How to Get Paid to Be an Online Friend

With the internet at our fingertips, you can do almost anything you can think of to earn a little bit of extra money. There are many great resources available to make money!

Take, for instance, the ability to be an online friend and get paid for it!

You might be surprised at how much money you might be able to make on an hourly, daily, or weekly basis. It’s a job that you can use full time if you want to.

Let’s look at just how you can make good money as an online friend.

What Exactly is an Online Friend?

Let’s start with the basics. What does being an online friend mean? It means that you offer companionship to someone through virtual means.

This world can sometimes be a lonely place. It can be hard to meet new people, and yet we all want some form of social interaction or someone to confide in, right?

And this isn’t just for the young and adventurous either. People of all ages suffer from loneliness and need companionship.

As an online friend, you use technology to connect, and that person pays you for your time and your connections to them. They crave something tangible, so it’s your job to provide them with real friendship in exchange for that paycheck from them.

It’s a win-win. You’re offering friendship to someone who needs you, and you’re getting paid to do it. You could even make some new connections that become invaluable to you.

We want to point out that when we refer to an online friend, we are talking strictly about friendship and companionship and not about dating and escort services that might be found online.

Online Friendship Pay Rates

It’s pretty simple. You are available as a friend, and you get paid an hourly rate.

This might mean you have a 1-hour zoom call or video chat or even just a phone call with the customer. It would help if you made the time count.

On average, an online friend with just primary friendship offerings makes approximately $20 an hour, and this is a pretty standard number for essential companionship as a service.

If you have a particular skill or interest that you can share with the customer, you might charge more. Sometimes an online friend with a specific skill can potentially charge up to $50 an hour.

$20-$50 is a pretty wide range when it comes to crunching the numbers, but it at least gives you a general idea of what you might be able to make.

Making it Full-Time?

Let’s take this one step further. How much would you make in a week?

If you plan wisely and set yourself up to be an online friend full-time, that’s 40 hours a week. At the base rate of $20 an hour, that means you could make $800 a week working full time. And if you have a specialized skill and can charge $50 an hour, you might be able to make $2,000 a week offering online friendship full time.

An online friend is solely self-employed, so it will be up to you to find opportunities to be a virtual friend and then set your schedule and fill up your list with clients. It’s almost like being a consultant to an extent, but you’re acting as a friend instead.

The other thing to be aware of is that companies out there host this type of service, so you can create a profile and set it up through those companies rather than having to search things out on your own. Then the company also helps to connect you with clients.

It’s a pretty easy way to make a solid paycheck.

How Being an Online Friend Works

We’ve discussed already that you’re offering your friendship to people and then being paid in return. Where did this idea come from, and what exactly does it entail?

Did you know that Japan offers a service to rent a friend? It’s pretty cool, actually, and an elegant experience. In Japan, it wasn’t even just about loneliness but about enjoying a friendship with someone local.

That particular company even allowed people to rent a friend to act like a boyfriend/girlfriend without requiring intimacy. They offer a staff of more than 800 companions, so it’s a top-rated service.

Of course, that particular example is all in-person, so it’s slightly different, but the concept is the same. We’re just talking about the online version of the same thing.

Think of this as renting an online friend. The interactions occur using a cell phone, computers, or even landline phones that are your friends during a designated time slot. Depending on the platform you work through, you may be required to test or even interview to make sure you would be a great fit – just like most jobs.

Things to Do with Online Friends

Being an online friend doesn’t necessarily mean that you sit on FaceTime and stare at each other while you try to think of things to say awkwardly.

The intent is that you do things together but also have conversations while you do so. Like you might if you were hanging out with your real-life friends.

You can get creative here or maybe even figure out what your clients enjoy doing and come up with ways to hang out online that way.

Here are a few ideas for you.

• Watch movies together
• Play online games together
• Have deep conversations and discussions
• Set up the camera and bake or cook together
• Tell jokes together
• Netflix and chill
• Look up YouTube videos
• Craft together (virtually, of course)

You can find ways to enjoy activities together, or you can spend your time chatting. It’s up to you and your online friend!

