Month: September 2016

Crazes and fads are an exciting prospect for marketers, and also quite scary.

How soon is too soon to jump on the bandwagon and try to make money off of the back of the latest thing to create a buzz?

Too early and you could be wasting time and money on a flop; too late and you could miss out on gaining traction in the market.

Take Pokémon Go for instance. This app filled with fun and crazy characters has just exploded worldwide.

While it’s been 2 months since its initial release, the game is still going strong and there has been a flood of ways to make money from it.

How then can you make money with Pokémon Go?

Become a Pokémon Trainer

Pokémon fans have wanted to actually be a Pokémon trainer since they were kids, and while the reality has come one step closer with the app, there’s still some way to go.

That being said, not everyone who plays Pokémon Go fully understands how to play it, I know I had some difficulty and battling is still just mashing the phone for me.

If you’re skilled and knowledgeable with Pokémon Go you could hiring your “training” services out for an easy $20 or more per hour.

You can offer your services locally on sites like Craigslist.

Sell Your Pokémon Go Account

Much like selling a World of Warcraft account back in the day, people are willing to spend a large amount of money for a pre-existing Pokémon Go account.

The selling price will depend on several factors including team, player level, and what Pokémon’s are on the account.

If your account has a rare Pokémon type then it could easily fetch several hundreds of dollars.

You can sell accounts on eBay and sites like PokeTree.com.

Bear in mind though that selling an account is technically against Niantic’s (the people behind the app) terms and conditions.

Get Paid to Drop Lures

In the game, dropping a lure will increase the chances of Pokémon appearing at Pokéstops.

The odd thing is, people will pay others to drop a lure, especially businesses close to Pokéstops.

Imagine a café that is next to a Pokéstop and suddenly a bunch of people turn up to hunt Pokémon.

Of course they’re going to want to sit inside in the warmth and have a drink at the same time, so café’s like that are more inclined to pay people to drop lures at specific times of the day and to advertise that fact.

This sort of service might not net you much per lure but you could easily buy the lures via the app and mark them up for a profit.

Why don’t local businesses do this themselves you may be wondering? Well some do, some even hire or pay staff to specifically focus on it. Others however aren’t technical or are just too busy serving customers.

Card Collection, Games and Memorabilia

While the buzz is high, anything related to Pokémon is selling like hotcakes! If you have any memorabilia now is the time to drag it out and put it on eBay!

Become a Driver

While Pokémon Go is designed to get people out walking there is a demand for Pokémon drivers.

Via cars, or even buses, Pokémon drivers take their passengers to a wide variety of different Pokéstops and Gyms around their locality which may not be accessible to people normally because they are so far away.

Drivers can easily charge $25 an hour for this service, for example PikaSpeed charges about $30 – $45 per hour.

If you’re an Uber driver you could even incorporate this into your service, for free or paid.

Design tools and apps

While there’s no direct API for the game, it hasn’t stopped people from data mining the app and creating all sorts of crazy services and tools such as the PokéAPI, Silphroad, PoGoToolkit and Poke Assistant.

You could earn money by creating similar apps and services or by using the existing ones to create new and innovative services.

Walk the Walk

If you don’t drive or prefer the fresh air, why not charge for walking?

Pokémon walkers will take someone’s account and do the walking needed to hatch eggs.

Generally you can charge $1 per kilometer so $2 for a 2 kilometer egg, $5 for a 5 kilometer egg and $10 for a 10 kilometer egg.

Hacks

Hacking the app is obviously against the terms and both the hacker and hacked can get their accounts banned. Many people are still willing to take the risk and if you’re technically minded, hacking the app for others can be very profitable, from $25 to $200 per hack.

There are several types of hacks, the most common being to trick your phones GPS into thinking you’re moving when you’re actually sat on your couch.

Another is to get unlimited Pokéballs.

IF you can come up with the same or even more desirable hacks, people will pay for them.

Write a guide

Every marketer out there knows that guides, tips and training sell!

Creating an e-book or short video course outlining how to use the app, the best ways to find rare Pokémon, tips for training and battling and so on can easily make a profit if marketed right.

There are numerous ways to promote something like this: get the e-book on Amazons Kindle e-book marketplace, sell it on Craigslist, advertise your own site selling the book and so on.

Craft Pokémon Items

If you’re into arts and crafts, creating and selling Pokémon related items could easily turn a profit. Etsy is full of Pokémon stuff, from Charmander panties, Bulbasaur planters and actual Pokéballs!

The possibilities are endless with this type of gig.

The Bottom Line

Like any fad, Pokémon Go will eventually run its course, but seemingly not for the near future. Niantic has many plans up its sleeve to try and expand the features, reach and commercialization of this popular app.

While it’s going strong it makes sense for marketers and anyone wanting to make a little bit of cash to jump on the bandwagon.

