11. Audiobooks
Rounding out our ways to make money on Amazon from your own books is creating an audiobook edition of your work. Not every title is well-suited to this format, but it can be nice source of incremental royalties.
Plus, some readers just prefer to consume content by listening to it, so by skipping the audio version, you’re missing out. I think it also makes your Amazon listing page for your book look more legit when you have all three formats available.
To make it easy for authors to create audiobooks, Amazon created the Audiobook Creation Exchange, or ACX. There, you can find narrators to produce your book for you, or upload your files if you’re doing it yourself.
For professional narrators, you can either pay a flat fee, or you can get the book produced for free in exchange for a share of future royalties. I think that’s a cool option to get your audiobook out there and share the profits when it sells.
ACX royalties are a little complex. Self-published authors generally earn 20%-40% royalties through ACX, depending on the distribution options you select and the method by which your producer is compensated.
Related: An Audible subscription made my list of the top gift ideas for entrepreneurs.
My Results and Next Steps
As a podcaster, I felt like it was important to record Buy Buttons myself so listeners could hear my voice. It was way harder than expected!
Still, that set my up to earn over $2300 in audiobook royalties in the first year.
The other interesting way authors can make money from their are audiobook is with the ACX referral bounty program. If your book is a new Audible customer’s first download, you’ll earn an additional $50-75, which can add up fast!
12. ACX Voice Over Acting
As you might have guessed from the audiobook section above, there’s another way to make money from audiobooks on Amazon without writing anything yourself.
That method is as an audiobook narrator and producer. If you love the idea of getting paid to talk, know your way around audio engineering equipment and software, and don’t mind reading other people’s work, it could be a fun side hustle.
Next Steps
As the producer, you’ll be able to make fixed price bids on projects that authors post on ACX. You’ll also see royalty-share projects, where you’d be narrating the book for free upfront, in exchange for a share of the audiobook royalties and bounties when it sells.
In both cases, you’ll submit your audition and get to work if chosen.
13. Amazon Associates
A slow and steady income stream for me over the years has been Amazon Associates, Amazon’s affiliate marketing program.
If you have a website or blog of your own, this is a way to get paid when you refer buyers to Amazon for products you talk about or feature on your site. Your commission will range from 4-15% depending on what you sell, but can add up to a significant amount.
The best part of Amazon’s affiliate program isn’t the commission rate though; it’s actually kind of low compared to other affiliate programs. The best parts are the high conversion rate and how you’ll earn commission on everything someone eventually buys after they click your link.
I’ve earned commission on some pretty random stuff over the years!
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My Results and Next Steps
Amazon Associates can turn into a semi-passive income stream for months or even years. For example, I wrote a post years ago on how much it costs to start a podcast. In that post, I showed which microphone I bought to start my show.
Every month in my Amazon Associates report, I see a few more people who bought that mic. It’s probably earned a few hundred dollars in commissions at this point, which isn’t bad for the time it took to create one link in one article.
If you have a blog or website already, you can request to join the Associates program here.
And if you don’t have a blog, my free video course will help you start one quickly and affordably.
14. Amazon Alexa Skills
There are a couple ways side hustlers can make money with Amazon’s popular Echo devices.
The first is like Apple’s app store. You can build special Alexa voice apps, called “skills.”
(I made one myself; ask Alexa to enable The Money Making Minute and you’ll hear new money-making ideas every day.)
As a skill developer, you can set your own price and earn 70% of the revenue when users buy it. For example, Nick Schwab created a free ambient noise skill, and now has 10,000 paying customers for a premium subscription version, priced between $0.99 and $1.99 a month.
Amazon also has a rewards program to encourage developers to build out the ecosystem of skills. Your rewards are based on the popularity and engagement of your skill, but some developers report earning thousands of dollars a month.
15. Make Money on Mechanical Turk
Amazon’s Mechanical Turk is an interesting crowdsourced labor platform. It specializes primarily in really low skill tasks, but ones that still require a human eye. (In fact, each task is called a HIT, a Human Intelligence Task.)
Because of the low skill required, these tasks often pay next to nothing, usually starting at a few cents. Many of the workers are overseas where the costs of living are lower, but the platform is open to US workers as well.
It honestly wouldn’t be my first choice of side hustles, but it is an option. One side hustler reported earning over $50,000 on Mechanical Turk in his spare time. He averaged around $0.25 a task, and said once your account history levels up a bit, slightly better paying HITs become available.
