Being stuck behind a desk in an office for a measly paycheck is a lot of people’s idea of hell. But believe it or not, there are some super weird opportunities online that pay much better than the standard 9 to 5. They range from filming yourself eating or studying, to pretending to be Jesus, or even a dog, for hundreds of thousands of dollars! Let’s take a look at some people who’ve made a fortune by indulging the internet’s undeniably weird side.
Posting Memes
From grumpy cat and dabbing to surprised Pikachu, everyone loves a good meme! These often-hilarious images, videos, and texts are copied and spread rapidly by internet users, meaning many go viral at the drop of a hat!
They’re so popular that social media accounts, like Instagram’s
Daquan, have amassed millions of followers just by regularly posting the freshest and funniest memes they can find. This account in particular was started by an anonymous teen back in 2014, but by 2020 the account boasted a phenomenal 16 million followers.
Its success led it to joining the IMGN media family, alongside other meme accounts like So Satisfying, Soccer Memes, and many more. All up, IMGN managed accounts bringing in 3 billion views a month with more than 40 million combined subscribers! And this was something that got the attention of the suits upstairs. Wanting to know what was trending with the teens, Warner Music Group stepped forward and offered up a phenomenal
$85 million for all of IMGN’s accounts. This now gives them the skinny on what’s down with Gen Z, so other branches of their business can profit from their inside scoop. So, keep posting those sweet memes kids, because one day you too could be bought out by a multi-billion-dollar corporation and never have to work again!
Crowdfunding Con Artist
Kickstarter is a crowdfunding company that hosts a platform where people can bring their inventions and innovations to life. All they need are a few images of the potential product or service, a fundraising goal, and a Kickstarter campaign is born! And just about anything can get funded on here, from a guy wanting to make a potato salad, to the Grilled Cheesus sandwich toaster.
Although there are some products that look too good to be real, like
the Toasteroid. This app-controlled toaster would let users draw designs on their phone, which would then be toasted onto their bread!
Toasteroid - First APP Controlled Smart Image Toaster ( print image on bread ) kickstarter by Move2succezz It was such a unique idea that almost 2000 people pledged over $187,000 to bring it to life back in 2017. But after a few months, the toasters never arrived. The associated website suddenly went dark, and pledgers were left with nothing. Devastated that they’d been scammed, they took to Kickstarter’s comments to demand a refund. But here’s the thing; Kickstarter is just a mediator in this process. That means all the money, bar a small fee, goes directly to the creators. And because backing a project is based entirely on good faith, there’s no legal obligation from Kickstarter to deliver or refund anything at all! So, Toasteroid’s scammer took all the money and ran, without any repercussions from them whatsoever. Not only that, but it turned out Toasteroid had raised a further $201,000 on the IndieGoGo without delivering. And, just like Kickstarter, IndieGoGo claimed it wasn’t their problem. So, unsurprisingly, this sort of scam has become a pretty popular way of making a quick buck!
Projects like the non-existent smart-phone accessory,
Auxillite, rinsed more than $153,000 from over 6,500 unlucky people. And
Znaps, the too-good-to-be-true magnetic charger raked in CAD$3million, almost $2.5 million, from pledgers, only to disappear without a word. This proves that anyone can get rich on Kickstarter, whether you’ve got a real product or not!
Online Babysitter
Many parents working from home during the pandemic have struggled to juggle work with housekeeping and childcare. More than ever, these poor parents need a break, which is where virtual babysitters come in! Despite what it sounds like, it doesn’t just mean leaving your baby alone in front of a camera for a few hours.
Virtual babysitters entertain children by engaging with them through the camera, like putting on shows, telling stories and watching TV with them. It’s basically Zoom for babies, which keeps them occupied while mom and dad get a little down time.
Puppet Playground with Dusty & Dott Virtual Babysitters Club by Virtual Babysitters Club But a personal, on call entertainer like this doesn’t come cheap! Depending on whether it’s a birthday party or a one-on-one session, performers can earn up to a whopping $90 an hour keeping the tots entertained! That’s an awful lot, considering some virtual babysitters just keep the kids happy by streaming cartoon marathons. Sure, they engage with the kid as they watch, but this ultimately means they can get paid to just watch cartoons without any actual responsibility.
Friend for Hire
Have you ever wanted to go see a movie, but nobody wants to go with you? It’s just not the same going alone, which is where Rent-a-friend comes to the rescue.
Like the name aptly suggests, this is a service where you can literally rent people to hang out with you. Whether it’s a trip to the movies, playing video games, fishing, or even skydiving, these pals get paid to do things that someone else loves. And if they share the same hobbies or passions, it’s an easy way to get paid to do stuff they actually enjoy!
