The Branded Daily Digest

Tag: make money

  • How to Make Money at Home From Your Couch

    How to Make Money at Home From Your Couch

    You might be daydreaming about a long road trip more than ever right now. With summer and good weather on the horizon, it might be time to sit down and plan that road trip. Unfortunately, you might realize it’s going to cost a lot more than you thought. Lucky for you, we’ve compiled a list of easy ways to make money at home from your couch. You can earn this money outside your full-time job to help you save up for your next road trip.

    Blogging

    If you enjoy writing and feel passionate about a particular subject, it might be time to write down your thoughts and upload them to a blog. Blogs are an easy, fun way to get paid for expressing yourself. 

    To start making money from a blog, you first need to pick a niche. Make sure it’s a topic you have a lot of knowledge and passion for – if there’s no passion behind your writing, your readers will know. Some of the most profitable niches are food and nutrition, wellness and fitness, travel, making money or saving money.

    Once you figure out your niche, pick a name and create your website. You should also create social media pages specifically for your blog. To make money from your blog upfront, you can set up ads and use affiliate links. The larger the audience you build, the more likely brands will sponsor or pay you to run their ads on your blog. Although this isn’t the fastest way to make money from home, it can turn into a lot down the line as your audience grows.

    Sell Things You Don’t Use Around Your Home

    When’s the last time you went through your home to get rid of items you no longer use? Some of those items might be worth a pretty penny if you sell them online. Go through your home and make a pile of things you want to get rid of and then list them online on websites like OfferUp, Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. You don’t have to leave your couch to make the sale. You can even have your customers pick up their purchases from you. Not only do you get to declutter your home, but you get to earn money for your road trip in the process!

    Stream Yourself Playing Video Games on Twitch

    If you enjoy video games and don’t mind people watching you while you play, turn your nightly hobby into a profit. Twitch is a streaming platform made specifically for gamers. All you need is a webcam to record yourself playing to get started. To start earning money on Twitch, you need to build up your followers. When you have a decent number of followers, you will earn money from advertising revenue and being sponsored. You can also sell merchandise through Twitch to earn money!

    Sell Handmade Goods Online

    If you’re a crafty person, put your artistic skills to use by selling handmade goods online. You actually don’t even need a natural knack for art; you can learn how to make homemade soap, bath bombs and other goods that don’t require a special set of skills. Once you create something to sell, head over to Etsy or Handmade by Amazon; you can even create your own website. There are endless ways to make money from home from selling handmade goods.

    Publish an eBook

    You don’t need a literary agent to get one of your books published. If you’ve always wanted to write a book or have a collection of short stories or poems you would love to publish, take the self-publishing route. Aside from taking the time to format an eBook, it won’t cost you anything to publish your work in this medium. You can purchase printed copies of your book to sell on various websites, too. After you publish your book, every sale that comes in will act as passive income. If you’re wondering how to make money sitting on the couch, writing and publishing an eBook is the perfect way to do it.

    Work as a Freelancer and Make Money At Home

    If you have writing, editing, graphic design, web development or programming skills, taking up freelancing on the side is one of the best ways to make money from home. Search for freelancing opportunities by mingling with local business owners or marketing yourself online. You can also find work by applying to freelance positions offered by companies. Once you have a steady number of clients, you will have a side income ready for you to save for your upcoming road trip every month.

    Social Media Influencer

    A social media influencer is someone on social media who has enough followers to make companies want to sponsor them. So how many Instagram followers do you need to make money? It depends. Some companies only want to work with people who have millions of followers, while others will work with those who have more modest followings. It really comes down to engagement. If you have fewer followers but high engagement, you’re a more ideal sponsored influencer than someone with tons of followers but no engagement.

    If you want to become a social media influencer and make money, decide what niche you want to grow a profile of. You don’t have to post endless selfies to become an influencer. You can create a page that’s nothing but memes, or post daily pictures of your super-intelligent dog. The key to gaining followers and sponsorship is sticking to one field. To find brands to work with, sign up for one of the many influencer marketplaces to find a match.