16. Amazon Flex Deliveries
Have you noticed that some of your Amazon deliveries are being dropped off by “random” people, instead of by the usual UPS drivers? I first found out about Amazon Flex when I saw a dude in a Jetta in our neighborhood pulling boxes out of his trunk and back seat.
I asked him if he worked for Amazon or the post office, and he said he was a part-time Amazon Flex driver. This new program allows people to earn $18-25 an hour in their spare time, and helps Amazon deliver packages even faster.
Flex is slowly being rolled out nationwide, and you can see what areas are available–or join the waitlist for your area–here.
This side hustle appeals to people who have a reliable vehicle but may not qualify for Uber or Lyft–or just may not like the idea of driving strangers around.
Alternatives: If Flex isn’t available in your area yet, you might consider joining another delivery service like Instacart or DoorDash. Both advertise earnings potential in the $15-25 an hour* range.
*For illustrative purposes only, actual earnings may differ and depend on expenses. Hourly pay is calculated using average Dasher payouts while on a delivery (from the time you accept an order until the time you drop it off) and includes compensation from peak pay, tips, and other incentives.
17. Amazon Work From Home Jobs
Like most modern companies, Amazon is beginning to embrace work-from-home jobs. When I checked the list of virtual Amazon job openings, I found options for full-time, part-time, and seasonal work.
You can filter by job category, such as IT and Engineering, Customer Support, Sales and Advertising, Operations and Fulfillment, and more. There are both hourly and salaried positions available.
18. Amazon Services
Remember when Amazon was just an online bookstore? Of course now they sell everything including the kitchen sink, but did you know you can also use Amazon to connect with a plumber to fix that kitchen sink?
According to the new Amazon Services, professionals like house cleaners, handypersons, electricians, landscapers, plumbers, and many more can apply to sell their services through Amazon.
After you join, you’ll see every new job in your area and be able to choose the ones that fit your schedule. Per Amazon, “It’s a great way to keep your business busy or to fill in the open gaps throughout your week.” There are no startup or membership fees, but Amazon will take a percentage of each job booked, based on the service type and final service price.
19. Twitch Streaming
Entertaining video gamers are earning serious money broadcasting their games live on the Amazon-owned Twitch.tv.
Twitch streamers make money with a share of the site’s subscription fees, advertising on their channels, donations, and selling merchandise to their fans. The most popular players are estimated to be bringing in $300,000 or more per year!
According to The Hustle, “Twitch has created a new career track for casual video gamers, helping thousands make a living by playing video games. There are two paths this can take. Twitch streamers are either crazy good— the nerd equivalent of pro-footballers — or they’re entertainers, their broadcasts are a hybrid radio show, comedy hour, and video-game commentary.”
20. RebateKey
When a friend turned me on to RebateKey, I was pretty skeptical it was a scam.
The site promised to refund your purchase–most of which are on Amazon–a month after you buy the product. The way it was explained to me is as a service for new Amazon sellers to get some sales history to their listings, and hopefully some reviews as well.
That means for buyers, you can find deeply discounted–and even free-after-rebate–items. The first thing I bought were some turmeric capsules for around $20. I figured I was going to buy them anyway, and it would be a good test to see if the rebate check actually came.
And sure enough, after about a month, I got paid back in full for my purchase. Pretty crazy, but true.
So it’s not necessarily a way to make money on Amazon, but it sure is an interesting way to save money. RebateKey is definitely a site worth keeping in mind for upcoming purchases to check and see if they have what you’re looking for.
21. Capital One Venture
The final two options are my most passive ways of making money on Amazon. Basically here are a couple more ways I get free stuff :)
The first is with the Capital One Venture Card.
The card earns 2x points on every dollar I spend, which I then turn around and cash in for Amazon gift cards. When I do that, I’m earning essentially 1.6% cash back on my spending–vs. 1% if I redeemed the points for statement credit.
Capital One is currently offering a 60,000 mile sign-up bonus (worth $480 when redeemed for Amazon gift cards) after you spend $3000 in the first 3 months. There’s a $95 annual fee.
Click here to learn more about this card and others.
22. Fetch Rewards
Fetch is a cool free app that adds an extra “boost” to the Capital One card above (or whatever credit card you use).
How Fetch works is you earn points for buying hundreds of name-brand products, and then scanning your receipt.
Just download the app for iOS or Android, and make a habit of snapping a picture of receipt after each shopping trip.
I’ve earned several free Amazon gift cards just from my normal shopping habits.
Serious About Making Extra Money?
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