Use the Skills from Your Job to Make an Extra Income

One of the things I'm doing this year to make an extra $10k is looking into consulting gigs. I'm trying to find a few side jobs where I can sell the skills I've learned in almost 20 years in the workforce. I'm starting to get some interest, and I'll fill you all in if/when I get a breakthrough.

In the meantime, here's the story of someone who did just what I'm talking about. It was left as a comment on a post I did for The Consumerist. Here's what the commenter had to say:

I'm a geek in the network operations center of a gov. agency.  I needed to make some extra money, and wanted to leverage my pc and network skills.  I was interested in getting into home/small business IT consulting on the side.  However, I didn't have the time or inclination to try to chase down customers.

Then I made a fortuitous discovery:  Lots of people are spending lots of money to wire up new and retrofit homes with high-end network infrastructure, but they have no idea how to actually hook up computers, network printers, routers, wireless, etc.  My neighbor was having his house gutted and rebuilt inside, and had the whole house wired for network connectivity.  I got in touch with the home theater/inside wiring company he was working with, and offered my services.

Now they bid me on their contracts as "IT Consulting."  They bring me in during design phase to determine requirements, then they do the work, then they call me when it's all done and tested, and I hook up PCs, printers, configure routers & wireless, and train the customer.  I can even sell the customer new gear, without any hassles of sales tax/merchant licenses, because the company I'm working with takes care of all of that.  The place where I really earn my $$$ (and differentiate myself from low-end Geek-squad types) is for customers who have complex hardware VPN/VoIP connections into their offices.  I've done a number of these setups, mostly for one big law firm here in town, and now their in-house IT department give my name out to employees who need someone to do the in-home integration.

It's a win/win.  The company gets to offer a more full-service product, and I get $100/hr with 2-hr minimum for every trip I make.  I do about one a week after work, and am pulling down about $500/month.

I've done this in the past and made some good money. I've attached myself to an agency of some sort and when they've needed a "marketing expert", they call me in. I'm now working on the same sort of thing, but with a different twist. Now I have an advertising/marketing firm who needs a "blogging expert." ;-)

As I said, I'll let you know how it goes for me, but the above example is a GREAT one of how you can take your daily skills and turn them into an extra income.

Comments

[Curtis]

I've found that teaching can also be a good way to make some extra money. After finishing up my MBA last December, I started applying to local colleges about teaching night classes.

I started teaching some Economics courses at an ITT Tech campus. This was good experience, but the pay wasn't great. I figured it was a good stepping stone.

It turned out I was right. After about 3 classes, I got a call and offer from a 4-year school closer to home looking for a Quantitative Analysis instructor for their evening MBA program. This kind of class was right up my alley. Not only was it closer to home, but the pay was 2.5x as much!

So now, depending on the class schedule, I'm pulling in an extra $700 - $1000 per month for teaching 1 night per week. And trust me, teaching the same class the second time is much easier. Once you've prepared for the class a couple of times, it's gets to be pretty easy to prepare.

[thebaglady]

I've been thinking of doing consulting gigs, too. I just don't know where to market myself. I think I need to work some more and get some connections.

[jhawsey]

Here is a little different twist on the idea. I am a software developer but I'm also pretty handy with network and hardware support like they guy you mention. One thing you have to deal with when everyone knows you are good with computers is that EVERYONE comes to you for advice or help. These are people that are looking to get free advice and they are generally good friends so I wouldn't want to charge them. I was getting a little overwhelmed with this so now when they come up I say "Hey just have me over for dinner some night and I'll work on it for you." This works well because 1) they don't see it as a fee or anything 2) I get a free meal for my family that we don't have to cook and 3) I get to spend some time with friends.

[Andrea >> Become a consultant]

This is a great idea. I run a website on independent consulting and so many people write in and say that they're overwhelmed by the idea of doing it full time. But just picking a target like $10k is attainable for a huge number of people and it can help you test the waters. Besides, having an extra $10k a year can make a huge difference to your lifestyle, while using far less of your time than most side jobs out there.