Need Extra Cash? Try This

meetmeatthecorner.org. She is paid according to how many people visit her site and click on the ads; right now she brings in about $300 a month and hopes that will only go up. “We’ve seen a great increase in our mentions on Google, blogs and in newsletters,” she says.

 

Once you start something on the side, should you tell your employer what you’re up to? Some experts say you should ask permission. Others maintain that you’d be better off venturing first and, if necessary, apologizing later. I’m with the latter. As long as what you’re doing doesn’t directly compete with your full-time job and you’re not working on company time, you are generally not obligated to notify anyone. “Not divulging is not dishonest,” says Victoria Colligan, founder of Ladies Who Launch, a Web site for women entrepreneurs.

 

The more successful you become, however, the greater the chance that you’ll be found out. So be sure to strategize about what you’ll say if it becomes an issue. Try to find a way to sell what you’re doing as a win-win for the company. “I have a Web producer working for me,” Colligan says. “I know she’s starting her own music Web site, and she’ll go to search engine optimization seminars. That’s great for me.”

 

For a clock-punching job, experts agree it’s best to find an opportunity on a completely different day than your full-time spot (weekends if you work weekdays). If that’s not possible, build in a buffer of at least two hours between jobs.

 

Or try asking for flexibility. If you have a sympathetic supervisor, she may help you make it work. My boss let me leave the office twice a week at five PM, and though she never loved the setup, I always did my best to make sure she didn’t regret it.