iStock.com/portfolio/Khosrork
- CREATE A BLOG
Earning Potential: $1,000+ per month
Being that Financial Flashlight is a blog, we felt compelled to begin this list with the opportunity to create a blog since it can be very rewarding. Blogs can be a great source of extra or primary income, with some blogs making well over $10,000 per month. Income from blogging is also very passive, meaning that it doesn’t require a lot of ongoing work once all the upfront work is completed in terms of design, content, and monetization. To get started, you just need to complete the following steps:
- Pick a topic.
- Select a domain name using a domain name registrar and a web hosting service.
- Customize your blog.
- Start writing blog posts.
- Monetize with affiliate links, advertisements, and premium products.
- BECOME AN AFFILIATE MARKETER
Earning Potential: $1,000+ per month
Affiliate marketing is a great way to monetize a blog, but you don’t need to have a blog to take advantage of this opportunity that can earn you thousands of dollars every month. All you need to do is submit an affiliate marketing application to one or more brands you would like to promote, and if accepted, you will receive access to one or more affiliate links, which you can include in your content. Depending on the company’s payment structure, you’ll be able to earn money when users either click on your affiliate links or follow the link and make a purchase.
One great way to get started is to sign up with affiliate marketplaces, like Impact and FlexOffers, which list several brands to consider partnering with. You can also become an Amazon Associate, which will allow you to look up and promote specific products that are sold by Amazon.
- DELIVER FOOD
Earning Potential: $10+ per hour
Delivering food can be a great way to earn money for anyone looking for a flexible schedule and the ability to receive tips on top of a guaranteed wage. Many food delivery services let you pick your own schedule, either in advance or at the exact time when you would like to start accepting orders. The base wage is typically earned per delivery and calculated primarily based on the time and distance required to make the delivery. Earning potential can vary from $10-$20+ per hour depending on the delivery company.
If this opportunity seems like a good fit for you, we encourage you to consider becoming a Dasher with DoorDash, one of the most popular delivery companies out there. DoorDash offers a competitive base pay, along with customer tips, and promotions. DoorDash also lets you pick your own schedule, including the times and routes that work best for you.
Other great food delivery apps to consider:
- Shipt
- Uber Eats
- Instacart
- BECOME A RIDESHARE DRIVER
Earning Potential: $15 + per hour
Driving for a rideshare company is another great way to earn money for anyone with a reliable passenger vehicle who would like a flexible work schedule. Ridesharing was enabled by the widespread use of location sharing smartphones and apps since this technological advancement provides a more convenient way to request one-way transportation than the traditional taxi system. Given its current popularity, ridesharing presents a great opportunity for earning money. Rideshare apps often let drivers pick their schedule and choose which rides they would like to accept, and drivers can bring in an estimated $15-25+ per hour, depending on number of trips, distance per trip, transportation time, and time of day.
If interested in trying rideshare driving, we recommend checking out Uber. With Uber, you can choose your own hours by simply opening their app and accepting whichever routes you would like to drive. You can also get paid very quickly via weekly direct deposits or instant payouts that you can request multiple times per day.
Other great rideshare apps to consider:
- Lyft
- Via
- Scoop
- BECOME A FREELANCER
Earning Potential: $20+ per hour
A freelancer is someone who is self-employed and gets paid for work they complete for a customer. Freelance work can be completed in virtually any field. Some of the most popular types of freelance work include writing and/or editing, photography, software development and/or programming, marketing, engineering, accounting, data entry, and even home repair, landscaping, and improvement projects. You can easily earn over $20 per hour as a freelancer, and way over that depending on the project.
If being self-employed and having control over both the fields you work in and projects you work on are important to you, we recommend exploring this opportunity to earn more money. We recommend trying Fiverr and TaskRabbit for shorter tasks and projects, and Upwork for longer projects.
- RENT OUT SPACE AT YOUR HOME
Earning Potential: $1,000+ per month
This option is great for anyone with extra space at their home since you can generate passive income using space that you already own. There are many different ways to earn money by renting out space at home, including renting out an entire house, like a vacation home or even a tiny house in the backyard. You can also rent out specific floors or rooms in your house, as well as tents, barns, and treehouses on your property. Earning potential is close to $1,000 per month on average, but with plenty of upside for more income depending on the space. And again, this is largely a passive revenue stream, so it can easily be combined with one of the other money earning opportunities in this list, and you can reinvest earnings in more rental spaces to generate even more passive income.
If you are looking to increase your passive income by renting out extra space, then there are many platforms you can use to get started. We recommend using Airbnb for most types of spaces. Airbnb has a large selection of accommodation types, the most users, and a great user interface for listing spaces. Vrbo is another great option for standalone homes, and Neighbor is recommended for garage, basement, and lot storage spaces.
- BECOME A PET SITTER
Earning Potential: $15+ per hour
Pet sitting can be a great way to make extra cash. Some professional pet sitters charge around $25+ dollars for 30-minute visits depending on the area, the type of care, and level of experience. If you love animals and want to earn some money as a part-time job or in addition to your 9-to-5, then we recommend checking out Rover. Rover lets you set your availability so that you are in control of your work schedule. Rover also has an easy application and a low commission fee. Our secondary recommendation is Wag, which unlike Rover, offers a dog training option.
- SELL DIGITAL PRODUCTS
Earning Potential: $100+ per day
Creating and selling digital products can earn you well over $100 per day. To get started, all you need to do is complete the following steps:
- Research top selling digital products to get an idea for what people are buying.
- Pick one or more popular and/or unique digital products to create.
- Choose a graphic design tool and create your products. We recommend Canva as a very effective tool for many designs since it is easy to use and more affordable than some other options.
- Pick an e-commerce platform. We recommend using Shopify, if you plan on selling a large number of products and want to be able to fully customize your online store. Etsy is another great option for anyone looking to get started quickly with a large customer base.
- Start listing and marketing your products, with competitive pricing.
Digital products are great since you don’t have to worry about materials, tools, or logistics that would be required for a physical product. This money earning opportunity can also become very passive once your products are created and are selling well. We highly recommend selling digital products for anyone who likes to design and doesn’t want to be constrained to a fixed work schedule.
- BECOME A BOOKKEEPER
Earning Potential: $20+ per hour
Bookkeepers get paid to help clients track financial transactions, which is essential for any business, and can earn well over $20 per hour working for either a business or as a freelancer. Bookkeepers can have flexible schedules by working part-time or choosing their own hours, as well as the number of clients to maintain. This opportunity also does not require a significant amount of training to get started. If you are good with numbers and spreadsheets, and have an attention to detail, then we recommend giving bookkeeping a try by obtaining an Intuit Bookkeeping Certification.
- TAKE ONLINE SURVEYS
Earning Potential: $100+ per month
One of the easiest ways to earn extra money is taking surveys. It’s unlikely to be a primary source of income, but it is very convenient since you can take surveys anytime, anywhere, with just an app on your phone. There are several survey companies that offer incentives for filling out questionnaires for market research, but some compensate much better than others. We recommend Branded Surveys since they have a large number of paid surveys available and let you cash out via PayPal, bank transfer, or gift cards for every $5 earned. SwagBucks is another great option that lets you earn points for playing games and watching videos, and has a huge selection of gift cards available.