30 Clever Ways to Make Money Online

• Bill Pirraglia / GoBankingRates
 

March 11, 2016

    

Tay Jnr—Getty Images

Consider selling your original Instagrams, becoming a virtual assistant or providing online tutoring.

Who doesn’t want to earn more money? Whether it’s through part-time jobs or freelance work, adding more dollars to your cash flow every month is always nice. But unfortunately, not everyone has the time to pick up another job or do additional work on the side. If that’s the case for you, don’t give up. Instead, turn to the one thing you probably spend a majority of your time on: the internet.

There are dozens of ways to make money online, from selling unwanted items to promoting products on Instagram or Facebook. Click through to discover 30 unique and easy ways you can earn money on online.

1. Get Paid to Take Surveys

Do you enjoy taking surveys? Some companies will pay people to take surveys so that they can gather valuable consumer and user data. It might not be the most interesting way to make a buck, but you can find websites like CashbackResearch.com that offer cash for your opinions.

2. Create a Winning Blog

Writing entertaining, interesting blog posts can generate cash for you through ads, affiliate links and other revenue options. Your blogging success will depend on your writing talent, whether your blog covers a popular subject and the popularity of the links you include (whether backlinks or pay-per-click links, like Google AdWords).

3. Sell Your Stuff on eBay or a Similar Outlet

The dramatic growth and success of eBay has spawned many competitors featuring auctions or online marketplaces for diverse items. Whether you want to clean out your closet and sell your designer clothing online, or develop a high-volume online store, you can make extra money or big dollars on sites such as Amazon.com, Etsy.com and more.

4. Sign Up for Amazon Mechanical Turk

You probably won’t get rich completing typical tasks for the “Turk,” but you can make extra income if you are willing to perform simple tasks for clients.

5. Sell Older Electronics

Do you have a compute, laptop or cellphone you no longer use? These and other tech items, although built with former generation features, often have value to others.

6. List Household Items on Craigslist

Free to join and devoid of listing or selling fees, Craigslist sales can be local or national. From kitchenware to baby furniture to jobs, you can list almost anything for sale on this site.

7. Self-Publish Kindle Digital Books

If you love to write and believe you can write an entertaining fiction or non-fiction book, consider authoring and publishing a digital book through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform.

8. Create Niche Websites Featuring Google AdSense Ads

Creating popular niche sites can grab visitors looking for specialized information, and adding Google AdSense advertising links can be a great way to monetize the site.

9. Upload YouTube Videos and Get Paid for Ad Views

You don’t need to invest in expensive video equipment. Just learn how to use your smartphone’s video capability to upload entertaining or informative videos, and opt to have ads play before your videos to get a bit of cash for each video view. YouTube star PewDiePie earned a total of $7.4 million in revenue, according to multiple media reports.

10. Design Useful Apps for Mobile Devices

If you design a wildly popular app (which is harder than it sounds), you might be pleasantly surprised with the income they generate. Offering one or more apps at the iTunes or Android app store gives your creations wide exposure to prospects. And income can be generated by charging for the app, displaying in-app ads, or charging for in-app features and upgrades.

Read More: 9 Highest-Grossing Instagram Accounts

11. Sell Your Time and Talents

The website Fiverr promotes members’ talent in multiple disciplines and connects them to people looking to pay for those skills. For example, if you’re a digital photo editing guru, you might find freelance projects you can complete for compensation.

12. Sell the Use of Your Photos, Videos and Other Media

Some sites allow you to sell your prized photos, video b-roll, original music or illustrations while giving you the option of licensing resale rights for free. This will give you royalties for each use of your photos, videos or music, resulting in longer-term residual income.

13. Sell Your Original Instagram Photos

While you can share your social media photos on Instagram, you can also sell prints of your photos for a profit on Instaprints.com and similar sites.

14. Share Your Knowledge

Do you have in-depth expertise about a specific hobby or any other subject? You could create a website that offers your expertise to others for a price, like offering a music lesson over Skype for a fee or charging for video lessons on gardening. You can make extra income or become wildly successful with this method of making money online.

15. Become an Amazon Associate

This program allows you to earn money by including affiliate links to different products offered by Amazon. When a visitor views your blogs or social media pages and clicks through the Amazon links on your site, you will earn commissions from Amazon on qualifying products bought during that session.

