So, students, these days need to find work to support their cost of education. The place we live in has about 8 universities nearby. Most of the area’s restaurants are staffed with local students, waiting for jobs. I wonder if and how much time they get for their studies. I think if students can work at online jobs, they may get more time for studies, compared to the physical jobs I see them doing.

Making extra cash in your spare time should not only mean cleaning dishes or brewing coffee for customers. In this article, I’ll tell you some awesome online opportunities to earn money, by spending relatively lesser time working.

In 2014, the world saw a total e-commerce volume of $200B. A small pie of the money flow can go to your bank account if you spend 2-3 hours a day in front of your computer. Sometimes doing everything that you anyway do, like sending emails, browsing sites, etc. Sometimes by finishing some online assignments. Read on!

How Students Can Earn Money Online in Spare Time

Let’s first talk about how Students Can Earn Money Online, what are the tools needed?

You need physical and electronic contact information, the tools to do your job, and a means to receive the payment. To be specific, you need the following:-

1. A physical address
2. An email address
3. PayPal ID, to send/receive payment
4. A bank account
5. A Computer
6. Some office software (MSOffice or Openoffice or Google Docs)

Also, you’ll need to furnish your W2 information so be sure that you’re eligible to work in the country.

Now, let’s check out these sources where you can apply your skills to start making steady money on the side.

Join Freelancer Sites To Start Selling Your Existing Skills

People claim this is the easiest way to earn money on the side. But I don’t think this is true in the USA. When writers from countries like India, the Philippines, and Bangladesh are trying to grab the same project, you lose out on the pricing war. A 1,000-word article can be written by someone in the Philippines for just $5, while you, being in the US, can’t spend an entire hour earning just $5.

The purchasing power of $5 is too low in the USA compared to the Philippines. So, what do you do? You should concentrate instead on taking up specific projects that give you more bucks for your time.

Projects like essay writing, writing term papers, and thesis papers, require extraordinary skills and pay higher money and people generally tend to assign a US person for the job, instead of a person in India or the Philippines.

The worldwide web is vaster than the Atlantic Ocean for a person who has the willingness and ability to work online. Hundreds of opportunities are there to earn money such as Content Writing, Software Development, Accounting solutions, etc.

With content-related activities, there are more chances of earning money as the opportunities are more than others.

With content-related activities, there are more chances of earning money as the opportunities are more than others.

Earning Potential – Up to $500 per month, once you become an established writer. The first order is difficult to come, due to the sheer competition. Depends on the amount of workload you can take in.

Sell your Gigs on Fiverr

Do you know this site’s first logo was created by a University of Texas (UT Austin) Student, Larry? I got it done on Fiverr by him. Larry was a top seller at that time for his skills in graphics.

On Fiverr.com you can order a gift for $5, extra money if you want to customize the order and like to add on to the original offer. The seller gets 90% of the money. People can sell any of their skills that can be sent over to the buyer electronically. Be it a voiceover on a video, or sending a love song for your lover.

If you’re good at anything, explore Fiverr and see if the skill is in demand if it is, start selling and who knows, you might make it an instant hit.

Earning Potential – Depends on the hours. $5 – $50 per hour, once you’re an established seller. Wait period 1 week to 1 year. Depends on how interestingly you can present your gig and the amount of work you can do.

Earn Money While You Surf

Some sites will let you earn money while using their site/app/browser extension. I have been writing about these options, ever since I earned my money through Inbox Dollars and SwagBucks. These two sites pay for activities like surfing the net, playing online games, and using their browser extension to search the net.

Bonus, when you join these two sites, you’ll earn a $5 bonus each. That means, on day one, $10 is yours. I used to earn $15 – $20 daily with a couple of hours of sitting on the internet before I started with the blog.

Earning Potential – Up to $100 a month from each site. You can start earning immediately, there’s no waiting period. Depends on the amount of time you can spend

Start a Blog

Like physical real estate, online real estate also appreciates over time. The sooner you own a property, the better. Prices are still low. All you need to do is a web address and at least one content to place. A blog, for example, can be started in 20 minutes costing only $20. Once started, it all depends on your writing skills. The subject doesn’t matter.

On the world wide web, a site that talks about LGBT attracts millions of users every month, and a site that talks about making money attracts only a couple hundred. So, whatever it is you are good at, you need to be a good writer, to attract readers. With readers come to the money.

Bloggers, including me, earn money by placing ads on their sites, by putting advertorial posts, and by promoting products that they use they earn an affiliate commission. Bloggers create their products, like eBooks, tutorials, etc. Which are sold for a price?

Your first money can only be earned after a few months.  I started by earning $60 in my 6th month. The good news, once you have started earning, it’ll never increase, if you continue to produce new content.

Earning Potential – Up to $1,000 per month within the first 12 months. The waiting period is 6 – 9 months. Depends on your writing skills.

Take Online Surveys

Another way to earn money in your free time is to take part in paid surveys. When you are bored or exhausted, you can come online and answers survey questions. More surveys you can handle, the more money you’ll make.

Top Sites to try your luck.

• Opinion Outpost
• Survey Spot
• Survey World
• Survey Junky

Earning Potential – Up to $50 a month, you can start earning immediately, with no waiting period. Depends on the amount of time you can spend

Online Tutoring

Sure you can start tutoring your professors’ children, many students do that. But slowly, online tutoring is gaining ground.

Especially homeschooled students now tend to register for more such classes. If you are a university goer, you can teach most subjects to a middle or even high schooler.

All you need is a computer, an internet connection, and free tools like Skype, webcam, etc

Once you register to sites, such as – Tutor.com, Aim 4 A, or Tutorvista, you need to pass tests to prove your skill level. You should have a minimal level of education, though.

You can even post on local Craigslist, with your offer of online tutoring. Or can respond to someone who needs a tutor.

Earning Potential – Easily $15 – $40 per hour. You start with lower fees initially, while going forward you can only stick with higher pay offers. You start earning immediately.

The post How Students Can Earn Money Online appeared first on One Cent At A Time.

Whether your ultimate objective is income generation or long-term growth, you can benefit from using three key methods to boost your returns. Most investors fail to use these approaches and miss out on easy gains.

So how exactly can you increase your returns using stocks you already own?

3 Ways to generate income from stocks you already own

Monetizing Your Shareholder Votes

As a shareholder, you have the right to vote in a company’s annual general meetings. However, most investors don’t exercise their shareholder voting rights because they are passive investors. In fact, nearly 72% of retail investors don’t use these rights each year.

If you fall in this category, then you may benefit from selling your shareholder votes. Rather than letting these unused assets go to waste, you can sell your votes on Shareholder Vote Exchange.

Shareholder votes are generally worth 1-5% of the share price. This means that a stock worth $100 may have votes trade for $1-$5. Someone who has invested $10,000 could generate $100-$500 per year by selling their shareholder votes, depending on which companies they have invested in.

Companies that are underperforming relative to their peers are more likely to have valuable voting rights. That’s because there is an opportunity at these companies for shareholders to take control and make positive changes. When an undervalued company can reduce costs, expand in growing markets, or improve their financing structure, they are often able to unlock value and raise their market capitalization.

Although a 1-5% increase might not seem like much at first glance, remember that compounding can add up to a lot over time. By reinvesting these proceeds to accumulate more shares, one can increase the growth rate of their portfolio.

Monetizing shareholder votes can raise your returns without needing to sell your shares, invest in bonds, or any other fancy tricks. It doesn’t impact your shares and you can continue to sell your votes for each annual meeting as they come up.

