Entrepreneur raises the question: Do we need extra side cash, make more money to pay essential bills or save up for a splurge purchase at the end of the month?
In these cases and more, you might need to know how to make money fast without waiting for a traditional pay cycle.
Fortunately, there are lots of ways you can leverage your talents to make a bit of fast cash. Keep reading to take a look at 10 ways now.
- Sell your things on eBay, Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace
If you want to make money quickly, one of the best ways is to simply sell the things you already have. Have old clothes, electronics, books and other knickknacks taking up space in your garage?
You might consider a yard sale or garage sale to declutter your storage space; however, with the internet, you can quickly sell those things online on platforms like eBay, Poshmark, Craigslist, Etsy or Facebook Marketplace.
Each platform lets you list the items you want to sell to people in your local area. If the items are valuable or in good condition, you’ll get some offers for those items in a matter of days. Then you can decide whether to accept those offers or keep looking for better bits.
Selling your things using online platforms is a great way to get rid of items like cars, clothes and more.
Remember that sometimes you must deliver or ship items to their buyers. Those shipping fees can eat into the overall profit you make from your sales (for example, if you sell something on eBay and have to pay shipping fees to get it to its buyer).
Time to set up: A few hours.
Time to make money: Days or weeks.
Requirements: Computer, items to sell and accounts on your selling platform(s) of choice.
- Start an Amazon dropshipping business
A dropshipping business involves partnering with product manufacturers, wholesalers, shipping companies or fulfillment specialists.
As a dropshipper, you create a brand website to advertise products for sale. Then, when you sell one of those products, you put the order into your fulfillment partner, who gets the product from the manufacturer and ships it to the final customer.
You can run an online dropshipping business without the typical infrastructure and money you need to operate a traditional retail business. Thus, it’s an accessible and affordable way to start your entrepreneurial dreams.
You can get started with dropshipping business right on Amazon. Amazon is also a great place to do this, as it’s a centralised marketplace with many different products you can sell once you get partnerships with the right manufacturers.
However, remember that while you might make some money quickly, you won’t make as much money until your brand gets a reputation and many stellar reviews for its services and products.
You’ll need some good credit card space and full-time dedication to your business if you eventually hope to make quick cash and passive income with this strategy.
Time to set up: A few days.
Time to make money: Weeks, at minimum.
Requirements: Computer, business experience and business agreements with product manufacturers and shipping companies.
- Start affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing is a unique type of online marketing where you, the affiliate marketer and blogger, advertise the products and services of partners through your blog or other ecommerce content. Then, when a customer clicks on one of the links to those products or services and makes a purchase, you get a cut of the profits your partner made.
Affiliate marketing is a perfect way to make money fast if you already have a blog up and running. You can join affiliate programs for popular brands, many of which are based out of Amazon. Make a blog post highlighting the best products in a particular niche or industry, then include affiliate links to each product.
If you have a readership, you could earn affiliate profits quickly. However, if you don’t already have a blog and readership, this moneymaking method could take a little more time to get up and running.
Time to set up: A few hours.
Time to make money: Days or weeks.
Requirements: A computer, blog, reader base and join an affiliate program.
Related: 18 Ways You Can make money Right Now
- Take online surveys
Alternatively, You can take online surveys to make some money in hours or even minutes. Sites like Surveyjunkie and Swagbucks allow people like you to join their programs, then take surveys in exchange for cash prizes or gift cards.
By taking online surveys, you can complete a handful of surveys in a few hours and immediately earn some spending cash in your pocket.
Taking online surveys doesn’t earn much money, but it could be an excellent way to earn money quickly when you need to make a purchase ASAP, like buying new shoes or going to the movies. Some sites may also have you do usertesting services on your laptop, such as testing new sites.
Even better, you can take online surveys while doing other things in your spare time, like watching your favorite TV shows. In this sense, it’s a low-cost and highly accessible way to earn cash without needing a college degree, a lot of setup or any extra gadgets aside from a mobile device or computer.
Most online survey sites pay you cash-back bonuses or unused gift cards. Others have “cardcash” systems where you must use the extra income at that site. Keep this in mind, as it could indicate a scam or prevent you from being able to cash out your money.
Time to set up: Minutes.
Time to make money: Hours.
Requirements: A computer or smartphone.
Related: How Online Surveys in Market Research are Driving Change
- Pursue side gigs on freelance sites
Freelance websites like Upwork and Fiverr are job posting boards. If you have a skill you can translate into freelance labor, such as programming, graphic design or writing, you can use these job boards to take freelance side gigs and earn money very quickly. This is good money you can segue into a career with an internet connection and some skills.
You make an account on one of these sites, then bid on available jobs from prospective clients. If you get chosen by a client, you can complete the work to the client’s specifications and get paid. Some jobs can be completed quickly (and many clients will be very pleased with your speed of completion).
If you do a good enough job, you can eventually build up a reputation as a reliable freelancer and start working as one more consistently. The most successful freelancers do it as their primary career, earning decent incomes while enjoying the freedom and flexibility of working on their own schedules.
Eventually, you can make a small business from this quick-money strategy. Depending on your niche, you can develop online courses, land gigs as a virtual assistant or earn slots as a recurrent contributor for press organizations.
