How to Make Money as a Teenager

12 min read

It can be daunting thinking about how to make money as a teenager. With hectic schedules, school work, extracurricular activities, and college planning, making money for teens can seem next to impossible. Here’s the thing, though: you aren’t the only person in the world with this problem! Teenagers, college students, and even adults struggle with their income regularly. Everyone is constantly concerned about money, even those swimming in it. What it all boils down to is: How are you going to make money? Well, it all begins with some insight, planning, and execution.

Consider Your Selling Platform

The very first thing you’ll want to consider is what options are available to you. Luckily, we find ourselves in the age of information and technology. Many grade schoolers are now handed their first phone or computer as early as ten years old. With access to multiple outlets at your fingertips, you can determine which platform speaks the most to you and will help you sell your product or service to the right audience. So, what are the options?

Instagram

Instagram has evolved into a platform where content is created around products or services in order to establish memorable, relevant, and instantly-recognizable brands. The Instagram community is filled with teens and adults who market themselves every day. Somewhere along the line, people devised the genius idea of marketing services or products that are unique to them. This opens up an entire world of opportunity for teenagers.

Deciding how to make money on Instagram as a teenager is simple: you need to network! Scan pages and accounts that you follow and actively promote your product/service in the comments, on your page, and in direct messages to similar accounts. This is a great way to build brand recognition. Keep in mind, the best way to build recognition in your brand is to create fresh content daily. However, you’ll need followers and solid hashtag strategies in order to reach the right users. Be sure to network with as many people as you can in your demographic for the best results.

Help sell on Instagram:

Snapchat

Snapchat, like Instagram, has also become a powerhouse in terms of its marketability. More and more people are utilizing Snapchat to promote music, recipes, trends, etc. Understand the power of connecting with anyone anywhere. This is the first step toward building a recognizable and relevant brand on Snapchat. That being said, unique daily content is a must.

If you want more people to recognize your brand and the product/service you’re selling, it’s paramount to consistently put out original and unique content. Essentially, you want to use apps like Snapchat and Instagram for what they were designed to do: get people hooked on content! Once someone can’t get enough of your content, they won’t be able to get enough of your product or service, either!

Facebook

With the emergence of the Facebook Marketplace, people everywhere can sell products easily via the Facebook platform. Users can even categorize their products in order to reach their target market. Facebook is a great way to openly and freely connect with other users nationwide. Now, with the addition of the Marketplace, it’s a great way to sell products and make some money. Not only that, but Facebook can be used for other applications as well.

You can easily market services on Facebook. Like any other platform, the users on Facebook thrive on content. It’s that simple. Understand your target demographic to craft unique digital content that draws attention. When your content draws attention, users will want to show it to their friends, and them to their friends, and so on. Once you’ve established a base following, consider promoting your service or product a little more often and directly. Fresh daily content and following up with viewers regarding your product or service are both surefire ways for teens to make money.

Help sell on Facebook:

Twitch

We’ll get into the type of product or service you’re selling later, but for now we wanted to highlight this gem of a platform. This platform is especially great for gamers wondering how to make money from home as a teenager. Twitch is a platform where live streamers can post videos of video game walkthroughs, highlights, mods, and much more. What many teens may not know is that Twitch is one of the best ways for teens to make money online.

Not only will you get to play, explore, and share your favorite gaming moments, but if people are digging your content, you may want to consider advertising your services to brands who could emphasize the size and demographic of your audience. Twitch is a platform from which every gamer wondering how to make money as a teenager without a job can build a brand for themselves—and make some money in the process.

TikTok

TikTok is easily the best platform from which one can market a product or service. Sometimes, you may not even need to market anything! By creating interesting content that gets users scrolling for more, views begin to pile up. That’s when the brands come in wondering whether or not you can advertise something for them. However, even if you aren’t getting millions of views per video, TikTok is also a great outlet to promote things you’re passionate about.

Gaming highlights, recipes, sports edits, cartoon edits, music videos, samples, etc. all have staked their claim on TikTok. Find what you’re passionate about, and go from there to create new content! Whatever you do, do what you know and do what you love! People can sense originality!

Help sell on TikTok:

Consider Your Product or Service

Now that we’ve gone over the most relevant platforms in social media marketing, it’s time to think about how to make money online as a teenager. This will often take some due consideration, and answers will vary from person to person. The easiest distinction to make is: Are you selling a product or service? By answering this question, you can better determine which of the aforementioned platforms are right for you, or if you should consider something entirely different.

Selling a Service

Let’s begin with selling a service. For this process, TikTok or Instagram is most likely your best bet. These two social media platforms offer unique customization options for content, business profiles, and data analytics. Whether you’re an aspiring personal chef, backup dancer, recording artist, you name it—TikTok and/or Instagram is the way to go. Creating unique content for your service, networking, tracking analytics, and staying up to date on trends are the ingredients necessary for a recipe for success on TikTok/Instagram. If you’re a gamer, and people love your content, walkthroughs, highlights, mods, etc., then definitely consider building a following on Twitch!

Selling a Product

While the Facebook Marketplace and Instagram Shop may seem like the best places to sell a product, results may vary. Granted, if you’re only selling one or two unique items that your followers or other users will love, then definitely go with one of these platforms to find the right buyer. However, if you’re wondering how to make money quickly as a teenager, consider investing in or creating your own products, then seek out an online marketplace that professional merchants use.

Ecwid is considered the #1 free Ecommerce marketplace, where merchants and sellers can market their products across the entire spectrum of social media. With Ecwid, you won’t have to struggle settling with just one platform!

Are You Wondering How to Make Money as a Teenager?

Now that we’ve gone over where and how to sell your product/service online, here comes the kicker. With Ecwid, making money for teens is made easy through a free, easy-to-use selling platform. Market your products across social media for you. Ecwid accounts are free to use for as long as you have it. Ecwid also serves to entice users with proper marketing—tracking analytics so you can make more money! Learn more about Ecwid’s unique marketing and selling services HERE.

Below are great examples of two teenagers who have already joined Ecwid and started selling. Join and you!

Online store EUNOIA opened by Aarushi Gupta at the age of 15

Wilhelmina Lillrud is a ten-year-old designer, entrepreneur and creator of the L´Coule online store

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Mar 15, 2022

About the author

Anastasia Prokofieva is a content writer at Ecwid. She writes about online marketing and promotion to make entrepreneurs’ daily routine easier and more rewarding. She also has a soft spot for cats, chocolate, and making kombucha at home.