But just how much, exactly? Well, if you signed up as a buddy-for-hire on the website rentafriend.com, most financial friends start at just $10 an hour. But this can go up to $50 depending on the activity, which can turn into a profitable little side-hustle.
Fake News Writer
If you cast your mind back to the 2016 Presidential Election, you might remember President Trump’s obsession with "fake news."
While Trump’s enthusiastic supporters were quick to click on all the weird and whacky articles popping up around the web, the article writers were profiting off all that passion. Over the sea in Macedonia, a group of young teenagers were churning out
plagiarized articles with the weirdest headlines they could think of. From "Proof Obama Was Born in Kenya" to "The Pope Endorses Trump", these writers baselessly made-up claims and then posted the articles on their websites. Using Facebook and Googles advertising programs, which weren’t nearly as comprehensive as they are now, they were able to monetize this content. And the more people that visited their pages, the more adverts were run, and the more money they made. This meant millions of gullible Americans were enticed to click on these outrageous articles, and when they did, the writer on the other end made a fortune. How much, exactly? Well, the biggest operation of its kind at the time, which was run by those previously mentioned Macedonian teens, was earning each writer $10,000 a month! And all by duping gullible Americans into believing things like "Sarah Palin got hit by a car", or "Michelle Obama was caught cheating on Barak". Who knew teenagers could get rich so easily off adult ignorance!
Farm Animals In Your Zoom Call
Anyone who worked an office job during the pandemic will know there’s only so many online team meetings you can take before you want to strangle Karen from HR! Although, the founders of Sweet Farm have found an unusual way to brighten up any zoom call, with their Goat-2-Meeting package.
This animal sanctuary tunes into weekly briefings with a host of animals on display, ranging from goats to llamas! It’s a lovely way to take the office on a tour, but this isn’t a charity event. Just by getting these animals to look at the camera for 10 minutes, Sweet farms charges a whopping $100! And for 20 minutes, that goes up to a whopping $250! Although, a VIP, 30-minute tour can set a company back a staggering $750!
Why a Goat Might Attend Your Next Work Online Meeting by Voice of America Since it started
the service back in March 2020, they’ve fielded over 300 requests, which would mean they’ve earned at least $30,000! And all by putting a few animals in front of a camera.
Pay To Appear Rich On Social Media
We’ve all felt jealous of the rich kids on social media: flaunting their brand-new sports cars, showing off luxury shopping hauls, or maybe just posing with floors full of cash. A lot of us would do anything to make it look like we were living the high life online, which is, ironically, where you could stand to make some cash.
Over in China, e-commerce sites like Taobao host sellers who shoot 10 second long,
first person style videos of a super lavish lifestyle. From sitting next to wads of cash, to hanging out with a beautiful girl in a Porsche, it all looks like it’s been shot on your phone. People can then buy the videos they want for as little as 6 Yuan, that’s less than a dollar, and the seller overlays it with the voice note of their choice. Wannabe rich kids can then upload the video to their own platform to flaunt.
But this expensive looking stock footage isn’t all that hard to shoot, that money could be fake for all we know, and who’s to say this lady isn’t just out for a test drive? Keeping costs like this low, one merchant behind the camera claimed he made more than a wallet busting $3,000 a month just by selling these clips! And it wouldn’t take much to set up something similar.
Rent A Mourner
Some people go to extreme lengths to make themselves look popular, even from beyond the grave! Unbelievably, back in 2012, a British website called "rentamourner" appeared online.
For £45 an hour, or roughly $63, they would send someone to sob throughout a funeral, making everyone believe the deceased was more popular than they actually were! And they wouldn’t just sit there to swell up the numbers. Each rent-a-mourner was briefed on the life of the departed, so that they could interact believably with the rest of the family and friends there.
You might be thinking this is just too weird to be a viable business, but the company’s owner claimed that in its first year, 52 bookings had been arranged! So, they made at least $3,000 just by turning up for an hour and acting a bit sad. Not only that, but this bizarre business model seems to have found a foothold in America as well. One man, by the name of Sylvester Ricardo Moss, posted his rates on Facebook as a professional mourner back in 2017. For $50, he offered to turn up to a graveside and shed a few tears. But for $1,000, this man would act so hysterical that he’d literally jump into the grave!
It may sound outrageous, but considering his clients had all passed on, I don’t think they’d have been any the wiser if he didn’t hop in. Pretty smart business model if you ask me!
