I can remember my teenage days well. I didn’t want to work, but I
needed to make money to support my social life. So I umpired, cut grass,
and bagged groceries. I didn’t particularly love any of the jobs, but
in order to offset my spending, I needed to work.
The good news for teens today is there are a wide range of ways to make money
– that weren’t around when I was a teenager. Most of them require a
good work ethic, but there are a lot of new opportunities available.
Luckily for many teens, they may already be very skilled in certain
areas that could easily translate into a nice side income for them. For
example, I remember hearing about a teenage girl who designed Myspace
backgrounds and was making more money than her parents. So potentially, a
teenager who is willing to work hard could make considerably more than
working traditional “jobs” like at McDonalds, cutting grass, bussing
tables, etc. For even more, check out these 5 legit work-from-home job opportunities.
What type of teen are we talking about?
The seven year period defined as the “teenage years” sees a wide
range of maturity levels. I remember moments where I showed high levels
of maturity and moments that are better left unspoken. Interestingly,
the frequency my immaturity didn’t necessarily decrease as I grew closer
to 20 years old. My point in saying all this is that some of these jobs
are going to require a teenager who is “on the ball”in terms of
maturity. But if you have (or are) one, these could be much better
alternatives to “would you like to supersize that?”
Jobs requiring moderate maturity level
Basically this is a free site that offers you a bunch of ways to earn
“Swagbucks” which can be redeemed for cash, gift cards, or other
rewards. You can earn by answering polls, taking surveys, doing simple
tasks (like giving feedback about a website), trading in old video games
or books, and even playing games on their site.
I have tried it out and have received multiple payments from them, so
I can attest that it is legit. While you won’t get rich doing this, to
me it seems like a great way for internet-loving teens to make some
money.
2. Social Marketing Consultant
Many companies are looking for qualified candidates who know the ins
and outs of Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter to help them with their
social marketing efforts. Head over to a
job site and search for “social media marketing”.
I am sure mom and dad wouldn’t mind sharing some of the profits, if
you sell some of their clutter for them. I say ask them for 50% of what
you make from it!
4. Take online surveys
I am not particularly fond of the whole online survey thing since I had a bad experience using CashCrate.
But there are lots of online survey sites and people who do it
successfully. Here are a few if you want to investigate it further:
I recommend proceeding with caution and definitely not paying anything to join.
5. Raise Money Online
If you are raising money for a community service project or missions, you might want to check out a site like
GoFundMe.com.
They make it easy for teens to raise money for any type of project.
People have used it to raise the money for everything from mission trips
to medical bills, weddings and honeymoons, business ventures, and even
college tuition.
Some of these might be landscaping work, or similar odd-jobs, but it might be great summer time work for teens!
7. Freelance Write
As they say on the web “content is king” and everyone wants it. Places like Elance or Odesk have
thousands of different job openings available for freelance writers. If
you are not in a rush for receiving compensation and know how to do
keyword research, there is money to be made writing at Hubpages and
Squidoo. For more on this method, check out How to make money with Hubpages.
8. Sell Plasma
Not sure how old you have to be, nor how painful it is, but if you
are into that sort of thing, it can be a way to make some quick money.
9. Write product reviews
There are places like
Ciao,
Epinions.com,
ReviewStream.com that pay for product reviews – if you have an opinion and can type quickly this might be a good option.
10. Take part in medical studies
I have a couple friends who have almost done this exclusively as a
job. They were basically human guinea pigs, but they made some decent
cash at it. Sometimes they would have be at the medical facility for up
to 48 hours, so your schedule may need to be flexible. Just google
“medical studies” + your city to find some options.
11. Have a Garage Sale
If it is something too large or that won’t
sell on eBay for some reason, you can always have an old-fashioned garage sale!
12. Tutor or give lessons
Are you great at math, science, or kicking a field goal? Why not
advertise your skills to those a few years younger than you? Many
parents are willing to pay a teenager to tutor their child in an area
that needs development.
13. Create Myspace Facebook backgrounds or Pages
or Twitter backgrounds for that matter. Just set up a simple site to
sell your work, get a paypal “buy it now link” and you are off and
running.
Jobs requiring a uniquely mature teenager
14. Build Websites For Others
I can’t tell you how many people have asked me to build them a
website since I started this one a couple years ago. I am not seeking
the work and people are requesting it, so if you do a little legwork and
pursue small business owners, there is a lot of work available. Teens
might be great for this, because they would be able to work for less
than some higher end website developers, which would put them in the
price range that it seems many small businesses are looking to spend.
15. Blogging
Two years ago I wasn’t sure if there was money to be made blogging,
but I have since found it to work out nicely. It isn’t something that
will provide much income quickly, but if you stick at it, it can. I
wrote extensively about how to make money from a blog a few months ago.
16. Design Web Logos
If you have a flair for design, it may be worth trying to make some money designing logos for small business or
blogs.
17. Freebie Trading
I first heard about freebie trading
from Leslie who made $28K last year doing it part time. It seems like
it requires a certain kind of person, but clearly there is potential as a
decent money maker.
18. Sell Digital Photos
Making money as a photographer has become easier over the last
decade. There are now lots of sites looking to buy digital photos:
Shutterstock.com,
123RF.com,
Dreamstime.com,
CreStock.com,
Fotolia.com. As with most things, the better you are the more money you will make, but it can be nice passive income if you work at it.
19. Sell articles
Following in that same vein, you can sell articles you write at places like
Constant-Content.com,
ArticleSale.com,
Helium.com.
20. Start an eBay business
Last year I experimented with
starting an eBay business
to see if there was money to be made. While profit margins can be thin
selling on eBay, there are over a million eBay businesses, so it is a
viable option.
21. Sell widgets on Etsy.com
If you create any kind of arts or crafts or widgets of any sort, you should check out
Etsy.com.
There are likely to be focus groups in your area that may be willing
to hire teens. Organizations are always looking for participants because
there are
business advantages for focus groups. Just Google “focus group” and your city to get started.
This is the dream job isn’t it? You get to shop and get paid! The
added bonus is that you secretly have recourse when you are treated
poorly in the store.
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