This is a guide on how to make money as a teen in South Africa. When I was a teenager, I kept on trying to find ways of making money quickly on the internet. What I came upon was advice that seem to really undermine my intelligence, a lot of the advice was just not practical. This guide will show you how to build an internet business and make money as a teen in South Africa.
How to make money online
When trying to make money as a teenager in South Africa then the best place you are going to do that is online, not walking your neighbour’s dogs. The good thing about running an internet business is that you can do so while being completely anonymous, so no one will really judge you.
Get an Audience
It is of utmost importance to be able to attract an online audience; an audience is the people you have the power to reach. Your WhatsApp status viewers are an audience, your active Facebook friends are an audience, your Instagram followers and so on. This is important because when developing an online business, you will need people to market it to and if you already have an audience then you can save a lot on marketing costs. Here is an article that describes the importance of an audience in detail.
Here are some ways to make money as a teen in South Africa
YouTube
You can build a complete business using YouTube, you can actually build a business that makes more money than traditional businesses. Even 8-year olds make money off YouTube, a famous 8-year-old YouTuber earned roughly 450 million Rands in 2019. That goes to show the amount of money this platform can make for you.
All you have to do is get a camera and start recording, you can talk about anything, including politics, pranks, gaming or anything that excites you. It’s always better to do videos about something you like; in that way then you won’t have to force yourself to record videos. South African’s make money from ad revenue when using YouTube, if your videos get enough views (more than 1k) then you can apply to get ads on your videos. Getting views on YouTube videos is easier than you might think, a person with only 600 subscribers can make a video that gets more than 50 000 views.
It’s all about the type of content you are producing, you are not only limited to ads, you can make money from affiliate programs and merch, which we will discuss in detail in this article. YouTube is a great platform to make money as a South African teen. In fact, a lot of teens are realising this and are creating YouTube accounts, go to YouTube and search around. The other reason why you should totally do this is that there are just not many South African YouTubers, most content is from USA and India.
Instagram
You can use Instagram as a way to make money as a South African teenager. A lot of South African teens are already using Instagram to make money, the correct term for this is “Instagram influencer”, being an Instagram influencer is a great way to make money while doing something that is fun. To be able to do this you will need to attract a huge following to your Instagram page.
In South Africa, Instagram influencers make money by joining influencer networks, paid promotions or by being part of an affiliate program. All you have to do is open an Instagram account, create content, gain followers. After you have at least 10 000 highly engaged followers then you can start making money off them. Don’t buy Instagram followers, try to do everything naturally and organically, some top Instagram influencers make around R11 000 to R12 000 per single post on Instagram.
Popular Instagram niches in South Africa
These are some of the best niches to make money as an Instagram influencer in South Africa.
- Fashion
- Fitness
- Beauty
- Travel
- Lifestyle
When choosing a niche, you have to choose a niche that has a bit of commercial value, this means that choosing a niche that has businesses operating in it. It’s easy to make money if you are a fashion influencer as there are multiple fashion brands that might want to advertise to your audience. You won’t make much money with a meme or sarcasm page. Try not to do everything at once, most of these popular Instagram girls usually advertise beauty products.
Affiliate marketing
In order to make money with affiliate marketing you will need to have an audience. Affiliate marketing doesn’t work without an audience. An affiliate is basically someone who advertises certain products or services for a company and gets paid in commission each time someone buys as a result of their marketing efforts. An affiliate program is a good way to make money as a teenager in South Africa.
There are multiple affiliate programs in South Africa that you can join. You can make up to R525 from the Promta Web Services affiliate program just by getting one person to buy, imagine how much you can make if you get a lot more people to buy in a day. But in order for that to work you will have to have an audience and constantly advertise to it, YouTube is the best place to do that, and Instagram. Even celebrities are members of some affiliate program. Here is a more detailed article on how affiliate programs work.
Online Store | Drop shipping
Another great way to make money as a teenager in South Africa is opening an online store or drop shipping. Drop shipping is basically selling products that you don’t own, this is a good way to make money as you are not under pressure to sell any items. This is possible because you are running an online store, people don’t have to see the goods you are selling before buying them.
Shopmaster is a great drop shipping platform, it allows you to drop ship from stores like Amazon, AliExpress and a lot of other options, I personally have made a lot of money with drop shipping in South Africa. If you don’t like the idea of drop shipping then you can open your own online store selling your custom products.
