Would you like to make money from home without it interfering with your day job?
If you answered yes, then you’ve come to the right place.
I could have made this a huge list of ways for making money from home, but I don’t think anyone is interested in doing surveys all day to earn twenty bucks or getting a 2% cashback while shopping.
This list focuses on side gigs that can make you some real money without interfering with your regular job.
Let’s get to it.
#1. Becoming a blogger
The first thing you should know about becoming a blogger is that you won’t start making money overnight. Don’t believe the hype, it won’t happen!
The second thing is that most bloggers never make any money.
And lastly that it takes commitment and plenty of hard work to become a successful blogger.
Now, let’s get to the fun part…
If you decide to become a part-time blogger no matter what keep at it! While it takes time, blogging = freedom.
So in order to become a blogger, you’ll need to learn how to create a blog and start creating content in order to generate traffic.
Many part-time bloggers make thousands of dollars working less than 20 hours per week. It’s up to you how far you want to take it.
My favorite things about being a blogger:
- I can set my own schedule (work when it is convenient for you).
- Able to work from anywhere (all you need a laptop and an internet connection).
- Unlimited growth potential (you decide how far you want to go).
- Flexibility (you can start a blog on any topic and make money)
- Freedom (you can schedule blog posts and e-mails to go out automatically so that you don’t have to be in front of your screen every day).
The fact that I can follow my passion for helping get the best out of people and make money is priceless to me.
You too can follow your passion and make a good side income by becoming a blogger.
Warning: Most successful part-time bloggers end up quitting their regular jobs… will you be the next one?
Now you’re probably thinking “this sounds great Miguel but how do I make money as a part-time blogger?”
How to make money blogging:
- Affiliate marketing (selling other people’s products for a commission).
- Display ads (getting paid to display ads on your site… this works best when you have a lot of traffic).
- Services (sell your services).
- Digital products (you can sell eBooks, courses, etc.).
- Physical products (buy or make your own products and sell them online).
In other words, there are no excuses for not being able to make money as a blogger. You just need to decide how you want to monetize your blog and make it happen.
#2. Selling on OfferUp
OfferUp is an app that allows you to sell any item you can think of locally for free, and just recently they incorporated shipping into the app so you can sell nationally as well.
Not long ago eBay was the kind of online sales. I remember giving it a shot when my nine-year-old cousin convinced his parents to sell some old diapers because he wanted to buy a video game.
That’s actually a true story. He didn’t get much for the diapers but figured if anyone is interested in buying old diapers, I could find something to sell.
Think of OfferUp as the new eBay except that it doesn’t charge you any fees.
Look around the house for anything of value that you don’t need or aren’t using and place them on OfferUp.
You could also try trading for items that you actually need… I went from an unused Xbox One to a 55″ TV when my old one gave out.
I felt like I got the better end of that deal but he was ecstatic to turn a TV that was collecting dust in his garage for a “free” Xbox.
OfferUp has become so popular around here that even local businesses are using it as a way to generate additional income.
So gather your things and start making money.
Below are some OfferUp alternatives:
Try them all out and see which one works best for you. You might find that some are not popular enough in your area to be worth your while.
You could also try selling your items the old fashion way through eBay and Amazon.
There is no easier way of making money from home than this.
#3. Running a garage sale
Garage sales are a great way of making some extra income on the weekends.
We all have things laying around the house that we don’t need that someone else would be glad to put to good use.
These can be tools, clothes, electronics, toys, shoes, and the list goes on.
Have everyone in the house roundup everything they don’t need and run a garage sale.
You can place banners around your neighborhood letting everyone know of your big event and you can also place a free ad on Craigslist for added exposure.
Make money from home by running a garage sale and seeing what your “junk” is worth.
#4. Become a freelance writer
If you enjoy writing this might be the best option for you to make money from the comforts of your own home.
I have never done it but have received offers from people who like my writing style and have seen it on here and other popular sites where I have been featured.
The highest single offer I received was $400 to write a blog post on how to compare auto insurance.
Don’t expect those kinds of offers starting out unless you’re an exceptional writer (which I am not), but I do know of writers who charge much more than that per post.
Places to find clients:
You can also find clients by researching on social media sites that you’re a member of.
Creating a blog to promote your writing services and find new clients is also something to consider if you decide to become a freelance writer.
#5. Tutoring
You might think that you have to be an expert in something in order to become a tutor, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
You could use your English speaking skills to teach kids abroad and make money from your living room.
Everyone has something that they could teach and becoming a tutor is a great way to make use of your skills for helping others while making a decent side income.
Tutor salaries vary greatly but you should be able to make $20+/hour if you do it right.
Sites to find tutoring gigs:
You can also place simple ads on your local newspapers or on Craigslist advertising your tutoring services.
Another great way of finding tutoring gigs is by visiting your local colleges and universities and looking through their job boards.
That last one requires you to step out of the house, but you can always set up your tutoring sessions in your home office.
#6. Becoming a virtual assistant
Are you an accountant, are good with computers, or have a skill that’s in demand? If so becoming a virtual assistant might be your best option for making money from home.
Many companies and individuals are looking to offload tasks to virtual assistants.
The global intelligent virtual assistants market size is expected to reach USD 25.63 billion by 2025 — think you can get your hands on some of that?