Read More: 25 Ways to Prevent a Tax Audit

16. Become an Internet Life Coach

Because of the strong interest in quality of life and work-life balance issues, life coaches have become popular in recent years. Unlike the intellectual demands of becoming a technical or executive coach, life coaching can be successful if you possess common sense, a respect for family and a commitment to enjoy life to the max every day and helping others do the same.

17. Promote Organizations on Social Media

Many major retailers will pay you for promoting their businesses on your websites and social media pages. They might pay you in cash or gift cards. For example, some restaurants might give you a gift card if you check in on Facebook or Yelp.

18. Promote Businesses, Products and Services via Affiliate Programs

If you have a website or blog, you can make money through affiliations with other businesses and sites, which will pay a percentage of sales you generate for the affiliate company.

19. Sell Handmade Items and Crafts

For those who like to make handcrafted items, websites such as Etsy are ideal to make some money off of such hobbies. Dedicated handcrafters should check Etsy and similar sites to find the best fit for their products.

20. Become a Virtual Assistant

There are freelance sites, such as the popular oDesk, that often have jobs for virtual assistants. Just as with physical assistant positions, you will get paid for helping executives with a wide variety of tasks.

Read More: 20 Apps That Make You Money

21. Become a Freelance Writer

Do you have a passion for writing? If earning money by writing gets your blood moving, there are numerous websites offering assignments for aspiring and experienced writers alike.

22. Sell Customized T-shirts Online

Selling graphic T-shirts is big business. Customized T-shirts with clever sayings or graphics are ideal for online sales. Sites like Teespring allow you to sell customer shirts. Teespring’s unique model allows you to design the shirt and get buyers lined up to purchase it. This saves you from the initial investment in stock and the time on processing and shipping orders, though you’ll likely make a smaller profit on each shirt sold.

23. Become a Third-Party Seller on Amazon

If you’ve visited Amazon, you have seen products sold by third-parties with the comment “ships from Amazon.” These are sellers who send their products to Amazon fulfillment facilities, then Amazon lists the item and ships it when a buyer is found.

24. Buy Local and Resell Online

Another great way to make money is to find things in your area that are free or cheap, and then sell them online. Many people hunt through local thrift stores for rare collectibles, vintage styles or cheap-as-dirt books or media to mark up and resell online.

25. Design Websites for a Fee

If you have an interest or skill in web development, there is a big demand for designers to build winning sites for businesses or organizations. Sites like eLance.com are a good place to start to find clients and build your portfolio.

26. Promote Products on Your Website

Sites like SocialSpark offer bloggers cash for authoring and posting original copy about products or services to their sites. Just make sure to pay attention to FCC disclosure requirements when you’re getting paid to promote.

27. Buy Domain Names for Resale

Some people have made big dollars by owning desired domains and selling them to hungry buyers. For a minimum investment of buying domain names you feel will be popular (typically $10 to $20), you might make a big profit selling it down the line.

28. Rent Out Your Driveway or Reserved Parking Spot

Parking is at a premium in most thriving cities. Renting an unused space in your driveway or vacant deeded parking space can generate additional income. Advertising availability on Craigslist exposes this opportunity to local people, and up-and-coming apps like JustPark also allow you to easily rent out your parking space when it’s not in use.

29. Provide Online Tutoring

Sites like Tutor.com and TutorVista.com will connect you with people looking for help learning a subject, and you might be in particularly high demand if you’re good with math, science or a foreign language. You have to go through an application process, and once you’re approved you can start getting paid.

30. Teach an Online Course

Sites like Udemy connect experts with people willing to pay to learn from them. According to its website, about 10 million students use this service, and the average instructor earnings is $8,000.

This article originally appeared on GoBankingRates.

29 Surprising Facts That Explain Why Millennials See the World Differently

As Millennials now make up the largest part of the work force, understanding what drives them will help you to engage with them. Here are 29 interesting facts about Millennials that will help you understand them better.

 

 

 

 

Millennials are now the single largest group within the work force, and will soon become the biggest consumer group, too. 

Understanding, and being able to engage with, Millennials is going to determine how successful your business will be.