Selling Options

If you are looking for another way to generate income from your stocks, then selling call options might be the strategy for you. For every 100 shares of stock you own, you can sell 1 call option to create what’s referred to as a “covered call” position.

When you sell a call option, you’re making a bet that the price of the stock will not rise above a certain level, known as the strike price, within a fixed period of time. If you sell a call with a strike price above the stock’s current price, then you stand to make money if the stock stays exactly where it is. If the stock drops, you’ll also make money by selling this call option.

The only time the short-call option might lose money is if the stock rises above your strike price. But don’t worry, there’s a reason why they call it a “covered” call. Because you also own an equivalent number of shares, any losses from the short call will be offset by gains in the stock.

This aggregated exposure puts you in a unique position to benefit from the stock staying stagnant, going up, and even going down. And once your short call expires, you can sell more covered calls to generate continual income.

The main downside to a covered call is that it limits your upside exposure if the stock rallies beyond the strike price of your option. Any increases beyond your strike price won’t affect your overall profit, which will remain fixed because the long stock and short call offset one another.

This is the tradeoff that comes with selling covered calls. You get more stability and a higher probability of profit, but it may reduce the amount you make when the stock rises too rapidly. 

For this reason, you should try to employ a covered call if you believe that a stock will have modest gains at best. Unlike selling shareholder votes, it may not be optimal in a bull market. You can learn more about the performance of covered call strategies on the CBOE’s website.

Lending Your Shares

A third method for generating income is to take advantage of share lending programs.

Institutional and retail investors often use margins to leverage their stocks by going long or short. But in order to do so, they must borrow shares from someone else who owns them. That’s where you and your investment broker step in.

Most brokers offer stock loan programs, which are a nice way to make extra money from your assets. If you enroll, your broker will loan out your shares to another investor who needs them. That investor will then pay interest for borrowing your stock. This tactic is good for long-term investors who aren’t planning on selling their shares anytime soon.

The main disadvantage of this approach is that it creates counterparty risk between you and the lender. If the lender goes bankrupt or is unable to return the shares they borrowed, then you are at risk. This risk is greater for stocks that have low liquidity or high volatility. However, most stock lending programs ensure there is sufficient cash collateral to mitigate this risk.

A second disadvantage is the lack of transparency and availability associated with securities lending. Your broker may take a substantial portion of the interest on the stock loan, and only share a nominal amount for you. Furthermore, the demand to borrow shares is inconsistent, so this stream of income may be unreliable.

And unlike directly selling your shareholder votes, this method may affect your financial exposure or tax status on dividends.

Conclusion

These three methods can be useful for those seeking to boost their current income or long-term returns through reinvestment. Alternative approaches for generating yield might include investing in dividend stocks, preferred stocks, or corporate bonds.

About the Author: Preston Yadegar is the Founder and CEO of Shareholder Vote Exchange. You can read his blogs on Medium and Substack where he covers shareholder activism, corporate governance, and financial analysis. Feel free to connect with him on social media.

The post 3 Ways To Generate Income From Stocks You Already Own appeared first on One Cent At A Time.

To help you set yourself up for a year-long journey of self-efficacy, we’ve provided you with 51 options for new year’s goals.

Also as a personal finance blog, we are listing up actions you can take to make sure you are positioning yourself for financial success. 

 Save this post,  and make notes.  We would also suggest you keep a  track of your new year’s goals by using a planner.

51 New Year Goal To Achieve In 2023

1. Make a budget

The key to achieving almost every other financial objective is budgeting. Making a budget is an excellent way to keep track of your cash flow and expenses. Sticking to one helps you with planning what you would do with the surplus. Using budgeting software on your smartphone is one of the simplest methods to keep track of your earnings and outgoing costs. There are several cost-tracking applications on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

2. Make savings a priority

One cannot emphasize enough the importance of savings in achieving financial security. If you have just started earning and have no idea about what to do with your money rather than your expenses, just start with saving for this year’s new year goals  Be strict with your expenditure so that you prioritize savings more than impulses.

3. Pay off a loan

When creating a financial strategy for the year, consider including debt settlement as one of the objectives. Start with a short-term loan that you can pay off without it getting cumbersome 

4. Increase your credit score

One of the most crucial figures pertaining to your personal finances is your credit score. Consider your credit score as a grade that demonstrates to lenders how responsibly you handle debt. This figure is taken into consideration by lenders when determining whether to lend you money and the interest rate at which to do so. Banks are more inclined to lend you money or issue you a credit card if your credit score is higher. Moreover, raising your credit score might help you save money since it can get you a reduced interest rate.

Related: How To Improve Your Credit Score

5. Open up a credit card 

Get yourself a credit card for this year’s new years goals if you do not have one, even if you do have one you can apply for a 2nd or a 3rd. Credit cards can quite be advantageous in your financial journey as you do not have to carry cash. Secondly, it boosts your credit score making money easier and cheaper to borrow.

Related: How To Pick The Best Credit Card From a Thousand Cards

6. Start saving for an emergency fund

 Investopedia states emergency funds are a financial security that creates a safety net around your family. An emergency fund is intended to serve two functions. First of all, it can aid in covering any unforeseen costs. Second, if you lose your work, it could be able to temporarily replace your income

Uncertain about the amount to save? As a general guideline, you should set aside between three and six months’ worth of spending. I personally do and recommend an 8 months’ worth of expense

Related: What is Emergency Fund, Do I Need One?

7. Buy Insurance

If you still did not buy insurance this is your sign to decide on the insurance that you want to buy. Even if insurance is based on a probability factor, this is one tool that will protect you from financial losses

Your lifestyle will determine the kind of insurance coverage you need and how much coverage you require. Health insurance, life insurance, automobile insurance, renters’ insurance, house insurance, and disability insurance are the most prevalent forms that most individuals have.

Related: Investing as a Form of Insurance

8. Decide on asset allocation

The process of allocating your investments among various assets, such as stocks, bonds, and cash, is known as asset allocation. Asset allocation analyses a portfolio to try to strike a balance between risk and return. The choice to allocate assets is a private one. Depending on how long you have to invest and your risk tolerance, each stage of your life will require a different allocation strategy.

9. Plan of investing if you aren’t already

If you have not planned about investing, start now. As intimidating as it might sound to a beginner here one cent at a time I make your investing journey as easy.

Note: It’s critical to assess your risk tolerance and choose investments that can help you achieve higher risk-adjusted returns and inflation-adjusted returns.

10. Prioritize spending money on experiences rather than a thing

Materialistic gains might give you joy, but this year try spending on experiences. Go out on a date with your partner rather than buy that sneaker you’ve been eyeing for a while.

11. Plan on your retirement

If you are in your twenties and thirties retirement might sound like a joke to you now. But thinking about your retirement objectives and how long you have to achieve them is the first step in retirement planning. It takes decades to get to the position of financial cushioning that will lead to a fun – comfortable retired life.

12. Improve your financial literacy

When it comes to making prudent financial decisions, increasing your financial literacy is a sensible step that is sometimes disregarded. Financial literacy plays a major role in your capacity to handle your money effectively. Its objective is to assist people with a fundamental grasp of finance to have a better awareness of the complexities of budgeting, tax minimization, and investment

13. Explore  a side hustle

With all the financial goals on the list like saving, investing, and paying off a debt does it not become overwhelming for your current paycheck? Here is where a side gig comes into play. A well-researched side hustle can ease you off with an extra source of income

14. Nurture an interest

Remember that wish you had while in high school to be able to play a stringed instrument? Start it this new year. 

