Net Hustlin' | Tips to Make Money Online

What are you willing to do for $5? That is the question that Fiverr asks. Fiverr is a new website that allows people to post the tasks, also known as "gigs," that they are willing to do for $5.

People have called it the place where Twitter meets outsourcing.

The gigs range from the practical: "I will design a business card for $5," [link] to the clever: "I will draw something in the sand and turn it into a greeting card for $5," [link] To the downright weird: "I will light a Furby on fire and send you the video for $5." [link]

It is incredibly easy to post a gig on the site. You just create your profile and fill in your paypal address. You can then immediately start posting what you are willing to do for $5, without having to wait for site approval.

Fiverr collects $1 for every gig, which means that in the end you actually make $4 per gig. They send the money to your paypal once you reach the minimum of $40.

I put a few gigs up last week offering my writing and photoshop services, and I have already had over 10 requests, which is more than I expected. I am very pleased with the amount of traffic that goes through this site.

I had to turn down a few offers because they just asked for too much for only $5. Sorry, but I'm not willing to write a 5-page term paper with a bibliography for $5! I may need money, but i'm not that desperate.

However, I also finished many gigs that were worth my time (like making a few forum posts for $5).

Most people who have requested my photoshop makeover services were only looking for basic touch-ups and small corrections, so it was a quick $5 that was also fun for me.

This obviously won't make you rich, but if you can come up with some creative little jobs that you are willing to do in your free time, you might actually have fun making some extra money online.

There is a new site called Yearblook, which is an ongoing contest to find the best blog posts. At the end of the year the winners of the contest will be included in a book that features the best blog posts for every day of the year. Rules of entry are explained in their FAQ:

How it works

• 1. Bloggers submit their posts - using the simple form here
• 2. Readers cast votes for their favorites
• 3. We run an algorithm to figure out which is the best post
• 4. The best from each day is added to the book

Each month, the post with the most votes will also win $100. So not only do you get exposure to your blog, but you also have an opportunity to make money for your posts.

This can be a great opportunity to get recognition for what really counts - the quality of your content. There are many contests for design and SEO but not for content creation. Hopefully this will help reward the bloggers who have been working hard at what they do.

Edit 1/06/10 - Yearblook is no longer in service. I will leave another update if it comes back online.