Here are 29 Interesting and surprising facts that will help you to better understandthem:

1. Millennials are carrying a total of $1 trillion in student debt.
2. Over 63 percent of Gen-Y workers have a bachelor's degree.
3. 48 percent of employed college graduates work in jobs that don't require a four-year degree.
4. 45 percent believe a decent paying job is a "privilege," not a "right."
5. 64 percent of Millennials would rather make $40,000 a year at a job they love than $100,000 a year at a job they think is boring.
6. 88 percent prefer a collaborative work culture rather than a competitive one.
7. 74 percent want flexible work schedules.
8. 50 percent do not believe that Social Security will exist when they reach their retirement age.
9. 92 percent believe that business success should be measured by more than just profit.
10. 40 percent of Millennials think that blogging about workplace issues is acceptable, compared to 28 percent of Boomers. 
11. 80 percent of Gen-Y say they prefer on-the-spot recognition over formal reviews and feel that this is imperative for their growth and understanding of a job.
12. 70 percent have "Friended" their managers and/or co-workers on Facebook. 
13. 71 percent don't always obey social-media policies at work.
14. Millennials are connected to an average of 16 co-workers on Facebook.
15. 56 percent of Gen-Yers won't work at a company if they ban social-media access. 
16. 69 percent believe office attendance is unnecessary on a regular basis. 
17. Millennials actually stay with their employers longer than Gen-X workers did at the same ages; in fact, more Gen-Xers spent less than one year at any one job.
18. 35 percent of employed Millennials have started their own business on the side to supplement their income.
19. 54 percent either want to start a business or already have started one. 
20. About 37 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds have been underemployed or out of work during the recession, the highest share among the age group in more than 30 years.
21. 84 percent say that helping to make a positive difference in the world is more important than professional recognition.
22. They're more loyal to employers than previous generations.
23. The top ideal employers of currently employed Millennials are Google, Apple, Facebook, the U.S. State Department, and Disney.
24. 41 percent of Millennials have no landline at home and rely on their cell phones for communication.
25. Millennials value community, family, and creativity in their work.
26. Millennials are not just virtually connected via social networks; they value the role that they play in these communities.
27. Millennials are considered multitaskers extraordinaire, though brain science tells us that multitasking is a myth. More likely, they are apt at switching tasks quickly enough to appear to be doing them simultaneously.
28. Millennials are the most racially diverse generation. Only 56 percent of Millennials are white, compared to 73 percent of Baby Boomers (52- to 70-year-olds). Millennials are almost twice as likely to be Hispanic as older Americans (19 percent versus 10 percent), and more likely to identify as African American (15 percent versus 11 percent) and Asian (6 percent versus 4 percent).
29. They are more tolerant of different races and groups than older generations (47 percent versus 19 percent), with 45 percent agreeing with preferential treatment to improve the position of minorities.

In short, many Millennials are overeducated, under-employed, heavily in debt, and looking to make a difference in the world--either working for themselves, or in a company that doesn't just focus on profit. They also want to work in a collaborative, flexible environment that doesn't require them to be in the office all the time, and one that will allow them to utilize social media.

Any company that can adapt and accommodate these needs is going to have access to large and talented pool of resources, who will be loyal and do great work.

What is your company doing to attract and retain the best Millennial talent?

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

 

 

PUBLISHED ON: MAY 2, 2016

9 things successful people do right before bed

Flickr/shidairyproduct

The very last thing you do before bed tends to have a significant impact on your mood and energy level the next day, as it often determines how well and how much you sleep.

Successful people understand that their success starts and ends with their mental and physical health, which is almost entirely dependent upon their getting enough sleep.

That is why bedtime routines are a key ritual for so many of them — and why the very last thing most successful people do before bed is read.

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1. They read.

Flickr / Viviana Calderón

Experts agree that reading is the very last thing most successful people do before going to sleep.

Michael Kerr, an international business speaker and author of "You Can't Be Serious! Putting Humor to Work," says he knows numerous business leaders who block off time just before bed for reading, going so far as to schedule it as a "non-negotiable item" on their calendar. "This isn't necessarily reserved just for business reading or inspirational reading. Many successful people find value in being browsers of information from a variety of sources, believing it helps fuel greater creativity and passion in their lives."

For example, while some successful people use this time catch up on news stories from the day, skim tech blogs, or browse Reddit and Twitter, others enjoy reading fiction novels and ancient philosophy just before bed. 

2. They make a to-do list.

Flickr / Patrick Gage Kelley

"Clearing the mind for a good night sleep is critical for a lot of successful people," Kerr says. "Often they will take this time to write down a list of any unattended items to address the following day, so these thoughts don't end up invading their head space during the night."