    Aside from sponsored posts, you can also make money from your couch by using affiliate links or selling clothing or items in an online store. You can also use your influencer status to direct your followers to your blog or handmade goods you’re selling. Becoming a social media influencer opens up a lot of ways to earn money on the side.

    Take Online Surveys

    Another way to make money from your couch is taking paid surveys online. Online survey companies – like us here at Branded Surveys – pair up with big companies who need panelists to take their surveys. These companies need responses to their surveys to conduct market research. This market research is then used to make important business decisions related to creating new products, changing marketing strategies or getting to know their target audience better.

    When you create a profile with us, you will answer a series of questions about yourself. We use your answers to these questions with our Survey Matching Engine to pair you with surveys you’re qualified to take. These surveys will then pop up on your dashboard. After completing the survey, you will be awarded a certain amount of points. Best of all, you can take surveys from home at any time you want! 

    We also offer other opportunities to earn points fast. Our members can refer their friends to work with us, answer daily polls, participate in challenges or complete service offers. Once you earn at least 1,000 points, you can redeem your points for gift card rewards or cash to put toward your road trip.

    Getting paid for your opinion is a fun and easy way to earn extra money to save. What are you waiting for? Hop on your couch and sign up for an account with Branded Surveys to get started!

  • 12 Ways for College Students to Make Money Online

    12 Ways for College Students to Make Money Online

    It’s no secret that going to college is expensive. From paying for tuition to finding funds for books and housing, it’s no wonder that college students are broke. Balancing classes with internships can leave little to no time to make money. Fortunately, you’ll find plenty of online jobs for college students to make money that don’t require much experience. Learn how to make money online without compromising your grades.

    1. Start Freelance Writing

    One of the best online jobs for college students with no experience is a freelancing writing gig. If you can write grammatically correct sentences, you can likely make money as a writer. Freelance websites like Fiverr or UpWork let you apply to freelance writing gigs like blogs or website copy. Once you gain more experience, try finding your own clients. You can also look for freelance positions with marketing companies to gain steady, high-paying work. If writing isn’t your forte but you love grammar, there are also lots of gigs for proofreading and editing.

    2. Become a Virtual Assistant

    Juggling college, internships and a social life requires excellent organizational skills. One way you can put these skills to use is by becoming a virtual assistant. Business owners live hectic lives and often don’t have time to respond to emails or organize projects. As a virtual assistant, you would respond to emails, schedule meetings and handle other small tasks. These are easy side hustles for college students because they don’t often require experience, they have flexible hours and you can work on them from anywhere.

    3. Create YouTube Videos

    Yes, people can actually make a living creating videos and posting them onto YouTube. With no experience needed, you can transform your hobbies, creative ideas, thoughts or basically anything into a video, upload it to YouTube and potentially earn money from it. The more followers and views you have, the more money you can make in ad revenue. Although it can take a while to build up followers, it is possible for college students to make money from creating YouTube videos.

    4. Sell Design Work

    Students studying to become graphic designers or artists can use their skills to make money online. You can sell prints of your work or even have your designs printed onto clothing or other materials to earn money. If you’re already creating these design pieces for classes, why not make money from them? You can also make money by offering custom design services like designing print designs, logos or even illustrations. Not only will this help you make money while you’re in college, but it will give you the work experience you can use to help you land a job after graduation.

    5. Try Online Tutoring

    Online tutoring is one of the perfect ways to make money online for college students. It’s often extremely flexible in terms of hours, and you can choose which subjects you would like to tutor in. There are lots of different websites that can connect you with students who could benefit from your knowledge. Since it’s based online, you can work from anywhere, tutoring students around the globe if you so choose. Tutoring doesn’t require any experience, only knowledge, and expertise in the subject you wish to tutor about.