Time to set up: Hours.
Time to make money: Days.
Requirements: Skills and qualifications for freelance work, a computer and any necessary software.
Related: Freelance Writer – Entrepreneur
- Try pet sitting and dog walking
Apps like Rover are excellent opportunities to make money fast, particularly if you like animals. If you’ve ever wanted to be a pet sitter or make money walking dogs, playing with cats and watching other people’s pets, this is the opportunity for you.
Pet sitting and dog walking can earn income in less than a day. Once you make a profile and fill it with important information on the pet sitting app of your choice, you can accept pet sitting and dog walking requests from potential clients immediately.
There’s nothing better than making money while taking care of animals, especially if you’re a pet lover or pet owner yourself. Plus, if you do a great job, any pet parents will pay you a bonus or premium fee to secure your services when they go on vacation or have an emergency to take care of. Remember that it may take some time and successful jobs as a pet sitter before the big bucks start rolling in.
Time to set up: Hours.
Time to make money: Hours.
Requirements: Pet sitter app, a smartphone and pet supplies (such as leashes and bowls).
Related: 7 Quick Ways to make money Investing $1,000
- Consider babysitting
Babysitting can be just as rewarding as pet sitting and potentially just as profitable, if not more so if you find jobs on social media. However, people vet their babysitters a lot more strictly than their pet sitters in most cases.
With babysitting, you usually can’t rely on an app like Rover. Instead, you’ll need to develop a reputation as a good babysitter in your area, then apply to job boards or get referrals from your current clients. Babysitting is an excellent way to make money quickly, however, as many parents require fast babysitting solutions on short notice (for example, if there’s a family emergency they need to respond to).
If you keep your schedule open, you can respond to those babysitting requests as soon as they pop up, making some extra cash for little more than watching someone’s house, playing with kids and making sure they go to bed on time. This part-time job is free money in your bank account if you have the right temperament.
Time to set up: Days.
Time to make money: Varies.
Requirements: Babysitting supplies and a mobile phone.
- Host guests on Airbnb
Airbnb is a highly popular app for homeowners, and for good reason —; it allows them to rent out the real estate they don’t use to travelers and tourists coming to their area.
By hosting guests on Airbnb, you can make money quickly, as you’ll receive your income as soon as your guests arrive.
Airbnb hosting isn’t without its struggles and potential pitfalls, however. When you host your property on Airbnb, you are responsible for ensuring the property is ready for guests and ensuring that the guests have everything they need to have a good time. After the guests leave, you need to ensure that your property is ready to go for the next set of guests.
That said, if you have a great property or a spare bedroom in a prime location, there’s a lot of potential to make tons of cash by renting it out on Airbnb. It’s also a much more productive use of the space than simply letting it sit unused by anyone.
Time to set up: Days.
Time to make money: Varies.
Requirements: Home or spare room to rent and an Airbnb account.
- Become a delivery driver
Delivery driving is one of the best side gigs since it’s easy to pick up, and it relies on having a few things that almost everyone already does: a vehicle and a smartphone. When you become a delivery driver, you can work for many different rideshare and food delivery apps, such as Lyft, Uber Eats, Instacart and DoorDash, and start making money in minutes.
You’ll drive to and from restaurants, drop off food at delivery locations, and watch your app for delivery jobs as they ping you. If you have hours to kill and want to earn some money with a minimum of setup and without leaving your vehicle often, this could be a perfect opportunity.
For Instacart and similar platforms, you will be a delivery driver and shopper all in one, helping customers obtain and deliver groceries and other items.
However, you do need to join those companies as a delivery driver through a traditional process. You should expect to submit a resume, sit through an interview and submit to a background check. That could take several weeks to complete, so don’t expect to become a delivery driver in a single day if you need cash fast.
Time to set up: Weeks.
Time to make money: Hourly, once employed.
Requirements: A car and a smartphone.
Related: 44 Side Hustle Ideas to Make Extra Money in 2023
- Do odd jobs
Lastly, you can also make money quickly and boost your personal finances by doing odd jobs around your neighborhood or local area. There’s a good chance that people in your local community need a variety of jobs done, like:
Home or neighborhood repairs.
Grocery shopping for older people.
Groundskeeping or yard work.
Many of these jobs are just waiting for an appropriately skilled handyperson to come to tackle them. If you already have decent tools and the skills to get the job done, why not do these odd jobs and get paid?
If you like it enough, you can advertise around the neighborhood. You can also use apps such as TaskRabbit, which lets people around your neighborhood post available jobs. Doing odd jobs is an excellent way to earn money quickly since most of them allow you to get paid as soon as the job is done, and most of these jobs can be completed in a matter of hours, if not sooner.
Time to set up: Hours.
Time to make money: Hours.
Requirements: Handyman skills, tools and an app profile.
Start making money fast
The above 10 ideas are just a few ways to make money fast. The sky’s the limit, so use your imagination and prepare to put your nose to the grindstone.
To learn more about personal finance and other topics, check out Entrepeneur’s other articles for more information.
The article first appeared on Entrepreneur Staff.
