Are you tired of living paycheck to paycheck, or just wish you had a little more cash in your pocket each month? If going back to school or starting another career doesn’t sound appealing, consider starting a side hustle in your free time. A side gig is essentially a freelance part-time job that you work when you have time and on your own terms, even while you keep your full-time job. You don’t have to worry about answering to another boss, or fitting strict work hours into your schedule.
It’s easier than ever to make money in your free time with little investment. You can even start many side gigs with no investment at all. Check out the best side hustle ideas below and start your lucrative side gig.
Top Side Hustle Ideas
Be a Social Media Manager
Small businesses often need a social media presence if they want to compete with the big dogs, but many business owners don’t have the knowledge or time to create a great social media strategy. Even if they know how, most small business owners just don’t have the time to do it, putting social media tasks on the back burner. If you’re an expert or an enthusiastic user of top social media sites, offer your services to businesses both local and worldwide. Be sure to have examples of your work and ideas. Create one-time or monthly/yearly packages with your specific terms and pricing.
Be an SEO Consultant
Related to social media, small business owners often put their Search Engine Optimization on the back burner. In today’s technological age that puts them at a disadvantage. If a business doesn’t rank in Google, very few people will find it. If you have knowledge of the latest SEO practices, put your talents to work and you could earn decent side cash. All you need is a computer and internet connection and you can market your skills to small businesses worldwide.
Be a Gig Expert
Have you ever looked on “gig platforms”, such as Fiverr and Upwork? People sell gigs of all types, for things you may have never even thought of, and people pay for it. Think of things like logo design, voice-overs, Photoshop editing, illustrations, research and more. Take a minute to search keywords for your talents and see if and how people are selling your skills. Rather than copying a gig that already exists, see how you could tweak it a little bit, finding your own niche and creating your own following. You might be able to make money doing things you already love.
Be a Teacher (Online)
With the internet, anyone can show off their skills and teach others. What do you love to do? People pay for courses in just about anything, but think of the courses people would pay the most for, such as web design, computer programming, self-care, or learning a foreign language. Use sites like Udemy or Teachable to create and sell your courses online. Both sites walk you through the process of creating, marketing, and selling your course making it a cinch.
Be an Online Seller
Don’t think you can’t own an online store because you have nothing to sell or don’t want the hassle of carrying an inventory? Dropshipping can be a lucrative way to make a profit online without carrying an inventory. If you have the skills to create and market an online store, do your research to find the most profitable dropshipping products. Choose products that interest you so that you enjoy the work involved in your side hustle. Remember that margins in dropshipping can be very low, supply problems are common, and it can take a while to make a profit, so patience and diligence are key.
Be a WordPress Theme Creator
If you create websites on WordPress and find yourself wishing there were other themes available, chances are that you aren’t alone. If you enjoy graphic design and creating websites, create themes that fit the voids you are finding and sell them on sites like ThemeForest.
Be a T-Shirt or Mug Mogul
T-shirts and mugs with cool graphics and clever mottoes are always a seller. If you have a knack for coming up with unique sayings or creating eye-catching graphics and slogans, use your skills to create t-shirts and mugs that you can sell, similar to dropshipping. A quick search online will show you several print-on-demand services where you can upload your designs and have them printed on a mug or t-shirt. The service then ships your product directly to the consumer. Print-on-demand services only print when you have an order. Consider services like Redbubble or GearBubble.
Be a Virtual Assistant
Do you excel at organization and multi-tasking? Do you have skills small businesses could use? Market those skills as a virtual assistant. If you are jack-of-all-trades and can jump in wherever a business owner needs you, there’s a market for you. Virtual assistants do anything from data entry, calendar management, social media management, answering emails, creating a podcast, and any other task a business owner can’t find the time to do himself.
Ba an SAT Prep Tutor
High school students are under a tremendous amount of stress to do well in school and excel on the SAT. But without proper coaching, many students find themselves with lackluster scores. If you have a thorough understanding of the test questions, are a master at study skills, and love working with students, you can offer your skills online over a service like Zoom where you can interact in real-time with students from anywhere in the world.
Be Whatever You Want
It’s easy to come up with side hustle ideas with the help of the internet. Your market suddenly becomes worldwide when you look at the big picture. Any service you can provide virtually, or product you can ship can be a side gig that brings in the cash you desire. Think outside of the box when coming up with ways that you too can earn side cash, and you’ll find yourself filling your free time up with lucrative gigs that fill your pockets.
