Thinking of starting a side hustle to earn some extra cash?Or maybe you want to start a side hustle that will one day become your main job?Either way, you’re covered with these 11 side hustles ideas to help you save for down payments, pay off those debts, set aside some money for something fun, or whatever else you want.The side hustles ideas here make the road to earning extra money easier – and they’re scalable, just in case you decide to quit your day job.
The 11 Side Hustle Ideas You Can Start Right Now:
What is a side hustle?
A side hustle is a job you do outside of your regular job in order to earn extra money. This money will help you pay your bills or complement those things that you want to do, but that your permanent job does not give you enough money to be able to do it. Side hustles can be enough to earn anywhere from an extra couple hundred to thousands each month. As you’ll see when we get into our list of ideas, you can turn almost anything into extra money.
Having a side hustle is nothing new. According to a 2019 Bankrate survey, up to 45% of workers in the United States have a side hustle, spending an average of 12 hours per week on that activity. How much do they get for those 12 hours? Some earn up to $500 per month – more than $40 for every hour of side hustle.
Sounds good, doesn’t it? We also think so. So let’s see how to build a successful side hustle.
How to build a successful side hustle
If you’re about to get into a side hustle, you’re probably wondering where you should start. We recommend making a list of things you are interested in. Your side hustle should be something you enjoy doing. You will be occupying work time in this side hustle, which you could otherwise have used for leisure activities. Therefore, you don’t want to take the time you were spending doing something you enjoy and start doing something you hate. Make a list of things that you think could take up 10-20 hours a week outside of your normal job and still feel good about doing.
You will also need to decide if you want to invest money or need a side hustle that costs nothing or very little to start with. Your side hustle shouldn’t cost you a lot of money (remember you’re trying to make more money), but you may need to spend money on tools, materials, equipment, branding, website hosting, advertising, etc. For this reason, decide in advance how much money you would like to invest in your side hustle.
Probably the most important thing to think about is whether that side hustle will interfere or present a conflict of interest with your day job. Check your employee handbook to make sure your employer doesn’t have any policies against their employees taking a second job or place restrictions on the type of side job you can take. For example, if you work as an accountant or bookkeeper for an accounting firm, chances are you won’t be able to start a side hustle as an accountant with your employer’s blessing.
You should also make sure you don’t use your employer’s work time to work on your side hustle. That is, while working for your employer, you should not work on your side hustle. If you work from home, it is much more difficult to keep things separate, so you will have to be diligent about working for your employer during scheduled hours and working on your side hustle outside of those hours. With a calendar or planner and good boundaries, this won’t be a problem.
The 11 side hustles for 2021
Since we talked about how to start a side hustles, it’s time to continue with the list of side hustles ideas so you can find the ideal one for you. For many side hustles, you won’t need any special training – just the time and maybe a little money to get started. Other side hustles may require a certification or license. The list of side hustles is intended to be used as inspiration. If you don’t see anything here that interests you, check out our list of thebest side hustles. Still nothing? Check your list of interests and be creative!
1. Become a dropshipper
Dropshipping is one of the easiest side hustles to get started. With dropshipping business, you can sell products directly to customers without having to buy or maintain inventory. This means that your initial expenses will be minimal and you will not have to have a bundle of money to buy products that might not sell. In this way your risks are minimized. There is likely to be a dropshipping business waiting for you, no matter what your interests are. A dropshipper can make a few thousand dollars or more per month.
One of the easiest ways to get started as a dropshipper is to sign up for Oberlo. With thise-commerce platform, you can choose from millions of products to start selling right away. The process is automated and it is very easy to add new products.
2. Start working as a freelance writer
If you love to write then this is the best side hustle idea for you. As a freelance writer, you can work on any topic you find interesting and work as a content writer, copywriter, or both. Since writing is a time-consuming endeavor, the money you can earn will depend on how much time you have to devote to writing. However, earning an extra $1,000 a month can be as simple as writing one article per week.
The freelance writing job is also a side hustle that you can easily turn into a full-time job, where you can earn thousands of dollars per monthworking remotelyfrom the comfort of your home. And you can be your own boss.
You can get started as a freelance writer on sites like Upwork and Fiverr, but we recommend using those sites to build your portfolio before looking for new, higher-paying clients. Many freelance writers fall into the trap of trying to offer a lower price than other writers and end up writing for pennies. That is the recipe for unhappiness and burnout. So once you have a few projects in your portfolio, expand your services to higher paying clients who appreciate the work that goes into creating content that drivestrafficand copywriting that drives sales.
3. Become an affiliate marketer
Affiliatemarketingis a great way to earn extra money. There are tonsof affiliate marketing networksyou can turn to to find the right mix of products to sell. If you do it right, affiliate marketing can bring you a huge amount of income. Blogger and entrepreneur Adam Enfroy regularly earns five figures a month through affiliate marketing.
Think carefully about the products you want to promote with affiliate marketing. While you can work as an affiliate marketer fore-commerce stores, it’s better to become a dropshipper for those products, as you’ll likely make more money that way.
4. Become an Instagram influencer
Influencermarketingis one of our favorite side hustles ideas. While Instagram is usually the platform of choice for most influencers, you can be an influencer on anysocial media platform– or even using a blog. You don’t have to be in the spotlight if you don’t want to be. There are tons of pets that can be considered influencers, like Nala Cat on Instagram or Tatum on TikTok.
