Home✔Naija HB SpecialHow to Make Money Online Without Paying Anything (2020 Update)

How to Make Money Online Without Paying Anything (2020 Update)

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Are you interested in learning how to make money online without paying anything in 2020?

You are not alone…

…One of my readers recently sent me an email saying: “I need a guide on how to make money online in Nigeria without paying money to start“.

I provided answers to her via email and decided to share with my other readers who might be interested in building multiples streams of online income without having to spend a dime.

You might start to wonder if it is really possible to achieve that, especially if you’re a newbie to internet businesses.

Yes, it is indeed possible to make money online without spending a dime, provided you receive the right guidance.

Which is what this article aims at achieving.

And not just in Nigeria, no matter where you live in.

The internet really does make the world a global village, doesn’t it? 🙂

From the very moment the internet came to being, a lot of people wasted no time in taking advantage of all the opportunities therein.

As a matter of fact, there are tons of online money-making opportunities on the internet Nigerians can benefit from. However, some of them require investments.

This can pose a huge challenge for anyone who’s cash strapped or facing financial difficulties but still want to make money online.

Not anymore…

I will show you how to take advantage of several easy ways to earn on the internet for free.

Without further ado, let’s get started with the reason you clicked to read this post.

Here’s how to make money online without paying anything:

1. AdSense for hosted contents

Homepage of Google AdSense
homepage of Google AdSense

Google AdSense is the world’s biggest and most popular contextual advertisement company and is one of the many smart ways people make money online without paying anything.

To get an approved AdSense for hosted content account, you need to own a property in one of the three largest Google-owned platforms, which are: YouTube, Blogger and Google PlayStore.

YouTube

YouTube logo

YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine after Google search. Virtually everyone in the world knows YouTube. People who don’t are probably living in caves.

Prior to understanding how YouTube worked, I always wondered why people would pass on their professional knowledge for free.

Imagine professional cooks uploading free videos to teach you how to make some of the best recipes from around the world.

Trust me, you can learn almost anything for free on YouTube.

Although you watch those videos for free, the owners of those videos monetize them with the YouTube Partner program, a subsidiary of Google AdSense.

You too can upload YouTube videos to teach the world what you know without paying any money for the bandwidth of space you useup on the platform.

Apart from the YouTube partners program, you can also monetize your videos by adding affiliate links to the description section.

Blogger

Blogger is owned by Google, which also happens to own AdSense. It is one of the oldest blogging software in the world.

You can create a blog for free using Blogger and monetize that blog using Google AdSense or any other means possible.

Linda Ikeji, Nigeria’s most popular gossip blogger, also got her blogging career up and running for free using Blogger.

So, if you don’t have the financial power to start a blog on WordPress, which is obviously the best blogging platform in the world, then you must take advantage of the invaluable resource the BlogSpot platforms provide you with.

It is cheap to start a blog on WordPress with several hosting companies. Some of them cost as low as $2 per month when you make your first purchase.

But the real problem arises when you need to pay for renewals. The initial pricing is not always the same as that of renewal.

During renewals, Bluehost pricing climbs to as high as $8 per month for the basic plan, which may be unfordable for most people.

NaijaHomebased got started on the BlogSpot platform and moved to WordPress when I noticed it had started doing well.

So you too can start for free as I did.

And to make things better, there are free themes, support, and blog articles all over the web that will help you get the best out of the BlogSpot platform.

PlayStore

PlayStore is the official marketplace of all android phones and is also owned by Google. You can upload your app for free and through that app get Google AdSense (AdMob) approval.

If you know how to create mobile apps, then it is another huge opportunity to make money for free online.

The creation of mobile apps is not difficult. You can learn app development for free using several free YouTube videos.

You see, I told you…

…you can learn almost everything for free online.

Although you don’t have to pay anything to upload your apps on Google PlayStore, realizing money for your efforts requires that you upload what people would love to download.

Your ideas might not necessarily be original. Branding, interface, and the quality of your app can make it stand out from the rest.

For instance, there are tons of VPN apps on Google PlayStore. Notwithstanding, they all get a good number of downloads and make good money from their apps.

Although the services they render are similar, each app comes with a unique interface/user experience – which makes everything all the more interesting.

2. Freelancing

A freelancer earning and making a living

Freelancing is another option for anyone looking to make money online without paying anything.

In summary, a freelancer or freelance worker is someone who offers his services on freelance sites and is contracted to clients for short-term jobs.

In a previous guide, I shared a list of website where you can get home-based jobs in Nigeria.

All of the websites I shared require zero payments. In other words, you can begin selling your services on those platforms the next minute after you create a freelance account, all without spending a dime.

The two most popular freelance sites are Fiverr and Upwork. But trust me, there are tons of sites out there where you can list your services and get paid.

And, don’t worry, you don’t need to own a professional certificate in any field to get started on Freelance platforms.

Services you can render on freelance sites can range from professional to non-professional services, as long as you’re capable of delivering whatever orders you get from clients.

Here are a few services freelancers render on the aforementioned platforms:

Freelance writing

If you’re a skilled writer, you can offer your services on those freelance platforms I listed above or maybe another freelance website like iWriter created specifically for writers

On freelance writing platforms, you can become a ghostwriter, resume writer, creative writer, blog post writer, or offer any form of writing jobs you feel you’re capable of rendering.

Graphic design

This is another service you can render on freelance platforms. There are several freelance graphic design sites on the web you can sign up with for free and get graphic design jobs.

