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How to Make Extra Money on the Side

Business
Published: 3 years ago, Last Updated: 5 months ago
Daniel Brown
Writer: Daniel Brown

There are very few people who would say no to finding new ways to make extra money. There are more opportunities than ever before. Twenty years ago, making extra money was tough as we didn’t have the internet. Still, recently, so many people have turned to the internet to make their primary income or their additional income.

While it is best to avoid any “get rich quick” schemes, there is some relatively easy money to be made on the internet if you don’t mind putting in the extra time. It’s often surprising what a little bit of time can do for you.

Many of the techniques we’ve discussed on this list for how to earn extra money online won’t necessarily constitute new careers. Still, instead, they will give you a way to bring some additional money in to pay for the groceries or save for a vacation. If you need to pay off debt, then you might also need to make money fast to pay toward these, and having an extra source of income online could be an excellent way to do so.

Gone are the days where it was a pipe dream to get paid online. There are many things that you can do to allow you to earn some money. You might not get rich, but plenty of people can dip into the “gig economy” to make some extra money.

You might be delighted to learn that not all of the things you plan to do to make extra money need to be online. Instead, you can make money by doing other tasks, or giving up a bit of your spare time to provide services in person. Just make sure all your tax affairs are in order. Look into how to start a business if you want to find out the right way to structure your side business.

If you are looking into how to make money, some of the tips below might be new to you. We’ve tried to provide some inspiration for people who are looking to make some extra cash.

Use Your Skills in Person

Man choosing from skills on a graphic in front of him.

Do you have specific skills that other people don’t? Put these to use and offer them around to people in your neighborhood, or promote your crafts online. For instance, can you paint portraits? Are you a talented artist or good at fixing cars? You can offer these skills outside of your standard work time in return for some hard-earned money.

If you can paint portraits or are a good artist, people will probably be happy to pay for this skill. Things like pet portraits are popular, and these can be delivered in person or online.

If you are good with cars or fixing things, then you can offer these services and visit people locally to make repairs. There may be things you can’t do, but it is more likely that someone would want to pay you a cheaper rate than have to take cars to the auto shop.

Having a “side hustle” is not uncommon these days. If you are self-employed as a plumber, for instance, you might have to take another job part-time to prop up your income.

There are so many in-person skills that you can offer others. You might not even think of them yourself. Ask those around you what you are good at and what skills you have that others might pay for.

Do the Jobs Others Won’t Do

Man gardening and picking a green plant that looks edible.

If you want to learn how to make money fast, then there are several jobs that people don’t want to do.

If you wish to go out of the house, you can expand your audience for your services. This might even be something you enjoy doing. For instance, some people absolutely love doing gardening and yard work, so it is worth offering your services locally. You could even do this as a thing to make some cash at the weekends and outside of your standard work hours.

You can promote your services locally, and you might be able to make some money. Things like yard work, repair work, painting, home improvement tasks, and washing/cleaning are significant in terms of making some cash because they are recurring. People will need this sort of service done repeatedly, so you won’t just be making cash as a one-off, you can make money time and time again. You might have people asking you to go back every six weeks to cut the grass, for instance. It is an excellent opportunity to make some cash.

Unique Gigs

Man delivering food in a city.

It’s possible that you can make money in some unusual ways. Using a service like Fiverr can be a great way to earn extra money online that ends up getting transferred directly into your bank account or PayPal, ready to use on vacation or just to help pay the bills.

This is another excellent way to make money fast, but it depends mostly on what skills you have. Fiverr, and similar gig economy sites offer no end of opportunities. Have a quick look around to see what sort of skills people can offer.

You might find that something you do for work can also be a skill you provide for others in your spare time. For instance, if you are a graphic designer, then you might be able to offer some editing skills for people. People are happy to pay $5 to $10 for fun things like making them custom greeting cards featuring their family members.

There are some creative ways to make extra money on Fiverr. Below are just some of the examples that we have seen on the platform. Some of these methods are genius and take virtually no time at all to do. People who get a lot of orders can do a lot of work on the platform, and it is an excellent way to make money online with a reputable company.

Also, while Fiverr used to be $5 per “gig,” this is no longer the case. You can offer premium versions and added extras enabling you to earn more money from each customer.

Some of the things you can see on Fiverr include:

Modeling

Woman sitting in a chair as part of a modeling shoot.

If you are comfortable in front of a camera, then you can offer your modeling services. A lot of people need modeling services for their websites, and if you can provide the rights to the pictures, then they may be happy to pay more. If you’re good at taking pictures or you have a particular “look”, then you might be great at modeling.

