A focus group typically meets for a couple of hours, and the compensation for a meeting might be cash or a gift card. You might make $50 to $100 or more per hour.
If you know your way around Facebook (or even Facebook marketplace), Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Reddit, and other popular social media and social blogging sites, you may be surprised to learn that companies are willing to pay you for your expertise.
You'll need to know which types of people use different social media sites. You'll also have to understand who your client's target audience is.
Then it's just a matter of using a site like Buffer to schedule posts on the appropriate online platforms throughout the week or month.
Spend an hour or two going through and responding to comments on behalf of your customer, and you will have built yourself a social media marketing business.
Think about the businesses you buy from regularly and look them up on social media. If they're not up-keeping their sites or don't understand the nuances of hashtags or how to diversify content, email them with a proposal.
For example, give your client a month's worth of social media posts for free if they refer someone who signs up for a six-month contract. For these types of gigs, word-of-mouth advertising can be your best friend.
Mystery shopping, sometimes called secret shopping, is when a hired individual goes into a store, restaurant, or another place of business to pose as a customer.
The mystery shopper makes a purchase, taking note of the customer service received, the quality of the item or service, and other factors.
They might need to do something specific, like check the cleanliness of the bathroom or make a return. Once the job is done, they get paid.
If you like shopping, this might sound like a dream job. It doesn't pay a lot; expect to earn about $10 or $15 per shop.
However, you will be reimbursed for your meal if it's a restaurant or the merchandise you were asked to purchase if it's a retail store. You might even get a free hotel stay!
Volition.com is a good place to start if you want to become a mystery shopper. They have lists of reputable companies to sign up with.
If you look at other companies, be sure to avoid those that send cold emails or that charge for a list of shopping tasks. Both of these are signs of a scam.
If your idea of a nice weekend afternoon is to spend a few hours snapping photos of landscapes, people, pets, or anything else, you might be able to turn it into an opportunity for making money online.
When individuals, marketing agencies, or small businesses want to use the photos on their websites or their brochures, they pay a fee. As the photographer, you get part of that fee.
A photo that you take in January might be purchased for use in February, twice in April, twice in August, and four times in December. So over the course of the year, that one photo might be used nine times.
Of course, you could sell the photo dozens (or even hundreds) of times or not at all. Putting up more photos will raise your odds of making extra cash.
You can check out this guide about selling pictures online where we discuss the companies worth submitting to, along with how much they pay and how likely you are to have your work accepted.
Earn Money In Spare TimeIf you like to spend time on the weekends sewing, woodworking, painting, soap making, or creating just about anything, consider making a business out of it.
You could craft all year and sell your wares at holiday bazaars. Or you could list them on a site like Etsy or even Facebook marketplace to make sales all year long.
Think about choosing a niche. What can you specialize in that isn't already overrun on the market? What problem could you solve?
Courtney Orillian, the founder of Confetti Momma, noticed the desire in others to have party supplies that rivaled those found on sites like Pinterest.
So she and her husband created an Etsy store to provide handmade party supplies to people who don't have the time, energy, or talent to make them themselves.
Think about how you could devote a couple of hours each week toward fleshing it out into a small business as one of the ways to make extra money online.
Sign up for an account on Fiverr.com and look through the listings to see what types of tasks clients are looking for.
Sign up for an account on Fiverr.com and look through the listings to see what types of tasks clients are looking for.
Fiverr started as a freelancing website where clients could hire freelancers to complete a job for $5, hence the name “Fiverr.” Now, you can make much more than $5 completing a job on Fiverr, but let's assume you start with charging $5 for a job.
Many of the tasks listed could be done in 15 minutes or less, which would allow you to earn a cool $20 in the span of an hour.
You could give online lessons or do an astrology reading. You can even give tips on succeeding at your favorite video game. If someone will pay $5, you're golden!
Come up with five ideas for blog posts. Don't actually write the blog posts for $5; just give the client a list of titles or topic ideas.
Write three to five social media posts. If you enjoy posting on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, you could probably knock this out in five minutes.
Write a haiku, limerick, or some other verse for a greeting card. You could offer verses that would be good for a birthday card, a love letter, or a funny “thinking of you” card.
Take a photo of you holding a sign next to a local landmark. This is particularly good if you live near a tourist attraction.
Make a list of restaurants or attractions in your local area for people who are visiting your city or town. You could write up a comprehensive piece and just sell the same piece over and over again.
If you have enough time to consider getting a part-time job, you might instead look for ways to make extra money without having to answer to someone else.