So you’re a college student or young professional who is not making as much money as you’d like to. Maybe you have read Rich Dad Poor Dad and you’re keen to adopt the multiple streams of income strategy (or maybe you’re just fed up with getting paid minimum wage for a campus job). The problem is: How do you generate another stream of income?
First, it is important to realize that most people have a form of expertise in SOMETHING. If you believe in the concept of the LongTail, (nicely explained here by Jason Steinhorn) then in all likelihood, someone, somewhere, will probably pay money for your niche expertise. Here is an example of a kid who gives Halo lessons online and earns over $150,000 per year. Here is a link to a student who ’customizes’ sneakers with unique paint jobs. Why not!
So here are two platforms to monetize your expertise or products for FREE:
Etsy: Etsy is a social community of handmade art. Artists, craftspeople and others can post handmade products on the site. There is some really cool stuff. I especially like the messenger bags.
Etsy allows you to create a free account with a free online store, then immediately start selling your product(s). This is also a great website to pick-up creative and original Holiday gifts…
BitWine: On BitWine, users self-designate themselves ’experts’ in specific categories and establish a per-minute consulting fee. Users needing answers on any topic can browse through experts’ keywords, read about them and then ’Skype them’ live. As soon as the transaction is over, the ’expert’ is paid via a link to PayPal. Here is a link to my profile.
I really like the concept behind BitWine, but the problem is in ’expert verification”“ or lack there of. Also, you don’t really know how helpful someone is going to be at the start, but all the while you’re on-the-clock. Still, BitWine is an interesting service and I see it working best when someone directs a client to their profile and uses BitWine as a means for easily monetizing services – as opposed to actually finding experts.