For so many people, making money online would be a highly welcomed idea. Just think about it. A steady flow of Cash with some online venture or with a website would mean that you quit your daytime job to become a self-made entrepreneur.

It would also mean more time with your family, and you’ll finally take full control of your life and time.

Now, here’s the god news. Earning money isn’t rocket science and neither is it a pipe dream. Just like any business venture, earning online may take time to grow.

For your online business to take off, you need to devote your time and energy. You need the grit to stick with it even if you’re starting out at snail’s pace.

If you are looking for legitimate, realistic and straightforward ways to earn money online but aren’t sure where to start, here are some of the best and most practical strategies to consider.

Online Survey Sites

1. Survey Junkie

A considerable number of individuals are skeptical about handing their personal information to scam Survey sites with no intention of paying you.

With Survey Junkie, you have nothing to worry about. It has earned the trust of over 3 million members globally who impact the various companies and brands by the surveys they fill out. Once you have created your profile on the website, you will immediately get surveys to complete either by email or by logging into your account.

How much can you make with Survey Junkie? Before answering this question, they are good enough to be honest as they clearly state on their site that ‘You Will Not Get Rich.’ On average, a single survey pays approximately $1-$3, which is way better than other survey sites.

This values will vary based on the length and complexity of the surveys. Survey Junkie has limited surveys. If you’re lucky, you can get 2-3 surveys on a weekly basis.

2. MySurvey

Initially a market research company, Mysurvey has been around for a quite a while compared to most survey companies (since the 1940s).

In a bid to prove their legitimacy, MySurvey rewarded members from all parts of the world a total of $ 15,000,000 back in 2012.

They are known to provide surveys that cover a wide range of topics. For each survey that is filled out, the company pays for it. Members are paid for their honest opinions per survey, which is then converted to points.

MySurvey pays anywhere between $0.5 to $1.25. Of course, this is bound to change depending on how long the study is. The main drawback about MySurvey is that you must attain a minimum of 1,200 points to get paid.

You can double your points by taking part in certain activities such as winning sweepstakes, referring friends and family, and testing certain products.

3. Pinecone Research

Owned by Nielsen Company, Pinecone Research is an online survey company that has a positive reputation as a legitimate leader of the industry.

Seeking to earn something extra by reviewing products? Pinecone Research should be at the top of your list.

You could also do other stuff by selling homemade goods on Etsy. Earning money from Pinecone is simple. You receive an invitation to particular surveys based on your opinions and thoughts, and you receive rewards points for each completed task.

These points can then be redeemed for prizes, Gift Cards, and cash. For every completed survey, you get approximately $3 worth of points.

Most surveys on this Pinecone Research will typically take about 15-30 minutes. While other survey sites have a threshold to withdraw cash, Pinecone Research has nothing of the sort. You can ask to receive your hard-earned money any day, any time.

4. Ipsos i-Say

Ipsos i-Say has its headquarters in Paris, France. Since its inception in 1975, Ipsos i-Say is a survey site arm of Ipsos, which is among the leading market research companies in the world.

Once you sign up, you’ll be required to answer a couple of pre-survey questions on your personal life including your race, education, marital status, date of birth, and gender. The first survey to be sent to you will be a “Getting to Know You” survey.

This is a short survey that seeks to know your demographic information such as receptiveness to surveys, employment status and so on. Contrary to other survey sites, Ipsos i-Say majorly focuses on surveys alone.

Once you qualify for one, you either check your Dashboard or your email. If you don’t qualify, you still get 5 points as a compensation for your time and honest opinion.

5. Vindale Research

Vindale research is an independent survey company that works with major companies in the U.S. It is a branch of SayForExample and has its headquarters in New York.

Unlike some of its rivals who only allow citizens from the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, Vindale Research has expanded its services to a worldwide audience. Like other survey sites, you only need to be 18 years or older and answer a few ‘household questions’.

Vindale Research has a wide array of activities to take part in if you are not content with surveys alone. These include watching videos, referring friends, participate in the Vindale reward mail program, and sharing a screenshot of your payment from Vindale.

These and more are quick and easy ways to boost your earnings. Vindale offers to options to access your money: Check by mail or PayPal. You must have a minimum of $50 to transfer your funds.

6. Swagbucks

Swagbucks is, by far, one of the most unmatched side hustles for which you get paid to complete some online tasks. Is it worth your time? The answer is yes. Yes, it is. Even with five minutes to spare, you can play a game, watch a video, or take a survey.

The points you earn are redeemable for cash or gift cards. It’s that simple. Since 2005, teens and adults have been generating some extra cash with Swagbucks. So far, around $236,000,000 has been earned.

