With the holidays coming up, you may be looking for some ways to earn extra money without getting another job. Here are some pretty easy ways you can start earning money in the short-term, and also a few ways to get some longer-term side income:
SHORT-TERM WAYS TO EARN MONEY
Sell Things On eBay
eBay is a super easy way to sell the things you have at home that are no longer serving you. You can earn some extra money while clearing out the items you don’t use/want. I love using eBay because it’s easy, and I get to set the terms for my items. Recently, I sold some phone cases and my Fitbit Versa (the replacement unit, not the broken one). I usually just use the auction option and I set bidding for 7 days. Buyers usually pay immediately or at least same-day, and you can get your cash sent through PayPal. It’s extremely easy to take product photos, and post your listing directly through the app on your phone. I bet you can find some items around the house that you no longer use and could be sold through eBay today.
Amazon M-Turk
Amazon Mechanical Turk (M-Turk) is a site that pays you to do small jobs right from your computer. The pay is pretty low, but most of the jobs (HITs) are very simple or fast. You can choose from surveys (not personal ones, more like general/study-specific ones), audio/video/receipt transcription, categorizing/grouping pictures, and other similar tasks. I like to spend maybe an hour a day seeing what HITs I can do; they’re pretty fun actually. You need to first apply to Amazon M-Turk, and once accepted, you can start doing certain HITs right away. You get paid through Amazon Payments which you can transfer to your bank account immediately — there is no “minimum threshold” or probation period.
Sell Crafts/DIYs
If you enjoy making things and you’re good at it, consider selling your product online. This way is more involved because you have to make a product and market it, but you can get your start on Instagram for free. Create an Instagram account for your product where you show pretty shots of what you do/what people can buy; the more pictures, the better. Follow accounts of things/people related to your product and comment on their pages to get involved in the space and hopefully bring interest to your page. Your profile information should explain how people can buy your product or instruct people to DM you for details. When you sell on Instagram, make sure you protect yourself by only accepting payment through PayPal or Venmo. Until you gain more followers and interest in your products, selling on Instagram is a free way to share your products. Once your brand gets bigger, you may consider selling on Etsy or making your own store on Shopify.
These are relatively quick ways to start earning extra money that you could do at any time, and start earning pretty quickly. If you want to also try some ways to make more consistent money on the side, here are a few longer term ideas:
LONG-TERM WAYS TO EARN MONEY
Start a Blog
If you enjoy writing and sharing your ideas, you may consider starting a blog. Your blog can be about anything you’re interested in. Check out my post on how I started my blog for step-by-step details. Once you’ve got your own platform and you are creating content, you can monetize your site. This is a great way to earn some side money that can eventually turn in to a full-time income. The upfront costs are your domain name, hosting fees, and time.
Start a Youtube Channel
If you love editing videos and have creative ideas to share, starting a youtube channel could be a great fit for you. Filming and editing your content can be time-consuming, so you should actually enjoy the process if this is something you want to start. Once you’re consistently making content and gaining followers, you can start monetizing your videos with ads. Over time, if you are consistent and gain a following, this could also become a full-time opportunity. Assuming you already have a phone/camera, there is no upfront cost to starting a Youtube except your time.
Sell your Products on your Shopify Store
As I touched on earlier, if you make a product that people like and you are growing each month, you make consider moving from instagram/facebook to your own Shopify site. Shopify is just an e-commerce structure for you to create an online store for your products. It’s really user-friendly and helps you to create a professional looking website. They also accept all forms of payment, so your customers can use a credit card and not just PayPal/Venmo. There is a monthly fee for your Shopify site so you should be handling multiple orders to justify switching over at first.
Are you already earning some extra cash with one of these methods? Let me know your experiences or your tips for my next post!
