Tired of Fake Gurus? What Are 3 Genuinely Lazy Ways to Start Making Money Online?

Feeling Stuck? Tired of Fake Gurus? Are These 3 Surprisingly Simple Online Businesses Your Best Next Step?

Many people want to earn money from home. They often get lost in confusing ideas that promise a lot but do not work. What if you could use the skills you have right now to begin earning? This guide shows you three real ways to make money online. You can start with very little money and no experience.

Method 1: Become a Virtual Assistant

Businesses today do most of their work online. This means they need more remote help than ever before. A virtual assistant (VA) is a person who works from home to help a business with specific tasks. This can be a simple way to earn extra income on top of a full-time job. All you need is a computer and a few extra hours each day.

The pay for a VA in the United States can vary. On average, a virtual assistant earns about $24.40 to $27.53 per hour. If you have special skills, you can charge more.​

What a Virtual Assistant Does

Some VAs handle basic tasks, while others offer expert help.

• General Support: This includes managing email inboxes, scheduling appointments, and customer service.
• Specialized Support: If you have skills in graphic design, bookkeeping, social media, or marketing, you can offer these services for higher pay.​

How to Get Started

1. Define Your Skills. Think about what you are good at. Do you enjoy organizing, writing, or design? This helps you decide what kind of VA you want to be. Start with general tasks if you are unsure. You can specialize later.
2. Find Your First Client. The easiest way to start is by talking to people you already know. This includes friends, family, and former employers. Many businesses need help but have not posted a job opening. You can send them a proposal explaining how you can support their work.
3. Join a VA Agency. An agency can provide training and find clients for you. This makes it easier to gain experience. The agency will take a percentage of your earnings, but it is a fast way to begin your career.

Method 2: Sell Products Online Using AI

You can run an online store without ever touching a product. This business model is called dropshipping. You partner with a company that holds the inventory. When a customer buys from your store, that company ships the product directly to them. Your job is to market the products and handle customer questions. Modern AI tools make this process easier than ever.

How to Get Started

1. Build Your Store with AI. The first step is to choose a platform for your online store, like Shopify. AI-powered website builders can create your entire store for you. You provide basic information about your business, and the AI generates a professional design, layouts, and even starter text for pages like “About Us”.​
2. Find Products to Sell. You do not have to guess what products will be popular. You can use product research tools that analyze data to find “winning” items. These tools identify products that are already selling well. They can automatically add the products, descriptions, and photos to your store.​
3. Drive Traffic to Your Store. A great way to get visitors for free is through short-form content. You have likely seen these videos on social media. They show a unique or useful product being used in a real-life situation. These videos can go viral and bring many customers to your store. The strategy is to create similar short videos for your products and post them consistently.

Method 3: Create and Share Your Knowledge

Another way to make money is by teaching people what you know. This is called knowledge content. The market for educational content is very large and continues to grow. You might think there are too many creators already, but your unique way of teaching is what sets you apart. Think about all the math teachers in the world. They all teach the same formulas, but some are much better at it because of how they explain things.​

You do not need fancy cameras or expensive lights to start. A smartphone is all you need to record and edit short videos for platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.

The Three Circle Formula

To succeed as a knowledge creator, find a topic that fits in three circles.

• Your Expertise. You do not need to be the world’s top expert. You only need to know more than the person you are teaching. You can continue learning as you go.
• Your Interest. Choose a topic you are truly curious about. You will be making content about it every day, so a genuine interest will prevent you from burning out.
• Market Demand. Make sure people actually want to learn about your topic. You can check for this by looking at what other creators are doing. If many channels are talking about a subject and getting views, there is a demand for it.​

Your best content will come from the intersection of these three circles. For your first few videos, think back to when you were a beginner. What questions did you have? Make content that answers those questions.