5 Simple Ideas for Making Extra Income Online. This Week.
As I progressed as an online business coach, I realized that, most often that not, a small capital of a few hundred dollars is what keeps so many people from building and growing their internet business..
In this post, therefore, I’d like to explore five simple strategies for making an extra $500-$1000 online in a relatively short span of time, something which might give you all the leverage you need to delegate tasks to others.
Without further ado, let’s look at the first strategy.
Learn a Skill in Demand.
Our first strategy - one which I learned from a blogger named Bryan Harris - is fairly simple: Quickly learn a simple online business skill that is high in demand and offer it to other online business owners.
The emphasis is on the word ‘quickly’. Contrary to common belief, you don't need a qualification, or training, or experience to provide a specialized online service.
Hell, you don’t even need a website.
All you need is a little research into what’s popular right now, plus a strong motivation and determination to earn extra income.
Let’s look at the process.
First, find a very in-depth “HOW-TO” blog post that has a proven track record of success. You basically want to find an article that generated an impressive number of social shares and comments.
A key tool in that regard is BuzzSumo.com. Simply enter a topic or domain name (make sure it’s a reputable site) in the online business niche and hit the “Search” button. The search results will then return a list of content based on social popularity ranked from highest to lowest.
Pick one article which you are most interested, and diligently read it through.
Here are a few examples of skills you can specialize in:
- Setting up a new facebook page
- Creating simple explainer videos
- Installing and setting up WordPress sites.
- Doing Social marketing for local businesses
- Using local SEO to improve rankings
- Setting up Facebook ads the right way
- Creating successful crowdfunding campaigns
- Repurposing content
- Getting press for your business
- Creating a membership site
- improving landing page conversion
You get the point.
Now, take what you’ve learned in the article and offer it as a service to bloggers, influencers and companies with online presence.
That’s it. Experiment and see how the market respond. Also, don’t narrow your focus to one service idea only. Try other ideas and see what works.
Sell Stuff on the Web
One of the easiest ways to make extra money is by selling what you no longer need or use.
So if you haven't done it yet, list anything you no longer need on ebay.com (small, high value items) or Craigslist.com (large items).
If you have hard time finding stuff to sell, check your basement, attic, or garage. We all have things there that would probably bring some decent cash.
But don’t stop there - you can also approach your friends, family and neighbors and interest them in selling some of their unused stuff. Offer them a cut of the profits - You'll be surprised how many will say yes...
Finally, If you have an eye for bargains, consider buying on the cheap – at garage sales, Flea Markets, and thrift stores – and then sell online at a profit.
eBay and Craigslist are the most obvious choices, but it really depends on what you are selling. Here are a few other good options:
- Amazon.com - works best for entertainment media, such as books and movies.
- Half.com - great for textbooks.
- Gazelle.com - best for selling used cell phones.They quote you a price and when they recieve your item, you get paid.
- Etsy.com - An arts and crafts selling website. If making crafts is a hobby, you could have an ongoing income source from the site.
- Winebid.com - an auction site for wine.
- Labx.com - an online marketplace forlaboratory equipment and related high-tech product.
Now go ahead and take action - list at least one thing you (or someone else) don’t need. Beside the extra cash, it's also a great way to declutter your home...
Get a Writing Gig
You don't have to be a “writer” to do freelance writing work. In fact, you probably already have the experience and enough samples to showcase your work.
The most obvious place to look for writing gigs are through one of the big freelance marketplaces out there, however, from my experience, these freelance marketplaces can be very competitive and, therefore, results in a low success rate.
Cutting out the middleman and pitching directly to potential clients can be a much better approach.
First, you need to find a company, a blog, or other media type website you want to write for.
Look through your contacts and some of the connections you have built up so far, and see if any them could benefit from content marketing services.
Remember, the more you know about your potential clients, their target audience, etc, the more likely they are to accept your pitch.
Next, come up with a compelling topic and send the business owner, editor, or decision maker, an email outlining your idea for the article.
Make sure you communicate how it’s going to help their audience and why you want to write it specifically for them. Also, detail your writing experience and provide links to 2 or 3 writing samples.
Although many of them might not reply you, don’t get discouraged - this is just the nature of the content writing marketplace. Be consistent and persevere.
Now, if your writing portfolio is not diverse, you might want to expand it a bit before approaching potential clients.
You can set up a gig on one of the online freelance marketplaces, for example, or offer to write for free. Once you have a few successful gigs under your belt, you can approach potential clients directly and rely and charge a fair rate for your work.
Remember, instead of waiting for opportunities to come to your way – get out there and actively look for them.
Rent Out your Place
This strategy is fairly simple: Rent out your place on Airbnb.com or through one of the many Sublet Facebook Groups for a short period of time. By short period I mean a few days to a week.
If you don’t have an extra room in your apartment, you can crash at a friend’s or family member's house or travel somewhere else during that period. With enough motivation, you'll find a way to figure out the logistics…
Now, if you choose to employ this strategy, there are a few important steps you'll want to follow before publishing your place.
- It’s important that the space itself appeals to renters so take high quality photos and provide detailed descriptions for each area in your house. Try to stand out from the crowd...
- Use highly searched keywords when listing your room. If you’re located only minutes aways from downtown or live near a big park or lake, don’t be afraid to brag about it.
- To get initial good reviews on your profile consider pricing your place a bit lower than the competition. Do a little research and you’ll find the sweet spot.
- Finally, remember to request references from your personal network so they can publicly appear on your profile. Social proof is a critical factor in influencing buying decisions.
One last note before we wrap up - It's worth exploring publishing your room on other sites as well. Although Airbnb.com is the largest home sharing site out there these days, other room rental sites are becoming increasingly popular.
Find Small Gigs Online
The idea behind the last strategy is simple: Get paid for doing small tasks online.
There are many sites that can help you with this on the Internet. You can, for example, sell small gigs on Fiverr.com.
Now, earning $5 a gig might not seem like much, and you’re right - it is not. However, for every sale you make, you have a great opportunity to upsell your customer on a high end service.
To get you started on Fiverr, simply browse the different sections at the top of the page and get ideas on what services you can provide.
Another good strategy could be to find out what's popular on the platform and then offer something similar, but better or with a twist.
Be creative and it will go a long way.
If you’re out of ideas, you can always offer some of the small “online business” services you learned in the course, such as:
- Testing sites for broken links (You can use the “Domain Hunter Plus” tool we discuss a few weeks ago)
- Setting up social media accounts.
- Improving email opt-in conversion
- Giving feedback a website as a user
- Analyzing and give ideas of how to improve your site
- Speeding up a WordPress site
- Brainstorming a business name, tagline, etc
- Providing an SEO audit
- Etc
You can also try sites like Gigbucks.com, Fourerr.com, and of course Upwork.com. Just make sure you stand out from the crowd in some ways.
Another place is Craigslist.com. We usually think of Craigslist as a place to buy and trade random stuff, but it can also be an excellent source for finding local gigs. Simply check the “jobs” section and see if anything matches your interests.
* To gain more inspiration and motivation for your personal growth journey, I recommend visiting my SMART goals page, which offers a wide range of goal ideas to help you establish new aspirations and achieve greater success in life. This list was crucial in the development of my own life goals list, consisting of 100 goals that I pursued for ten years.
Chief Editor
Tal Gur is an author, founder, and impact-driven entrepreneur at heart. After trading his daily grind for a life of his own daring design, he spent a decade pursuing 100 major life goals around the globe. His journey and most recent book, The Art of Fully Living, has led him to found Elevate Society.
