🔟 10 Wise Ways: How to Make Money Fast

10 ways to make some cash until the next thing comes along.

Photo by John Angel on Unsplash

Maybe you lost your job to a layoff or firing. Maybe you quit because you just couldn’t take it any more. Either way, the job market is moving like molasses, but rent is still due on the same day.

The median duration of unemployment is about 5 months, according to data from 2021 which, well, it isn’t anymore. Our parents told us to have 6 months of expenses stashed away. If your parents are like mine, they never went so far as to fund that account. Thanks for nothing, mom and dad!

Good news! I have shaken the money trees, I have followed the treasure maps. Today I’m sharing the best techniques I’ve found to make some money after an unexpected job.

This list is tailored for people with a professional background. It won’t apply to everyone. I have personally utilized (almost) every approach on this list. These are uncompensated endorsements — I’m not paid by any of the companies I mention.

I hope this will give you a push in the right direction.

If you’re experiencing some financial instability due to recent job loss, I’m happy to make access to this subscriber-only content free of charge.

Just drop me a line and ask for access. No questions asked, no explanation necessary.

1. Negotiate your Severance

“Everything is negotiable,” or so the saying goes. Most people don’t realize this includes getting fired.

If you’re laid off, your severance or separation agreement is probably negotiable. In a larger company, it can be hard to figure out who has the authority to approve an increase. It never hurts to ask “Is there any way this could be increased?” or “I think I can make this separation a better deal for both of us. Who could I talk to about negotiating this?”

What’s the worst that could happen? They could say no. So move on to the next item on our list!

If you do get some traction, start thinking about what you might have to offer in return for a better deal. Here are some examples of things that are typically included in a separation agreement:

1. Agreement not to compete, perhaps strictly limited to activities that directly compete with the company in a very specific way, for a very limited period of time.

2. Agreement not to solicit clients, which is a less restrictive form of non-competition. This means that you won’t try to encourage any of their current clients to stop doing business with them.

3. Agreement not to recruit (solicit) employees, meaning you don’t try to get any of the people still working there to leave, or to come and work at with you at your next employer.

4. Confidentiality and non-disparagement¹, in which you agree not to talk smack about the company or their management, or tell anybody about anything the company doesn’t want you talking about.

5. Release of legal claims. A separation agreement usually includes a legal release which says that in exchange for the payment, you’re not going to sue them.

If negotiating that last item, help from a lawyer is probably mandatory. It’s a good idea any time you’re negotiating a legal agreement. This doesn’t need to cost a lot of money. Ask someone you trust (you can ask me!) for a referral.

2. Freelance for your Previous Employer

Many people are able to work out freelance arrangements with employers after they are let go. Employers often foresee that the firing of an employee is going to cause some operational problems that will have to be overcome. You can offer them the opportunity to hire you for a short period of time as a freelancer, so you can help them reduce that risk.

It also helps ensure that your separation proceeds in a reasonably harmonious way. Right now you’re not feeling harmony, I know, since they fired you. If you can set those feelings aside, you may consider the possible ways you might continue to cash some of their checks.

Employers will also initially be reluctant to continue their relationship with a recently-fired employee, for fear of hard feelings or bitterness. It’s generally to your advantage to act like there are no hard feelings, even if there really are. There is no upside to acrimony. Even if you think you’d never work for the company again, your perspective on that might change later. You might also have a chance to work with those same people again at a different company.

Hiring a departing employee as a freelancer is good business for the employer for many of the same reasons. A little freelance work costs only a fraction of what they pay for a full-time employee. It also minimizes the risk of all kinds of problematic post-separation scenarios.

3. Freelance for Everybody Else

The freelance workforce is growing every year. It’s much easier today to get started hanging out your shingle. Companies like Squarespace and Wix have templates ready-to-go for freelancers.

I’ve spent a lot of time with Squarespace in the last few months getting my own operation up to snuff. After a few years away, I’m amazed at both the quality of the templates and how much easier it’s become to get the templates to do what you want.

If I were starting a new freelance operation today, these are the steps I’d take:

1. Set up a new domain name, web site, and Squarespace site. All you need is one or two pages to inspire trust.

2. Update your LinkedIn profile so that your freelance offering is described up at the top. Put it right after whatever you’ve written to appeal to future employers. No employer is going to hold having a freelance side-hustle on your profile.

3. Write a short e-mail pitch template, or use this:

Hi Name! I wanted to let you know that while I’m in the process of looking for a new role as %ROLE% I’ve set up shop as a freelancer/consultant.

I’m helping clients %DO WHAT I’M GREAT AT%.

I’m available immediately. Do you know of any projects that I might be able to help with?

Start emailing or DM’ing that pitch out to your network. Many people find this kind of networking a bit exhausting. It doesn’t need to be! Start with a list of everybody you know or have known that could conceivably be a freelance client. You’ll find these people in your old email inboxes and your LinkedIn connections.

