13 Realistic Ways to Make Some Extra Cash by Christmas
We’re heading into the holiday season. It’s the time of year when a lot of folks are looking for a good side hustle.
You want some extra money to buy gifts for yourself and others, partake in holiday festivities, go on vacation, visit family, and travel, it’s just an indulgent time of year.
And the fuel for that can come from a good side hustle.
If you’re curious about ways to increase your income to make money by Christmas, here are some ideas to get you started:
Holiday Cash Ideas Anybody Can Do
1. Sell on eBay
I like eBay because when you sell something, they pay you on the spot, via Paypal.
Sell…
- Stuff around the house
- Unused gifts you want to regift
- Cheap products you find on sale on clearance
This can be a lucrative way to make some extra cash over the holidays.
2. Sell on Poshmark
Poshmark is an online platform and app that you can sell on. You sell mostly apparel but they do accept other goods as well.
Poshmark is kind of like eBay but, they have a social element built on where you can gain followers, host “parties” and more.
When I joined Poshmark a few years ago, I grew to 1,000 followers super fast. I was floored by how quickly you can grow a following and I sold probably 6 or 7 different items within several days of joining the platform.
If you have clothes to sell, this is a place I’d recommend you check out.
3. Sell on Mercari
I sold a Guess peacoat on Mercari a few years ago. The process was super simple to list the item for sale and even easier to ship it.
Mercari is like Poshmark and eBay. You can sell clothes, home goods, entertainment goods, and more.
They have a site and website.
Another place I’d recommend you go to sell your stuff.
4. Start a faceless Tik Tok channel
My latest faceless Tik Tok channel grew to 10K followers super fast. I just landed my first brand deal on that account for $1,000!
I’ve had faceless Tik Tok accounts that I started monetizing when they were much smaller. The truth is, at 1,000 followers, you can begin monetizing with brand deals and start to make hundreds or thousands per month.
5. Start a faceless YouTube channel
Faceless YouTube is a cool way to make money as well. If you start a brand new YouTube channel, it can take time to ramp it up to meet the requirements to start earning with ads.
Ads are served on your videos through the YouTube Partner Program and they are a passive way to make money. It’s totally hands-off.
Aside from that, you can earn from other ways like brand deals, affiliate marketing, and selling your products and services.
As a brand new channel, I’d recommend using affiliate marketing to monetize your content. Join affiliate marketing programs and mention those links in the video description of your YouTube videos. You can mention it in your video as well.
Look at YouTubers in your niche and see how they do it, to get a better idea of how it all works.
6. Start a faceless Instagram channel
Faceless Instagram is a lot like Faceless Tik Tok. Pick a niche, create content and make money through affiliate marketing and brand deals.
Look on Instagram for some examples:
- Dog pages
- Animal pages
- Tech pages
- Travel pages
- Finance pages
- DIY pages
7. Flea market flipping
Buy stuff and sell it at a flea market or, buy from a flea market and sell at places like consignment stores, eBay, and more.
Visit Flea Market Flipper to learn more.
8. Consulting
If you are an expert in a field, sell your expertise in consulting. You can consult with business owners, and companies, consult on small or large projects, etc.
The sky’s the limit.
I’d start building your professional profile on LinkedIn and start contributing to the network, comment on others’ posts, post yourself and watch how you attract clients to work within a consulting capacity.
You can also list your services on places like Upwork and Fiverr.
9. Coaching
Coaching is similar to consulting. This can be personal life coaching, product operations coaching, sales coaching, etc.
Pick a field that you’re good at and sell your services.
10. Writing
Writing online is one of the easiest ways to start making money online. Here are some places to go to find writing work:
- Medium (become a writer)
- Newsbreak (become a writer)
- Elite Personal Finance (paid guest posting)
- Media Bistro (find jobs)
- Upwork (find jobs)
- Problogger Job Board (find jobs)
11. Creating/selling ebooks
Pick a niche, write a book and sell it.
Think about a pain point your audience has and write a book as a solution to their problem, like:
- How to declutter your house in one hour a week
- How to affordably grocery shop for a large family
- How to become a copywriter and start booking clients fast
- How to turn your dreams into a reality with manifestation
- How to get 8 hours of sleep per night with these tactics
Sell on a platform like Gumroad, Sendowl, Thinkific, Teachable, etc.
I did this at the start of the year and made around $10K so far.
12. Creating/selling courses
This is along the same lines as creating and selling ebooks. Courses are more expansive.
They can be video-based, audio-based or text-based, or a combination of the three.
Courses tend to be perceived as having higher value than ebooks so you can sell them for a higher price, like $100 compared to a $15 ebook.
You’ll need a course platform like these:
- Thinkific
- Teachable
- Kajabi
If you’re interested in this, there’s an art to launching a course. Check out YouTube, Tik Tok, and other free places online like forums to see what other successful course creators have done to have a great launch!
13. Work a part-time job
Find a part-time job in person and work. I did this with a seasonal position at Nordstrom several years ago. It was a busy holiday season and it kept me busy. I really loved it!
What do you think?
This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Would you consider any of these sides hustles to make extra money over the holidays?
Have you?
What was your experience?