“The first billion is the hardest. So is the first thousand…”
- Adapted from T. Boone Pickens
Making the First $1k…
What you are about to read will allow you to make an extra $1,000 or more next month – if you decide to apply it. I fully believe that. So I’d suggest your pay attention
.
But before we dive in, I want to give a huge sincere thanks to all you guys for being a part of the biggest product launch and course creation in LYL’s history last week as we released How to Connect with Anyone to the world.
It’s been a crazy month and I appreciate you all bearing with me as we went through all the fun. The course ended up selling out, and we now have over 200 passionate Founding Members who started How to Connect with Anyone on Monday! I could not be more excited and I’ll be sure to share the progress in the weeks and months to come.
Now it’s time to get back to our regular weekly articles to help you fully Live Your Legend.
With that said…
“How Do I Fund My Passion?”
I hear this all the time. People know what excites them but don’t have the resources to get it off the ground.
It’s time to change that.
How would you like to earn an extra $1,000 this month, on the side, while you’re still at your regular job?
Stupid question I know.
But I feel like it’s a topic we’ve kind of missed lately on Live Your Legend.
Our primary focus is doing work you love and making that transition.
But often the most empowering first step is to start making more money on the side.
Not just because having extra money takes a little financial pressure off, but even more importantly, as soon as you start making some money doing something new and creative, you begin to show yourself that something more is possible. That you’re capable of more than you probably give yourself credit for.
This creates confidence.
And confidence (or lack thereof) is the single biggest limiting psychology that keeps us in jobs we hate.
- We aren’t confident that we will find a job that truly sets us on fire.
- We aren’t confident that we can make the transition while still supporting our family and our lifestyle.
- We aren’t confident we can make money helping people and doing what we love.
It all comes back to confidence.
Two years ago I would have thought you were crazy if you told me I could make an extra $1,000 on the side in a month. That’s a significant amount.
But now I’ve realized it’s just a limit of our creativity.
So today I’m going to expose you to five simple things you can do this month that will consistently make you at least an extra $1,000 a month. You will not believe how doable and even, dare I say, ‘easy’ these things are once you commit to doing the work.
Btw, a few of the below links are affiliate links, meaning LYL will get a small commission if you decide to use them. But I hope you know by now that I never mention things unless they will blow your mind with how useful they are (and if they’ve changed my life in a meaningful way- that’s my ongoing promise to you). And with most of the services below, they are free to set up an account anyway. Either way, I just like to be sure we’re on the same page with this stuff, and as always, I appreciate your support in our mission here.
Okay, now let’s get into the fun!
5 Not So Obvious Ways Anyone Can Make an Extra $1,000 a Month:
1. Rent your home out on Airbnb.
This has been the most exciting website and side business I have seen all year- and possibly ever.
Airbnb.com has made it ridiculously turnkey (and safe) to turn your house into your own little bed and breakfast (no matter how big or small it is). They are in 30,374 cities in 192 countries and they will even have a professional photographer come out to make sure your place looks awesome.
You list your place, pick the price per night and watch what happens. I have never a seen a side business opportunity that can be up and running faster than this. Just this month alone I’ve rented our place and brought in over $1,000 (just from two weekends). We also brought in over $3,000 while we were traveling Turkey in June – it paid for a huge part of our trip!
And since you’re paying your rent or mortgage no matter what, every extra dollar is profit. Seriously this site will blow your mind. Even if you don’t think you’ll rent your place, at least spend the hour or two setting up your profile, have a free pro photographer out and publish it. Something tells me that the first time you get a request for $500 for a few nights, you might change your mind
.
I have another buddy who travels for work a lot and brings in about double his rent many months (over $40k this year alone). No joke. No matter your situation, you must check this out. Rent your room, your house or just a couch. Afraid someone will steal your stuff? Every person is peer reviewed, plus Airbnb covers any damages up to $50k and has a million dollar insurance policy to back it up. But you’d be surprised how well the average guests treats your place – after all they don’t want to get a bad review!
2. Become a freelancer on Elance.
What do you get paid to do at work? I guarantee there are people out there who want the same help. If you can become a contractor, freelancer or consultant on your expertise while you’re still at the office, you might realize you could make a bunch more money with more freedom.
Wondering how to get clients? I got you covered. There are amazing freelance and outsourcing services out there.
Elance is probably the best place to start selling your services within a matter of minutes. Go browse the site a bit, see what talents people offer and then create your profile.
I cannot express how important it is to prove to yourself that you don’t have to be dependent on your employer to make money from your skills. Elance also is the perfect spot to find help for all kinds of projects if you’re looking to hire someone. Just having a profile up there shows others you mean business, even if you’re only planning to offer your services to people you already know. Plus, the act of creating your profile and identifying your skills is hugely beneficial in and of itself.
3. Teach someone.
We all know something that others would like to learn. Maybe it’s something complex like coding or graphic design. Or perhaps it’s something as simple as knitting. No matter the topic, there are very simple ways to monetize it. And no you don’t need a blog or some massive audience. Online course creation and teaching platforms are popping up all over the place. Some popular ones are
Udemy,
Skillshare and
Ruzuku.
