How To Make Money Online From Your Phone In 2023 (Working From Home)

We can always use some extra cash. This extra cash can then be used for your own business, for the stuff you want to buy, or just some savings on the side. In this post, I will show you how to make money from your phone.

But if you are someone who already has a full-time job or you have toddlers you need to monitor the whole day, then looking for side jobs to earn extra income can be quite difficult. 

So let me ask you this question: Are you always on your phone? Let’s be real, even if we are so busy throughout the day, we always still find time to scroll on our phones. 

With that in mind, did you know that you can make extra income just by being on your phone? Here are different ways how you can do that to make some extra income in your free time:

Best Ways To Make Money From Your Smartphone in 2023

8. Grow a Pinterest Account

Did you know that you can make money through Pinterest? Yes, it’s that app full of images and short videos. I bet you had no idea that Pinterest wasn’t just a social media to browse for fun. It’s actually a very powerful visual search engine and a lot of businesses use Pinterest to drive traffic and customers to their websites. 

I already see your BIG eyes and hear you say: but Anastasia you promised that I’ll just need my phone. Now I have to have a business and my own website? 

Calm down my friend, I have something for you too! If you don’t have a business, don’t worry because you can simply send users to products and services of other companies. Basically, you will become their affiliate marketer. In this case, you just need to promote a product with your unique link, and if people start buying using your link then you earn a commission. 

I started with Pinterest because this platform allows you to add affiliate links to regular pins and even to Idea pins. Depending on where you live, you might have this feature already available on Idea pins, but it definitely should work for users in the US. 

And let me just clarify this, I don’t mean to say that outside of the US you can’t make money with Pinterest app. You totally can from anywhere in the world! I just said that one particular recently added feature (affiliate links for Idea pins) might not yet be available to all the users. 

So this is how you can drive traffic and make money as an affiliate marketer, without having to create your own business or product.  

By the way, you could ask me. Well, to use this Pinterest, don’t I need to create images and videos to post them as pins? Yes, you need them, and nowadays, you can start creating pins on your smartphone. Simply try using a free app called Canva. It allows you to edit images and use a ton of templates for pins. So to create pins, you can use Canva’s mobile version or even simply use Pinterest’s pin editing functionality right inside the Pinterest app on your phone.

It will work especially great if you have short videos and photos already saved, then you can create Idea pins directly from your phone. For image pins, I would still suggest using Canva as you’ll be able to use free pin templates and add a clear text overlay since Pinterest only allows you to add text overlay for Idea pins. 

If you want to learn more about growing on Pinterest, perhaps the best thing you could do is check my free Pinterest Masterclass. 

7. Being a Content Creator and Making Sponsored Content

Creating content is now literally at your fingertips. If you love taking photos, videos, or just being in front of a camera, then being a social media influencer would be the perfect side gig for you. 

There are many platforms for you to start your path as a content creator. There’s Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok! And the best thing about this is that you just need your phone. You can just download all these social media apps for free and install them on your phone, take photos or even find copyright-free photos online, create some short videos, and watch your community to grow.

See this TikToker in the fashion and beauty niche with 1 Million followers shared in her story for Business Insider that she now charges between $8,000 and $10,000 for one sponsored TikTok post. And even when she started working with brands, she charged about $3,000 to $4,000 per sponsored video.

Or we can take a look at these highest-paid Instagram dog accounts. In this article, they reviewed several popular dog accounts and found that they charge between $1000 and $6000 per sponsored post.  The top-earning dog in this list made about $373k a year.

Once you have reached a certain amount of followers, brands will reach out to you to get paid sponsorships. Some social media sites can also pay you for consistently creating short videos, there is a program like this for creators on Youtube, TikTok, and recently on Instagram as well. 

And you’ve just seen some great pet accounts, so you have to understand that influencers on social media don’t have to only publish fashion-related content that you often see on Instagram. You can even upload tech-related content or how-to videos on those social media platforms! 

Everyone is online looking for information these days, so you have to take advantage of it in any niche!

6. Play-To-Earn Games

If you like to play games on your phone to relieve stress or taking a break from work, then good news for you because you can actually make money while doing it! 

