I started to make money online as a teen. Ways to do this were, at the time, very limited, but now it is possible for teens to make a lot of money online and really support themselves while still in high school.
As a teen, you’re limited by your age. You have to be 18 years old to get a Paypal account, and that effectively stops you from using eBay or Associated Content. Your age will all but eliminate you from participating in online surveys and things of that nature, where the target demographic is people between the ages of 21 and 30. Because you don’t have a credit card, you can’t do trial offers.
So what are some good ways for teens to make money, aside from simply holding a regular job. I would suggest first assessing your skills. What are you good at? If you are a pretty good writer, consider doing freelance writing work, or offering to write research papers for money (there are tons of other teens looking for this). If you are good with your hands, offer to build or repair stuff for people. If you’re strong, consider offering assistance to people who are moving. There are hundreds of potential ways to do this. All of this can be advertised on Craigslist. It’s free and local, so you have don’t need to worry about people in different states asking you to help them move.
For things that you don’t need to be near someone to help with, like paper writing, use US Free Ads, Get a Freelancer, and other nation-wide services to advertise yourself. As a teen, making money online through these venues is acceptable regardless of your age, because you don’t need to be in physical contact with the person you’re dealing with (remember, as a teen, nobody thinks you can do anything worthwhile except physical labor). With each of these promotional sites, there will likely be a fee for using them (Craigslist is free, and to an extent, so is US Free Ads, but to use the service well, you’ll need to pay). If you’re doing skill-work, like writing or web design, you will certainly need to show samples of your work, so get those ready before you start.
Here’s the most important part. Never ever tell them that you’re a teenager if you’re working from afar. That’s sure to lose you business. Unfortunately, it’s just a fact of life that people think all teenagers are worthless when it comes to things like paper writing, web design, and research, which many teens around the world are doing every day. With the internet, and especially with outsourcing so prevalent, you can bet that there’s another guy waiting right around the corner who has more experience and more credentials than you, so you need a polished and professional approach. If you do it right, however, there are tons of good ways that you can find to make money online as a teen.
