A common question that gets asked in almost every corner of the internet is which are the best ways to earn a somewhat substantial amount of money, on the side? Most people don’t know where to start and tend to give up after a couple of tries, considering this task impossible. While this is understandable, earning an additional $1000 per month isn’t difficult, as long as you know what choices you have and how to use them properly.
Once you discover all the ways in which you can earn money, you will probably meet a lot of people who side hustle, just like you. Many of their stories will show you exactly how much money you can make from a side hustle, and you may even be tempted to give up your day job.
There are a lot of reasons that motivate people to look for alternate ways of earning money, on top of what they make from their day job. Some need to pay off student loans faster than they normally could, while others want more cash to buy the things that they want or to go on their dream vacation. Either way, earning a grand through something that you do on the side is completely in the realm of possibility. You just have to know where to look for opportunities.
Also, many of the methods below can be used in order to earn much more than $1000 per month. Most of them can be scaled up in order to suit your needs, or scaled down so that you can fit the additional work into your daily schedule.
Another thing that you should look out for is the fact that not all of these jobs can generate a lot of income, however, if you try to spend a couple of hours per week doing 2-3 of them, you will get to $1000 without too much effort.
Lastly, keep an open mind. Most people never get to earn much money from doing these things due to the fact that they don’t believe that it can be done, and end up subconsciously sabotaging themselves. If you’re skeptical, that’s all right, but try to hustle for a while before giving up. By the time you consider that you’ve had enough, you will already be making quite a bit of money.
Here are a few of the ways in which you can earn an extra $1000 per month:
- Start a blog
One of the most common ways in which people earn some extra money, nowadays, is blogging. Some people have even taken this business to the next level and are now actually making a living from it.
The best part of this option is the act that anyone can do it. You don’t have to be an expert in a field in order to create a blog, and once you get started, things become increasingly easier. There are people who earn up to $100,000 from their blog, and this shows how easy it is to scale up this business.
Another great advantage that you will see right from the beginning is that you don’t need any money in order to start a blog. There are several platforms that will allow you to create a free blog, which you will then be able to monetize. In essence, you don’t have anything to lose. The only thing that you can do in order to limit your success is to not post content regularly, as this will shrink your audience.
Many people think that the only way to earn money from blogging is through ads and banners, but there are many more options when it comes to monetizing your work. You can get into an affiliate marketing program and earn money by asking others to buy products that they like, through your links. Another way is to actually sell your content. If you’re good at something, then you can write guides and other instructional content and sell it.
Of all the ways to earn money from the internet, blogging has proven to be the most stable and reliable, enabling some people to build entire careers in this industry.
- Earn money by answering surveys
Few people realize the fact that they can earn quite a bit of money by answering surveys or testing products. Again, doing so does not require you to pay any fee or make any kind of investment. You just have to find the right companies and then start earning.
One thing that you should keep in mind is the fact that these companies won’t send you new surveys all the time. This can limit the rate at which you earn money if you only subscribe to one website. This having been said, the best way to approach this situation is to sign up for as many companies as possible, in order to have a steady stream of surveys to work with.
Pay attention to what websites you choose in order to answer surveys. While most of them are legitimate and will always pay you, there are some scams online.
Here are a few legitimate companies which you can sign up and start earning money:
- Swagbucks;
- Survey Junkie;
- Opinion Outpost;
- American Consumer Opinion;
- Harris Poll Online;
- Pinecone Research;
- Teach people English online
You can earn a lot of money by teaching English online. Depending on your choice and abilities, you can work with kids, adults, or both, and earn somewhere between $18-25 per hour. In order to make your job easier, you can use companies such as VIPKID. VIPKID has a good reputation, having been featured in Forbes, Wall Street Journal, CNBC, and others, and will allow you to work from home and create your own schedule.
However, there are some requirements that you will have to keep in mind:
- You will be required to own a computer and have an internet connection;
- You have to have an Undergraduate degree;
- All applicants must have at least one year of traditional teaching experience, mentoring, tutoring, or alternative education’
Other than that, you don’t have a whole lot to worry about. All the teaching materials such as lesson plans and course materials will be provided by VIPKID, so all that remains for you to do is to enjoy teaching children.
- Make money by babysitting or working as a nanny
If you used to babysit as a teenager and enjoyed it, then you may be happy to learn that you can do this job at pretty much any age, and earn quite a bit of money from it. Babysitting is simply and comes with several perks.
For one, you can earn $10 per hour. Also, most of the time, you will have to take care of children that are well behaved, so your job won’t be difficult at all.
There are several ways through which you can start working as a babysitter. You can try asking around at work, or your friends if any of them need someone to look after their children while they are away, or you can go to an agency. Babysitting agencies are becoming more and more common with each passing year, and people usually prefer working through them due to the fact that they pay more. On the other hand, they are also more official, and parents have more trust in them.
- Mow lawns and clean yards for money
Mowing lawns is another job that you may have had while you were a teenager, and, like babysitting, it can be done at any age. The great thing about this one is the fact that you get paid for the project, not the time that you spend doing it. So you can earn between $30 and $50 per lawn, and the more you work, the more you earn. You can even start a business, and offer your services for a monthly subscription fee.
