Any ideas on ways to earn money on the side?

[Proud Liberal Dem]

Like just about everybody not in the 1% nowadays, we've become somewhat underwater with our bills and miscellaneous expenses and my wife and I have been trying to figure out some ways to earn some extra money on the side without having to actually work a second job which, for the most part, is pretty impractical given that we have 3 kids and I work for CPS which is almost somewhat of a double job IMHO. I have some talents that I think that I could parlay into a side job but am somewhat unsure how to get started. For one, I enjoy writing. I'm working a book though it has been somewhat of a slow process but I also enjoy blogging about things political (here and elsewhere) and people seem to enjoy my writing. I would like to find some way to get paid for it, though. I had a perch on Examiner.com for awhile but I earned virtually nothing and, frankly, felt that the content rules were too restrictive. I have found that most newspapers hiring for columnists for real writing gigs seem to prefer people with journalism degrees.
I'm also pretty well acquainted with computers but mostly the basic stuff. I can troubleshoot a lot of software problems and can crack open a computer do some minor installation work.
Anybody have any ideas about side work? Is there anybody out there doing stuff "on the side" that is working out for them and if so, how did you get started? Any ideas and/or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Flaxbee]

1. there are some sites where you can 'hire' your time out

and do what you've talked about - some writing, some software troubleshooting -- but I don't know how easy or difficult it is to get established enough to get a good quantity of work.

I have a blog I'd love for you to add to, though I can't pay because it isn't making any $$ ... but if you want to get your work out there, I have a forum ... DU is a forum, too, so I don't know if my offer helps much. But it's a political site - I accept both left and right points of view - but I don't have a lot of time to create original content, which I'd love to include.

I'm very tired right now, but I'll try to find the names of those online hire-yourself-out sites for you Tuesday.

A friend of mine supplements her income by making and selling earrings locally (she lives in a tourist area). She hasn't ever tried to get her stuff online at Etsy where she might actually be able to increase her sales.

Can you fix electronics? You could always buy broken or donated items from Goodwill, thrift stores, etc. and fix them to resell on eBay or at a local flea market if you have one.

Instead of writing a book - how about how-to pamphlets that you could sell on Amazon?

Some of it depends on how much you need to earn extra per month to get ahead ...

Anyway - I just wanted to reply to you. Will get back to you shortly.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

2. Thanks for your suggestions

I saw your previous e-mail and may consider contributing to it when I have an opportunity.

[Flaxbee]

3. Hi PLD -

OK, I cannot vouch personally for any of these sites, but a friend's (ex) boyfriend made decent money ($250-400 for a paper - not sure how long of a paper, though) at www.odesk.com He'd crank out 4+ per month, depending on his availability. Maybe some other DUers can give more specific details / experiences.

There are others:
Guru.com
Elance.com
GetAfreelancer.com
Scriptlance.com
RentAcoder.com

I think you need to be willing to work for not a lot of $$ at first to build your reputation - and at odesk.com there are maybe a million freelancers listed - so you have to work to stand out. My friend's ex has been there a while and has established himself.

But - might be worth a try. That, plus making/selling things and eBay might be good options.

I hope this helps.

[BlueToTheBone]

4. Have you tried Elance?

I hire temps from there frequently. Good luck

[Proud Liberal Dem]

5. Thanks for the suggestion

I'll check it out!