Set aside some time each day (actually put the actual time in your actual calendar!) In 30 minutes you should be able to send out a handful of these networking messages. With any luck, you’ll look up at the clock and a few hours have gone by and you’ve send 12.

4. Ask for Commission

If you can’t get your previous employer to pony up a freelance agreement, cost could be a factor. For some people, it can make sense to ask for a commission-only arrangement. Perhaps they’d pay you a fee if you brought in new clients, help or helped them achieve their goals in some other measurable way.

Depending on your relationship with the bosses, the idea that you’re out there with an incentive to bring them clients rather than torpedo them might give them a sense of peace.

5. Expert Networks

Expert networks connect corporate clients with highly skilled or experienced people (that’s you!) Historically they’ve mostly been looking for deep-thinker types — like researchers, academics, and senior executives. After a recent boom, they’re after all kinds of talent and expertise from technical, business, and creative fields.

I have personally earned tens of thousands of dollars from expert networks in the past few years, as have many others. Here’s what you need to know in order to put Expert Networks to work for you.

First, each company is a little bit different in how they work. Generally, once they’ve vetted your skills, they’ll try to match you with their clients for interviews. Generally these last an hour. Some companies will also also book you for webinars where you’ll talk with a larger group.

You’ll specify the hourly rate that you want to be paid. Some will find it disconcerting to be asked to name their own figure. Pro tip: the number you’re thinking of is probably too low. As a starting point, take your annual salary, divide it by 2080 (40 hours X 52 weeks) to get your salary as an hourly rate. Now multiply that by a number that makes you feel like a hero, for example 2.5. You should come out with a number in the low hundreds of dollars per hour. That’s just a rule of thumb. Specify a higher or lower rate if you want.

The client companies are mostly investment firms. Despite my continuous performance anxiety about these calls, I’m usually surprised to discover that clients know only the most basic facts about the topic. They’re frequently looking for a “explain this to me like I’m five years old” kind of experience.

Worried that you’re not “expert” enough? Let the expert network people worry about that. They’re great at it. Complete the application process, tell them what you know, and they’ll ask you some screener questions on each project to make sure you fit their clients’ needs. If you end up on a call and you’re not able to give the client what they need, it’s the expert network’s fault, not yours. No big deal.

I have done dozens of calls with GLG, Coleman, Third Bridge, and Alphasights. They’re all solid. Capvision comes recommended by a community member, but I haven’t worked with them personally.

Scam warning: there are scams out there that play these same patterns. Spend some time Googling to verify any other company is legit before you sign up.

6. Start a newsletter on Substack

I used to say that Substack is like Onlyfans with your clothes on. I saw somebody say Substack is like Instagram for writers, and that’s probably more appropriate.

What is Substack? You’re looking at it right now. Substack is best known as a newsletter platform, and it does that very well. It’s also a very robust content management system designed from the ground up to make it easy content creators to sell content subscriptions, including writing like this, videos, and podcasts.

As with the other social media platforms, stories are piling up of independent content creators who are building lucrative businesses on the back of content. My experience is only a few months old but I’m super happy with how easy Substack made it to set up my newsletters and get my first free and paid subscribers.

Starting a free newsletter on a topic related to your job search is a great way to build credibility and influence that you own. If you’re freshly laid off, now is a great time to get to work on that. If you’re successful connecting with an audience, Substack makes it very easy to start selling subscriptions. If not, it will help you get in the habit of writing on the regular. That’s a great career move either way.

[Disclosure: I’m in the process of investing in Substack through their community round.

7. Rent out a Room on AirBNB

AirBNB has had some difficult press lately, but I can tell you from personal experience that it can be a great way to turn your free time and space into cash. I started renting out my apartment in NYC many years ago, when I was traveling on business. Later when we bought a vacation home, we started renting it out. AirBNB had picked up some steam by then, and we were shocked at how lucrative that was.

It was so lucrative that I ended up buying a bunch of vacation houses, rehabbing them, and running them on AirBNB for several years. I hosted thousands of nights, hired a bunch of employees, and made good money. It was a great little business. Until the pandemic. But that’s a story for another time.

There’s plenty out there on how to get started on AirBNB. For those of you considering it as a way to make some cash while unemployed, I highly recommend you investigate it. Here’s a few tips:

1. Whatever it is you are assuming makes it impossible or difficult to rent on AirBNB, check that assumption by searching AirBNB and looking into what other people are doing in your area. There are laws, there are rules, and there’s what everybody else is doing. I’m not saying you should break the law or ignore the rules, I’m just saying don’t assume it’s impossible until you’ve checked it out.

2. Nobody wants to rent an AirBNB with no reviews, so there’s a “cold start” problem with new listings. Overcome this and your own fear by renting your first few nights for an insanely low rate, like $9. This is a great way to find out what you didn’t know you needed to know before getting serious about it.

