How to Make Money by Helping Others

There are so many different ways to earn earn money, but wouldn’t it feel good to be able to make money while helping others at the same time?

If you’re the kind of person that wants to give back and gets pleasure out of helping people, but also needs to pay the bills, luckily there are lots of side hustles and career paths out there where you can make money by helping others.

Let’s have a look at some of those options.

16 interesting ways to make money helping people

1. Virtual assistance

Becoming a virtual assistant is the perfect way to make money while helping people. People hire VAs for all sorts of things they need help with, so you’re sure to be able to put some of your existing skills to work as a virtual assistant.

Areas you could work in as a VA include (but are not limited to):

• Admin
• Data entry
• Social media management
• Content creation
• Marketing
• Design
• Communications
• Record keeping
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Virtual assistants can either be paid hourly, or per task.

VA work is ideal for people who want or need to work at home to fit with childcare or existing commitments and is the perfect way for others to employ people when they need some extra help.

2. Dog walking

If you’re a dog lover and enjoy keeping fit, becoming a dog walker is a great way to earn extra money while helping someone out! Plenty of people struggle with busy schedules and just don’t have enough time to walk their dog everyday.

That’s where you come in! You can advertise your services on your local facebook pages as well as with physical flyers in your local area. You can also register as a walker on sites such as Rover.com,

Don’t forget to double up your efforts and install a get paid to walk app – these are apps that pay you in rewards for your steps. There are lots of apps to choose from, but one of the more popular options is Sweatcoin.

3. Housesitting

Housesitting is another option – people going away sometimes prefer to have someone to keep an eye on their house while they’re away, to water the plants, feed their pets etc. You can register to offer your services as a house sitter with sites such as Housesitter.com, who will match you up with people looking for sitters in their area.

4. Petsitting

The same idea with petsitting – if people are looking to head away for work trips or holidays, they may be looking for someone to take good care of their pets while they’re away. If you’re an animal lover, becoming a pet sitter might be a fun and profitable way to make money helping people.

5. Working as a virtual friend

Here’s one you may not have come across before – working as an online friend.

A virtual friend is someone who ‘meets’ and interacts with other people online, offering communication and connection.

When you become an online companion, people searching for friendship can reach out and pay you for your time. 

There can be lots of reasons people use this kind of service.

These include:

• people who are introverted but want company
• lacking in confidence
• new to an area
• lonely
• simply looking for some social interaction that’s otherwise lacking.

Think about the things you enjoy doing while spending time with your mates – that’s the same kind of thing people wanting to rent a friend are looking for.

Alternatively they might be looking for someone to help them develop a new skill or practise language learning.

You can get paid a minimum of $10 an hour while working online as a virtual friend.

6. Medical trials

Medical research is vital when it comes to develop life changing medications. New medicines often need human trials to test the effects, and these can’t take place without volunteers. These volunteers are usually paid, depending on how long the trial takes, the potential side effects and what’s expected of the volunteer.

Whilst this might not be a feasible way for everyone to make money, as each trial will be looking for a certain demographic of people, you can be sure that you really are helping others by taking part.

7. Take in a lodger

If you have a spare room, you could help someone out by renting it to them for lower than commercial rates. This helps them save money and gives you a way to make extra cash.

You could also rent your room on Airbnb, giving people who are visiting the area a place to stay while making you some extra money. Why not put your extra space to good use?

8. Odd jobs

Offering ‘help services’ like lawn mowing or car washing is a good way to earn a side income by helping people. These small tasks often be left undone and people are only too grateful to have them taken off their hands.

Doing this could be as simply as knocking on doors in your neighbourhood and offering your services, or you could create flyers and distribute them in your area.

Offering these kind of help services is also a great way for teens to make extra money.

9. Teach English or other languages

People often look for help with learning languages as a hobby, but it’s also necessary for people who have moved to a new country, or need to learn English to find work, or feel more confident. Language teaching is a great way to really help people, and of course, you can get paid for it too!

You don’t have to be a qualified teacher to start teaching English in your spare time. There are a number of websites you can sign up to and become a language tutor online. These websites connect people wanting to learn and practice their English skills with native speakers. 

A good example of somewhere you can apply for virtual English teaching work is Cambly. They don’t require any previous teaching experience, you can choose to tutor at any time of day and work as much or as little as you want. You’re paid weekly, at a rate of just over $10 an hour.

Once registered, you can set out your preferred times of work and will usually get paid a set hourly fee for your time. 

10. Set up an ironing service

There are lots of people out there who HATE ironing. Why not make some money and take a load off their hands by offering an ironing service.

Ironing services pick up people’s ironing, take it way and bring it back all perfectly ironed. Simple as that!

