Social media can be more than your go-to for vegging out and endlessly scrolling through brunch photos. If you're an emerging artist or craftsman, you can turn sites like Tumblr and Facebook into your virtual marketplaces. The sites offer the unique opportunity to connect with fellow makers and curate hyper-specific, loyal audiences to which you can sell. As social media integrates ad-revenue more and more, moneymaking opportunities for users have risen in accordance. We've compiled the top ways to turn all that time you spend on the Internet into cash.
Sell Your Products
If you create things, Instagram and Tumblr are both great places for promoting your work. The best way to go about this is creating an Etsy shop that you promote on your social media profiles. Tag the heck out of your content, follow and interact with fellow art makers, and maintain a strong and consistent aesthetic. This is a more long-term investment, slowly amassing a group of followers that falls in love with your products and content, and creating a distinct online presence.
Youtube Partner Program
If you're a great on-air personality, flip open your video camera and get into the vlog scene! Any sector of YouTube is a great potential for profit: humor videos, product reviews, or just talking about your life (if it's interesting). The real focus is creating a loyal viewing audience. Once you have that, the world is yours. Over the years, people like Tyler Oakley and Troye Sivan have been able to turn their vlogging into full-time successful careers. Once you have amassed a sizable audience (it doesn't even have to be in the thousands), monetize your YouTube channel and receive cash from ad revenue.
Soundcloud
Soundcloud has been a popular way for emerging artists to get their voices heard while still making a fair dollar. It's commonly a choice for popular artists, too. Rappers like Drake and Nicki Minaj use the platform to release their new songs and remixes outside of the traditional format and still receive fair compensation. Of course, the more listens your music receives, the more you get paid. So it is important to create a sizable fanbase to get real dollars from the site. The setup is pretty similar and equal in structure to YouTube's Partner Program.
Stylinity
If you're a fashion blogger, using stylinity is a great way to make money from the people who end up buying the clothes you feature. Add links to your pieces using Stylinity and when people click on them and buy the product, you'll get a commission. Simple!
Facebook Marketplace
Facebook Marketplace is a great way to join topic-related/community-based groups. In fact, it has become popular for apartment hunters, providing a more trustworthy way of conducting business than Craigslist. It's also a great way to sell clothes and furniture to numerous community-based groups.
Hop on this social media career train while it is still hot and fresh, and who knows how it will evolve!
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The Federal Reserve sets the guardrails for the federal funds rate, and through that helps control the money supply for the nation.
When you take out a loan for a car, charge something to your credit card, or get a personal line of credit, there is going to be an interest rate that applies to your loan.
A lot of different factors go into what you will be charged, including your own personal credit score. But even those with flawless credit still see a minimum charge that they can't get around. That all goes back to the Federal Funds Rate.
One thing consumers rarely realize is that all of our banks are lending money to each other every night. Banks are legally required to maintain a certain percentage of their deposits in non-interest-bearing accounts at the Federal Reserve to ensure they have enough money to cover any withdrawals that may unexpectedly come up. However, deposits can fluctuate and it's very common for some banks to exceed the requirement on certain days while some fall short. In cases like this, banks actually lend each other money to ensure they meet the minimum balance. It's a bit hard to imagine these multibillion-dollar financial institutions needing to borrow money to tide them over for a bit, but it happens every single night at the Federal Reserve. It's also a nice deal for those with balances above the reserve balance requirement to earn a bit of money with cash that would normally just be sitting there.
The exact interest rate the banks will charge each other is a matter of negotiation between them, but the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) (the arm of the Federal Reserve that sets monetary policy) meets eight times a year to set a target rate. They evaluate a multitude of economic indicators including unemployment, inflation, and consumer confidence to decide the best rate to keep the country in business. The weighted average of all interest rates across these interbank loans is the effective federal funds rate.
This rate has a huge impact on the economy overall as well as your personal finances. The federal funds rate is essentially the cheapest money available to a bank and that feeds into all of the other loans they make. Banks will add a slight upcharge to the rate set by the Fed to determine what is the lowest interest that they will announce for their most creditworthy customers, also known as the prime rate. If you have a variable interest rate loan (very common with credit cards and some student loans), it's likely that the interest rate you pay is a set percentage on top of that prime rate that your lender is paying. That's why in times of low interest rates (it was set at 0% during the Great Recession), a lot of borrowers should go for fixed interest rate loans that won't increase. However, if the federal funds rate was relatively high (it went up to 20% in the early 1980's), a variable interest rate loan may be a better decision as you would be charged less interest should the rate drop without the need to refinance.
The federal funds rate also has a major impact on your investment portfolio. The stock market reacts very strongly to any changes in interest rates from the Federal Reserve, as a lower rate makes it cheaper for companies to borrow and reinvest while a higher rate may restrict capital and slow short-term growth. If you have a significant portion of your investments in equities, a small change in the federal funds rate can have a large impact on your net worth.
Whether you're leaving a job involuntarily, departing for something new, or just want to prepare for the unknown, it is smart to understand all your options regarding your 401k.
diy gifts
Frugal gifting often gets a bad reputation. However, this shopping method does not make you cheap — it makes you practical. Frugal gifts often avoid waste and overspending and can be just as meaningful (if not more so) as any other present.
With the National Retail Federation predicting each consumer this holiday season to spend upwards of $1,000 on holiday gifts amidst an economic recession —this year might be the perfect time to reconsider your spending budget. We've formulated the ultimate list of frugal gift-giving ideas to get you started.