If you wish to excel with Swagbucks, all you need to do is pick a single activity that you’re great in. You get paid for an online activity that appeals to you the most. These include: Shopping online, watching videos, answering surveys, completing online tasks, testing new products and many more.

Although you are not assured of untold riches, Swagbucks is a simple venture that anyone can earn money from.

7. Toluna

Today, Toluna is among the most well-known marketing research and paid-survey companies with an estimated 10 million worldwide membership. With its motto being ‘Opinions for all’, Toluna is doing just that – making online users’ voices heard.

Being a survey site, Toluna has many topics to choose from. They range from 15,000 to 20,000 points on average. Depending on their difficulty and length, there will be a variation in points. They will typically last between 15-20 minutes.

These surveys are created by clients who are accessible by email invitation. Before taking a survey, all the information is listed. This will either qualify you or disqualify you from receiving surveys.

Additionally, filling in your profile surveys on Toluna gives you a better shot of being chosen for particular surveys. Aside from surveys, Toluna also deals with product testing that members can apply for based on their needs or interests.

8. Onepoll

Onepoll is a UK-based online research company that has partnered with extensive retailers from the UK. It majorly seeks to incentivize its global members after every survey they fill out honestly. It has a fairly enticing web layout with the sign in/sign up buttons neatly displayed at the top corner.

To sign up, you should be 18 years or older, provide your name, working email address along with a strong password. By simply creating an account, you are rewarded with five sterling pounds. The best thing about Onepoll is their reliable customer support.

Their contact information is displayed on the website, enabling members to share whatever query they may have at any given time.

They also have a privacy policy that outlines the different measures they take to keep the information you provide them with safe from nosy hackers along with other interested parties. Aside from this, you are assured of access to legitimate companies that compensate you for your hard work.

You can receive your payment through PayPal, checks or BACs.

9. YouGov

YouGov is a legit paid survey site that conducts online polls on topics of general interest such as brands, products, public affairs, politics etc.

What makes YouGov stand out from the multitude of online survey sites is the fact that it offers relatively short surveys of about 20-30 questions that take approximately 5-7 minutes. Occasionally, there will be lengthy surveys that take no more than 20 minutes to fill out.

These questions are used by public affairs groups, news media, institutions, companies, and political campaigns to analyze public opinions.

Each survey rewards you between 500-1000 points. You also stand to be rewarded with gift cards that take about a week or two to be mailed to you once you redeem them. YouGov also has a referral program that rewards you 1,000 extra points on every new member you invite.

Unfortunately, YouGov is only for citizens 14 years or older in the US and 16 years or older in the UK.

Money-Saving Cash Back Apps

10. Ibotta

The Ibotta app is worth it when it comes to saving extra cash on groceries. This app lets you receive cash rebates on brands of any kind, especially store brands. The Ibotta app provides a seamless way to save money.

If you’re always on the lookout for the most affordable items and you don’t coupon every so often, then you need this app.

When you purchase items such as pasta, bread, eggs, bananas, tomatoes, frozen veggies, shredded cheese, apples, milk and so on, you’ll receive small cash rebates worth 20 cents each. What’s more, for new users, Ibotta offers a cash back bonus of $10 for new users.

With the ‘team rebates’ system, you can work together with friends or family member to earn cash back through bonus tiers.

11. Makeena

From Goddess Garden to Wild Zora, Makeena users can collect amazing offers from their preferred brands – right from the app.

They can then purchase these items online or from brick and mortar stores. The Makeena app is designed to suit the needs of millennial users who are wary of scanning online coupons at the checkout, printing online offers, and cutting coupons.

After each shopping spree, users scan the barcodes of the receipt of the relevant products. Makeena will then credit their accounts with money.

You also stand to earn instant points by being active on social media (i.e. sharing and following participating brands), watching videos, referring friends and a vast number of other fun and engaging activities which seek to engage with their online fans and reach new ones.

Once their account balance strikes $10, they are free to cash out using either Paypal or Venmo.

12. Fetch Rewards

This app rewards you each time you go shopping and buy products from over 250 well-known brands on the app.

The points you earn can be exchanged for rewards such as gift cards from various brands. To enable you to earn from almost all the stores you visit, Fetch Rewards has partnered with some popular grocery stores. It also deals with the brands directly and not the store alone.

Take advantage of this beneficial partnership and earn extra points from the grocery store, whether or not it is included in the app’s list. Fetch Rewards works provided you purchase an item from either of the brands on the app.

All you need is to download the app (which is available on both Google Play Store and the Apple Store), register and start earning free points each time you do your shopping.

These points can later be redeemed for gift cards and other rewards.

