Due to the current cost of living being so high, most people are in dire need of building additional sources of income to pay the bills and make ends meet.
Thankfully, there are tons of side income opportunities to earn some extra money, ranging from short-term, fast-paying contracts to long-term ventures that can potentially grow into full-fledged small businesses.
Let’s take a closer look at 11 of the simplest methods you can leverage towards generating money on the side.
11 Ways to Make Extra Money on the Side
1. Ridesharing
Ridesharing is a pretty straightforward, flexible, and fun way to earn some extra cash on the side of your regular job.
One of its most notable benefits is having complete control over when and how much you work.
If you have a spotless driving record and a relatively well-maintained vehicle that doesn’t appear to be too old, you can start driving for ridesharing companies like Bolt, Uber, and Lyft right away.
2. Walking dogs
Another way of making some extra cash fast and with limited effort is walking dogs.
According to a study conducted by GFK, 33% of households have a dog, so finding people willing to pay you for your dog walking services shouldn’t be that hard.
The good news is that there are a few large networks such as Rover and Wag specifically designed to facilitate connections between dog owners and dog walkers.
On top of that, you could also let people know about your dog walking services via social media or by going door to door in your neighborhood, but it’ll probably be much simpler to utilize a dedicated dog walking service like the ones mentioned above.
3. Start affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is the process of promoting products or services created and distributed by third-party online merchants in exchange for getting paid a commission for each customer sale you refer.
A large number of the influencers you follow and the websites you visit( including this one) leverage affiliate marketing one way or another.
Just a heads up, most of the time, affiliate marketing doesn’t deliver results fast. On the contrary, it’s more like a long-term venture that grows steadily based on the time and effort you invest in it.
If you believe that you’re able to delay gratification and work on something that’ll pay you off in the future, there is a very real possibility that you could thrive in this industry and amass a sizable affiliate income for yourself.
If you’d like to get started with affiliate marketing, make sure to check out my article How to Make Money With Affiliate Marketing [Ultimate Beginner’s Guide].
4. Become a virtual assistant (VA)
Over the last few years, people’s interest in becoming virtual assistants has skyrocketed.
That’s primarily because as a virtual assistant, you can easily make money while working from the comfort of your own home or anywhere else you want. I have many acquaintances who juggle a few VA jobs while traveling the world.
Furthermore, becoming a virtual assistant is the very first step to becoming involved in the digital services business.
Most virtual assistant jobs involve organizing tasks, managing time, communicating with teammates, invoicing, replying to emails, serving customers, etc. If you enjoy doing some or all of the above, becoming a VA may be the right path for you.
You can find and apply to VA jobs by using websites like Upwork, Indeed, and Remote.co.
5. Sell products on Facebook Marketplace, eBay, or Craigslist
One of the fastest methods to earn some additional money is to sell used stuff on online marketplaces such as eBay, Craigslist, or Facebook Marketplace.
Some of the items you could start listing include but aren’t limited to furniture, home appliances, collectibles, or practically anything you have no other use for than gathering dust.
If you perform well and enjoy this kind of endeavor, you may even consider doing it on a freelance basis for other people in exchange for a little percentage of each sale you generate.
Keep in mind that taking high-quality photographs and writing accurate descriptions of the stuff you list for sale will dramatically boost your conversion rates.
6. Blogging
If the idea of making money by writing content sounds appealing, I strongly suggest that you consider starting a blog.
The primary advantage of blogging is that you can focus on producing content around any subject you want, even topics you’re passionate about.
Do you enjoy cooking? Start a food blog.
Are you passionate about the world of fashion? Create a fashion blog.
Do you have a deep-seated interest in topics such as exercise and diet? Launch a health blog.
Whatever the case, if you produce enough high-quality, helpful content and promote it the right way, I can almost guarantee that your blog will eventually bring in a decent passive income.
If blogging sounds like the right venture for you, check out my 6-step illustrated guide on starting a blog from scratch.
7. Create an online course
Over the last few years, building an additional income through developing and selling online courses has become a go-to option for an increasing amount of people.
Creating online courses involves a substantial initial commitment on your part, but just as with any other endeavor that brings in passive income (e.g., affiliate marketing, blogging, etc.), if you put in the effort once, you’ll be reaping the rewards of your labor for the years to come.
If you possess a skill you could easily teach, or you believe you can help other people solve a particular problem or achieve a specific goal, launching an online course might be the perfect fit for you.
If decide to go down that path, I highly recommend that you consider joining Teachable.
Teachable is one of the best online course platforms out there, with over 100,000 members, self-paced training courses, live coaching, drag-and-drop builders, and much more.
8. Rent a spare room on Airbnb
Do you live in a house with one or more rooms to spare?
Are you planning to leave your house or apartment to go on vacation, on a business trip, or visit your family?
If so, you can make some quick cash by renting your spare rooms or your entire space by leveraging Airbnb.
There are tons of people who’re currently making a part-time or even full-time income by renting out properties to travelers or digital nomads through Airbnb or other similar services.
9. Sell your photographs
Most people love taking pictures of things that catch their eye, such as sceneries, food, animals, etc.
If you’re one of those people and you have quite a lot of images taking up space on your camera roll or your mobile’s DCIM, you can’t start making money off of them by selling them online.
Don’t worry, you don’t need to be a professional photographer to make it. You can use image crowdsourcing services like Foap and earn $5 for each photo you sell.
Nevertheless, keep in mind that extremely low-quality pictures are much less likely to be bought by other people.
10. Become a YouTuber
Creating and running a YouTube channel is yet another pretty solid way of earning some side cash.
The premise is pretty simple – just record and publish videos that appeal to a specific audience and monetize via ads, affiliate marketing, sponsored content, promoting your services, etc.
YouTubing isn’t among the ways of generating extra revenue quickly but it has a very high potential of turning into a full-time endeavor or even a source of multiple-figure income.
There are currently tons of people who make millions of dollars per year through YouTube. Here’s a list of the richest YouTubers of 2022 to get an idea of what I’m talking about.
11. Freelance
Last but not least, freelancing is an excellent way of earning some side cash relatively fast, especially if you already possess an in-demand skill.
I’ve been personally freelancing on the side of my other endeavors for years and I couldn’t be more satisfied with the amount of money I bring in.
Some of the skills with the highest freelance demand nowadays include but aren’t limited to:
- Web design & development
- Graphic design
- Digital marketing & SEO
- Video production & editing
- Voiceover
- Proofreading & editing
- Blogging
- Copywriting
- & more
One of the best ways to start landing freelance gigs is by leveraging freelance services marketplaces like Fiverr and Upwork.
Even though as a beginner freelancer you might be unable to land high-paying clients, if you keep delivering immense amounts of value regardless of how much a customer pays you, word will eventually get out and you’ll start receiving more collaboration requests than you’ll be able to handle.
Conclusion
There you go, those were the 11 simplest ways to make some extra money on the side.
If you aren’t quite sure which to get started with, just take some time to experiment with all of them until you figure out which appeals to you the most.
Just keep in mind that some of them (e.g., affiliate marketing, blogging, YouTubing, etc.) might require much more upfront effort than others to start delivering results.
However, those that do, usually offer much more potential of becoming sources of full-time income.
If you have any questions or require further help, leave a comment right below or contact me right here, and I’ll do my best to get back to you as soon as possible.
Best of luck in your money-making endeavors!
Harry, Founder & Creative Director at dearboss-iquit.com
