Whenever I talk to moms, they usually tell me that an extra $500/month steady income would completely change their financial situation forever. That really seems to be the sweet spot for a lot of people.
How about you? How would making an extra $500/month help your financial picture?
- Would it mean less time away from your kids?
- More time with family?
- Would it mean you and your husband wouldn’t fight so much about money?
- Maybe that’s how much it would take for you to take a desperately-needed vacation?
Regardless of what you need the money for, I’ve helped many women be able to add $500/month and much more to their income long term. My journey to start making money from home started 17 years ago! I definitely feel like I’ve seen it all in that time. As a single mom, I am able to support myself from home and not miss those important moments with my kids…and I don’t want you to either! That’s the whole reason I started this blog!!!
Here are my absolute favorite things I love to tell my friends about when they ask me how to make money from home.
5 Real Ways to Add $500/month Steady Income
1) Become a Virtual Assistant
With all the work that goes into blogging (for me to complete ONE post that you see as complete, it takes me about 3-7 hours from start to finish to promoting). Many bloggers get burned out easily or they are working so much, their families take second priority. They are looking for help. That help comes in the form of a virtual assistant. A virtual assistant (VA) is just that. You assist them virtually, online.
Perhaps they need help with keeping on top of social media. Maybe they need someone to take creative pictures for them of recipes or creating roundup posts where you simply find 20 of the best ____ and create an article out of it. Some bloggers need help sorting through hundreds and hundreds of emails they get PER DAY! You can be sure there are a lot of tasks that you can help with on the side and earn money for your family, all from the comfort of your own home!
If that’s something that interests you, check out my Honest Bloggers Academy course, which includes how to make real money as a virtual assistant. It’ll help you get started the right way into the world of becoming a virtual assistant.
One of the best things you can do right away is to start getting involved on Facebook and look for VA groups. In the VA groups, you can learn a LOT about how everything works and how to get bloggers to pay you. You can learn tasks to do so that you are knowledgeable.
Also, start learning social media ASAP. Take one platform at a time and learn all you can about it so that you are good at it. Most bloggers I talk to, the first thing they need help with is social media. Having these skills already is necessary since most bloggers won’t have time to train the basics. The more you know, the better.
2) Sell on eBay
Last year, I stopped selling on eBay. I couldn’t handle both full time eBay and full time blogging and I had to chose. But even on eBay, I was making more than a full time income selling children’s toys. This option is a very fast and easy way for beginners to get started on how to make money online, and the more items you have listed, the more of a steady income you can make. When I was selling, I had about 700-1,000 items listed within about 500-600 ads. It’s a lot, but selling duplicate toys is the easiest way to go because you don’t have to take a bunch of pictures for every single item all the time, just once for each ad.
There is a lot of help on how to start up a thriving eBay business here on the site in my eBay section. Pretty soon, I’ll be coming out with a whole program on how you can do it to that will really help! I can’t wait to introduce you to it!
3) Sign up for a direct sales or network marketing company
There are a ton of scams out there in this field, so you definitely want to be careful. In this post here, I talk about the 20 best (scam-free) companies to work for. You can find a representative in the post or you can ask a friend. More often than not, someone you know is already in a fantastic business and can help you get started. All you have to do is ask around!
One of the ways I like to find other women who work in a company is to post a status update on Facebook simply asking my friends. Many people will respond and you can go through and research to find the company that is a good fit for you.
If at all possible, find someone with the best sales record you can. They will be willing to help you and can take you farther in the business than say a friend just starting out. If it were me, I’d go with someone making $5k/month over a friend making $500/month any day, but most people don’t and that’s why they don’t get very far! Be very careful who you sign up under because in most companies, you can’t change that spot and you’re stuck FOR-EVER!
This has been my biggest mistake by far.
In one company I joined under someone I had a gut feeling couldn’t be trusted, and she ended up stealing thousands of dollars from me by some sneaky tactics. I don’t know how she sleeps at night, but it is ultimately between her and God and since I am saved and she most likely isn’t, I get the winning end of the stick. 🙂 The bottom line is, be extremely chosey who you join under.
4) Start a blog
This isn’t for everyone. It takes a LOT of hard work. I’ve worked this blog 80+ hours a week since I started it, but, blogging is THE most funnest job I’ve ever had and I’ve had some pretty impressive banking jobs in my time. It’s so rewarding truly making a difference in people lives, touching their lives and hearts all the way across the globe. If you are willing to put in the work, you can make a good living blogging. Way more than $500/month in the long run (think 6 figures a year), but it does take time to increase income in blogging and not everyone makes that much. It all depends on your blog, your ideas, and ultimately you.
If you think that blogging might be the path for you, here are a couple fantastic articles that can help:
• My step by step VIDEO tutorial for how to start up a blog, so that you are confident in knowing how to do the techy stuff to begin
• 47 Reasons to Start a Blog, to see if it’s right for you
• How to Start a Money Making Blog, a guide to help walk you through some of the big decisions when starting up a blog
In those articles, I give all the information you need to know in order to take that first step, including video’s to help you get started and on your way!
5) Write articles for websites
Writing is another option if you are looking for work from home jobs to earn some extra income. There are many sites out there that will pay you to write an article for them. Again, being a blogger is hard work. Sometimes a blogger will hire someone to write for them because they need a short break, sometimes it’ll be because they want to offer their readers a unique perspective on something they don’t know about. Sometimes, bloggers who post deals all the time need content to fill in the gaps between the deals. Whatever the reason is, there are many bloggers that are willing to pay you for your words and if you are trained in SEO, you will make the most amount of money.
But be careful….there are a LOT of scams out there wanting to teach you SEO or do it for you and it’s really not that hard at all. They make it more complicated than it has to be and charge thousands of dollars.
I hope this article helps you get started in the right direction. If you still can’t find something that works for you in this list, stay tuned, because I’m about to blow your mind with all the information that will be coming your way toward this Fall. 🙂