Many Zimbabweans now spend much more time online than ever before. Typically for me, a significant portion of my day is spent online. Given the pandemic, I can tell you for a fact that this new normal is here to stay. As much as change is usually an uncomfortable thing it does present some opportunities. People providing goods and services and those looking for them stand to benefit. This is because most things are already now online or moving online. So how can you make money online in Zimbabwe? I will answer that by sharing with you 7 proven ways you can use.

Online Stores

The approach here is that you either have goods you want to sell or services you want to provide; even both. You can go ahead to establish an online store. You need roughly US$250 or so to get a professional online store developed for you. I know most people can just pre-existing platforms e.g. Facebook, WhatsApp, and so on. You can use those platforms to sell and still make money. However, have a proper online store would be far-reaching and open more doors for you.

Online Courses Or Training Programs

Last year (and even this year) I pursued several certified courses and training courses wholly online. It got me thinking that the ones developing and facilitating these programs are making good money. Last year I enrolled for a month-long certified Digital Marketing Master Class wholly on WhatsApp. I recall at the time there were 4 or so full WhatsApp groups. Imagine the money the developers and facilitators made since all the attendees paid. So there are countless opportunities from academic programs to other various fields.

Online Academic Tutoring

Recently there was even a story that broke about a young man conducting academic tutorial lessons on WhatsApp. School calendars have been heavily compromised since last year due to the pandemic. Nonetheless, exams still need to write yet most students are trailing behind. The need for online academic tutoring has never been this high and will be for a long time to come. There are many teachers and general individuals adept at certain academic subjects that are making money from online tutoring in Zimbabwe.

Freelancing

This is open-ended and as such refers to an infinite field. This applies to anyone who has a sought after skillset in any field. It can be a teacher, a doctor, a lawyer, or a mechanic. It can be a writer, a graphic designer, a software or mobile app developer, or a digital artist, amongst others. These are just examples but if you have a specialised skill set you can make money online freelancing. You can sign up on freelancing platforms such as Munyai, Upwork, Fiverr, and the like – that is a common approach. Alternatively,y you can set up your own platform; it could even be a WhatsApp Business account. The idea is to have or be on a platform that enables you to get gigs that you charge for.

Content Creation

Earlier today I was watching a YouTube video about John Titor. John Titor is a man who claimed he was a time traveller around 2000 and that he had come from the year 2036. Very fascinating man given how he predicted some very accurate things then that later happened. For instance, he said back in 2000 that mainstream media would be gradually eclipsed by online content creators. This would have been unimaginable back in 2000 but look at today you can see it is coming to pass. Anyways, it is apparent content creation is now one of the most lucrative online activities. What type of content, where, and how to propagate it vary greatly. Core examples are blogging, podcasting, and vlogging – many people are making thousands of US dollars from creating YouTube videos for instance.

Virtual Assistance

Last year I underwent professional training to become a certified Virtual Assistant. That is one of the avenues through which many people can now make money online. Virtual assistance is the offering of mainly administrative, secretarial or other related services online. So you will generally find that a virtual assistant (VA) is someone who wields the necessary skills to discharge such duties online. Some of the core duties of a virtual assistant are email management, social media management, events management, schedule management, file management, and customer relationship management, amongst others. Clientele ranges from businesses, companies, institutions to executives and individuals. A budding field in Zimbabwe but wields lots of business prospects.

Online Forex Trading

Then we have the heavily misunderstood online forex trading. Like most things nowadays there are frauds and legit ones. The same applies to forex trading if you are not careful you can be duped. Regardless if you do your due diligence well you can make good money from forex trading. Many individuals I know are actually making some decent money from online forex trading in Zimbabwe. It is important that you, first of all, get training to understand how it all works.

These are 7 proven ways that you can use to make money online here in Zimbabwe. As always be diligent and ruthlessly verify before doing anything. As much as there is more activity online this also means cybercriminals are also running a rampage online. Be careful when it comes to anything done online.