If you haven’t already, go ahead and read my post on How I Make Money Blogging. Considering I haven’t made much money with this blog (yet), I know you were wondering how I managed to eat. My survival currently depends on a few thing such as keeping expenses low and hustling like a mutha. Side hustles are my thing, but to put them in perspective I wanted to share with you how I make money outside of blogging.
Here Are the Ways I Make Money Outside of Blogging
I’ve been an advocate of multiple streams of income for years. When I was a teacher, I always looked for ways to supplement my income because your girl here really liked to shop. So, I thought I would publish this post showing you guys some of the ways I make money that does not involve blogging. This is something I considered doing when I start posting monthly income reports. Until then, I don’t think it would hurt to give a glimpse of how I bring in income to pay bills and eat (since many people were concerned I was missing a few meals – not).
Here are a few of the ways I make money outside of blogging.
Business Coaching
I mentioned coaching in my post How I Make Money Blogging, but I included it on this list because I do work with entrepreneurs who do not run online businesses. I mostly help them to set up their business as well as gain clarity about running an online and “traditional” business. I am not a graphic designer, but I have a basic knowledge of computers and offer a WordPress set-up service for those who don’t.
Direct Sales and Network Marketing
I’ve participated in direct sales and network marketing for over 20 years. My mom and aunts always bought from Avon and when I was 18, I signed up to become a representative. Though I didn’t remain with Avon long (I bought more than I sold), I continued to bounce from company to company as either an independent business owner or a customer.
I’m not a great sales person, but if there is a product or service I believe in, I don’t mind telling my family and friends about it. Having said that, I am currently an independent business owner for two companies Total Life Changes and Melaleuca. Having lost my mom to cancer over a year ago, I believe in doing what you can to live a healthier and cleaner lifestyle. I’ll write a post later about each company and my participation in each.
I hope to increase my participation in both companies, especially since I believe you’ll get out what you put into them. Direct sales and network marketing have gotten a bad rep over the years, but the industry speaks for itself. Pyramid schemes do exist, but because of laws and regulations, the companies that participate in that behavior don’t stay around long. There are reputable companies out there and many people are making money from these companies. According to the Direct Selling Association which regulates the industry, there are over 20 million people involved in some form or fashion, most likely as a consumer. I just recommend that people do their due diligence when selecting a company and stand behind products and services that they really enjoy.
Writing
I’m not a great writer by any means, but I love to write. I write not only for my blogs, but I also write and publish books on Amazon. The course K Money Mastery helped me with my Kindle publishing strategy. One of my books, How to Make Money Planning and Hosting Cabarets is published on Amazon and is part of their Direct Kindle Publishing program. Participation prohibits the book being available for sale on other platforms.
I’m in the process of writing an ebook for this blog and when I’m finished I will be sure to let you know. I am currently in the process of writing an ebook that I may sell on this blog. Amazon is great for the exposure, but there’s a cap on what most people expect to purchase an ebook for when on Amazon.
Online Surveys
I have to admit that I don’t make a lot of money filling out surveys. Most of it has to do with the fact that I’m not really consistent in completing them. However, I do earn money or gift cards by participating in online reward programs, which most of them offer surveys you can complete to earn points that can be redeemed for cash, gift cards and more points. Most of them also offer referral programs you can credit for sharing your link with family and friends. Click here to see which online rewards I participate in.
Selling on Craigslist and Amazon
Whenever I get low on cash or otherwise have junk I have no clue what to do with, I’ll post on Amazon or Craigslist. Now my junk may surely be someone else’s treasure, so I use the term lightly. Some items I have sold either on Amazon or Craigslist are an old Kindle, an IPad, exercise DVDs (which I probably should have kept) and many textbooks. Depending on how fast I needed the money or how much I could get for the item depended on which platform I would sell it on.
I would probably make a good side income with selling items in my home I no longer need, but I haven’t put that much effort into it. Most of it has to do with the fact that I no longer binge shop like I used to, so I have less clutter and junk just lying around. Most of what I have now is what I use and can’t seem to part with.
Affiliate Marketing
As I’ve mentioned before, I love affiliate marketing. I became involved in affiliate marketing ever since I learned what it was and decided this was how I was going to make money online. I mention affiliate marketing on this list because before I started blogging, I created and published niche sites. These websites were four or more pages surrounding one product. You may have noticed these types of sites as either product reviews and comparisons. You probably landed on a page after putting into the search bar “Which is the best diet pill to lose weight” or “iPhone vs Android” and noticed that the author gave the pros and cons and included links to purchase these products. These are affiliate links!
As bloggers we include affiliate links within our blog posts, however, these niche sites had no other purpose than to educate you on a product or service with the hope you will buy them. The purpose is not to build relationships with their readers because they don’t want you to leave with hopes of coming back, they want you to buy right then and right there.
I’ve had niche sites on diet pills, skin-lightening creams, diabetes diet plans as well as a supplement that lowers cholesterol. I don’t focus on these sites as much because they’re pretty much hands-off. I used to have about 10 niche sites, but since then I have let go of the ones that were not performing.
My goal was to create one new niche site each month, but this has had to take a back burner because I’m now laser-focused on this blog and my relationship/dating blog. You can read how I make money blogging.