Most people these days are looking for something to get a little extra money in their pockets. In fact, Experian says that half of all Millennials have a side hustle.
Many people take on side jobs like driving for Uber or delivering for DoorDash. And while these jobs are great for some people, many people don’t have the time to devote to them. Others don’t have a car to complete these jobs. So, if you don’t have the time or resources for a part time/side job, what are your options?
Well, fortunately for all of us, the world of modern technology has opened up a world of possibilities for earning money. So, there are plenty of apps that you can start using to get paid money. To help you get started, we have listed a few apps that pay you real money.
Foap
Foap is an app that pays you money for your photos and videos, though it focuses on photos. The app sells these photos to websites, brands, and marketing companies for a flat fee of $10 each and splits the fee 50/50 with you as the photographer. So, for every photo that is bought by Foap’s customers you get $5.
Keep in mind you will only get paid for photos that sell – not how many photos you upload. So, for this app quality is far more important than quantity. While it’s hard to know exactly what kinds of photos are most likely to sell, in general you can expect customers to be looking for bright, happy photos that can be used to boost views for their business, advertisements, or website.
The app also has contests and missions which pay significantly more money – sometimes even several hundred dollars. These campaigns are looking for a specific type of photo and are willing to pay more to incentivize photographers on the app to actively submit their photos that meet these criteria. The photos for these higher dollar rewards must meet specific requirements, but the payout makes it well worth it.
Foap is a great option for making extra money but remember that companies are looking for very high-quality photos. If you are not experienced in photography, your chances of selling photos might be low. However, with so many of us taking photos for Instagram and other social media, there’s a good chance you already have a photograph or two that is worth $10 to someone.
If this app sounds interesting to you, you can also check out Snapwire – another app that pays you for your smartphone photos.
Newsflare
Newsflare is a similar app to Foap, but instead of photos Newsflare will pay you for your videos. Newsflare is part of the growing trend of videos being created and shared by members of the public rather than only professional journalists.
Founded in 2011, the London-based company now has over 60,000 video uploaders. Its buyers are some of the top media companies in the world, including ABC, BBC, and NBC. So, as a video uploader your videos can potentially be seen by people all around the world! Given that top companies use Newsflare videos, you have probably already seen a Newsflare video at some point while watching the news.
Newsflare will split all money made on videos with you 50/50 – a pretty generous portion compared to many other companies that sell your videos. How much you are paid varies depending on who buys it and how it is used. With most direct sales, you will earn about £25 – £100 (~$30 – $130). If the video is used in advertising, then you can earn monthly income from ads that ranges from £5 – £200 (~ $6 – $260). Payment timing varies depending on who buys your video and it can take up to 3 months to get paid with some clients. But you only need a balance of £10 (~$13) to be able to cash out to PayPal, so you can get paid after selling just one video.
Newsflare is another app that’s a great way to make money on the side. Especially if you already love making videos or live in a place where news stories are happening, you can make a good deal of money.
Fiverr
Fiverr is a marketplace for freelancers of all types. They are better known as a marketplace for freelance artists, but actually offer a much wider range of services such as business services, document translation, and even voice over projects.
Fiverr used to be famous for its ‘$5 gigs’, but it has grown far beyond that today. Now, you can find a wide range of services ranging from $5 to $500 and even beyond. As a freelancer, you can offer whatever services you think you want at whatever price you think people will pay. Fiverr will take 20% of your sell price, so make sure you price your services at a level that will pay you well for your time.
In order to get started on Fiverr, you will need to create a freelancer account describing what kind of work you want to do. Your account should also show examples of your work to show why people should want to hire you. Once you have your account, you can start receiving orders directly and bidding on orders in the ‘Available Projects’ section of the site.
Upwork
Upwork is another freelancing app that pays you money. Like Fiverr, Upwork created a marketplace for people with work to be done and freelancers looking for jobs.
On Upwork, freelancers must buy ‘connects’ that are used to bid on work. Connects are not expensive – only 15¢ each– but it is enough to discourage random or mass bidding. This means that job posters are not going to get hundreds of irrelevant bids.
Upwork also takes a percentage fee for all income you earn. Like Fiverr, it starts out at 20%. But, unlike Fiverr, Upwork lowers its fees as you earn more income with long term clients. You will pay 20% for the first $500, 10% of earnings between $501 and $10,000, and only 5% for all income over $10,000. Keep in mind, this scale only applies to earnings with the same client – once you start work with another client this scale starts over.
So, if you are looking to earn income long term, Upwork might be a better option for you than Fiverr. This would probably be the case if you are looking for regular, long-term contract like doing regular accounting work, whereas if you are an artist who is most likely to have one-time work from a variety of clients Upwork and Fiverr are financially equal for you (though Fiverr is more geared toward artists than Upwork).
Choosing The Right Apps That Pay You Money
Those were a few apps that will pay you real money. While all of these apps can be great ways to earn some extra cash, you should do your research before starting to put time into any one of them. The goal of all these apps is to pay you for your time and effort, so make sure you aren’t investing your time into apps that you don’t think are paying you enough. Ideally, you will already be doing some activities that the apps pay you for doing. For example, photographers should probably focus on apps like Foap, while artists are probably better off working on Fiverr. Whatever you choose, just make sure you are keeping your goal in mind – you want to earn money!
