When I reviewed my goals after Q2, it struck me how far behind I was on my goal to earn over $1,000 in “Other Income” during the year. My goal review article talks about it at length, but what I realized is that the means in which I was trying to earn income were very time-consuming. It takes a while to buy video games, list them, ship them to the buyers, and so on. You get the drift. When you travel for work like we do (although my travel is way less than Lanny’s travel load), it is difficult to cram the necessary steps for many “other” activities in the weekend. Especially when you want to catch up on as much blogging as you can on your days off. For me to hit my goal, I am going to have to change my approach to earning other income from a labor intensive operation that requires a home base to a mobile operation that can be performed from anywhere. So here I am, in my hotel room, brainstorming 5 ways for earning income online. As you all know, we love Top 5 lists on this website!
For some of you, you may read a few of these items and say…DUH. Of course all of those options are available. However, I wanted to highlight a few of the plans that will be front and center and occupy some time of mine each evening as I try to increase my top line as much as possible. If you know of any ideas, PLEASE add them to the comment section of this article! Warning, there will be affiliate links for a few of the items.
Method #1 – Swagbucks – Lanny and I have talked about Swagbucks a lot on this website and it has produced a good amount of income/gift cards for both of us. Swagbucks is really easy to use and you earn points by searching using their browser, watching videos, answering polls, participating in surveys, or participating in random contests/activities on the website. They also offer daily bonuses and additional Swagbucks for heavy users that meet their daily goal. So if you commit to it, the bonus Swagbucks can add up quickly. This has been my most preferred method of earning income online while traveling since it is simple and fun. We also wrote a review of Swagbucks a few years ago that we recommend you check out. As mentioned earlier, here is our affiliate link if you do decide to sign up and give it a whirl!
Method # 2- Online Surveys – Another low investment method for earning online income. Even though Swagbucks has a survey function, it doesn’t offer as many opportunities to earn income as your powerhouse survey websites. I recently signed up for Toluna Survey Center and have enjoyed using the website so far. The cost per survey isn’t as high as Swagbucks though, but it gets the job done. What I love about the concept of online surveys is the mobility of it all. If you want to earn income one night, all you need to do is open your laptop, hop on the wifi, and log in. The one downside is that the time per earnings ratio isn’t as high as other methods. So this may not be the best option for some people. Some of the other websites to consider include Vivatic, MySurvey, and OnePoll. However, I haven’t checked those websites out yet so I can’t give you my opinion.
Method #3- Inbox Dollars – Lanny introduced me to this app last year and I haven’t been using it that much recently. Similar to Swagbucks, it is an app that rewards you for participating in surveys, engaging in activities, and even just watching advertisements through the website. It is easy to use as well. So now, I just need to hop on the hotel’s wifi and start (Link to the right) Inbox Dollar-ing while I am just lying around.
Method #4 – Exercise Apps – I’ll be honest with you, this one was new to me and now has me really excited. As I was researching ways to earn money and brainstorm for this article, I stumbled across the concept of apps that will pay you to exercise. Who would have thought that you can convert your steps into cold hard cash (or gift cards). Luckily for me, I pace when I do everything so my step count can accumulate rapidly throughout the day. I would love to be able to generate cash without having to change my habits. I still have some more research to do and have to find the best fitting app. But this article I read on Money Pantry will be a great starting point. If any of you use such apps that can connect to a Fitbit, please let me know in the comment section!
Method #5 – Good Ole Fashion Blogging – Well, this technically isn’t a new source of income. However, part of me thinks that I should focus my time spent on a hotel on writing articles, interacting with the community, following new people on Twitter, and trying to grow our new Facebook page. We have advertisements on our website and as you know, the best way to increase advertising revenue is to increase your page views. So maybe I should spend this precious time in the evening focusing on interacting with all of you in the community because let’s be honest, I love this community. So many great ideas are shared among each other. I could use that time I was spending on a survey to find the next best stock, add to my watch list, and so on. You get the drift. Focus on the things that will impact me personally, financially, and most importantly, are the most fun to me. After our wedding, my wife and I have been trying hard to focus on doing the things that we get the most enjoyment out of. I know that sounds basic, but that hasn’t always been the case as we speed through our busy lives.
summary
So there they are, 5 ways I am going to try to maximize the ways I am earning income online while travelling for work. During my last goals review, I found I was behind on my other income goal because I didn’t have the time at home to generate income through flipping or other means. So these five methods of earning income online are my potential solution to the problem. Will they work? Will I be able to make a decent amount of income from these sources? Will the amount earned be worth the time spent earning the income? Who the heck knows! But you know what, there is only one way to find out….right? As Lanny always says, every freaking dollar counts in our relentless pursuit of financial freedom!
