In this digital age, many people spend a significant amount of time on their smartphones each day, browsing social media, playing games, shopping, and watching videos. However, what many don’t realize is that some savvy individuals are using their smartphones to earn extra income daily, with some even quitting their jobs to become freelancers.
Your smartphone is not just a communication and entertainment device; it is also a potential goldmine. You can turn your phone into a money-making machine, whether you want to earn extra income during your spare time or plan to become a freelancer. With just a smartphone, you can achieve your financial goals.
Whether you are a student, a stay-at-home mom, or a working professional looking to make some extra cash, you can accomplish this through your phone. Here are 13 ways to make money with your phone.
Contents
- How to Make Money With Your Phone: 13 Ways
- Taking Surveys
- Swagbucks
- Selling Your Data
- Completing User Tests
- Taking and Selling Photos
- Make Money With Affiliate Marketing
- Playing Video Games for Cash Rewards
- Earning Money by Walking
- Watching Videos for Money
- Offer Freelance Services
- Sell Your Second-Hand Items
- Use Investment Apps
- Answer Questions for Cash
- Get Cash Back from Online Shopping
- Common Questions about Make Money with Your Phone
How to Make Money With Your Phone: 13 Ways
Taking Surveys
One of the easiest and fastest ways to make money through your phone is by taking surveys. Many companies are eager to gain customer insights and opinions, so they pay you to participate in surveys and online focus groups.
Typically, you can earn between $1 and $5 for completing a survey, depending on the number of questions. On average, a survey takes about 10 minutes to complete, and most include simple questions that you just need to answer honestly to receive payment.
While participating in surveys won’t make you rich, it can provide quick cash. If you need money urgently, taking surveys is a fast option. Most survey platforms, like Swagbucks, offer cash bonuses when you sign up. For instance, if you register through the link below, you can immediately earn a $10 cash bonus, which you can withdraw at any time.
I started using Swagbucks to take surveys in my spare time years ago. If you want to learn more about my experiences earning money on Swagbucks, you can read: How I Earn Free Money With Swagbucks: Swagbucks Review.
Swagbucks
Start sharing your opinion, earn points, and cash them out for free gift cards or cash today. Claim your FREE $10 sign-up bonus now!
Selling Your Data
Some companies want to collect certain data from your phone and will pay you for it. You only need to install their apps, which will run in the background to gather data, allowing you to earn a fixed monthly payment. Although the earnings aren’t substantial, this method is ideal for making money with minimal extra effort.
Some may worry about downloading these apps leading to privacy issues, but you can rest assured. These apps have clear statements that they won’t collect your personal privacy data, only basic information like your search keywords, the websites you visit, and the products you browse.
These companies primarily collect basic data for market research purposes. For example, Nielsen is one of the largest market research companies in the world and is eager to know what you do on your phone to provide valuable market research data.
If you want to learn more about making money by selling your data, you can read: 14 Best Ways To Get Paid For Searching The Web.
Completing User Tests
Many brands want to understand how people feel about their products and services, so they pay you to participate in tests and provide feedback afterward. Users typically need to test websites or apps on their phones and give feedback about aspects like loading speed, usability, user experience, or any bugs encountered during use.
UserTesting is a company that helps brands gather user testing and feedback. They partner with many well-known global brands, including Canva, GoDaddy, HP, and Alaska.
According to the website, testers can earn $4 for a 5-minute user test and $10 for a 20-minute test. If you participate in a live interview, you could earn between $30 and $120.
Making money through UserTesting is straightforward; you just need a smartphone, either Android or iOS. Sign up for an account, complete a short practice test, and fill out some basic demographic information. Then, you can start earning by participating in tests, recording your thoughts, and engaging in real-time conversations. Payments will be made in cash to your PayPal account within 14 days.
Taking and Selling Photos
One of the simplest ways to make money through your phone while potentially earning a good income is by taking and selling photos. You don’t need to be a professional photographer to earn money; capturing photos is one of the easiest ways to make money.
Many companies, bloggers, and social media content creators have a variety of needs for your photos. You can take pictures of anything you like—landscapes, food, architecture, or people—and upload them to photo sales websites, setting your prices. Once someone purchases your photo, you earn income. Well-known platforms for selling photos include Shutterstock, Getty Images, and Foap.
If your photos have significant commercial value, many companies are willing to pay high fees for the rights to use your photos. For instance, Foap is a free platform where you can start uploading photos for profit by simply registering.
You can sell and resell the same photo multiple times. Photos typically sell for $10, and you earn about $5 per sale. You can build your portfolio and shoot photos based on tasks posted by larger companies. If your photo is accepted, you can earn a decent income.
If you have attractive hands or feet, you can also specialize in selling photos of them, which may yield higher earnings than other types of photos.
Make Money With Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is one of the best and most reliable ways to earn money online. Compared to other mobile money-making methods, affiliate marketing can allow you to earn over $10,000 a month.
Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing strategy where businesses reward you based on your sales performance. As an affiliate marketer, you receive a unique affiliate link. When someone purchases a product or signs up through your link, you earn a commission. Companies may pay commissions through various models, such as pay-per-click, pay-per-lead, or pay-per-sale.
You can choose an affiliate marketing program; many beginners opt for the Amazon Affiliate Program, sharing Amazon product links with friends, family, and social media followers to earn commissions.
There is a wealth of knowledge and content in the affiliate marketing field. If you want to learn more about earning money through affiliate marketing, you can read: How to Make Money With Affiliate Marketing?
