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I know this is going to come as a shock to some people and for others, it is simply a reality.
The “average” middle class American stated they would have to sell something in order to come up with $2,000 cash.
So, my goal today is to come up with some ideas and start a conversation on this topic:
“If you had to come up with $2,000 cash, what would you do?”
First I would like to look at the problem. Being from Canada, we face many of the same problems that Americans do in terms of debt, overspending, and our inert ability to buy stuff that we do not need.
Although our hardships are typically delayed and follow the US economy by a couple of years, we do feel it. When the US unemployment drops to all time lows, you can pretty much rest assured that ours is going to drop drastically too. I mean, the US is 50% of our trade... I guess you could say we are reliant although we are focusing on trade with emerging countries and China.
I feel fortunate that I am in a position that if I needed $2,000, I would go to my bank. Ask me this 8 years back when I was attending school, you would be lucky to get $2 out of my bank account.
In fact, I was so low on cash that the bank was taking money from ME! How the hell do you owe a bank money?!?
Anyways, working first hand with 1,000’s of people over the years through Wealthy Affiliate and talking with people that are close to me (friends and family) that don’t have a lot of money, the fact of the matter is that we all like to spend and we often times are spending money that is not ours.
Where exactly is the dire need for cash stemming from?
(1) Credit Card Debt
All of us have it. What a great feeling it is getting “reward points” for going into debt. Dealing with online transactions on a daily basis I can tell you first-hand that the amount of maxed out credit cards has never been this high.
The reason is that people don’t have disposable income so they are relying on their credit cards as their monetary source. This has a downward spiral effect. Once you get into CC debt, it can be a tough road out, in particular when you are paying up to 25% interest.
The unfortunate part is that credit cards drive the economy. When people can no longer spend, guess what happens? People stop spending, companies suffer because of it and people get laid off.
(2) Health Care
If you are rich in the US, you have excellent healthcare. Probably some of the best in the world. I will never argue that as I have had to make a trip to the hospital in the US, and it was a pleasant experience.
However, if you don’t have money, cannot afford health care, or are living on a shoestring budget, needing health care can put an absolute strain on your pocket book, in many cases lead to bankruptcy (so I have read). To me, this is not right and high health care costs are the reason many Americans cannot come up with $2000.
I am from Canada and I hope I can give you some insight from someone who isn’t covered. Yes, I am not covered. How much do I pay?
I pay exactly $55 per month. This covers everything. God forbid something happens to me, I get help. If I need to go to the doctor or I need surgery, it is all covered. There are waiting lines if your surgery is non-critical, but if you need it now you get it now.
$55/mth...and if you are under income assistance you do not need this. There are things like extended health care that I could pay for (about $300 per month) that cover all medications as well, but prescriptions are fairly inexpensive up here.
Like the US, most large companies offer benefits (which include full health coverage including paying for prescription and dental along with other things like massage, physio etc.).
I don’t want to go into any more detail here or get too political, but I just wanted to state that if we had to pay health care costs that people in the US did, there would be a much larger lower to middle class within Canada. I think the UK has a similar system as we do.
(3) Unemployment
With employment rates all over the world surging or staying flat, this is taking its tol on people’s bank accounts. It is causing people to dip into their savings, causing hardship for people that are trying to get by, and for families with children, this is becoming an urgent issue.
Here is some data on unemployment rates across the world (source: Trading Economics):
France: 9.7% India: 9.4% United States: 9.1% U.K.: 7.7% Canada 7.4% Germany: 7% Australia: 4.9% Japan: 4.7% China: 4.1%
There are 100’s of millions of people unemployed right now, many of these people are very skilled and could be an asset to a company.
You may be unemployed when you are reading this...
However, I think we all need to understand something:
There is opportunity out there...in particular on the Internet. Almost everyone has access to the Internet and ANYONE can leverage the opportunity on the Internet!
How I think I can help....
The Internet has truly leveled the playing field in a way that we never thought could be imaginable. I mean, Facebook is allowing people to take out entire governments!!
Why can’t it do the same for people looking to earn some extra money?
It can and it will if you are willing to work at it.
So what are some top ways to do this without having any seed money?
I mean, is it really possible to start a business from scratch online?
YES. YESSS!
It is possible. Looking back (at an entirely different Internet), I started out online with a budget of $5 and my girlfriend’s credit card. How lame is that? Well, at the time I was able to make a go of it by being smart, being relevant, and working my butt off. That was in 2002, and well things have changed since...
But here is the cool part. Things have changed for the better. You can now achieve success without a dollar in your pocket, let alone $2,000 to spare.
How do you do it though?
Through your passion. Through your knowledge. Through your skill set.
Everyone knows something about something.
What was your last job? What is your hobby? What is your favorite thing to write about? What blogs do you visit regularly?
OK, write a list down. You are off to a great start.
Now you have to be willing to write about this passion. In the same way I am writing this article, you will be able to do the exact same thing. You will simply be writing about what you love... your passion, and then submitting this content to a free authoring site, like this very site you are on...
What you do is this...