Do you use any of these websites? How do you generate income online? Are there other methods for earning income online that I am not considering? Do you use an app that pays you for exercising? If so, what are your thoughts about the program? Please everyone, let me know your thoughts!
-Bert
Getting paid to exercise sounds like an awesome deal! I will look into this because it may be a way to get paid for something I already do.
I have been using Swagbucks on and off just because I hate to take surveys but the payout can grow pretty quickly if you are consistent! Blogging still provides me the best monthly income so far so hope to keep growing that once I begin working. One awesome way to earn money online is to do website reviews or become a VA if you are great at technical or social media, heard it pays pretty decently.
Stefan,
I still haven’t had a chance to look into the exercise apps, but doesn’t it sound like it is too good of a deal to be true. There has to be a catch and if there is, I will find it! The swagbucks per survey can add up. It sometimes is hit or miss, and that can be aggravating to keep trying and get rejected (although you get a 1 SB bonus for trying!). I don’t get too worked up about it though because I’ll take the surveys while I’m watching TV or Netflix. Trying to turn that time into productive/income producing.
Blogging has definitely been the best source of income, so I am not trading off blogging for the other income sources on the list. I appreciate the tip about website reviews, I’ve never considered that. Sounds like it would be a great activity for a hotel room when you don’t have too much going on. Thanks for the advice!
Bert
I’m on the road these days with the family but never considered these points, except for the ‘good ole fashion blogging’ which I’m doing as I currently visit Seattle 🙂 Thanks for the tips!
Glad I could help you out. Still love blogging the best though! How can you give up interacting with this community?? Enjoy your trip to Seattle!
Bert
It is always good to have multiple sources of income. That is just more money to help grow the snowball even quicker. I have participated in the swagbucks and inbox dollars before but I am not a fan of taking the surveys for such little payout, so I just used them for the search feature which takes even longer time.I am interested in finding ways to put my fitbit to work for me, so I will probably be looking into it. I hope things have been going well for you. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks More Dividends! Things have been going great for me, thanks for asking! Every dollar helps when you are trying to push that dividend snowball further and further down the hill. Swagbucks search feature is nice to use. When I’m at work, I just use their browser for anything I would typically search in Google. I probably get 30+ SBs each day I use this method. I don’t typically take surveys on the website unless I have a lot of time budgeted, because it can definitely take some time. The exercise app is a really cool concept to me. People wind ways to monetize everything, so why not take advantage of the free cash while you can.
Bert
Thanks for posting these as I’ve not tried most of the items on your list before. What would you estimate is the $/hr you could earn using Swagbucks for example?
Blogging as you mention can be a great way if you’re successful but as you say, it can also eat up all your spare time especially if you’re a full time employee. Unfortunately, the last thing I want to do to my readers after they they like me enough to read my content is to hit them with ads, so there will be a balance there!
No problem John. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and leave a comment! The $/hr isn’t that high for Swagbucks, I’ll be honest with you. However, I like to use Swagbucks when I am watching TV, a movie, or a sports game. During these times, I would just be sitting there watching TV anyway not really doing anything. So having SB on in the background allows me to turn time that was typically earning me $0/hr into time that is earning at least something. And honestly, it doesn’t really impact my TV experience either.
There is definitely a trade-off with ads. I hate going to websites where you spend more time navigating around advertisements than reading content. We believe here that strong content will drive the ad revenue, so why not use your valuable real estate to pump as much great content as possible versus selling out for cheap ad space. I haven’t stopped by you blog yet, but I will have to check it out now!
Bert
That sounds like a sweet deal. It may not be a super high $/hr but the beauty seems to be ultimate flexibility.
Exactly. It is easy enough and kind of fun. Let’s me take relax while earning a small amount of cash on the side. Trying to squeeze something out of nothing here haha
Interesting topic! I enjoy blogging and the process of researching new investment ideas so thats primarily what I focus on. I’ve found that spreading focus on other things while I’m starting out with anything leads to substandard results across multiple things, rather than really getting some traction with one thing.
I’ve also found that renewing focus at work can be really beneficial. Those hours I might spend dreaming up new ways to add passive income can sometime pale compared to the reward of going over and above during my 9-5.
Australian,
Isn’t researching new investment ideas awesome? It takes some time to find you niche and groove, but once you do, the blog really gets rolling. If you love writing about investment ideas and research, than keep it going! Of course renewing focus at work and earning pay increases through your employer will always provide a large splash. Personally I like to brainstorm both haha But seriously, the most important thing is increasing your top line so yo ucan retire as fast as possible. There are many ways to do it: through passive income, through wage increases, you get the idea. All ideas are good as long as it keeps you moving forward and getting closer to reaching the endzone!