There are several mobile gaming apps out there where you can earn points that you redeem for money. The payouts can be in the form of Paypal cash, gift cards, and more. 

Some examples of mobile play-to-earn games are MISTPLAY where you can earn gift cards. With the growing adoption of cryptocurrencies, NTFs and virtual reality, play-to-earn games like Axie Infinity became not just a side hustle but actually a full-time income for gamers in some countries. 

You can check in this article on Coingeko that they compared earnings calculations for an Axie player to minimum wage jobs in some countries (before tax). For some countries where the minimum wage is around $300/mo, making $1,665 per month is a great income. Plus, keep in mind that it playing this game only requires roughly 4 hours per day.

5. Online Tutor

There are several in-demand online tutoring jobs out there that you can do on your phone. As long as you have more than enough knowledge on a certain field or topic, then you are qualified to teach. The subjects could range from elementary school subjects to language learning. And yes, online tutoring pays really well for a side job. On average, an online tutor can earn $11-$30 per hour! 

Some tutoring apps you can download and apply for are Palfish where you can teach students the English language, and Skooli where you can choose to teach a variety of subjects and topics.

4. Answering Surveys

I know that answering surveys is probably one of the most common answers you hear when you ask about earning money online. But truly, it is one of the easiest ways you can earn extra cash in only a few minutes!  Most questions from these surveys are just basely your opinion on something, a poll, or some user testing. No critical questions such as math equations or such. 

You usually earn points by answering survey questions and then redeeming those points. You might get compensated in cash (typically via PayPal) or in other forms, such as gift cards.

The most common survey website you can answer on your phone is Survey Junkie where you can earn an average of $2 per hour – depending on how many surveys you can answer. You can also use Swagbucks platform.

Google actually also has its own paid survey app which is called Google Opinion Rewards where you just have to answer quick surveys and earn Google Play credit.

MyPoints – you can earn Points when you share your opinion by completing online surveys. Share your interests and buying habits with leading brands and merchants. And to withdraw your earnings, you can get gift cards or make a transfer to your PayPal account.

3. Watching Videos

If you want a really straightforward and hassle-free way of earning some extra cash on the side, then you might just want to hear this: you can earn money by just watching videos. And by videos, I mean video ads which usually take only a few seconds of your time. 

This is probably one of the easiest ways to make that extra cash from your phone since you do not need to have a certain skill or experience to do the job. You can even do it while laying on your bed! 

Swagbucks is the most popular rewards site for getting paid to watch video ads. After signing up, you can then look at the video playlist on your account, watch them, and you’ll get points that you can exchange for cash or gift cards. 

Most of these websites also have a minimum payout requirement of as low as $1 so you are sure to earn money at any time.

You can also try QuickRewards and can redeem your points for PayPal cash, Amazon gift cards, or in-store gift cards.

2. Online Customer Service

Many customer service roles can easily be done through your mobile phone. You can easily make phone calls, schedule meetings, and answer customer-related messages on your phone while at home. And yes, companies are always on the lookout for more customer service agents since most businesses have gone online due to the pandemic.  

You can start by looking for customer service jobs on job posting websites such as Upwork (yes, they also have a mobile app). Customer Service representatives on Upwork cost an average of $10–$19/hr. You can work on this freelance, part-time, or full-time! 

1. Selling Photos And Videos (On Your Phone)

If you have a phone with nice camera quality, then you can easily sell photos and videos you took. Many apps will pay for your photos and videos such as Foap and Snapwire.  

What these websites usually do is offer either a percentage or a flat fee for each photo of yours that is sold. So if there are tons of people or companies who like your photo and buy it, then the cash flow will be quite high. And the best part of this? There are high chances that big brands can use your photos which you can then add to your portfolio. 

This is a good start if you are planning on becoming a professional photographer as your goal since you are able to build your portfolio and experience while saving money to start your business. 

Now that I have introduced you to some methods that I personally know and do to earn extra cash on my mobile phone, I would also love to hear your thoughts. Did you already try some of these methods already and were they effective for you? And if you also have more suggestions on how you can make extra income on your smartphone, I would love to hear them! 

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