Top ways to make money online and offline

by islam ahmed

Top ways to make money online and offline

1. Hands down the quickest way to make a lot of money (well, without breaking the law). Lots of students have genuinely made £100s from this technique. It's completely legal, risk free, tax free, and anyone can do it.
   It works by taking advantage of free bets regularly offered by betting sites through ‘matching' them at a betting exchange. Matched betting eliminates the risk (you are betting both for and against a certain outcome).
   This leaves you being able to squeeze out the free bet, which can be as much as £200! Multiply this by how many betting sites there are and you can quite easily come away with a profit of a few hundred pounds.
   Owen walks you through how to make your first £15 profit (using a real life example) in this gem of a guide to matched betting. If you know of any better way to make £30/hr sitting at home, please let us know!

2. Online surveys

   An increasingly popular way for students to make money is to fill out online surveys in their spare time. Research companies are always recruiting new members to answer surveys and test new products.
   For a few minutes of form filling, you can make a couple of quid which is paid as cash or rewards. You can bag up to £3 ($5) for some surveys!
   A few good ones to try are: Toluna, Vivatic, MySurvey, IPSOS, Global Test Market, The Opinion Panel, YouGov, Panel Opinion, Pinecone, Valued Opinions, SurveyBods, PopulusLive, Hiving, PanelBase, Branded Surveys, Opinion Outpost, Harris Poll, Mind Mover, New Vista, iPoll.
   Also sign up for Swagbucks which rewards you for surveys as well as simply surfing the web, watching videos and playing games.
   Update: See our new full guide to the best paid online surveys!

3. Paid for searching the web

   Interested in earning cash for doing what you already do online? This has to be one of the easiest methods of making money online without really any effort or change in your behavior.
   This innovative idea by Qmee.com rewards you for searching in Google, Bing or Yahoo. You just install a simple add-on to your browser and when you conduct a search there may be a few sponsored results alongside your normal search.
   Each Qmee result has a cash reward attached – if you are interested in it simply click on it and collect your reward.
   The best thing is there is no minimum to cashout – our first one was just 72p wired to our Paypal account. You also have the option to donate it to charity.
   Sign up now for free and start earning from your own searches! Click here to start.

4. Online market trading

   Please be aware that CFDs are a leveraged product and can result in the loss of your entire capital. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Trading CFDs may not be suitable for you. Please ensure you fully understand the risks involved.
   The historically hard-to-break world of investing in stock markets and currencies has been cracked wide open. Today there is no need to be a fat cat or fund the yachts of Wolf of Wall Street style stock brokers. You can do it all yourself with the help of online market trading platforms.
   Having spent many hours researching this new opportunity, I've been experimenting with the two biggest platforms: Plus500 and eToro.com. Both offer free practice accounts.
   Overall I prefer eToro with over 4.5 million users worldwide. It was recently featured in the BBC 2 documentary “Traders: Millions by the Minute” and the Financial Times.
   One of the best things on eToro is the CopyTrader feature. This lets you literally see, follow and copy the investments of other top performing traders.
   Follow George's complete guide to trading on eToro to learn more. I think $200 is a good amount to get the most out of the learning curve by trying out a few different markets. If nothing else you'll learn a great deal about various investments and industries.

5. Start your own website

   Interested in generating passive income? You need a website. It's THE way to make money while you sleep.
   Starting a website with Bluehost takes less than 20 minutes, costs hardly anything and can be done by an 82 year-old. It only takes a bit of plugging on social media to get your first visitors, and there are plenty of ways to monetise your site.
   Save the Student is just one example of a successful website, started at university by Owen Burek in his first year, which has since grown into a full-time and sizable enterprise.
   Read Owen's step-by-step guide on how to start a website in 20 minutes. It's really one of the best assets you can have.

6. Review websites & apps for cash

   Well it seems like you're pretty nifty with a web browser, so perhaps it's time to turn pro and browse websites as a paid and fun job!
   Introducing UserTesting.com – a new platform that pays everyday people to review all kinds of websites. Each review takes around 20 minutes and bags you $10 (£6.50) via Paypal.
   Simply sign up here, complete a test review and look forward to receiving websites in your inbox.

7. The ‘Disney Vault' secret

   
   To keep demand high across generations, Disney Studios carefully restrict the supply of some home release classics. They are locked away in the ‘vault' for 8-10 years before being released for a short unspecified time.
   Buy them in this window at normal retail price and you can turn a nice profit when they go off sale for another decade or so.
   For example, in 2011 you could buy Beauty and the Beast on Blu-ray 3D for just £24.99. In just a couple of years it was on Amazon for a staggering £74.99!Importantly, not all Disney releases are subject to the vault and only the true classics will maintain such demand.
   Right now there are just 2 titles out of the vault which I would recommend snapping up. They are Bambi Diamond Edition Blu-ray and The Lion King Diamond Edition Blu-ray.