Thanks for stopping by and the comment!
Bert
I actually sale live animals on eBay. I’ve sold shipping supplies and office supplies on there as well. It does allow me to continue making money while I’m away. However, I usually have to be back within a week at most to make sure I can ship out the items sold while I’m gone. So, it’s not totally hands off.
It is a lovely feeling though to be out spending $ on a dinner and then get a eBay alert that you sold a product and then you realize you essentially got a free dinner =).
Woah! I was not expecting to hear about someone selling livestock on Ebay when I wrote this article. how did you get involved in that? Is it your own livestock or are you representing a third party and handling the listing for a commission? I could imagine the excitement that comes when that Ebay notification comes. I love getting an amazon shipping update that tells me I have X days to ship something. I know the cash will be following soon.
Thanks for stopping by!
Bert
Just started about as a hobby with aquariums. Then i had a lot of success breed some species of fish and invertebrates. So, now I do that and yes the inventory is all my own. Just kinda stumbled on it, I never had the intention of running a small business from my house.
Interesting article Bert. I will look into Swagbucks, although not sure it is available in all countries. I have been doing some Toluna surveys, but find the earnings very small compared to time spent, although it may be higher in the States. My passion remains finding good stocks and reading about investing and other investors, hopefully in the future that will translate into a blog that people enjoy, but my primary aim is to earn 95% of my income through dividends. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Tycoon! Each one of these methods may work for some people and not for others. I’m still new to Toluna and I am trying to figure out if allocating time there versus Swagbucks and blogging will be worth it in the long run. In the end, you have to find what works best for you and run with it. I’ll always have a passion for finding great dividend stocks. And that will become even more of a passion once the market cools off a bit haha
Thanks for taking the time to read my article and comment. Enjoy your weekend!
Bert
My guess is that using that time to fill out surveys is much better spent working on the SEO on your site (either on-site updates or off site linkbacks – guest posts and comments). Just a thought.
Very valid point. The SEO work is the roll up your sleeves and get dirty work that isn’t sexy, but produces great results. I’m not using those other websites to take away time from commenting and participating in the community. They will focus more on occupying the “other” time that I am not using for the blog.
Bert
I signed up for swagbucks but haven’t had a chance to fully utilize it for extra income. It’s also been hard to blog lately with the full time job and coworkers wanting to socialize almost every single day. I love the weekends because it gives me time to get my work weapons ready for the upcoming week, especially with blogging. Need to grow that extra income somehow!
Glad you signed up! It is at least worth exploring and seeing if the site works for you. It isn’t for everyone, but I enjoy it and I know that Lanny LOVES it haha. Don’t give up on socializing with your workers. That is usually a lot of fun and you need to make sure you take the time to enjoy life and interact with some friends. Sometimes that can get lost when you are focusing so hard on working and building your income up. The weekends are a great time to relax, reload, and get a new slew or articles ready to be published! Let us know what you think of Swagbucks!
Bert
Swagbucks surveys ended up being a waste for me. They would get me through 5 minutes of a survey and then disqualify me. Every time. Very frustrating.
Some descent ideas, but as some may have already mentioned the rewards is very minimal for the amount of time put in on the majority of these sites.
Any extra time I have I like to use to update my watch list, analyze stocks, set price and dividend yield targets for stocks, research new possible candidates to add to my 100 plus watch list.
From my experience I feel the amount of time and effort doing these things will net an extra $1000 annually much quicker (primarily from picking better entry points on equities) than the numerous hours spent on some of these sites.
I love your blog but just wanted to provide a possible different course of action in regards to utilizing your free time that will in my opinion reward you much more than these sites could on a long term approach.
Also like compounding dividends, I like to think there is compounding knowledge, where as the more new information you can absorbe now and then combine with previous knowledge will lead to some very wise decisions when it come to overall finances and stock selection in the future.
It’s quite easy to make money online. You can start your own business easily. Just create a website. You’ll have access to the entire web and unlimited selling potential.
The risk and investment is so minimal, and the earning potential is huge. You can outsource freelancers for cheap to do all the technical parts.
Just find your niche, you don’t need any previous knowledge or skills to build a website. All you need is the perfect idea!
Another resource I like is buysellmethods.com …I got there some really good methods how to make cash online.
Great article
I tried all kinds of ways to make money online.
What works best for me is Koocam.
I teach my hobbies, and sells my knowledge in any field that I’m good at
It’s great