There has never been an easier time for teens than in this present era to look for jobs that they can do to start making money online. The rapid advancements being made in all frontiers of human endeavors and aided mainly by the internet has radically shaken up the traditional ways of doing things.
And nowhere is this more evident than in the way we live, work, and carry on business. And because of this, even at a younger age, teens nowadays are looking for jobs or money-making opportunities that they can do online.
Why Online Jobs for Teens Are Great for Them
The best part of it all is they get to stay home and make money. Keeping their teens off the street is a struggle for a lot of parents. If they can be introduced to doing something productive online, they can become more responsible individuals.
Being digital natives, teens have an easier time learning to wield the digital tools that are changing our economic landscape. You hear of pimply-faced kids making millions from the comfort of their bedrooms armed only with a laptop and an internet connection.
While you may not start earning 6-figures right off the bat, starting an online job is one of the best things you can do as a teen. Just imagine not asking your parents for money anymore when you want to buy that gadget that you’ve been wanting to own. Kickstart your creativity by checking out these 12 online jobs for teens.
Online Jobs for Teens – Design and Creativity
Instagram and Snapchat Ads Designer
Instagram or Snapchat designer could just be the gig for you if you have a flair for design. As an increasing number of marketers turn to paid social media ads for traffic, there is a demand for people who can create attention-grabbing creatives for ads. You can sell your services on several platforms, which include Behance, Upwork, 99 design, among others.
However, as an unproven newbie, don’t expect to start earning hefty sums of money right away. You need to create a portfolio of your best works to showcase your skills and attract clients. Then floor them with your compelling designs executed flawlessly and delivered on time. That’s how you get jobs from repeat clients and referrals.
With time, as you build your competence and reputation, you can start demanding higher prices. If you’ve put in the work, people will fall over themselves trying to get you to work on their ad creatives for some cool cash.
Illustrator
Several ways exist to earn online as a freelance illustrator. You can sign up to the right marketplace and look for gigs related to illustration and design jobs. Freelance sites like 99Designs, Hire an Illustrator, Indeed, Behance, and more are the go-to places for illustrators.
Besides selling design gigs, you can make money from home as an illustrator by:
- Doing Art Commissions
- Selling Vector Designs
- Designing and selling a font created by you
- Teaching Illustration as a course online
- Selling posters and print versions of your drawings and illustrations
Sell Designs on Cafepress
Cafepress is a platform that offers you the opportunity to make a profit from your artistic skill. On Cafepress, you get to print your designs on merchandise and get them sold through this medium. You get money through Cafepress by:
- Selling your designs: All you need to do is to list your work on the Cafepress marketplace. “Add a Design” tab allows you to upload your quality design on the merchandise of your choice. You receive 10% of any sales of your design.
- Creating an Online Shop: You can set-up your online shop within Cafepress and sell your designs from there.
- Affiliate Program on Cafepress: Promoting merchandise that has another designer’s print on it is another way of making money on Cafepress.
Also, you are paid a cash incentive depending on the performance of your online store on Cafepress.
Online Jobs for Teens – Tutoring/Teaching English
As a teen, you can easily monetize your ability to speak and write the English language as a native speaker. All you require is an internet-enabled computer, webcam, microphone, and a quiet room. You must register with hiring companies to get started.
The need for an online English tutor over traditional classroom teachers is increasing daily because of its efficiency, less disruptive platform for learners, flexibility, and relatively cheaper costs. You can teach from home (at your own convenience), set your own schedule, gain experience while rendering service, and, most importantly, add money to your pocket. Most of your students will be from China. Check out our post on VIPKids and Magic Ears and see if these two online tutoring platforms will work for you.
Many companies online are willing to offer tutoring jobs for teens a chance to teach English if he/she is TEFL (Teach English As Foreign Language) certified, fluent in English, and has excellent presentation skills. You can get this TEFL certification from International TEFL Academy.
Online English tutors make averagely between $10 – $40 per hour. The payment range depends on your level of qualifications and the instruction provided in the lessons. As a first-time English teacher, you are most likely to start earning between $10 – $20 hourly.
TutorCare
Whether you’re in high school or a college student, online tutoring jobs for teens at TutorCare.com is a great alternative to make money from your home or dorm.
The beauty of this job is that you can choose or decide the number of hours you will like to work in a day, week, or month.
The pay is fixed at $12 an hour but there are four different ways you can make money as a tutor.
- Assist students with their homework
- Online tutoring
- Upload students tutorials
- In-person tutoring
Tutors are also provided free training and an opportunity for advancement is very much possible.
SameSpeak
SameSpeak, is about teaching English online and tutors must be at least 16 years of age and English fluency is a must.
You will have the opportunity to make friends and teach English to students from all over the world. They will find the students for you so you can focus on your tutoring skills.
With SameSpeak, you can easily monetize your ability to speak and write the English language as a native speaker.
All you require is a high-speed broadband internet-enabled computer, webcam, a headset microphone, and a quiet room. You can register on their website to get started.
Writing Jobs for Teens
Blogging (Blog for Teenagers)
You begin blogging by setting up a blog- a website of your own with unique personal branding. WordPress and some other good blogging platforms have quality templates or “themes” for you to choose from. Whichever one you decide to use must suit your personality and the topic of your blog.