3. My wife and I were consistently able to develop properties that rented for $500 - $1,000 a night in a market where most listings rented for about $150. It’s all about design and decor. Think about how a hotel room looks. Go for extreme minimalism. Remove everything that is not essential from the space. Do not post any photos that are not perfect. Try to make the room look like a page in a CB2 or West Elm catalog.

8. Write eBooks

I write to learn what I know, but it’s also become a good business for me. I started my coaching outfit by writing a short eBook. It hasn’t made a fortune, but it’s been very valuable in helping me bet my business going.

I know of no better way to spend your time unemployed than by writing an eBook. At worst, you’ll improve your writing skills. It’s also an amazingly effective way to prepare for job interviews.

Start by picking a topic that you’ve developed some expertise about. Look at what’s out there, and consider whether you could write something more specific or targeted to a particular type of user than anybody else has.

I’ve used Gumroad to publish my own eBooks and it couldn’t be easier. I stuck with PDF eBooks because that’s the format I’m most comfortable with. The platform also supports video, podcast, and memberships.

Don’t assume that the world doesn’t want to hear from you. Gumroad’s marketing develops a theme that I’m pushing throughout this piece: take a tiny step to create some content, and sell it for a tiny amount of money. See what happens. What do you have to lose?!

9. Gig Work on a Talent Marketplace

The last few years have seen an explosion in popularity of gig work marketplaces for professional services, like Fiverr and Upwork.

I long associated these options with low-quality, low-cost services provided by semi-professional providers. That’s not an accurate depiction of the opportunity today. There are many highly skilled, highly professional people providing services on these marketplaces, and making very good money doing it.

Watch out for the social media comparison trap! It can be discouraging to read success stories of camera-ready influencers flexing their new Bugatti, once you’ve compared them to your own few dozen followers.

Do not give up before you’ve even started. You don’t need a new Bugatti! In between the zeros and the zillionaires are lots of people (like me!) who started at zero and worked their way up from nothing to something.

I haven’t personally worked via Upwork or Fiverr, so I’m not vouching based on my personal experience. From what I’ve heard, the best tips are fairly similar to what I offered for AirBNB above:

1. Perfect your marketing. Invest the time in your profile photo, portfolio samples, and description of your services. Differentiate yourself from other sellers by demonstrating your professionalism and attention to detail up front.

2. Consider building some reviews by completing some projects at a lower rate than you normally would. But do not lower your standards for the type of client you’ll work for. Don’t tolerate discourteous or unprofessional prospective customers — that behavior will escalate once the project starts.

3. Don’t talk yourself out of opportunities. Let customers talk you into them. List services in any categories where you think you can have something of value to offer. Put yourself out there and see what feedback you get. If you get nothing, make some changes and try again.

10. Optimize Your Personal Finance

This may not be the tip you want, but it could be the one you need. If your job loss is causing financial stress, information is your friend.

Start by making a budget. The sooner you get started, the more useful it will be. For me, the worse things seem, the less I want to know. But you need to know where you stand financially in order to get through it.

As a disorganized person, my best personal finance advice is this: start simple.

Start a spreadsheet and make two columns: income and expenses. Fill in the income you can expect over the next six months, and fill in your monthly expenses. No need to be precise for now, you can always add precision later.

Each month, you’re probably going to have a shortfall, and you can deduct that from the cash you have on hand. As you work through this process, you’ll be developing a picture of how long your cash will last.

Now let’s look at that monthly expenses column. Reorder them in three groups:

• Mandatory expenses that you can’t easily eliminate or reduce, like rent, transportation, and health care.

• Flexible expenses are costs that you’re stuck with but may have some control over. This could include what you spend on food, your cell phone, and credit cards. Some can be impacted by changes to behavior, some by negotiation, some both.

• Optional expenses are costs you can control, like your gym membership, entertainment, and household expenses that can be delayed for a while.

Now, order each category from largest expense to smallest. Mandatory expenses are the hardest to reduce, so let’s look at the flexible category. Starting with the largest, evaluate how you might eliminate or reduce it. Can you cancel, down-level, or suspend any subscriptions? Payments on some types of debts can be negotiated or suspended.

I hope that’s enough to get you started.

Here’s my best advice: take the time now to organize the information you have about your financial situation. The sooner you start, the better equipped you’ll be to find your way through it.

I know it’s hard. I’ve been there. I made it through, and so will you.

1. Non-disparagement cannot be required by the company in exchange for severance under new NLRB rules. I’m not sure if that would apply to an agreement that you’re voluntarily proposing that is, effectively, in addition to the severance agreement the company offered. The lawyers will need to figure that out. I have sometimes found that merely promising non-disparagement and confidentiality helps the employer relax and become more generous.