Cuddles for Cash
There’s nothing quite like being wrapped up in a big warm hug, but would you ever pay for the privilege of cuddling with a total stranger? Well, you may not, but there are plenty of people on the internet who are so touch-starved, they pay people to come and cuddle them.
These are professional cuddlers, who do all of their cuddling fully clothed. Not only that, but they also have actual diploma’s in cuddling, snuggling, and hugging. It’s technically a type of therapy, which sees the cuddler hold and listen to any problems their cuddle-ee might have. It’s a bit like having a therapist you can spoon! Sounds pretty relaxing, until you learn that an hour of cuddling can cost up to $80. One woman, called Robin, worked as a full time cuddler for 18 months, and spent up to 25 hours a week cuddling her clients. And from this, she made $40,000 a year just from snuggling and listening!
Meet Robin, a Certified Cuddlist in Kansas City by Cuddlist Professional Cuddle Therapy You might think that social-distancing put a stop to people embracing this cuddly career choice, but, actually, it’s managed to thrive. A website called
cuddlist offers virtual cuddling sessions, where cuddle-ees just visualize the person on their video call stroking and holding them. Sounds a bit strange, but for $40,000, you'd be probably tempted to cuddle up to the camera!
Jesus Herbert Christ
Say hello to Jesus Herbert Christ, also known as SoCalChrist! With nothing more than his long hair, his beard, and a bed sheet, this guy has turned himself into a full time Jesus impersonator.
Welcome to my Channel! by Jesus Christ But instead of turning up to mass and frightening the living daylight out of the local nuns, this holy man uses the power of impersonation for good.
Using the website Fiverr, which allows people to offer almost any service they can think of, this Jesus makes a miraculous amount of money by recording videos. For just $10, he’ll record any 50-word phrase you want in video form. But depending on the price, he can bless you in a number of ways: from delivering a personalized birthday message, to rocking out, or even creating a product endorsement! With more than 9000 customer reviews in his 4-year stint on the platform, he’s earned at least $22,500 a year! That’s almost $100,000 all up! Seems like a pretty blessed gig! So, before you cut off all your lockdown locks, ask yourself, what would Jesus do?
Online Spellcaster
If you saw a button on the internet that offered to magically solve your problems for $75, would you click it? Anyone with two brain cells to rub together would be able to figure out that it probably wasn’t real. But, astonishingly, that’s exactly how online spellcasters, like Miss Crystal, make their money.
Like SoCalChrist,
she also uses Fiverr. But without any kind of guarantee, aside from her perfect 5-star review score, believers select the spell they want, pay her a minimum of $75, and then just wait. Miss Crystal doesn’t have to send them anything, show how she cast the spell, or even prove that she cast it at all! Her patrons just have to believe that the spell is working its magic.
You might be thinking that no one would actually spend their hard-earned money on a single, mystical click, seeing as it can cost up to $90 a pop. But, according to her description, around 12,000 people have bought into this world of witchery since she started in 2012. With spells starting at $75, this could mean she’s made around $900,000 in just 9 years! And all from people just clicking a button!
©Be Amazed
Mukbang
When you browse YouTube, there’s a good chance you stumbled across a few videos of people eating gargantuan amounts of food titled Mukbang. For those of you who’ve been too scared to click on them, they involve a YouTuber slurping, chewing, and binging, often on portions large enough to feed a whole family!
This bizarre trend started out in South Korea back in the late 2000’s, where people would live-stream themselves eating while interacting with their viewers. The word itself comes from muk-ja for “eating” and bang-song for “broadcast.” So, Mukbang literally means “eating broadcast.” Whether it was the noises, the visuals, or the interaction, the Mukbang format quickly gained popularity. By 2015, some of the most viewed Mukbang stars were paid up to $10,000 a month by their fans to continuously eat large meals. Since then, the Mukbang trend has spread to YouTube and found a foothold with western audiences! By monetizing these videos with advertisements, famous eater Zack Choi, who has over 12 million subscribers, earns an estimated $17,000 a week from the millions of views he gets!
ASMR MOZZARELLA CHEESE STICKS MUKBANG (No Talking) COOKING & EATING SOUNDS | Zach Choi ASMR by Zach Choi So, next time you cook up an extra-large meal, be sure you’re aiming a camera at your face as you eat it. Otherwise, you could be missing out on that sweet YouTube meal-ticket!
Gongbang
If you couldn’t wrap your head around how much money was involved in Mukbang, then Gongbang might just blow your mind. But don’t worry, it doesn’t involve a family sized serving of noodles, or enough cheese to give an elephant diabetes! From the name, you probably guessed that this trend also originated in South Korea.