I’m pretty sure you’ve heard the often quoted phrase

“You must spend money to make money”

That advice is over 2,000 years old and nowadays it just doesn’t always apply.

The reality of our modern world is that it is possible to make money with no money whatsoever.

How then can you do this?

Time vs. Money

The thing you need to understand here is that if you have no money, you need to replace it with something else: time.

Time is after all, money!

Time is valuable to everybody which is why so many people out there use cash to obtain things that they could actually do themselves, just to free up their time.

This is where you come in; you take their cash and give your time instead.

Ways to sell your time

If you have access to an internet connection then there are a million and one ways to give your time in exchange for cold hard cash, here’s just a few of them:

Fiverr

Fiverr.com is a marketplace where people sell services for (in theory) $5 dollars. It’s changed recently so people can charge much more than that.

Not only is the marketplace proven, but people will buy all sorts of stuff, from proofreading to video testimonials, to logos and coding.

There are a lot of options and a large variety of them will cost you nothing but time.

Upwork

This site is more aimed at people hiring freelancers, but the basics are the same. If you have a skill you can promote, you can swap your time and energy for money.

Unlike Fiverr where you can sell yourself singing happy birthday in your birthday suit, Upwork is more professional so you will need to have a skillset.

Swagbucks

If you prefer to sit on the sofa and earn cash why not check out Swagbucks? This site allows you to earn cash from surveys, web browsing and more. They even give you $5 just for signing up!

MechanicalTurk

Like a cross between Fiverr and Upwork, Amazon’s Mechanical Turk is a marketplace for micro jobs. The system is designed to use crowdsourcing to perform jobs that computers can’t currently do, for example:

• Inputting specific values from an image
• Label objects displayed in images
• Internet research
• Classifying tweets as useful or not

The rewards are low but the tasks are generally easy.

Do the hustle

Using time to create money doesn’t have to be about working for someone else. Instead you can use that time plus a bunch of free services out there to actively create an income.

Take affiliate marketing for instance. While it’s not the fastest way to do it, you could start with a small free website such as one at Blogger, Hubpages or Squidoo.

Each of these sites offers the ability to get your content out there and potentially earn cash from affiliate marketing.

YouTube is another great opportunity. All you need is a video camera and an idea. If you don’t own a video camera, then use a webcam or smart phone. Borrowing one from a friend or family member is an option too.

Social networks are another great place to make cash just by using your time. Take Instagram for instance. By posting great photos it’s possible to get tapped by a company to do product placement and advertising.

Sometimes you do need to spend money

Once you’ve earned some cash, now would be the point to stop trading time for money and start spending your cash to create more cash. The reason is simple, if you continue to trade time for money you won’t make as much money as you could by spending money to make money.

You could start by teaching yourself to create an online business, that way you invest in your own future.

Or you could invest that cash for more short term goals like creating a website to promote your skills through or even hiring someone to do what you’ve been doing but at less than you charge.

Automation of your tasks is also a great way of spending cash to help speed things up and/or free up your time, to allow you to do other things to make money.

The Bottom Line

The reality is clear: while in the beginning selling your time for money pays off, it’s not a long term solution.

Far from it, instead you should see it as a stepping stone to building up enough money to really start your own business and start spending money to free up your time instead.

If you’re serious about investing a small amount to learn and grow and make more money online, then I’d suggest checking out sites like Wealthy Affiliate which are an affordable way to learn to earn.

Online businesses are a great source of side or even full-time income. However, that reality occurs after a period of months, if not years. What if you need some extra money today, not three months from now?

To this end, there are many upon many resources available to you so that you can make some spending cash fast. Here are just 50 ways you can generate a quick $50:

Sell stuff

1. eBay– The all-time biggest, oldest and favorite place to sell your unwanted clothes, jewelry and other tchotchkes is eBay.
2. Amazon– The other major online marketplace is Amazon, where selling fees start at 99 cents.
3. Bonanza– Sell your stuff here and keep 97% of your profits.
4. Craigslist– This site works well for local sales of items that need to be seen before they are purchased; some examples include motorcycles, furniture and used electronics.
5. Consignment shops– Your dressy and/or trendy clothing can fetch a good price at local consignment shops, and you’ll keep a portion of the sale.
6. Half.com– This book selling site will carry your tomes for months or even years until they sell.
7. Used book shops– If you sell your books at used book stores (e.g., Half Price Books), you get cash on the spot. These places also usually accept your used DVDs and CDs.
8. Gift card sites– Cardpool and CardCash will accept your gift cards and give you a majority of their value in cash.
9. Used smartphone sites– Consider selling your used smartphone through a site like Gazelle or NextWorth.
10. Garage sales– If you have a weekend, you can organize your unwanted stuff and sell it by having a garage sale.
11. Nextdoor– The neighborhood social media site Nextdoor offers an area for neighbors to post stuff for sale.
12. TeachersPayTeachers– If you are a teacher, you can make money here by selling your old lesson plans.
13. CourseHero– Sell your class notes here and earn up to $10 per carefully annotated lesson. Nexus Notes is another marketplace where you can sell your class notes.
14. Foap– Your vacation and landscape photos could fetch you $5/piece when you list them on Foap.
15. Your hair– OnlineHairAffair will sell your cut, undyed hair for hundreds of dollars.