    6. Start a Blog

    If you’re still searching for online jobs for college students with no experience, think about starting a blog. All you need to do to make money from a blog is to find a subject you’re passionate about and write continuously about it. Once you launch your blog, you can make money from selling ads or using affiliate links to make small commissions on products you mention. The more people visit your blog, the more money you can make. Once your numbers are high, you can even reach out to companies related to your blog’s topic to see if they would like to sponsor a post to promote their company or the services or products they offer.

    7. Sell Arts and Crafts on Etsy

    Arts and crafts are a great stress reliever and creative outlet…and a great way to make money online. Etsy makes it easy to sell arts and crafts of all sorts to buyers around the world. Whether you work with oils and watercolors or prefer creating lotions, jewelry or custom furniture, there’s a market for you  to make money on Etsy.

    8. Create an Online Course

    If you have extensive knowledge about a particular subject, creating online courses is a great online job for students with no experience. Similar to tutoring, the only experience you need is extensive knowledge about a single subject. Whether you’re good at marketing, public speaking, writing poetry, painting, fixing cars or doing math, creating an online course is an easy way to make money online. Once you’ve created the course, keep up with your marketing efforts – it can provide you with lots of passive income over time.

    9. Become a Translator

    If you know a second language fluently, why not put your bilingual abilities to good use? Just like freelancing writing, you’ll find tons of online jobs for college students at home that require translating. You can find translation gigs or even steady work with international companies. Landing one of these gigs is easy as long as you can write correctly in both languages. You can even create your own translation samples to help you stand out more.

    10. Do Transcription Work

    These days, accessibility is more important than ever. This is great news for college students who want to make easy money at home. Working as a transcriptionist either transcribing audio files like podcasts or audio on video files is an easy way to make money in the comfort of your home. These types of jobs don’t require experience, only the ability to transcribe accurately while using correct grammar.

    11. Do Voiceover Work

    If you have the perfect radio voice, there are lots of online jobs for college students to make money working as a voiceover artist. Many businesses need voiceover artists to simply record themselves reading scripts that will play over promotional videos. No experience is necessary, but it wouldn’t hurt to create a few sample recordings to make yourself stand out from competitors. As long as you have a good microphone at home, working as a voiceover artist is an easy way to make money online as a college student.

    12. Fill Out Online Surveys

    Another online job for college students to make money without experience is filling out online surveys. Anyone can sign up for an account to fill out online surveys for money from their participation. Here at Branded Surveys, we use our Survey Matching Engine to pair users up with surveys they meet the general requirements for. The software looks at each user’s profile demographics to determine if they’re a potential match for the survey.

    Once you’re paired up with a survey, you will take it, answering each question honestly. After the survey receives approval, you will earn points for your time. You can then redeem your points to earn gift cards or cash. You can take as many surveys as you like! We also offer other opportunities to earn additional points through daily challenges, polls and our loyalty program, Branded Elite.

    If you’re a college student who wants to begin earning money online, sign up for an account with us to start taking online surveys today!

  • 6 In-Demand Jobs that Require Little to No Experience

    6 In-Demand Jobs that Require Little to No Experience

    Have you ever searched for a job online? Maybe you’ve experienced what I have. Many sounds like good opportunities, until the end of the description where it says: “Minimum of ___ years experience required.” Yikes. If we haven’t worked in the field and can’t get into it without the experience, it becomes a cycle of being unable to land such jobs. Luckily, there are still solid industries offering jobs that require little to no experience. Many of these industries not just stable, they’re growing.

    Here are 6 such in-demand jobs that require little to no experience.

    Delivery Driver

    Have a driver’s license? If so, you probably qualify to be a delivery driver. Drivers’ duties mostly revolve around transportation, but often require some loading, unloading, invoice checking, payment accepting and such, as well.

    Experience does have a slight effect on the hourly rate, but not a vast amount. The average wage for American delivery drivers (according to PayScale.com) is $12.66, with the hourly ranging anywhere from $8.29 to $20.07.