(1) Register for a free account (2) Write and submit an article (3) Within your article, link naturally to a site that you own (could be a free site like Weebly) (4) On your site, promote an affiliate program (5) Repeat
As you write more articles, they will get ranked within the search engines. This will equate to traffic, which in turn will lead to people visiting your website (free or paid). From there you can earn money via affiliate programs, advertising, etc.
It does take some time to write articles, but if you can write and submit just one article per day to Street Articles, you will be ahead of the game.
Remember, you are going to be writing about things that you enjoy writing and talking about, so it should be very natural. You will also get sent training advice and tips once you register to Street Articles, and this will definitely give you a ton of insight on how to properly author content for the greatest benefit.
Lots of other potential ideas...
I do have a ton of other ideas on how you can earn money without having a lot, and this is what we teach at Wealthy Affiliate.
People often times don’t realize that an Internet business, although it takes a ton of hard work and dedication, requires next to nothing in terms of set-up.
For example, building a website may seem like an technical and expensive task. Did you know that there are free mediums to build websites now, and if you want your very own URL (domain name), it is only $7 per year! Now that is some cheap real estate that is only going to continue going up.
Once you have a website, the sky is the limit. There is unlimited potential!
Don’t sell a kidney, SERIOUSLY!
I am not sure if you read or saw the story about the Chinese boy that actually sold his kidney to get an iPad 2, but this is pure craziness. If you asked this person after he got his iPad if it was worth it, I can guarantee they would say NO.
I know this case was a bit extreme, but when people need money, they do some very strange things.
Please do not go to this extreme. Use your existing skills, knowledge and passion and apply them online. Whether you are interested in heavy duty mechanics or designing scrapbooks, selling homemade soap, or eating organic. Your passion can be turned into a business online.
If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, I would love to hear it. What would it take for you to come up with $2,000 cash and what are you going to do about your existing situation?
To your happiness and success!
I really enjoy reading your articles, Kyle. I also have a fondness for the Canadian experience, especially since my family ancestors were some of the founding families of Canada, and some were indigenous inhabitants.
Yeah medical expenses you tell me??? We are just lucky here in the U.K. All check up and medical treatment are free in here. To Kyle and of course to Carson, I like to thank you very much for the help and support. Your teachings are truly amazing and one of the best out there. I'm glad to have found you. I was very happy to see my first article "from fear to freedom of success ended up on first page in google. Thanks again.
Ah, indeed. Medical expenses cause all kinds of financial problems. I'm blessed to be "covered" for USD $559/month. Yet I got so very many uncovered medical expenses... yikes. Medical stuff is costly. blessings, Cynthia
Yeah, it is crazy when you think about it. I know you hear about the "poor" health care we receive in Canada, but I am not covered (most people are through their employers), but since I am not I have to pay a whopping $55 per month...and this includes FULL coverage, everything. This is the same price whether you are 20 or 100, and whether you have a pre-existing condition or do not have one. :) Our system isn't perfect, but I have never heard of anyone becoming poor because of health reasons up here!
Great, I love when people openly share the possibilities of how to make money online. If you are doing a search you are most of the time going to find guru products that will not help you at all. This kind of information should be available for everyone, thanks for the article.
I agree Dan, hard to weed through the gluttony of products out there. I believe that everyone has it in them if they can retain focus for a few minutes and not continue searching for the next best things. It is habit that people try to emulate others when in fact they likely have the skills already to be very successful. Thanks for your feedback!
Some people will say don't worry, just charge it. But that has more people in debt than you can imagine. Health care is a major concern. No money, more work, less pay. Your right, what are we to do?
The problem Ken is that developing nations are willing to work harder than we do, perform the job more efficiently and with more interest, and work for a lot less. Any job that can be outsourced or that does not have a competitive advantage by hiring locally, will move to where the hard workers, the innovators, and the lower cost labor resides....which is not necessarily in the US, Canada, or any other developed nation unfortunately. We are living in a true global economy that cannot be stopped and we all need to adapt or get left behind.
Wow, This is a great article. Many people can't even come up with $100 if they need it in this economy
Yeah I totally agree. The stores hype up their sales just to excite people then January comes the debt. Xmas is really just a business to get folks to spend money, retailers don't care bout the consumers
Thanks Sunny. Thought I had it all sorted but clearly Im going to have to tweak a few things. Thanks for your advice.
I thought the things I am selling were helping people as they are things people are asking for. I am trying to give people a solution to their problem.
I've been doing everything people say..have the websites, writing the articles, selling affiliate products but I have question..where is the money? Can someone tell me the secret please?
There are tons of things that could be wrong. You might not have a site high enough in the SERPs, the product you sell might not be attractive enough, you might have a broken link in your site. It might be a kind of product that people aren't "hungry" for. For example, if you sell a natural cure for something, there's also 100 other videos about how to do it for free, out of your own competition. Do you know what your competition selling/giving away for free? I didn't make my first sale for 3 months, and didn't make 100 dollars til 5 or six months down the road.
I have a similar story...I made $70 in my first month on the Internet, but worked tireless hours. This was not profit either, it was gross earnings (likely 0 profit or negative revenue). It takes time, but a lot is learn through doing. You fail, but you also succeed and the falls are what allows you to pick yourself up and run. An ongoing learning curve, why I love the Internet...always changing. :)
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