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The past year encouraged all of us to embrace the great indoors. No surprise, then, that the interest in making money online 

: white; color: #212326; font-family: ShopifySans, Helvetica, Arial, "Lucida Grande", sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">from the safety of our homes is now on the rise.

What once felt like a distant daydream is now a reality for millions of people. Those of us who worked remotely from our home offices for the last few years have a lot less explaining to do at family events—the path to earning a meaningful amount of money online has become much clearer.

The magic of the internet is that it’s a sales channel, marketing network, and community hub all in one—plus so much more. There are many creative ways to make money online beyond online surveys and selling used goods on Craigslist. 

That said, some businesses and side hustles are better suited to the laptop lifestyle than others. In this guide, we’ll break down the strengths and shortcomings of a few of the top money-making options.

1. Dropshipping

Business type: Product based

Effort: Medium

ng: border-box;">Leverage: High

Startup costs (out of 5 ðŸ’¸): ðŸ’¸

Last year, many worldwide trends experienced decades’ worth of acceleration. One such trend was the rise of e-commerce. There are several ways to run an eCommerce business, some of which allow for the minimal need to carry and hold lots of inventory.

Enter dropshipping. Dropshipping is a business model where you don’t keep the products you sell in stock. Instead, when a customer buys something from your store, a third-party fulfills and ships the order for you. Because low startup costs are low, it’s an increasingly popular way to make money online for beginners and pros alike. 

Dropshippers have a habit of chasing the latest trends. And while there’s nothing wrong with catching a trending product wave, know that there also are many product categories that are steady and offer similar opportunities to do well. At Shopify, we regularly see these categories in our list of top performers:

  • Women’s clothing and accessories. Far and away the most popular category of products on 
pify.com/oberlo" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-skip-ink: auto; touch-action: manipulation;" target="_blank">Oberlo. There are a variety of interesting niches within this category, too, including dresses, accessories, intimates, hoodies, socks and hoses, and rompers. Since these products have a large market, are purchased relatively frequently, and are successfully sold through great marketing, they’re consistently a top performer for dropshipping.
  • Jewelry. If you want to turn jewelry into a profitable small business, dropshipping is a good model to try. You can sell in a variety of categories, including fine jewelry, fashion or costume, and collectibles. Or sell jewelry made from different materials, like gems, wood, textile, or metals. 
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  • Home and garden. Home and garden are some of those drops hipping niches that seem to always be trendy. People are always looking to add personal touches to their space to make it feel warm and cozy, which can make this an exciting (and profitable) niche to sell in. 
    • Beauty. The beauty and personal care market is projected to be worth 
    are/worldwide" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-skip-ink: auto; touch-action: manipulation;" target="_blank">$511.4 billion by the end of 2021. Beauty is a thriving industry fueled by younger generations entering the market and is strengthened by social media and eCommerce. You also have options in the beauty niche: you can sell cosmetics, skincare, personal care, haircare, fragrances, and more.