Testimonials

Notebook being used to create testimonials.

Selling testimonials is time-consuming, but the payoff may be worth it. However, you can make sure that you only sell your honest reviews rather than just getting paid to say nice things about other businesses. A lot of companies still pay for honest feedback, whether that happens to be good or bad.

Photography

Woman taking a picture.

Are you good at taking photographs? If this is something you are interested in, you may be able to take up photography as a side project. You can partake in film photography, nature photography, or just pick up your camera and shoot whatever you find interesting.  Alternatively, you can just take pictures on demand for your client if they are looking for a specific shot. Even simple things can be hard to find copyright-free photos of.

Writing

Woman writing in room with numerous books on shelves.

If you are a strong writer, you can take up blogging for extra money. You might even be able to write on specific topics that you are passionate about. If you are good at sports, or you just love watching sports, there is a lot that you can write about.

Translation

Man and woman speaking to each other while wearing headphones.

If you are one of the many people who speak two languages, then this is a skill that is definitely in demand. As long as you know the two languages very well, then you can potentially offer up your services, translating between the two to make money online fast.

Sound Editing and Music

Man editing music on a soundboard and computer.

Are you particularly good at music? Maybe this has only ever been a hobby, but if you know how to edit sounds, make ringtones, record drum beats, or play several instruments, you can offer up these skills online and find an efficient way to make money online. A lot of people also make podcasts from home these days, and though they might be able to record, many people have little to no idea how to use these recordings and turn them into a proper podcast.

Lessons

Two people playing guitars.

You can sell your time on Fiverr or other platforms, too, though this can be a little bit harder to track. If you have a particular skill, such as playing the guitar or speaking another language, you can do this via Skype or a similar online platform to show others how to gain the same skill.

You don’t have to sell these services on Fiverr, of course, if you are looking to try and sell elsewhere you can try Facebook groups or freelancer websites. This is not as easy to do, but there’s no such thing as easy money!

However, you try to promote your services; there are loads of ways that you can make money that you would never have thought of before. Even if you have a service that only 10,000 people in all of the world would want, then you can still find a way to reach those people via the internet. Previously, these ways to make extra money online wouldn’t have been possible.

Sign Up to Tutor

Woman helping teach a student.

If you speak English, then many people are looking to learn the same language as you! You might have to do a short course on how to teach your language rather than just speaking it or just winging it with someone, but it is an excellent way to make extra money.

One of the things about tutoring is that you can work at any time you wish. For instance, you might be able to book tutoring times that are for people on the other side of the planet, so you might be able to do it first thing in the morning or late at night. If you are wondering how to make extra money and you are worried about the time that you are going to be able to carry out the work, then tutoring people on the internet could be an excellent method.

Tutoring can be second nature to some people; if you have the type of personality where you can easily relate to people and are good at explaining things, then it might well be worth exploring this route of making a bit of extra money on the side.

“Flipping” Items

Garage sale items with price tags on a table.

This is a pretty new trend, but when you think about it, there is a lot of money just sitting around! If you are a hoarder, then you might have things in your home that you haven’t touched for years or even decades. These probably still have value to someone. Thanks to sites like eBay and local selling sites, you can sell these sorts of items online.

Once you’ve sold the items in your own home, you could even visit flea markets and garage sales and pick up some things that have a higher value than people may have realized. Selling these online is a way to make sure you reach the biggest possible market, and this is a way to ensure you get the highest reasonable price for them.

This is referred to as “flipping” items. There’s quite a big community of people online who love to do this, and you can find plenty of information on the type of things that have value, maybe you’ll pick up a super rare baseball card or antique and make a fortune!

Investing

Flipping items

If you want to, you can invest the money you have in the bank, too, and make a reasonably decent return on this. Compound interest means that if you can stick with it for years, then you are likely to make a lot of money. If you are the sort of person looking for how to make money fast, then you might not have the chance to invest the money as you might not have anything in the bank to invest in. However, it doesn’t take a vast sum to make a decent return.

If you are going to invest money, then there is a chance that you might lose some money. However, you can choose some safer ways to make money from investments. If you don’t want a massive return straight away then you might find that low risk, low yield account is the ideal option.

Conclusion

We’re living at the right age if you are looking to make extra money on the side. Not everything is easy and straightforward, but if you are looking to make money online or make money from home, then things you couldn’t have dreamt of 20 years ago are a realistic possibility. If you have a specific ability, then you might be able to make some cash and slowly build your clientele over time.

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