Find a Second Job
To make ends meet in a challenging economy, Americans have been seen working two jobs or taking on part-time work when full-time positions are harder to land.
Here are some specific ideas and resources to make it happen for yourself that come from our brand new book on making money from home: Will Work From Home: Earn the Cash Without the Commute, which is available on BarnesandNoble.com and Amazon.com or at your local book stores. (If you purchase the book online, email your e-receipt to [email protected] and we’ll upgrade you for free to a premium membership ($38 value) to the Women For Hire Network.
Work from home opportunities: We have an entire section devoted to this type of work.
Pursue direct sales: Direct sales allow millions of people to realistically bring in a couple hundred dollars a month. The Direct Selling Association is a good resource to start.
Connect with a global marketplace: oDesk and Elance offer a combined 20,000 opportunities per month for talented professionals to connect with businesses of all sizes in need of services ranging from writing and editing to software development and graphic design.
Scour Craigslist: For odd jobs, temp work and assorted other opportunities, Craigslist always has a wide range of stuff listed, so check your local listings on the site.
Hourly and part-time work: SnagaJob is great resource for finding hourly and part-time opportunities. Also, be sure to look at your local newspaper’s online job board. For example, in New York, the online job board of the New York Times website has better local opportunities than the largest national job boards, Monster and CareerBuilder.
Turn crafts into cash: If you make something by hand, you should be selling on Etsy. Whether it’s jewelry, clothing, illustrations, ceramics or edibles and more, this is the site for you.
Online tutoring: If you’re interested in tutoring, but unable to drum up your own clients, consider working through Tutor.com , TutorVista, among others. (Each site operates differently, so do your research before deciding on the right fit for you.)
Provide care-giving services: There’s big demand among kids, seniors and pets for care-giving services. Fetch, Sitter City, Care, Senior Helpers, and Home Instead are among the sites to explore for immediate work.
To make your availability known within your community, don’t be shy about talking to everyone about the services you offer. Make flyers or business cards that clearly explain what you offer and how to reach you. As long as it doesn’t jeopardize your employment, talk to people in your day job about what you do on the side. An office manager who moonlights as a photographer can often land new customers for parties and portraits through her co-workers. A teacher usually can’t tutor her own students, but her peers can refer families for extra help. Be sure that it’s not against company policy for you to work on the side.