In times of economic uncertainty, it’s hard to keep your chin up, especially when it’s almost as if the entire world’s going down the toilet.
With your friends and office mates being let go left and right, you probably wondered if the same fate were to befall on you, too.
While the world has certainly recovered somewhat from this global economic crisis, that doesn’t change the fact that if you are not in control of your destiny, the rug can be pulled from under you at any time.
The good news is there are plenty of supplemental income opportunities that can help you make a little side money working from home.
To get you started, I’ve gathered a list of ideas for creating a second or third income stream.
I’m not saying that these will be enough to replace your full-time income, but these will definitely help you put extra cash in your pocket that you can save for a rainy day.
Let’s get started…
Table of Contents
Do Micro Tasks Online
You can start by checking out Amazon Mechanical Turk, which utilizes a people-powered API that gives companies the opportunity for easy outsourcing of simple activities.
Personally, I find the tasks to be incredibly monotonous, but it may be a good fit for someone who doesn’t want a side job that makes them think too much.
While these tasks may not pay as much as other extra income opportunities, many tasks simply involve critiquing restaurants, going through search results, and maybe even giving videos a thumbs up.
For a few tips on how to make the most money on Mturk read this.
Sites to Use:
Fill out Paid Surveys
It’s easy to dismiss paid surveys as a scam, but the truth is I’ve been earning money from it for more than 8 years now.
At the end of the day, brands want to know where they stand with their consumers. So, if they need to pay you so you can tell them what you feel about it, they will certainly do it.
What’s important, however, is going for surveys that pay well. An example of this is MintVine, which will not only pay you to take the survey, but will also allow you to earn from referrals.
Sites to Use:
Rent out Your Car
Leasing out your car when you’re not using it is a fantastic way to make money. I actually wrote in detail about renting your car for cash.
RelayRides, for instance, offers a listing service for people who would like to lease out their cars on an hourly basis.
You’ll get requests from people that you can deny or approve, depending on your car’s availability.
I haven’t really tried this yet, but I’ve read that RelayRides will insure the car for a maximum of a million dollars, and if your vehicle breaks down along the way, you can also count on them for roadside assistance.
Sites to Use:
Become a Freelancer
The reality is people will always need other people to work on the things that they cannot do on their own. So, even if it seems like companies have a hiring freeze or are retrenching workers, they still need people.
Many times, companies hire freelancers for projects to save on costs and to get everything done faster.
In addition, companies often find that it does not makes sense to hire a full-timer for something that they will be doing for a short, specific period of time.
Sites to Use:
Test Websites for Usability
Consider going on UserTesting.com where you get paid to test websites for their usability.
As a website tester, you’ll be asked to find the parts that will break as well as let the website owners know the parts that confuse you.
You can find the same website testing jobs on Amazon Mechanical Turk as well.
Sites to Use:
Brainstorm Names for Other People
Most people think that crowdsourcing is just for designers, but did you know that coming up with names for businesses, products, and services can make you money as well?
PickyDomains is one of those crowdsourcing contest websites that allow people to win cash prizes by simply suggesting names and being creative.
This is a fun way to make some quick cash, and I wrote in detail how you could make a few hundred a day by picking names for NamingForce, here.
Sites to Use:
Make Money from Your Photographs
Did you know that just over a year ago, iStockPhoto paid over $20 million in contributor royalties?
That’s crazy!
And if anything, that should already tell you that stock photos that are taken by someone with a great camera and creativity can be a huge moneymaker.
Because you earn based on royalties, taking stock photos can be a real source of passive income.
Remember though that you stand to earn more by being exclusive to a single site.
For a detailed guide, check out this post.
Sites to Use:
Sell Stuff You No Longer Need
I don’t claim to be an eBay millionaire, but I’ve made good money selling things that I no longer need around the house.
It is hard to figure out what items to sell to make money, but the best thing you can do is to start looking around for items that you or other members of your household have outgrown. Not only is this a great way to clean up the house, but you’ll also feel better getting rid of clutter.
Sites to Use:
Answer Questions
If you are knowledgeable and/or are a search engine ninja, then consider getting paid to answer questions. There are sites where you can get paid to answer all kinds of questions.
The best part is that even if you don’t know the answer, you can do some research online and find the answer.
You won’t earn a lot at the start, but these things have a way of adding up.
Sites to Use:
Showcase Your Expertise
Do you have a specific expertise on a particular topic? You could get paid to write articles about it.
Let the world know about it by writing about it on About.com, a portal populated with topics written by experts.
People who write for About.com play the role of a curator, blogger, and columnist and are normally paid $725 on a monthly basis.
The role is to guide people and help them understand a particular topic. You can also earn based on the traffic that your particular guides bring. In fact, some users have reported netting over a $100,000 yearly.
Sites to Use:
Use Revenue Sharing Sites
Making a living as a full-time writer can be difficult, but if you do this part-time, then it can be quite fulfilling.
If you’re talented with words (or images, video, and audio), there are many sites where you just have to write great content to get paid.
These sites work on “Revenue Sharing” model. Basically, you write and publish the article, they put ads on that page and split the profit with you.
The best part about many of these sites is that they are already famous and receive tons of traffic, so you don’t have to worry much about spending time promoting the articles you write.
Sites to Use:
Create T-shirt Designs
Some people are just more naturally gifted with drawing and design. If this is you, enter your designs on Threadless. Who knows–you may just win $2000 in prize money along with free T-shirts ($500 worth).
And if you’re a writer, consider submitting slogans to get $500 cash prize as well.
There are also many other sites where you can design t-shirts and sell them. The good thing about these sites is that you don’t need to invest any money, or deal with printing, shipping, handling, or customer service. All you do is create designs and submit them. Then promote your designs anywhere you can. You get a percentage of each sale.
I wrote a detailed guide on how to start making money designing t-shirts and other customizable items.
Sites to Use:
Bottom Line
There are tons of ways to add a second or third income stream to help you get through these hard economic times. In fact, I wrote a long list of extra income ideas a while back.
Sure, none of these methods are going to replace your day job (although some, like freelance writing, could), but these are great options for supplementing what you earn from your day job.
Allow me to add that with sites like Freelancer and Guru, there are also Upwork. These three sites are pretty much the same, and offer writing jobs and social media management tasks. It’s amazing just how much large companies are prepared to pay professional writers for high quality content.
Im an aspiring writer. I do write stories mostly fiction.i. make my own qoutes & inspiring posts too. Now im willing to share my ideas & get paid. I hope you can help me thanks