Trading Services for Cash

Trading Services (Your Skills for Money)

Many of you are very skilled in particular areas and would be able to trade these skills with companies and other individuals for something of value (including money). This can be a valuable way to get your “feet wet” with making money online, and although you are trading your services for money (as you would in a job), you are working for yourself and you are doing something that you enjoy doing. The money that you do earn through "trading" services can then be used as seed money to fund your Internet marketing campaigns.

This tutorial is going to outline the process of leveraging the tool set that you have (that companies want) and offering services in a manner that will allow you to earn cash.

What Are You Good At?

Sit down and create a list of things that you are skilled at. Then create another list of companies (online and offline that would get value from these skills). For example, an offline company probably does not know a lick about SEO and how to get their pages to come up within the search engine results. They probably do not know anything about web design, email marketing, Pay-per-click etc.

What if you approached one of these companies offering them some Internet related services in exchange for money or some of their products / services? Chances are they would jump at the opportunity. They can BENEFIT from what you have to offer and more often than not will be willing to pay for it.

Here is an example of what your list might look like:

Your Online Skills	Local Companies That Need Me
Writing Articles	Joe’s Shoe Store Hot Oven Pizza Sherry’s Salon and Spa Any Business with a site they want to get listed for Free in the Search Engines
Website Development	Uncle Tom’s Reno Business Any Local Business Without Website
PPC	Any Local Business That Wants Traffic

Some other areas that you could offer your services in are:

• logo development
• website optimization
• run conversion tests
• lead management
• adding autoresponder's
• search engine optimization
• content development

Don’t Have the Knowledge Set Yet?

Well the great thing about being part of the Wealthy Affiliate community is that you will learn many new skills that you can leverage. Why not build a website for someone in Site Rubix? How about getting a local company listed in the Search Engines through article marketing? What about managing your friends PPC campaigns and showing them how to optimize them for Google and Yahoo?

There are many opportunities out there, and by simply going through the resources offered here and taking advantage of the community and learning from it, you have a highly valuable skill-set that MANY companies need access to.

How to Approach Companies/Individuals

Be non-invasive and simply offer your services in exchange for some of theirs. You could even offer to do something for free and if you can obtain results, offer your services going forward at a price.

The potential is there. Remember, these companies / individuals are likely looking for cost effective methods of earning money online, and if you can provide this for them then they will jump at the opportunity (especially if they can offer their services rather than money in exchange for your work).

You will not only be offering extreme value, you may get recurring work if you can offer quality service. Companies are offered online marketing and website services all the time, but the offers are usually very expensive and do not fit into their budget.

If you make a fair offer, then you are much more likely to get the job! DO NOT undercut your time however…you do not want to work for free. Most companies do have a budget for this sort of thing.

Outsourcing Your Work

You can get creative with this. One way to do this is by offering your services and then outsourcing it for cheaper. You will make money on the difference, not have to do any of the real work, and both parties will be happy. Think of yourself a service "Broker".

Offering your service and then getting it done cheaper through outsourcing with companies like:

• Scriptlance.com
• Elance.com
• Freelancer.com

Most companies do not realize how cost-efficiently work can get done through resources like this and you can capitalize this. You may, however be required to pay up front, but you will be earning a profit on the difference between what you charge, and what it costs you.

The best idea is to get bids on the job before you make an offer to the company. You can make quick cash on the difference between what your charges the company (can still offer them a good deal) and what it costs to get done. This is an easy way to make money and will allow you to leverage other people’s skills to earn money online.

WA Jobs...Work is Waiting For You!

There is huge opportunity for trading services right within Wealthy Affiliate! People are always looking for help and they regularly post jobs within the WA Jobs section. Here you will be able to bid on Jobs and trade your skills for money.

If you have not already familiarized yourself with WA Jobs, we suggest you do so now:

WA Jobs

Helping people here at WA will not only be an opportunity to make money, but also an opportunity to create solid relationships within the industry. This can be very valuable moving forward.

Conclusion

This is not a technique that will make you rich, but will get your foot in the door and can be a way to make some quick cash and build some quick contacts. This is a “worker” technique that will allow you to work for someone else in exchange for something. If you are having trouble getting some finances built up from your marketing campaigns, why not do a little work offering a service to someone that needs it?