15 Ways to Make Money During a Pandemic

It’s my sincere joy to enhance and add value to people. Some of you may have be thinking this is a bait and switch post to get you to buy a course, or a training, or a coaching, but this blog is from my heart to yours while many of you are quarantined, maybe out of work, and eager for ideas of how to make money online.

If you have any level of financial insecurity this article is for you. While many people are thinking this season may cause a dip in life and maybe finances I actually think now is the time to start now, start simple. 

This week I was chatting with a musician buddy of mine and we spent a few minutes brainstorming ways he could pivot. With all the bars, restaurants and concert venues closed for weeks and maybe months, what can a gigging musician do during this Coronavirus outbreak? After brainstorming a few ideas with him I thought there might be more people out there who could use a few ideas to make more money while in Quarantine.  

Below are 15 ideas that I came up with and hope this will jumpstart your own brainstorming of ways you can make money during this pandemic.

#1 Online Tutoring  

Whether it's teaching an instrument, a subject area, a skillset that you know (e.g. art or yoga) you can become a tutor online. If you decide to enter this space I’d first recommend getting familiar with the platform. How does the interface work, is there a comment section, is there a way to share the screen so you can share your notes? Make sure you know the platform

Secondly, you are going to have to think of marketing in a new way. Start with your own network. Think of all the ways you can reach out to your personal network whether it’s through a Facebook page, an ad, or maybe even an email campaign. Spend a few minutes making a list of the people in your network that might need your expertise. Write an ad or an email that focuses on short term goals. (e.g. Learn how to play a Bollywood Song in 4 lessons) Focussing on attainable goals will help your prospective customers say YES faster.  

It takes months to build a brand therefore it’s not the best use of your time right now to create a new brand. Using your existing brand will help you achieve quicker conversions. I don’t think now is the time to build a brand new brand; now is the time to leverage your existing brand. Spending your time cultivating your existing network is a better use of your time right now than trying to reach out and build an entirely new audience. 

Try out the Freemium model: The Freemium model is where you offer something for free at the beginning allowing you to hook interested clients, and then you charge them at higher levels for other services

Examples

Offer a FREE MasterClass

A FREE Webinar / Livestream

During the Masterclass/Livestream you give value on one idea then you unveil the array of other deeper ways you can help them through one of your other services that they can pay you for.

Here are some free platforms where you can teach online

• Zoom
• Google Hangout
• Skype  

Here are a few online teaching specialty sites where you can set up a gig page

• Upwork
• Fiverr
• Freelancer 

#2 Online Coaching 

There are so many people who can no longer go to their gym anymore and continue to have physical and even spiritual goals that they might be struggling to meet. If you can provide someone with accountability and motivation you can make money as an online coach. There are many different types of coaching that fall under so many different skill sets. You can be a life coach, business coach, leadership coach, and one of the biggest ways to make money is through Executive Coaching. 

#3 Virtual Assistant

There are a number of people in large companies still working during this pandemic. Whether it is the CEO, the sales team, or the HR department many of these people are not only still working but their workload has increased, the expectations from others on their team has increased, and their learning curve has increased. If you can learn how to be a virtual assistant to someone you will be invaluable.  

You may want to enhance some of your skills or learn new skills to be a more marketable Virtual Assistant and there are many platforms where you can learn new skills. Here are few:

Udemy

Skillshare

Coursera

edX

Khan Academy

#4 Affiliate Marketing

If you can find a way to send traffic to a certain product the owners of that product will pay you for sending traffic to their product. If you understand how to make websites, how to get people’s attention, or how to build traffic to a site and then how to convert that traffic to sales,; affiliate marketing might be for you.

#5 Graphic Design Work

If you can create, draw, innovate, or make a video this is a service that many people are looking for and a great way for you to make money. People are also looking for animators, logos, and other design related projects. If you have these skills you can begin to market yourself on platforms such as Fiverr and Upwork and start making money.

#6 Write an Ebook

If you have knowledge that people are willing to pay for you can write a book. The good news is that the book doesn’t have to be physical neither does it have to be long. E-books are the easiest way to share your ideas and start selling it online immediately.

#7 Building Website

If you can build websites you will be in high demand in this season. Everyone is going through a pivot in their business right now. Companies, freelancers, Individuals, and Entrepreneurs have to communicate in a fresh new way. A part of that pivot includes websites and if you understand web design you will be able to provide that service to a vast number of people needing to update their messaging online. So if you understand word press, wix, or squarespace, you can help companies rebrand or get online for the first time. In this season if you’re not online you basically don’t exist. All brick and mortar business have been forced to move the majority of their business online.

