Many of us are conditioned to think of earning our main income in one specific way: we look for a job, get hired, and at the end of the week or month we get a paycheck. For those with an entrepreneurial spirit, there are probably thousands of ways to earn extra money even when you don't have a regular job. Here are a few suggestions to get you started on a journey of self employment, or at least maybe a little extra side income.
1. Repair
Other People's Discards. If you are handy at fixing things,
you can repair
other people's trash and then resell the refurbished items. Robert Jessberger repairs other
people's discards and as a result, "donates thousands of
dollars' worth of goods he saves from the garbage to charity
and neighbors every year. He sells what's left at an annual
garage sale that has paid for him and his wife to go on seven
cruises."
Jessberger is now in trouble because it is illegal where he
lives to go through other people's trash. But perhaps all of
you handymen and women out there could find a legal way to
repair and sell other people's discards by going to garage
sales, thrift shops and picking up unwanted items on Freecycle
(www.freecycle.org). You know the old saying, one man's trash
is another man's treasure.
2. Sell Refurbished Web Sites. Go through the search engine search
return pages looking for old sites that have been neglected
and abandoned, make offer to buy them, spruce them up and
then resell them for a profit at Flippa (www.flippa.com) or Ebay (www.ebay.com).
3. Sell Your Old Jewelry. Shop around at local pawn brokers for the best deal on
selling your old gold jewelry or other gold items. Though a little more work, selling locally and getting competitive bids for your items is apt to pay much better
than the web sites that have you mail in your items. For a
list of places to sell your jewelry, check out the
National
Association of Jewelry Appraisers membership directory.
4. Write an ebook. Most people have at least a few
things they know more about than other people. What is your
specialty? Marking great salads, kid's soccer drills, car
repair or raising dachshunds? If you have a subject you are
an expert on, write an ebook, post it on Clickbank (www.clickbank.com) and
pay web site publishers a commission to sell it for you on
their web sites.
5. Sell your old gadgets. Visit sites like Gazelle (www.gazelle.com) and get paid for your old gadgets. Gazelle is
interested in buying the following types of items:
- Cell phones
- MP3 Players
- Digital cameras
- Calculators
- Lap Tops
- Gaming Devices
- External Drives
- Games
- DVDs
6. Sell Your
Old DVDs. At sites like DVDPawn (www.dvdpawn.com) you can sell your old DVDs for cash. You can enter the
bar codes for your DVDs at their site and get a price quote immediately.
7. Create Web Sites to Sell. Make generic web sites
for local businesses, like www.oaktownplumber.com. Fill them
up with some unique plumbing articles, get some links and
try to get them to rank in the search engines for terms like "oaktown plumbers".
Local search terms are usually pretty easy to rank because
the competition is so low. Then sell the sites on places like
Flippa and Ebay, or offer to sell them directly to local plumbers.
8. Design T-shirts, mugs, and related gift type items. If you can make a
cool design or think of a witty saying,
Cafepress (www.cafepress.com) is a made to order site that sells items like
buttons, T-shirts, mugs, etc. with your creation imprinted on
the items. I have used them to buy niche hobby items for my family,
like paintball mugs and mouse pads, that I couldn't find at
a regular retail store.
9. Start a
newsletter. If you have an area of expertise, start a
newsletter on the topic. You can get subscribers through your
own blog, web site or by paying for advertising through programs
like Google's Adwords (adwords.google.com).
10. Make a directory.
Start an online directory that people might find useful, For example you could list all of the archery ranges, clubs and supply stores in Montana or all of the karate
schools and teachers in Michigan. You could make money by placing ads on
the directory, and once your directory is established you
can charge businesses to be included.
Related Articles:
Five
Ways to Make Money Without Leaving Home - from Second
Rotation, the company behind electronic recycling site, Gazelle.