15. Learn a new skill

Constantly upgrading yourself will help you boost your confidence and your self-worth. Try learning a new skill, be it related to your career like upgrading your excel skills, or something very different like baking.

16. Make a vision board

Have visual interpretations of all the goals and intentions that you wanna achieve this year as a vision board. Save that up as your screen saver in your digital devices so that you can take a look at it daily and be reminded of your goals.

17. Practice mindfulness

When our mind wanders, we get disconnected from our present selves and quickly become preoccupied with compulsive thoughts about the past or worry about the future. And it stresses us out. The ability to be completely present, and aware of where we are and what we are doing,  is mindfulness. This year start practicing mindfulness in everything that you do.do it in the present, with no intentions of the outcome, no worries about the future

18. Start journaling 

Journaling is a great way to keep track of the time that is passing. If not every day, journal about the days that were a highlight in the week. Keep a record of the day you had a good experience and also the day you felt you could no longer move forward

19. Get into a discipline 

Discipline is very important to keep the good going. Without discipline, no amount of life coaching can pave way for your well-being. Whatever you decide to do, you have to keep on doing it. Day one it is the motivation that strikes the match, rest discipline is what keeps it going

20. Start making to-do lists the day before

Did you ever realize how much time you just took just to decide the tasks that you have to accomplish for the day? Make this habit a thing of the past by making up your to-do lists the before.

Related:101 Ways to Beat Procrastination and Increase Productivity

21. Have a task timeline ready for about the upcoming 6 months

Have a detailed timeline of the major tasks you have to take over in the period of 6 months to a year. Use a calendar app for this purpose.

22. Think less

Life is gonna be as it will be, no given amount of thinking can change certain things from happening or not happening. Effective planning can make the curve lot smoother but uncertainty is always one step ahead. So this new year make it a point not to think too much and spiral into the web of feelings just to degrade your own mental health

23. Reward yourself

Reward yourself for every little achievement that you do. It always doesn’t have to be extravagant. Had a long predictive day, reward a cozy night and Netflix and chill to yourself 

24. Brush up your soft skills

Be it the professional aspect of your life or the personal, soft skills are what make you stand out from others. This year brush up on yours. 

25. What do you not want to repeat? 

In a list of what are the things that you want to achieve this year also have a column of things that you do not want to repeat. For example, avoid a bad financial decision you took or a certain diet that did not work out for you.

26. Be grateful

Be grateful for what you now have, where you are in life, and for whatever you made out of yourself. and who you are at this time rather than stressing about what you could be.

27. Travel bucket lists

This year have a bucket list just of places that you want to visit.

28. Try  a new restaurant each month

Try out a new restaurant each of the 12 months of the year.  Explore different cuisines from all over the world 

29. Self-care

Self-care and self-love in this era of distracting and misleading social media are so important to keep the mental equilibrium in place. Take care of yourself, love yourself a little more than the past year, cut yourself some slack, and take it easy

30. Eat healthily

This new year aim to eat healthily. Include more greens and fiber for good gut health. Cut off processed and packaged food and switch to organic at-home prepared meals.

31. Make your own breakfast 

Ditch the habit of ordering takeout whenever you’re hungry. Start prepping your own meals starting from the most basic like breakfast. Not only will it reduce the cost of meals but also is a lot healthier option

32. Cut down on caffeine after sunset

Avoid intake of caffeine after sunset for more ease in falling asleep

33. Commit to a healthier sleep cycle

Get your circadian rhythm straightened, sleep by 11 pm max, and try to get up early.

34. Practice body positivity

With all the pressures from society to look a certain kind, fit a certain box be kind towards yourself. Be positive about how your body looks and be grateful for its functions so complex for your life processes

35. Get into motion

With all the sedentary lifestyles that we are leading it isn’t a surprise we develop lifestyle diseases at such an early stage of our lives. Take out time each day to be in motion.  Target to walk 5000 steps daily, do some freehand exercises first thing in the morning, stretch out, do strength training, take the stairs, etc.

36. Make meditation a way of life

Try guided meditation to manage stress and focus better

37. Don’t neglect your dental health

Though you might be reluctant to do your health screenings at regular intervals, dental health awareness is really not as par. This year resolute not to neglect your dental health. With regular brushing and flossing, also make it a point to visit the dentist’s office once in a while

38. Dedicate some time each day to cleaning  chores

Assign 15 minutes each day to cleaning. Cleaning each day contributes to a clutter-free space. A clutter-free space reflects a clutter-free mind. 

39. Cut down on screen time

Apart from your what’s a necessity try and cut down on screen time. 

40. Reduce your waste

Go for sustainable living by reducing waste. Cut on the packaged food and shift to fresh foods that are home-cooked for better health benefits and also reduced plastic consumption

41. Avoid the negative influence

Stay away from people and environments that have a negative influence on you, make you worry, and make you feel any less. 

42. Relax 

Find time to unwind. Relax 

43. Constantly learn

Keeping yourself open to learning lifelong elevates you as a person. This year make it a point to keep a receptive mind so that you constantly learn something

44. Get more organized

Planning ahead and organizing your work will increase your efficiency and productivity. You may accomplish significant goals and objectives by maintaining good organization and creating successful strategies.

45. Get better with stress  management 

Without proper stress management, your body could be on high alert all the time without it. Chronic stress can eventually cause major health issues.

46. Do an electronic declutter

Once in a while go through your electronic devices and make them free of any united files applications. Not only will it save up space but also lets you manage and access files on  your devices better 

47. Focus on relationships

This year focus on relationships a bit more than usual. Put your phone to good use by calling up your friends and family. Make time for each. Value the importance of family in your life.

48. Inculcate a reading habit

Reading gives you life lessons. It sharpens your thinking and increases your creative ability. This year aim to finish off one book each month

49. Set intentions rather than tangible goals

A number-oriented goal is what leads to pressure and therefore anxiety and fear in case it is not achieved. This year try setting intentions like you want to get healthy and not burn a certain number of calories. It is a much more holistic approach

50. Renovate

 This year plan to renovate your study space or your kitchen. Give it a new look and a new feel to your old self.

51. Revisit your goals list to tick off

And lastly, keep on revisiting this list to tick off the goals you have achieved on the way. Be proud of your accomplishments.

The post 51 New Year Goal Ideas For 2023 appeared first on One Cent At A Time.

Little sparks flew in all these boggling minds about new explorations or just something which was always at the hind nook of the brain of something they always wanted to. A little voice and a little time give rise to a side hustle, and if it’s carried out with a bit of passion it could turn into a profitable business.

Even if the side hustle doesn’t give you scrumptious returns, an extra penny never hurts.

But starting a side gig is easier said than done. Outside of setting up the mindset to work on a certain gig, one also has to consider the startup expenses, whether or not one would be able to manage considerable time for the startup, and also if one has the energy to manifest on something new and demanding.

 According to statistics 

• 93% of working Americans have some sort of a side hustle,
• 37% started a side business to pursue a passion,
• 41 % started a side gig to spend more time on things that bring them solace.

 While it is an intriguing thing to go forward with a side gig, the biggest hurdles to starting and maintaining one are 

• Being able to make time for it (accounts for about 30%)
• Finding and working on the right idea (accounts for 28%)
• Not knowing the initial approach (about 14%)

But now that you start with one, how are you possibly going to juggle multiple responsibilities such as your full-time work, your family, and your kids, and then again find time for your side gig?