I have great experience in this field, mostly as an employer, as prior to becoming a full-time blogger I worked with several offshore virtual assistants to take care of the tasks that I didn’t have enough time to perform while working a full-time job.
They handled things such as order fulfillment, tax preparation, product research, contacting prospective clients, and answering all of my e-mails.
Virtual assistants are able to take care of most tasks that don’t require face to face interactions.
Find virtual assistant work here:
- TaskRabbit
- Upwork
- Craigslist (Job board and gigs section)
- PeoplePerHour
- FlexJobs
- Freelancer
Once again your can also run a newspaper or Craigslist ad promoting your virtual assistance services for added exposure.
#7. Work for Amazon
Did you know that you could work for the largest retailer in the word and make money from your home?
I just recently found out about Amazon Mechanical Turk from a friend that started working for them after being laid off from his company.
MTurk offers developers access to a diverse, on-demand workforce through a flexible user interface or direct integration with a simple API. Organizations can harness the power of crowdsourcing via MTurk for a range of use cases, such as microwork, human insights, and machine learning development.
Now he did warn me that this should only be used as a way to supplement your income, not as your primary source of income as most people can’t even make $10 per hour on this platform.
Common tasks include:
- Spell checking product descriptions
- Reviewing website functionality
- Finding correct item numbers for products
- Rating search results based on given keywords
- Differentiating similar products
- Choosing appropriate categories for products
- Reviewing product descriptions
- Translating to other languages
- Providing user experience feedback
So if you don’t mind the low pay and want to make some extra money on the side this might be something to consider.
#8. Become a pet sitter
If you’re an animal lover and have space available to properly care for other people’s pets in your house this is a perfect way for you to make money from home.
Pet sitting wages range dramatically based on location, feedback, and expertise but you shouldn’t have any problem making an extra $50 to $100 per night by taking care of someone’s pet overnight.
Dogs and cats are the most popular pets for which people hire pet sitters.
If you feel like getting out of the house you can also offer your pet sitting services at the customer’s residence.
Find pet sitting jobs here:
Just as with most of these forms of making money from home, you can place ads on Craigslist, local job boards, and newspapers to create more awareness for your services.
#9. Become an Airbnb host
I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone that is renting. However, if you’re a homeowner who doesn’t mind the extra company this is a fabulous way of making money from home.
You have the option of renting a room or turning your house into a full-blown bead and breakfast.
You can choose to rent out only on your off days so that it doesn’t interfere with your regular job.
How much you can charge will completely depend on the condition of your home and its location. If you leave near the beach or close to a tourist attraction your rates will be on the high end, but if you live in a small town that doesn’t have much going for itself don’t expect hundreds of dollars per night.
Learn how to become a host from Airbnb themselves.
Other companies to consider:
I would stick with Airbnb starting out since it’s the most well-known of the bunch and has a good reputation.
Once you get comfortable with Airbnb then start branching out to more niche rental sites based on what you feel may work best for you.
#10. Fleamarket flipping
If you enjoy finding treasures this might be a great way for you to make money from home while being involved in an activity that you enjoy.
You can buy things at your local fleamarket and flip them through apps such as OfferUp or online through eBay and Amazon.
Who says you can’t make money doing something you love?
You can expand to visiting places such as your local Goodwill and Salvation Army stores in search of unique items that can be flipped for a profit.
Even stores that have large clearance sales can make for great places to find items.
Use your imagination and let the treasure hunt begin.
#11. Become an influencer
Are you the type that is constantly on their phone thumbing through social media sites? if so, becoming an influencer might be right up your alley.
So what is an influencer?
Influencer Analysis is dead on with their definition:
“An influencer is an individual who has above-average impact on a specific niche process. Influencers are normal people, who are often connected to key roles of media outlets, consumers groups, industry associations or community tribes.”
You don’t have to be part of the Kardashian family to be a successful influencer.
Many influencers are unknown outside of their niche.
Below are some great guides on how to become an influencer:
- How to become an influencer
- 7 steps to becoming a social media influencer
- How to become an influencer in 2020
Influencers charge based on their reach, interaction rates, and bottom-line results.
It’s not hard to find an influencer with 10,000 followers who makes more than someone with 100,000 followers.
Having a large following is great, but if they don’t care about the stuff you’re selling it’s not going to get you anywhere. The key is to build a following that actually cares about what you have to offer.
Additional resources:
You know I am a bookworm and always try to recommend books that align with the topics being discussed.
Below are three books you can read to get additional guidance on how to make money from home:
Work from home while you roam by Robin Barrett.
This book is basically an extended version of this blog post. The only downside is that there isn’t a paperback version.
Top home-based jobs & business idea for 2020 by Gundi Gabrielle.
This book is full of updated information on home-based jobs that you can do on the side.
Copywriting Secrets by Jim Edwards.
This book teaches you how to write copy that convinces people to take action.
Create Freedom from Your 9-5 by Miguel Cairo
This is my very own guide that takes you step-by-step on how to start your own blog in order to start generating some side income from your home.
Conclusion:
The idea of making money from home is one that crosses everybody’s mind.
However, most people don’t take the initiative to turn those thoughts into reality.
Above you will find 11 kickass ways to turn your dream of working from home into a reality.
My hope is that you find one that works for you and take action towards achieving your side income goals.
Have you tried any of these or have another kickass way of making money from home that everyone should know about?