“Gongbang” is a combination of gongbu bangsong, the Korean for “study broadcast”. It’s where people record or stream themselves studying for up to 12 hours at a time. This might not sound like the most riveting entertainment, but for a lot of lonely students it’s a bit like having a virtual study buddy.
The Gongbang format has been around since 2018, but since classes moved online during the pandemic, this craze has really taken off. The serious study format has become so popular that dedicated YouTube channels, like ‘
The Strive Studies’, have videos that have amassed more than 7 million views.
STUDY WITH ME (with music) 2.5 HOURS POMODORO SESSION! by TheStrive Studies Like Mukbang, these videos can be monetized through advert placements, and with more than 21 million views, calculators estimate that The Strive Studies earned around $40,000 from her study videos alone.
$4,000 A Month From Farting On The Internet
You might be surprised to learn that you can use your butt to boost your bank account! And before all the Karen’s out there start asking to speak to my manager, relax! It’s all done by keeping your pants on. That is, if Emma Martin’s business model is anything to go by. This married mother-of-two from South Carolina makes her living by recording herself farting on camera!
This woman makes over $4,000 a month from FARTING on the internet | SWNS by SWNS This kind of content might not be for you, but there are people out there who pay good money for fart films! So much so, that she can charge parp-loving subscribers $5 a month to watch all her gassy exploits. At her peak, this meant she was earning upwards of a phenomenal $4,000 a month from her flatulence alone!
©Be Amazed
To keep her camming up to scratch, and sniff, Emma relies on a special diet high in gas inducing foods like avocados, asparagus, coleslaw, and beans. With a camera on standby, this means she always has something to release in more ways than one.
Selling Feet Pictures
At just 24 years old, Desiree Gato might be one of the youngest and most successful realtors in Florida but not because she’s making millions selling houses! Instead, she makes a lot of her money selling photos of her feet!
She was making a decent living as a realtor but decided to make a little extra cash on the side by doing some spicy lingerie shoots and sharing them on her Instagram page. However, she found that while people loved her pictures, some were completely captivated by her titillating toes!
She was initially offered $30 per picture of her feet, without anything else in shot. As soon as she indulged this weird request, a steady stream of regular foot-fond clients began to follow. Some would even pay for her to get a pedicure or buy her socks and stockings they’d want to see her feet in! Business, quite literally, kicked off from there, with Desiree eventually selling foot videos for an unbelievable $100 per minute! She makes an outrageous $10,000 per month off her feet alone. That’s got to be the easiest money you can make with their feet up!
Bending Over Videos
A lot of people lost their jobs when the pandemic first hit back in 2020. For live performers, like dancers, this was a damning blow. But one former ballerina and bodybuilder found a way to bend with the situation, literally!
Yaela Vonk studied at the prestigious Royal Conservatory of Ballet in The Hague, honing her flexibility to the point where she can bend herself into plenty of pretzel shapes. Unable to dance for a living during lockdown, she turned to the internet and discovered her back-breaking bending ability attracted a number of fans to her social pages.
Release Tension FAST with This Yoga Flow by Yaela Vonk She started receiving requests for poses, and being as savvy as she is flexible, she decided to cash in on the demand. But it wasn’t just photos her fans wanted. Some began to ask her for custom videos, and even her worn, unwashed clothing, like her shoes, socks and even her underwear! Without asking too many questions, she figured this was a neat way of not having to do laundry, and so obliged, but for a hefty price. How hefty? Well, by mid-2020, she claimed she was making a whopping $95,000 a month just by bending and selling her stinky, sweaty garments!
Acting As A Puppy
Now, dogs are adorable no matter what shape or size they come in, but this next one is a little harder to look away from for a lot of reasons:
Yes, that is a woman acting, pretty convincingly, like a dog. This is Jenna Phillips, a 22-year-old from Austin, Texas, who used to be a clinical optician. But now, she spends her days begging for treats, performing tricks, and playing fetch on all fours. Now that’s one heck of a career change! It started as something she did just for fun, as she claims she’d always felt like a big puppy at heart. But her videos soon started to get traction from niche corners of the internet and at one point she had nearly 120,000 Tiktok followers! With this level of hype, Jenna quickly realized she could start charging people to watch her doggy antics. Soon, subscribers were paying $20 a month to watch her live a dog’s life. But the sheer demand for doggy content surprised her, with some fans willing to pay up to $1,200 for a single custom video. Before she knew it, she was earning an astonishing six figures a month, almost 100 times her yearly salary as an optician! Needless to say,
she quit her job to become a full-time dog. I hope you were amazed at these weirdest online jobs. Thanks for reading.
