Even before anyone ever heard about Covid-19, our culture has been evolving and changing how we obtain our goods and services. As a result, the workforce has also been changing and causing financial hardships for many households. If you need to earn extra money to compensate for economic changes, a traditional part-time job is a second source of income to consider. However, the following alternatives offer more flexibility.
Tutor Students Online
Grade school and high school students have been falling behind due to having digital learning forced upon them by teachers who weren’t equipped to handle a virtual learning environment. You can help individual students compensate for this situation by offering online tutoring services. You can consider many established tutoring sites before you branch out and offer your tutoring services on your own. Either method can help you earn a modest income from home with the potential to earn more as you become more experienced.
Freelance Your Services
You can also use your expertise to your advantage if you possess a highly sought-after skill. Whether you’re an accountant, masseuse, or work in any service field, you can offer your services easily without the need to rent or buy office space. You can offer your freelance services online, or you can set up a sign in your front yard that advertises your services. As you start getting customers, ask them to refer you to their friends and co-workers. A word-of-mouth referral can help you grow your base of customers organically. Since these are services, you can work out of your home or provide services in your customers’ homes to reduce your operating costs.
Run Errands For Neighbors
You might be surprised to find out just how many seniors and disabled people in your community would be willing to pay someone to run their errands for them. If you don’t know how to make money offline, this might be just the thing to get you started. You should create a fee schedule that’s competitive enough to encourage those in need to use your service. Your rates should be lower than the amount they would spend on ridesharing services, yet high enough to ensure you’ll be earning a profit. Remember to calculate the fuel and vehicle upkeep costs into your calculations to ensure you can create a worthwhile business model.
Share Your Artistic Talents
If you have artistic talents, such as writing or painting, you can turn that into a lucrative side hustle. As a writer, you can reach out to businesses to write content for their websites at a competitive rate. If you’re talented in art or music, you can create recordings or original artwork that you can sell in an online store, such as Etsy or Facebook Marketplace. Even a talent for crocheting and knitting, woodworking, or metalworking can be turned into a profitable startup for yourself. Your ability to produce products at a rapid rate combined with a talent for digital marketing can help you generate a steady flow of income.
Start Investing
Earning passive income doesn’t always have to involve doing more work when you invest your money wisely. The first step is to determine which type of investing interests you the most. This can include investing in stocks, funds, real estate, or in new startup businesses. Next, you’ll have to research the types of investments that interest you. For example, real estate investing doesn’t just involve house flipping. You can learn about real estate crowdfunding, REITs (real estate investment trusts), or peer lending opportunities. You can use investments to help you earn dividends as your wealth grows in each type of investment. While there is a risk to investing, doing proper research in advance will minimize those risks. As you gain experience, you’ll learn how to identify investments that pose the most excellent chances for growing your wealth.
If you’re willing to put in the extra time and effort, any one of these options can become a full-time career for you. With some of these gig-type alternatives, that could mean earning more money and working fewer hours. It can also allow you to earn a living doing something your find enjoyable. Your level of success will depend on how much time you put into your new endeavor.
