It has certainly been a tough year and many of us have lost out big through means out of our own control – whether this be that a job has been lost due to closure, or uncertainty moving forward as it still remains unclear the impact on businesses that have closed temporarily and whether or not they’ll reopen when everything returns to normal. One thing that has become clear, however, is that is now more important than ever to diversify your income rather than relying on placing all your eggs in one basket – but how can you do so, and what are the best ways to approach your different income options?
It’s important to note, these suggestions won’t rely on luck or randomness – it’s easy to looking at volatile markets such as cryptocurrency or the list of stock market success for those placing Tesla calls and making it big, or even those throughout the pandemic who have placed everything on red at Max Casinos and come out with a huge win on the other end – these tips will help you find something steady, something to build on, and something that may often come without any cost.
Freelancing – If you work in any sort of creative or blue-collar field, you may have previously considered trying out freelancing before but with a busy homelife and the working day taking up time, it may have been difficult to find an opportunity to get started. This timing certainly helps though, if you’ve been able to free up a little extra time through temporarily not working or not having to commute, getting started on your own can bring in a little extra. It certainly requires a big-time investment, but given the investment is within yourself it can certainly help set you up with a little something on the side without relying on your main job for sole income.
Etsy and similar services – If you’re the handy type but are unable to commit the time to setting up your own shop and creating your own online presence, sites such as Etsy have become invaluable for many over the course of the pandemic and longer. The site is largely aimed at the crafty and creative audience who are able to create physical goods, the most popular in recent months coming in the form of masks but is certainly a great way to get started and to build an audience. If you see your store popularity increasing over time you can branch out in to creating a more dedicated platform for yourself, but as more of a hobby second job rather than a second job itself you can certainly get a great start here. Much like freelancing, you’re able to work as much or as little as needed, and if you have the extra free time on your hands then you may be able to create a second steady income for yourself.
(Image from getthegloss.com)
Fiverr and similar platforms – Whilst another aimed at the creative sector, this one encompasses a much wider range of options and typically forgoes sending actual products to customers. If you’ve developed a skill – either self-taught or self-improving, or a profession or craft you’ve learnt over the years from doing it as an actual job, sites like these can be great for you. You simply list what your service may be, whether this is graphic design, coding, coaching, or even teaching an instrument – set your own price based on your knowledge and skill set, produce the materials you’ll need, and wait for the orders to come in – as with both previous, you take as many or as few orders as you can manage and can set a maximum to receive in a certain period of time to ensure you won’t go over what you can manage – and similar to the above, after receiving a certain amount of attention you may feel encouraged to start setting up your own platform and make the move in to freelancing.
One common theme that you may notice – in order to make money on the side without risking on a gambling plan, you’ll certainly need to put in the work. If you’ve developed a certain skill set though, why not use it? Many of the services listed above and those not listed are full of many pros, but in order to make an informed decision it’s also important to understand the cons too.
The biggest drawback of them all is just attracting the audience to supplement yourself – you do get a leg up with the exposure they offer, but with so many new users looking to do the same the market has saturated a little over the past year and standing out can be a little more difficult, so much so that creating your own freelancing service may offer better results. Similarly, to make the most out of these services you do need to work a lot to build the reviews and to build user trust – these hours can often far surpass what you would otherwise do in the short term and turn a hobby or a passion into a chore, but in order to succeed the building blocks need to be there in the first place.
It’s certainly a lot of work, but you’ll be able to reap the benefits of success for doing so – not only does this help you refine your own skills but will help diversify your own income as much or as little as needed. Once things go back to normal it may also be important to continue with the efforts you have made – this pandemic may be nearing an end but who knows when another similar situation may arise, and it’s better to be prepared – you can certainly adjust your hours further down the line, but not getting started means you don’t have a base to work from, and you may not be able to breakthrough the competition again – if you have more free time, you really have nothing to lose too, and everything to gain.