13. Shopkick

Though this app has been around for quite a while, not many people are aware of its existence. If you’re one of them, you can get it on both Android and iOS platforms – you won’t regret it.

Shopkick allows you to earn points (which are referred to as kicks) for different activities that, upon accumulation, can be turned into Target, Amazon or Walmart gift cards.

There are four major ways that you can earn you extra points: a shopping portal, purchases, in-store scans and walk-ins. Shopkick points are worth $0.004 per piece. For 500 kicks alone, you can redeem them to be eligible for gift cards at available retailers.

In your app, there is a barcode and gift card code that appears when you redeem points. This will enable your gift card to be used either online or in store.

14. Checkout 51

This is a popular, risk-free app that credits your account each time you upload genuine receipts of your grocery shopping. Check out 51 is a must try app.

A couple of the items that are available for cash back offers are mainly grocery items. Even so, you can still find, among others, alcohol offers as well as health/beauty products. A number of these offers pay anywhere between $0.25 – $5 based on what you choose to purchase.

Keep in mind that generic offers are bound to pay less, while brand-specific products will usually pay more.

When you sign up, you’ll see a full list of available offers. What you need to do is purchase either one or all the listed products. After checkout, keep the receipt safe as you will scan it later using the camera app. Upload a clear picture of your, and Checkout 51 will credit your account as soon as they review it.

15. Trunow

For most households, gas is a huge expense whether or not they have a long work commute. With Trunow app (available on iOS and Android platforms), you may now have an alternative way to save money at the pump by finding the most affordable gas prices within your area.

As if that’s not enough, Trunow also saves you cash on drinks, snacks and other items you may need to buy at gas station convenience stores.

Trunow works hand in hand with partnered gas stations to give you back your cash on every gas purchase from these particular stations.

Though it’s a fairly new app, it does not have a huge number of partners at the moment. Because of this, there may be no gas prices and rebates, depending on how rural your area is. Despite this little setback, Trunow offers two things that other gas apps don’t: cash back for gas and rebates.

16. Punchcard

Shopping is a favourite to most if not all people. Even though it’s a fun experience, it may come with a very costly tag on it. With the Punchcard app, you stand a great chance of earning unlimited rewards.

This means that anytime you shop, you’ll earn rewards based on your interests. Though you may make only $20 – $30 a month with Punchcard, it’s still way better than having to spend all your money with nothing left to spare.

Every time you shop, you’ll be paid in points, which can be redeemed for amazing items and gift cards.

Using these points, you have a chance to win prizes and enter sweepstakes. The Punchcard app is designed to be used by anyone looking to earn more. It’s also great for merchants who wish to acquire new customers who will become regulars at their store.

This app is all about rewarding its customers, whether new or existing o new ones.

17. BerryCart

This is a unique and interesting website because you get paid to eat healthily. Imagine that. The BerryCart app makes it possible for you to be rewarded each time you buy healthy food. What you need to do is upload your grocery receipt and get paid instantly.

We all know that eating healthy foods and staying in shape go hand in hand. Unfortunately, most of us have been convinced through the years that junk food costs less as compared to fruits and vegetables.

For larger families, it would seem that getting paid to switch to a healthier diet is the way to go. Berrycart is very much similar to Ibotta but slightly different at the same time.

While Ibotta is filled with many vendors selling products such as candy, cleaning items etc., they rarely feature whole or organic food products. So basically BerryCart is the Ibotta of exclusively healthy foods.

The Bottom Line

There are countless ways of making money online and the ones discussed above are just a tip of the iceberg. If you have the time and passion for almost anything, and some level of creative skill, you may be able to create an online income stream if you’re patient enough.

The internet is a simple marketplace for anyone to make money on the side. From survey sites to cash back apps, the internet provides endless options for making money.

You should, however, beware of scam sites. They may look and sound legit but are really not. There is no point in delving deeper into these sites as the best ones have already been outlined above. Though users may have mixed reviews about them, they all agree on one thing; most sites pay you for your hard work.

Remember: When filling out online paid surveys, always be honest. You stand to be penalized for either giving contradictory or inadequate responses.

Also, do not try to second-guess these systems by stating that you are a well-to-do businessman or woman to get more surveys. It never works!

Each of the mentioned survey sites and cash back apps is free to join and use. You should never be hoodwinked into paying for subscriptions of any kind – no matter what they promise you.

Making money online is a major source of income for most people. Talk about web designers, writers, researchers, tutors, photographers, and so on.

All top-earning online entrepreneurs have one thing in common: They are go-getters and are not afraid to try out new ideas. You can always get inspiration by reading some of their success stories of how they started and how they’ve made it.

Don’t just read and take a back seat, put everything you learn into action. And who knows? You could be the next big online entrepreneur.