The word ‘gig’ originally came from the 1920s jazz scene to mean a musical performance from which the musicians stood to earn money. Precariousness is the nature of the music industry: ‘gigs’ are one-off affairs. A band is booked for one night only.
Yet today the word gig is used across the world to describe innumerable financial transactions for services rendered on a sporadic basis. The advent of the internet has ushered in a new level of connectivity between people which facilitates these short-term financial exchanges.
Welcome everybody to the ‘gig economy’, it has its, justified, critics; but, for those looking to make a little money on the side, it can open up a world of possibility. This article will take you for a walk through just some of the ways you can monetise your free time.
The old saying we value your opinion can now be quantified. Companies are willing to pay you for what you think if you are willing to complete online surveys for them.
Paid Viewpoint, iPoll and GlobalTestMarket are just are just a few of the many websites willing to pay you cash for your opinion.
Teaching English online is now a global industry with a variety of companies constantly looking for new, capable teachers. You usually don’t need to be a trained teacher but most companies ask you for a degree of some kind. Here is an informative article from which details the differences between the main companies. If you think this gig might be right for you can make, on average, between 14-22 US dollars doing this type of work.
There is much truth in the old saying ‘one person’s trash is another’s treasure’ and with the advent of the online marketplace the range of finding someone who sees jewels within your castaways has never been so wide before. The South African answer to Ebay: Bidorbuy is the biggest website in this market but niche market providers can also be found if what you are selling would be better suited to that type of website.
If you make your own artisanal products or would like to do so but are unsure about how you could make money from it the website Etsy provides an excellent marketplace from which to reach potential customers.
An integral part of the gig economy is the level of freelance work available online. If you are new to this you could start by looking at websites like Upwork and Fiverr to gain an understanding of the marketplace. Like any new venture it can be difficult starting off but once you have proved your ability and gained some clients such work can really contribute to your income.
The internet is a continuous consumer of countless amounts of new content. The vast majority of that content is written therefore never before has there been such demand for people to provide it. However writing online and getting paid for it can at times feel like a difficult sea to traverse. If you do not have a digital presence you may have to start off with lowly paid jobs before you can prove your worth and move up the ladder. This article by Abdullahi Muhammed, the CEO of Oxygenmat, is a good introduction to freelance writing for the web.
If your intention is to write for money and you don’t yet have a digital presence, one very effective way to get one is to set up a blog. Blogging will not be an overnight earner but if you stick with it and hit on a niche which garners an audience it can be a very lucrative endeavour. If you do manage to gain a reasonable readership then you can monetise your blog through such means as selling advertising space and affiliate marketing. If you do feel like this might be your thing here is a comprehensive article by R.L. Adams which explains just how to set up and run an effective blog.
Animal Lover? Check. Time on your hands? Check. Well then you may be able to make the most of that free time by looking after somebody’s pet and earning some cash doing it. This is an age old side hustle that has been given a new lease of life by websites such as bringfido.com and petbacker.com. An ideal situation can be arrived at in these case when a pet lover bonds with the pet, can make some money and the owner(s) know their pet is being well looked after.
Most of us can only dream about being paid to surf but incredibly more and more people are being paid to surf the web. Neilson Digital and Swagbucks are paying people for carrying out various online tasks like such as watching videos, using their search engines or carrying out surveys. In the case of Nelson Digital you can even just download the app, use the net as you usually do. Keep it running in the background and you will win various rewards from which at a certain point you can cash out.
No article on ‘making money on the side’ would be complete without a mention of the scourge of hoteliers everywhere thanks to Airbnb. Since its inception in 2008, Airbnb has gone on to revolutionise the tourism industry by giving everyone with a spare room the chance to rent it out to travellers. If you do have a spare room in a house or apartment, in a desirable location, there are few side projects that will provide you with more immediate revenue stream.
Do you have a level of expertise in something that others may wish to learn about? If so, you might consider creating an online course. Now before you say no, first have a look at a website like Udemy.com which provides a platform for people wishing to sell such courses. You may be surprised by the variety of courses on offer and perhaps you might have a niche to fill?
The above are just a few examples of ways you can make money in your spare time or if you are in-between jobs. Who knows, they may become full-time businesses themselves but, ultimately, making money comes down to you finding a service that people require, figuring out how to provide it and then doing that in a professional manner. Today the only limits is that of your imagination.
Written for CareerJunction by Mark Dempsey.