#8 Social Media Management

Consider how you can help people who are not digital savvy by managing their social media accounts. If you can help a company, freelancer, entrepreneur, CEO , a founder with their social media this could be a huge way to make money. This includes finding good content that fits their brand, scheduling content, posting the content, engaging with their followers and growing the number of people following them on Linkedin, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and whatever else is out there. Not everyone has time nor the knowledge to keep their social accounts active and there are people out there who want to pay you to consistently do this for them. 

#9 Make Handmade Products and sell them online

There are many people who love to do arts and crafts. Maybe it’s been a hobby for a while and you have been doing things such as silk painting, oil painting, carpentry work, and building things. Why not find ways to sell it online? Amazon, Ebay, and Etsy all still exist. I used to use Etsy years ago and it is a great platform for individual creators. We’ve gotten a bit so used to factory and mass produced products that it is even more meaningful to buy something from a local artisan. If you have been making your own artistic items this is a great time to start making money from your art. Use your talents, gifts, and hobbies and make handmade products and sell them.

#10 Data Entry

In this season of the world so many things have had to go online. Imagine a school. All the lesson plans and coursework of each teacher used existed only in their own personal notes; but now all that information needs to go online. That is huge levels of data entry. There’s so much research going on right now. That’s all data entry. Data entry is such an easy job and it's one that people will pay for because all of a sudden people have to go online FAST!

#11 Vlogging, YouTubing, Podcasting

A lot of us spend a lot of time consuming content, why not use your knowledge to help others produce content and get paid for it.  Any platform where people are consuming content in an Audio, visual, or written form people will pay for that content. Like the freemium model I mentioned earlier there are aspects to these avenues that you can do for free and then also create other content that people can pay for. 

#12 Deliver Food and Groceries

You can deliver food and groceries. There are so many older people who can not leave the house right now and you can deliver their groceries. There are a lot of families under heightened pressure to take care of their kids at home and don’t want to risk their kid’s lives taking them to the store. People need groceries, cleaning products, and other household necessities. Offer to pick it up and deliver it to them and they will most likely tip you or you can charge for the service. Of course take care of yourself and your customers, wear gloves, a mask, and remember to disinfect yourself. But delivering food and groceries is so key right now.

#13 Translation Services

The world is more interconnected than ever before and so many people know multiple languages. Many companies have a website in one language but do business in multiple countries. You can use your knowledge of multiple languages to translate for these companies, and make money doing something that comes naturally for you.

#14 Transcribing

There are an incredible number of things that need to be transcribed. Whether it’s video or audio that needs to be turned into text, or notes that people have taken in a notebook and needs to be put into a digital form. Transcribing is a great way to make money right now.

#15 Sell your career expertise

There are a lot of people who have jobs who’ve been asked to take a pay cut or have unfortunately lost their job during this pandemic. This is an incredibly trying time for people but I want to encourage you to never ever underestimate your value. There are people that desperately want to know what you know. You can take your knowledge and put it out there and say let me help you ace your interview, let me help improve your resume, let me help you be more confident in front of other people. These are just a few examples but people also want to know your knowledge in architecture, engineering, urban design, and so many other areas. What you have spent years or in some cases even a lifetime learning is valuable to others and you can start making money now with your unique set of skills. 

CONCLUSION

We are also creating a marketplace for those with a service they have that is marketable or if you are looking to hire someone with a specific skill. Let’s get our community connected. Sign up here and I will promote your services or the position you are looking to hire. 

I am committed to each of you and I hope some of these ways can help you start making money or at least encourage and push you in the right direction. I want to ask you to just try a few. Even if all the variables are not perfect, just try it. You never know what might happen if you just start now, start simple. If you have more ideas, leave them in the comments and if there is any way I can help you, don’t hesitate to reach out for something customized just for you. 

Daniel Ramamoorthy(AKA Dan Ram) is an igniter. A 3x entrepreneur, prolific speaker, and startup coach, his clients range from individual founders to national governments. During the coronavirus pandemic he has launched The Daily Show with Dan Ram, a daily livestream show featuring some of the greatest minds and talents in the world bringing a daily dose of inspiration during quarantine. His eclectic background growing up in 10 countries on 4 continents, his multi-continent education including Yale University and Trinity College, as well as his work in diverse industries from the UN to Consulting to Private Equity to Startups ensures that his clients are at the cutting edge of innovation.

Bonus: Places you can find Remote Work

https://weworkremotely.com/

https://www.remote.io/

https://remote.com/

https://www.dhirubhai.net/

https://www.flexjobs.com/

https://pangian.com/

15 Ways to Make Money while in Quarenting

1. Online Tutoring
2. Online coaching
3. Affiliate Marketing
4. Write an ebook
5. Transcribing
6. Graphic Design
7. Building websites
8. Social Media Management
9. Make Handmade Products
10. Data Entry
11. Vlogging, YouTubing, and Podcasting
12. Deliver Food and Groceries
13. Translation services
14. Transcribing
15. Selling your career expertise