There are realistic and legitimate ways for you to boost your income by $500 or even $1,000 per month, without spending a ton of money and time to get started.
Before I share them, I should be clear: It's not easy to earn extra money. It requires real work and a willingness to try new things. Many people who start a side business feel uncomfortable or lost at the beginning. That's simply part of the process.
That being said, here are two ways that you can earn an extra $1,000 each month without spending money to get started and without working all day, every day.
TaskRabbit
TaskRabbit is a service that connects people who are willing to pay for jobs with people who have the skills to perform them. The person posting the job can list the maximum price they are willing to pay for the particular task. For example, someone might need their dry cleaning delivered and would be willing to pay up to $15 for that task. Once the job is posted, different people bid on the job and the lowest bidder wins the job.
Before you start, TaskRabbit requires that each person go through a background check, video interview, and screening process. Once that is done, you'll be available to bid on jobs and earn extra money.
The payment varies by job and location, but there are a wide range of options for a variety of skill sets. While browsing the TaskRabbit website, I found a man named Dan in San Francisco, who has performed hundreds of delivery and moving jobs, which typically pay $30 to $45 per task. Then I came across a woman named Elizabeth, who so far has completed 117 research tasks. According to TaskRabbit, her last job paid between $34 and $48. I also found Mark, a handyman in Boston, who has completed more than 120 odd jobs for people in his area. According to TaskRabbit's data, handyman jobs typically pay $50 to $80 per task.
The downside? TaskRabbit is only available in nine cities across the country. You have to be in a heavily populated area, like San Francisco or Chicago, to reap the benefits of the service.
Additionally, you'll be competing with other people for TaskRabbit jobs and this drives the prices down. Often, jobs will go for less than $30 per task. If you're out of work or have plenty of free time, then that's no problem. However, if you're trying to supplement your income and only have a few extra hours to work each week, then it might be hard to make a substantial amount of money that way. If that's the case, then I recommend option two.
The Remora Method
A few months ago, I started doing research on how people earn more money. I found services like TaskRabbit, but I also found something very surprising. There is a group of people consistently earning extra money by doing the complete opposite of what most people do. Let me explain with a quick story.
There is a small fish called a remora and it uses a special fin to attach itself to the bottom of a shark. While safely attached to the shark, the remora is provided with transportation through the water, protection from predators, and scraps of food. In exchange, the remora cleans bacteria off of the shark.
Just like the remora and the shark, you can form a mutually beneficial relationship with a business and earn extra money. For example, I came across a woman named Lisa who sold Mary Kay makeup in her small town. Instead of going door-to-door, she partnered with a local store that didn't have makeup in stock. They shared the profits and one year later Lisa was making more than $50,000 from this side business.
You can do the same thing with coaching, consulting, or any service business. For example, Drew, a website consultant from Ohio, partnered with a social media marketing agency in his area to work as a subcontractor. The agency brought the clients, he brought the skills, and everyone shared in the profits.
This approach of creating mutually beneficial partnerships where you bring a skill and the other side brings paying customers is what I call The Remora Method. This method seems to work for anyone who wants to offer a product or service, and it makes it much easier to build a profitable business from scratch.
What makes The Remora Method useful is that you don't pay for advertising or marketing and you don't need to buy a storefront or start a website to get in front of customers. You simply partner with someone who already has the customers you want to sell to and share the profits with them whenever they make a sale for you. Just like the remora and the shark, you can form a mutually beneficial relationship with a business in your area or industry.
Whether it's performing odd jobs for TaskRabbit or building a side income with The Remora Method, the fact remains: it is possible to earn extra money, even if you don't have a lot of time and money to spend to get started.
James Clear is the founder of PassivePanda.com, a website that shares the best ideas for earning more money.