Sell your skills

1. Fourerr and Fiverr– If you can edit a document, create a graphic, or record a voiceover, you’ll quickly make money on microjob sites like Fourerr and Fiverr. You can also package your services and charge $10 or higher for these add-ons.
2. Tutoring– Sites like WyzAnt and Tutor.com pay you to tutor people either online or in person.
3. oDesk– This site enables you to sell services like freelance writing, editing, graphic design, etc. on a per project basis.
4. Amazon Turk– This micro-job site allows you to complete small jobs like testing links or proofreading a document for quick cash payouts.
5. TaskRabbit– If you are OK with doing small tasks in town like waiting in line for event tickets or picking up dry cleaning, this site is for you.
6. Microworkers– Test websites, post tweets, and do small tasks for small (but quick) dollars on this site.
7. Constant-Content– Earn tens or even hundreds of dollars by selling your articles or answering requests for written content.
8. Textbroker– Earn up to 5 cents per words for your freelance writing- or even higher for personally priced projects.
9. Internet research– Experts123, Web Answers, Yahoo! Answers will pay you for your carefully researched and posted answers to user questions.
10. Test scoring– Score tests like ACTs and SATs through testing sites ACT, the ETS Online Scoring Network, Pearson Assessments and Write Score.
11. Etsy– If you have a bunch of homemade arts and crafts, you can make money for them here.
12. Cafe Press– Upload your designs and photographs to this site and make money whenever someone buys a T-shirt or coffee cup containing your work.
13. RedBubble– This site will transform your photos and drawings into posters, T-shirts and stickers, then sell and ship your sold merchandise.
14. Society6– This site will also transform your artwork into sellable items like iPhone cases, wall prints, pillows and laptop sleeves.
15. DeviantArt– This site might be the place to sell your artwork if it’s not exactly “run-of-the-mill” and/or features comic book style design.
16. Technical support– Sites like AppleCare, ComputerAssistant and PlumChoice are always on the lookout for people who are tech-savvy and can provide technical support to customers.
17. Craft fairs– Sites like Festivalnet list upcoming craft fairs in your area, where you can sign up to sell your photos, greeting cards, handknit items, etc.
18. Feastly– Like to cook? Then cook for others right inside your home and earn money while doing so.

Sell professional tasks

1. SitterCity and Care– Register as a sitter on these sites and get paid to babysit and/or engage with an older adult who requires supervision.
2. Call center agent– Available as seasonal or full-time work, many customer service jobs can be completed from home. Amazon is looking for seasonal customer service reps and paying $10/hour. There are also sites like LiveOps and Arise.
3. Survey taker– Various online survey sites such as 20/20 Research, Opinion Outpost, Pinecone Research, Swagbucks, and Toluna will reward you for your opinion about a product or service.
4.  Leapforce– This site hires search engine evaluators to evaluate websites for usability and cohesiveness.
5. Uber– If you have a car, you can make money by driving people around town as an Uber driver.
6. Moving stuff– If you have a pickup truck or a large van, you could hire yourself out as a mover.
7. Presto Insta-Shops– This smartphone app enables you to mystery shop on-the-go. Some tasks are quite simple to complete, such as taking photos of a drive-thru sign board, or applying for a store credit card.
8. Swagbucks– Get rewarded with Swagbucks for doing tasks like viewing a video, searching a website, or filling out a survey. Redeem your Swagbucks for cash in the form of Paypal payouts or VISA gift cards.
9. Pet sitting– FetchPetCare is a national pet sitting service site where you can list your availability and preferred pets, then collect money through the site once you’ve completed your pet sitting session.

Rent stuff out

1. AirBnb– Rent out a portion of, or your entire home, to travelers looking for a place to stay.
2. HomeAway– Earn money by having others rent your entire vacation or second home.
3. FlightCar– If you’re flying somewhere, you can park your car at the airport and have it rented out to other people.
4. Parking space rental– If you live within walking distance of a sporting event or concert, you could rent out your driveway and even entire yard to people who need a place to park.
5. Loanables– This site lets you rent out almost anything, from your clothes to your boat.
6. Zipcar– You can list your car on this site and have people pay to rent it out by the day or week.
7. Spinlister– This site allows you to post your sporting and recreational equipment including your road bikes, kayaks, fishing rods, weight sets, etc.
8. Desktime– If you have an unused bedroom or office in your house, you can rent it out through this site to telecommuters and contractors that don’t have a stationary office.

Do you have other ideas on how to make some cash fast? Post them in the comments below.