    Home Care Aide

    Have a passion for helping people? You don’t have to be a nurse or doctor to assist patients in need. Home care aides are in-demand jobs that require little to no training. Often working at care facilities or directly in patients’ homes, these health care workers assist adults who are elderly or disabled with the little things in life.

    Home care aide duties often include taking care of laundry, cooking, cleaning, and tidying. As a home care aide, you may also help teach patients about proper nutrition and cleaning techniques.

    According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2014 home health aides earned an average of $10.77 per hour. Remember: With the aging baby boomer population, this is a job with growing demand.

    Check out home health aide positions near you (and their going rates) at sites like www.Care.com.  

    Bill Collector

    Named the best business job by the U.S. News & World Report, a bill collector is an important job in demand. With the growing costs of healthcare and the post-economic collapse, there’s a lot of debt needed to be collected (something some of us may, unfortunately, know about already).

    According to this article, “the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts employment growth of 14.7 percent for this profession by 2022, leading to more than 58,200 new positions.”

    The average debt collector earns $13 an hour, and, as the main task is reaching out via phone calls, it’s often a job you can do from home. Some call experience is preferred, but not mandatory, and training is almost always provided.

    Security Guard

    Ever imagined yourself on shows like CSI? Dreamed of catching real-life bad guys? Turns out, you can deter illegal activities, enforce proper procedures and save the day (or the Rolex or Gucci wallet…) without having to be on the police force.

    Security guards are needed at all types of establishments. According to SnagAJob.com, the majority of companies that hire security guards, such as casinos, nuclear power plants, hospitals and banks, hire people around the clock. Because there is a constant need for security, this job offers a lot of flexible hours to work.

    Almost all security guard training is on the job; many companies don’t even require a high school diploma to land the initial position.

    The average security guard wage? $11 per hour.

    Garbage Collector

    Don’t talk trash about this job until you hear a garbage collector’s average pay. In the USA, a garbage collector’s average salary is $32,720; exact wages depend on the geographical location.

    (If you happen to live in New York City (NY), Merced (CA), Santa Cruz (CA), Las Vegas (NV) or Seattle (WA), a garbage collector is an especially prime opportunity. These cities offer the highest wages for garbage collectors.)

    School Bus Driver

    The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round…only because there’s someone driving it. Every day kids are in school, school bus drivers are getting them there.

    Making an average wage of $30,651 dollars a year, school bus drivers require little training to start. Besides needing a license, a school bus driver may require a high school diploma and some experience preferred, not mandatory.

    It might not be on the literal job description, but the main requirement of a school bus driver? Patience. Serious patience and compassion. Because when you throw 20+ kids on one bus, life gets real.

    For More Job Opportunities

    Head onto www.Craigslist.org and check out the local job section. You never know what types of jobs that require no training will be posted. Just make sure to look out for scams. If your gut tells you to walk away, follow it. Also, if consider making money from surveys if you want to work online on your own time.

     

  • 15 Unusual Ways to Earn Cash Fast

    15 Unusual Ways to Earn Cash Fast

    Like conventional ways of making money? A 40 hour a week, 9 – 5 job? If so, apologies, but this isn’t for you. In this blog post, we’ll be diving into unique ways to earn cash fast that aren’t in a standard office. Here are 15 unusual ways to earn cash fast. 

     

    Rent Out Your Car

    We’re not talking about you taxi driving people around town; sites like GetAround.com and RelayRides.com are car-sharing websites that let you rent your car out to users in need. That could be a week or month, or just an hour or two. If you’ve already paid (or are mid-paying) off your car, you may as well make easy money off it. 

     

    Take Paid Surveys

    Do you find yourself scrolling mindlessly through newsfeed online? Instead of doing that, you can be more productive and take surveys for cash. You can take them anywhere, anytime using your phone or computer. Once you complete paid surveys, you can cash out your points for cash or earn Amazon gift cards. It’s your choice!

