Are you thinking about starting an online business, but have no money to invest? If so, you’ve made it to the right place!
I know what you’re asking… Can you really start a successful online business without any money?
YES, you absolutely can! It sounds crazy, but it’s completely possible to start an online business with no upfront costs.
There’s just one small catch…
You have to have access to the internet and a device such as a computer, laptop, tablet or even just a smartphone. But if you’re reading this post right now, I assume you already have that part covered 😉
Ready to get started on your new business? Here are 10 online business ideas you can start with no money as long as you have a device and internet access!
1. Affiliate Marketing On Social Media
Affiliate marketing is when you promote products and/or services using a personalized link. If someone makes a purchase through your affiliate link, you get paid a commission.
It’s is a very simple, effective way to earn an income. Plus, it’s free to do!
I would normally suggest affiliate marketing as a way of monetizing a blog. However, creating a blog has some initial startup costs for the domain and hosting (unless you sign up for a free blog, which isn’t recommended if you want to turn it into a business and make money with it).
That being said, affiliate marketing is by no means exclusive to blogging. You can use your social media profiles instead! Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram all allow you to use affiliate links in your content.
Here’s my quick and simple guide on how I’d start an affiliate marketing business using social media…
- Choose a niche (AKA the topic you’ll mainly be talking about. For this example, I’ll use “puppy 101”).
- Create social media profiles with a name related to my niche.
- Write useful, helpful content + share images and graphics related to “puppy 101”.
- Sign up for pet-related affiliate programs.
- Start promoting helpful puppy-related products and services using my affiliate links to my followers.
Be sure to read the guidelines when signing up for affiliate programs, as well as the affiliate link guidelines for the social media websites that you’re posting on. Doing so will ensure you’re not going against any rules.
Need some inspiration? Check out BeautyDealsBFF on Instagram. They post beauty related sales and discounts using affiliate links!
2. Freelance Writing
You can start a freelance writing business at no cost whatsoever. A freelance writer gets paid to write content for clients. This can be anything from ghostwriting, copywriting, blog article writing and more.
To get started, you can create a portfolio of your writing samples on a free website like Contently, Clippings or Medium. That way, you have a place to direct potential clients to your work.
Freelance writing can be a very profitable side business or even full-time job. Jorden from CreativeRevolt wrote a blog post about how she grew her freelance writing business to $5,000/mo in just 4 months!
If you’re interested in freelance writing but you don’t know how to get started, check out Elna Cain’s fantastic blog post where she breaks down everything you need to know to get started as a freelance writer.
3. Graphic Designer
You can start a graphic design business for free if you have a program that you can use to create digital images. A graphic designer can sell logos for businesses, infographics, T-shirt designs, album artwork, printable wall art and more!
Here are a few ways you can start a graphic design business for free:
- You can offer your services on a website like Fiverr, which is free to use.
- You can advertise your services on your social media pages.
- You can sell your work on an online marketplace like Etsy.
Don’t have a program to create graphics with? GIMP and Inkscape are both free tools you can use. You can also sign up for a free trial for Adobe Creative Cloud apps.
If you want to be a graphic designer but have no experience, there are many free tutorials and resources you can use to teach yourself online. Start by searching for some beginner tutorials on YouTube or Google!
4. Sell Print-On-Demand Products
Print-on-Demand is a great option if you’re looking to start a business or side-gig for free. Print-on-Demand allows you to create designs and upload them to be displayed on products such as T-shirts, mugs, canvases, posters and more at no cost to you.
If a shopper purchases your design, the Print-on-Demand service will print your design onto the product that was ordered and ship it out to the buyer. You get paid for every product you sell!
You can use free photo editing software like GIMPÂ or Inkscape (if you don’t already have photoshop or a similar program) to create your designs. Don’t worry if you don’t have any design or drawing skills. You can sell text-only products!
Here are some websites where you can sell Print-on-Demand products for free:
…And more!
Amazon Merch requires you to request an invitation before you can join and start posting. Receiving your invitation may take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. However, the rest of the websites I listed can be joined and posted on immediately.
If you want to try selling on Amazon, I would recommend requesting an invitation and signing up for another website where you can sell immediately while you wait for your Amazon Merch invite.
5. eBay Seller
Selling on eBay is still going strong! You can search around your house for things that you don’t want anymore and put it up for sale on eBay.
You can also search around neighborhoods, facebook listings and local online communities for people who are giving away stuff for free.