Well, as all things that seem impossible are kind of possible, the possibility of it coming into one’s consideration is the biggest proof of it being done.

Now the question arises how? As to that, we, here on the site, would help you with ways you can implement to wring out a little time from the same old 24 hours you think you make use of it to the fullest.

Wake up early

No doubt this tops the list. Waking up early in addition to several health benefits could also be beneficial to you in finding a little time to accommodate work you otherwise don’t find the time for.

Start with pushing back the waking time by small little chunks of 10 -20 minutes to finally pushing it by an hour 

• Set up a recurrent alarm: the lazy guy’s way of setting up a recurrent alarm and putting it in a place unapproachable from your bed could do wonders in compelling you to wake up even when you’re not feeling damned driven in those woeful morning hours.
• Have an early dinner the previous night: try having dinner a couple of hours before your bedtime the last night. What that does is stretches up the time you are without food, so if nothing motivates you an empty stomach looking to break the fast surely would
• Have arrangements ready for an alluring breakfast: the previous step brings us to this step which is having laid the arrangements for a good breakfast or a starting drink the night before would be the reason one looks forward to waking.
• Wake up and get going: as soon as you wake up don’t stretch in bed, get up, tie the shoelace and feel the wind outside, do a little warm-up, a jog maybe to wake your senses up
• Keeping the habit going: okay enough of trying to tie a carrot to move a donkey, now be a man and keep up the work even on weekends and on days you just don’t feel like making it a solid part of your routine.

Implementing time management techniques

• Pomodoro technique: The Pomodoro® Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. It is a structured method made up of processes, tools, principles, and values to learn how to deal with time and turn it from a vicious predator to an ally to boost productivity. It is based on a series of principles built on self-observation and awareness. it is centered around the idea that work should be broken down into regular intervals separated by short breaks. One works for a given set of time as for say the standard that is 25 minutes and then takes a break for 5 mins and continues the cycle.
• Keeping a spreadsheet accounting for the hours in a day: in this technique, one has an account of all the hours and minutes in a day. By doing so you could easily find out what eats up the exact hours in a day, how much of it is productive and how much of it is just lost as a buffer. And there’s a cent percent chance there’s always a couple of hours that just went away doing nothing, once you identify that you know the drill. One could easily find plenty of such excel  templates to maintain online  
•  Start to schedule up the night before: starting to schedule up and making a to-do list the day prior frees you up a lot of headspaces and makes room to know the priorities for the day. Blocking off time in your day also creates consistency and eliminates distractions leaving you with more time to work on your side hustle
• Align your calendar with weekly goals: schedule up all the work that you have and wish to accommodate in the following week. That lets you keep a track of all that is to be done,  lets you measure your progress for the week, and holds you accountable if you miss a day’s work so that you compensate for it by the week
• Stop multitasking: whether it’s watching television or reviewing the files of the “other work” just don’t do any of those while you’re working on your side hustle, treat it like it’s the most important thing that’s to be done at that moment in time. Putting your mind on different things simultaneously distracts you with irrelevant information causing you to get puzzled and have less clarity of mind. Eventually, the work takes up much more time for completion  in comparison to things done with undivided attention

Get past distraction

Staying at a high percentage of efficiency in the era of digital distractions can be quite a daunting task.

So how do you stretch your attention span and start producing high efficiency in whatever you do, enhancing the quality of your work?

1. One could use tech to kill tech-related distractions. Be digitally stranded for the time you’re putting into your side hustle.

2. Go old school for hind research, use ink and paper to jot down ideas, and try using apps that block notifications from the apps that you don’t wanna look at when you’re engaged.

3. Keep away the scrolling and swiping tendency away from your reach for the time being.

4. You could also try and train your mind to see the break time as a rewarding time where you could freely be just distracted.

To conclude, it’s all in willpower. If you want it, you’re gonna make time for it.

Just a little effort and a couple of extra hours each week could make a big difference in what you are and what you would be.

And, who knows if this side gig of yours makes way to a happy corporate escape and lets you be your boss for the rest of it?

As I’ve always known and followed, the first step to accomplishing something is to want it.

Wanting is the key.

Go forward and implement these and let us know in the comment section what you find the most helpful also don’t forget to add things you think that we might have missed.

The post The Art of Finding Time for Side Hustles appeared first on One Cent At A Time.

If working very hard to make a good living is the American dream, then not working so hard and making a good living is the Instagram dream. However, making a serious profit with the use of social media demands having a powerful strategy.

To learn how to make money on Instagram in 2022, keep reading below to get inspired by our four tips to make money on Instagram that applies to almost anybody.

Grow Your Instagram Account

If you want to understand how to make an income on Instagram, you must learn how to advertise your profile and attract followers.

Even though that is not a direct way to monetize your account, it will give you a boost and impart your profit in the long term.

That is because the majority of brands prefer working with dynamic and engaging accounts that have a solid reach of followers and can advertise their products or services adequately.

Your follower count has a direct relation with successful Instagram marketing. 

Consequently, the bigger your follower count is, the more users notice your posts and create user-generated content, which gives you a higher chance of turning those views into sales for your brand or yourself as an individual creator.

So, the way to make money on Instagram starts with growing your account.

Today, to do that you can hire an Instagram growth service that will help you successfully grow your account with real followers as quickly as possible.

Become an Instagram Influencer and Sell Shoutouts and Sponsored Posts

Being an Instagram influencer means having the ability to ‘influence’ your followers and sway your audience’s opinion toward certain products or trends due to your social media status and the trust you formed with your virtual presence and content. 

As an influencer, you will have the possibility to work together with companies to advertise their products or services.

Most brands prefer working with influencers to advertise their product by utilizing sponsored posts instead of direct paid social because of the numerous benefits of Instagram marketing.

A sponsored post (or an Instagram Story) showcases a service, product, or brand, followed by branded hashtags (for the showcase product), captions, and URLs.

Influencers nowadays make a good profit from sharing such sponsored posts. 

In a recent survey of 5,000 influencers, around 40% said they charge $200 to $400 per post.

Plenty of money is being paid to top influencers for a single sponsored post they publish on their Instagram accounts that are generally targeted based on their audience account. 

Do Affiliate Marketing on Instagram

This is moderately close to Influencer marketing but contrary to influencers, affiliates are more dedicated to the brand, in other words, they focus on making sales and not only advertising or spreading the word about a certain brand, with a commission included for every sale. 

You make a commission anytime you sell a product as an affiliate. That is one of the more prevailing business models utilized by people on the site.

It enables people (affiliates) to have a continuing relationship with a brand or business and can provide more steady revenue. 

As an affiliate, you will be given a unique URL, which the affiliate program will utilize to track how many people that clicked on your unique link ended up buying from the site, and consequently, you get your commission accordingly. 

Those affiliate links are direct links to the product acquisition.

You can use the affiliate links in your bio on your profile, in your Stories, or even in a weekly or monthly email list to encourage your followers to find them quickly and easily.

Sell Your Photos on Instagram

The primary focus of Instagram is graphic content. So, original and quality photos will draw great attention and buyers.

These include art illustrations, animations and videos, photographs, paintings, even selfies, and all other kinds of visual content. 

From the business Instagram account of a real estate broker looking to sell homes to the business account of a marketing operations manager wanting to sell their services, everybody needs good-looking photos to achieve success. 

