Looking to earn extra cash on the side while still keeping your full-time job? Now’s the time to do it! More businesses are switching to ecommerce and as a result, more people are shopping online. This provides a great opportunity for you to develop side jobs from home.
Even though we can’t guarantee the exact amount you’ll earn, with enough dedication and the right resources, you can create a steady stream of income. Who doesn’t want that?
We did our research on how to make an extra $1,000 a month and found the 10 most reliable online models based on the following criteria:
- Profitability
- Time Commitment
- Cost
- Skill Level
Each suggestion, below, will offer a ranking of each criteria, providing you with an idea of what is required from you. Otherwise, read on to learn the best creative ways to make money.
Your 10-Method Guide to that Extra Cash
Start an Online Store
Even though in-person shops have suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ecommerce has boomed. In fact, in 2020 the sales for retail ecommerce totaled $431.6 billion with a projected revenue of $548.8 billion by 2024. Out of all the side jobs you can do from home, an online store can definitely be your best bet.
The benefits of opening an online shop
- Flexible hours: Schedule your hours around your current job and responsibilities.
- Freedom to travel: You’re not glued to an actual location, especially if you use a print on demand service.
- Ease of online marketing: Connect your shop to social media outlets, and watch as the traffic streams in.
- Scalable business model: There’s no limit to the internet!
Let’s take a look at an inspiring success story. Allbirds is an eco-friendly sneaker company that grew from a basic Kickstarter campaign to a thriving business now valued at over one billion. Who knew that wool sneakers would be so popular?
If you are worried about the upfront costs of producing a cool product, a print on demand service, such as Printbest. Printbest offers print on demand services, allowing artists to focus more on creativity, and less on the nuts and bolts.
How print on demand works
Let’s say Jim creates an amazing design that’s perfect for T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, and more. He connects his website to Printbest and when an item sells, they take care of the printing, packing, and shipping. Basically, Jim is the master visionary, while Printbest provides the muscle and sweat.
Print on demand benefits
- No inventory: You focus only on creating innovative designs.
- No expensive equipment: Except for your laptop and your creativity, that is.
- No upfront fees: You only pay when a customer orders from you.
- No shipping fees: Printbest handles all the logistics, referred to as dropshipping.
- More time: Delegating basic tasks gives you time to brainstorm more creative ways to make money.
- Free connections: Most services will connect with Shopify, WooCommerce, and Etsy.
Furthermore, a service such as Printbest offers low product prices, fast turnaround, and high quality, sustainable printing, enabling you to focus on more creative ways to make money.
Start today by making a list of the best things to sell online to make money and take it from there.
Teach Online Courses
Research shows that online learning takes less time and is correlated with a higher retention rate. So, even though COVID-19 has changed the current model of education, it’s not all bad. Plus, the estimated market value for online education is expected to reach $350 billion by 2025.
Got a skill to teach? Now’s the time to go online!
3 benefits of teaching online classes
- You set your own schedule.
- You teach subjects you’re passionate about.
- You connect with students around the world.
Obviously, you need to have a teachable, in-demand skill. But even if you don’t, you can easily invest in some training.
Popular class ideas to explore
- Cooking
- Foreign language
- Art
- Yoga
- Partner dancing
- Creative writing
- Music
You can advertise your classes on social media, on parenting blogs, or consider joining an online learning platform, such as Udemy, Outschool, or MasterClass.
Provide Online Tutoring
Kids and teens everywhere are looking to get ahead. And if you’re a whiz at anything academic, here’s your chance to earn some extra bucks.
In order to stand out against the competition, try narrowing in on a specific skill. For example, Clifford Chafin of Chapel Hill Math Tutoring specializes in working with AoPS (Art of Problem Solving) students. His website has an entire page on this topic, thus drawing in clients from across the country.
Teach for VIPKid
If you want to jump into a steady gig right away, try tutoring English to overseas students. Usually only a bachelor’s degree (in any major) is required, as well as being a native English speaker.
VIPKid is by far the most popular option, with an hourly rate between $15.60-$24.40. There are even ways to make up to $4,000 a month, but you’ll have to be prepared to lose sleep for that!
Publish an Ebook
As the world turns more virtual, so does entertainment. Ebook revenue increased by a solid 25% in July, 2020. Once again, it’s another area where the pandemic encouraged profit.
The best part is that once you’ve put in the hours of writing, editing, and publishing, your ebook will live on forever. Talk about a lifetime stream of income!
Why ebooks instead of traditional books?
With an ebook, your material is downloadable within seconds. Seconds! Let’s face it, people are impatient nowadays — they want their entertainment at the tip of their fingers.
And the cost of an ebook is cheaper — both to publish and to purchase.
Obviously, designing an ebook takes a lot of work. And truth be told, you most certainly won’t earn $1,000 a month right away. But it’s worth a shot if you have the patience. Furthermore, an ebook can direct people to your other services. For example, if you offer DIY home repair classes, an ebook will help generate more interest in such classes, and vice versa.
The top best-selling ebook categories
- Memoir and autobiography
- Biography
- Cooking
- Art and photography
- Self-help
- Motivational
- Health and fitness
- History
- Crafts, hobbies, and home
- Families and relationships
Want to try your hand at fiction? The top-sellers are currently fantasy, science fiction, dystopian, adventure, and romance. Read the full list here.
Use an ebook platform
Once you’ve written your book, consider using one of these top three ebook platforms. The advantage to using them is that they help walk you through each step, from book design to advertising.
Invest in Stocks
Even with COVID-19 wrecking havoc around the world, the stock market is still chugging along. In fact, more than half of U.S. households have some investment in the stock market. If you’re just starting out, consider learning the basics by reading Investopedia’s Beginner’s Guide or Motley Fool’s Investing for Beginners.