You’d be surprised at the things people are getting rid of (I scored a beautiful decorative shelf in perfect condition from a neighbor who was throwing it away just last week!). One person’s trash can be an eBay seller’s treasure 🙂
Once you’ve made some sales, use your profit to purchase and resell discounted items that you find in thrift stores or flea markets (or whatever else you choose to sell). You can have a profitable business in no time.
eBay selling can be turned into a fun, full-time job. Rob Stephenson from FleaMarketFlipper has been selling on eBay full-time since 2012!
6. Online Tutor/Teacher
If you know a lot about a particular subject, you can offer to tutor students online. You can promote your services on your own social media/website and meet up with your students via webcam.
You can also use a free website like Fiverr to sell your services. Check out the online tutoring section of Fiverr to get an idea!
Not sure if you have the knowledge to tutor students? Try thinking outside the box. Yes, you can tutor in the usual academic subjects such as math, science, reading or history. But you can also tutor in subjects such as business, public speaking, chess, painting and more!
7. Online English/Language Teacher
You can start a business teaching English (or your native language) to children or adults anywhere in the world. You can meet up with your students via webcam or even with just a microphone.
Like with online tutoring, you can offer these services through Fiverr or your own website/social media.
To make things easier, try picking a language teaching “niche”. Here are some examples. In your chosen language, you can teach:
- Children to read or speak
- Adults to read or speak
- Tourist essentials
- Business conversation
- Accent coaching
And more!
Choosing a niche will help you get connected with the students who need your services. It’ll also make it easier for you to teach because you’ll be able to create lesson plans and reuse them with all of your students.
8. Virtual Assistant
A Virtual Assistant carries out a variety of tasks such as social media management, writing emails, bookkeeping, managing a blog, talking to clients/customers and more! That may sound intimidating, but don’t worry. You don’t have to do everything. Different clients will have different tasks that need to be done and you get to pick which services you offer.
Who would need a Virtual Assistant in the first place?Â
- Bloggers of all kinds
- Popular social media accounts
- Youtubers
- Authors
- Online magazines
- Company websites
- Artists
- Offline businesses (Lawyers, local shops, photographers, restaurants, the list goes on…)
… And tons more! Anyone who either has an online business or promotes their offline business using a website/social media could be in need of a Virtual Assistant.
You can start a Virtual Assistant business by creating a portfolio advertising your services to show to potential clients. Check out this portfolio made in PDF format for inspiration: Jay of Click & Mortar Virtual Assistant. Billie from DesireToDone goes more in depth on how to start a Virtual Assistant business without a website by utilizing free social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn.
Virtual Assistant services can also be advertised for free on Fiverr.
9. Become A Youtuber
As a Youtuber, you’ll be able to create videos and upload them to Youtube for free in whatever subject you’d like.
Here are a few ways you can get paid as a Youtuber…
- You can monetize your videos with ads.
- You can place affiliate links in the description of your videos. This can be useful if you want to film product reviews or showcase different types of products and services in your videos.
- You can make money through sponsored videos. If a company likes your content, they can pay you to create and upload a video featuring their product or service.
Most smartphones, laptops or tablets have great quality built-in cameras, so it’s perfectly fine if you don’t have a fancy camera or gear. A well-lit room and a phone camera is all you need!
10. Offer A Service Of Your Choice On Fiverr!
Fiverr is a website that allows you to advertise your freelance services. It can be anything: graphic design, voice overs, translating, data entry and more.
If you have a skill that you think people would pay for, give it a shot! Take a look around the website and see what services people are offering.
Here’s a fun and interesting service I found recently that is making sales: Create 30 Custom Pinterest Pins. Who knew you could start a business selling Pinterest pins?!
RELATED:Â Want more online business inspiration? Check out my post on fun and creative online business ideas!
How To Learn A Skill To Start A Business
Don’t have the skills you need to start your online business? That’s no problem! It’s 100% possible to learn a new skill from scratch and have your online business up and running in no time.
Here are some ways you can learn new skills without paying a dime:
- Use Youtube tutorials. You can find in-depth, beginner-friendly tutorials on just about any subject on Youtube!
- Learn from blogs. There are so many blogs out there dedicated to teaching people how to do different things for free.
- Use a website that provides online classes. I would recommend using Skillshare for this. Skillshare is an online learning platform that provides classes on all different subjects. Anything from graphic design to marketing, web development, animation and so much more. If you sign up for Skillshare using my link, you’ll get a FREE one month premium trial. You can learn a whole lot in a month, so give it a shot! Click here to get your free one month trial of Skillshare Premium.
Final Note
As you can see, there ARE ways to start online businesses without any upfront costs! The internet is full of free, incredible tools and resources to help you get started.
You can create something big from nothing at all with just a little bit of time, effort and dedication.