We live in an amazing age, when thanks to the internet people in need across the planet can find people to do almost anything to help them solve those needs. Thanks to this, it’s become easier than ever for people to use their talents to make anything from a little money to a full income.
Take Fiverr.com for example. 
It’s an innovative site where people offer services for $5 (with extra options for more money, but the base price is always $5), which can be as simple as writing a poem or a simple webpage, to more complex activities like proofreading and editing short document, or doing short voice recordings. You might think it’s just kids, but a glance around shows there’s a lot of professionals there too.
Why?
Well, the thing is, if I can do one short voice recording in 5 minutes (assuming I already have professional grade equipment), and I line up 12 recordings, that’s $60/hour or more. Suddenly Fiverr isn’t just small money, but paying more than many “real” jobs! Same thing if I offer to proofread 500 words for $5, it might just take me less than 5 minutes to do, but that quickly adds up if I can get multiple people asking for my services around exam time. So it’s no wonder that even some Pros are doing a little Fiverr on the side to make some pocket money. (Although Pros seems to be the exception here, not the rule.)
Fiverr could also be a useful tool for things like Book Promotion, or even tasks like getting your book converted to Createspace format. It’s amazing what people are offering, if you just look around, and since anyone can join and offer services on Fiverr, almost anyone does! (And in this case, that’s a good thing!) If it doesn’t work out, you’re now only out $5, which is less than a cup of Starbucks coffee these days!
Definitely worth a look-see, and there’s even a Fiverr Canada subsite for us!
Of course, if you need more serious professional help (or want to offer it), there’s always Odesk.com, which bills itself as “the world’s largest online workplace”. There you can again find freelancers for almost any online task. I guess you could bill it as the ultimate in “temp” services, and since what people offer on there is so vast, you never know what you’ll find. (Although, you can bet it will be more expensive than Fiver, at least in theory.)
So whether you want to go for simple jobs, or more complex ones, the internet can solve your problems. It’s just a matter of figuring out what you need, and how much you’re willing to pay.
Rob
