The current recession in Nigeria has sprung a lot of people into action with a taut determination to rake in some extra cash.
For years, successful billionaires have applied principles of compounding interest, creating extra sources to generate revenue and Nigerian news sources are abuzz with stories of people making it big in what originally started out as small businesses with a little capital.
This means you can do the same by using skills you possess and making the most of opportunities lurking around. Below are several ways to earn extra cash besides your main source of income:
1. Start a Car Wash Business
Many car owners in Nigeria desire to wash their cars every day, just not by themselves, especially during the harmattan season so they are willing to pay cash to receive regular car washes as a part of the necessary maintenance of their vehicles.
Offering car-wash services is a quick and fun way for a group of friends to earn some extra cash. Car washes are usually N500 – N1000 per wash and weekends are generally busier than weekdays in this business. Car washes that are set up or located next to gas stations or close to highway exits are usually very successful or you can reach out to folks in your neighbourhood who might need your services.
2. Social Media Marketing
Your social media page can become a medium of advertisement. If you enjoy making new friends and communicating with new people on sites like www.facebook.com and www.twitter.com, then why not promote or publicize events on your page. You can start by letting your social network know that you are available to publicize events and brands at an affordable price. The bigger your network, the more you can charge! You can increase your income, while making new friends.
3. Blogging
This is the part where you need to embrace technology and collect money for your thoughts. Blogging is a full time job for some people in Nigeria and it is a fast growing method for earning cash by simply sharing your thoughts online. Hence, you need to have a laptop and an internet connection to start blogging. Sites like www.hubpages.com, www.blogger.com etc. allow bloggers to write what is on their minds and get paid to do so by running ads by companies such as Google, Ebay, Kontera and Amazon.
Here is how it works: You simply place the ads of these sponsors on your site and begin earning from the clicks on these ads by visitors or readers of your blogs. Signing up with these sites to create your blogs is free.
4. Recycling
Depending on your location, you could be doing Mother Earth a great service and making extra cash over a period of time, by collecting bottles. Simply collect cans and bottles (aluminium, plastic or glass) and take them to the sanitation house nearest to you, where it can be recycled for cash in return. Another way to make it easier is to make arrangements with local restaurants and eateries to pick up their already-separated bottles and cans on a specific day every week.
5. Paid Referrals
Not many people are aware of this but businesses will pay for a good referral – a client, an employee, an investor, new business leads and opportunities. Sift through your network and see who you can refer. Banks, especially, pay well for referrals of new customers. A quality referral made the first time around is usually the basis for developing a powerful relationship of trust between the referrer and the business and that company may be inclined to pay more for additional referrals in the future.
6. Home Cleaning
Home cleaning or housekeeping is another way to earn money from a side gig as long as you are not among those who dread house chores. If you are good at cleaning, you might as well earn some money doing it by finding clients/families willing to pay you to clean their homes. Some arrangements require you to show up for two hours on certain days to clean house and go home.
7. Photo Stock
You can turn your passion into business by taking photos of people, places and things and uploading them on sites like www.istockphoto.com, www.bigstockphoto.com, www.fotolia.com, www.dreamstime.com and www.shutterpoint.com.
These sites permit you to upload royalty-free pictures for sale; all you have to do is to sign up with them for free and upload your old or new pictures and get paid a percentage by the site for each download by the general public. Most cell phones provide a camera or picture-taking feature and large companies, like Microsoft, may at times purchase these pictures in large bulk quantity for downloading by their software users. Individuals can, therefore, earn a substantial amount of money from this.
