If you are reading this then you are probably looking to earn a little extra on top of your regular income and if that’s the case – you are in the right place! Our team has conducted thorough research on the different ways of earning a secondary income and it is only up to you to choose what would best suit you.
There is no magical way of turning $1,000 into $5,000. You are going to need to invest your time, energy and creativity to be successful. But if you are persistent and focus your efforts on creating a healthy secondary income, it is very much in the range of the possible.
In this article, we will introduce ten well-known and effective methods for creating a secondary income. We have specifically chosen such, that do not require any previous knowledge or experience and the entry is relatively simple and you could easily find online materials on how to properly do it. We will give you a short description of each one and try to guide you in the right direction depending on your personal preference!
Passive or Active income
Firstly it is important to realize that there are two types of income, passive and active. Passive income is when you invest your money and collect earnings over time. While active would be related to a product or service that you provide.
Unfortunately, there is no way of turning $1,000 into $5,000 passively without taking great risks. This would be straightforward gambling in a casino or investing on a trading platform with huge leverage and therefore risk. You might get lucky once or twice, but it would never be a stable and reliable income. The long-run outcome would in most cases be a loss of money, which is directly the opposite of what you are trying to achieve. Therefore we will dedicate most of this article to active income alternatives.
Trading
The success of trading is very dependent on the expectations, consistency and adaptability of the trader. Tens of millions of people and companies are trading every second of the day and the sheer size and complexity of the markets seem to be overwhelming.
Many seasoned traders will make an argument that the majority of new traders will lose money (at least for a while). They are probably right! Nevertheless, trading is a great option for increasing your earnings.
If you dedicate your time and efforts to learn the markets, create a strategy and have the willpower to follow it without giving in to emotions and temporal setbacks – then investing is a great option for you. It will always keep you on the edge of your seat. You will dive into a dynamic and ever-changing world of fundamental and technical analysis, where you will constantly react to new information and update your market positions. It is a thrilling and rewarding world, but also a risky one.
Make sure that you understand all of the risks and limitations before investing any money (especially money that you need!).
Below is a summary of 3 of the trading platforms that we recommend for the UK:
- eToro – Best For Beginners & Social Trading
- Interactive Brokers – Best For Advanced Traders & ISAs
- InvestEngine – Best For Commission-Free ETFs
Cryptocurrency Trading
If you are not a big fan of traditional trading and are looking for an alternative, you should take a look at cryptocurrency trading. It adds an extra layer of technological and innovative complexity as well as a whole bunch of sophisticated investment tools and earning mechanisms that can be both challenging and profitable when used properly.
The crypto market is still regarded as slightly controversial and highly volatile, but we can be certain of one thing – it is here to stay. It is a multi-billion-dollar market that is not going anywhere anytime soon! And if you navigate yourself successfully in the world of blockchain trading, there will be a hefty reward for your effort.
Needless to say, similar to traditional trading, cryptocurrency trading is very risky (maybe even riskier). Therefore, make sure to prepare thoroughly before putting your assets at risk!
Again, we give you a summary of 3 great, beginner-friendly crypto-platforms:
- Coinbase – Best for beginners
- Crypto.com – Highest variety of crypto assets
- eToro Card – Crypto + Classical trading; Beginner-friendly platform
Freelancing
After we have covered the trading, let’s move on to something far less risky that can provide a steady secondary income. Freelancing is offering your set of skills and time for a fee. Think carefully about what skills you possess and single out the ones that people could be interested in.
Find a trustworthy platform where you can create a post and you are ready to go. The best thing about freelancing is that you won’t need to spend time learning something completely new and in most cases, you don’t need to invest any money to get started.
Dropshipping
Dropshipping is another well-known method for achieving secondary or even primary income. There are various ways to do dropshipping but the underlying idea is the same. You copy the already existing listing of a product from a website on a completely different one through your account. When someone purchases the product from your listing you simply order it from the original website using the client’s delivery details.
The earnings come from a slight price increase that you’d have on your listing. It is potentially a very well-earning mechanic, but keep in mind that the market is very saturated and it would require a lot of research and maybe a reasonably high initial marketing investment to get going.
Online Courses
This is one of the more interesting suggestions on our list. You can either teach courses online or create whole courses and upload them on one of the well-known platforms. Then you will receive money every time someone enrols for your course.
The great thing about this is that a relatively small initial investment is required. You only need to find the time and the desire to prepare materials and find people who are interested in what you can teach them. If you like teaching and presenting this is something you should look into!
Podcasting
This one is a little niche. If you like talking to people and you feel that you are social and entertaining enough to present interesting topics interestingly, then it is something that you might think about. There is a huge audience for a large variety of podcasts on different topics and if you have something that you are passionate about maybe here you will find your success. The initial investment required is not massive, but it might take years until you build up your audience and start earning a reasonable income.
Blogging
Similar to Podcasting, blogging might not be for everyone. You will need to be interested in creative writing and have the ability to create entertaining content for your audience. It might take a while to create an audience but if writing is your calling and you are patient enough to slowly build a follower base, blogging is something that can be quite enjoyable and very profitable.
YouTube Channel
Following the media-related suggestions from above it would be only natural to mention YouTube as a solid alternative. YouTube videos are now countless and there is an audience for virtually anything. If you have some creative ideas and you feel like giving it a shot – there is nothing to lose!
Rent out extra space
If you have some extra space that you are not using – consider renting it out! No matter if it’s a simple parking space or an extra room (Airbnb maybe?) there is no reason why you wouldn’t earn some money from something that you are not using anyway.
Peer-to-Peer Lending
This is one of the more controversial suggestions on the list. The idea is simple – go on a lending platform – lend money to a person – get your money back with a healthy interest. It all sounds great until you think about the risk of never actually receiving the money back. It is not unheard of! But if you are okay with the risk and you do good research about the platform and the clients, it is certainly a way to win something extra. But if you go ahead with something similar, we advise you to be extra careful.
Start A Side Hustle
Driving Uber, delivering food, babysitting or taking dogs out for a walk. You can always find something profitable to do and there is even a good variety to choose from! Think about something that you’d enjoy and go ahead and try it out!
Retail Arbitrage
Retail arbitrage gives a very broad range of markets and products that are potentially open for you. The idea is simple – find something that is underpriced, buy it, and resell it for profit. A very basic model, but to be successful you’d need to perform thorough research on multiple places (platforms) and also take on the risk that you might never be able to resell whatever you bought. Nevertheless, with good planning and a clear niche, it is something that can add up to a substantial monthly income.
Other Ideas
If you didn’t find anything that interests you in our suggestions above, below we offer you a list of some additional well-known methods for extra earnings that you can research:
Selling on Amazon; Real estate crowdfunding; REITs; Affiliate Marketing; Flipping websites; Mobile app development; Creating and selling digital products; Investing in Farmland; Flip domain names; Selling printables
Learning new skills
If you don’t feel like any of those ideas are something that you want to spend your time doing, maybe think about learning something completely new. This will open a broad horizon of opportunities in front of you and also bring some extra excitement to your new project!
Conclusion
There is no magical way to turn $1000 into 5000$, but if you are ready to spend some time and energy you can find yourself in a sea of opportunities with a positive attitude, determination and consistency anyone can create a healthy secondary income.
We hope that our suggestions helped you or at least gave you a direction in your search for additional income.
We wish you good luck in your endeavours!
A result-driven and self-motivated Finance & Accounting specialist with international professional experience in handling key financial data, strategic planning, team management, and sales.
