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Photo by Dmitry Demidko on Unsplash. One of the best parts of being a software developer is to have multiple ways to earn money. However, many developers don’t use the ways which I’m going to explain in this post, but they only keep working in the traditional way: having a day job, working full-time in a company. The easiest way to make money online is to take your current job in your 9 to 5 role and do it online instead. For example, if you’re a writer, administrative assistant, graphic designer, teacher, developer, etc., you can market these skills and find clients online who are willing to pay you for them.

Earn money quickly with engaging ads and in-app purchases and gather user-driven insights to guide how you monetize.

Online networks for freelance web developers, such as Codeable, provide new freelancers the opportunity to get some experience under their belt and hone client communication skills. A few options out there today (granted, less specialized) are Upwork, Fiverr, and PeoplePerHour.

AdMob

Monetize mobile apps with targeted, in-app advertising.

Google Ads API

Manage complex ads campaigns and accounts on the Google Ads platform.

Interactive Media Ads

Display ads in your video, audio, and game content.

Google Pay

Let your customers make easy, secure payments within your Android app or web app.

Google Play Billing

Sell paid apps, in-app products, and subscriptions, with granular controls to find and retain customers.

Whether you're looking to earn some extra cash on the side or dive head-first into the world of solopreneurship, here are 6 ways to make money as a developer.

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6 side income ideas for programmers

1. Freelance online

Freelancing is one of the most popular ways to make extra income — and one of the most flexible.

That flexibility is a big reason that more Americans are freelancing now than ever before, with 36% of American workers reporting that they freelance.

As a freelancer, you can choose which projects and clients you take on. There are freelance gigs to fit any coding language and skillset you can think of, from Javascript to Ruby.

Across industries, businesses — especially small ones — often outsource tasks to freelance developers rather than hiring in-house developer teams.

If you’re a pro at working with HTML and CSS, you can seek out front-end web development and design gigs. Alternatively, if you’re a Python or PHP expert, you can find jobs in back-end development.

And if you have a specific skill set or specialty, niching down even further can help you stand out in a crowded market of other coders.

Take these top WordPress developers listed on tech talent marketplace Toptal, for example:

Rather than offering generic coding work, developers like Alexa and Kendall focus their programming skills on creating custom WordPress plugins, websites, and themes for clients.

Toptal is one great resource for freelance developers to find jobs — and for potential clients to discover you, too. That’s because, unlike a lot of freelance marketplaces, they focus mainly on tech and software projects.

Similar tech-focused freelance marketplaces include GitHub Jobs, a job board that gives employers access to GitHub’s developer community in exchange for a small posting fee, and Stack Overflow’s “careers site that’s by developers, for developers”.

Many new freelancers use Fiverr and Upwork, but it can be hard to find high-quality freelance work there — those platforms foster a price-grabbing environment where clients hunt for the lowest bids, which makes it harder to make money as a freelancer.

Before you start applying for freelance gigs, create a portfolio of past projects. (Web developer and blogger Mikke Goes has a great guide to building a freelance web developer portfolio.) And don’t forget to ask for testimonials and reviews from past clients, too.

If you’d rather not deal with clients, job applications, and portfolios, there are plenty of other ways to make extra income as a developer — especially if you’re already creating content.

2. Monetize your content

If you’re already creating content for a blog, podcast, or YouTube channel, monetizing your content can help you bring in extra cash without starting from scratch.

One of the most popular ways to monetize content is through affiliate marketing. In blogging, affiliate marketing means linking to outside products and services in exchange for commission on each sale.

Low barriers to entry make affiliate marketing a favorite of bloggers across niches — if you have an audience, you can become an affiliate. Plus, with 81% of brands leveraging affiliate marketing, chances are that one of your favorite products or tools has an affiliate program.

Founder of Entrepreneurs on Fire, John Lee Dumas, knows the power of monetizing content through affiliate marketing. John started earning income from his Eofire.com blog in 2012 — and he’s made $19+ million in gross income so far.

In 2019 alone, John’s blog brought in over $2 million in gross income, with 16% of that coming from affiliate marketing.

For more tips on making money from your blog, check out these five blog monetization strategies.

Monetizing video content can be a bit more complicated, especially if you host your videos on YouTube. The video social media platform has strict monetization guidelines.

To make money from advertising, you must have:

An approved AdSense account
At least 1,000 subscribers
4,000 public watch hours in the last 12 months

You don’t need to be part of YouTube’s Partner Program to make money from your video content, though. Learn more in our guide to monetizing videos without YouTube.

As a podcaster, you have a few different options to monetize your podcast. You can seek out sponsors, join an affiliate program, or even offer paid product reviews.

And sponsorships can be a win-win for podcasters and advertisers alike — 54% of consumers are more likely to consider brands they heard advertised on a podcast.

To find advertisers for your podcast:

Use a podcast advertising network like AdvertiseCast or Midroll.
Use a podcast host like Blubrry and Libsyn. Podcast hosting platforms often reach out to podcasts hosted on their service with ad opportunities.

As you build your podcast audience, advertisers may start reaching out to you, particularly if you’re focused on a niche that aligns with their target audience.

Whether written or recorded, the best content answers your audience’s most common questions and obstacles. For example, programming tutorials are a great way to help your audience learn a new programming language or troubleshoot a bug.

Of course, once you start creating that helpful content, don’t limit yourself to just one channel.

Co-founder of Transistor.fm Justin Jackson started his blog in 2008.

The blog grew into a podcast. That podcast became a membership website.

From there, Justin built his self-made business selling online courses, digital downloads, and coaching for developers, making over $100k on Podia.

From Justin’s story, it’s clear that monetizing content can be

Developer Earn Money Online