3. They spend time with family.

Aaron/flickr

Michael Woodward, Ph.D., organizational psychologist and author of "The YOU Plan," says it's important to make some time to chat with your partner, talk to your kids, or play with your dog.

Laura Vanderkam, author of "What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast," says this is a common practice among the highly successful. "I realize not everyone can go to bed at the same time as his or her partner, but if you can, it's a great way to connect and talk about your days."

4. They reflect on the day.

REUTERS/Jumana El Heloueh

Kerr says many successful people take the time just before bed to reflect on, or to write down, three things they are appreciative of that happened that day. "Keeping a 'gratitude journal' also reminds people of the progress they made that day in any aspect of their life, which in turn serves as a key way to stay motivated, especially when going through a challenging period."

Vanderkam adds: "Taking a few moments to think about what went right over the course of the day can put you in a positive, grateful mood."

5. They meditate.

Flickr/Gonso†Madrid

Many successful people use the 10 minutes before bed to meditate. Dale Kurow, a New York-based executive coach, says it's a great way to relax your body and quiet your mind.

6. They plan out sleep.

Phalinn Ooi/flickr

"Much has been written around the dangers busy people face running chronic sleep deficits, so one habit I know several highly successful people do is to simply make it a priority to get enough sleep — which can be a challenge for workaholics or entrepreneurs," Kerr says. One way to do that is to go to bed at a consistent time each evening, which is a key habit all sleep experts recommend to help ensure a healthy night's sleep.

Vanderkam further suggests that you plan out when you're going to wake up, count back however many hours you need to sleep, and then consider setting an alarm to remind yourself to get ready for bed. "The worst thing you can do is stay up late then hit snooze in the morning," she says. "Humans have a limited amount of willpower. Why waste that willpower arguing with yourself over when to get up, and sleeping in miserable nine-minute increments?"

7. They unplug and disconnect from work.

flickr/functoruser

Truly successful people do anything but work right before bed, Kerr says. They don't obsessively check their email, and they try not to dwell on work-related issues. 

Woodward agrees, saying, "The last thing you need is to be lying in bed thinking about an email you just read from that overzealous boss who spends all their waking hours coming up with random requests driven by little more than a momentary impulse." Give yourself a buffer period between the time you read your last email and the time you go to bed. The idea is to get your head out of work before you lie down to go to sleep.

8. They lie down on a positive note.

It's easy to fall into the trap of replaying negative situations from the day that you wish you had handled differently. Regardless of how badly the day went, successful people typically manage to avoid that pessimistic spiral of negative self-talk because they know it will only create more stress.

"Remember to take some time to reflect on the positive moments of the day and celebrate the successes, even if they were few and far between," Woodward says.

9. They picture tomorrow's success.

Corrie Barklimore

Many successful people take a few minutes before bed to envision a positive outcome unfolding for the projects they're working on, says Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and author of "Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant: How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job." "For most, this is not a task or exercise; they're wired with a gift of solid resolution skills that come naturally."

9 things very successful people never do

Mario Anzuoni/ReutersThe most successful people never gossip.

Possibly you've stopped paying attention. Or possibly you've fallen into bad habits. Or possibly you've grown complacent.

Whatever the reasons, you're now compromising, settling, or flying on unhappy autopilot.

Remarkably successful people don't compromise on their standards. They don't settle for less than what they hope to achieve.

And they definitely don't put their lives on autopilot. They believe success only comes from intention and action — and so they live that way.

Here are nine things remarkably successful people never do:

1. They never let the past dictate their future.

We all have limitations. We all have challenges. We all make mistakes. The key is to not be constrained by those things but to learn from them.

Easier said than done? It all depends on your perspective. Take mistakes: When something goes wrong, turn it into an opportunity to learn something you didn't know — especially about yourself. (And when something goes wrong for someone else, turn it into an opportunity to be gracious and forgiving.)

Where you've been, what you've done — everything in the past is just training.

Remarkably successful people believe their past should inform them but should never define them.

2. They never gossip.

It's hard to resist the inside scoop. Finding out the reasons behind someone's decisions, the motivations behind someone's actions, the skinny behind someone's hidden agenda — much less whether Hugo is really dating Jeanette in accounting — those conversations are hard to resist.

