A thousand dollars might not seem like much, but if you’re still studying or in between jobs, it can go a long way. The good news is we will show you how to make an extra $1000 a month. You just need three things:
- A useful skill that other people need.
- The ability to convince people to pay you for it.
- Persistence — you won’t make $1000 in your first month.
Sounds like a lot of hard work? Yes, at first it will be. You’ll need to market your skills and deliver on what you promise your clients. But if you can do any (or more than one) of the things below, you’re on the way to making that much-needed extra cash.
1. Start freelancing
The best thing to do when considering how to make an extra $1000 a month is to find side work. Maybe you are a writer, or marketer — whatever it may be, taking on some freelance gigs can definitely help you gain some extra cash.
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There are many ways to get clients, but for starters, you can ask your family, friends, and colleagues if they know anyone looking for your services.
Soon you’ll find out that searching for jobs is no easy feat. This is where a platform like SolidGigs is really useful.
Here’s how SolidGigs works: you sign up for SolidGigs, it costs just $19 a month after the introductory $2 trial. You’ll then receive daily emails with the best freelance jobs around.
All you have to do is apply for these freelance jobs and win those pitches. As you gain more experience and build your body of work, you’ll be able to submit pitches for a higher rate. Joining SolidGigs will not guarantee you that $1,000, but if you’re serious about making more money, it will save you time and present you with great opportunities. Learn more in our SolidGigs review.
2. Launch a new website
You may have heard of people making a lot of extra money after they launch a new website, and thought, “if they can do it, why can’t I?” The good news is that there are now more ways than ever to make money online from websites.
Search engines like Google offer cash in exchange for ad space on your website, and you can promote products in your content for a cut of the sales.
It’s better to create a website about topics where you have expertise and passion. If you’re a designer, for example, try starting a design blog. If you travel or do other really interesting things, maybe starting a lifestyle blog is best for you.
3. Offer consulting services
When considering how to make an extra $1000 a month, it’s logical to build on your existing professional skill set. Offering consulting services is logical in this regard. You can provide the same services to clients privately, as you do through the business you work for professionally.
Before you start offering consulting services, though, you need to analyze your market. You have to build your network, talk to people, understand what they need, and decide how your skills can best help them.
From there, you can create a business plan, a pricing structure, a list of things you can do, then use a great landing page builder to create a sales page where you can promote your consulting services.
Consulting is hard work, but if you play your cards right, you might be making more than your initial target amount. It could even become a full-fledged business with recurring revenue.
4. Help people make or improve their website
It’s difficult for a business to stay in operation without a website these days. But many business owners have no idea how to build one or even where to start. So if you know how to develop websites, your earning potential is substantial.
The average freelance Web Developer salary in the US is around $75,000. Of course, earning this amount requires a lot of experience and knowledge of many different tools.
But even a basic website that you can finish in around a week can bring in up to $1000. Take advantage of the vast and growing demand for websites.
5. Offer graphic design services
Do you have an eye for design, with the Adobe Illustrator (or similar software) skills to match? Companies are always in need of visual content such as graphics, logos, presentation decks, or illustrations.
Graphic design is a great option for freelancers. If you haven’t figured out how to get graphic design clients yet, start by volunteering to do small jobs first, like designing business cards for small companies. As you build your portfolio, finding clients will become easier and easier.
Graphic designers make good money too. The going rates for freelance design work starts at around $25 per hour, with an experienced and in-demand designer commanding as much as $150 per hour or more. You can charge per hour or per project, depending on what works for you and the client.
6. Transcribe audio
There are a lot of freelance jobs available that can supplement your income. You should look at the available options when looking at how to make an extra $1000 a month. Transcribing audio is one of those solutions.
Audio transcription involves listening to an audio recording and typing what you hear. You’ll need to have an ear for detail and excellent typing skills.
A rookie audio transcriptionist makes on average 36 cents per minute of audio, which means you’ll need to transcribe around 12.5 hours of audio per week to make $1000.
Audio transcription can be challenging at first, but once you get the hang of it you’ll be able to speed up, increase your output, and earn more money.
7. Offer pet sitting to people in your area
If you love animals, pet sitting and dog walking can be a fun and high-paying part-time job. The average rate for a dog walker is around $15 an hour. To make an extra $1000 a month at this rate, you’d need to work just under 67 hours.
To make a start finding clients, ask your busy friends and neighbors if they need any help with their pets. Facebook groups and apps like Rover can also help connect you to pet owners who need your services.
If your house is large enough and there’s plenty of room in the backyard, you can also offer pet boarding services for when owners are traveling for work or going on vacation.
You may need to get a permit from your city’s animal welfare department before you get into pet boarding.
8. Help people fix IT issues
Almost everyone uses a computer, smartphone or tablet nowadays. However, many don’t know how to fix their devices when something goes wrong. If you’ve got IT skills to share with the world, it can be very profitable to share your computer knowledge for extra cash. Here are some ideas:
- Make house calls to people who need help with their computers.