Selling merch/ clothing items
It’s not easy to setup this kind of business but once it Is up and running then you can make a lot of money. This is another way that YouTubers and Instagram influencers can make money. Everyone is supporting local these days and it will be much easier to sell merch if you already have an audience.
Start off by selling T-shirts, beanies and Caps then move on to selling more staff if the response is positive.
Blogging to make money as a teen in South Africa
Blogging is one of the best ways to make money online in South Africa and pretty much everywhere in the world. However, it’s very likely that you will miss a lot of critical steps and not get everything right, it can take up to eight months before you even start seeing some money. This is a brutal field that’s why I have put it last on this list.
Even major companies with hundreds of staff members are still failing to get the blogging right for their websites. This website is some form of blog, you might be reading this article now but it was not easy to get it to this level. I also can’t offer you quick tips on how to blog the right way, you need an entire course on that, I might create it if I get enough requests (100).
These are the best ways to develop a solid business as a teen in South Africa. Another way to make money as a teen in South Africa is working part time.
SteveIropy
9 Apr 2020Very interesting information
Austin
31 Oct 2020I’m looking for a job and I’m 17 years old i want to make my own money
Boitumelo
20 Feb 2021Hey Austin don’t you think we could start our own business?
Blessing Tshegofatso
28 Feb 2021I’m also interested. What kind of a business?
Bliing Lee
12 Apr 2022Hey ,I’m 17 years old ..I’d like to make start my own online business..just that I need an agent..good at modeling and I’m a good Singer
Lesego
15 Sep 2021Yeah I’ll also like to be part of the business.Why don’t we open our WhatsApp business group so we can share ideas!.
Anathi
11 Nov 2020Im 15 and I am looking for an online job. i want to start making money
Samkelisiwe
10 Feb 2021I’m 15 and I wold really like to make money during these time
Boitumelo
20 Feb 2021Hey…I’m Boitumelo 17 at age from Gauteng looking for online job
Thuli
23 Feb 2021I’m 14 years and I’m looking for an online job. I want to start making.
Milla
28 Feb 2021I’m 15 and I’m in need of making money, ASAP,I really need an online job
Newton Onukwusi
1 Mar 2021Wow these are things school never teaches us, thanks a lot for this lecturing about how to make money…
Keith Hoffmann
29 Apr 2021I am 17 and I am looking for a job
Sesi Nohlenjwa
29 Apr 2021I am 16 and I want to start earning and I want to be independent while am looking for a online job am located in Gauteng South
Minah Luphai
14 May 2021Hey i am minah,15 year old. I am looking for an online job. I want to make some extra tips
Joy
16 May 2021Hi i’ m Joy looking for a Job
I am 16
Muhluri
2 Jun 2021Ey
Muhluri (15) looking for an online job
I am in need of extra cash
Sphelele Ntuli
3 Jun 2021Hi Boitumelo I see you want a business partner .
Can you be my partner ,I also want one.
Bayanda
9 Jun 2021Hi I am Bayanda, 15 looking for ways to make money online I live in Durban
Olwam
20 Jun 2021Hey I’m 16 and looking to earn money
Charmaine
21 Jun 2021hi I’m Charmaine, I’m 16 and looking for an online job and more followers on Instagram.
Instagram: alcoholyyoulaterrr
Relebogile Mohuba
15 Jul 2021Heyy sis❤️??♀️. I feel you. I’m 18 and my parents don’t take me serious when it comes to finance, one of the reasons why I wanna be independent…I’m located in Gauteng
Nicole Marima
19 Jul 2021hi. Nicole here ,want to start my own little clothing shop
sibabalwe
20 Jul 2021That’s really awesome Nicole and I wish you all the best 🙂
Koketso
25 Jul 2021Hi I am koketso residing in Gauteng,15 year old . Wanna start making income
Thando
7 Aug 2021Hiiey I’m Thando I also want to make an income and I’m 15 years old
Ashley
29 Aug 2021i’m looking for a job and i’m 13 years old i’m only aloud to go and do house or pet sitting when 16 years old.i need one job sooner rather than later
Barbiemich
6 Apr 2022Hii
I would like to have a job, with age im 15,im good with hand jobs most of the time. So I’m interested