     

    Teach the Language You Already Speak (Online)

    Praised by companies like Mashable and Techcrunch, Italki.com is a site devoted to getting users from around the world fluent in a language. In Asia, for example, there’s a very high demand for English teachers.

    Go on the site, scan the requirements and set up your account to become a tutor. You set your own rates but expect to earn about $14 to $19 per hour to start. 

     

    For a Fiverr

    Fiverr.com has been dubbed the market place for getting what you need done. Whatever niche skills or services you have to offer? People can pay you $5 for them.

    Design a logo. Record a couple of lines in a sweet Southern accent. Draw a picture of the buyer caricature style. Even if you just did a couple of gigs a day for five days, you’d earn $75 extra bucks for doing something you probably enjoy.

     

    Sell What Your Body Won’t Miss

    This may sound odd, but there are parts of your body that you can legally (emphasis on legally) sell for money. This includes plasma ($300 per month), hair ($100 – $4,000) and breast milk ($1 – $2 an oz.).

    Selling such items through proper organizations is totally legit and often goes to really important causes. Check out this article at The Guardian to get the full scoop on how to participate and how much you can make at: How Much Can You Get For Selling Your Body (Parts)?

     

    Turn Your Home into an Air BnB

    Have a home? Space for an extra person(s)? Rent your home out to people seeking a place to stay on AirBnB.com to make extra money fast. Your home is sitting there anyhow, so post it online and see how much you can make. (Plus, it’s a fun way to meet new people.)

     

    Sell Stuff on Craigslist

    Move in with your boyfriend and now have 2 of everything? Have kids who outgrew that Lincoln Log set? Put it up on Craigslist; you can make fast money for selling items you don’t use anymore.

     

    Become a Lyft or Uber Driver

    Earlier I suggested renting out your car to make quick cash. If you don’t feel comfortable handing over your keys to a stranger (totally understandable), here’s another option: become a Lyft or Uber driver.

    You get to pick your own hours and, depending upon the diversity of your neighborhood, meet people from all around the world by picking them up and taking them to their desired location via the mobile app. (Plus, let’s be real, you’ll have really entertaining stories to liven up any dinner party.)

     

    Sell Clothes You Don’t Wear

    Have clothes you no longer wear? Check out our blog: How Your Old, Unwanted Items Can Earn You Money.

     

    Fill Out Your Rebate Forms

    Pull out those rebate forms and receipts offering special deals; you know the ones. Most people don’t, but doing so is one of the easiest ways to make money fast.

     

    Do Tasks for Amazon

    Ever wanted to work for Amazon? You can. Just sign up for Amazon’s Mechanical Turk program.

    It takes less than a minute to sign up; from there, you can do easy tasks to make money fast.

    A few tips to make more money:

    1. Avoid tasks that only pay in single-digit cents; it’ll take you far too long to make good money that way. (For example, anything that pays $0.09? Leave it.)
    2. If you can write quickly and in an easy-to-understand manner, focus on writing-based tasks like reviews and email write-ups; they tend to let you make more money faster.
    3. Make sure to take any “tests” that you’re prompted with. When you take these tests, you’re unlocking opportunities and tasks that’ll make you more money faster.

     

    Make Money for Your Homemade Creations

    Have an artsy side? Make crafts and sell them on Etsy.com; you’d be surprised how much money you can make on Etsy.

    If you’re skeptical, here are some Etsy statistics that may help convince you.

    There are 19.8 million active buyers on the site, purchasing products people just like you make. In 2014 alone, 4.3 billion Etsy search pages were viewed, and Etsy garnered an annual revenue of $195.6 million.

    Wow. Wouldn’t you like in on some of that?

     

    Download Easy Money Making Apps

    In this age of smartphones and apps, there are many ways to make easy money fast on the fly. To learn about such apps and the tasks they require, head to: Apps that Make Money for Things You Already Do.