skill or taking a home job that is entry level. Things that you can do to make money online that are entry level are basic tasks that require low skill like data entry. However, most companies will provide you with training upon hire, even for entry level roles, so that you can quickly learn the basics of a new skill and start to incorporate it for the company.