Keep Your Money to Yourself Part 4: Make More Money

February 21, 2008 By Erica Barton

This final article in its four-part series is all about making money, whether hand over fist or a bit at a time. The goal of this series was to show a few simple ways to improve anyone’s cash flow by both cutting expenses and increasing income. Since last week’s article “Supplement Your Income” was about effortless and easy ways to make a little bit of extra money, this week’s edition is about ways to make a lot more money with just a bit more effort. Here are the six easiest ways to increase income immediately:

Moonlight: One way to supplement your income is to start your own side business where you can utilize the skills you have acquired while “on the job.” There are many benefits to creating your own business, one of the biggest being the tax deductions that can save you thousands of dollars per year. Another benefit to moonlighting is that you do the work when you can fit it in, and you charge however much you want to charge. Go to Craigslist to find moonlighting possibilities in your area and begin your own company. Eventually, you may be able to quit your day job altogether.

Ask for a Raise: What easier way can you think of to get more money? Although for some, this may seem impossible, for most it will be easy to achieve without having to do more work. To be taken seriously, be prepared when you approach your boss. On a blank sheet of paper, create two columns. One column will list all of the jobs that were part of your job description when you got your last raise. In the other column, list all of the jobs that you have taken on in addition to the previous jobs. Be thorough and hold nothing back. (Quantity often counts more then quality when negotiating.) Approach your boss and show them the list. Let them know that you are willing to continue the extra jobs, but only if you can get paid for them as well. They will most likely ask you how much more you would like to be paid. Have a high number in mind ahead of time so that when your boss comes back with a lower amount, you won’t be totally disappointed. Then again, how stoked will you be if you get what you are asking for?

Change your deductions at work: When you began working at your job, you probably filled out a W-4 (also known as an Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate). This form is needed to know how much money an employer is going to deduct from your paycheck. If you would like to take a little bit more money each pay period, go to the person who prints your payroll checks and let them know you would like to fill out a new W-4. When you do, increase the number of deductions you claim. This may mean a smaller tax refund at the end of the year, but it also means you will have more money in your pocket daily that you can spend or save as you see fit. Why loan the money to the government all year long when you can use it to turn your own profit?

create an Online Store: Consider opening an eBay store for auctioning sellable items. You can find a plethora of products to auction at Freecycle.org, a Yahoo company where people go to get rid of items they no longer want. If you sign up for an account at eBay, be aware that you can also set up an online store at the same time listing all of your different products. Paypal can also help you set up an online store for free and it is easy to link to your personal / business website. Cafepress and Amazon are two other sites that can help you set up online stores quickly and easily.

SWITCH YOUR SAVINGS ACCOUNT TO A MONEY MARKET ACCOUNT: Why get less then 1% interest on your money when you could be making much more? Begin shuttling your money into a money market account and you can see the interest quickly accumulate. I recommend ING Direct since they have a wide variety of high-yield savings accounts and mutual funds. ING Direct’s Global Real Estate Fund has an average 19.94% growth since its November 2001 inception date (a highly risky money market account), while it’s average Money Market Fund has had an average growth rate of 4.03% since it’s April 1994 inception date (a much safer rate). Having recently acquired Sharebuilder (where you can trade stocks yourself), Sharebuilder’s Money Market Account through ING Direct has a 7-day yield as high as 3.18% as of February 20, 2008. The best thing about using ING Direct and Sharebuilder is that you can transfer as little as $25 to your account on a monthly basis and have it transferred back to your checking for free within 24 hours of the request date.

MAKE BETTER SALES: Everybody sells something whether they intend to or not. When you tell your family about a great movie you saw and convince them to go see it, you have just sold that movie. Sincerely suggesting a product that you believe someone will benefit from is selling. When dealing with customers, you want to find out what they are looking for so that any sale you make to them is one that they will love and not return. Here are a couple ways to make that sale even better.

1. NEVER SELL THE FEATURES…SELL THE BENEFIT. A customer does not want to hear what the features of a product are. Features are boring! They don’t care if it’s the best product of its kind on the market, or even if it’s the best priced. They just want to hear what the product is going to do for them…how it’s going to make their life better. If you go on and on about your product’s features, you will lose your customer’s attention and you will lose the sale. All your customer wants to know is WHY they should buy what you’re selling, and focusing on that is what will close the sale.

1. USE SUGGESTIVE SELLING TO INCREASE EACH SALE. No matter what your customer is buying, always suggest a complimentary product BY NAME. By suggesting to your customers that they will be happier trying new products alongside the one they are buying, you open up the opportunity for future sales, and increase the current sale. By naming the product, you give them a chance to visualize what they are buying. This is a common trick used in restaurants. When a waitress asks a customer if they would “like dessert with that,” the common response is no. The customer is full and they can’t imagine taking another bite of anything. But, when a waitress suggests a piece of “chocolate mud pie for dessert,” the customer is no longer thinking about how hungry they are. They are thinking about how good chocolate mud pie might taste. Use this trick when suggesting other products and you improve the odds of increasing the sale.

Now that you have an idea of how to greatly increase your income, also check out the other three articles in this series: “Cut Your Expenses,” “Get the Best Deals,” and “Supplement Your Income.” Also check out “20 Free Things You Can Do to Put Cash In Your Pocket” for more ideas.

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