Playing Video Games for Cash Rewards
Nowadays, there are thousands of games available on smartphones. Most people treat playing video games as a pastime or hobby, but some apps offer a way to earn money by playing games. You just need to download these games and try them out to earn rewards.
Many lesser-known games hire players to boost their visibility and engagement. These games come in various genres, including survival, card games, puzzle games, adventure games, and strategy games. You can spend your free time playing these games, relieving stress while also earning money.
Many apps offer cash rewards for playing games, such as Mistplay, Lucktastic, InboxDollars, and Swagbucks. Generally, the earnings from playing a single game can range from $1 to $10, depending on the type of game and the tasks or duration required.
Earning Money by Walking
We may spend half an hour to an hour or more walking each day, easily covering thousands of steps. However, you might not know that there are many apps that allow you to earn money just by walking. You only need to download and install these apps to start earning money through your steps.
You might wonder how these walking apps pay you and how they remain profitable. Their revenue comes from several channels:
Collaborating with brands to display ads within the app. When you watch ads while walking, you also earn cash rewards.
Collecting users’ step and activity data and selling it to research companies.
Partnering with merchants to design step challenges, charging users for participation.
Ultimately, you don’t need to worry about how these walking apps make money; you just need to download and install them to earn cash while walking. If you walk 10,000 steps a day, you can typically earn between $1 and $5. While this isn’t a lot, it doesn’t require you to spend extra time working.
Common walking apps include Sweatcoin, Mistplay, Health Walk, Lucky Walk, and Winwalk.
Watching Videos for Money
Watching videos is also a common way to make money with your phone. Many survey and gaming apps, like Swagbucks, offer opportunities to earn by watching videos.
Many video creators pay for viewers to watch their content and leave honest feedback or require you to watch ads during the video. This method is simple, but the earnings are generally low, typically ranging from $0.01 to $0.05 per video. Fortunately, videos are usually short, lasting about 1 to 5 minutes. If you watch multiple videos, your earnings can add up to a decent amount.
You can connect an extra monitor to your computer to watch videos while working, allowing you to earn extra income without affecting your productivity.
Offer Freelance Services
If you have skills in writing, social media management, digital marketing, graphic design, or web development, you can make money by offering services on platforms like Fiverr and Upwork.
Even if you lack specific industry expertise, you can still offer simple services on Fiverr, such as English translation, basic video editing, virtual assistance, transcription, or data entry.
These are straightforward tasks that any college student or stay-at-home mom can easily complete. For more ideas on making money with simple tasks on Fiverr, you can read: 21 Easy Gigs to Make Money on Fiverr Without Skills.
Become a Fiverr seller and start making money immediately.
Becoming a Fiverr seller is an easy way to make money. Start your Fiverr journey now and seize this opportunity to earn!
Sell Your Second-Hand Items
Your home is likely filled with various unused second-hand items, as many people often buy products that end up sitting idle after only a few uses. Selling these second-hand items through mobile platforms can be a quick way to make money.
There are many platforms available for selling second-hand goods, such as eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and OfferUp. Popular second-hand products include electronics, furniture, appliances, clothing, accessories, toys, and sports equipment, which can sell quickly once listed.
Use Investment Apps
Investing through apps is one of the best ways to make money with your phone, and you don’t need to be a professional investor or have a lot of capital to start. Different investment apps cater to varying experience levels, whether you’re looking to save or invest.
There are two main ways to make money through investing: passive investing, where you simply invest your surplus funds and let the app generate returns, and active investing, which requires more time and understanding of trading methods, like buying and selling stocks.
Answer Questions for Cash
If you have expertise in a specific area, you can earn money by answering questions on various apps. JustAnswer is a popular app where you register and set your working hours and expertise. When you have free time, you can answer user queries on the app.
Generally, answering a question can earn you between $10 to $50, depending on your area of expertise. If your knowledge is in specialized fields like finance or law, you can earn $100 or more per question, and you can set your own rates based on your experience.
Get Cash Back from Online Shopping
If you didn’t know that online shopping can earn you cash back, you might have lost a lot of money over the years.
Numerous cash-back apps allow you to earn a percentage of your shopping when you make purchases through their links. Well-known apps include Rakuten and TopCashback, which partner with thousands of brands, offering cash back typically ranging from 1% to 20%.
In addition to online shopping, apps like Ibotta also support cash back for in-store purchases. For example, if you’re shopping at Walmart and find a $3 cash-back offer for peanut butter on Ibotta, you can add the offer, shop, and upload your receipt to get the cash back.
Common Questions about Make Money with Your Phone
Is making money with your phone legal?
Yes, there are many legitimate ways to earn money using your phone online, so you don’t need to worry about risks.
How can I make 10 dollars right now?
You can quickly earn $10 by participating in online surveys, as many survey apps offer cash rewards for registration. For instance, signing up for Swagbucks can give you a $10 cash bonus that you can withdraw to your PayPal account immediately.
How to make money from apps?
There are many apps that can help you earn money, and you can make money through various methods, including watching videos, participating in surveys, playing games, walking, or earning cash back from shopping.
Can you make money from making an app?
If you’re looking to earn extra income through apps without investing any money, that’s absolutely possible. However, if you’re thinking about creating an app to make money, I would advise against it. Developing an app is not only costly, but even if you invest time and money, you need to successfully market it to earn income from it.
What are the side hustles to make money with your phone?
There are numerous side hustles you can do with your phone, such as selling items, freelancing, tutoring, pet sitting or dog walking, completing various tasks, investing, or becoming a part-time delivery person.
In summary, regardless of your skills or experience, you can find suitable part-time work or side hustles on mobile apps and earn money.