- Teach computer basics at your local community center or retirement home.
- Run online classes or webinars covering important IT skills.
If you want to take your consultancy to the next level, you can look at getting a CompTIA A+ certification. People who hold this certification make an average of $59,000 a year. It costs a few hundred dollars to get, and then you have to land a job, but it’s worth the investment.
9. Provide DIY services
Household items break regularly, and not everyone has the skills or tools needed to fix them. If you have the equipment and experience, you can earn a nice sum by helping people with simple home repair side jobs.
A home call for a basic repair could earn you upwards of $100. However, know your limits! If a job is too complicated or risky (like anything that involves the main electrical circuit or boiler system), it’s better to leave it to the professionals. Otherwise, fix away!
10. Sell handicrafts online
If you’re into arts and crafts such as pottery, jewelry making, or knitting, you can sell your wares via online platforms like Etsy.
This gives you the control as you can set your own prices and experiment to see how much people are willing to pay for your items.
Making money by selling handicrafts doesn’t happen right away. At first, it may not even pay for itself. You need to offer a diverse line of products, promote your store, take good photos of your items, and spend on materials and equipment.
This can add up to a substantial outlay every month. But if you’re serious about your work and people like it, you can make an extra $1000 a month once you’re established.
11. Offer gardening and lawn mowing services
When considering how to make an extra $1000 a month, you’ll find there are lots of outside jobs you can do. For example, do you like mowing the lawn, sweeping leaves, or pulling up weeds? Many homeowners don’t!
And in many cases, if you’re willing to do those things for them, they’ll be willing to pay. If you don’t mind being outdoors in all weathers, yard work can be lucrative all year round.
Professional lawn mowers charge an average of $1 per minute. If it takes you half an hour to mow a lawn, that’s already $30. This means you need to do around 33 half-hour lawn mowing jobs to make an extra $1000 a month.
12. Become a part-time tutor
Parents will do anything to help their children get ahead of the pack. If their children are struggling at school, they’re often willing to hire someone to help them improve their grades. That person could be you.
You don’t need to be a qualified teacher in order to start a tutoring business. As long as you know more about a subject than an average high school student, you’ll be fine. Some parents might ask for your SAT or ACT results as proof.
Maths and reading are the subjects that are most in-demand, but you can find work as a tutor in almost any subject. Parents will pay up to $40 an hour for private tutoring for a high school student.
13. Teach a foreign language
Math and reading are not the only subjects people need help with. There is a huge demand for foreign language tuition for young people and adults alike, both as a hobby and for work purposes. While there are free apps such as Duolingo, the best way to study a language is to learn it with a fluent speaker.
Therefore, if you’re bilingual (true fluency is required here), foreign language teaching is a great source of income. People are willing to pay up to $15 an hour to a newer tutor, particularly if you teach an in-demand language such as Spanish or Mandarin.
While certification isn’t required (especially if you’re teaching your native language), it will definitely help you command higher rates.
14. Become a virtual assistant
There are hundreds of thousands of small businesses and solopreneurs. Many have too much work on their plate. These businesses can provide a solution to the question, how to make an extra $1000 a month?
Many business owners and professionals need help with organizing their lives and are willing to pay for it. This is where virtual assistants (VAs) come in. They take care of the time consuming administrative work so their clients can focus on other tasks.
VAs do tasks such as scheduling appointments, answering calls and emails, booking flights and hotels, and managing social media accounts.
If you’re happy to deal with demanding professionals, a VA gig can earn you at least $20 per hour. If your client has more specialized needs, like bookkeeping or marketing, you can earn a lot more if you have those skills.
15. Make money in your kitchen
If you’re a good cook, you can use it to earn extra money. And you don’t have to open a food truck or stall to use your cooking skills! Many people are too busy to cook for themselves, while others are not able to do so due to age or disability. Many of these people are willing to pay for a personal chef to prepare meals for them.
The average rate for a personal chef starts at $35 per hour. But before you apply to become someone’s personal chef, check your local regulations and secure the required certifications.
16. Busking and miming
Okay, this probably isn’t an option that came straight to your mind when you were thinking about how to make an extra $1000 a month. However, working as a street performer can be surprisingly lucrative.
Many performance artists got their start by performing on the streets. These include big names like B.B. King, Ed Sheeran, and Pierce Brosnan (who was a trained fire-eater).
However, this is not just something that anyone can do. You’ll need talent and proficiency in your instrument or performance skills. Some cities also require you to get a license. Check your local laws regarding busking and public performances before you hit the streets.
17. DJ-ing
I’ve heard a comedian describe DJs as “glorified iPod operators”. However, DJing is a real skill and one that is still highly in demand. As long as you have a good laptop computer, an extensive music collection and good knowledge of putting sets together, you can DJ for parties or weddings.
