When you train your mind to look for opportunity, it is amazing how much income you can make solving the problems of others. There are a lot of great ways out there to make money, both short-term and long-term. The Internet in general has opened up the ability for an average person to do really well, and fast-paced lifestyles have opened up the opportunity for other people to fill new needs in service-based side businesses.
Here are what I believe to be some of the fastest and easiest ways to make money. Not all of them are glamorous, but they can help you gain extra income for a better life:
1) Sell Online
Whether it’s Ebay, Amazon, or your own site, the ability to have a store that never closes is why this appeals to a lot of people. You can make extra money while you’re physically at work or even asleep. They do take work, but they’re flexible enough to fit into most people’s lifestyles. Just do some research ahead of time so you know you are selling something in demand.
2) Start Your Own Writing Business
You can do this more than one way, based on your skills and background. There’s article writing for sites such as Helium, and there’s also the option of e-books if you’re an expert in almost anything. I personally do both and enjoy it.
3) Clean Houses
I know people who make great money doing this. Basically you can do this by word-of-mouth and build up as many clients as you can handle. If you’re willing to do the work and build a reputation, you’ll never have a shortage of customers.
4) Mow Lawns
This is more of a summer side job, but again it’s something you can build up into a steady stream of income if you have enough clients. This is assuming you have your own mower or have the ability to use one belonging to the home owners.
5) Have a Yard Sale
My husband and I did this when we wanted to jump start getting out of debt. It’s amazing the stuff we all have and rarely use. Certain things you may want to try looking up on Ebay first, just because it may get you more money. At yard sales, you have to assume that people are there to get a bargain. This is mainly to make a little extra cash and clean at the same time.
6) Babysit
Most of us have friends with children who would like to have a break every once in awhile. They would most likely rather have someone watch them that they know as opposed to someone they have to screen. Just let people know you’re available and charge a reasonable rate.
7) Offer to Teach Something You Know
I’ve had some wonderful older people ask me if I would teach them enough about personal computers to get them caught up on how to send e-mail, download photos from a digital camera, etc. If you have any type of skill that’s in demand (computers, foreign language, music, etc), you may be able to turn it into extra money.
8) House sit/Pet sit
Pick up people’s mail and take care of their pets while they’re traveling. This can be fun and pay well.
9) Build Web Pages for People
If you have this skill and do it well, it’s another field that has a lot of demand. You can do it on your own time and charge a rate based on the complexity of the web page. You can market this to individuals, churches, businesses, schools, and other community organizations.
10) Paid Survey Sites
I know of about three or four good ones out there that pay pretty good for what you’re doing. Just be sure to investigate them first. Never pay to join one or for lists of opportunities.
These are just a good starting point. There may be something in demand in your local area that I would have no idea of thinking up. Just keeping your eyes open. One person’s problem may be your opportunity to give a solution.