I’ve found that looking for jobs that (a) are in cities that have a higher cost of living than where I live currently and (b) allow me to telecommute, allow me to charge anywhere from a small, to a substantially larger, amount than I could in my local market – all for the same skills/work.

Ramit – I know that you have already selected your beta group for the study, but I feel I am at a pivotal moment in my professional quest and would love the opportunity to become involved in any way possible. tia

Edit from Ramit: This seriously looks like a spam comment, but it’s not. This is a good way to earn some extra money.

If you excell at proving your worth, you can ultimately turn what would have been a side job that paid $10-15 an hour into something more.

As the self-proclaimed queen of side jobs (from tutoring to editing to catering to club promoting to public relations to contract negotiating) I must say that many of the most profitable ventures started out with me offering my time for free.

This is an especially valuable concept for those recent grads (like me) who don’t have the experience (or the confidence) to go out there and charge exorbitant rates like Ramit!!

If anyone would like to chat more about this topic, feel free to contact me at tracykimball@gmail.com. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Oh and Ramit – terrific concept, I can’t wait to see what you bring to the table on this one.

I recently read Rich Dad/Poor Dad and the principle theme was to acquire assets early. I’m not entirely interested in real estate, particularly because of my remote location lack of a near-by market. Since I’m already set on CDs, Money Market and well valued investment stocks (the 3-mo to 1 year time line, but more if need be), I’m looking to expand my holdings.

I suppose I could spend some more time reviewing bonds, but the thrust of my question was to determine what the less obvious forms of investment are.

just reading these posts gives me hope in the midst of fear.

in the past i’ve done lots of freelance graphic design work but often for free or reduced rates.

interested in how to use freelance work to transition to other areas of interest (writing, video).

interested in coaching/strategies to overcome: inertia, self-doubt, fear, belief that a corporate world is the safe, charging fair rates

There are many, many companies out there that pay college students, recent grads (and even people overseas) to write simple articles and blogs (250-500 words) for their company on a regular basis. Everyone has a blog these days but many companies don’t have the time to keep it updated, so they pay others to write interesting stuff for them. If you have mediocre writing skills and speak English, you’re pretty much qualified. The pay isn’t anything to brag about, but it’s definitely a great way to make cash on the side pretty quickly.

Two websites I’ve used when hiring writers for my own company are Odesk and Elance. There are a ton more out there (Craigslist is always a winner). All you have to do is market yourself! As Ramit has said before, If you know 4th grade algebra, you’re now a math consultant! Almost any skill you have, you can market it and make money off it.

I recently learned that there was such a big market out there for freelance work when I was actually looking for work to be done for my company. Hope that helps.