As a graphic designer, you can get jobs in design-related categories like Logo design, Greeting card design, etc.

Typing jobs

Offering typing services is another way to make money off freelancing without investing a dime.

If you possess the skills of a typist, without necessarily owning a degree in typing, then you can get typing jobs online.

The most popular typing service I know of is Transcription. You can easily offer that service in return for money.

There are several other services you can render on freelance platforms. I recommend you visit each of those websites to browse through the list of services available and know the ones you can render.

3. Taking Paid Surveys

A paid survey website allows you to take surveys on the regular consumer products you use in exchange for paying you certain commissions.

Survey companies are quite new and there is only a handful of them in Nigeria. However, over the years, they’ve continued to experience massive growth and popularity.

Survey sites are also free to join. This means you don’t have to pay anything to begin takings and earning from online surveys.

In the event that you come across any survey site that demands that you pay a certain amount of money to take paid surveys, you need to run away as far as possible from that site.

There are several international survey companies you can register with. However, most of them only payout with PayPal, which currently doesn’t support funds reception in Nigeria.

Whatever you do, just make sure you don’t join any survey site without carrying out proper research on it first.

Popular survey sites available in Nigeria are:

Make sure you join as many survey sites as possible. As a result of joining several survey sites, your chances of getting a lot of surveys and making more money will increase.

4. Submit stories online

Did you know you could submit stories to media companies and get paid for doing so?

submit stories to the sun without paying anything

The Sun, one of the most popular media companies in the UK buys stories from people.

They pay you for your stories and realize the money back from their readers. So, it’s a win-win situation.

Not just TheSun, most popular media companies have a section on their site that allows people to submit stories to them.

And you don’t have to spend anything to get those stories.

Bearing in mind that the world we live in is full of events, all you have to do is keep your eyes wide open to them.

Hilarious, weird, and surprising things happen around us every day, especially if you live in an urban area.

You need to keep your eyes wide open if you’re interested in making money from such events.

5. Work for media companies

Many people are not aware of the fact that media companies allow their employees to work at home. And, as a matter of fact, media jobs are always abundant on the web.

Next time you visit any media company or website, just scroll down to the bottom of their page or top of the page; you’ll either notice a “we are hiring” link or a “job” link.

Take Naija, one of the most popular media sites in Nigeria, for instance.

As at the time of writing this, there’s a demand for content writers and sales managers.

Most media companies allow their workers to work at home (online), as long as you’ll be able to meet up with company demands.

And, you don’t have to pay anything to get jobs from them. You just have to be good at what you do and be able to prove it.

Just make sure, though, that the media company you decide to work with is a credible one. There are scammers on the web.

6. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a multi-billion dollar industry that keeps growing every single year.

A person who promotes or markets affiliate products in exchange for receiving a commission for sales made or leads generated is called an affiliate marketer.

Affiliate marketing can be started without an investment. I’ve seen affiliate marketers who use the BlogSpot platform to promote their affiliate products.

After joining any affiliate program, it is left for you to decide how you wish to promote your products, provided it doesn’t go against the terms of that affiliate company.

CPA marketing is one of the most common ways affiliate marketers make money online.

You can perform CPA marketing using a Facebook page, YouTube or any other platform that can help you connect with an audience for free.

Affiliate marketing can also be done verbally. It’s just like the marketing department in banks where marketers get paid commissions for people who create bank accounts through them.

For instance, if you have a Payoneer account, you automatically become an affiliate if you decide to refer other users to register with Payoneer.

Payoneer pays both the referee and referrer a commission of $25 for every successful referral that receives payment to the tone of $1000.

Not just Payoneer, several other online companies have a referral or affiliate program.

I must admit, though, affiliate marketing requires a lot of time to master.

Taking courses from reputable institutions and investing money increases your chances of earning quickly.

7. Teach online courses

For you to be able to teach online courses, then you must be skilled at something and be able to communicate your knowledge in the form of an eBook, video lesson, etc.

If you wanted to get this done on your personal website, you’ll have to spend money building that site.

Since you’re interested in making money online without spending anything, I recommend you start your online course tutorship on already established platforms.

Online course platforms allow you to list your course for free in exchange for getting small commissions from whatever sales your courses generate.

The most popular online course platforms are:

  • Udemy.com
  • coursera.org
  • lynda.com, etc.

There are tons of other websites you can list your courses without paying anything.

Wrapping things up

I’ve provided you with several ideas on how to make money online without paying anything.

Now, it’s left to you to decide on which idea you’ll build upon.

And remember, there’s always free information on the internet. Just make a Google search on whatever you wish to learn and you’ll get one million or more results 😉

For clarity’s sake, what I mean by you not having to spend anything is that you won’t need to pay anyone or any website a dime to make money using the ideas I’ve shared with you.

But, like I’ve always said, before you think of venturing into any online business, you need to own a smartphone, computer and a good internet connection.

Without all that you can’t work online.

Data plans in Nigeria are not free. However, it’s safe to admit they’ve been quite cheap in recent times, so that shouldn’t be much of an issue.

Whichever among the ideas you decide to build upon, just make sure you learn a lot and do a lot of readings to help you get started.

Making money online is not as easy as it sounds. Although you’ll not need to invest money to get started with the businesses I shared above, you need to invest your time and effort.

Which of those ideas do you wish to build upon? I look forward to hearing your views…

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