So, if photography is your main purpose for having an Instagram profile, there are numerous online channels to stock and sell your photos.

If you are a photography lover, that is an excellent way to promote your work and make decent profits via Instagram. 

Final Words

These were only a few of the best ways to help you make money on Instagram in 2022. Before you decide the best way to monetize your account successfully, ensure to do your research well and thoroughly.

The post 4 Ways to Make Money on Instagram in 2022 appeared first on One Cent At A Time.

If you are interested in learning how to make money fast without having to get rid of your prized possessions, keep reading to learn about the various ways you can make money while holding onto everything you own.

Use Your Car to Make Money

Instead of selling your car, you can instead use your car to put money in your wallet. There are various ways that you can turn your car into a money-making venture.

One of the most popular options is to become a driver for a ride-sharing service such as Lyft or Uber. Experienced drivers can make up to $35 an hour! All you have to do is get passengers from Point A to Point B.

Another money-making option that involves using your car is becoming a delivery driver for apps like DoorDash, GrubHub, and Eat24.

Instead of transporting people, you’ll be in charge of delivering food to your customers. Depending on how often you work and how many deliveries you complete, you may be able to make up to $25 an hour.

What’s great about becoming a driver is that you’re able to make your own schedule and work your own hours. One day you can work 8 hours and the next you may only want to work 4.

The flexibility allows you to make extra money without interrupting other commitments.

Take Online Surveys

Electronics and internet service doesn’t come cheap. In today’s world, you can use both of these items to make some serious cash!

If you spend hours a day browsing the internet, you could easily use some of this time to take online surveys. You can get paid for simply sharing your opinion and providing feedback!

To make money completing online surveys, you’ll want to sign up for various websites like Swagbucks, and InboxDollars, etc.

These companies offer new surveys each day, and although surveys only pay around $0.50-$2.00 per, they only take 5 minutes to complete. This means you can knock out around 12 surveys in an hour and earn up to $24!

Paid online survey websites allow you to cash out your earned points via PayPal, check, or in the form of gift cards.

Test Websites

Another way to make money is to put your laptop or smartphone to good use and get paid to review websites.

In a world where every company must have a website in order to be successful, companies are now paying consumers to review their sites to ensure they not only look nice but that they function properly.

As a website tester, you’re responsible for providing your feedback on a website’s design and functionality. If you spot any issues, you’ll notate them in your testing response.

Generally testing a website takes up to 15 minutes, and you can get paid up to $10.50 per review!

In order to find work as a website tester, check out these sites:

• UserTesting
• UserFeel
• TryMyUI

These sites pay users via PayPal on a weekly basis. If you dedicate a few hours a week, you can easily make a couple hundred dollars by simply reviewing websites!

Become an Online Juror

Most people dread jury duty because it disrupts their usual work routine and pays very little money. However, as an online juror, you could get paid $5-$10 by participating in pretrial jury cases.

If you like watching court trials on TV or enjoy court-based television shows, this is a great side job to pick up!

Pretrial cases are used by attorneys to predict how potential jurors may rule in a legal case. This allows them to make the proper adjustments to set the stage for a more favorable outcome during the real trial.

Pretrial cases typically last only 35 minutes, and you can do all of the work from the comforts of your home. If you sign up for enough cases, you can easily make an extra hundred dollars.

You can sign up at eJury. To participate you’ll need to provide basic personal information about yourself as well as answer jury questions. The process is very similar to traditional jury duty except you have total control over when you partake.

Conclusion

Thanks to today’s connected and highly digital world, you no longer have to sell your items in order to make fast cash. Keep the above options in mind if you want to effortlessly increase your income.

The post How to Make Money Fast Without Selling Your Stuff appeared first on One Cent At A Time.

Blogging on a self-hosted domain, to earn money on the side, is still the best way in 2015. This year my blog income went up to $6,000 in April, an all-time high. I started with a $70 income at my 7th month, back in 2011. The more content you publish, it attracts more visitors. Want to open a blog of your own? I have this easy to follow guide to start your blog in 20 minutes and $20.

Considering the importance of legal and legitimate ways while earning money is one of the best practices in any field of life. Illegal ways might be convenient and short, but honest ways to earn money always result in handsome growth of income without any guilt or fear. Usually, people get attracted to the advertisements on different websites that can make you a millionaire by doing nothing. This doesn’t make sense! Let’s come to think of it that when there is a large number of online workers earning through honest and legal ways then why to go for illegal shortcuts?

Get ready to prove yourself by earning more than $400 a month online without getting indulged with any illegal venture.

Here are some ways for online jobs that you can do according to your expertise.

1. To Design Web

Create your own websites and market them for different companies. Make it appealing and attractive with SEO skills. Earn your revenue through advertising markets like Google and Ad Sense.

2. Writing a Blog

One of the finest jobs on the internet is professional blogging. It is as clear as any field job and makes you earn handsome revenue depending on your command of language and skills of writing.

3. Share your Skill

If you are confident enough in your subject and have expertise within the dimensions of that particular subject, then you can give tuitions online all over the world by sharing your knowledge and earn a good stack of money. Many websites provide tuition jobs for teachers, according to the requirement and need of the courses.

4. Various Translation Jobs on the Internet

You need to know any two languages perfectly to become a translator. There are a large number of websites that require getting their content translated and they also pay well for translating content.

5. Transcription jobs on the Internet

Different transcription jobs are available online. For this, you are supposed to watch a video or listen to audio and type exactly what was spoken in that video. It can also be a document or receipt out of which you can be asked to write the visible keywords.

6. Online coding Jobs

Coding jobs are the most popular jobs in today’s online market. If you know the secret of coding and making a bug free code, then you can sell the code and get a handsome payback out of it. As you know that everyone cannot code, therefore, these jobs are in demand. Freelancer, Odesk, Guru, and eLance are the best job providers in this regard.

7. Content Writing

Different companies require authors to write content for them. Write-ups can be literary articles, drama/film reviews or advertising statements. If you have good writing skills then you better give them a try to earn money Just start writing a book and sell it on Amazon Kindle to earn our fortune.

8. Designing Themes

Web sites and blogs require a template or theme which deals with how a website looks apparently. If you are capable of designing appealing and attractive themes and you are creative enough to meet the requirement then you can earn good revenue by doing this.

9. Sell Your Old Stuff

The easiest way is to earn money is to sell your stuff online. There are so many items that belong to you, but you know, that old stuff is of no use in the future. You must sell them on a website like eBay and earn money through it.

10. Make Creative Stuff and Sell it Online

If you are creative to make different beautiful and attractive handicrafts like jewelry, bags, design clothes or potteries then you have an outstanding option to earn through your creative skills. Websites like Etsy and eBay provide you a platform to sell your creative stuff. This is how you can earn more than 400$ a month or more.

11. Answering Surveys

Sign up with Opinion Outpost, National Consumer Panel to be able to participate in online surveys regarding new products and services. Earn Cash and other rewards for your time. Here is a list of best survey sites.

12. Start Photography

If the pictures taken by you are consistently admired by people, give your photography a trial by selling your photos on websites like iStock Photos. There are many other ways to earn money from your pictures. These markets need almost different sorts of photos with a little creative effort.

13. Become a Video Publisher

This area covers a wide range of options through which you can make a video and publish them on a website. You can make videos from a professional camera, handy cam or even your cell phone; you can make animated videos or video collage.

