Side Hustles You Can Start Today
Side Hustles You Can Start Today
As more and more people begin to branch out from typical 8-5 jobs, or find the need to acquire an extra income, a side hustle becomes the perfect option. Side hustles take up less time than a full-time job, and can provide an extra pocket of income that can become a safety net for more challenging weeks.
As prices increase with soaring inflation, jobs are harder to find. If you are growing older some jobs aren’t as easy. Finding remote work may become necessary. Side hustles often offer the opportunity to become main sources of income. You can put forth the time and effort to grow your side hustle into more than just an extra profit stream.
With these 8 different side hustles to choose from, you can take some time to test out your favorites and find the right one for you. It may take time to turn a side hustle into something more, but the rewards are worth it.
The great thing about most of these options is that they offer flexibility. In most cases, you can work whatever hours you want to, and put in as many or as few hours as works for your schedule.
Even the rates you charge can be flexible. You might start off charging less until you learn the ropes and gain some feedback or testimonials, but you can increase your earnings by leveling up in rates soon after.
A good way to start is offer a super cheap deal to a few people who will try you out and hopefully leave you raving reviews. And if they love your work they will likely become continuing customers.
Even if you’re currently making ends meet, look to the future and consider whether the rising cost of food, gas, rent and more will put a strain on your budget. If the answer is yes, consider launching a side hustle to shore up your emergency fund for a rainy day.
A side hustle can turn into an amazing income producer and make a huge impact on your life. Even starting out with an extra $500 a month can be impactful for many.
Let’s get started with a few ideas.
Side Hustle #1: Get Hired to Handle Tasks for Others
Becoming a virtual assistant is just like being an assistant or secretary for a client at an office, except your office is now your home. As more jobs are becoming remote, assistants are needed.
Businesses and even solo entrepreneurs still need someone to answer calls, plan out schedules, and do the more common tasks that they don’t always have time for. You may find yourself doing tasks like answering emails with a script, double-checking stored information, and processing simple data.
Some virtual assistants will focus primarily on the social media aspect of a brand. This includes creating and posting blog posts, TikToks, editing YouTube videos, and creating content that will help promote the brand or client you are working with.
One of the best aspects of virtual assisting is the ability to work with your client in order to set your own hours and wages. Being a virtual assistant can become a full-time job, but it all depends on who you end up working for, and what they need from you.
I know of quite a few people who started as a virtual assistant to others that went on to create amazing businesses of their own with all their skills.
Side Hustle #2: Narrate for Audiobooks
Some avid readers don’t have the time to sit down and read a book. So many turn to audiobooks so that they can multitask and enjoy content while getting their work done. As audiobooks continue to grow in popularity, more and more self-published authors are searching to find the perfect voice for their books.
This is not my skill set but maybe you have an amazing voice and could do this. Think James Earl Jones and his iconic role as the voice of Darth Vader. He even had a severe stutter in the early years of his life and went on to a successful career.
If you enjoy acting and speaking, narrating is a great path to take. All you need is a quiet studio to work in, which you can create in your own home. Once you have a solid setup, you can begin recording some samples to put in your portfolio.
These could be simple recordings of you reading pages from some of your favorite books. Try to include different genres so that you can show your range of emotion and inflection.
To create a home studio, you just need a quiet spot with lots of items to deflect the bounce of sound and prevent echoes. There are even tabletop acoustic foam sets you can use to absorb the echo and help your narration come out sounding polished to perfection!
Side Hustle #3: Learn How to Recruit Affiliates
An affiliate manager is tasked with handling promotions for memberships, classes, products, and information. They have to know how to network with the competition and bring in a flow of traffic by leveraging other peoples’ lists, especially during product launches.
It’s up to the affiliate manager to create successful promotions while handling all of the technical details of any type of release. Many entrepreneurs will try to handle this type of work on their own. But an affiliate manager can free up valuable time for the entrepreneur to focus on what they do best. That becomes a win win for everyone.
Once their brand grows to a certain point, they will no longer have time for it. If they choose to trust you with such an important aspect of their business, it is essential that you already know what you are doing and can ease the burden for them.
You’ll approach the top affiliates in the niche and open a discussion with them to see if they’d be interested in promoting. You’ll be the point person answering questions and sending them any and all materials they need to make an informed decision.
