William B. Taylor
Gig Work as an Income Stream
With the uncertainty in today's job market, combined with out of control inflation, taking on some manageable consulting work that can be done from your home is an excellent way to increase your income.
Most people focus their energy on earning just one income - their full time job. This is understandable as most people spend a significant amount of their week working 8 or more hours a day, and when you factor in commuting, there's another couple of hours gone. So what can you do to earn another income without interrupting your life even more?
The answer is do some consulting work, also known today as "gig" work. A lot of these types of contract jobs can be done remotely, and businesses of all shapes and sizes are always looking for experts to help with special projects, or to fill a temporary gap in their workplace.
Do you have skills that people are willing to pay for? I bet that you do! Here are just some of the in-demand skills that employers are willing to pay for:
Social Media management - turn your passion for posting relevant contact on social media sites into some extra cash.
Creative Writing - many small and medium sized businesses can use some extra help in coming up with interesting, well-written articles about their company or products.
Product Descriptions - with the advent of online selling, many small businesses need talented people who can write compelling and descriptive product blurbs to help sell their online products. Many of these sellers are from other countries and English is not their first language and could use help ensuring that their product descriptions make sense to their target audience.
Technical Writing - perhaps you have industry or item specific knowledge that you can use to write technical papers or technical product descriptions? Turn your expertise into some extra cash by writing technical articles that businesses can use on their website or in their technical documents.
Content Write - a successful blog takes time to manage, and requires interesting and relevant content. Rather than paying a full-time employee to write and manage their business blog, companies will often outsource this task.
Lifestyle blog - do you have a skill that others will find useful? Do you have a knack for baking, flower arranging, gardening, lifestyle hacks or something else? You can turn your skill into money by writing articles for lifestyle websites, or even create your own blog and monetize it by gaining followers and placing pay-per-click ads on your blog.
The fact is that almost everyone has a skill that someone else is willing to pay for; you just have to figure out what that skill is and find the people that need it. This can take some work, but once you have your first client, others will follow. Who knows, you may even end up working as a consultant full-time...and enjoying it a lot more than a regular old 9-to-5 job!
