5 Ways to Make 500 to 1000 Dollars Extra per Month
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List of 5 Ideas for Making $500 to $1,000 extra Monthly
I have an entrepreneurial spirit, and I come by it honestly! My dad has been in business for himself since his side hustle building fences turned into a full time job. So I’ve always been encouraged to venture out on my own and try new ways to make extra money.
I’m always trying to think of new ways to make extra money as a stay at home mom. Since I’m a stay at home mom I really need a job that makes sense for our family with 3 little boys under the age of 5.
I need to be able to make between $500 – $1000 for any venture to really be worth my effort, especially if it requires me to get a babysitter. I love make money from Swagbucks, Ebates, Ibotta, and Shopkicks (a recent favorite!) and even taking surveys because those allow me to earn money while when I can squeeze it in.
These ventures are more like creating a business for myself, which gets me excited and engages my poor mommy brain in a new and fresh way!
Here are 5 ways you could start a business in your community to make an extra $500 – $1000 per month!
1. Social Media teacher to Senior Citizens: A senior citizen is considered to start between the ages of 55 – 65. My sweet grandma (90 years old) asks me to help her with her computer and smart phone every time I see her. But really she needs someone to help her use it everyday so that she gets the hang of it. A class would be perfect for her to help her learn how to do some basic things like text and send/receive pictures. She LOVES getting pictures of the great grand kids and a class would be so benefcial to her! You could help people set up a facebook account, pinterest account, instagram and learn how to navigate so they can keep up with their family members. You could easily set up classes at a local church, community center, or YMCA to teach the senior citizens in your community how to use computers, smart phones, and social media.
Make Money: 1 class per week with 12 – 13 students paying $10 for each class $480 – $520 per month
2. Clean Houses: Cleaning houses is a great way to earn extra income. I googled “the average cost of cleaning a house” and based on time $25 – $35 per hour to clean. If the home is based on square footage the cost is approximately $120/ 1000 square feet and $140+/3000 square feet.
You would need to decide if you bring your own cleaning supplies or if the homeowner will provide the cleaning supplies. But you can likely charge a bit more or less depending on who provides the supplies. You could also offer a chemical free/natural cleaning services to set you apart from the competition.
Make Money: You would need to clean at the minimum 5 – 10 hours per week to make $500 – $1000 per month.
3. Washing Windows: When my husband and I were first married, he couldn’t find a job in his field so he took a job working with my best friend’s husband (who is now a professor at Notre Dame!) washing windows. They cleaned windows in all types of houses from small homes to large estate homes. The great thing is the start up cost is minimal. You would need a ladder, soap, water, towels, and a squiggy.
Make Money: The average cost of window cleaning is $15 per window. 2 homes with 17 windows would get you $510. Clean 4 homes with 17 windows and you can earn $1020.
4. Babysitting: There are so many options you can do for babysitting. You could provide childcare out of your home 2 – 3 days per week for families who need flexible childcare for regular business hours 8 am – 6 pm. In my local area average babysitting charges for part-time childcare is $50 per day for in-home childcare. You could also provide discounts for siblings and charge more for infants that require more attention or less for older kids.
Make Money: Work 2 days a week with 2 – 3 families that comes to $800 – $1000
You could work more hours and charge a weekly rate. When my kids were in daycare we paid $147 a week per child (no discount for a sibling). Full time daycare hours would be from 8 am – 6 pm. This job has the flexibility and potential to earn more money.
You may also want to consider unusual hours to attract business. Some parents have jobs that require overnight shifts and need a babysitter to stay with kids overnight.
5. Pet Sitting: If you are an animal lover, then you may want to consider caring for pets as a side job. You could set up a schedule to walk the dog, feed the dog, check on the cat, give medications, etc. Again I googled “the average cost of pet sitting” and found it is around $30 per day.
Make Money: 1 client at $30/day for 17 days out of the month you could make about $500
If you added 1 more client with the same number of days then you could double your earnings! If your clients are in the same area it will save you time and you could possibly add more clients, making you more money!
6. Virtual Assistant: Virtual assistant is BIG business! Bloggers are overwhelmed with all there is to do to build and grow their audience. Blogging isn’t just about writing an amazing post, but it is also about marketing that post so that people can find you. Many bloggers have a presence on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram! And that’s not all! Bloggers daily have to make sure their website has no technical issues, answer emails, work with advertising managers, create content, and plan future posts. Keeping up with the business of blogging is hard! Bloggers need You can quickly earn cash as a virtual assistant by doing any of the following tasks:
Bloggers need help and that’s what virtual assistants can provide! As a virtual assistant you can quickly earn cash by doing any of the following tasks:
- Managing Social Media Accounts for bloggers or businesses (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, Instagram, etc.)
- Writing blog posts
- Ad Sales/Managing ads for blogs
- Taking and editing photos for bloggers to use
- Checking email/ responding to requests
- Newsletter design
- Technical help for the back end of a blog (WordPress)
- General services for bloggers (anything else bloggers need done!)
You can easily find Virtual Assistant jobs by joining Facebook groups for Virtual Assistants. Here are some links to VA groups that you can click to join!
Rocking Virtual Assistants for Bloggers
Virtual Assistants for Bloggers
Want a course to help you get started as a virtual assistant?
30 Days or Less to Virtual Assistant Success – There are over 150+ ways you could provide virtual assistant services to bloggers and business owners. Find out how you can use your skills to start a Virtual Assistant business today!
Become a Pinterest VA Today! – Pinterest is the most popular platform for bloggers today! Bloggers need someone to help them set up their business Pinterest account, develop and implement a strategy, and maintain their account. If you love using Pinterest, then you should check out this course.
If you are looking for work from home inspiration and encouragement, then join my Facebook group Smart Cents Mom!
