While freedom means many different things to different people, for most people, especially considering how interconnected our world is and how much of a role money plays in the exchange of value, you need to attain a level of financial freedom to be truly free.
Unless you're a CEO working for a major corporation, you're highly unlikely to be rich working a job. In fact, you're highly unlikely to achieve financial freedom.
What's the solution to financial freedom then? Have multiple streams of income. According to a five year study that analyzed rich and poor people to see what differentiates them, it was observed that one of the key factors that differentiates the rich from the poor is the number of income streams rich people have. The study found that 65 percent of self-made millionaires had at least three streams of income and that at least 29 percent of self-made millionaires had at least five streams of income.
To be truly financially free, you need to have multiple streams of income. The more viable income streams you have, the more on track you are to freedom. Below are four ways to use the internet to accelerate your journey to financial freedom:
1. Consider a Side Gig as a Freelance Writer
Freelance writing can be quite profitable, with a particular study putting the average earnings of freelance writers between $15 and $45 per hour. Another study found that the top 10 percent of freelance writers earn more than $75 per hour. That's certainly nothing to scoff at.
While you're unlikely to get rich as a freelance writer, with good writing chops, it is quite easy to earn a living as a freelance writer. There are also a lot of paid writing opportunities with blogs and magazines that are willing to pay freelance writers up to $50 or more per article contributed.
You can put in one or two spare hours every day; perhaps you can wake up an hour earlier so you can freelance a bit before going to work or you can put in an extra hour every day before going to sleep. Regardless, you can earn good income by freelancing on the site.
It's also worth noting that earning side income as a freelance writer becomes easy over time: as you establish a relationship with particular clients or publications, you get a feel for what kind of work they want and it becomes easy to meet their demand. You also tend to get better and faster at writing over time, making it easy for you to earn more for the same time put in over time.
2. Earn Some Extra Income By Tutoring Online
Don't let the fancy term "tutor" deceive you. You do not need a PhD to become a tutor online. Whether it is the advantage you have as a native-English speaker, the experience you've accumulated over the years while playing with and manipulating photoshop, or some other advantage you have when it comes to your skillset, tutoring can be quite profitable.
This list by ThePennyHoarder shows that you can earn a minimum of $14 - $18 per hour (and possibly much more) by providing one-on-one ESL tutoring to Chinese kids on VIPKID. There's a bachelor's degree requirement though. Chegg Tutors also allows tutors to earn up to $20 per hour by tutoring other students, although you need to provide proof you are currently enrolled in or have been enrolled in a university.
Regardless of your current skill set, you can certainly earn some extra income by putting in a few hours weekly tutoring people online.
3. Create Online Courses
If you are confident about your expertise, you can earn extra income by creating your own courses for online platforms like Udemy. Contrary to the popular notion that most people have when it comes to creating courses, with Udemy you don't even need to have a website; as long as you are confident that you have the requisite expertise, and can easily get comfortable on camera, then you can go ahead and create your own courses for sale on Udemy.
Udemy has over 30 million students in more than 190 countries, and a good and well-optimized course on their platform gives you an advantage that is difficult to get elsewhere. There are other platforms like it too. You are highly unlikely to get rich by creating your own courses for platforms such as this, but you could earn good side income.
4. Test Websites and Apps in Your Spare Time
While the initial three options might require at least average level of specialized expertise, you can still earn on the side without specialized expertise. Platforms like UserTesting allow you to earn money by testing and telling them what you think about websites they suggest. While it is certainly not going to make you rich you can earn $10 for performing a task that takes just 20 minutes: you visit the website they suggest, complete the tasks they give you, and record your feedback about your user experience with the websites.
While UserTesting is currently not accepting users from all countries in the world, they are accepting users from a good number of countries, and it's generally a straightforward process provided you can speak good English.
In Conclusion
The above are four ways to earn side income on the Internet while you pursue your goal of financial freedom. They won't make you rich, but every extra income you can earn on the journey to financial freedom won't hurt.
