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Most people can use a few extra dollars coming into the family or personal coffers. These same people will frequently be seen spending excessive time surfing the internet, playing video games, or watching hour after hour of television. By cycling this time into money producing activities, additional revenue can be made. Even small amounts of earnings per hour are an improvement over activities that create no income and may cost money.

Unless you are convinced that you have to earn huge amounts of money per hour, expect that spare time earnings will be used for special things or treats for yourself or others. Do not shun things that are sure income producers even if the amounts are not impressive. Some activities will grow in earnings potential over time as you develop income streams and markets.

Many options are available to make money if you are not too picky about what you do. Some people have had success by doing catalog sales. This involves locating a supplier that will sell to you wholesale and furnish you catalogs displaying the merchandise with retail prices.

Avon, Quixtar, and other similar companies work on this principle. These businesses will generally offer multilevel marketing opportunities that allow you to recruit other sellers under your account. You will get a percent of their sales. Normally, your rebate on their sales will be tied to the overall sales generated by you and your downline people. A few minutes with a good search engine will get you many of these companies to choose from for your business.

The profit margin on this type of sale is sometimes diminished by shipping charges. However, if you can operate the business in a way that will let you order once or twice per month, many companies will ship free if the order is large enough. This free shipping can be on amounts as low as $50 or be as high as $1,000. Check ahead of time.

If you are into making crafts, these can be sold relatively easily at flea markets and other venues. If you can make a good product that is not readily available, word of mouth advertising will bring business to your door. One that I had success with was mounting portrait photos on a wood backing and covering it with an acrylic finish. You just needed to be a little careful with the photos that you were given because some can be quite expensive. A few hours several times per week can generate an extra $50 to $200 per week.

Online writing at sites like Helium.com, Triond.com, Associatedcontent.com, and other such sites can bring some dollars to your door. This type of income requires a lot of hours at first to produce modest income. If you consider it a process and keep at it over the months and years, it can slowly be built up to bring in several hundred dollars per month.

Handy man jobs are in demand today. Many carpenters, plumbers, painters, and electricians will not take on a job that does not pay them their union scale wages. Doing little side handyman jobs can make you anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars per month depending on your skill and available time. There are a lot of people who suffer from being challenged when it comes to repair work. The same is true for the part-time auto mechanic.

Odd jobs like raking leaves, shoveling snow, and mowing grass are still around as possible money makers. The work can be hard, but the pay is pretty good today if you can market your skills and willingness to work.

Learn more about this author, Allen Teal.
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