One of the most common questions I hear is, how to make money fast? Maybe you’re faced with an unexpected home repair, or your car decided to call it quits and now you’re in the need for some extra cash quick, fast and in hurry (like yesterday). If you are looking to make money on the side, then you will need to be careful, there a lot of “get rich quick” schemes and work at home scams.

In today’s post, we look at legitimate ways to earn money, launch a business online, and even build some mostly passive income.

I am going to share with you how to make money fast.

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Ground Rules

You may have seen the lists on online; “100 plus ways to make money” quickly or “how to make money fast online”. Most of these lists are merely affiliate link spam. I mean no disrespect to fellow bloggers, but I’m not going to add to the noise and suggest you waste your afternoon on survey sites filling out surveys. If you need money now to cover rent, or get the car fixed, reward apps and sign up bonuses might not cut it.

Plus, if you already did the shopper app, sign up bonus, “pledged your body to science thing” the last time you clunker needed a repair, then it is likely your in need of some creative new ways to earn an income.

To be included on this list, the option needs to be a real way to make money and have the potential to pay greater than a living wage. Plus, it had to be quick because that’s why you’re here.

Save Money

Saving Money is Making Money. You may have heard the saying “You can’t “outwork a bad diet”; finances are similar. Before launching your creative new side hustle, it makes sense to sit down and look for opportunities to reduce unnecessary expenses. Now, I’m not suggesting you give up the items you and your family value and enjoy, rather let’s just trim the fat a bit.

Let’s look at the low-hanging fruit:

Comparison shop your Life, Health, Auto, Home Owners’, and Liability insurance.

Did you quit smoking or lose weight? Ask your health and life insurance co.’s if they will reduce rates

Challenge inaccuracies on your credit report. If you improve your score, ask lenders and insurance co.’s if they can reduce your rates.

Check your deductibles, limits, and features on health and property casualty insurance. Many people are overpaying for lower limits or features they may not really need.

1. Make Money Helping Others

Donate Blood Plasma. This hack comes from fellow blogger Melissa Blevins, who has been making upwards of 400 dollars a month donating blood plasma. If making a few extra dollars wasn’t good enough, donating blood plasma can save lives. Need more reason to donate, donating blood plasma can burn 650 calories, beats the exercise bike for an hour! (420 calories)

2. Don’t Overlook This Money Saving Item

Sell your unwanted life insurance policies. Maybe you did a review of your life insurance policies and decided you have an older policy that you no longer need or want. Before you close it out for the policy for cash value consider if it can be sold for more money on the secondary market.

Generally, this option is reserved for people age 62 or older, however, depending on the features of the policy this may be an option for younger individuals.

Tip: if you have life insurance where the cost basis is significantly higher than the cash value, rather than surrender the policy, consider a 1035 exchange into an annuity where you can use the tax loss to offset gains in the annuity.

3. Make Money Online and at Home Flipping

Become a flipper. If you have a keen eye and are willing to do some research, you can make decent money flipping items. Check out Craigslist and eBay and see what items are selling for. Start with small items until you have a sense of how to flip.

There are several resources online on how to start reselling on eBay. However, the easiest way is to sell your stuff first, go through your house and look for any items and you no longer need, such as old books, the hobby gear you picked up and never used, and older electronics.

It’s a fun way to kick off that decluttering you have been intending to start.

Once you have built up a reputation and have some experiencing selling on eBay, it’s time to look for items to sell. The easiest path to find items is to start with what you know. If you are into video games than considering buying and selling games, if you collect antiques, then buy and sell antiques.

Additionaly, don’t rule out handmade items, handcrafted goods can do well on eBay. However, Etsy is probably a better venue for your homemade goods.

Example, Local farmers in my area love 275 Gallon Caged IBC Tote’s, used ones sell for 150 dollars in the area. I found a person on Craigslist who sells them for 75 dollars a piece about an hour drive from me. After a little on the phone negotiating I was able to pick up 15 totes for 50 dollars apiece. It took the Mrs. and I less than three hours to pick up the totes and return. We kept a few totes for ourselves to harvest rainwater and sold the rest off for a nice profit.

Looking for more information on how to flip for fast money? Check out my interview with Norm. The Art of Flipping.

4. Make Money Quickly With Photos

Sell your photos online. Have you built up a massive collection of photos from your travels? If so turn your passion for photography into money in your pocket. Website developers and bloggers are constantly looking for photos to use on their sites. Consider selling your art on sites like twenty20, iStock, or SmugMug.

Prices can range from a few cents to twenty-plus dollars. Make sure you review all the fine print, some of the sites do not allow you to offer the same photos on several sites.

The key to making money online with your photos is thinking outside the box. Turn your photos into products, such as mugs, mouse pads or puzzles.

Also, don’t limit your self to just selling your own digital photos. Historical photos sell well on websites such as Etsy.com and eBay. Travel to local estate sales, yard sales, and flee markets, you can often pick up old photos and albums inexpensively and sell them for a nice profit.

Note: older advertising also sells well, at a local car show a gentleman was selling ads from old magazines for $15 a piece.