One way to ensure success as a virtual assistant is to find a niche to focus your business. You could focus on a specific social media platform, writing blog posts & newsletters, creating effective sales funnels, etc.
Make Money: If you choose to work as a social media manager charging $50 per month for services. You would need 10 clients to make $500. As you develop your business and demand increases, then you can increase your price! This is a great business because there is high demand and you have the potential to grow your income.
BONUS!
How Bloggers Make $500+ per Month
Blogging is another amazing way that you can make money working from home. I have just started my journey as a blogger and have already made a little bit of money. The thing about blogging is that it is NOT a get-rich-quick scheme.
Blogging takes a lot of hard work! But you can definitely make money blogging. Here are some ways that bloggers make money through their blog:
Affiliate Marketing: Bloggers earn a commission on some products that are sold through their site. Amazon is an example of affiliate marketing. Here’s an example: If a blogger writes a post about “My Favorite Tools for Losing Weight” and includes a link “I love my {scale} because it gives me accurate weight loss and saves my weight to compare to the next time I weigh in…” If the reader clicks that link and then purchases items from Amazon then the blogger earns some cash at no expense to the reader.
Sponsored Posts: Bloggers are sometimes paid to write reviews or posts using specific products from companies. Bloggers are paid to give their opinion of the product, show how they use it, and share their experience.
Ads: You may notice ads popping up on your favorite bloggers website. Bloggers are paid to have ads placed there on their pages. Hopefully the ads are useful to the readers and relevant to the content so that it doesn’t take away from the purpose of the blog.
Personal products: Bloggers often create their own products like planners, e-courses, e-books, and other materials to sell to their readers
Blogger Income Reports
Many bloggers are making money from their blogs ranging from $1000 per month – $50,000+ per month! But this is absolutely NOT a way to get rich. These bloggers put in hard work, sleepless nights, and lots of time to be successful with their blogs.
Some bloggers will post their income reports so you can learn from how they have made money online. It seems strange, but it is also very informative and encouraging if you are thinking about starting your own blog. Here are some of my favorite bloggers who make money from writing their blog and post income reports:
How long does it take to make a full-time income? Every blog and blogger is different. The amount of time you have to invest, the learning curve you have when you start, and many other factors can affect how fast you earn money. These bloggers share how long it took them to earn a full-time salary:
“I made $200 in a month for the first time 7 months after starting my blog and made more than $1,000 in 9 months, then most recently $3,292 15 months after starting. Not “quit your job” money, but it’s a start!”
Caroline Vencil of Cow Country Housewife
“My blog will be a year old in March… And I’ve been making at least 3000 Canadian dollars/ month since month 7.”
Carly Campbell of Carly On Purpose
“I am 5 months in and make just over $100 a month. We run a travel blog focused on Orlando FL, so pretty niche but we are still finding ways to increase rev.”
Patty Staricha of How to MCO
“It took me almost exactly 4 years to make a steady $2000 a month income”
Katie DeCoeli of Wild Rosebuds
“Since my third month, I have averaged at least $1,000 a month. I’m hoping to increase that in 2017!”
McKenzie Bean of Moms Make Cents
“My blog is 2 years and 4 months. It took me a year and a few months to finally make money because of my blog. I’ve averaged around $500-$1500 per month this year and that came from freelancing, course sales and more recently affiliates. I still work my 9-5 and so I don’t focus on it fully BUT I do plan on being more strategic with it and so that I can match (and surpass!) my full time income by September 2017.”
Gertrude Nonterah of My Online Biz Journey
You can become a blogger too! The great thing about blogging is that every person’s voice is unique and lends a different perspective. There is always room for one more blogger! If you can help people solve problems, then blogging can be a legitimate way for you to make money!
If you are thinking about starting a blog, then you can check out my guide How to Start a Blog and my review on Bluehost. Starting a blog is really quick and easy. Starting a blog is a legitimate way to earn extra money. You will want to create your blog on a self-hosted site using WordPress (industry standard) and Bluehost (my personal recommendation). Starting a blog for profit will cost you about $150 to get set up, but that is minimal for starting a new business!
Want to know how you can make money with a blog?
If you already have a blog and want to make money blogging, then you should consider taking a course that can teach you all the ins and outs of affiliate marketing. Michelle Schroeder of Making Sense of Cents has this incredible course called Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. I started this course before I even built my website or launched my website (promoted my website on social media).
Read my interview with Michelle: How Does She Earn $50,000+ per Month Blogging?
I love that Michelle teaches you everything you need to get started earning extra income. She shares all of the things she has done to earn her way to $50,000+ a month as a blogger! My favorite part of buying into this course is that she has continued updating the course as well as provides a fb group that is extremely helpful and active. I can’t say enough things about how great this course is and it’s the reason I have already started making a few bucks as a brand new blogger!
Ways to Earn:
Ibotta is a cell phone app that is easy to use everywhere you go to buy groceries! You can easily earn cash back rebates and transfer the money into your Paypal account. This is seriously one of my favorite ways to save money at the grocery store!
I love this app because it is so easy to use and now it’s just part of my routine when I grocery shop. You can use this at your grocery store and even Target and Walmart! You simply find the items you want to buy in your app and then scan your purchases and receipt when you get home and put everything away.
The best part is you get to earn cash back on items that usually don’t ever have coupons like fruits, vegetables, milk, and eggs! Also, they have many items each month that are NOT BRAND SPECIFIC. So you can choose any brand in that category and still save!
If you do this all year you will have a nice chunk of change saved up from doing what you already do! Join Ibotta and earn a cash bonus!
Want more details? Read my Ibotta Review
Want to earn more?
How to Earn $3100 with Cash Back Apps
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