11. Tutoring

What are your skills? Could you share them with others? Tutoring is a brilliant way to help others and make some money in the process.

Parents will hire tutors to help their kids with schoolwork, so if you’ve got qualifications and patience you could offer tutoring in your subjects of choice.

If you’ve got musical skills you could offer tutoring to people wanting to learn an instrument, or music theory.

12. Driving people

Love to drive? Becoming a driver with services such as Uber and Lyft, means you can earn some cash helping others get where they need to be. It’s an ideal side gig, as you can set your own hours and work when you like, putting your spare time to good use.

To be eligible to work you’ll need a vehicle that meets the requirements, this is usually a 2006 or newer vehicle in good condition. 

With Uber, you can choose your own working times to fit around your life and their app will provide you with easy directions as you drive, so while a good knowledge of your area is helpful, it’s not a deal breaker.

Marketing yourself on Uber

Uber is one of the most popular ride-sharing services in the world. You can make a lot of money with it, but you need to know how to market yourself on Uber.

Uber has created an easy way for drivers to market themselves and their skills by providing a simple interface that allows drivers to upload photos and videos about themselves, their car, and the routes they drive. The Uber driver app also provides information about how much money drivers are making every week, which helps them set goals for themselves.

The best way to market your skills on a platform like Uber is by uploading photos and videos about yourself and your car as well as the routes you drive on.

13. Translating

Translators and interpreters convert information from one language to another. Translators usually specialize in converting written documents and text, while interpreters usually work with verbal language in real-time settings.

If you can speak multiple languages, translation work is often well paid and genuinely helps people. As well as simply translating words, good translation skills can communicate culture and help with understanding, knowledge and even peace keeping.

There are quite a few different paths you could follow as a translator/interpreter including:

• Healthcare and medical
• Legal
• Sign Language
• Literary/written
• Presentation/Conference

Translation work can be highly rewarding as you can help people overcome language barriers and communicate effectively.

14. Tech help

Are you a technical whizz? There are plenty of people that aren’t and could do with some help in the tech department. Why not try making money by helping people with their computer and technical problems.

15. Cleaning

Working as a cleaner is another great way to earn money by helping others. Having a clean home can really help lessen stress and provide relief for people who struggle to find the time or energy to clean themselves.

You can choose to apply for work at a cleaning company or even set up your own cleaning business and work for yourself.

16. Offer your space through Neighbour.com

You can make money by renting your space via Neighbour.com. Whether you have a shed, closet, basement or spare room, you can help others in need of storage by offering up your free space.

Best Career paths for making money helping people

Helping people is one of the most important jobs in the world. We all need help at some point in our lives. And for those who are passionate about helping people, there are many rewarding career paths to choose from.

Emergency services

Working for any of the emergency services is a sure fire way to know your chosen career path is one that helps people. These include things like law enforcement, the fire and rescue service, medical services, coast guard and mountain rescue. Each of these career paths will require specific training and/or qualifications, but if you’re looking for a rewarding career that genuinely makes a difference, it’s worth considering if an emergency service job is for you.

Care work

Care work is an umbrella term for a range of professions that help people with their daily needs. Care work includes nursing, social work, counselling and more.

Social work is one of the most well-known careers for those who want to help others. Social workers can do everything from managing mental health care to working with children and families in a variety of settings. They can provide support to individuals, families or groups who need help with a wide range of problems including poverty, unemployment, disabilities or substance abuse.

Social workers often have to have a graduate degree and certification, but they can earn more than $50 per hour depending on their experience and employer.

Nursing is another great career path for those who want to help others, although it’s not often the best paid job. If you’re passionate about helping people though, it can be very rewarding. Nurses can make up to $100 per hour or more depending on their specialty and experience level, but for most, the average salary is about $60,000 per year.

Counsellors are professionals who have the education, training and skills to offer support, guidance and advice to people who are struggling in their lives. They work with people from all walks of life including children, families, individuals and couples.

The role of a counsellor is to provide emotional support, to help people explore their thoughts and feelings, provide information about mental health problems or refer them on to other professionals if necessary. They also provide advice on how a person can cope with their difficulties themselves or how they can change things in their life that may be contributing to these difficulties.

Teaching

Teaching is another career path that is truly devoted to helping others, whether that’s helping children to learn, grow and develop, or teaching adults to help them gain new skills or employment prospects.

Making money helping others – endless opportunities!

Whatever your skills, talents, qualifications or experience, there are so many ways you can make money helping others.

Whether you simply take on some helpful odd jobs for people, become a virtual assistant, set up a new home business or even undertake a new or first career path in a helping service, you’re bound to find a rewarding way to make money helping others that you enjoy.

Also read: How to make money on the weekends