7 Places to Find Work and Make Extra Money

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1. Craigslist

Check out the "gigs" section of your local Craigslist. There often are people looking to hire event staff, models, actors, photographers, writers, demo representatives, or laborers for special projects. If you don't live in a big town, check out the Craigslist pages for other cities. For example, say you're looking for writing work. While there may not be anything available in your area, you could certainly find people in other areas who are looking for writers. And much of that work could possibly be performed remotely! I live on the East Coast, but I've found jobs as far away as Los Angeles.

2.  Clinical Research Studies

I had a friend who regularly participated in clinical research studies. Say you suffer from asthma or an eating disorder. Clinics regularly perform studies on these types of problems, and if you qualify, you could make a decent chunk of change. There's one in my area right now offering up to $1700 in compensation.

3.  Upwork and Fiverr

While there are people out there who carry some bitterness toward Upwork and Fiverr, there are plenty of jobs on the site. Competition for jobs is fierce, but if you keep at it and receive consistently positive reviews, you'll have an easier time getting work. These sites connect freelance artists, writers, and other skilled individuals with businesses (or people) needing a service.

4.  Reddit

If you think Reddit's just for sharing memes and asking questions anonymously, you're way off. Reddit is an excellent place to connect directly with people looking to hire, and you can cast a huge net on the site. Follow subs where hiring managers post to fill specific positions, then contact them directly. You want to be diligent about monitoring these subs, however, so you can be one of the first people to reach out and start up a dialogue.

5.  Instagram

While it's not a common place to find a job, I have seen people looking for workers on Instagram. Following certain businesses and entrepreneurs, you might find that they will occasionally post about open positions. I can remember at least one influencer who posted about an open writing position in the last few months.

6.  Indeed

You're maybe thinking "Duh, Indeed is a job search site!" Yes, but you can find all sorts of jobs you wouldn't ordinarily find just by going about your search creatively. If you're into social media management or copywriting, don't even fill those into the search bar. Instead, type "remote" in the location bar and hit enter. A ton of jobs will pop up from all over the country, and if they're labelled correctly, they'll be something you can do from home. I rarely see the types of jobs I'm suited for in my area, but I always find something to apply on when I go the remote route on Indeed.

And if you see a position that looks awesome, but that doesn't specify that it's remote, it never hurts to reach out and ask. You can include a regular cover letter, a sample of your work, or a link to your portfolio. They may be so impressed that they'll make the position remote, just for you.

7.  Businesses You Admire

If you've got a service to offer that you think will benefit an organization, it never hurts to pitch yourself. You might not see an open position with someone, but you could put together a killer marketing package or pitch and see if they're interested. I've cold-emailed a bunch of people in my life and while I didn't hear back from a bunch of them, I did get some nibbles. The universe rewards the bold.