1. Swagbucks
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 tired 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. Sell stuff on eBay for Mom and Dad
I am sue 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!
3. 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 a few if you want to investigate it furthers:
I recommend proceeding with caution and definitely not paying anything to join.
4. Social Marketing Consultant
Many companies are looking for qualified candidates who know the ins and outs of Myspac, Facebook and Twitter to help them with their social marketing efforts. Head over to job site and search for "social media marketing".
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.
6. Find odd-jobs on Craigslist
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 to 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 mad 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 couple friends who have almost done this exclusively as a job. They were basically human guinea pigs, but they mad 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" + you city to find some options.
11. Gigwalk
Gigwalk is a fairly new iPhone app that offers payment for completing simple tasks based on your location. For example users earn by taking pictures of a restaurant's menu, verifying roadblocks and signage, and other simple tasks. If you are in a big city (which typically has more opportunities) there is some decent potential with this one.
12. 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!
13. 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.
14. Creat Myspace Facebook Graphics 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.
15. Use Fiverr.com to sell some service
Fiverr.com is a service-orientated website that allows you to sell your service for $5. As you can probably imagine there are a lot of bizzarre services that people offer. But if you do some searching on the site you can start to see some opportunities for a lot of different skill-sets.
16. 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.
17. Blogging
Tow 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 days ago.
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. Sell articles
Folowing in that same vein, you can sell articles you write at places like Constant-Content.com, ArticleSale.com, Helium.com.
21. 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.
