Top Ways to EARN Money Pre-Trip

The first question I get when discussing my plans for long term travel with friends and family is always the same. A look of shock appears on peoples face as they hear that a graduate student who barely makes $1600 a month can afford to take a year off and see places that others spend their whole lives dreaming about. The question, if you have not imagined what it may be, is "how can you afford that?!" In short response, it is not easy. You have to be very serious and disciplined when saving the majority of your pay for the luxury of travel. Not having to pay rent from living with my parents helps, but it is not always about being diligent about saving. It is also about earning. (Pictured: 500 Euro, or around $750 USD - May 2008)

When I first started this blog in late 2008 I listed some popular techniques many long term travelers utilize to cut down the cost of living, as well as a few ways to make money in order to prepare for a proper financial backing for a RTW trip. A good plan is essential in order to maximize a salary to meet a goal of saving over $25,000+ in a few short years. But if you have a lower salary like I do, you'll find that saving that amount could take quite some time, and will push your trip back further into the unknown. This may be suitable for many itineraries, but to go even further, earning extra on the side is worth looking into and may require minimal effort for some great returns.

I am going to spill the beans and list all the ways I have made extra money to help facilitate saving nearly $19,000 in a little over a year. Not all of the following techniques will work for everyone, and I in no way guarantee the success of doing the same, but if done correctly and with enough research all should generate more profit with minimal effort than doing absolutely nothing, which is a great feeling to have!

 
The following techniques are rated based on a five star scale on three major criteria:
Ease of Use: * - Difficult, ***** - Remedial
Knowledge Required: * - Expert Understanding, ***** - Anyone Can Do It
Probability of Success: * - Low Chance, ***** - Very Likely

Stock Market

It is no secret that the stock market is the source of great profits being made and lost over night. I must place emphasis on the word lost as this technique could end up losing money if bad decisions are made. With the great recession appearing to come to a close, the stock market is on the up and up. In fact, the DOW has increased by over 80% since reaching bottom last March and in the wake of many large companies going bust, dozens of small businesses with potential to sky rocket are coming into the market. Much like blackjack at the casinos, the stock market is part luck and part playing the rules. The more you understand the system and your chosen stocks, the better off you're going to be.

I got lucky and purchased in $5500 worth of stocks at the market bottom in March of 2009 and rode the recovery into a respectable profit. However, if I would have got in a week earlier with the very same stocks I would have made 3x as much as I did! On the flip side, I lost out on a few thousand dollars of profit by selling at the wrong periods of time. With that regard putting your money into stocks is a very risky decision. But with proper discipline and understanding, it can be a source of great reward.

Profit Made: $4500 sold to date, $1,000 on the market along with the initial investment for hopes of more gains.
Ease of Use: * / *****
Knowledge Required: * / *****
Probability of Success: Variable

Referrals

It may be common knowledge in the day of viral advertising that companies utilize customers reviews to generate sales. Word of mouth over facebook, youtube, and message boards can account for a serious amount of revenue in any industry. As a result, many companies have introduced referral programs to pay loyal customers a kick back for referring others to their sites and generating a sale. This is especially popular in the travel industry which benefits more from word of mouth than many other products out there. My secret to earning money on this? Refer people that are already going to book the trip. Many people who are hesitant about booking with a certain company, or those are curious about the type of trips a company offers, may post on various internet message boards and sites requesting help in which you can offer advice while getting people referred in the process. Of course, this works better if you've actually traveled with said company before, or used the product you are going to promote, otherwise it may constitute spamming and be ignored completely. The key is to figuring out a balance of helpful information while giving out info on being referred. The probability of success is low, most people will ignore the referral information, but every once in a while someone may come through and could net anywhere from $50-$100, which is a great return.

Profit Made: ~$500 to date, expected another $1000 in 2010.
Ease of Use: **** / *****
Knowledge Required: *** / *****
Probability of Success: ** / *****

Internet Work

Sites to earn money on the internet are a dime a dozen, and pay about the same as well. I've discussed one question answering site, ChaCha, in the past which pays a few cents per question and can earn you a few dollars an hour on the side. There are many other ways to generate some revenue online, including KGB, eHow, and other review sites. The payout is less than minimum wage, but if you are staying home to save money for the trip and having nothing else to do, its better to earn $100 a month while watching movies/tv than not. Just sit back, click away, and slowly earn money for doing a mindless activity. Most of these sites are getting flooded with applicants now, so the payout has been decreasing consistently over time. I suspect that within the following year most online question and answer sites that are popular will not pay nearly as well as they did a year ago. I've seen my payouts go down 33% since I joined last May as a result of this.

Profit Made: ~$500 to date, expected another $750-$1000 in 2010.
Ease of Use: ***** / *****
Knowledge Required: *** / *****
Probability of Success: ***** / *****

Blogging

Writing a blog has to be the most unreliable way to earn money in the list of ways to generate revenue for a trip. While most all travel bloggers agree that there is a large share of money to be had in writing a blog, getting into the industry and becoming profitable is rough - so don't create a blog expecting to earn money. Many factors need to be addressed before companies are willing to throw money your way. Some of those include optimizing site layouts and search engine locations, increasing readership, and brand recognition. Still, with a decent amount of effort a blog can begin to earn a few hundred dollars here and there, and expand into a well funded blog over time. The most popular method to earn money on a blog is through advertising, in which ad space is sold on a per sale basis or for a set time period in ads. The latter is more difficult to achieve as many sites research your blog's background before agreeing to pay you for ads that may or may not generate revenue on their part.

On the other side of the spectrum, sometimes you could receive contact from a company that offers to pay you for writing a blog post linking back to their site or product. I've had quite a bit of these offers over the last year and have only accepted a small few that are applicable for this site and are generally good products that I would use myself. The last thing that most blogs should have is massive amounts of paid for blog posts that are lacking in quality that the site is supposed to represent. Yes, turning down money is hard, but it should work out better in the long run. A quality blog, especially for travel related purposes, should be done for enjoyment first, and a profit as an added incentive.

Profit Made: ~$250 to date, unknown expected in 2010
Ease of Use: *** / *****
Knowledge Required: *** / *****
Probability of Success: * / *****

Using some of these tips with proper application of knowledge, time utilized, and discipline, a lot of profit can be generated to help your RTW cause to increase your travel time or move your desired departure date closer, which is always a plus! I am not guaranteeing that these techniques will work for everyone, but they are a start in order to earn a few extra days of travel here and there, and who can turn that down?

Have any of these techniques worked for you? Please let me know by commenting below!

Posted in: Initial,Saving for Trip