With the cost of living increasing each year and minimum wages remaining mostly stagnant, many people are looking for easy ways to make money outside of their 9-5 job. Having multiple streams of income not only offers a buffer against emergencies like sudden job losses or unforeseen expenses, but can also give you a bit of extra cash to use for reaching higher financial goals. But where do you get started making money on the side? Here are a few easy ways that you can create multiple sources of income without having to leave your home.
How To Make Money From Home
Use Your Expertise
If you’ve got experience working in a certain field, you can leverage this to pick up clients on the side. Whether you’re using your fitness and nutrition training to work as a personal trainer or offering legal consulting services online, you can leverage your expertise. You have many options for attracting clients, including networking, using job boards, writing guest posts on other websites, or even creating a Google My Business page for your business idea.[1]
Create Stock Photos
Hiring a professional photographer is an expense that many businesses aren’t ready to pay. Instead, they turn to generic stock images to get the photos they need without the cost. This leaves a thriving market for photographers looking for easy ways to make money online. You can join a stock photo website like Getty Images or iStock Photo to get started. Be sure to study the kinds of photos that sell to be sure your images are more likely to be in demand.[2]
Open an Etsy Store
Etsy is another excellent way to create multiple streams of income for yourself if you like creating arts, crafts, or similar products. Like stock photography, you’ll want to do a little digging on the site to see what people are buying before getting started. While you may excel in creating handwoven bracelets, you may find your efforts wasted if there isn’t a market for them. Factor in the cost of materials or labor as well as Etsy’s fees to see if it’s profitable for you. Then, get started selling![3] Bonus points if you can create passive income by developing a digital product that doesn’t require shipping, labor, or materials.
Invest in a CD or High-Yield Savings Account
Investing in a certificate of deposit (CD) or a High-Yield Savings Account is another way to make money without having to do much of anything. Putting your money into one of these accounts instead of letting it sit in your checking account will earn you a much higher level of interest over time. It may also lessen the kind of risk you’ll find investing in the stock market or mutual funds. While a CD will usually offer higher interest rates, a high-yield savings account will give you more flexibility to withdraw funds if you need them.[4]
Become a Pet Sitter
While dog walking has become a popular side gig for people looking to create multiple sources of income, you don’t even have to leave your home in order to make money with dogs. Becoming a pet sitter is an excellent way to earn income by turning your home into a pet daycare. You can take advantage of websites like Rover, which allow you to earn up to $1,000 per month with their scalable platform, or DogVacay, which lets you set your own rates.[5][6]
Creating multiple streams of income doesn’t happen overnight. If you’re willing to put the time and energy into researching the market and nurturing these side efforts, you can easily make a profit that outweighs the time you put into it. Be sure to check our other articles in the School of ACE Blog to learn more.