Side Hustle #4: Become a Ghostwriter
There are plenty of opportunities for anyone who wants to become a ghostwriter. As a ghostwriter, you are simply given the job of writing the content that other people either don’t want to do or don’t have the time to write.
You will be given a task with an outline or summary that gives you an idea of what you have to write. And then it is up to you to fulfill your client’s vision. There are many different types of content available for ghostwriters.
You could be writing content for emails, websites, blog posts, eBooks, social media posts, press releases, and more. Brands trust you to write in a professional voice, since your writing will reflect on the brand.
Try writing a few samples so that you don’t have an empty portfolio. These can be basic ideas, as long as they show off how you write in terms of quality and style. Once you have a few things in your portfolio, you can sign up for some freelance platforms.
Upwork and Fiverr are typically the most popular options for ghostwriters. Make sure to include as much information as you can on your profile. This should include how much you want to be paid, what types of ghostwriting jobs you are searching for, and your experience and education.
Once your profile is set up, you can start applying for different jobs that are listed that fit your interests and skills. You can also launch your own ghostwriting website to get direct jobs so the platforms don’t take a cut, and you’ll begin getting jobs as positive word of mouth spreads about your quality.
Side Hustle #5: Participate in Focus Groups
There is always new research to be done when it comes to marketing and understanding the way a human’s mind works. Companies will create surveys and other methods for businesses so that they can sell their research to businesses and brands looking for marketing research.
These companies are always looking for people who are willing to participate in focus groups. You can apply to join and if accepted, you can get paid either per project or per hour.
Make sure to only sign up for paid focus groups. It is important to make sure you are qualified for the focus group you want to join. Some of this research will target certain demographics, so make sure to read the requirements ahead of time.
Sometimes, they will have you fill out a pre-survey so that you will know for sure whether or not you qualify. They may even interview you beforehand to see if you’re a good fit and that may include asking you things like how old you are, what race or political affiliation you belong to, and so on.
Side Hustle #6: Manage a Brand or Influencer’s Social Media
In order to make the most of one’s influence and following, creators should start posting on every social media app possible, so that they can optimize their reach. This is especially important when an influencer may want to create merchandise or go on tour.
Managing every social media post and creating all of that content can take up a lot of time and energy. That’s where you come in. As a social media manager, you help influencers create exciting and engaging content for all of their social media pages.
You can help with profile changes, managing what content should go out and when it should be posted, designing fun Instagram stories, and just assisting your client with any social media needs.
This is a perfect fit for you if you enjoy all things social media and there are always new platforms popping up.
Side Hustle #7: Edit YouTube and TikTok Videos
Video content has grown more popular recently, which is mainly due to TikTok’s rise in popularity. A lot of creators gain their influence by frequently posting on YouTube and TikTok.
Video content allows influencers to show more emotion and passion, while also showcasing different niches, like fashion or DIYs. Once your client has pressed record and created some videos that can go together nicely, it is up to you to edit and polish them so that each video is appealing and runs smoothly.
You may have to edit out pauses in your client’s talking, and any other noises that may interrupt things. You may need to find good background music and add aesthetic text to go with each video, depending on what your client wants.
There are plenty of video editing tools that you can choose to download, and some are even free. Before you start applying for these jobs, you may want to consider messing around on the apps you use so that you are fully experienced and prepared.
If your customer allows it, you may even be able to provide contact information for your services at the end of a video, or in its description. This is a great way to show off your work and gain potential customers.
Side Hustle #8: Become a Freelance Graphic Designer
Visuals are a major part of any marketing. How a brand is designed can have a great effect on whether or not potential customers become confirmed buyers. People will need graphic designers for logos, website design, posts, headers and banners, advertisements, and even covers for their eBooks.
Some businesses will require some type of college degree when hiring, but many do not – and you can put up gigs as a freelancer where you’re not working for anyone else but yourself.
As long as you can show examples of your work to prospective clients and understand the project, you can make quite the business for yourself. Before applying for graphic designing gigs, make sure to have a full portfolio.
In this portfolio, you may want to include some logo designs, random illustrations, and creative social media templates. Having a wide variety of creations in your portfolio will help potential customers get an idea of your creativity and artistic style.
Hopefully the side hustle ideas above get you thinking about the possibilities of earning extra income with skills you may already have. You may just be dipping your toe into the advantages of being an entrepreneur. You can read my post about that here.