If you are a student or maybe in between jobs right now, you might have a lot of free time on your hands. Why not use it to make some money on the side?
Rather than spending your time playing video games or binge-watching the latest trending show on Netflix or Hulu, how about doing something productive?
Time is an extremely valuable resource. It’s something we can never get back, and if you have a lot of it, you can literally use it to turn a profit.
Sure, you will need to put in the effort, but you’ll be surprised at what you can do. In this article, we’ll go through three creative ways to monetize your free time.
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1. Affiliate Marketing is Legit
Affiliate marketing often gets a bad rap because some people believe it’s a tactic that uses manipulation to sell products and services.
However, that’s not the fault of affiliate marketing. That’s the dishonest nature of people.
There are tons of trustworthy creators who use affiliate marketing! One example is Pat Flynn.
He’s an author, blogger, entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and the founder of Smart Passive Income.
Pat has done very well with SIP by offering growth and monetization classes on email marketing, community, podcasting, and affiliate marketing.
You must be honest about using affiliate links; you might even find that people will gladly use them to support you. Of course, the first step is creating a follower base.
You can do this via any social media platform or old-school blogs. The key point is to create content you are genuinely passionate about. This is what hooks readers or viewers.
It's not ideal if you have zero interest in camping, for example, but create content about it because many camping products are expensive.
You’ll eventually get burned out quick and give up. On the other hand, if you are passionate about gaming, create content about it and then naturally embed affiliate links.
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2. Teach Others Your Unique Skills
If you are at least in your teens, you have most likely developed certain skills already. Here’s the thing: You don’t have to have a Ph.D. to teach people.
If middle schoolers are smart enough to create successful online businesses via social media, then so can you.
The most significant barrier you need to overcome is a rigid mindset. Try to think creatively and find the skills you have that people want to learn. Remember, it doesn’t even have to be a big concept.
I mean, consider that there are online courses earning money every month that teach you “how to smile” or “how to talk to strangers.”
Do you see what we mean? You can take things to a micro-skill level and find a surprisingly large base of people willing to pay for your insights.
Once you identify that skill, it’s all a matter of packaging and selling.
Doing it entirely online allows you to cut down on logistics work. With AI-assisted website builders like Hocoos, you can literally have a webpage up and running within a few minutes and get to work on marketing.
If you have a decent grasp of viral marketing, you don't need to spend money here. If you don’t, no worries. With how many tutorials are available online for free, you just need to invest your time.
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3. Become an Influencer
We are still in the middle of an influencer gold rush, and even though the market is pretty saturated, there is still a lot of scope.
Yes, this method is probably the most complex, but if you can execute it, it can be extremely profitable.
Being an influencer means that, like teaching a skill, you can succeed in almost any niche. Some influencers make it big by simply making memes.
Look at Jason Chin, the creator of DailyDoseofInternet. He shares interesting videos he finds online, but that was enough to earn him a net worth of $5 million.
According to YouTubers.me, Chin also earned over $127,000 in just the last seven days.
The best part? It's not just ad revenue that generates income. Brand sponsorships and merchandise play a huge role.
Most influencers don’t aim for large follower counts for ad revenue. They aim to attract brands and businesses that end up being their key supporters.
Conclusion
In conclusion, never underestimate the power of free time. Some of the most profitable business ideas today do not require any up-front cost.
It’s an extremely rare opportunity that everyone with the time to invest should be looking at.
You don’t have to become the next trendsetter if you don’t want to. You can still make a lot of money, even on a small to medium scale.