3 tips for success
- Set your budget: Don’t dump your life’s savings into one stock and hope for the best. Diversify, take online classes, and do plenty of research. And above all else, start small!
- Safe or high risk: The high-risk stocks have more potential to double or triple, sometimes overnight, but there’s always the risk of losing it all. We suggest playing it safe when first starting out.
- Patience is key: There have definitely been some dips due to COVID-19, with more to come. Hold steady and trust that steady stocks will bounce back. It’s okay to not see a profit immediately.
Do Freelance Work
In general, COVID-19 has been great for freelancers, with job postings rising 41% to 605,000, all in the second quarter of 2020. If you have a marketable skill, now’s the time to get out there.
Top freelancing gigs
- Web designer
- Computer programmer
- Graphic designer
- Marketing specialist
- Writer
- Photographer
First, you need to develop your portfolio, which often means take low-paying jobs. That’s okay, you’ll work up to the more lucrative jobs soon.
Next, you want to advertise your specific niche. For example, if you’re a versatile graphic designer, you’ll just blend into the crowd. However, if you specialize in business logos and use this as your main selling point on your website and in every ad, you’ll appear closer to the top of the search results. Then, once your client sees that you can do everything, they’ll most likely hire you for other tasks.
The best way to land clients is through a popular freelance platform, such as Upwork, Fiverr, or Freelancer. There’s a range of jobs from beginner to expert so you’re bound to land that first gig.
Lastly, make sure to network with others. Many jobs are shared among the freelancer network. You can find other freelancers on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
Sell Your Stuff
People hear “second-hand” and think it’s going to be cheap. But that’s not always the case. In fact, there are plenty of people earning money selling high-quality used clothing, antiques, and unique household items. For example, let’s say you score a used guitar at a local thrift store for $10. The resell value depends on the brand and condition, but chances are you can mark it up for hundreds on eBay. And if you stumble across an autographed guitar, that’s the jackpot. Sure, the musician might not be famous but there’s got to be at least one fan out there who’d love that guitar.
The best things to sell online to make money starts by scouring your closet, basement, and attic, as well as asking friends and family for unwanted items. Next, find out what people are looking for. Then hit the local thrift stores and yard sales. Someone else’s trash could be your fortune!
4 tips for success
- Clean your items: We mean really clean — scrub, polish, and buffer. Make sure everything is functioning and in tip-top shape.
- Take proper pictures: Use proper lighting and take shots from multiple angles.
- Write stellar descriptions: Go into depth about why this item is so amazing. Look up the original description and reword some of the key phrases.
- List on higher paying sites: Using Craigslist is going to earn you pennies. Instead, try Poshmark, Mercari, or even ThredUp for high-quality clothing or eBay for electronics, books, or that vintage guitar. Also check out Bonanza, which offers free advertising until your item sells!
Buy and Sell Domain Names
Who knew that buying and selling domains was a thing? Well, it is. And it’s a lucrative business with approximately 92.9 million domain names registered in the U.S. in 2020. And if you stumble upon a big one — like Hotel.com, which sold for $11 million — you’ll be set for life.
But just like with stocks, you need to do your research and proceed with caution. It’s pretty rare that you’ll register one that sells for millions, but you never know. Once you get the hang of it, you can flip those domains like hotcakes, watching as the dollars roll in.
5 tips for success
- Set your budget
- Hone in on a niche
- Look for domains with similar names
- Use an SEO tool
- Create new domains
Become a Content Creator
Did you know that YouTube stars are now more influential than traditional celebrities? And there’s definitely some cash to be earned there. According to Glassdoor, a YouTube content creator makes on average $48,557 a year.
However, this isn’t the fastest way to supercharge your income. It takes time to generate meaningful content, to reach your target audience, and to develop your name.
4 tips for success
- Develop your niche: Pick something that people care about. Also, try to be original. Take Ask the Builder for example. Such a basic idea — an ordinary guy showing a range of home repairs — and he’s now got 142,000 subscribers!
- Pick the right platform: Go where your targeted audience hangs out, whether it’s YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, a podcast, or your own blog on WordPress.
- Advertise: You need to spend money to let the world know you exist.
- Make sure you love it: Your audience will know if you’re a fake. Be genuine and 100% authentic, and the followers will come.
Affiliate Marketing
This is a great way to make money online without paying anything. Basically, you create an audience and then market goods to them.
The most popular option is becoming an Amazon Affiliate. Once you’re approved, you write whatever you want on your blog and cleverly insert links to Amazon products. For example, if your blog is about simple plumbing repairs, you can include links to drain traps, clog reducers, wrenches, and other items.
The exact earnings depend on the amount of traffic you generate and how compelling your content is. So your content must be engaging and relevant.
But once you get going and devote enough time to it, the sky’s the limit. For example, one individual earned $147,253.02 in one year just from their Amazon links. Wow.
There are hundreds of company out there besides Amazon. For example, you can earn $700 per month by referring 80 customers to ConvertKit’s affiliate program.
The top 5 affiliate programs
Work Hard and Something Will Happen
There are no guarantees with any side gig, even if you work to make money online without paying anything. However, if you put in enough time, effort, and hard work, something is bound to take off. Our list offers the best options for high profitability, low budget, low time commitment, and low skills requirement, but ultimately you’ll still need to devote a fair number of hours to make it a success.
Above all else, make sure your side gig is something you’re passionate about; liking what you sell is essential before determining how to earn an extra $1,000 a month. There’s no reason to add a lackluster, boring task to your already busy day. Make sure it gives you a spark, something that inspires you to devote those extra hours. Eventually, you’ll develop a real audience, people who are just as excited about your business as you are. That’s what we call a success.