However, if you want to take your skills to the next level and earn more money, you might need some specialized equipment such as turntables and monitor headphones.
The investment is pretty substantial, but the rewards can be high, with experienced DJs earning as much as $20 per hour. This can quickly stack up to help you make an extra $1000 a month.
18. Become a personal trainer
While gym memberships are booming, some people also hire a personal trainer to help them get into shape. If you are a fitness enthusiast with great knowledge of the human body and safe, effective exercise techniques, you can apply to become a personal trainer.
The average hourly rate for experienced personal trainers is $19. You can get clients by advertising in local papers, on social media, and at your regular gym.
You may also need personal trainer certification to help market yourself to new clients and to ensure that you are teaching them correctly.
19. Sell your old stuff
Your attic or garage is probably filled with perfectly good things that you just don’t use. Why not turn them into cash instead?
Depending on how cluttered your garage is, you could make an extra $1000 or even more just by selling the things you no longer use. Sites such as eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and Craigslist are ideal for this, or you could hold a garage sale at your home.
If you can also convince other people that you can sell their unwanted items too (for a cut of the profits), you’re in business!
20. Monetize a passion, like restoring old cars
Many people choose to sell their old car and buy a new one instead of spending a lot on repairs. If you have the time, patience, skills and equipment needed to fix old cars, you can turn a profit on them.
The initial outlay to buy the old car and any tools and equipment you need is substantial. However, you can also turn an impressive profit in this way.
You can also work on multiple cars at the same time as long as you have the manpower and time to do so.
However, it’s also hard work and can take some time before you recoup your initial investment. So you should get into car restoration only if you have a real passion for it.
21. Furniture repair
You can find old furniture being sold cheaply (or even given away for free) everywhere. If you take that furniture, fix it and sell it, you can turn a nice profit.
It often doesn’t take much to make old furniture look good again. You can improve the appearance of a solid wood chair by painting it or having it reupholstered, for example.
If you don’t know how to paint furniture, there are many resources available online that will teach you how to do furniture repairs.
22. Look after other people’s kids
Parents will always need someone to watch over their children while they’re working, going on dates, or taking adults-only trips. If you’re good with kids, you can earn good money by babysitting or nannying.
Sites like Care.com can make it easy for you to find parents who are in need of childcare help. You can also advertise locally in the paper or on social media, and ask your friends and family members who have children if they need any help.
Rates start at around $17 an hour for one child and can be higher if you’re caring for multiple children or living in a more expensive city. This is an easy way to make an extra $1000 a month, assuming you’re happy to sacrifice your evenings.
23. Become a freelance writer
I started my online career as a freelance writer. I was thinking about how I could make an extra $1000 a month, and it seemed like a logical opportunity to combine a passion with a way to make money.
There are a lot of people and businesses that need original written content, like website copy, blog posts, or social media updates. They might also need help with rewriting or improving their existing copy.
It’s easy to start. Search the web looking for sites in a niche you want to work in that you could help. Contact the site and offer to do an article for free. You can use an email ID finder to acquire the relevant email address.
Then, either outline your fee or ask for a testimonial. Repeat the process a few times, and you’ll easily land your first client.
If you’re just starting out, $50 for an article is a good rate. As you gain more experience, you can make $150/article or even more, depending on the length and topic. At that rate, you can make an extra $1000 a month with just a couple of articles per week.
You can find clients by using creative writing jobs sites. Once you’ve built up a reputation and some experience, many of your clients may come through word of mouth. You might also want to review our guide to making money as a writer.
24. Charging electric vehicles
When considering how to make an extra $1000 a month, you will find many opportunities in the modern economy. For example, if you live in a big city, you can charge customers to charge their electric vehicles for them. People who use electric scooters sometimes don’t have enough outlets at home to charge their vehicles.
With apps like Lime (pictured above) or Bird, you can sign up to be a “juicer” then find scooters in your area that need charging. At around $8 per scooter, you can make as much as $30 an hour.
Earning an extra $1k is possible!
As you’ve now seen, there are near endless ways to bring in some additional cash. Even if you’re securely employed, most of us could use some extra money in our pockets each month. If you play your cards right, your side-hustle can make you an extra $1000 a month or more.
Whatever route you choose to take, your side-hustle should be something that you are very passionate about and knowledgeable about. This means you’ll stick with it for long enough to start seeing real financial results.
The sooner you start making money on the side, the sooner you can start paying off your debts and saving up for the things you’ve always wanted to do.
The ways I’ve listed in the article are far from the only things you can do to earn a bit more cash. If any of them speak to you, give it a go. If not, then explore your interests and skills to see if any of them can be monetized.
You might be surprised! Remember the three ingredients: a useful skill, the ability to persuade people to pay you for it, and persistence.
Good luck and let us know how it goes!
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