You can post your video on YouTube and earn money from a large number of visitors. All, you need to know is how to edit and shoot.

I shoot at every place I visit and upload them on YouTube, I have AdSsense for video-enabled on it and I earn more than $20 a day through this.

14. Marketing and Advertisement

You can get affiliated with different online markets like Amazon and companies and provide your advertisement skills to them.

You have to post ads on different venues on the internet like social websites, including Twitter or Facebook and get your contribution.

It works as the cost per click. As long as your ad gets more clicks you get paid more.

15. Playing Video games 

Surprising but true, you can earn money by playing video games but you have to be exceptionally brilliant at it.

The way we buy tickets to see exceptional athletes competing in sports, people do pay to watch exceptional video game players playing the game.

16. Trading cryptocurrencies

The post 15 Ways to Earn Money Online in 2022 appeared first on One Cent At A Time.

We live where most South Florida universities are located. Naturally, fast-food chains and restaurants are full of student employees.

On one such evening, I was taking out a pizza from Domino. I asked the lady about her college. She smiled at me and told me about her college and major.

She will work there for a few more semesters. Now that you landed on this page. Get riveted and prepare for information overload! If you get benefited, leave a comment below.

That incident generated the idea for writing this article. Previously we posted some unconventional ways of earning money in college. Here’s a comprehensive post about various ways you can earn money while getting your college degree.

When students go to schooling, they should supplement their income with part-time income from available jobs to lessen their student loan debt burden.

The part-time job not only serves as an additional, but it also serves to give the students this special experience that they need to employ when they finish their classwork and move into their first job.

As a student, the first thing you need to do is look at the workforce recruitment program. Talk to concerned authorities in your college and ask them to contact a WRP representative.

You must open a linked-in account and search for student jobs there.

The next best option for you would be to see projects posted on Thumbtack, then bid to do the job. We used Thumbtack for three services lately, house cleaning, TV wall mounting, and moving and packing service.

We got a bid from a group of students among others. Thumbtack is a quick way to earn occasional money, on a need basis.

Before we start, I want to tell you about a success story, it happened at the University of Boston. There was a girl named Valentina Monte, who had a part-time job at a Pizza place.

She was a social media addict. She approached her employers to take care of the Pizza business’s social media campaign.

She brought wonders for the chain. Soon big companies like HBO, P&G, etc hired her to do their social media campaigns.

Now Valentina is working for HBO on their social media team. If you want it bad, you will get it, students!

Related – 8 Ways to save money in College

Job resources for college students at a major corporation

• AT&T college career program
• American Express student jobs
• Amazon internship
• Exxon Mobil masters program
• Walmart University jobs
• Home Depot summer jobs
• BestBuy summer jobs

51 side jobs for college students

1) First, look out for an on-campus opportunity. The campus dining hall, libraries, and sports center might have a few openings still left. Have you checked the co-ops or the in-campus food joint? Are they hiring at the campus convenience store?

Cafeteria caterers, are they hiring? Landing a job on campus helps a student enormously when it comes to allocating time for jobs and studies.

2) Internet jobs 

The Internet is already a $200 B economy in the US alone. Only a handful of people are employed in the IT sector, compared to that.

You as a student can bridge the low end of the gap. Small businesses, bloggers, and online marketers need a helping hand in managing their online ventures. This is where a college student, with a laptop, comes in handy.

• Sign up on Fiverr and sell writing, website design, logo design, Internet research, or any other task you can do. Here’s my post on excellent gigs on Fiverr
• Open your profile on Elance and ODesk and offer the service you are good at. Upwork is also good for virtual assistant jobs.
• Sign up for paid-to-blog jobs and apply them to writing jobs. Search for blog jobs
• Write papers for students who struggle with studying or are buried under deadlines
• Sign up for hiremymom.com and apply for virtual assistant jobs. A virtual assistant job involves mostly manual data editing, document/email management, etc. (I do have two VAs working for me, one looks after this website)
• Go to searchtempst.com and search for writing gigs
• You can participate in OneClass class note-sharing geek. This is the place where students share their class notes and collectively get better at any subject. You’ll get handsome rewards for just sharing your class notes

Use all of these platforms to apply to 10 small jobs every day and I guarantee you will make between $200-$800 in your first month.

Maybe more! This will increase as you gain experience and start understanding what works and what doesn’t. You should have a PayPal account to accept online payments. You can cash out the PayPal amount to your checking account.

3) You could work as a Barista and earn perks of between $7 and $121 a day. A good place to start looking is the Starbucks program for college students.

4) Look for a computer store worker and work in most companies’ computer stores. Good examples of such companies include Apple stores, Google, and Nokia stores.

5) Use your hobby to generate income – You have a laptop at home, and you have a computer in the lab. You love surfing the net.

You love playing occasional games. You love to give an opinion about products. you’re perfect for doing all these in exchange for money.

Sign-up for the InboxDollars account and install their toolbar in your browser. You can earn between $10 – $15 a day with normal surfing that you do anyway.

6) Consider working as a bartender; Jobs that is often available for people able to work late till night. The job is good for students and will pay minimal wages and double depending on the bar.

7) Are you in NYC, NJ area, and, a good organizer, who gives attention to details? Sign up for AgentAnything, where busy people post projects only for students. Projects may include grocery shopping, pet grooming, lawn care, etc.

8) Be an actor or model – Some local theaters or businesses look for local actors and models. My sister-in-law registered herself with Back Stage.

She landed a few opportunities as she was an attractive Asian Indian many people were looking for, and. were very scarcely available.

If you are inclined to act, go for it! You never know what’s in store. Back Stage is the biggest source of such opportunities, including 1000 new leads every day across the US.

9) Pizza deliveryman – Flexible work schedule, less hectic work, the opportunity of tipped income. The best way to land this job is to visit your local store and ask for an opening.

10) Home painting and plumbing are good part-time jobs for plumbing students. It will give you the needed exposure and payment above the normal minimum wage.

11) Are you good at something which can be delivered quickly? has millions of buyers ready to buy from you. If you’re good at writing a poem or song or good at drawing a cartoon, offer it on Fiverr.

12) One of the ways is to post your resume to a specialist job site that only deals with students.  Students must follow a good graduate resume example.

13) Consider searching for a part-time project on RentAStudent, you might get a lucky break.

14) Start a blog; You know internet advertising is going to touch $50 B by 2017. I earn a pie of it through this blog. Some of the links here are affiliate links. If you signup or buy things following the links, I’ll earn a commission.

I earn on average $4,000 to $6,000 every month from this blog, with only 2 hours per day of devotion (I have a full-time job as IT Manager). Through affiliate sales and CPC ads from Google. You can also cheap if you have these three things in you.

1. Some money to invest
2. A passion for writing
3. Have the patience to wait more than 3 months before seeing your first income coming in

Here’s how to create your blog in 20 minutes under $20. Start blogging today in your spare time and earn some money on the side

15) Consider working as an online sales staff. Sites such as eBay, CafePress, and BuyMyTronics among others have options where you buy and sell stuff on their site.

16) Language translator/interpreter – Check your county authorities, if you are from a different country or you can understand and speak an uncommon language, you may be hired on a need basis whenever authorities need to talk to a refugee or an illegal immigrant or any foreign person on phone.

I can speak Bengali and Hindi, my wife is registered with our county and she gets call almost every month to be an interpreter.

17) Work as a Free Lancer for different clients who post their work on sites such as Elance, freelancers, and ezine and even associate content. One of the best opportunities for college students is to work as a freelance writer and be paid for every order.

