Many people are suffering from inflation, where prices have been rising but wages have not. We all need a little extra cash, especially if the income stream is to last until retirement. But with a full-time job and limited resources, how can you make money online from home without burning yourself out? A better question might be: How do I make extra income from home?
Many people want to make extra income, but give up when they can’t stick with it. In fact, marketing expert Dorie Clark offers some tips on how to make money from home in her book, The Entrepreneurial You. We’ve shared some of these ideas below to help you create extra income – whether at home or online.
Start a blog
Setting up a blog and writing blog content is one of the many ways to make money quickly. Broadway actress Stefanie O’Connell was eager to make more money while living in New York City, so she started a blog, Poor and Beautiful Life, in which she detailed the money lessons she learned. She posted several times a week and eventually began writing posts for other blogs, charging around $20 per post. “Anything that’s even $20 to me means I don’t have to wait in a restaurant for an hour,” she said. And it’s paid knowledge that can generate income over the long term.
Clark has followed a “ladder strategy” in her writing career. She started out writing for a personal blog, then reached out to local newspapers like the Boston Business Journal. Over time, she built up a collection of articles, and now she has enough material to share with editors at the larger publications she writes for. Make a list of all the big and small outlets you want to write for. Then, like her, work your way up. Content is your key to a long-term, steady income.
Start a podcast
If you have good speaking skills, one way to make money from home is to start a podcast and share your views with the world. How can you make extra money from home this way? To get started, it is recommended to listen to several podcasts in your field of interest on iTunes. In addition, take a look at the best podcasts that you haven’t listened to (but should) and try to find out why they are successful and how to apply those methods. Then ask yourself these questions: How is my podcast different? What content am I going to attract them with? What niche do I want my podcast to fill? What style do I want my podcast to be? Is it friendly? Is it authoritative? Once you have determined your niche, make a spreadsheet and fill it with the top 20 guests you want to book. Then contact them. Once you start building an audience, advertisers will quickly follow and pay to be mentioned in your podcast.
Invest in dividend stocks
By investing in dividend stocks, you can easily make money online from home. That’s because when you buy dividend-paying stocks, you don’t have to do anything else. The companies you invest in will send you checks several times a year. For example, one technology manager in the United States generates $1,200 a month from his dividend stock investments: “High-dividend stocks are my secret weapon,” he said. Famous investor Warren Buffett recommends buying shares of General Motors, IBM, Coca-Cola, John Deere and Wells Fargo because they all pay dividends. Of course, your returns depend on how the stock performs in the market, but these American blue-chip companies should perform solidly over the years.
Use cash-back credit cards
On a lighter note, cash back credit cards are one of the real ways to make money from home and can give you extra income every month. If you know you’ll be buying groceries or gas regularly, it’s a good deal to use one of these cards: the Discover card has no annual fee and earns 5% cash back quarterly, and the Chase Freedom card has no annual fee and earns 5% cash back on combined purchases over $1,500, so you can get an extra $75. You won’t get rich using these cards, but it’s nice to be able to spend less and make more money with them. Before you apply for a credit card, always read the fine print and understand what you’re signing up for—and never use a credit card in this situation.
Rent your spare room
Turning your spare home into an income generator is one of the real ways to make money from home. No matter where you live, you can make extra cash by listing your home on Airbnb, which has over a million properties. It’s free to list your property and decide on a price point and length of stay. Of course, you’ll need to set the price so that it covers your expenses, including utilities, taxes, and rent. If you need help, read these top tips from Scott McGillivray, host of “Income Property” on At Home with Family Handyman, on how to start generating income with your existing real estate. You can even read Airbnb’s guide, which details what’s expected of you. That assumes you own your own spare home.
Here’s an added bonus: If you rent out your home for up to two weeks a year, you generally don’t have to report the income as revenue. Any more than that, and you’ll have to consider taxes. Even so, if you charge $100 a night for 14 days a year, that’s $1,400 in extra income. But the conditions are more stringent, and your home must be in a place with high traffic and demand to earn more income.
About the experts
- Kabir Sehgal is the co-author of the national bestseller Home: Where Everyone Is Welcome.
- Dorie Clark is a marketing expert and the author of Entrepreneurial You.
- Stefanie O’Connell is a New York City actress and the author of The Broke and Beautiful Life: Small Town Budget, Big City Dreams.
Sources:
- Washington Post: “Thinking of renting out your home on Airbnb? Consider these costs first.”
- The Street: “Warren Buffett’s Top 10 Dividend-Paying Stocks for 2016”
- Market Watch: “Earn passive income: 4 people share their successful strategies”
How to earn income at home? Any industry can bring you extra income. The most important thing is how you position your products and skills. Make a good plan and stick to it. Making money online will become very simple.
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