Smart small-biz freebie: Chasms has full user guides on everything from tablets to browsers and even gaming consoles. The best part? You can click through screenshots of the actual steps — a real lifesaver if you’re helping someone troubleshoot.
15 out-of-the-box ways to make extra cash from anywhere
By now, you probably know that you don’t have to leave home to make money. After all, many companies sent employees home to work during the pandemic. But even if you aren’t a salaried employee, you can still make a living from the comfort of your own home.
All you need is a computer, a phone and a solid foundation of internet know-how. Some jobs are straightforward, like working for a call center from your home. But not all jobs have to be dreary and bereft of fun.
For instance, you can work as a professional dog groomer or even an artist who creates items from home. Apps like Etsy, Rover, Dolly and more have sprung up to empower you to become your own boss and work flexible hours. Here are 15 money-making opportunities that put you in the driver’s seat of your work life — sometimes literally!
Bolster your bank account
A few names get the most headlines when it comes to the gig economy. There’s Uber, Lyft, Instacart and DoorDash.
Good news if you don’t want to drive around the city, carting strangers and their food. There are many ways to make extra cash without surrendering to the 9-to-5 corporate world.
We collected some exciting ways to put extra bucks in your bank account. Save yourself some research time and check out our favorite resources:
- Sell your skills: Whether you like writing, drawing, dancing, voice acting or doing celebrity impressions, you can do anything on Fiverr. Some people will even throw a message in a bottle or speak with other people’s pets telepathically … or so they say!
- Pet sit dogs from your own home: Want to pet sit but don’t want to leave the house? Rover pays you to take care of strangers’ pets while they’re away.
- Transcribe audio: Put your ears to work by typing down the words from audio recordings at waywithwords.net.
- Be a mystery shopper: Check out BestMark and SecretShopper to start.
- Rent your car: If you aren’t using your car right now, rent it out through Turo.
- Decorate your car: Companies like Stickr.co and Wrapify give you decals with advertisements. Drive around with them to make sure people see the ads.
- Watch TV: If you love sitting in front of the silver screen, good news: there are sites that pay you for watching.
- Sell your friendship: Tons of people are lonely since the pandemic drove us home for a year and a half. Rent-A-Friend lets you connect with others for cash.
- Test products: Do you love free stuff? Sites like Toluna, Nielson and Johnson & Johnson will pay you to test products.
- Listen to music: Audiophiles can head to Slicethepie to make a few cents for every song they listen to and rate.
- Test medicines: If you want to be a part of medicinal progress, join clinical trials.
- Rent your swimming pool: Swimply lets you sell access to your pool by the hour.
- Rent out extra rooms in your house: We aren’t talking about roommates. Some folks just want cheap storage space. If you have rooms, rent them out through storeatmyhouse.com or neighbor.com.
- Sell your hair: If you have luscious locks, let it grow out to at least eight inches in length and chop it off. Sites like HairSellOn, OnlineHairAffair and WorldofWigs will be happy to take it off of your hands.
- Cook for your neighbors: Here’s a way to turn your love of cooking into cash…without working in the hectic environment of a restaurant kitchen. EatWith is a meal-sharing app that lets you host, cook dishes for people and even sell baked goods.
While many of these jobs are fun, you’ll probably have to put in a lot of hours and hard work to make a significant chunk of cash.
If you want to widen your net to find as many job opportunities as possible, we recommend heading to our sponsor, LinkedIn. It’s the No. 1 social media site for job seekers, employers and more.
You can find a ton of great gigs on LinkedIn
On the flip side, if you’re hiring, there’s no better place to put a job listing than on LinkedIn.
Finally! Meta will tell you what you did to land in Facebook jail
Facebook jail is a term used to describe disruptions in an account’s ability to do certain things on the platform. Businesses may have their ads removed or shown to fewer people, often due to spamming and other community standard violations.
Mistakes people make buying ads on FB
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💸 Thinking about opening an e-commerce store? Be careful who you trust. One guy lost $56,000 after paying Ascend CapVentures Inc. to open and manage an Amazon storefront on his behalf. They dangled six-figure sales projections but didn’t deliver. Even worse, they stocked his store with counterfeit products that got him banned.
Best gigs for seniors to make extra cash without a 9 to 5 job
You may need or want to make some extra money after you’ve retired, but it can be tough to find full-time, in-person work after being away from the employment scene for a while. Not only are jobs hard to come by, but competition is stiff.
Want a fun side job? 5 off-the-wall ways to make money online
Want to work from home? There are countless creative things you can do to earn money. We rounded up five fun and unconventional ways to make money online.
After all, you don’t have time to research every off-the-wall job. Searching for “weird ways to make money fast” or “best ways to earn money on the side” will take a long time. If you struggle to find accurate search results, use these five Google research tips.
Speed matters: If your website is too slow, customers leave. Use Google PageSpeed Insights to analyze your site’s performance. Enter your URL for a detailed analysis and steps, like compressing too-big image files and optimizing CSS code. Aim for a score of at least 90 for mobile and desktop.
ChatGPT, find me customers: Use AI to find out what people are saying online so you can better target your company’s ads. Take a lesson from Shake Shack: They used a bot to scan 80,000 Reddit threads about chicken sandwiches, narrowed it down to the 30 most active and ran ads for their new sandwich. It worked — sales were 31% higher.
Post when it matters: On Facebook, weekdays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. is best. Wednesday posts get the most eyeballs. Weekends and outside of normal business hours are the lowest engagement times.
Have a Yelp page? Businesses that display their hours, phone number, website and a photo on Yelp get 7.6 times more pageviews per month. Dang. Log in and make sure yours is up to date!
Check your consumer report: It contains real estate transaction and ownership data; lien, judgment and bankruptcy records; professional license info; and addresses. Go to the LexisNexis Consumer Disclosure Report page and click Request a Consumer Disclosure Report Online. Fill out your name and address, then click Submit Request. The waiting is the hardest part.
Side biz at your main gig: Amazon is using small businesses as delivery partners — think local coffee joints, florists or yoga studios. They say you can make up to $27,000 a year. Apply here.
We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.
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