How To Make CONSISTENT Income Online And Secure Your Digital Paycheck

Learning how to make consistent money online may sound like a difficult task, but it’s 100% possible.

In fact, there are many ways to earn a consistent income with online work some you might not even know about yet – like digital marketing, freelance services, getting hired full time by a company or creating your own business online from scratch.

You can even buy established online businesses. But the best way for you will depend on some personal factors.

Not only your qualifications and skills, but also how much you want to earn, and how much time and money you can invest to get there.

For example, getting hired by a company is the quickest way to earn consistent money online.

But there’s an income limit and you probably won’t have as much control over your schedule, compared to freelancers or business owners.

Owning an online business has no limit to how much you earn, you set your hours and you can begin your business on the side while working for someone else. After a few years you could be earning ten times what you make in your job right now.

Below, you’ll learn all about these proven ways to make consistent money online and their pros and cons. Also, you’ll know how not to make money online.

Let’s get started!

Key takeaways

We consistently make 6-figures per year by building, buying and renovating websites. We learned how to do that in this course: The Digital Investors Program.

1) Get hired by a company that offers online/remote positions

Many companies today embrace the concept of online work, allowing you to work from the comfort of your home or any location with an internet connection.

Remote positions can range from programmers, graphic designers, customer service representatives, virtual assistants, content writers, and more.

Some offer the typical 9-to-5, with a contract and a steady paycheck, but with the work done remotely. 

Depending on the company, you may have to go to the office from time to time for meetings. Also, some businesses may allow working from home, but not from other cities or countries. 

This is the economically safest option out there but with the smallest amount of freedom and flexibility.

Pros

Cons

Want to get hired by a company? Follow the hacks of this article on how to transition to online work

2) Offer freelance services

This is a fantastic way to capitalise on your skills and expertise while enjoying the freedom of being your boss. And contrary to popular belief, you can 100% earn money online consistently while freelancing.

However, the road is not as straightforward as getting hired by a company.

As a freelancer, you need a portfolio showcasing your work for prospective clients. You’ll also have to join freelancing platforms and actively promote your skills.

Having reviews or a social media presence helps you get more customers as a freelancer too. Many people run their freelancing portfolio straight off of social media.

Thankfully, this is very easy to do nowadays in reputable freelancing platforms, like Upwork, Freelancer, Fiverr, etc.

They have a rating-based system and you can showcase your portfolio there. This way, a potential customer will see how you’ve performed with previous clients and their experience with you. 

You may have to start with low-paying jobs to get your first ratings, though.

But once that’s done, customers will slowly but surely approach you for your services. After that, you can increase your fees and even choose your clients.

As you gain experience and positive reviews, you will attract more clients and build a steady income stream.

Also, stable-income opportunities do arise while you freelance online.

For example, we have hired people as freelancers before and then upgraded them to a more permanent position after. Many of our staff working full-time with us, earning a steady income started as a one off job. Now, they can work flexibly online, when they want, where they want.

The early days of freelancing and owning an online business can start less stable than a classical contract, economically speaking. So, it can be good to start slowly, while you have a steady paying job.

This isn’t usually the case in the long term. Over time, you will earn more as you can charge higher prices, because you have your reputation to back that up!

Also, you can choose the clients you want to work for, which is another form of freedom (besides working online).

Related: How to quit a job you hate to travel and work instead

Here are some examples of legitimate freelancing jobs online that provide consistent income:

• Data entry.
• Virtual assistant.
• Online tutoring or teaching.
• Web development and design.
• Affiliate marketing.
• Photography, video editing, photo editing.
• Graphic design.
• Editing work.
• E-commerce and drop-shipping.
• Content creation (blogs, videos, podcasts).
• Buying, building, and selling websites.

If you want more ideas, we created a guide with 30 remote work ideas that also allow you to travel.

These are tried-and-true ways that either we or our team have personally used for a consistent income stream!

Pros

Cons

3) Create your own business online

Creating your own business is more akin to a “pick-your-own-adventure” kind of thing, as you decide how you want to make money online.

Starting an online business is a powerful way to take control of your financial destiny and turn your passion into profit.

It can be a side hustle or a full-time thing – it’s 100% up to you. Usually it’s a slow build to get there so it’s good to work your business around your unique passions and skills.

Here are a few examples of online businesses that can provide consistent money:

• Creating your own website with educational content, making money through affiliate links, online courses, and/or ad revenue. (Like this travel blog)
• Having an online store to sell products or services.
• Having an online community, people can subscribe and pay to join (often with a course)
• Building an audience through social media and earning money online by promoting products or through content creation.
• Creating the next big app!
• Buying, building, and selling websites (what we do!)

Pros

Cons

Interested? Here’s everything to know before starting an online business in Australia.