5. Make Money Online as a Virtual Assistant or Freelancer

Become a social media virtual assistant. Do you love Pinterest or Instagram? Many brands and bloggers do not know how to correctly use these social media platforms. Offer your expertise to coach or act as a social media manager. It’s a win-win: the brand gets the right type of social media exposure and you can make money doing something you enjoy.

How much could money could you make as a VA? Some VA’s make between $14 and $25 an hour, others charge $40 and up. If you are great at making Pinterest images and Instagram creatives, you could charge brands upwards of $50 an hour. To get the best value for your work, it helps to have a social media following of your own to demonstrate your work online.

Tip: You may be tempted to offer your services on sites like Fiverr or Upwork, customers of the sites are looking for rock bottom prices. if you offer a quality premium service engage blogs and brands in the more popular networking groups or reach out to them on social media.

Consider Freelance Writing

Freelancing writing is a great way to earn money online from home. The advantage to freelance writing is you have a built-in customer and you know exactly how much you will get paid. According to a survey by ClearVoice, “most intermediate to advanced freelance writers charge between 10 cents and $1 per word.”

Depending on your level of experience and speed of writing, an intermediate writer could make between 20 and 40 dollars per hour. Forty dollars an hour beats signing up for surveys.

Note: if you are interested in launching a side gig as a freelance writer, check out our interview with Josh Weiss, who is killing it as a full-time freelancer.

6. Make Money Making

Become A Maker. Making and selling custom products and craft items are starting to become a lucrative side business. With the sites like Etsy, eBay and Amazon its easier than ever to sell online and you don’t need to a web designer or SEO guru.

Chances are you have a hobby that can be turned into a lucrative side hustle.

Do you love to doodle? You can sell your art.

Do you have a green thumb? Raise plants and veggies sell the seedlings at the local farmers market?

Do you have some land? launch a vegetable patch side hustle (A small patch of lavender can make $1800 a year)

Have you been pining for a 3D printer, Auto CNC machine, or laser cutter? If you have the tools and skills you can make high-value products and home and sell them for a nice profit. The best part is you can make the products on demand so you do not need to carry inventory and let’s be honest you were going to buy that new “toy” anyway. 🙂

Online, your options are endless: you could 3D print custom game pieces, knit dice bags, or use a Cricket machine to make custom apparel. You can even make and sell non-geeky items like baby outfits, buttons or any craft imaginable; the options are limitless.

7. Make Money by Monetizing Your Experience

How to make money fast and easy? Teach a class on Symposium.

Symposium is one of the fastest real ways to make money online. The app connects anyone with expertise to a robust marketplace of users seeking experience. Experts sign up for a profile and can begin teaching classes or offering one-on-one consultations in a matter of minutes.

Getting paid on Symposium is fast and easy, once a session is completed money is immediately transferred to the seller’s debit card. You don’t even need a PayPal account, It doesn’t get much quicker than that.

Chances are you have experience in something; maybe you are in HR and know the common mistakes job applicants make, or maybe you enjoy fashion and make-up and mastered “the smokey eye.” People are willing to pay to learn from your experience, and Symposium is the platform that allows that to happen.

Anyone can use the App to make money quickly;

Fitness enthusiasts could launch workout coaching, nutritional coaching, or even virtually coach a spin class

Wellness experts can launch motivational or inspirational classes

Podcasters could offer special enhanced pay-per-view versions of their podcasts

Crafters and makers could teach classes on how to 3D print, use a Cricket machine, or even how to knit or crochet.

Cosplay fans could teach classes on how to make costumes or even give fans a behind the scenes peek at competitions.

Gamers could broadcast playthroughs, review games, or even offer to coach for more difficult game elements.

Tech’s and service pros could offer one-on-one troubleshooting

The best part is Symposium offers synergies with other side hustles. Makers can broadcast a how-to while making custom products for sale. Photographers can broadcast live from remote locations while prowling for photos, and flippers can broadcast auctions and markets, teaching others how to flip successfully.

Even a small audience can represent real profits. A live SymCast to 15 people for 20 dollars a piece is $300 dollars. Sure beats filling out surveys online.

Note: In an emergency situation it might be tough to come up with cash fast, if you’re in need a loan but don’t have access to credit from your bank, due to no credit or bad credityou can use websites like Bad Credit Site to help you find the cheapest lender willing to lend to you, for free and without affecting your credit score. Borrowing should be used only in an emergency situation, you should do your research and compare reputable lenders, and develop a plan so your short term solution does not become a long-term problem.

How will you make money?

Noticeably absent from my list is “blogging”. I enjoy blogging and sharing with readers ways to save money, inspiring success stories and of course geek culture. However, blogging is not the path to quick money online. Despite what many bloggers and peddlers of courses may suggest, blogging is very hard work and it takes a sizable audience to make even a modest return.

Many of the blogs that claim otherwise have designed products or courses that they sell and launching a product online take time and resources. While owning a successful blog is a wonderful goal to pursue, you may need quick ways to make money to maintain cash flow until your blog or websites takes off.

By following these seven creative tips, you will be able to reach your financial goals in record time!

This article originally appeared on Your Money Geek.

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