How to earn extra money from your side hustle?

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a health crisis followed by an even more severe economic emergency. The number of people being laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic is rising. Many of whom have no guarantees whether they will ever get their jobs back.

If the pandemic affected your work and income, you’re not alone. With millions of people being furloughed, many find themselves confused and unsure about the future.

The future without a stable income is daunting, but crises like the one we are experiencing now show that we can’t depend on one income stream or one employer. But you can secure your financial well-being with a side hustle.

What is a side hustle?

A side hustle is a project that is meant to generate an additional income stream on the side of your full-time job. Projects usually fall into two categories: passive and active.

A passive income side hustle is a job you only need to do once, and it starts making money. It can be investing in stocks, bonds, or real estate or more agile like online courses and eBooks.

An active income gig requires more attention. It’s more of a side business that needs you to be involved daily or at least weekly.

Whichever one you choose depends on how much time and motivation you have to work on it. If you need some money, but don’t have much time to invest, choose a passive side hustle. While active projects might demand more effort, they also can bring more money.

Many people still believe that multiple income streams are only for freelancers and independent contractors. But times are changing, and everyone who wants to live a financially independent and worry-free life is looking to start a side gig.

If you’re considering to make some extra bucks, you don’t need to launch a new full-time business and quit your job. A few hours a day can help you navigate a financially stable life.

But before you start, it’s important to:

Find your niche

You can’t keep up with the project long enough if you don’t find it interesting. A niche allows you to combine your passion and core strengths. If you are already working in a field, you can find ways to monetize it. It’s much easier and, in the end, more profitable than chasing trends and trying to compete with professionals. Here is a useful article about picking the right niche by using two important metrics only

Learn about the market

Lack of market knowledge is one of the major mistakes new entrepreneurs make. You can try to create demand for your service, but it’s more challenging than finding a problem your product or service could already solve.

Create a strategy

Regardless of the niche you choose, you have to make sure you are prepared to conquer the market. What are your goals: is it just to earn extra money, or do you wish to turn the side project into a full-time business? How are you planning to reach your audience and generate income? How will your prospective customers interact with your brand? You’ll need to take all this information in consideration when you create a marketing strategy. 

All these steps are crucial in leading the way to success.

Technological development gives us dozens of opportunities to start a prosperous side hustle, but with many potential ideas, you might get lost. We collected a bunch of side hustle ideas for experienced and new entrepreneurs.

Side hustles for people with engineering experience

Tech support

It’s a location-independent job that can be done for a few hours a day, and generate you as much as $16 per hour. In most cases, you don’t need to have exceptional experience in a particular field, but rather understand the basics and customer needs. Freelance tech support projects usually include small software development, integration, maintenance, information security, website protection audit, etc.

Online courses

If you are an expert in your field, why not share the knowledge with others? Online courses can be active or passive income streams or a combination of two.

If you are looking for a passive income, once you release your course and find a platform for it, and by implementing proven marketing strategies, you can start generating revenue without much additional effort.

Tech reviews

Use your knowledge to help people without a technical background to find the best products and understand the market. Many companies search for experienced engineers to give an expert opinion on gadgets, software, devices to educate the customer.

Consult companies

During the pandemic, many companies can’t afford full-time specialists. Freelancers and independent contractors are an affordable yet effective ways to get things done. Take your niche and start pitching your services to relevant businesses.

Side hustles for people with marketing experience

Freelance writing

Although highly competitive, the freelance writing niche can also be lucrative. You can find plenty of long- and short-term projects on platforms such as ProBlogger, Fiverr, Upwork, Remote-job.net, etc.

Affiliate marketing

If you want to launch a blog or already have one, you can monetize it by entering an affiliate marketing program. The tricky part is that if you don’t have a large follower base or email subscribers, it can be challenging to earn decent pay.

There are numerous ways to increase traffic to your affiliate site though.

Stock photography

If you have a knack for photography, you can upload your work to stock image platforms. It’s a passive income side hustle – you take a picture, and each time a visitor downloads it, you get your percentage.

SEO consultant

Knowing how to rank on the first page of Google is a virtue in today’s business world. If you understand how search engines work, how to rank high, and increase organic traffic, you can easily monetize your skills and help businesses reach a bigger audience.

Freelance designer

A popular career choice, freelance design is one of the side hustles you can start at home and without any experience. You can also choose from a variety of design jobs, e.g. UI/UX design, brand design, logo design, etc. Fret not about the necessary knowledge as you can acquire the necessary skills by taking online courses. Basically, all you need to start is a laptop and a desire to learn.

Write an eBook

An eBook is a side hustle that can generate passive income for years. Share your experience with people by writing an eBook and uploading it to a self-publishing platform. Some examples are:

  • Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
  • iBooks
  • Kobo

Side hustles for people with zero experience

Dropshipping

Sell your favorite products without dealing with the storing and manufacturing part. People earn thousands without even touching the products they sell. And, there are platforms like Oberlo to help you manage your dropshipping business without any hassle.

Ridesharing

You only need a driving license and experience driving, and you can start with Lyft, Uber, or your local ridesharing company.

Food/groceries delivery

Do you have some free time and want to exercise? Then delivering groceries and food to people can be a profitable and easy way to earn money.

T-shirt printing

Go crazy with creativity and earn extra money. You can print t-shirts for individual customers or design it for companies and events to make more money.

Pet sitting

Employ your love for animals by building a side pet sitting hustle. People leave for work, go on vacation, and you can be the savior who takes care of their loved pets. It’s an easy gig that pays up to $1000 per month.

Can you actually make a living from a side hustle?

Whether you make money on a side gig, depends on the time and effort you spend on doing it. If you’re not looking to devote a lot of time to it, then while making extra money, it probably won’t replace your full-time income.

On average, a side hustle can earn you as much as $1,122 a month (not bad for a hobby turned into money, huh?). Most people report that their side projects bring enough money for disposable income, and less than 30% say that a side gig earns them a full-time living.

But you shouldn’t be discouraged from turning a project into a full-time job. Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, was working at Atari while building Apple.

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, started the social network as a university project to ease communication between students.

Alan Schaaf, the founder of Imgur, was still a student when he designed and launched a photography sharing service.

While no one stops you from shooting for the stars, even if your side gig doesn’t earn you millions, still, it’s a great experience and a way to learn how to monetize your passion.

Professional assistance to turn your idea into a side hustle

You only need to start. It doesn’t always have to be a complex project. Even something as simple as just a single landing page is sufficient to start recording user interest, using one of the drag-and-drop landing page builders out there. Neal Taparia, founder of brain training app Solitaired suggests running painted door tests. He explains “By introducing a button for a feature not yet built, you can gauge if people truly have an interest in it, allowing you to optimize learnings and use your resources wisely”

Usually, the beginning is often the most daunting part. If you’re looking to support your income during the pandemic by starting a side hustle, think about hiring a professional mentor. An expert in your desired niche can help you avoid the most common beginners’ mistakes and take off with your project faster. Browse our mentors page and find the perfect match for your next side hustle.