COVID-19 has taken the world by surprise. This pandemic seemingly came out of nowhere, causing businesses and economies alike to come to a grinding halt over the past 3 months. Thankfully, many organisations are already digitally equipped to continue doing at least some of their business online. But there’s a growing number of people who have been laid off or had their hours slashed, who are also desperately seeking any kind of supplemental income.
As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. So, the good news is that many people have been thinking outside the box during this crisis and have found several ways to make more money. Below are just a few of the ideas to consider.
Blogging and freelance writing
It’s actually pretty simple to start your own blog by writing a few posts. Find your individual niche market and make some extra money teaching others by writing about topics you have experience with or are interested in. Get the creative juices flowing and customise your own online content with a management website such as Squarespace or WordPress. Anyone with a voice and the drive to succeed can start blogging or freelancing and quickly start making some extra money.
While there is always an abundance of paid blogging jobs available, remember that all freelancers are born hustlers who have turned their freelancing gig into a full-time blogging career. It’s also important to remember that the main difference between them is blogging doesn’t really need any citation. However, when you are freelancing, the clients are almost always going to need your writing to be factual rather than making things up or including things said during a conversation with someone you know.
Online tutoring
Many people incorrectly think an education degree is a must-have requirement in order to find employment as an online tutor, but the truth is that anyone who graduated from high school can get tutoring work. There are always plenty of online tutoring jobs working with students of all ages from elementary to high school, but with new social distancing regulations due to COVID-19, there are even more positions becoming available.
There are resources for tutors online for almost every subject you can think of, and at every grade level. Just make sure that you scrutinise each website before you start relying on them. The right equipment is another essential to successfully provide online tutoring. So make sure you have a decent quality digital camera or high definition webcam that you can use and a headset with microphone for easier communication with students.
Starting an e-commerce site
If you decide to start your own e-commerce website online, a decent business plan and modelling are just as important as it is with a brick and mortar store. A robust business plan and proper online marketing strategy are going to be your most effective method of ensuring you’re one step ahead of your competition. Otherwise, your chances of failure are much higher.
There are also a wide variety of online tools available which makes the process almost as easy as creating an account for any social media website. These tools mean it should only take a matter of minutes to set everything up, before uploading details for each product and starting your new journey of selling online.
Tech support services
With all the sudden changes to the way we work and how we spend our free time, tech support services have been in hot demand. From commercial demand such as helping businesses set up Zoom and get their employees set up remote access, new demand for tech support has appeared in the market.
On the residential side, we’re using our free time on our phones more than ever and kids are on the iPads and tablets day and night, so services such as in-home phone repairs have been catching on, as people can’t leave their homes, but still need their devices fixed.
Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is a win-win situation for both the merchant selling the product and the affiliate making the sale. While the affiliate makes a cut anytime someone makes a purchase after following a link, the merchant has increased opportunities to increase sales at no cost thanks to their product being promoted to a wider market audience.
While it is possible to set up affiliate marketing on any kind of platform, building your audience so you can increase affiliate sales is usually much easier on your own blog, website, or a YouTube channel. These have been proven over time as the most effective platform for affiliate marketing, allowing you to become the connection between both your audience and any products or services they may want or need. With hard work and persistence, not only can you supplement some of your lost income, but you can eventually turn it into a full-time revenue stream.
Start digital freelancing
Businesses everywhere are going online and need help more than ever. From design services to marketing, try offering your services to help them out. While people are under quarantine, social media usage has exploded, so services such as social media marketing can help a business promote their products.
In fact, there is an almost endless amount of opportunities in the online digital world to work from home while allowing you to not only make enough money to survive but to thrive. When that happens, you are no longer a freelancer, but a brand who should always be finding ways to extend your reach and improve your presence online. You need to always be active on your social media channels by creating and sharing your own original content, using professional photos, and connecting with other influencers.
Rental properties
An excellent method of building up a steady income stream is investing in real estate or renting out properties you already own. While it may seem like an expensive and difficult task, there are so many different possibilities for real estate investment which all require different amounts of money and effort. In fact, just getting started in the real estate game is often the most challenging part for many people, most likely because they have no clue how to be a landlord while needing to deal with tenants.
Property managers can be used to your advantage too, from helping you find good tenants, to ensuring rent is always paid on time as well as a wide range of other assorted issues. To save as much money as possible when the rental property needs repairs, you should learn how to do as much handyman work as you can. While you should do whatever you can to have good tenants, such as making the property look as good as possible, don’t go overboard when it comes to upgrades. Finally, the most important thing to remember when you own rental property is to ensure you can afford it to remain vacant for up to a few months if tenants decide to break lease unexpectedly.
Selling e-books
The COVID-19 crisis looks like becoming an opportunity for book publishing, thanks to high demand caused by the current protracted period of time that readers are all stuck inside at home. While eBooks have seen their sales increase too much more than usual, printed books sold online and delivered by companies such as Amazon are also selling more.
To get your own slice of this increasing income stream, you need to write about one of your strongest or most unique skill sets. You should easily be able to turn your skills into an eBook format you can sell to other people who are interested in learning about it. This can be a relatively fast way to build up a passive income stream, which is quite often one of the best ways to move forward.
Home Renovations
With everyone stuck at home, we have more time than ever on our hands. DIY home renovation demand has increased, but guess what? Most people want to improve their home, but there aren’t many people with the practical skills to do so, let alone, the energy to complete the project.
This is where you can come in. Simply list your services on a local business directory or on Gumtree and start picking up small jobs here and there. From common bathroom renovation services to backyard landscaping, are always in demand as homeowners are able to increase the value of their home and pass the costs onto the selling price.
Cut Costs
Another great way to ensure you have extra money during COVID-19 is to watch your budget. Whether you run a business or you run a household, only buy necessary items. Stay away from online shopping unless you really need to, don’t stock up on supplies that aren’t necessary (toilet paper included) and save money!
Nobody knows exactly how Coronavirus will turn out. All you can do is keep a positive mindset, while leveraging the options above to find a way to make some money during the pandemic.
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