Why Someone Might Need a Virtual Friend

In the past couple of years, a lot of people have worked to maintain social distance. We’ve seen a changing world that has led many people to find ways to fill a gap for not being around people.

But it’s not just social distancing that might make someone need an online friend. There are many reasons, and it’s just that we’re finally learning how to use technology and availability to our advantage for this service.

Picture this. An elderly woman who has troubles getting around. She has little to no family living, and she gets very lonely. Imagine how her quality of life could be improved if she had someone who could call her weekly or someone she could craft with on a video call?

You can use this same concept with other scenarios. Maybe it’s a young person who doesn’t feel like they have many close friends. They want to talk about debt, life, health, and more, and they just want to matter for a short amount of time. So they find an online friend.

Getting Started with Virtual Friendship

The first thing you need to do is decide whether or not you’re going to work through a service provider that supports online friendship or whether you’re going to build your client base.

If you choose to go through a service, you need to decide which one. Here are some of the options out there.

• Fiverr
• FriendPC
• Rent a Cyber Friend
• PenPal World
• Rent a Friend
• Freelancer

There are some other resources out there, so be sure to do your research and find a platform that feels safe and offers what you want. There are also some adult-based sites for flirting, and there are also sites to chat as well.

Let’s go through the process.

Set up Profile

Once you choose your platform, you need to set up a profile. This is the first step and probably one of the most important as well. Make sure you share an approximate location so you can work within appropriate time zones unless this doesn’t matter to you.

You will also want to share information about yourself and things you enjoy. This is your chance to make yourself charming and enjoyable. The more personable your profile here, the more attractive you will be to prospective customers.

Think of your profile as your resume for this type of job.

Personality Testing

Most of these apps and sites will require you to go through personality testing with them. It’s nothing personal; it’s like a screening process. Some of them might also need “interviews” or test meetings as well before they make you official.

This is used to determine a few things. The personality test allows them to connect you to the best matches for your personality. Clients will also probably do a personality test, or you may be combined based on their interests and your responses to the personality test.

Interviews and test meetings are used to assess how you might act with clients so they can determine whether you’re a good fit for being an online friend.

Personal Descriptions

Once you pass or complete the testing phase, you’re going to describe yourself in detail. This will be more detailed than the basics in your profile.

Here, you can share skills, talk about who you are and your interests, and get a little more personal.

The point of the personal description is again to match you with what clients are looking for. Perhaps you have a particular skill that can come in handy for someone looking for that skill or talent.

The goal here is to set yourself apart, so again make yourself charming and approachable. This is your time to shine and give people an indication of why they might want to be your friend.

Set up Payment Information

Next, people have to be able to pay you somehow. Different sites will have other methods, but you will most likely connect a payment service like PayPal or a bank account for direct deposit.

Don’t leave this out because you can’t get paid if they don’t have the details to pay you, right? When you set up payment information, always make sure your details are accurate, so you don’t run into any roadblocks when getting paid.

Most of the time, each job will be paid at that time, but how that money comes to you might differ, and you might be charged a fee by the site you’re working through as well.

Build Friendships

Once you’ve got all of the setup going, it’s time to activate your profile and start making friends. Depending on the site, you will most likely get recommendations and connections for being an online friend.

You will have a profile, and friends might choose to connect with you or reach out to you. It’s their choice who they will be friends with, so you may need to be patient until you get a match and then build on that from there.

Being Safe as an Online Friend

The world of online does make you vulnerable to fraud, scams, and unwanted things. It’s essential to take steps to keep yourself safe as you offer up your service as an online friend.

Here are a few safety tips.

• Adhere to rules and hold your clients to those same standards.
• Keep friendships platonic and report people who try to push the line.
• You get to be in control, so if something seems wrong, end the relationship and note it if necessary.
• You can use a fake name if you feel more secure. The people you connect with surely might.
• Don’t provide personal information such as where you live or your social security number and bank information.

Conclusion

It’s easy to get paid to be an online friend, and you can do it for fun, connect with others, or make a livelihood if you want to. You get the complete flexibility to choose how to make this work for you and start making at least $20 an hour doing so!