You can only get readers or traffic to your blog by creating viral content, promoting your blog on social media, and responding to news stories on your blog. With time, a sizable number of readers must have started following your blog. Good. Now is the time to monetize. You can do this by:
- Adding banner adverts to your website
- Writing advertorials and sponsored contents
- Using affiliate marketing on your blog
- Charging for sponsored social media posts
- Also writing guest blog posts for media outlets
Upwork – Writing Jobs
If you’re familiar with Upwork, you know that their clients are always looking for creative writers. To get started with Upwork, you have to be at least 18 years of age.
To get started with Upwork, you will need to register to create a Freelancer account. Do some research on how other people make money as a Freelance writer on Upwork. You can make a good amount of money, but of course, just like anything, there is some work and patience involved. Usually, finding that very first client is the hardest.
Other Fun and Popular Online Jobs For Teens in 2020
Customer service jobs from home
Customer service jobs are also available for teens wanting to work from home. It is one of those online jobs you don’t need technical training or special education to start with.
There are two ways teens can earn as a Customer service representative:
- Finding a remote work with a traditional corporation.
- Become a virtual assistant that specializes in customer service. Here, you get to own your own virtual assistant business.
Before you can provide remote online customer service, you will need the following:
- An absolute silent environment
- Strong internet connection
- Landline phone
- The latest operating system on your personal computer
- Knowing how to do basic things with a computer
- An ability to handle challenging conversation without getting upset
You get paid between $10 – $15 per hour for your customer service gigs. This rate is based on the number of times you are on the phone when you work as a contractor.
Taking surveys
Companies rely on a consumer’s feedback to tweak products and ready them for the market. Therefore, they pay people to take online surveys. And for teens, it can be one of the easiest jobs to make money online. Here’s how to go about it:
- Sign up with a company: There are many online survey companies you can sign up with. These companies research different demographics. You can sign up with Swagbucks, MyPoints, 20/20 Research, PineCone Research, LightSpeed Research, Valued Opinions, etc.
- Create and complete a profile: As mentioned earlier, each company is targeted to a demographic. By creating and filling out a profile, a company can tell if you fit the demographic they want.
- You are provided with a survey: You’ll start getting invites for surveys are as soon as your registration is complete.
- Complete a survey: Answer the questions in each survey correctly.
- Get Rewarded: For every survey you do, you receive points that you can redeem for cash or other rewards. Some companies don’t deal with points. They transfer money directly to your PayPal account.
Monetary rewards for completed surveys range from about $1 to more than $20.
Online data entry jobs for teens
As the name implies, your job is to enter data and these data entry online jobs for teens has the lowest barriers to entry – all you need is a reasonable typing skill, ability to read and write English, and a high school diploma which makes data entry a great online job opportunity for teens.
A data entry job basically requires you to input numeric, alphabetic, or symbolic data into an organization’s system using an input device such as a keyboard.
You may be required to certify or edit the data as you enter them, or another person might do it.
Data entry jobs, especially for teens, are typically low-paying since they require the least skills. But it could help pay some bills or help you achieve a saving goal faster. Expect to make about $10 per hour for starters and up to $20 per hour as you become more experienced.
Sell photos online
If you’re like most teens who love taking photographs and have a good camera or a phone that can take high-quality pictures, then you are good to go. You don’t need any specialized training or a website to get started. Quality images with good lighting, color, perfectly captured moments, and good composition are all you need to start earning money from home.
Some companies accept these photos (known as stock photos or images) and resell to their customers who may use them for commercial purposes. You can sign up and upload your awesome and unique photos to them. Some of these include 4Corners Images, 500Prime, 123RF, Animals, Crestock, Alamy, Bigstock, Shutterstock, etc.
The stock photo companies typically pay you when their customers download your pictures. And the pay varies widely depending on your experience, niche, and skills. Most stock photo companies will pay you 25 cents per download as a beginner.
YouTuber (Creating videos on YouTube)
Although it won’t happen overnight, teens can make a good deal of money by uploading videos on YouTube. You create a loyal subscriber base around your passion by creating quality videos that educate and entertain. You must be consistent and offer real value to attract thousands of views to your videos.
With the numbers comes the money. After you have created your channel, there are several ways you can make money off your growing fanbase:
- Partnering with YouTube: You need at least 10,000 channel views to qualify as a partner, and you’ll earn a fixed rate per view.
- Google AdSense: As a YouTube partner, you can link your channel to Google Adsense. Based on your topic, audience, and relevant keywords, advertisers through Adsense will bid for space on your videos. You get paid when a viewer clicks on or watches an ad.
- YouTube Red: YouTube ads-free subscription service allows you to make money as a partner. With an active subscriber base of over 1000, you can put your video behind a paywall for SuperChat – a premium feature that allows viewers to have their messages shown during a Livestream
Here are some other less direct ways to make money on YouTube:
- Video sponsorship and product placement: Companies whose products might be of interest to your audience might sponsor your videos in exchange for publicity. You can be paid on a per-sale basis or in commission tiers.
- Selling your products or services: You can promote your own products and services to viewers and provide a link that will take them to your products sales funnel.
Whatever methods you choose, making money on YouTube is dependent on having an active and engaged subscriber base.
Conclusion
There are endless opportunities for teens to make money, and you are only limited by your imagination and the online jobs for teens listed above are a good starting point. But you have to put in the work. And once you have made your first dollar online with an activity that aligns with your passions and unique talents, you will become hooked for life.