There is no faster, more risk-free way to test a passion or side business than creating an account and building out a course. Even if it doesn’t sell much, the value you get from going through the process and getting your knowledge out of your brain and into the real world is priceless.
One company I’ve been thinking about working with to create an interactive version of Live Off Your Passion is the local SF company
Udemy. They have a super simple course creation tool that seriously does everything for you – from creating the lessons, accepting payments and here’s the kicker, they will even promote your course to their community of over 500,000 users. So you don’t even need your own audience! Top teachers are making well over $1m through this site and a ton more make upwards of $50-$100k a year.
4. Sell your crap!
This is how my buddy Adam Baker of ManVsDebt first funded his around the world trip with his wife Courtney and newborn baby girl Milli. They mastered the art of using tools like Craigslist, Ebay and Amazon to literally turn their unused crap into cash. They even created a guide called
Sell Your Crap to walk people through the process.
I love this technique because, most importantly, it gets you to declutter your living space and realize you can do with so much less than you think. That is so damn liberating. Then you can sell it to someone who actually wants and needs it. Totally win/win. Plus the person buying doesn’t have to buy something brand new and add to the already overflowing mess of crap so many people fill their homes with.
You know you have a bunch of stuff you don’t need. Spend 30 minutes this week collecting some of it up. Then just do some searches on Craigslist, eBay and Amazon to see what things are selling for. Then start posting. Learn as you go.
Did you know that there is even a thriving market for broken electronics like cameras and iPhones? Turns out people just want the parts and are willing to pay up for them. Who would have thought?!
A good family friend of mine started selling some old brand-name clothes on eBay a few years ago. Within two years she was brining in over $200k a year running the business out of her apartment! I’m telling you, now more than ever, the only limit to possibility is our imagination.
5. Help people do random things (that they don’t like doing themselves).
What do you love doing that other people hate? Can you plan crazy world-travel adventures or put on an event like no other? Maybe you happen to love spreadsheets, budgeting or even wearing a green eyeshade and doing taxes. Anything goes. The key is to take something you’re really good at and that you love doing, and find someone who’s really bad at it and hates doing the work.
All your services and people you help fall along this continuum. The bigger the divide – the more you love the work and the person you’re helping hates the work – the more of a premium you can charge, and more importantly, the more people will absolutely love you for taking it off their back.
An accountant friend of mine does taxes for a ton of his friends and colleagues every year (usually just by using TurboTax). He makes an easy $5-10k in a month and they are incredibly happy for his help.
Start with the people close to you – you likely already know where they’re in pain and how you can help. Post your skills on Elance at the same time just for good measure. Get your first few reviews and referrals from friends and then parlay that into working with people you don’t know.
You have something people will gladly pay you for right this second. Often the only thing between you and a paycheck is your decision to hang a shingle and open up shop.
Two great platforms for this are
Task Rabbit (if you sign up through that special
Task Rabbit LYL link you’ll get a free $10 credit) and
Who Can Help. Both of these were courtesy of reader comments below. Thanks guys!
The first $1,000 changes everything.
Nothing is harder than going from zero to something.
This post is designed to bridge that gap.
Because once you figure out how to make the first $1,000, then making the next $1,000 or even $5,000 becomes a lot easier.
The all important part is showing ourselves that it’s possible. Once that mindset shift happens, it ripples across your world.
Then watch out.
Get focused, commit to one of the above, start helping someone and I guarantee what’s possible will blow your mind.
As usual, the only thing holding you back is yourself.
I can’t wait to see what you do with it.
-Scott
For the comments: What clever ways have you made extra money on the side? Have you tried any of the above? Share your ideas and experience in the comments!
Btw, can I please have 30 seconds of your help in the next week or so?
As many of you know, two weeks ago I gave a TEDx talk in San Francisco on The Work You Can’t Not Do & Surrounding Yourself with the People Who Make Failure Impossible. It is the exact message and mission that I’ve dedicated so much of my energy and life to at Live Your Legend.
I have never been more proud of a talk in my life – fingers crossed that it gets reflected in the video, which I haven’t gotten to watch yet
.
The video of my talk should be live within the next week. At that point it will be uploaded to Youtube and this is when you come in. For reasons I can’t get into right now, the success of a video on Youtube has everything to do with how much activity it gets in the first 36 hours – this includes comments, views, votes and shares.
And how well the video does on Youtube will dictate whether the video and our message at LYL get picked up and featured on the main TED site.
So as soon as the video goes live (I will notify you) I’d love to ask that you take the few minutes to watch it, and if you believe the message could help the world, then please leave a comment on Youtube, share it on Facebook and Twitter and send it to those close to you.
I thank you in advance for helping move our vision at LYL to the next level. That time is almost upon us…
And please realize, I am not asking you to do this just because I want my name to get out there. I want the video to be seen by the world because I believe it is a message that, if heard and acted upon, will begin to change the world for the better.
That has always been why we do what we do at Live Your Legend.
Thank you for being such a big part of all we do here. This revolution would be nothing without you.
More to come soon.
Now go starting making that extra $1k!