These sites provide content for companies that want to market their products or even enlighten their consumers. Freelancing is a good way for busy students to add something to their resumes without any full-time commitment.

Related – Pick your degree as per your future career goal

18) If you know a second or a third language, most common with international students, you can be employed as an interpreter on a part-time basis. Look out for local job listings regularly.

20) One of the best opportunities for college students is to work as an intern in a local city council or clerk of the courts.

Check with cities within a certain distance of your school. Usually, these jobs are not advertised but you can certainly visit the city hall and ask around.

21) Most local audit or law firms will seek part-time students to work as temporary help, especially for data entry.

22) Work as a babysitter in your nearby home taking for your children as their mothers go to work. The task requires great passion to complete.

23) Online consulting is an appropriate job for students as they assist online clients with different problems in their areas of specialization.

24) Ushering in sporting events is a good part-time job for students, especially in events management and front office operations.

25) A book review is an online job you can take to assist book writers to understand the impact and effectiveness of their work.

26) Sign up with Survey Farms like Opinion Outpost or Pine Cone. and you will be able to participate in online surveys regarding new products and services.

Earn Cash and other rewards for your time. Although you’ll not earn loads of cash, you may cover your weekend expenditures easily. Here is a list of the best survey sites.

27) Take the job of a teacher. Check with your teachers or college employees if they need a private tutor for their children. Find a Tutor is a service where you can register.

28) As a part-time Bank cashier, you will handle financial transactions at the counter.

29) Work as a field researcher with scientific firms seeking to explore different aspects of their areas. For example, medical researchers.

30) Laboratory technician is a perfect part-time job for college students, especially in local clinics and high schools.

31) Working as a rescue worker trainer will help you impact your skills as a learner of disaster management.

32) Telephone Operator or call center agents. These days companies are either moving the call centers to cheaper countries or moving them back to American homes.

Students may get part-time jobs in such companies and work from their dorms/apartments. Here are the skills you need to become a call center agent.

33) Firefighting part-time workers will give you a chance to prepare the rescuers and plan all aspects of disaster recovery.

34) If you are taking courses in music, you could work as a part-time guitar or piano trainer in a local academy.

35) Work as a part-time photographer with different companies that report about nature and even events.

36) As an art student, you can work as a drawing specialist with a local press such as a newspaper or online magazine.

37) Work in different web design firms as a web designer. Many of them take tasks from clients and you design the sites.

38) Choose to work as a swim lessons instructor in the local gym club or restaurant.

39) End-of-day staff is a good part-time job where you collaborate with teachers in maintaining cleanliness and other tasks after class. I know a Ph.D. student who earns a little on the side by teaching a professor’s son.

40) As a sales part-time associate, you will be required to handle all sales work and perhaps even enter it into the company system.

41) As a part-time housekeeper, you will be responsible for the cleanliness and operations of guest rooms.

42) Work as a customer care representative in a local hotel to receive clients and affirm their details.

43) As a direct support professional in a hospital, you will assist people with mental disabilities in health facilities.

44) Consider working as a moving associate and working for 10-25 hours per week in loading units.

45) You could work as a landscape laborer in designing flower beds and lawns in homes and institutions.

46) General warehouse laborer. You will work on tasks like loading trucks and packing different products.

47) Math or English tutor. This position involves training your children and international students in math or English on a part-time basis.

48) Banquet staff. You will work in arranging flowers in hotels, wedding rooms, and other events regions. The jobs are many, especially in summer.

49) Admission assistant in a local college or school is a perfect task during news students’ entries, events, and even out-of-class lessons.

50) Being A juvenile counselor is a perfect task for psychology students. The tasks are located in correctional facilities.

If you’re a student, one of the ideas could fit your situation. Don’t hesitate, and take up a job. A few hours a day most students can spend away from their studies.

Now, what about the 51st option? That is to create your start-up!

Wonder how behemoths like Microsoft, Apple, or Facebook were formed? Stop looking for jobs and create something on your own.

That bright idea you have… don’t hesitate, act today. Take a risk and jump on. Technology and science evolve around new ideas and entrepreneurship.

It doesn’t have to be a tech idea. You may be good at design – you may start your fashion boutique.

You may be a master craftsman or a good writer; Write your first book while still at college, and sell it online. Create a bright future for yourself and the society you live in.

In case you landed on this page because you’re looking for a financing option, your immediate first step would be to secure the funding.

Not jumping on the job bandwagon. Many of the readers asked me how they’d get the best financing for their education. I always tell them to shop for loans, if grants and scholarships are either not sufficient or not available.

After all, you can think of a side job only after you have secured the money to get admission, right?

March on students!  

The post 51 Side Jobs for College Students appeared first on One Cent At A Time.

Making money via blogging has caught the attention of many internet-savvy persons who have the ability to impress and convince people with their writing on any or a particular subject. The number of successful bloggers could have been more but unfortunately, many of them are not clear about how to do marketing of their blogs or generate money through their write-ups. Here I have dished out some easy-to-follow tips on how to put your blogs to good use for money making.

Write about the topic you have interest in

My math teacher used to iterate a simple line to help most of the students in class break out of their math phobia. “If you love water, water will love you”! It’s very true in whatever you do. Don’t start writing on a subject that you are not interested in or have no knowledge about. Feeling passionate about the subject is most important.

There are various topics to write on. For instance, hobbies, travel, food, career-related subjects or anything that you have knowledge about. First, decide who is going to be your target audience. There are some blogs that post funny images and videos about different topics. The idea is to generate money by eliciting laughter from the viewers. If contents are really good and funnier, such blogs get a good response from the target customers, thereby drawing the attention of the advertisers.

Some blogs cater to the taste of specific people who want to be fed with social media news. Mashable is one such blog that came into being in 2005. Started by a teenager, it’s annual earning now runs into millions of dollars.

Consider profitability and other objectives  

One effective way to make a fortune out of blogging is to consider the fields that are less competitive, but readers want to know about them. Attracting visitors is most important to be a successful blogger. Select a particular niche like how gymnasts take preparation for Olympics. It pays when you avoid writing on a common topic though still continue with the subject that you are interested in.

Choice of a topic is directly related to the area of your interest, what your target readers want to know and your long-term goals.

Also, look into other factors including the amount of money to be spent on products if your blog is about reviews on them.

Choose a suitable blogging platform

Most of the starters often take off by posting their blogs on Google Blogger or WordPress.com. Such options are particularly good for those on a shoestring budget or have no idea about web designing. Such blogging platforms also offer ease and flexibilities of use, which cannot be ignored at all. Both of them have some restrictions that the bloggers are required to follow. You must know about these limitations before using any of them.

It is always a better idea to own web hosting for your blog. You have to pay fees monthly or yearly. The advantages of owning a web hosting for blogging is it will provide you with more control and customization.

You will have a direct and quick access to details on traffic to your blogs. If you want to monetize your blog, buying hosting a self-hosted blog is a must for earning money from your blog.

Choose a domain name that is relevant to the topic of your blog. Make sure that the domain name is easy to remember for you.

I tried Hostgator, GoDaddy, Bluehost but we are now hosting at SiteGround. I feel this is the best hosting service that you can get.

Create unique and catchy content

In case, you have to decide to go with free service, read the guidelines about how to customize your blogs. If you want to host your site, you have more options to customize the blog.