You can also use your knowledge of art, fashion and beauty, your culinary skills, or a host of other things. There are even therapists, nutritionists, and doctors who are popular influencers.
You canmonetize your social media accounts, sell products, do takeovers, and other fun stuff. The amount you can charge for sponsored content will depend on the engagement and number of followers you have. Check out these tips on how toget more followers on Instagramto build an audience faster.
5. Start a subscription-based business
There are several ways tostart a subscription-based business, and you can choose from several types of businesses. The most common are cashier businesses, ScuS, e-commerce and accesses. Using the subscription revenue model, you can generate revenue by charging a recurring fee. You can create a subscription-based business on platforms like Patreon andOnlyFans, among others.
6. Become a virtual assistant
If you love keeping things organized and helping businesses prosper, you should consider becoming a virtual assistant. Virtual assistants are required in many fields and jobs. If you are interested in office tasks,social mediaposting, accounting, being a personal assistant, or many other things, the virtual assistant role is probably perfect for you. As with writing, you will earn based on the hours you can put into this activity, and you can also easily turn the virtual assistant side hustle into a full-time job.
You can find virtual assistant positions on sites like Upwork, but you’ll probably make more money finding your own clients.
7. Sell your art
Do you have artistic talent? Why don’t you sell your work? There are several ways to make this side hustle work for you. First of all, there are sites like Etsy that make it easy for artists and creators to create a site and sell their work. Regardless of your technique – watercolors, photography, cross stitch, etc. – you will find an audience interested in buying what you are selling. With the sale of your art you can earn from a couple of hundred to thousands of dollars a month. In addition to this, you can order personalized pieces or, if you are a photographer, work on events such as weddings.
8. Start a blog
Starting a blogis probablyone of the easiest side hustles you can do. We recommend blogging about a specific niche to create an engaged audience that is interested in what you have to say. You can even combine your blog with affiliate marketing or dropshipping business, thus creating your own empire. It may take time to earn revenue from your blog, but as your audience grows, you can use retargeting ads to drive more traffic and get more sales.
9. Become an online tutor
If you are a teacher, a permanent student, have a degree in something, or only know a lot about a specific subject, you can get money by teaching online. You can teach anything from teaching English as a second language to people outside of the United States to teaching math, science, English, art, or whatever. Regardless of the topic, there is probably someone who needs tutoring on it. Many online tutoring companies require that you have teaching experience or a diploma, as well as good equipment to teach at home (webcam, lights, microphone, etc.). If this side hustle is of interest to you, you can take a look at these websites:
- Tutor.com
- Tutorme.com
- Skooli.com
- Varsitytutors.com
- …and more
10. Post Facebook Ads
You must think that it takes experience to runFacebook adsfor businesses, but it really doesn’t. As with freelance writing and some of the other side hustles we’ve mentioned here, you’ll likely need to start with sites like Upwork to build a portfolio, and then be able to reach larger, higher-paying clients. You can also contact small businesses in your area to promote your services.
11. Become a Pinterest virtual assistant
Earning money onPinterestrequires a lot of time and effort. Many Pinterest experts recommend posting to the platform 30-40 times a day. When you’re a blogger or an online business owner, that’s a lot more time than you have. As a Pinterest virtual assistant, you’ll help businesses create and optimize pins and images, develop and adhere to a schedule, and conduct keyword research so their Pinterest content attracts the right audience.
Start earning extra money with a side hustle
A side hustle can help you earn some extra money that you can use to live the kind of life you want, but it also has other benefits. Regardless of the type of side hustle you choose, you will be able to build your own business, develop new skills, develop a strong portfolio, and build your personal brand. Added to this, many side hustles can easily turn into full-time jobs. This gives you more freedom because you are your own boss, set your own hours, and focus on work that makes you happy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a side hustle?
A side hustle is a job you do outside of your regular job.For example, many people have side hustles to earn extra money to help pay their bills.Some may even develop their side hustles into careers that replace their full-time jobs.According to a 2019 Bankrate survey, 45% of workers in the United States have side hustles and earn up to $500 per month.
How can you start a successful side hustle?
You can start by making a list of things that interest you.It should be something you enjoy doing.You should also ask yourself if you can invest some money, as some side hustles require money or other resources like tools, materials, and equipment.Ideally, your side hustle should not cost you a lot of money.Finally, you should think about your daily work.Check your contract to make sure your employer doesn’t have a policy against their employees doing other jobs.
What are the best side hustles ideas for 2021?
Currently, some of the best side hustles ideas are working as a dropshipper, writing freelance (or possibly starting your own blog), selling your art, starting a subscription-based business, or working as a virtual assistant.If you are interested in marketing, you can also think about becoming an Instagram influencer, affiliate marketer, or running Facebook ads for businesses.
What does an AV do?
If you love to keep everything organized, this may be the ideal side hustle for you.An AV or virtual assistant does basically everything an executive, administrative, or office assistant would do.Their administrative tasks include writing and responding to emails, posting on social media, accounting, scheduling appointments, and managing calendars.You can find virtual assistant positions on sites like Upwork, but you’ll probably make more money finding your own clients.
Is it easy to start a dropshipping business?
Dropshipping is one of the easiest side hustles to do.When selling a product as a dropshipper, a third party ships the product directly to the customer.This means you don’t have to buy or maintain inventory, which helps you reduce startup costs significantly.No matter what you are interested in, you will find the dropshipping business that suits your interests.To get started you can sign up for Oberlo, an e-commerce platform with millions of products.