Unfortunately, the person who gossips about other people is also gossiping about you. And suddenly gossip isn't so much fun.

The next time you're tempted to talk about another person, think about whether you would say what you're about to say to that person.

And the next time someone starts to talk about someone else, excuse yourself and walk away. Don't worry that you'll lose a gossiper's respect; anyone willing to gossip doesn't respect other people anyway.

When remarkably successful people want to share the inside scoop, they just speak openly about their own thoughts and feelings. That way they're not gossiping. They're just being genuine.

3. They never say "yes" when they really mean "no."

Refusing a request from colleagues, customers, or even friends is really hard. But rarely does saying no go over as badly as you expect. Most people will understand, and if they don't, should you care too much about what they think?

When you say no, you only feel bad for a few moments. When you agree to something you really don't want to do, you may feel bad for a long time — or at least as long as it takes you to do what you didn't want to do in the first place.

Remarkably successful people practice saying no. They've gotten really good at saying no. They know that lets them focus on doing what they really need to do: for themselves and for other people.

4. They never interrupt.

When you interrupt someone, what you're really saying is, "I'm not thinking about what you are saying. I'm thinking about what I want to say ... and what I want to say is so important you need to hear it now."

Want better professional relationships? Want better personal relationships? Listen, truly listen, to what other people say. Then ask questions to make sure you understand.

Remarkably successful people already know what they think — they want to learn from what everyone else thinks.

Stephen/FlickrSuccessful people make it a priority to be on time.

5. They're never late (without an incredibly good reason).

I know. You're overwhelmed. So you're always running behind. It stresses you out like crazy.

And it makes other people resent you like crazy. Whenever you're late, other people rightly assume you feel your time is more important than theirs. (Which, of course, kills your chance of building an outstanding personal or professional relationship.)

Although you may believe you can't help it, being late is a choice. You allow yourself to be late.

Remarkably successful people start the day a little day earlier. They arrive early to their first scheduled event. They don't worry that they'll waste time — they plan ahead and bring along whatever they need to use any "early" time to get a few simple things done.

Then they feel a lot less stressed and as a result are more insightful, more creative, more decisive, and simply more "on" in everything they do.

6. They never resent.

Take it from Nelson Mandela: "Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies."

The same holds for bitterness. And jealousy. And dislike.

When you hold on to ill will, the only person who loses is you.

Remarkably successful people put all that emotional energy into focusing not on what others have done but on what they themselves will do.

7. They never decide they don't have the time.

Everyone knows someone who just seems to get a lot more done than other people. It's the craziest thing. How do these folks do it? They must have no life, right?

Actually they have a great life: They've figured out what is important to them and they're making it happen.

Figure out what's important to you. Strip away all the stuff that isn't. Then make it happen.

We're all given the same amount of time. The only difference is how we use our time.

Remarkably successful people use their time.

Flickr/Harry (Howard) PottsBe yourself.

8. They never fit in (just to fit in).

Though entire industries are based on making us think otherwise, no one actually likes us for the clothes we wear, the car we drive, or the house we live in. No one likes us for our titles, either.

Those are all "things," and while other people may in fact like our "things," that doesn't mean they like you. (And even if they do, that doesn't mean you like yourself.)

Remarkably successful people have decided to simply be who they are. By not trying to fit in or make an artificial impression they know they might lose a bunch of acquaintances, but they know they'll also gain a few real friends.

9. They're never afraid to do the things that matter.

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," is true, but in some ways a better quote might be, "The only thing we have to fear is ourselves."

Why? We're all afraid. We're scared of what might or might not happen. We're scared of what we can't change. We're scared of what we won't be able to do. We're scared of how others might perceive us.

And that makes us hesitate, wait for the right moment, decide we need to think a little longer or do some more research or explore a few more alternatives, and days, weeks, months, and even years pass us by.

And so do our dreams.

Don't let your fears hold you back. Whatever you've been planning, whatever you've imagined, whatever you've dreamed of, get started on it today. If you want to start a business, take the first step. If you want to change careers, take the first step. If you want to expand or enter a new market or design new products or services, take the first step.

Remarkably successful people put their fears aside and get started. They do something. They do anything.

Remarkably successful people are often afraid, but they're most afraid of looking back and thinking, "If only I had ..."

Don't look back and think, "If only I had ..."