It’s tough to find a job during our current economic environment.  Many of us have had to get creative in finding a little extra money, or maybe even a new source of income, when those who have jobs are not about to give them up, and those who are looking for jobs are competing against a multitude of people for the same jobs.  So this is a guide to help with ideas on how to get money from sources in the online world and the real world.

If you're looking for how to make money from home and you have talent, here are a few ideas of how to sell your talent online.  If you’re a photographer, be it hobbyist or professional, you might want to try stock photography. Online websites like iStock.com or Shutterstock.com are looking for photographs, vector art, audio, and video to use as stock. This is when people buy rights to use the artwork in their media, like a website, news article, video, or books.

Or if you’d rather sell prints, or are skilled in crafts, you might try Etsy.com or Dawanda.com, which allows you to sell your home-made crafts.

While we’re in the middle of the computer age, one thing many people have found is that there is no substitute for the human touch.  This creates the need for actual online contract work.  ChaCha.com is a phone messaging service that answers a person’s question with a real person on the other end.  Your job would be to either transcribe the phone calls that come in, expedite the text to proper category, or answer the questions to send back as a text to the person’s phone. 

Another resource is Amazon Mechanical Turk, a freelance site where one does small jobs like answer a simple question, translate a simple phrase, and the like.  They pay very little for both ChaCha and AMT, a few cents per question, but they can add up and you will get faster over time.

Internet marketing can be seen just about anywhere nowadays.  One common one is Google Ads.  You set up a legitimate website, people peruse your site, and possibly click an ad.  You get a small amount of money per click.  Your success depends on traffic to your site.  I recommend TheKeywordAcademy.com to get you started.

If you are not willing to pay to create an entire website, there are sites like HubPages.com and AssociatedContent.com where you put posts on a certain topic on their site, and you get a percentage of the GoogleAds.  HubPages gives you a percentage depending on clicks per ad, while AssociatedContent gives you a percentage depending on clicks on your post.  Or, if you happen to have a specialty, you might want to look into getting a guide job at About.com.  

Internet aside, there are way to make quick money in the real world.  One option is to have a yard sale, and collect some money from the “junk” that was once your “stuff”.  Another option is a pawn shop.  Here, you can either sell your merchandise or put up something you own as collateral, and then slowly pay it back.  Some people have even recommended making a profit off your junk on eBay. 

Another thing you can sell is your hair.  If you have long hair, naturally colored and never touched by a blow-dryer, you might find you could make a good amount of money on TheHairTrader.com.  Now we know how wigs come to fruition.

Lastly, to make money in the working world, you might want to consider getting a part time job or a temp job.  Having a part time job can put a little extra money in your pocket and still give you time to job search.  SnagAJob.com lists quite a few full and part time jobs in different areas and fields. 

Temp work, on the other hand, gives you a chance to venture out in the world of business without getting stuck there, and can often provide benefits to their workers.  Some temp jobs even offer more money than part time jobs could, and you can buffer your resume with the skills you learned from the temp job.

For most of the online money making tips, I would recommend you don’t try too many, but choose one and stick to it.  Trying too many just takes away from trying just one, and then you’re just working harder at making no money.  So focus, and don’t be afraid to come a little out of your comfort zone.  It might earn you a little extra right when you need it.