Learn to Code, Make Money: How to Turn Programming Skills Into Income

With the number of career paths available for a programmer, many programmers choose the 9-6 job and have a goal to get a job in FANG (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google) without realizing or probably not aware of these alternatives ways. Earn money with Coding Skills is actually quite easy than acquiring those skills so if you have the coding skills, you are halfway there. We live in a digital world and it doesn't run without a proper code.

Let me be very clear here, you don't have to be a master or say expert in any programming language to work. The basic idea is, the more you work in any programming language, the better you get. And frankly, you will get surprised by how quickly you can start to get a steady income from your coding skills. We have curated a list of both, old and new, ways to make good money with your programming skills.

Get a Traditional Job

This is the most opted way by programmers to make a good amount of money. The market always has a demand for coders/ Software Engineers with different skills like Web Development, Machine Learning, and full-stack development. Some of the big organizations like Google, LinkedIn, Uber, Microsoft, Tesla, Apple, Starbucks, IBM no longer require a college degree but the talent and skills.

Since the demand is high, the average salary is almost $65,000 to $75,000 for starters depending upon the location and skill set. Some people consider these jobs as a safe route and it is true to a certain extent. For the rest of us who want to keep working on their projects and follow their heart, the traditional jobs are quite convenient providing a steady income source.

Earn money with Coding Skills by Freelancing

Many times the organizations prefer the freelancer over a permanent employee to either save money or opt for multiple skillsets for projects. The startups are quite engaging in hiring a freelancer to get the job done since most of the work is outsourced.

Freelancing is one of the easiest ways for you to make money using your programming skills even if you are not an advance skilled person. Freelancing is a field wherein you can be profitable even if you are relatively newer in the market. As a freelancer, you have the flexibility to work on multiple projects while not binding to either of them. Although the basic coding jobs won't pay you much still have decent pay considering that you are still a newbie. You can use these projects to build a portfolio and improve your skillsets up to a level to get hired by big Organizations that have good pay.

You should create a list of all the skills you possess since these are the ones that the employers would be interested in while hiring you. After this, you should create a profile on freelancing sites like UpWork, Freelancer, or Fiverr. Creating new connections through LinkedIn might also help in the process. Once you become proficient in selling your coding skills and other services, freelancing can become a good source to earn extra income.

Blogging and Vlogging

Starting your own tech blog can be one of the most beneficial options to turn your coding skills into money. Blogging is one of the preferred options among individuals for earning extra income and eventually if the blog does good, you might even turn blogging into a career option.

There are a large number of free sources out there to help you in your ventures such as WordPress that provide everything from domain registration to site hosting for zero or minimal costing. If you have proper writing skills then you can certainly write blogs that attract readers and after a certain time even monetize your blog to draw more readers and traffic to your website which ultimately leads to excellent earnings.

Do Coding Work for Local Organisations and Businesses

Every tree begins its journey from a sapling and similar is the case with your journey as a developer. Instead of applying for intern roles in great organizations, you can utilize your skills and develop products for small businesses in your locality.

Working for locals will provide you with the root level of onsite knowledge which is very important as a developer. All you need to do is approach your local businesses and ask about their needs and problems. You can develop websites mobile applications and other products for these people and earn money.

All the major organizations started as local products and who knows you might develop software or a product which is required by people beyond your locality also which will turn your local work into a business.

Teaching and Selling Online Courses

Online learning has seen rapid growth ever since the outbreak of the coronavirus and by becoming an online instructor you can do what you love i.e. coding while sharing your knowledge with other people at the same time. Teaching is one of the fantastic ways to earn money with your coding skills and the best part is that it does not necessarily require a college degree.

There are lots of people who want to learn how to code and you have the knowledge to teach them. SO why not create a course on popular sites such as Udemy, Skillshare, or Coursera and sell your courses to people who are interested thereby making a solid income. You can also create short tutorials on your blog or YouTube channel and then eventually draw people towards your main courses.

Earn money/ Prizes with Coding Skills in Coding Contests:

You can make decent money from this endeavor provided that your coding and problem-solving skills are up to the mark since programming contests are not everyone's cup of tea. Many online platforms such as CodeChef, HackerRank, HackerEarth, etc. host many coding challenges and contests that can earn you amazing cash prizes and other items.

Besides the rewards, these contests also provide fruitful opportunities to learn new coding skills and provide a platform for showcasing your creativity and learn new methods for solving a particular problem. Many companies even conduct coding contests on these platforms in order to hire coders based on their programming skills.

Create Themes/ Plugins for WordPress

WordPress is a popular content management system and has about 60.7% market share in the industry, powering 14.7% of the world’s top websites. All these facts make the task of developing plugins and themes for WordPress sites, a very suitable option for earning money online.

There are a large number of businesses that are opening day by day and these require an online presence for growing their business. These businesses won't have the time to update their websites on their own and you can sell your designer WordPress themes and plugins to them for a particular price.

The more skilled you are to customize a theme with your coding skills, the more you will get paid for your skills and services. Thus, you can literally get paid more for the advanced skills you learn for designing your themes and plugins.

Write an E-Book about Learning to Code

If you have good writing skills and are patient enough with good knowledge about certain skills (coding in this case), then writing an eBook might be the perfect choice for you. Although writing a book can be a little time-consuming but once your book is completed and launched in the market, you can earn money by selling it.

It will also open alternate paths for you in your career. By writing and publishing eBooks on coding tips or on other technical topics, you can easily earn money. You can publish and sell your eBook on social media platforms, your website, or on Amazon.

All you need to write an e-book are good coding skills and some of your unique topics. You can also compile the few books into one for a round-up book.

Develop Games & Earn money with Coding Skills:

The gaming industry has seen a massive surge in the past few years and it is ever-growing. If you are interested in playing games, then making games would be a lot of fun for you. If you get good at game development then there are ample opportunities for you to earn money.

You can work alone or even form a team with members having similar skills and interests.  According to statistica.com, there is a total of 385, 551 games on the Google Play store.  So if you are thinking of pursuing a Game development, then having strong basic knowledge and coding skills are a must.

After developing your game, you should upload it on Google Play Store or iOS App store, or other popular game marketplaces. The best way to earn money via game development is the use of in-game advertisements as well as in-game purchases. Through these methods, you can monetize your game and earn more money.

Related: 8 Free Online Coding Games for Everyone to Learn Programming

Building Android/ iOS Apps-

With the increase in demand App developers in the market, having a skillset to build an Android or iOS app is beneficial. There are more than 500,000 apps on the Google Play Store and hundreds of apps are getting launched every day.

Do you think you have a unique idea for an App? or you can create something better than the existing App? Then you have got a great way to make money. There are many organizations and startups that need the application coders and are ready to pay you according to your skillset.

Earn money with Coding Skills by Building Websites

One of the most common and the easiest way to earn money online is by building websites. The first step in this process is building your own website. Your personal website is like a canvas that you can customize to show-off your web development skills to possible customers.

You can take up freelancing jobs for website development as well as approaching local business organizations that are looking for a way to make an online presence and develop their website for certain pricing. By improving your web development skills, you can build websites that are elegant looking and are have quick deployment.

Coding is a valuable skill that can be used in almost any domain and will be in high demand in the coming years. Earning money by any job is not an easy task but it requires commitment and a good amount of time. If you don't have coding skills to take up a job, here are the 5 best resources to learn and even get a programming certification for free.

Still confused about things?  Drop a comment below or email us and we will help you get started to make money by coding skills.