5 WAYS TO MAKE SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME

Could you use a little bit of extra cash to ride out the poor economy? Are you out of ideas on how to make that happen? Look no further, here are some very easy tips to follow which could keep you afloat till the economy turns around!

Always Frugal shares…

1. Make ad supported web sites or blogs. Here is my personal favorite: make web sites on your favorite topics and put ads or affiliate links on your sites for some extra cash. A great way to get started is to use Google’s blogger site, and then put their Adsense ads on your blog to generate income.

With unemployment rates high and regular jobs hard to find right now, the ideas below can bring in some extra cash, whether you are unemployed or working and just trying to build up an extra savings cushion.

1. Make ad supported web sites or blogs. Here is my personal favorite: make web sites on your favorite topics and put ads or affiliate links on your sites for some extra cash. A great way to get started is to use Google’s blogger site, and then put their Adsense ads on your blog to generate income.

Here is an interesting link on the topic from USAToday: Google’s AdSense a bonanza for some Web sites.

2. Try freelance article writing. If you aren’t comfortable making your own blog, there are existing web sites where you can make money by writing articles that go on established sites. Some of the sites that operate this way are Associated Content, Hubpages and Squidoo. The advantage to putting pages on these sites is that it may be easier to get your pages to rank on an established domain as opposed to starting a new site from scratch, and you personally don’t have to know any of the technology behind setting up a blog or site.

The downside is that you are writing content that is given over to someone else, and in the long run you probably won’t make nearly as much money as you could as with a site of your own. Plus with your own site you have the option of selling the entire site someday.

Update: March 24th, 2011: Google’s last algorithm update dramatically lowered the overall rankings of sites like Associated Content, Hubpages, and Squidoo. Unless things change again in the future, making your own sites might be a better way to control your own online destiny. When you put your content on sites like these, you can’t control the other content on the site.

Google is now taking a closer look at sites as a whole instead of just individual pages. Writing articles for content sites like these used to be a way to make a living for many writers, but going forward I’d would say it is safer in the long run to put your content on sites where you have 100% control of all of the pages in the site. Otherwise, if the other writers are churning out low quality pages, your income might suffer even if your pages are well written and researched.

3. Clean out your closets. Have a garage sale, take your goods to a consignment store or sell your unwanted goods online. You know the old saying, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. If you can’t find a buyer for your unneeded goods, at least you can donate them to a local charity like the Salvation Army or Goodwill. Then you aren’t cluttering up you house with stuff you don’t use and you might be helping out someone else who needs what you are not using. Depending on your income, you may be able to take a tax deduction at tax time for the fair market value of the goods.

If you are a college student, you can sell your used text books online. Often you can get a better deal than at the campus book store where they have some what of a captive market.

4. Resell items. Go to other people’s garage sales, look for bargains and then resell the items online through places like eBay. We have a friend that makes a living just from reselling a certain type of exercise equipment on eBay. Another person that was featured in our local paper made a living reselling wedding dresses. It helps to specialize in one area so you get to know the market very well and get a good feel for what will sell online and for how much.

5. Go to library book sales, especially on the last day when they are trying to get rid of the books. You can often get a whole bag of books for $1 or $2. Then resell the books online through Amazon Marketplace or Ebay. The downside with this approach is that in order to turn a tidy profit you have to have a good idea in advance of what types of books sell online and for how much. Plus, library sales often attract many used booksellers so the competition for the best books is often steep. You can get an edge by becoming a library member, or better yet a volunteer, and possibly getting a chance to purchase books before they go on sale to the general public.