Easy Ways to Make Money

Easy money is usually associated with some kind of nefarious activity. However, you don't have to sell crack on the street corner to make easy money. While the Internet has made it ridiculously easy to make extra cash without too much effort, don't neglect offline methods. Often times, making money in the real world is easier and faster than making money online. The harder you work, the more money you can make, but easy methods still exist for short-term cash needs.

1. Arbitrage on Ebay and Amazon. Find what's selling well on Amazon, then resell it on Ebay. When your item sells, buy it from Amazon and ship it directly to your buyer from Ebay. Repeat.

2. Freelance copywriting. Surf the Internet for websites in need of some good copywriting. You know the ones. If you're uninspired by the copy on the site, write the webmaster offering to jazz up the site a bit with copy that will increase sales, remember to use grammar punctuation checker. Negotiate a fee that is a percentage of sales generated from your copy.

3. Join Fiverr, Tenerr, and other "rr" sites. Fiverr.com offers you an easy way to set up shop and sell "gigs" for $5. You can do practically anything on that site. With enough customers, you could make a substantial amount of money.

4. Clean homes. Grab a few spray bottles and some old rags and offer your services as a housekeeper. You can charge

5. Mow lawns. It's not just for kids. If you do a good quality job, you can make decent money mowing people's lawns.

6. Walk dogs. Does your neighborhood have a lot of dogs? Dog owners might like walking their dogs, but for many it's a chore. Offer to walk dogs every day for a small fee. Get enough customers and the money could add up.

7. Babysit. You can be a babysitter at any age. If you want, you could even offer yourself as a nanny. You'll probably need references but taking care of children is an easy way to make some extra money.

8. Detail automobiles. If you can wash, wax, and vacuum a vehicle, you can detail people's automobiles for a profit.

9. Get a "mindless" job. Mindless jobs are everywhere. You can get paid to take surveys, do work on Amazon.com's Mechanical Turk, or even "get paid to surf the web."

10. Collect soda cans for profit. People throw away soda cans at parks because it's too much of a hassle to recycle them. You can come in behind them and collect the booty.

11. Hoard. This is a long-term strategy, but still easy. Collect staple goods like non-perishable food items. Even water will work. When a natural disaster hits, you can sell it to people in need. You might feel strange about doing this, but people need food and water and you might need the money. Make the trade a fair one and both of you will benefit.

12. Become a street performer. If you can play an instrument or if you're a great singer, you can play on the street corner for money. This works best in big cities on a busy night.

13. Sell baked goods. Go to bake sales or events where you can offer your baked goods for sale. A farmer's market might be ideal.

14. Rent out a spare bedroom. All you need is a trustworthy roommate and the money is easy.

15. Recycle valuable metals. Years ago, a trend developed where people were scavenging salvage yards for catalytic converters from automobiles. Why? Because they contain platinum. It was profitable for people to drive around and saw these from junk cars, but there are lots of opportunities for you to do the same with spark plugs, O2 sensors, old computer motherboards, and many other electronics that contain precious metals. It takes work, but it's easy in the sense that it doesn't take much skill.

16. Sign up for a new bank account. Some banks give you a bonus for signing up for a new bank account. Sign up with several banks and collect your cash. Usually, you have to keep your account open for a minimum amount of time before the bank will pay you the sign up bonus, but in many cases these bonuses are $50, $100, or more.

17. Tutor students. If you're very knowledgeable about a subject, you can offer your services to local colleges and universities. You could even approach middle and high schools. As a tutor, you can help students with whatever subjects you understand well. Typical fees range for $10 per hour to $25 per hour or more.

18. Become a link builder. SEO professionals are everywhere these days. The problem is that many of them are not exactly the most honest people in the world. Offer something that your competitors aren't: legitimate link-building services. Approach websites with offers for guest postings, and try to garner merit-based links for people and you shouldn't have a problem making money. If you want to invest a bit of money, Adgooroo.com could turn you into a big-time SEO firm.

19. Donate sperm and blood. It's unconventional, but it will get money into your hands fast.

20. Scalp tickets. Check local laws to make sure this is legal first, but buying tickets in advance (and at a discount) and then selling them at the door at sporting events could bring in some extra money when you need it.

21. Get good at poker. If you're really good at poker, you can make a living playing. There are thousands of professional poker players all over the world who rely on their winnings to pay the bills. The rules are easy to learn, you get to set your own hours, and you can quit when you've hit your profit target for the evening.

22. Become a freelance coder. If you know a lot about computers, you could offer your services on oDesk or some other freelancing website. Offer to build websites, or write computer programs on a freelance basis.

23. Clean computers. When computers get dirty and dusty, they have problems. You can offer your services as a cleaner. Offer to take apart peoples' computers, and clean all the dust out using a special computer vacuum and cleaning kit available from a computer store. You could also offer to clean off any viruses from infected computers.

24. Sell designer Kefir. Kefir is a drink that's made through the fermentation process of milk or sugar water by special grains called "kefir grains." These grains work hard to ferment milk (or other types of) sugar, producing a fizzy, but refreshing, drink. While it's very easy to make, it's also very uncommon. Regular kefir milk or water doesn't taste bad, but you can spice things up a bit by making flavored or exotic drinks from the basic fermentation. You could make money by setting up a small stand in a park or at an event and selling your homemade drink.

25. Go dig for diamonds. Diamond crater state park is just one of many places where you pay a small fee to go dig up diamonds. It's a real diamond mine, but it's not commercially viable so it's open to the public. People really do find real diamonds in there. While it's easy work, meaning no skill is required, you may also walk out empty handed.

26. Write opinions and product reviews. There are hundreds of sites that pay for product reviews. Offer to be someone who will review a product and then get paid for doing it.

27. Sell your body to science. Sign up for experiments It might involve taking mystery drugs, but it will bring in some easy money.

28. Deliver pizzas. It's not a glamorous job, but this is what makes it easy. There's aren't many people lining up to deliver pizzas. Be that person.

29. Sell photographs. Take stunning photographs and sell them online. Make them different from 99 percent of what's available and you'll make money.

30. Sell water at events or when it's hot outside. During the summertime in Washington, D.C. vendors stand outside - some with just a huge cooler - and sell bottled water to very thirsty pedestrians for $2 a pop. You could do the same.

31. Rent your vehicle out. People rent out space in garages and homes - why not cars? Offer to drive people places, or just offer to let others use your car for a fee. Make sure your auto insurance covers other drivers.

32. Become a gopher. Offer your services to people who want to sit at home and have you bring them stuff from all over town. It could be food, clothing, or anything else. This is going to be something that wealthy or well-off people would be interested in and could afford.

Caution

Make sure that you're not doing anything illegal with any of these methods. Some easy methods, like selling kefir, might subject you to local liquor laws. This is because the fermentation process involved in making kefir produces a mildly alcoholic drink that ranges from .5 to 2 percent by volume. Other methods, like donating blood will require that you be free of any diseases or other illnesses (for obvious reasons). Finally, if you're selling anything to the general public, the state where you live may consider it business activity and you may need to purchase a business license before offering your services.

image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/radjatega/