Many blogs hosting services have offers of paid upgrades that facilitate better customization as well as provide a number of benefits. However, I would suggest that you should opt for free versions while starting and stick with the same until your blog becomes a hit with the target customers.

The freshness of content: Originality is a priority for the readers. Remember that there are several bloggers around the world and they are writing on the same topic and in the same language. If you want to enjoy a good flow of traffic, your content must be fresh though that is not enough to enjoy success. However, originality of content is of primordial importance. Your readers must not feel that it is a ‘copy and paste’ work or there are little twists to someone’s creation.

Create your own style: Every successful blogger has his/her unique style. Never copy other’s style; instead, develop your own. If your style and subject are liked by the visitors, they will keep visiting your blog. They will not like the duplicate style or write-up easily available online.

Relevance: Apart from uniqueness, you have to be focused on the relevance of the content. There must not be any mismatch between the title and body of the content. The readers will decide to go through your blog after having a glance over the title. If they find the body of the content is not relevant to the title, they will hardly return to read your blogs. Information that is not easily available elsewhere, news on current events, tips etc are liked by the readers.

Unusual topics: Writing content on the topics that are less available online will help you gain more visitors leading to more income. For example, you can write about fashion in the 16^th century and/or artwork of that era. Last but not the least, your content must be pleasant reading; otherwise visitors will not spend their time to read your blog and comment on it.

Update your blog frequently

Blogging by fits and starts! Well, that will not make your dream of a monetizing blog come true. A stagnant blog will never make the blogger a successful name. Make sure to update frequently, at least once in a week while two/three will be a better option. Every time you post, make sure that it is based on a new topic in the same niche.

Blog marketing

Keyword selection & placement: For your blog to earn money, you need to have some effective marketing strategies in place. Start with choosing appropriate keywords for each of your blog posts.

The keywords must be related to the theme of your content and should be those frequently searched by the prospective visitors as it will contribute to the visibility of the blogs, drive more readers and step up the chance that they will click on advertisements listed on your site.

For every professional blogger, there is a wonderful tool namely Google Keyword Research that will give you a fair idea of how much the advertisers are required to pay Google for keywords.

Place the keywords in your blog title and important headers, links and the first sentence of the blog though not at the starting.

Place article links in blog directories and social media: Make an optimal use of the most popular social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and other sites for frequent updates.

These platforms are easy to locate blogging communities matching readership. Set up links to relevant articles on their forums or comments.

It will bring traffic to your blog as well as give your site an improved ranking in the search result pages.

Rely on cross-linking: You will meet a number of bloggers on blogging and social media sites. Propose advertising each other’s articles if the subject matter is targeted at the same kind of audiences.

Remember overdoing of cross-linking is strictly not allowed by free hosting service providers. In that case, link to others’ blogs only occasionally and only if they can serve the purpose of your target traffic.

Marketing via paid advertisements: Money begets money! If you can spend money to win the audience, create your own Facebook ads. You can even use Google AdSense to be an advertiser. StumbleUpon also gives you a chance to add your blogs there.

Going Viral: It offers no guarantee of success though is used for fun. If you can generate interest in traffic by posting an exciting image or video to share, you will surely enjoy an unexpected flood of readers to your blogs.

Contextual ad service: Once your blog starts attracting audiences, you can use contextual and services such as WordAds, Google Adsense etc.

These ad services generate ads automatically according to your specified size, placement, and other criteria. Every time a reader clicks on the ads, you are paid by the advertisers.

Find affiliate programs

Consider an affiliate program, which you think, will be suitable for your blog. This way, you agree to set up links to products of a company that pays you every time a reader makes a buy after following the link.

Following all or many of the above-listed tips will help you enjoy a good return on your little or no investment. The most successful bloggers earn millions of dollars yearly from their creations.

There are no reasons to hurry, instead consider what is possible for you to monetize your blog.

Remember that whatever marketing strategy you apply; the unique and catchy content has no alternative. It is the backbone of your blog.

If it reads good and relevant, even a simple marketing technique will bring you surprising return.

The post It’s Possible to Make Money Through Blogging appeared first on One Cent At A Time.

Nevertheless, with so much competition, every travel agency is fighting for its piece of the cake and wants to have more clients and happy travelers than what they currently have. Unfortunately, many agencies lose their focus along the way and can’t turn around their business for the better. Luckily, we are here to help. 

Regardless of whether you have an established travel agency already or you’re just planning to start, you need to have some highly efficient and effective strategies in order to run a successful business.

Below, you will find some powerful tips on how to run a thriving travel agency and ensure that your business maintains its viability and continues to grow.

Highlight Your Advantages 

An average travel agency tries to compete with its main competitors by lowering its prices and similar marketing strategies.

But, on the other hand, a successful travel agency highlights its unique benefits and makes prospective travelers choose the agency over others, not because of the lower prices but because of the competitive advantages it provides for its clients. 

So, if you want your agency to be successful, point out the advantages of your travel service on your website, billboards, digital ads, and any other place that you utilize to market your business.

Setting up your online ads to increase leads or bookings is akin to running an experiment. It costs money to run ads, so you need to get the most out of them. You can turn to experts for help—a PPC agency focused on Google Ads can help you obtain the results you want.

Then, ask your former, satisfied customers for an honest review of your service where they’ll highlight all positive aspects of the experience they encountered with your travel agency.

Typically, your happy customers will be glad to share their honest testimonials about your business and make them available for you to post on your website and social media accounts.  

In addition, is there any other “catch” that clearly sets you apart from your biggest competitors?

For example, you can showcase that your business is legit by displaying your cheap small business insurance policy badge on your “About Us” page to show prospective travelers that your business and its clients are covered in the case of mishaps and accidents that regularly occur in the travel industry.

Make the Most Out of Social Media 

Nowadays, travelers of all age groups are active on social media platforms where they chat with each other about travel programs, share experiences of former travels, and express their traveling preferences. 

Make the most out of social media channels by having business accounts on all social media platforms of your interest where you can engage and interact with your existing and prospective clients through sharing your latest travel services and posting high-quality photos and videos, which can leave a great impression of your business and motivate prospects to follow your account.

Utilize a Digital Booking Software 

The digital era has revolutionized how most businesses work, and it has also greatly affected how travelers book trips and how travel agencies can sell their packages.

As a result, by utilizing digital booking software, you can offer your clients the possibility of online booking through your website or third-party selling platforms. 

This way, you won’t need to worry whether your employees are sitting behind their computers or answering incoming phone calls all the time.

If you opt to incorporate digital booking software, people can book their favorite travel program at any time of the day since the system receives and automatically processes all reservations through your site. 

Go for a Specialized Travel Niche 

Even though you probably run a general travel agency, selecting a niche and becoming the leading travel agency in that field will ensure your success.

Of course, summer tourism and winter wonderlands can be your side gigs.

But what about those exotic places where only exclusive travelers go, what a big hit would that be for your agency.

Not only that but being among the rare travel agencies that offer such adventures is an enormous marketing trick. 

Follow the latest consumer travel trends and organize your trips according to the trends that catch your eye.

Even though the Eiffel tower, the pyramids in Egypt, and similar well-known attractions are gorgeous places to visit, offer something different and unique, and help your clients discover a whole new world.

Final Thoughts 

The tips above will help you find the path you’d like to follow with your travel agency.

So, don’t be afraid to take the first step and shuffle things up and run a successful travel agency as you’ve always dreamed of. 

The post How to Run a Successful Travel Agency  appeared first on One Cent At A Time.