5 ways to NOT make consistent money online

These methods might promise quick and easy money, but they often lead to disappointment, wasted time, and financial losses. Even if they do earn income often it isn’t stable.

We do not recommend them as a way to earn money online in a consistent way:

1) Online surveys

Taking online surveys is a popular way for people to initiate themselves in the online work world.

Companies offer compensation for completing surveys and sharing your opinions on various products and services.

And, while it might seem like an easy way to earn a few extra bucks in your free time, it’s not a reliable source of consistent income because:

• Surveys are time-consuming, and the pay is usually minimal for the effort required.
• The income potential is capped, making it difficult to earn a substantial amount consistently.
• Paid surveys aren’t always available, making it challenging to rely on them as a steady income stream.

If you’re serious about making consistent money online, it’s best to explore other options.

2) Get-Rich-Quick schemes

Any scheme promising you’ll get money fast with little effort is likely a scam.

Sadly, these are incredibly alluring (they’re designed to be that way), and often prey on vulnerable people.

These scammers lure you into fraudulent schemes that only benefit them, not you. Common characteristics of get-rich-quick schemes include:

• Unrealistic promises. They guarantee overnight wealth without any substantial evidence or effort.
• Pyramid structures. Here, participants are encouraged to recruit others to join.
• Lack of tangible products or services. Get-rich-quick schemes focus on recruitment or putting money upfront, without providing real value – i.e. products or services.

If it’s too good to be true, it is. Avoid schemes that promise instant wealth without reasonable effort.

Don’t get scammed: The 5 most common work-from-home scams and how to avoid them.

3) Multi-Level Marketing (MLM)

MLM is a business model that relies on selling products and recruiting distributors who, in turn, recruit others to sell products or services.

It sounds like a pyramid scheme, but it’s not – MLM schemes provide products or services that distributors sell for a profit, making them legal in Australia.

Starting to work in an MLM company often requires you to purchase inventory first. Then, you earn a commission based on your sales and the sales of your recruits.

Now, it’s true that some people do find success with MLM – less than 1%, though.

The remaining 99% don’t earn income, or even lose money from all the inventory bought, not to mention the effort of recruiting.

Common issues associated with MLMs are:

• High start-up costs. MLM participants often need to invest money upfront to buy inventory or starter kits.
• Recruiting focus. Success in MLM heavily depends on recruiting new distributors, leading to a strong emphasis on recruitment rather than product sales.
• Limited market saturation. As the MLM network expands, competition among distributors increases, making it difficult for everyone to achieve consistent income.

Keep reading: How to make money online without recruiting friends and/or family?

4) Forex and cryptocurrency trading

Trading in the foreign exchange (Forex) market or cryptocurrencies might seem extremely lucrative, especially during periods of market volatility.

But this often comes with significant risks, especially for inexperienced traders, such as:

• Market volatility. Forex and cryptocurrency prices can fluctuate dramatically in a short period.
• Risk of losses. Trading without a solid understanding of market dynamics and risk management can lead to massive financial losses.
• Emotional stress. Day trading and frequent market monitoring can be exciting for some, but highly stressful for others. Both can negatively impact decision-making.

If you’re interested in Forex or cryptocurrency trading, take the time to educate yourself, practice with demo accounts, and never invest more than you can afford to lose.

5) Paying for so-called “secrets”

On the internet, you’ll find numerous courses and programs claiming to reveal the secrets to instant wealth and online success.

The truth is that there are no secrets.

There’s no such thing as instant wealth (unless it’s an inheritance), and online success takes years of consistent hard work and learning.

Red flags of questionable courses include:

Before buying any course with so-called “secrets”, start by seeking free educational content. We’re sure there’s a Youtube channel teaching exactly what you want to learn, for free.

Once you have this basic knowledge, it will help you discern whether an online course is legit or not.

Green flags to look for in a legit online course

We’ll use the course we did a few years ago as an example because we spent a lot of time researching it before we bought it. It’s where we learned how to build our online business and we owe our success today to this course.

The course is taught by Matt and Liz Raad, founders of the eBusiness Institute. We did an unfiltered review of the eBusiness Institute here (if you want to read about it).

Long story short, their courses have several green flags:

Even if you’re not interested in Matt and Liz’s courses, use their green flags to know what a course worthy of your hard-earned money actually looks like!

And if you want to learn more about them, check our full review of their courses, pros, cons, and more here:

FAQs

The bottom line

Making consistent money online is absolutely possible! There are 3 main ways to do this – getting hired by a company, freelancing, or creating an online business.

But whatever you choose, remember to embrace your skills and stay committed to your goals.

Success doesn’t come overnight, but with determination and perseverance, you can build a fulfilling and sustainable online income.