If mowing lawns is not your thing, then there are other things that you can do, like cleaning gutters, cleaning yards, or taking care of people’s gardens while they are away.
Unfortunately, there is a catch to earning money from mowing lawns: you only earn money when there is grass to cut. This having been said, working in regions where winter is short and mild will be more profitable because you will be able to work almost all-year-round.
If this isn’t your case, then you can shift your focus to other things during the winter, like shoveling snow.
- Work as a bookkeeper and make money from the comfort of your home
If you’re good with numbers, then this may be a great choice for you. You would be basically working as a freelancer, working from home.
One of the most common misconceptions when it comes to bookkeeping is that people think that only accountants can work in this field. The truth is that anyone can get a job as a freelance accountant, regardless of training or previous experience. You only have to know what you’re doing.
You can easily earn more than $1000 per month working like this because you can get as many clients as you can handle, and be paid by each of them.
- Make money from an online course
Provided that you have a skill that others would consider valuable, you can also make money by creating a course in order to teach it to others, and sell it online. This is great for both those who have a brand that they want to develop, as well as for those simply looking to make a quick buck. The best part is that once you create the course, it will generate profit on its own, as long as people find it interesting and continue to buy it.
- Make money from an Amazon FBA business
If you already have a product and are selling it, then you can increase your sales and make another $1000 per month by using Amazon FBA. The program makes administering your e-commerce business a lot easier and also makes it more efficient.
- Work as a freelance proofreader and earn money on the side
Freelancing is becoming more and more popular with each passing year, and this means that people are more likely to choose their services over that of mainstream companies.
An easy way to make money from freelancing is to offer proofreading services. There are always people and businesses who are willing to pay freelancers, and you can work from your own home. So you don’t have to worry about the commute, or about any of the expenses that would come with a regular job. Furthermore, depending on how fast you work and how much free time you have, you can take on several clients and increase your earnings.
- Earn money by working as a freelance writer or a virtual assistant
Another way to earn an additional $1000 per month is to freelance as a writer or offer virtual assistant services. Freelance writers simply write whatever their clients ask of them and get paid for it, while virtual assistants are basically secretaries who manage email inboxes, search information on the internet, or take care of their client’s schedule.
A few other things that you may want to consider in order making some money on the side:
- Walk dogs
You can ask around the neighborhood and see if anyone is looking for someone to walk their dogs. While this job does not pay extremely well, it is also not too demanding, and if you walk 3-4 dogs at a time, you can increase the amount of money that you make each day.
- You can sell your services on Fiverr
Fiverr is a great place for freelancers who don’t know where to look for clients. The website will help you sell your services more easily, and make more money.
- Earn money by using InboxDollars
This one is a great rewards website that will help you make money by doing things that you normally do, like shopping online, playing games, performing web searches, and more. It is unlikely that you will make money $1000 per month by using InboxDollars alone, however, when every bit counts, this website is a great choice.
- Make money by teaching another language
If you know a foreign language that is in demand, then you can earn quite a bit of money by teaching it to adults and children. There are a lot of people who will pay you around $30 per hour to teach them, and if you work 2-3 hours per day doing this, you will easily earn well over $1000 per month, from this alone.
- Tutor
You can earn money by tutoring. Ask around the neighborhood if there are any parents who are looking for someone to tutor their children, and you should easily find at least one or two clients.
- Work as a substitute teacher
If you like working with children, then you should consider working as a substitute teacher. Your job will be easier than that of a regular teacher and you will earn some extra money.
- Earn money by posting on social media
Most people are not aware of the fact that they can earn money by posting ads on their social media accounts. There are a few companies that will pay you to do this, and one of the most reliable of them is Izea.
- Make money using Ebates
Ebates allows you to get back some of the money that you spend when you shop online.
- Rent your house when you’re out of town
You can make money by renting your house when you are out of town, or on vacation. Vacationers are usually looking for deals and you won’t have much trouble finding someone who is interested in your offer. Furthermore, this way, you can earn money when you’re on vacation.
- Work as a Lyft or Uber driver
If you have time to spare and like driving around town, then you can sign up for the programs offered by Uber and Lyft, and earn some extra money. Working as a driver for one of these companies isn’t complicated and you basically need to create an account that will function as a hub, and offer all the information that you need, from finding clients, to facilitating payment for your services.
- Sell items online
You can sell some of the items that you no longer use, or don’t like in order to make some extra money. While this is not a good long-term source of income, it will help you earn some money when you need it the most.
- Invest your money
You can use a website like Motif Investing in order to carefully invest your money and earn more with each passing month.
- Find a part-time job
If you prefer a more official secondary source of income, then you can use a service like Snagajob in order to find a part-time job that will fit in your daily schedule.
- Make money by participating in research studies
Companies are constantly looking for people to participate in research studies for their new products and you can earn quite a bit of money by doing this.
- Make money by working as a mystery shopper
If you like to shop, then why not make it so that you can earn money by doing something you enjoy. Look for companies that are actively searching for mystery shoppers.