Dropshipping, affiliate marketing, blogging and social media influencing. These are all quick and easy side hustles that people started doing to earn extra money. Starting a side hustle can help pay the bills, can be done from anywhere, and allows you to work at your own pace. In rare cases, a side hustle can even become a fully-fledged business. So, who wouldn’t want to start a side hustle?
Wondering how to make a few extra dollars? We read Jackie Beck’s new book to dig for moolah.
Yesterday Jackie Beck appeared on our podcast to discuss some of the ideas from her book 101 Ways to Make Extra Money in Your Spare Time. For those of you that don’t listen to podcasts, I thought I’d review the book here. My overall feeling: this is well worth the investment in time and money if you’re in the book’s target group.
Let’s start out with what this book isn’t. If you’re a person who’s confident that you’re doing everything it takes to make money, this book isn’t for you. Of course, the title gives this away, right? It also isn’t an in depth look at any of the 101 ways to make money, although Jackie includes tons of links in the e-book to many, many outlets for readers to begin gathering more information. As a sometimes-reader of magazines like Real Simple, I’m often disappointed when good tips seem to be skewed toward one gender or another (in the case of Real Simple, it’s women….which is why I don’t read the magazine often). 101 Ways to Make Money includes ideas for men and women, and of varying skill level. Simply put, there’s a little something for everyone.
Jackie mentioned online that her early readers seem to be stay-at-home moms. While I stated that this book does a great job of remaining gender neutral, it’s ideal for a stay-at-home mom or anyone looking to earn a few extra dollars on the side. It’s also great for that person who works a 9-5 job and is hunting for something else to bring in a few (or many) extra dollars. From raking leaves (obvious and easy) to setting up an Etsy shop and selling crafts (more pointed and needing a little skill), there are lots of tasks that can easily fit into a weekend or after work schedule.
In many cases, it takes money to make money, and that’s the case with some of these suggestions. Don’t think that you’re going to get 101 pairs of ruby slippers you tap together three times to fill your greedy little paws with cash. There will be work, and in many cases, you might need a little moolah to fund your new business venture.
Jackie, who writes at the MoneyCrush blog, among other places, is a seasoned writer, and it shows. Her style is easy and straightforward. While I breezed through this book, it wasn’t because it was void of information. In fact, Jackie’s style makes it simple to grasp some fairly complicated ways to make money as if it were easy.
When I first heard about this book, I thought, “why the hell would I pay money for a book of ideas, when there are so many resources on the internet?” Here’s exactly why: for me, time is valuable and the cost of having a consolidated list that points you toward deeper text on any of the ideas presented is invaluable. Do you want to spend your time figuring out how to make money or do you want to find a way quickly and spend your time working the idea? If you’re like me, your time is valuable and you’re hoping to just get on with it. Jackie’s book, priced at $4.99, is an ultra-low cost way to cut to the chase scene in your money-making pursuit.
If I had to pick something that could have been improved, it is how little these ideas are explored. There’s no discussion of the capital outlay it might take to be successful in each business or the amount of money each one could reasonably bring in. Of course, I understand that this isn’t the point of the book and I’m nit-picking. I could easily see Jackie digging into some of these ideas to help readers gain a leg up on marketing, competition and creative ways to stand out from the crowd of other people doing these same tasks, if she chose to expand the book in the future.
For people looking to make a few easy dollars or to dip their toe into entrepreneurship, 101 Ways to Make Extra Money In Your Spare Time has the ideas you need to help you create a spark. If you don’t ask it for details, you’re going to be a happy reader, and at less than $5, it’s easy to justify making this investment to more quickly focus on the right income earning path for you.
Interested in purchasing the book? We liked it enough that we joined Jackie Beck’s affiliate program. Click the link here or in the article to head to Jackie’s order page if you have questions, want more info, or would like to purchase a copy.